Guan Shan had been trained by the Famous Sword Manor since childhood, and his martial arts were naturally swordsmanship. He was a first-rate master in the martial arts world. However, he couldn't understand Li Ling's actions at this moment. "You should be practicing swordsmanship."
Li Ling smiled slightly and said, "Grandpa, Uncle Guan! I've been practicing the basic sword techniques of our Famous Sword Manor, but I suddenly realized that... no matter what weapon it is, it's all an extension of fists and feet. If I could train to the point where the longsword is an extension of my body, then I would be amazing."
Li Ling's words stunned the two of them.
"Part of the body?" Yi Yun and Guan Shan were both taken aback.
"This... I've dedicated most of my life to studying swordsmanship, and only now can I master the sword to the point where it feels like an extension of my body," Yi Yun said, taking a deep breath.
"I never expected that you, Feng'er, would grasp this principle at such a young age of thirteen."
Guan Shan's eyes lit up, and he said to Yi Yun, "Old Master, is the young master talking about the realm of 'man and sword as one'? I remember you said that one can only comprehend 'man and sword as one' after reaching the Great Perfection Realm."
Yi Yun nodded and said, "That's right. We sword practitioners practice our swordsmanship until we are proficient, practicing day after day until we reach a minor level of mastery, then a major level, and finally achieve the state of 'man and sword as one'."
After a pause, Yi Yun continued, "To achieve even a minor or major mastery of swordsmanship, one only needs to practice day and night, become more proficient in the sword technique, gain more confidence in the sword in hand, and persevere."
To achieve the state of 'man and sword as one,' one must first attain mastery through acquired skills, then cultivate spiritual power to perceive subtle changes in swordsmanship and the human body. Only then can one reach the state of 'man and sword as one,' where the sword and body become one.
At this point, Yi Yun looked at Li Ling and asked, "Feng'er, how did you make the longsword a part of your body?"
Guan Shan also looked at Li Ling.
Li Ling smiled smugly: "This is one of the methods I came up with. Grasp the hilt of the sword and feel the power of the longsword. When you've practiced to the point where you can clearly sense even a fly landing on the longsword, that's about it."
In fact, this method is the "spear stance" of Tai Chi, one of the three major internal martial arts in the real world.
The effects of the "Dragon's Roar Iron Shirt" that Li Ling practiced were the same as those of internal martial arts. Both could be trained to the level of a grandmaster in the Dharma-ending Age, achieving perfect control over the body's strength. Of course, Li Ling had referenced the training methods of internal martial arts in the real world.
The big spear stake is actually quite simple to explain.
That's listening skill!
When you train to the point where you can clearly feel even a single hair touching the spear, your "listening to the force" becomes so sensitive that the spear becomes as natural as your own hands and feet.
Reaching this level, once on the battlefield and clashing with the opponent's weapons, one could easily follow the opponent's force and slip into their body like a venomous snake, leaving a hole inside.
In a true battle between masters, the enemy is always defeated in a single move.
If a spear can do this, then a longsword certainly can too.
As the successor of the Famous Sword Manor, from now on, swordsmanship will be the foundation upon which Li Ling relies for survival. Of course, he must lay a solid foundation, and he will definitely study the 'long sword stance' evolved from the 'spear stance' carefully.
Li Ling himself cultivated the "Dragon's Roar Iron Shirt" technique, which gave him control over all his muscles and strength. Before he transmigrated to this world, he had never practiced swordsmanship. Although he had the experience of Yi Jifeng practicing swordsmanship since childhood, Li Ling still wanted to master the longsword again.
"Holding a sword, feeling its power?"
Yi Yun and Guan Shan were both deep in thought. They had never thought of this before. They had always become proficient with their swords by practicing swordsmanship over a long period of time. They never expected that Li Ling would do the opposite today, first becoming proficient with his swordsmanship and then practicing swordsmanship.
After a long while, Yi Yun chuckled and said, "Feng'er, although this is the first time I've heard of your method, in my opinion, it is theoretically feasible. However, whether it will be effective in practice remains to be seen."
