Chapter 235: The Sword Step
Kim stood tall and solemn like a mountain.
To help himself stand out among the hoard of talented disciples at Jade Peak, and to rank the second place among the inner disciples, he had made an awful lot of efforts and sacrifices.
Frankly, he didn't hold any special talents. He was slower to learn martial arts than the others, who had strong comprehension abilities. However, he managed to surpass the brilliant minds at the peak and brought laurels to his name. It was the fruit of his tough labor.
Step by step, his strength had improved steadily. However, he seldom got angry and never belittled anyone.
A good head on his shoulders along with the great efforts he put in enabled him to be a hundred times stronger than the so-called geniuses.
Unbinding the spear on his back, Kim clutched it, saying in a cold voice, “Start the battle, and you will know if my strength is sufficient to force you to draw your sword. But let me state beforehand: I won't hold myself back even if you don't use your sword.”
Rocher nodded at him. “Of course. In the battlefield, you should be in top form. I refuse to use my sword against you, though. I'm about to face many other competitors ahead, disciples much more powerful than you. My sword will be out when I fight them.”
In truth, Rocher didn't want to draw his sword not because he looked down upon his opponents, but because he valued them.
The All Peaks Competition tested not only the candidates' strength, but also their endurance and strategy.
At the consummation of the natural level, Rocher possessed comparatively more strength than the others, but there was always a chance of encountering better competitors he had overlooked. Obviously, he wanted to come first in the contest. He wondered what levels his other opponents would be on.
Throughout the years, a number of genius disciples had attracted attention at the All Peaks Competition. There was Yan Luo in the last round, Humm Xu in the one before that, and Jakob Lou even before. But how many of them could be labeled competent enough to win the championship?
Only a few! In addition to the disciples belonging to the thirty-three peaks, there were personal disciples participating in the competition, who possessed more power and strength. Guided by famous masters, the personal disciples were obviously hard to beat. In the previous competitions, the top twenty spots had often been snatched by them, along with an odd rare genius or two.
Kim gave him a curt nod and stepped forward. As his foot hit the ground, an invisible wave rose up to spread around him. He tipped his arm, and the cusp of the spear in his hand flew out like a spirited dragon.
His startling, mountain-like momentum rushed out along the cusp.
Kim's body, meanwhile, began to expand more and more, until finally it was as tall as Mount Tai. The spear in his hand looked like a spiraled dragon.
"Dragons in the Air!
Come on!"
As he spoke, beams of life vitality rushed out and swirled around the spear. Seen up close, several vague forms of dragons—transformed by the life vitality—were discovered gyrating around it.
His first move was exceptional.
Just as Kim said, he didn't hold back because Rocher was at the consummation of the natural level. Instead, he put in his best, just like he always had in life.
“Dragons in the Air was powerful! How will Rocher defend this?”
“Honestly, it's impossible for Rocher to defend himself without his sword. The Dragon Spear Techniques that Kim just displayed has two subsequent attacks: first to shoot and then to burn the life vitality. Kim has only performed the first so far and it is already bewildering. What if he burned his life vitality too? It would have unimaginable consequences! Rocher intends to face all of this barehanded? It would be a disaster!”
Kim's display of strength brought Rocher out of his state of mental repose. He now grew anxious. Moving aside speedily, he tried to dodge the attack.
“Trying to escape? Do you consider my Dragons in the Air so easy to run from?” Kim held the ten-foot, one hundred-pound spear in one hand. For a moment, it seemed as if it was a part of Kim's body, unusually flexible. No matter how hard Rocher tried to avoid it, its cusp would always be pointed in his direction. The distance between them was decreasing by the second.
So far, Rocher was unable to avoid it.
Suddenly, he performed a set of strange footwork.
Body skills and step skills could be of several types. Some were focused on flexibility, like A Hundred Steps in Maze. Some were complicated, bewildering and dizzy, such as Dainty Steps above Waves. However, whichever one Rocher resorted to among these, he was unable to escape Kim's spear cusp.
The spear technique Kim performed was steady, an unbeatable rival for radical and strategic moves.
Rocher's step skill, however, was special. Whenever he moved, a faint shadow of a sword took shape, pointing in a certain direction. He kept moving accordingly and with perfect speed in order to dodge Kim's spear.
“Sword Step! That's the Sword Step! Rocher has grasped the Sword Step!” someone shouted from the sidelines.
“My goodness! It's actually the Sword Step! Rocher is amazing! He hasn't even drawn his sword so far. How strong is he? With his Sword Step alone, he has proven himself superior to ninety-nine percent of the disciples at Cloud Sect!” another exclaimed.
The Sword Step was a unique step skill—the length of each step of a performer was exactly equal to that of their sword.
Since the step's length was predetermined, the Sword Step suffered a loss in flexibility. However, one's Sword Step could especially manifest itself out of one's own sword intent. If someone could grasp their sword intent well enough, their movements would become much faster than those of the average body.
