Ask Wudang Chapter 005

Character name suggestions: Ye Qingfeng, Zhang Cuishan, Song Yuanqiao, Yu Daiyan, Yu Lianzhou, Zhang Songxi, Mo Shenggu, Miejue Shitai, Kongzhi Heshang, Tang Wenliang, Zhang Sanfeng

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Ye Qingfeng said, “Alright, I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

At this moment, a third-generation disciple brought two wooden swords, one for Zhang Cuishan and one for Ye Qingfeng.

“Fifth Brother, look at my sword.”

After a moment of holding their swords in a standoff, Ye Qingfeng showed no politeness and directly thrust his sword, aiming for Zhang Cuishan’s right wrist. There’s an acupoint on the wrist called the Shenmen acupoint; once struck, the entire arm immediately loses strength, making it impossible to hold anything. Ye Qingfeng’s direct thrust was a move from the Thirteen Swords of Shenmen, its accuracy in targeting acupoints and its exquisite variations were truly incredible.

With this strike, Ye Qingfeng clearly held nothing back, and given Zhang Cuishan’s strength, there was no need for him to.

Facing this sword, Zhang Cuishan dared not be negligent in the slightest. He immediately flipped his wrist, drawing a circle with his wooden sword, and then met Ye Qingfeng’s attack head-on. As soon as the two wooden swords clashed, the force from Ye Qingfeng’s wooden sword was immediately neutralized by a soft force. Seeing his sword move broken, Ye Qingfeng followed up with an upward flick, parrying Zhang Cuishan’s blade, and once again aimed for his Shenmen acupoint.

Zhang Cuishan was well-versed in the profoundness of the Thirteen Swords of Shenmen, so this change in move naturally didn’t faze him.

He suddenly slashed his sword diagonally to the left, blocking Ye Qingfeng’s change, then slashed horizontally to the right, breaking Ye Qingfeng’s sword momentum, and finally slashed diagonally to the right, aiming for Ye Qingfeng’s left leg. These three consecutive slashes combined to form the character “” (dà – big).

Ye Qingfeng reacted extremely quickly, lifting his left leg and blocking downwards with his wooden sword, parrying Zhang Cuishan’s sword move. He then used a backhand upward flick, neutralizing Zhang Cuishan’s sword momentum, and once again pointed his sword horizontally, directly at Zhang Cuishan’s Shenmen acupoint. Zhang Cuishan’s reaction was also swift; his wooden sword “swish swish swish” continuously launched several attacks, both breaking Ye Qingfeng’s sword moves and attacking his upper three routes, forming the character “” (jūn – lord/gentleman).

In this manner, the two exchanged blows and parried within a small space, defending and counterattacking. Their sword momentum was subtle and profound, and their sword moves were endlessly varied.

Ye Qingfeng consistently used the Thirteen Swords of Shenmen from start to finish, executing various changes with ease, like flowing clouds and water, without any obstruction. Whenever he defended and counterattacked, he would only aim for Zhang Cuishan’s Shenmen acupoint. Zhang Cuishan, however, was different. Although his swordplay was also of the Wudang sword style, his sword moves continuously formed characters, as if he wasn’t fighting, but practicing calligraphy.

After the characters “” and “”, came “” (zhì – control), followed by “” (liù – six) and “” (hé – unite).

Combined, they formed the five characters “” (dà jūn zhì liù hé – the great lord controls the universe).

Each character was a sword move, and each stroke was a variation, truly subtle and profound.

After only a dozen or so exchanges, Ye Qingfeng realized that Zhang Cuishan’s sword style was a technique created by integrating “General Pei’s Poem” into Wudang swordplay. There was calligraphy within the swordplay, and swordplay within the calligraphy, with the two complementing each other. At this time, Zhang Cuishan had already made a name for himself in the pugilistic world as “Iron Brush, Silver Hook,” so it was not surprising that he could integrate calligraphy into his swordplay.

Ye Qingfeng remembered the entire content of “General Pei’s Poem” clearly. Now that he understood the core of Zhang Cuishan’s sword style, it was not difficult to break it. Immediately, he continued with the Thirteen Swords of Shenmen, but whenever he struck, his sword moves would always preempt Zhang Cuishan’s strokes. In this way, every time Zhang Cuishan made a move, he would be intercepted beforehand.

In a sense, it was equivalent to Ye Qingfeng anticipating the enemy, striking later but gaining the initiative.

