32 — The Flame Of The Broadsword Fox-Flame Technique

Among the outer disciples watching me was Kengun. He was the outer disciple who had previously told me to teach him how to catch the Man-Piercing Birds. He was a user of the Heavy Resonance Sword and was always saying that he wanted a treasure sword.

“Stop putting on airs and get started already.”

Kengun shouted loudly. Yingjie immediately glared at him and silenced him. Thinking what an unpleasant person he was, I merely shrugged and took my stance with a staff in place of a broadsword.

The Broadsword Fox-Flame Technique also had things called routines and forms. But apparently those had to be learned from elders or senior disciples. So I began swinging the staff against imagined opponents, rather like shadowboxing. Since I was swinging it slowly at first, all the outer disciples watched with expressions that said, so this is all it is?

Then, when I began refining my qi, the outer disciples stiffened as though they sensed something. This was where the Broadsword Fox-Flame Technique truly began. Using a special breathing method and key principles, I raised the pressure of my qi and poured it into the staff.

As I swung the staff and poured the pressurized qi into it, qi burst from the tip of the staff and began to shine like flames. It looked as though it were burning.

It seemed the outer disciples could see it too, rather than it being some illusion, and cries of “Oooh!” rose up. The swings of the staff grew sharper, and in the dim dining hall, orange flames danced through the air.

Inside the narrow dining hall, the flames danced freely in every direction, and the outer disciples stared with their eyes wide open. Those flames slashed apart the enemies I had imagined again and again.

When it was over, the surroundings had gone quiet. When I looked around, the outer disciples were staring at me, their mouths half open.

“Amazing. Kou, that was way too amazing.”

“That really was incredible.”

Zengu and Ashin were the first to speak up. Then voices of praise rose one after another. Only Kengun was looking at me with unpleasant eyes.

“Kou, that was splendid. It made me want you to teach me too.”

Yingjie said that. Many of the outer disciples agreed with him.

“Don’t say something unreasonable. To teach the Broadsword Fox-Flame Technique, you’d need an elder’s permission, wouldn’t you?”

Xiaotan said. I had been specially allowed to read the book because I won the Elixir Competition Festival, but the other outer disciples were different.

“I should say this, but my Broadsword Fox-Flame Technique is still nowhere near good enough.”

“How is that still nowhere near good enough?”

Zengu asked.

“The Broadsword Fox-Flame Technique is apparently supposed to make the qi flames really look like they take the shape of a fox.”

“Heh, so that’s how it is.”

I was the type who improved when praised. I became even more motivated and threw myself into practicing the broadsword arts. By the time I had studied the ‘Phoenix Will Broadsword Art,’ the ‘Broadsword Fox-Flame Technique,’ and the ‘Broadsword Performance Forms,’ there were as many as seventeen points I absolutely could not understand.

What I could not understand was that even when I carried things out exactly as written, the results came out differently. So I studied the scroll called the ‘Essential Principles of the Broadsword.’ Then nine of the unclear points were explained.

I continued practicing without being able to resolve the remaining eight unclear points, but when I felt that my training was becoming mere routine, I began investigating the ‘Immortal Qi Body Control Art.’ I had heard that this had been written by Jin Weiru, the founder of Gyorei Cave, and that it had served as the basis for the ‘Immortal Foundation Qi Combat Art’ that I had studied before.

When I compared the ‘Immortal Qi Body Control Art’ and the ‘Immortal Foundation Qi Combat Art,’ their contents were almost identical. However, the ‘Immortal Foundation Qi Combat Art’ had been simplified.

“Simplifying it is fine, but it looks like several key principles were lost in that process.”

The Taoist practitioner who wrote the ‘Immortal Foundation Qi Combat Art’ had probably omitted the key principles he regarded as common sense. When I studied those key principles, they fit the parts of the broadsword arts that had been unclear. As a result, five of the eight remaining unclear points were resolved, leaving only three.

It seemed the rest would have to be taught by an elder. They were probably oral teachings. Still, even with those unclear points remaining, my skill with the broadsword arts improved considerably. Personally, I thought that if I practiced for about one more year, I might be able to defeat a Thunder Bear, though I could not say for certain since I had never actually seen one.

Just as summer ended and I was thinking it was about time to begin preparing to hunt Man-Piercing Birds, I was summoned by Elder Tsuen. When I went to the designated room, Zengu and Ashin were waiting there.

After we waited there for a while, Elder Tsuen entered, accompanied by Kanru, who had won the Martial Competition Festival, and Chenfa, Elder Mon’s direct disciple. Once Elder Tsuen sat down in a chair, he began speaking.

“If you head northeast through the demon realm and proceed to the middle layer, there is a place called the Mushao Plateau. You are to go there and gather Star Dew Fruit.”

Star Dew Fruit was one of the medicinal ingredients used in alchemy. I had heard that this medicinal ingredient was used to make the Renren Pill, and that this immortal medicine reinforced the effects of the Foundation Establishment Pill. In other words, it was a medicine used by Taoist practitioners whose qi level could not be raised by the Foundation Establishment Pill alone.

“Is a place called the Mushao Plateau dangerous?”

Zengu asked. Elder Tsuen gave a grave nod. He said that White Wolves, Red-Eyed Bears, and Flame Spiders inhabited the Mushao Plateau.

“I understand White Wolves and Red-Eyed Bears, but what kind of yōma is a Flame Spider?”

Elder Tsuen turned his eyes toward Kanru.

“Explain it to them.”

According to Kanru’s explanation, the Flame Spider was a giant spider about three meters in length. It was a red-and-black mottled spider, a yōma that spat flames from its mouth.

“I’ll tell you this now: a Flame Spider is not an opponent an outer disciple can defeat. If you encounter one, leave it to the inner disciples.”

“Understood.”

“Yes.”

Zengu and Ashin replied.

After that, we went to the Wallside Hall to prepare for going to the demon realm, and I packed the necessary items into my backpack. Then, last of all, I packed my down jacket and put it on my back. The hot season had already passed, so the Mushao Plateau, being at high elevation, might be cold.

Finally, I took the Demon Spider Greatsword and the White Wolf Warhammer and went outside, where Zengu and Ashin were waiting.

“Did you two bring your down jackets?”

Ashin tilted her head.

“It’s not that season yet, is it?”

“The Mushao Plateau might be cold.”

“You should’ve told us sooner.”

Saying that, Zengu headed toward his room. Ashin also went to get her down jacket.