――Twenty years ago――

[Master, is this Luoyang?] Good...... What a tall building......]

[Ah, this is my Han's Jingshi!] ]

Twenty years ago, at the east gate of Luoyang City, there was a third-rate swordsman who was only ten years old from Jixian County, Youzhou, and led a child of four or five years old to Luoyang, the royal capital where the emperor of the Han Dynasty lived. (Youzhou Jixian County, the capital of the ancient Yan Kingdom during the Warring States Period, so it is also called Yanjing, that is, Beijing.) ）

At that time, although the armillary sphere made by Moru who was used to monitor the entire royal capital was floating in the sky, because of the autocratic relationship of his cousin Liang Ji, the security of Luoyang was not much better than that of twenty years later. The third-rate swordsman, who was only a teenager and a teenager, dreamed of carrying forward the Mozi swordsmanship he had learned and created his own school of swordsmanship; And the child, who was only four or five years old, was looking forward to the day when he would become the chief disciple of the Founding Sword Sect with hope.

However, the water in Luoyang is too deep, and there are heroes everywhere who have the ability but have no chance to soar, and Jin Wuwei at that time was almost a tyrant in the city, making the life of the two masters and apprentices in Luoyang even poorer and more difficult than when they were in Jixian County, Youzhou.

This pair of masters and apprentices is Wang Yue and Shi A's master and apprentice.

At that time, Wang Yue and Shi A were sheltered in the city's righteous house, and lived on the court's handouts of thin porridge every day. And their worst enemies are the bullies in the same house.

In order to get back the two portions of food that belonged to him and his apprentices, Wang Yue had to fight with those guys in the righteous house every day.

At the beginning, when their skills were not as good as others, Wang Yue and Shi A could only endure hunger and cold, and suffered hardship.

[Master, I'm hungry......]

[Tomorrow...... I'll be fine waiting for tomorrow......]

In the coming day, Wang Yue, with a sharp sword and a desperate approach, finally deterred the guys who were in the gang with Yishe, and risked his life to force the other party to acquiesce to him to recapture a thin porridge that belonged to them.

[Master.] The porridge is delicious and to you. ]

[I...... Not hungry yet......]

The young man who was the master shook his head with a faint smile while covering the bloody wound on his waist with his hand, in fact, he was also dizzy with hunger at this moment.

In the Yisha full of refugees, ruffians and rangers who had no way to make a living, Wang Yue gradually honed his skills in the process of snatching food, and after half a year passed one after another, those people in the Yishe finally did not dare to compete with him for food.

[Shi, let's create our own school of swordsmanship, like those heroes like Jing Ke and Gai Nie, and leave a name for eternity!] ]

[Forever named...... What does that mean? ]

[Huh.] In short, it's a good thing. ]

Looking at the apprentice snoring and drinking thin porridge. Wang Yue said with a smile.

――Fifteen years ago――

After five years of hard training, the original ten-year-old master, the third-rate swordsman, had gradually emerged with his outstanding martial arts talent, and his swordsmanship had become more and more exquisite. But as for the future path of the master and apprentice, Wang Yue and Shi A still have no clue.

[Master, if you want to create our school of swordsmanship, do you have to open a martial arts gym first?] ]

[yes......]

[But that's a lot of money......]

[Eat.] ]

[Oh......]

Wang Yue, who was at a loss for this, pressed his beloved apprentice's head on the food plate, and sighed slightly in his heart.

The days went by day by day. Finally, one day, Wang Yue rushed back to the righteous house in ecstasy and showed Shi Ah the money bag containing a large handful of copper coins.

[Shi, the master has a way to make money!] ]

[This, so much?] …… Master, how did you earn it? ]

[On the way back.] As a teacher, I saw someone in the outer city setting up a ring to challenge, and challenged this person for fifty wen once, but if he won, he could get fifty wen! ]

[Master wins?] ]

[Needless to say?] ]

[Master and apprentice are amazing!] ]

[Hahaha!] ]

Under the eyes of the lover of longing and admiration. Wang Yue was proud like a victorious general, although the pain of bandaging the wounds on his body made him grin in pain, but the smile on his face could not be replaced by pain.

