Punished
“Winning Through Reason?” Jiang Chen mentioned Huang Yuzao’s sword’s name as though it was just any other sword. “That’s the very sword Yu Sihe used to claim leadership over Confucianism. It’s been twenty years. Mm… this is not how it’s supposed to go. Every generation’s leader of Confucianism should have their own sword. You Confucians love to distinguish yourselves as special individuals, after all. Didn’t anyone object when you decided to use the erstwhile leader’s sword? Ah, I see. I see. How touching it is to see you decide to wield it until the day you have avenged him. You have my sympathy.”
Yu Sihe didn’t invest time investing in polishing his swordplay or leave East China Sea. As a consequence, he had little experience in combat. His sword was just a sword that his mentor gave him as a graduation gift. He didn’t take extra care of it because it was particular sharp or anything of that nature. It was bound to be damaged if he used it in a violent fight. The only solution to that was either not fighting or being significantly superior. It was because he soundly defeated his opponents and won over the entire group that they named his sword “Winning Through Reason”, where the word “Reason” shared the same character as “Principle” in “Principle of Six”, that the ordinary sword became a famous weapon. He simply stuck with it as he had no desire for material wealth or bragging rights.
Despite being permitted to carry his weapon into the imperial palace for meetings, Huang Yuzao always visited unarmed. That was until he inherited his late mentor’s sword. Up until then, martial artists practitioners in the imperial court had no idea Confucianism’s leader wielded a weapon. One thing they had yet to know was just how impressive Huang Yuzao really was with a sword.
“What needs to be said has been said. Arm yourself.”
“I must respond in kind if you are going to pick that famous sword.” Jiang Chen stopped to think, then said, “Give me a moment.” He spun around to scour his chair whilst continuing, “I prepared a present for you, but I’ve forgotten where I placed it. Shitou, if you can remember, help me out. Where did I put it?”
Suffice to say, no present was going to persuade Huang Yuzao into sparing Jiang Chen, so searching for one was a pointless endeavour. Yet, Jiang Chen really did take out something from underneath the tiger fur. When he chucked it at the ground, the blade dug into the ground without a single sound.
The dark-purple broadsword plugged into the ground didn’t have a dazzling appearance. In saying that, one close look would reveal that the blade was reinforced with layers on top of layers of metal and iron.
Huang Yuzao was taken aback when he saw the weapon he knew far too well. As a matter of fact, it would be reaching if one were to claim that any famous broadsword or sword wielder didn’t recognise it.
“Seven Dynasty-Founding Blades… Punished?”
Originally, the weapon that a ruthless and tyrannical general wielded a century ago was nameless. Even from the perspective of an era of turmoil, he killed a lot. It was through all the blood it tasted that the blade turned from silver into its eventual dark purple. Its sinister appearance became notorious for stealing the mind of targets right before they realised they were about to die.
Because he killed over a thousand of Li Clan’s warriors, Li Dynasty’s progenitor marched against him in a fit of rage. Against his strategies, combat prowess and disadvantageous terrain, Li Dynasty’s progenitor couldn’t do anything against his forces. In a peaceful era, he was not the sort of man peace advocates would want on a throne. In a war-torn era, though, he was the man an army would want on their side. His only shortcomings were is over-reliance on his might and his penchant to choose bloody strategies.
Hero Shenzhou leveraged the general’s shortcomings against him to create a scenario where he would have to fight Li Dynasty’s progenitor in a one-on-one match. Li Dynasty’s progenitor would remember it as one of his toughest fights and the closest he had been to annihilation. In the end, nevertheless, it was Li Dynasty’s progenitor who returned the next afternoon of the duel with the fallen general’s weapon.
The bright sun on that day illuminated the silver armour Li Dynasty’s progenitor wore. At the same time, it highlighted his numerous wounds. Amazingly, he didn’t appear the slightest bit sluggish or hurt. To the contrary, he bore his wounds as medals of honour. Those who saw him make his walk felt he looked even stronger than when he departed.
Li Dynasty’s progenitor pointed his sword toward the ether and thundered, “I have slain your general and taken his blade. His body has fallen into the gap between the mountains and will soon be the mountainous beasts’ dinner. What sort of merciful deaths are you expecting if you hurt the innocent?”
