Cultivating for Immorality: I Evolved Martial Arts into the Immortal Path – Chapter 70

Chapter 70: Mastering the Saber Technique

As night fell, the bright moon hung high in the sky.

Qi Xiuliang returned to the Black Sword Martial Arts Hall.

Chu Liang, on the other hand, went to the black market, bought enough demon beast meat and other necessities, and then returned to the Autumn Blade Martial Arts Hall.

The martial arts hall was not quiet at night. Some apprentices were reluctant to rest too early and seized the time to practice martial arts.

Chu Liang was one of them.

He stood in the courtyard, his gaze calm, holding a horizontal saber.

“Swish——!”

A flash of saber light.

The cold blade cut through the void, leaving a silver-white afterimage.

Chu Liang took a light step, his expression focused, and swung the second saber, silently feeling the transmission of power between his arm and the blade.

“Something’s not right.”

Chu Liang frowned slightly, stopped in place, and did not swing the third saber.

The feeling of swinging the saber was not as smooth and fluid as he had imagined.

It was very awkward.

If he were to fight an enemy with this saber, it would not be a help to Chu Liang at all, but would hinder him from displaying his full strength.

“It would be better to fight with my fists.”

Chu Liang silently put down the long saber.

He remembered Manager Wang saying that one must make the weapon a part of one’s body.

“Take it slow…”

Chu Liang took a deep breath, not in a hurry.

It was normal to feel awkward or uncomfortable when practicing for the first time.

《Autumn Blade》 was a very difficult martial skill to practice, requiring the martial artist to have a very solid foundation in the way of the saber.

Chu Liang did not have this foundation.

He had only used hunting knives before, to kill wild boars, wolves, foxes, and other wild animals in the mountains.

Now he could only practice slowly according to the martial skill manual.

On the manual that Manager Wang gave to Chu Liang, there were a total of seventeen saber techniques, each of which was broken down into many steps.

The saber techniques were followed by a full twenty-one pages of explanations, and finally, there were even more than ten pages of annotations from previous practitioners.

The martial arts hall had been established for many years, and there were many apprentices who practiced 《Autumn Blade》.

Most of them failed, and only a few succeeded.

Those ten or so pages of annotations were left by those successful apprentices, mostly some insights and experiences, as well as explanations of some of the moves.

Chu Liang copied the manual and evolved the copied version of 《Autumn Blade》 into 《Three Autumn Blades》.

He placed both 《Autumn Blade》 and 《Three Autumn Blades》 on the stone table.

Comparing the two, he discovered the differences between them.

“This 《Three Autumn Blades》 divides the original seventeen saber techniques of 《Autumn Blade》 into three categories: ‘Fierce’, ‘Swift’, and ‘Unorthodox’.”

Chu Liang’s mind stirred, as if he had realized something, and continued to read.

According to the description of 《Three Autumn Blades》, the so-called moves were fixed and “dead” moves, not flexible. Even if one learned them all, one could not achieve a fundamental breakthrough.

In the end, one would only be imitating the creator of this martial skill.

To break through, one must give soul to the moves, make them “come alive”.

One must not be limited to rigid fixed moves.

The original seventeen saber moves, such as “Forceful Cleave of Mount Hua”, “Resisting a Thousand Strengths”, and other moves were classified as “Fierce Moves”.

And moves such as “Chasing the Wind and Pursuing the Sun”, “Lightning Flash Shadow”, and other moves were classified as “Swift Moves”.

The last moves, such as “Hidden Dagger Behind a Smile”, “Deceiving with Fakes”, and other moves were classified as “Unorthodox Moves”.

One fierce saber, one swift saber, one unorthodox saber!

After practicing to the end, only these three sabers remained.

But these three sabers could be transformed into countless sabers, with the saber momentum continuous and endless.

Thus, one could transcend the constraints of the original creator and make this saber technique a new saber technique that one completely controlled.

“That makes sense.”

Chu Liang was engrossed in reading and continued to flip through the pages.

This evolved version of 《Three Autumn Blades》 was much thicker than the original 《Autumn Blade》, and there were many more explanations for each move, basically refined to the most basic movements.

Each move had many corresponding illustrations and text explanations.

Chu Liang read carefully, as if he could see a saber master walking out of the manual, demonstrating each move in detail for him.

Unknowingly, he read until late at night.

After flipping through the last page, he slowly closed his eyes and repeated the contents of the manual in his mind, carefully comprehending and understanding.

After about a quarter of an hour, he opened his eyes.

“Do I understand it now?”

Chu Liang was in a daze.

He picked up the manual, flipped to the first page, and started reading from the beginning.

Moves, movements, details…

Page after page flipped by.

Countless illustrations and texts rose and fell in his mind, interconnected, gradually weaving into a complete set of saber techniques.

In the second half of the night, Chu Liang finally finished reading it for the second time.

This time, he did not close his eyes to ponder, but directly got up, picked up the horizontal saber, and began to practice saber in the courtyard.

“Swish——!”

The blade cut through the air, cold light overflowing.

Chu Liang’s gaze was cold, his body moved with the saber, wherever he went, saber light flashed, and his whole person had a sharp temperament, like an unsheathed cold saber.

The moonlight was cold and reflected the saber light.

For a time, the small courtyard seemed to be filled with cold saber shadows.

Chu Liang seemed tireless.

One saber…

Another saber…

He seemed to merge with the human figures in the manual. His movements seemed very standard, but they were also somewhat different. Each saber carried his own style.

He practiced like this until dawn!

He did not sleep all night, but he did not feel tired at all. Instead, he felt full of energy.

“Hu…”

◈◈◈

Chu Liang sheathed his saber, his eyes bright, and exhaled a long breath.

The autumn morning was a bit cold, but he was hot all over, with white steam rising from his head, and his Qi and blood surged like a burning furnace.