Under these circumstances, Zhang Cuishan was incredibly uncomfortable. It was understandable; every time he made a move, it was only halfway executed, its power not yet fully unleashed, when it was intercepted and interrupted by his opponent. The frustration was imaginable, so how could he not be uncomfortable?

In fact, Zhang Cuishan’s technique of integrating calligraphy into his swordplay had a touch of grandstanding.

In Ye Qingfeng’s opinion, calligraphy was calligraphy, and swordplay was swordplay. Forcibly merging the two was fine for artistic appreciation, but completely ridiculous for combat. Because both calligraphy and swordplay were profound, merging them would only make both impure. If swordplay wasn’t pure, how could one defeat the enemy?

For example, currently, Ye Qingfeng could anticipate the enemy and suppress Zhang Cuishan precisely for this reason.

The two continued to fight for another dozen or so exchanges, with Zhang Cuishan being suppressed to an extreme degree of discomfort. He immediately dared not use “General Pei’s Poem” against his opponent anymore. His sword style suddenly changed, and his wooden sword thrust out rapidly, also employing the Thirteen Swords of Shenmen.

“Chichi chi…”

As soon as the two wooden swords clashed, sword qi collided, emitting strange sounds.

With the same weapons, the same sword style, and the same sword moves, to distinguish who was superior, one could only look at their respective attainments.

After one sword clash, the two quickly changed their moves. Ye Qingfeng flipped his wrist to the left, drawing a circle with his wooden sword, encircling Zhang Cuishan’s wooden sword. Zhang Cuishan also flipped his wrist to the left, drawing a circle with his wooden sword, instantly neutralizing Ye Qingfeng’s sword circle. Immediately after, Ye Qingfeng followed up with a point, aiming directly for Zhang Cuishan’s wrist, and Zhang Cuishan also followed up with a point, aiming directly for Ye Qingfeng’s wrist.

Unexpectedly, Ye Qingfeng’s wooden sword, halfway through its point, suddenly retracted and parried horizontally, blocking Zhang Cuishan’s attack.

In a flash, Ye Qingfeng once again flipped his wrist, pointing at Zhang Cuishan’s wrist.

This change in move was both fast and strange; Zhang Cuishan didn’t react at all and was directly struck on the Shenmen acupoint.

The next moment, only a “pa” sound was heard, and Zhang Cuishan’s wooden sword fell to the ground.

Slightly stunned for a moment, Zhang Cuishan then cupped his hands and said, “I lost. Eighth Brother, you are indeed very formidable.”

Ye Qingfeng also cupped his hands in return, “Fifth Brother, you let me win.”

Witnessing this scene, the expressions of the onlookers outside the field were incredibly vivid.

Song Yuanqiao, Yu Daiyan, Yu Lianzhou, Zhang Songxi, and others all looked surprised.

Zhang Songxi murmured, “Second Brother, Eighth Brother’s mastery of the Thirteen Swords of Shenmen is already comparable to yours, isn’t it?”

Yu Lianzhou nodded and said, “I’m ashamed. Twenty years of my hard practice can’t even compare to Eighth Brother’s few years of casual practice.”

Yu Daiyan said, “No wonder Sixth Brother and Seventh Brother called him a monster. Now I can understand it too.”

Song Yuanqiao, however, said, “In my opinion, Eighth Brother hasn’t used his full strength. If he did, he should be able to contend with the four of us.”

Zhang Sanfeng, on the other hand, had a smile on his face, gently stroking the white beard beneath his chin, his eyes filled with satisfaction.

Leaving aside the Wudang disciples, the visiting guests also had various expressions.

If Ye Qingfeng and Mo Shenggu’s fight was just a harmless farce.

Then his fight with Zhang Cuishan was a true display of skill.

Among the visiting guests present, Miejue Shitai, Kongzhi Heshang, Tang Wenliang, and others were all top masters in the martial arts world. They could naturally discern the intricacies of both fights. Precisely because of this, they immediately elevated Ye Qingfeng to the same level as themselves. This young boy of fifteen years had thus entered their eyes, making them unable to help but be impressed.

At such a tender age, to possess such martial arts attainments, what would he become in the future?

Thinking of this, Kongzhi Heshang felt uncomfortable again.

It wasn’t enough that Wudang had one Zhang Sanfeng; now another monster had appeared. Were they trying to reach the heavens?

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