Thinking of this, Nishihira Kojiro gently stroked the hilt of his sword at his waist. The wooden hilt of "Zanmei Maru" had been worn smooth and rounded by him over the years. Now, with his palm resting on the hilt, every grain of the wood was intimately familiar.
Nishihira Kojiro gently drew the Zanmeimaru, the blade flicking against his skin. Then, with a sudden surge of determination, he roared, gripped the sword with both hands, and delivered a fierce feint slash!
With a roar, the sword flashed with a brilliant light, extremely sharp!
But just then, a lazy voice came from behind the bridge, tinged with dissatisfaction, as if muttering, "Why are you making such a racket here in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"
The voice was languid, yet it seemed to come from right behind Kojiro. Kojiro's expression changed, and he abruptly turned around, staring in astonishment at the figure behind him! A figure had appeared out of nowhere, standing silently at one end of the small stone bridge. In the moonlight, a square face, bearing a strange smile, was looking at him with a half-smile.
"Who are you?! Who are you?!"
Since the other party was speaking Chinese, Nishihira Kojiro naturally started asking questions in Chinese as well.
The man slowly took two steps forward. He looked to be about forty years old, with a square face and a faint stubble of stubble on his chin. He was wearing a denim uniform that looked like that of a mechanic, with patches of black machine oil stains all over his body.
The man walked up to Nishihira Kojiro, took a cigarette from behind his ear, and put it in his mouth. He then felt in his jacket pocket, took out a box of matches, lit the cigarette, and took a leisurely puff. His eyes, hidden in the swirling blue smoke, looked at Nishihira Kojiro and smiled, "You lost to that Chinese boy today, and you're not convinced, are you?"
Upon hearing this, Nishihira Kojiro's expression changed drastically, and he shouted angrily, "Who are you! How do you know?!" The man chuckled, a cigarette dangling from his fingertips, "Who I am... I won't answer that question for now. It's just that this old man came all the way here to keep an eye on that kid, afraid he'd cause trouble. Today, during the day, I hid in a tree outside the yard and watched you fight him... Sigh..." He shook his head, seemingly with some regret, and looked at Nishihira Kojiro, "...Actually, you're not bad, very good."
His gaze fell on the "Zanmeimaru" in Nishihira Kojiro's hand, and he smiled and said, "What chrysanthemum leaf tattoo, what famous Edo blade, it's all bullshit. No matter how good the sword is, if it doesn't meet a good swordsman, it's just a piece of scrap metal. Many people seem to understand this principle, but they don't really understand it in their hearts. You are good, you are a person who truly understands it."
Nishihira Kojiro stared at the man in astonishment, his heart filled with turmoil!
During the day, hiding in the tree to spy on others?
In the Shangchen family's Quanliu Palace, someone actually managed to sneak in unnoticed and hide by the Heart Sword on the mountain to spy on them!
During the day, in the courtyard, the Eight Heroes of the Upper Moon, plus the three of us, were all renowned masters in Japan. How could not a single one of them notice that someone was spying on them?!
"You're familiar with this sword, aren't you?" The man took a drag of his cigarette, then suddenly asked, "How many grain lines are there on the hilt?"
“Forty-six lines, thirteen broken lines, twenty-one diagonal lines, twelve vertical lines…” For some reason, Nishihira Kojiro answered the question without thinking.
A satisfied glint flashed in the man's eyes: "Is there a nick on the blade?"
“Three small ones and one big one, two of whom are Shin-gumi,” Nishihira Kojiro answered without hesitation.
"What about the sword's weight?"
"Eleven pounds and seven ounces." Nishihira Kojiro hesitated for a moment, feeling a little strange. Why did he instinctively answer so honestly when asked a question? But after hesitating, he simply continued, "However, now there are only eleven pounds and two ounces left." His expression was very serious: "This sword has been sharpened many times over. The tip of the blade has been worn too thin in some places, and I plan to find a skilled craftsman to help me reforge it..."
"Hahahaha!" The man laughed a few times, then his eyes suddenly narrowed as he stared at Nishihira Kojiro: "Your greatest wish in learning swordsmanship is to surpass Kamishin Ittō-ryū?"
This wish in Nishihira Kojiro's heart was no secret. He was often ridiculed by people from other schools of Japanese swordsmanship. Although he was already a famous swordsman in Japan, the Izumiryu-gu school was currently at its peak, with a grandmaster like Takeuchi Bunzan. Although Nishihira Kojiro's strength was not bad, everyone thought that he was daydreaming and wanted to surpass the Kamitatsu family. It was simply a pipe dream.
Now this person had said it to his face. Nishihira Kojiro couldn't help but puff out his chest and arrogantly said, "That's exactly right, so what! Are you going to laugh at me too?"
Upon hearing this, the person merely curled their lip: "Making fun of you? Why would I make fun of you? What is the Shangchen Itto-ryu style anyway, hmph..."