It was said that the number of deserters crushed under horse hooves outnumbered those killed in actual combat by ten times, thus becoming one of the legends associated with Li Dynasty’s progenitor. That was also the battle that solidified Li Clan as the new most-qualified leader for the new era. His legendary ten-days duel against Hero Shenzhou followed after the battle.
Due to the amount of blood that the blade had spilt, Li Dynasty’s progenitor, after much brooding, decided to call it “Punished for Ten Sins”, meaning it was a sinner among broadswords. For the same reason, while he loved the other six Seven Dynasty-Founding Blades, he disliked this particular broadsword.
It wasn’t until the former Emperor’s generation that the blade was trusted to someone else. He bestowed Punished upon the King of bandits, Gu Wuzhu. It was only a matter of time before his group of bandits were crushed when him and his bandits were always making more enemies. As a result, Punished went missing and somehow ended up in Jiang Chen’s possession.
Jiang Chen: “Given it’s the weapon of Confucianism’s former leader, I must use something rare to show respect. Does this weapon express enough respect?”
“It does.” Huang Yuzao smiled as he stroked his beard. “There couldn’t have been a better weapon to keep you company to hell.”
Huang Yuzao made his move, producing a sound akin to a wind sweeping up rain droplets, then splashing them at a target.
“Beautiful ‘Drizzle With the Wind’!” Jiang Chen picked up Punished as he charged forward into the rain screen.
Jiang Chen didn’t decelerate whatsoever as he threw himself forward, taking all the droplets of rain as if he was a rock. In the instant before impact with Huang Yuzao, howbeit, he roared. As he dragged Punished from his rear to the front, he ushered all the sword qi around his broadsword, then whipped it over to Huang Yuzao’s sword.
To anyone who’s name wasn’t Huang Yuzao, “Winning Through Reason” was just an ordinary weapon. To Huang Yuzao, though, it was a symbol of his mentor’s honour and wrongful death. Jiang Chen targeted the sword first to humiliate Huang Yuzao’s abilities and to force Huang Yuzao into protecting something he treasured. Jiang Chen had nothing to lose and everything to gain if Huang Yuzao cancelled his attack to defend. If he didn’t, it still served its purpose of getting in Huang Yuzao’s head.
“Your dishonourable tricks won’t work on me!” Huang Yuzao swung down without hesitation.
The further down Jiang Chen swung, the slower his seemed to travel. Three inches away from contact with Huang Yuzao’s sword, Jiang Chen couldn’t gain another inch. As they were both pushing against each other, all technique became irrelevant as it devolved into a brute strength contest.
If one were to think of Huang Yuzao’s sword qi as a wall, then Punished was a blade sharp enough to cut into it but not through it.
Principle of Six referred to six features: dao, virtues, temperament, spirit, wisdom and life. These six things existed everywhere and were observable everywhere. Principle of Six Swordplay observed the internal structure of phenomenon one’s senses could detect. It started with the small components and ended with the big completed image; it built from one into two, from two into three. The swordplay observed the principles of nature and didn’t support thoughtless action. Consequently, it required practitioners to learn to quell the chaos within them to regain composure. No matter how adroit the opponent was or crafty their techniques were, they were still subjected to the laws of a system.
It was easy to talk about the swordplay, but it took an enormous amount of practice and introspection to understand how to measure all entities with the principle of six, as well as how to regain their composure once they lost it. It was the same as learning to turn one thread into a complete product.
Jiang Chen couldn’t push further forward or pull Punished out of Huang Yuzao’s qi wall. Meanwhile, Huang Yuzao thrust his sword at Jiang Chen, forcing the latter to raise his arm for a block.
Glossary
No matter how adroit the opponent was or crafty their techniques were, they were still subjected to the laws of a system – So that you may be more appreciative of what’s being said here, and just not think it’s word vomit, I’ll put this in a less abstract way for you. No matter what, all combat must respect certain principles. As long as you are aware of those principles, it’s possible to find a counter. For instance, if you are in close range (close enough to land elbows and knees), and you go side on to your opponent, you’re at a disadvantage if they are square on. Why? Because you only have one leg and one arm to work with, while they have two arms and two legs to work with. You don’t have as much time to think and react at that distance compared to when you are farther away. Additionally, the opponent can just turn by your shoulder to get your back, not to mention you’ve already turned 90 out of 180 degrees for them. Thus, no matter how good you quick and crafty you are, fighting side on at that range is putting yourself at a disadvantage no matter what discipline/cross discipline contest you’re in; it’s four against two.
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