Star Gate

Chapter 182: Ghost Shadow Sword (I)

Time paused for no one; it marched inexorably onward. It was mid August in the blink of an eye.

The entire Silver City Night Watcher branch improved by the day. Everyone steadily digested the gains from killing multiple powerhouses in their last battle. The harvest from one operation eclipsed gains that the Demon Hunters accumulated over the years. All members advanced at a rapid clip.

Liu Yan finally set foot into mid Sunderer. Although Wu Chao and Chen Jian didn’t take another step forward, they were close to mid Sunderer as well.

The supernaturals of the branch showed even faster progress. All that Darkmoons required was sufficient mysterious power to swiftly improve. If one had already found the third supernatural lock, they only needed sufficient mysterious power to open it and set foot into Sunflare. Thus, Li Meng and the others made great strides forward.

The fastest rate of improvement came not from Li Meng or Hu Hao. They possessed unique abilities and could only absorb unattributed mysterious power in the absence of energy that matched them. Hu Hao was better off in that he could take in some wind energy to strengthen himself. These days, Li Meng was interested in martial dao and devoted her efforts there. This resulted in her making the modest move from initial Crescent to peak Crescent. She didn’t even reach Halfmoon.

Yun Yao showed the fastest rate of improvement. A water supernatural now, she was previously a peak Slayer. Crossing over as a martial master meant that her physique was stronger than homegrown supernaturals and she had a pool of internal force to convert. Thus, she set foot into Halfmoon before Li Meng did.

Hu Hao was previously peak Crescent and also reached Halfmoon.

This left Wang Ming and his high rate of energy conversion. Although he hadn’t been a Fullmoon for long, he ascended to Plenilune on August 15 after furiously absorbing mysterious power. Now it was time for him to prepare to be a Sunflare—this was a development that he didn’t anticipate before arriving in Silver City.

He’d thought it would be good enough to take a step forward after half a year in his new post. Who would’ve thought he’d make the leap less than a month after arriving? He’d advanced during each of the two times he visited Silver City! By now, Wang Ming felt that this city was more like his land of fortune and prosperity.

......

For more or less, every member of the branch found progress. Eliminating the Qiaos handsomely benefited all of the Silver City Night Watchers. After Li Hao broke through to peak Sunderer, he spent the rest of his days studying the little sword. Not only that, but he also asked his teacher for sword methods.

The stroke he knew of cut down the enemy and the self. It was best not to use it until the last possible second. In that case, the young man wished to learn some sword techniques and basic sword methods.

The New Book of Five Styles centered on the fist, claw, and foot. It did not involve weapons. While Yuan Shuo wasn’t versed in sword methods, he knew of them. His knowledge and experience was so vast that there was almost nothing he didn’t know.

The front yard of the Yuan residence.

Yuan Shuo thought for a bit upon hearing his student’s request. “There were once the Seven Swordsmen of Silver Moon. Known throughout the province, I don’t know how many are left as most of them are dead.

“One of them was known as the Shadow Swordsman! He was renowned throughout the Silver Moon martial world for his technique of the Ghost Shadow Sword! Soundless and formless, it was as dogged as a shadow. Covert, sinister, and vicious were its core tenets—and speed!”

The professor thought for a moment longer. “He was a peak Sunderer and had comprehended the aura of the shadow. It was like night fell when he deployed his sword. The gloom concealed everything about his move, enabling him to frequently occupy the upper hand when it came to battle.”

The Ghost Shadow Sword! Li Hao was very interested in this technique.

“Teacher, I call my move the Sever Self Stroke! Its key lies in being fast, vicious, and keen, but it's mostly used in direct frontal combat. If I also know the Ghost Shadow Sword, people will think that I’m skilled with unpredictable sword methods that are easy to maneuver. If I then deploy the Sever Self Stroke in a moment of surprise, I think most won’t be able to react in time.”

Simply put, he wanted to learn the Ghost Shadow Sword.

“I can teach you if you want to learn!” Yuan Shuo smiled. “I happen to know the technique and its breathing method.”

Why did he know that? Li Hao glanced at his teacher. “...teacher. How many of the Seven Swordsmen did you kill?”

“......” Yuan Shuo glared at him. You make me out to be a demon! “What how many? I didn’t even kill half of them, just three! It has nothing to do with me if the rest are dead!”

I knew it! Li Hao couldn’t hold back his curiosity any longer. “Teacher, has no one teamed up to take vengeance on you given that you’ve killed so many people?”

It must’ve been so hard for his teacher to survive till present day!

“You stick your nose in a lot of areas!” Yuan Shuo glared at him. So the little guy was poking around in his affairs now, huh? And does it look like I’ll tell you just because you’re curious? Some of his past was indeed nothing upstanding to talk about. Thus, the professor evaded the topic.

“If you learn the Ghost Shadow Sword, you’ll know three secret arts. When it comes to martial masters, it’s best to walk the path of one method from beginning to end!”