The cigarette in the man's hand was already mostly stained. He casually threw the cigarette butt into the river, then magically pulled out a cigarette from his sleeve, lit it, walked over to Nishihira Kojiro, and gently patted him on the shoulder.
This gesture was far too intimate. Nishihira Kojiro tried to dodge, but even though he made the movement, the other's hand still landed so easily on his shoulder! The clapping motion seemed perfectly natural!
Nishihira Kojiro's expression changed again!
"Actually, there's no need to be upset about losing to that kid today. You and he don't cultivate the same kind of martial arts. Your martial arts skills are far superior to his, it's just that your strength is much weaker. He only uses brute force to overcome skill." The man smoked his cigarette and said casually, "However, if you want to surpass the Shangchen family, I can give you some pointers."
Even if Nishihira Kojiro were an idiot, he would know that he had probably encountered one of those legendary "masters".
His expression was strange. He took two steps back, but looked at the other person warily: "Who... exactly are you?!"
The man glanced at Nishihira Kojiro and said calmly, "The Kamishin family... can truly be considered the number one school of swordsmanship in Japan. The Kamishin family's swordsmanship is unique, and among the many schools in Japan, it is the most profound. Takeuchi Bunzan, and the former Jingu Naoyuki—their ability to become top-tier swordsmanship masters in Japan is not only due to their exceptional talent, but also because the swordsmanship passed down from the Kamishin family is indeed extraordinary. Do you know what the Kamishin family's strongest technique is?"
Nishihira Kojiro frowned and thought for a moment: "I heard that Master Takeuchi Bunzan's True Nine Dragons Flash can already be divided into twenty-four variations, and the sword energy is stronger than ever before! This True Nine Dragons Flash should be the strongest ultimate technique of the Shangchen family."
To everyone's surprise, the man scoffed, "The Real Nine Dragons Flash? What rubbish!"
He then smiled gently and said slowly, "The strongest secret technique of the Shangchen family is their trump card, which has been passed down for hundreds of years; the Heart Sword Technique! Whether you call it the True Nine Dragon Flash or the Fake Nine Dragon Flash, they are just moves. Moves are the body, and the heart technique is the foundation! Speaking of which, the Heart Sword Technique of the Shangchen family can indeed be considered a secret technique."
"Heart Sword Technique? What is that? Is it a superb sword technique?" Nishihira Kojiro's expression shifted.
The man smiled faintly: "It's not swordsmanship. To be precise, the Heart Sword Technique has no direct relationship with the sword. It's just a method of comprehending the rules of power."
"Rules?" Nishihira Kojiro had already put away his arrogance and asked cautiously.
The man nodded, casually picked up two stones from the ground, and threw one into the river with a splash. He glanced at Nishihira Kojiro, then tossed the second, slightly thinner stone. This time, he used a slight sideways motion of his wrist, sending the stone flying horizontally into the river. It bounced a few times on the surface, creating a series of splashes, before disappearing into the water.
Nishihira Kojiro frowned: "It's just skipping stones..."
The man shook his head, his expression serious: "These are the rules."
He then tossed the burning cigarette butt into the water, where it immediately went out with a soft "hiss." The man glanced at Nishihira Kojiro and said, "That's the rule too."
"The so-called Heart Sword Technique is merely an understanding of the rules." Tang Xin knelt before Chen Xiao, her expression calm. "When you slash vertically, the power naturally flows from top to bottom. If you lift, the power flows from bottom to top. A horizontal slash is left or right... These are just the simplest rules. The essence of my Shangchen family's Heart Sword Technique is to comprehend the rules of all martial arts in the world, to master their fundamentals, and thus to be invincible!"
Chen Xiao closed his eyes, thought it over carefully, and said with a wry smile, "It's easy to say, but mastering all the rules is easier said than done."
"Focus your mind." Tang Xin said calmly, "If your mind is full of distractions, you will naturally be unable to comprehend it. Only by focusing your mind on one thing can you understand its subtleties."
As she spoke, she pointed back to a tree in the courtyard, where a leaf was gently blown down in the evening breeze, drifting and swaying. Tang Xin smiled softly: "When a leaf falls, it is drawn by gravity and will eventually fall to the ground. However, there is also wind resistance in the air, which causes its landing point to change somewhat. If the wind blows to the left, the leaf will naturally fall to the left; if it blows to the right, the leaf will naturally fall to the right."
At this point, Tang Xin stopped talking, focused her ears as if listening intently to something, and at the same time raised her hand, gently picked up a pebble, flicked it with her finger, and the pebble flew out gently, landing on the ground about five or six steps away from where the two were sitting. Tang Xin smiled slightly: "This is the landing point of the leaves that I calculated based on the wind force and direction."
After she finished speaking, she smiled. A dozen seconds later, the leaf indeed fluttered down and landed on the ground, right where the pebble had been!
Chen Xiao narrowed his eyes, as if he had vaguely grasped something: "This is the Heart Sword Technique?"
“This is it!” Tang Xin nodded, her expression serious.