Moreover, the Step Sword was an offensive attack. Every step stifled the airflow and in turn created cyclones containing one's sword intent, and the one performing the skill could volley them straight toward his enemies.
Crack, crack, crack...
Rocher took soft steps. He had practiced the Sword Step to small success, and because of his sword intent, the air under his foot was pushed down to create crisp vibrations.
With the aid of the Sword Step, he managed to escape Kim's attacks easily.
Zen was moved when he saw Rocher displaying his Sword Step skill.
In the past few days, Zen had practiced at the Seven Star Sword Light Platform a number of times to temper his own sword intent, which had contributed to a better understanding of it. He perceived Rocher's comprehension of the sword intent to be impressive, as exemplified by his fluid body movements. Yet, Zen didn't consider his own understanding of the sword intent any worse.
Before today, he had not realized that step skills could be influenced by one's sword intent.
All the swordsmen in the world held the same dream: to create their own Sword Step. In itself, it was not difficult to practice.
The biggest difficulty lay in blending the sword intent with one's step skill. From a certain point of view, the Sword Step was the primary form of unity of a swordsman and his sword.
The battle between Rocher and Kim continued. As Rocher avoided Kim's spear, the former jumped up toward the sky and somersaulted into a headstand position. He kicked his feet, creating endless cyclones with his sword intent, directly aiming at Kim.
Not neglecting Rocher's counterattacks, Kim rotated his spear rapidly. Rocher's cyclones of sword intent collided into the spinning spear, making a shrill noise.
Clang, clang, clang...
Rocher's sword intent was particularly powerful. Though Kim was as tall as a mountain and had managed to resist the cyclones, still, he was forced to retreat.
The battle didn't look like it would come to an end anytime soon. The disciples of Cloud Sect grew alarmed. Everyone's attention was fixed on Rocher and Kim, including that of the personal disciples. As for the other simultaneous battles on the stage, they went unseen, dismissed as impertinent.
Rocher's display of power was so astonishing that it had forced the personal disciples to take notice.
After all, Rocher had not even drawn his sword till now. Even so, he still had the upper hand in the battle after performing the Sword Step. It was indication enough of his mighty hidden strength.
The personal disciples were not stupid, nor were they born with arrogance. The reason they didn't take their opponents seriously was that most of them didn't deserve it. But now, faced with someone who might potentially be a threat, they would have to be on their best game. Otherwise they'd be the fools.
Everyone's eyes were glued to the stage. Zen, however, seemed to be making a series of strategic steps behind the crowd.
If somebody saw him, they would be startled to discover that he moved in the exact same manner as Rocher did on the stage!
The only difference between the two was that Zen didn't fuse his sword intent into the steps. Lacking of sword intent, the Sword Step seemed awkward and soulless.
“One step, two steps, three...”
Technically, Zen should not be able to imitate the skill step-by-step, watching it as he was for the very first time. Even if he possessed a good memory, the sword skills were far too varied and imbibed complex moves.
But the Sword Step could be guided by one's sword intent. Zen was able to commit the steps to memory because of his understanding of the sword intent.
Initially, he had to pause for breaks as he deduced the next steps while practicing.
But once he had figured them out and taken note of the relevant tricks, his speed increased—from one step in a breath, to two. As his understanding of the sword intent grew deeper, as he grew more familiar with the Sword Step, he could perform more steps in a single breath.
All too soon, he had mastered the Sword Step, fast as a cheetah.
'I'm now familiar with the Sword Step, but I'm still not skilled enough to fight against an opponent. I'll have to tailor my steps according to the attacks I'll face. It seems I can only improve in actual combats, ' Zen thought, shaking his head. One couldn't improve innate powers by practicing behind closed doors. All forms of the martial arts needed actual combats to test themselves, otherwise, they would be relegated to mere untried theories.
The disciples still watched the battle between Rocher and Kim as it unfolded on the stage.
Yehudi was the sole exception, concentrated as he was on his recovery.
The effect of the Red Cloud Pill involved four phases, and each phase took about an hour to complete itself. During this period of time, he concentrated on absorbing the pill's efficacy through his life vitality. He was now more stabilized in his injury, and as long as he didn't fight any others, nobody could tell that he had been injured.
He opened his eyes, only to find Rocher displaying the special Sword Step. That surprised him. He and Rocher were both at the consummation of the nature level, but Rocher's strength exceeded his. Rocher could subdue Kim, who was of the Illuminating Soul Realm, with the Sword Step alone! The difference in talent between them was huge.
Abruptly, he noticed that Zen had disappeared from his side. Turning around his head, he saw Zen stepping back and forth behind the crowd.
“What's he doing? Why is he pacing like that?” Confusion clouded Yehudi's face. The very next second, however, the expression on his face changed. “Huh? His footwork looks familiar... Well, I never! It's the Sword Step!”
How was it possible? How did Zen know the Sword Step? Astonishment consumed Yehudi.
What surprised him the most was that Zen seemed to have only just begun to learn the steps.