Why was that?

Because of the breathing methods associated with each art.

One of the major drawbacks of martial dao was that each art possessed a proprietary breathing method. Switching to another method necessitated adjusting one’s breathing. The slightest hiccup could result in missteps that the enemy could take advantage of.

Therefore, even someone as strong as Yuan Shuo wasn’t omnipotent. He didn’t know how to utilize weapons. When he wielded the stone blade, he did it as an extension of his claw or fist. He didn’t really use it as a blade.

The secret arts of martial masters would not be rendered obsolete with the times. The stronger one was, the stronger the secret art. Thus, one art was often sufficient. Experts that focused on one art were famed in Silver Moon’s martial world back in the day. They were uniquely skilled in either the sword, staff, fist, or spear.

While Yuan Shuo naturally wished for his student to be strong, he still cautioned, “Everyone wishes to be a martial master adept in all disciplines. But a jack of all trades is a master of none. This can become a grave problem!

“Powerhouses often die when they need to switch between breathing methods. This is their most probable likelihood of fatality!”

A martial master proficient in identifying battle timing easily captured split second pauses.

“I understand.” Li Hao nodded. “Teacher, the Five Styles were separate when you first started practicing them. You later incorporated them into one and unified them with one breathing method, right?”

This was one of Yuan Shuo’s greatest accomplishments in his life. However, the professor frowned and didn’t speak for a while.

“Firstly, there are similarities between the five animals! Secondly, I didn’t create the Five Styles wholly from my imagination. It was recorded in ancient records, so I did not build a towering building from laying the foundations. I stood on top of its rubble and built up from what was already there.”

He looked at his student. “While I do not think I am lesser than anyone, I do not have the confidence to say that I can create the Five Styles from scratch.”

He wanted to warn Li Hao to not aim too high! Even he, a savant of ancient knowledge and sage of modern wisdom, dared not say he could consolidate the Nine Forged Force, Ghost Shadow Sword, and Five Styles into one through a new breathing method.

The young man didn’t say anything else. Let’s just take things one step at a time. In any case, he still needed to learn a sword method.

Yuan Shuo was just offering a reminder, he knew Li Hao wouldn’t give up. Not to mention, the young man should be picking up the sword.

“Think on it and I will teach you the Ghost Shadow Sword today!” Yuan Shuo rose and lifted his hand, summoning a longsword from the rack of weaponry in the yard. As a grandmaster, he wielded the sword with more poise than Li Hao, despite not being practiced at the weapon.

The longsword swept through the air while Li Hao watched raptly. He knew that his teacher was putting on a demonstration for his benefit, so he drank everything in.

The longsword flitted through the air like a shadow. Despite it being broad daylight, only a hint of light and shadow could be seen. There was no sound.

Fast, discrete. Such were the characteristics of the Ghost Shadow Sword. The resulting noise of the weapon breaking through the air seemed to be concealed by its breathing method. As Yuan Shuo breathed in and out, he created a void around the sword and placed it in a vacuum. That made it possible for the sword to dance even more gracefully and for it to be utterly silent.

It was a very unique sword method!

Li Hao carefully sensed everything. If he could utilize this method in his other arts, it would be quite a feat to make both his fists and swords soundless.

A vacuum...

A vacuum wasn’t the true absence of sound; it just eliminated sound to the greatest degree possible. This was an exceptional technique for assassins and killers! How had his teacher killed the Shadow Swordsman??

Yuan Shuo deployed twelve strokes in quick succession. Li Hao could tell from their trajectory that this was a brutal sword technique. Each stroke stabbed straight at a vital point.

Moments later, Yuan Shuo retracted the sword and heaved an exhale. It was as if a clap of thunder and a beam of white light shone out of nothing, piercing through the air.

“The final stroke of the Ghost Shadow Sword lies not with the sword, but in this breath!” Yuan Shuo said solemnly. “Under most circumstances, opponents will only care about your weapon. When you put it away, they’ll think you’re switching to another method or are about to surrender. No one knows that this final stroke is the most treacherous!

“The Ghost Shadow Sword breathing method continuously devours the air around it and accumulates qi as force. All of it is exhaled in the last moment, creating a mouthful of sword qi that exceeds the strokes from before. That is the true core of the Ghost Shadow Sword!”

Li Hao nodded.

“This last stroke was the one that almost killed me...” Yuan Shuo continued, not afraid to reveal his weakness. “I, too, thought that he lacked the strength to battle on when he returned his sword to a defensive position. I wanted to destroy him with my next move, but he suddenly breathed outward and almost shattered my heart with that final stroke!”

He sometimes thought back to his fight with the Shadow Swordsman. He’d almost lost his life that day, despite occupying the upper hand throughout the entire battle. It was apparent from this that battle was not a simple matter of who was stronger. He could’ve died in a moment of carelessness. Thank goodness the stroke had been a little off center and missed the fatal point of his heart!