After practicing saber all night, he finally found that feeling!

The horizontal saber seemed to be an extension of his arm, wielded as easily as his arm, without any awkwardness or stagnation.

Each saber move was like a surging river, continuous and uninterrupted!

“One fierce saber, one swift saber, one unorthodox saber, transforming three sabers into countless sabers, it is indeed a third-rate martial skill!”

Chu Liang was overjoyed.

In just one night, he had already mastered the basics.

Next was just a matter of time. With more time, he could completely master this martial skill and make it a part of himself.

“If a third-rate martial skill is this powerful, what about second-rate and first-rate martial skills?”

Chu Liang couldn’t help but feel expectant.

According to the Evolutionary Appraisal Mirror, this 《Three Autumn Blades》 could continue to evolve.

【Three Autumn Blades（Third-Rate Martial Skill）: Evolvable】

【Provide seventeen Jin of low-rank demon beast flesh and blood, and “Three Autumn Blades（Third-Rate Martial Skill）” can be evolved into “One Autumn Blade（Second-Rate Martial Skill）”】

Three sabers turned into one saber!

Chu Liang was fascinated, but he couldn’t get the flesh and blood of low-rank demon beasts now, so he could only look at the name.

The strength of low-rank demon beasts was comparable to that of human Skin Tempering Realm experts.

The current Chu Liang was far from being the opponent of this kind of demon beast.

“It’s time to go listen to Saber Master’s lecture. Today is the day for the lecture that is held every three days.”

Chu Liang simply ate breakfast, tidied up the things in the courtyard, told the donkey to watch the courtyard, and hurried to the lecture courtyard.

On the way, he passed by the training courtyard where some of the new recruits were.

There was a large group of ordinary people in the courtyard who had not yet sensed their Qi and blood.

Tie Niu was among them.

His face was flushed, and he held a very awkward stance. Perhaps because he had held it for too long, his muscles were sore, and now his whole body was trembling slightly.

“Hold it steady, everyone!”

The martial arts hall master responsible for training them shouted, his expression stern.

“If you can endure the greatest hardship, you will rise above others!”

“If you want to become a martial artist, how can you do it without enduring hardship?”

“Think about the expectations of your parents at home, and think about the humiliation you have suffered in the past. If you can’t even endure this bit of hardship, what will you use to face…”

The martial arts hall master’s voice was coarse, like a sharp gust of sand, scraping past each new recruit’s body.

Hearing his words, the new recruits who were about to give up gritted their teeth and desperately stabilized their trembling bodies. Sweat dripped from their foreheads as they endured every minute and every second.

Seeing this scene, Chu Liang couldn’t help but smile, remembering when he first started practicing martial arts.

No matter who it was, if they wanted to step into the gate of martial arts, they had to endure this kind of hardship.

Tie Niu also saw Chu Liang.

A trace of excitement flashed in his eyes, but he didn’t dare to speak, fearing that once he opened his mouth, he would lose his energy and collapse.

“Hold on.”

Chu Liang smiled and walked past, giving an encouraging look.

He continued forward, walking towards Saber Master’s courtyard.

The courtyard was covered with straw mats, and more than ten people were already sitting cross-legged.

Those who could come here had at least condensed one strand of Qi and blood, and some had already condensed two or even three strands of Qi and blood.

As soon as Chu Liang appeared, he attracted a lot of attention.

“A new recruit?”

Seeing his unfamiliar face, many people were stunned.

A new recruit could come directly to Saber Master’s lecture, which meant that he had already condensed Qi and blood before joining the martial arts hall.

“I am Qi Bai, how should I address you, Martial Brother?” Someone greeted Chu Liang.

“Chu Liang.” Chu Liang responded with a smile.

“Oh? The one who fought the tiger?”

“Yes.”

“Haha, nice to meet you! I didn’t expect to see you here!”

“Nice to meet you too!”

Chu Liang’s reputation in the county town was quite high recently.

Not to mention anything else, just the fact that he had “killed a demon beast” was enough to earn him the respect of many people.

Not every martial artist could kill a demon.

Most martial artists with one strand of Qi and blood did not have this opportunity, and even if they had the opportunity, it was difficult to kill one. Only some martial artists with two or more strands of Qi and blood had killed demon beasts.

Moreover, the demon beast Chu Liang killed was the tiger demon that had been causing trouble for more than a month.

“Junior Martial Brother Chu, I am Liu Qing, from Big Stone Village.”

“Brother Chu, I am Huang He, from the south of the city.”

“Brother Chu…”

Everyone came forward and warmly greeted Chu Liang.

Chu Liang smiled and responded one by one.

As time passed, more and more martial artists came to the courtyard, and soon the number exceeded thirty.

Those who came later, upon hearing Chu Liang’s name, mostly came forward to make friends. Only a few who were naturally cold sat aside by themselves.

After a while, Saber Master arrived.

He was a man with a weathered face, his hair gray and disheveled, and several scars on his rough face. It was unclear how old he was, but he looked to be about fifty.

In his hand was a long saber, shaped like a willow leaf, that was completely black.

“That saber is called ‘Willow Cutter’. It’s a treasure saber, and it’s ranked, not one of those unranked defective treasure sabers. It’s said to be worth more than three thousand taels of silver!”

Beside Chu Liang, a young disciple whispered, his face full of envy.

Ordinary sabers were only a few taels of silver.

But treasure sabers were much more expensive. Even the “unranked treasure sabers”, which were considered defective, cost hundreds of taels, and the better ones were several hundred taels of silver.

Above that were the ranked treasure sabers. Even low-rank treasure sabers were worth thousands of taels of silver.

As for the better mid-rank treasure sabers and high-rank treasure sabers…

Their value was simply unimaginable!