Foundational Qi Combat Art

After beginning their training in Foundational Qi Combat Art, Yingjie and Xiaotan continued for several days and began to feel they were getting results. They realized that the movements written in Foundational Qi Combat Art could be applied to Layered Resonance Sword, which Yingjie was training in, and Plum Blossom Spearmanship, which Xiaotan was studying.

“What do you think?”

“What Kou said was true. Foundational Qi Combat Art really is a foundational martial art.”

Hearing that, Xiaotan nodded.

“I felt the same way. But there’s something that doesn’t sit right with me.”

Yingjie turned his gaze to Xiaotan.

“What doesn’t sit right?”

“The fact that the inner disciples and elders, who should have been teaching us, stayed silent about something this important.”

“It was so obvious they didn’t bother mentioning it… though that doesn’t seem to be the case either.”

“If you think about it that way, there are only two possibilities left. Either they think it is part of training for the outer disciples to realize it on their own, or they do not want outer disciples becoming inner disciples.”

“The latter is probably more likely. What an unpleasant bunch.”

“Do the inner disciples think of us as rivals?”

At Xiaotan’s question, Yingjie shook his head and denied it.

“No. I think they see us as nothing more than errand boys. That’s why they don’t even want to teach us the basics of martial arts.”

Around the time Yingjie and the others began training in Foundational Qi Combat Art, I was also trying to find ways to fuse the movements I had learned from Foundational Qi Combat Art with the techniques of Meisen Swordsmanship.

Meisen Swordsmanship made closing the distance with an opponent in one rush by using the footwork of the Shrinking Earth Method and unleashing a slash the core of its offense. That slash was meant to accurately cut through vital points, and it could defeat weak yōma. However, since it had originally been a martial art for fighting people, I expected it would not work against tough yōma with high defense.

That Meisen Swordsmanship evolved by applying the movements of Foundational Qi Combat Art. Its speed and power became vastly different, to the point that I thought it might even be able to defeat yōma of a certain level.

The combination of Meisen Swordsmanship and Foundational Qi Combat Art produced attacks with tremendous sharpness. But my weapon, the mountain blade, seemed mismatched for it. I lifted the mountain blade in front of me and stared at it.

“If I try to cut through a tree trunk with this mountain blade, it might not be able to withstand it.”

The speed at which I swung the mountain blade had become many times faster through qi enhancement. The mountain blade I had bought had a thick blade, so it probably would not break in one or two strikes, but if I kept using it, it looked like it would eventually fail.

I gripped the mountain blade and used the Shrinking Earth Method toward a tree trunk. My body accelerated with precise weight transfer and leg strength enhanced by qi. That footwork had almost no preliminary movement called an “initiation,” and in an instant I closed the distance and swung the mountain blade.

The mountain blade, swung with enough force to seem as though it could even cut the wind, bit into a tree branch and sliced it clean through. If it were a human neck, it seemed like it could sever it in one blow. I decided to name this technique “Wind Cutter.” However, “Wind Cutter” was still incomplete.

From the movement without any initiation, the acceleration and the action of fully swinging the mountain blade had not yet become completely one. If that became complete, it would probably become an attack no person could dodge.

I had been practicing Meisen Swordsmanship in a flat area near the Wallside Hall when I sensed someone approaching.

“So you were here.”

When I looked, it was Zengu, one of my cohort. Apparently, he had been looking for me.

“Do you need something?”

“Senior brother Yingjie is looking for you.”

“All right.”

I headed to Yingjie’s room together with Zengu. When I knocked on the door, I heard Yingjie’s voice, and when I went inside, Yingjie and Xiaotan were waiting. Zengu left for his own room as though his errand was done.

“Huh? Senior brother Xiaotan is here too?”

“Yes, I wanted to talk to you about Foundational Qi Combat Art.”

“About what we talked about in the library? Was something wrong?”

“No, you were right. So there’s something I want to ask you—would it be all right if we taught the other outer disciples about Foundational Qi Combat Art?”

“As for Foundational Qi Combat Art, I don’t think it was ever really meant to be a secret, so I don’t mind.”

A martial art taught even to outer disciples was probably only a foundation to the inner disciples. There was no point in keeping that foundation secret.

Yingjie nodded to me with a smile.

“As expected, Kou, you’re broad-minded. Another ten years and you might even become an inner disciple.”

What a joke. I had no intention of waiting ten years. I was planning to become an inner disciple in two or three years at most, even if it took a while.

“Senior brother Yingjie, did the seniors who became inner disciples from the outer disciples really take that long?”

“Yes. It seems it took at least around ten years.”

“Why did it take so long?”

“It seems the hardest part was raising their qi level to the Eighth Tier. And I’ve heard it was also difficult to become able to defeat a Thunder Bear.”

“Can’t a Thunder Bear be defeated with Layered Resonance Sword or Plum Blossom Spearmanship?”

“To become able to defeat one with those takes around ten years of training.”

Did that mean Thunder Bears were really that formidable? I would have to investigate one carefully at some point. Even to investigate one, I would need to become strong enough to at least escape from a Thunder Bear.

The conversation continued after that, and since I was able to draw out various kinds of information from Yingjie and Xiaotan, it turned into a worthwhile day.

A few days later, Yingjie and the others gathered the outer disciples and explained Foundational Qi Combat Art to them. After hearing that, Zengu and Ashin came to see me.

“When you say Foundational Qi Combat Art, that’s the thing you’ve been practicing, right?”

Zengu asked to confirm.

“Yes, it is.”

“Then could you teach Foundational Qi Combat Art to us too?”

I had heard that teaching others could also become study for oneself, so I decided to accept, on the condition that it would only be the basics.

“By the way, are the two of you studying the Immortal Secret Script?”

When I asked, Zengu and Ashin looked away. It seemed they had come to rely on me because they could not read the Immortal Secret Script. If it was only teaching the basics, that should be fine.