As he spoke, Yi Yun turned to Guan Shan behind him and said, "Da Shan, we can try to promote Feng'er's method to the guards of our manor and let them practice for a while to see how it goes, but remember not to spread it outside."
"Yes, Elder Master." Guan Shan replied respectfully, and his gaze toward Li Ling changed. He hadn't expected that the young master would think of this at such a young age. Weapons are an extension of the body. How come he had never thought of this before after practicing swordsmanship for decades?
Thinking about it, Guan Shan shook his head and chuckled. Thousands of martial artists in the martial world first practiced sword techniques and moves to achieve the state of 'man and sword as one'. No one thought of first becoming fully proficient with a longsword and achieving the state of 'man and sword as one' before practicing sword techniques and moves in reverse.
After giving Li Ling a few words of advice, Yi Yun asked Guan Shan to push him back. They wanted to extend this method to the guards of the manor and see the specific effects.
Li Ling smiled as he observed his grandfather and Guan Shan's reactions.
The spear stance is widely recognized as the best spear training method in internal martial arts. Therefore, the longsword stance, derived from it, is naturally no less effective.
"Weapons are always an extension of fists and feet! To master weapons, you must first master fists and feet to an extremely high level. Otherwise, what's the point of talking about using weapons?"
My Dragon Roar Iron Shirt technique has reached the master level in terms of physical strength; I can perfectly control my muscles and power. Now is the perfect time to practice swordsmanship.
"Moreover, I also have mental power. Just as my grandfather said, in this world, martial artists need to achieve the state of 'man and sword as one' to master it through acquired skills, and then generate their own mental power to perceive subtle changes. I myself meet this requirement."
"I use my mental energy to observe my entire body, and if I do anything wrong, my mental energy can immediately provide feedback to my brain."
Based on the feedback, my body will make further adjustments. With perfect control over my body combined with the regulation of my mental energy, I believe my progress should be quite rapid.
Li Ling smiled and held the sword once more, this time with one hand, his body emitting a very faint humming sound.
This is the sound produced by muscles and bones.
"A month's staff, a year's knife, a lifetime's spear, and a treasured sword at all times—these sword techniques, like spear techniques, are extremely complex and difficult to master. Although my control over my body has reached the level of a grandmaster, my swordsmanship is still far from sufficient."
Once I have fully mastered the longsword in my hand, making it an integral part of my body, I will then relearn the basic sword techniques and delve into the "Ten Forms of the Heavenly Sword."
Many people spend their entire lives practicing swordsmanship but still don't qualify as masters, which gives you an idea of how difficult it is to master swordsmanship.
The sword is the most versatile short weapon. Like the spear, its primary attack is thrusting, and the principles of swordsmanship are largely the same as those of the spear. However, the sword is agile and requires extremely high levels of skill in wrist and body movement.
To master swordsmanship, one must always carry the sword with them and maintain a feel for it. Otherwise, if one doesn't touch the sword for a few days, they will lose their feel for it, and their skills will suffer.
In general, the smaller the attack point of a weapon, the harder it is to master, which is why spears and swords are difficult to master.
The thirteen fundamental sword techniques are: hang, stroke, wrap, deflect, circle, chop, cut, pick, flick, stab, thrust, pierce, and scissors. Any sword move, if broken down completely, is contained within these thirteen techniques.
After mastering the longsword, Li Ling planned to practice these thirteen moves until they were ingrained in his bones. As the saying goes, sharpening the axe won't delay the work of chopping wood. Only after perfectly mastering the basics would Li Ling plan to pursue higher levels of swordsmanship.
With such a plan in mind, Li Ling knew that after mastering the basics of swordsmanship, he would need to fully master the "Ten Forms of Heavenly Sword," which would take more than three to five years to achieve.
The "Ten Styles of Famous Swords" correspond to the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, with two sword moves for each element. Sword techniques that possess their own element are very difficult to master, because to master moves with an element, one must have a corresponding understanding of the mysteries of heaven and earth.
As for the supreme sword technique of the Famous Sword Manor, the "Eight Forms of the Famous Sword," it corresponds to seven realms of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements, and can only be learned after reaching the Innate level. (The remaining text appears to be unrelated and likely refers to a separate entity or event.)