From that day. Wang Yue began to look for those who set up the ring in the city. That kind of challenge that was on the verge of desperation made his swordsmanship improve by leaps and bounds, and he saved more and more money to open a martial arts gym.

However, not every time Wang Yue can win.

[Master......]

[Today...... Lost. ]

Wang Yue, who was covered in blood, didn't even dare to look into the eyes of his lover, for fear of seeing disappointment in it.

[Oh...... Then, I'll go boil water for the master and wipe the wound......]

[Hmm!] ]

Seeing his lover rushing out in a hurry, Wang Yue clenched his fists and secretly swore that he would never lose again next time.

――Eleven years ago――

The four-year career of challenging the strong not only made Wang Yue's swordsmanship improve by leaps and bounds, but also made them save more and more money.

However, more and more people in the outer city knew about Wang Yue's fame, so that fewer and fewer people dared to accept his challenge. Many times, when Wang Yue finally found a ring and was about to challenge, the people who set up the ring fled in a panic after seeing him.

During the period of more than a month, Wang Yue did not gain anything every day.

[Master......]

[Don't mention it, those cowards fled when they saw the challenge for the teacher!] ]

[The master's fame is getting bigger and bigger, so those people don't dare to accept the master's challenge anymore......]

[Hahaha!] …… Having said that, I still haven't saved enough money to open a martial arts gym, so how can this be good? ]

[Did the master ever think about setting up his own ring?] ]

[I'm going to set up a ring for people to challenge?] …… Huh? Why didn't I think of that? I'll go tomorrow! ]

[Master is so stupid!] …… Ah. ]

[Stinky boy!] More and more neither big nor small! ]

Wang Yue laughed and scolded as he waved his fist demonstratively.

――10 years ago――

Ten years later, the third-rate swordsman who was only ten years old at the beginning is no longer immature, and his swordsmanship is even more superb. The four or five-year-old boy gradually grew into an excellent swordsman.

That year, they finally saved enough money to open the Wang Sword Pavilion in the outer city.

However, the opening of the martial arts hall did not make their lives rich. In order to maintain the martial arts hall, they are still as poor as before.

[Master, why do we have to share most of the money we earn?] ]

[If we don't take care of the relationship up and down, Jin Wuwei will come to us for trouble.] …… After living in this Luoyang for ten years, you still don't know anything! ]

[Available...... But if it goes on like this, the martial arts hall won't last long. ]

[...... to find a way for the teacher]

Gradually realizing the power of power, Wang Yue gradually began to contact the upper circles of Luoyang. At first, it was just to build a good relationship with those dignitaries, for this. Wang Yue did not hesitate to lower his status and presented a fancy and gorgeous sword dance in the banquet held by those dignitaries.

But over time, Wang Yue's mentality gradually changed.

[Shia, you...... Have you ever thought about becoming an official? ]

[Why become an official?] Isn't our ambition to create our own school of swordsmanship? ]

[That's true, but...... Shia, you haven't been to those banquets held by dignitaries, lavish decorations, sumptuous dishes, and mellow wines. During the feast, beautiful women dressed in various costumes performed songs and dances...... I'm afraid that's the way of the world, the rich oppress the poor, and get richer and richer; The poor are oppressed by the rich and become poorer and poorer. …… If you become an official for the teacher. Thinking about it, those Jin Wuwei didn't dare to ask for any 'filial piety money' anymore! Even, we can make a lot of money, so we don't have to worry about the martial arts hall closing one day. ]

[Having said that, the master once taught.] To learn the sword, you must have no distractions, and if you are interested in fame and fortune. How to maintain a pure sword-oriented heart? ]

[…… To be a teacher is to talk casually. ]

――Eight years ago――

[Master, you are drunk, what kind of place did you go to drink?] …… You can now be called the Luoyang Sword Master! ]

[It doesn't matter, those guys eat and drink, aren't they exploiting our common people, what's the matter with drinking a few jars of wine from them for the teacher?] …… For the teacher to tell you, being an official can really make money, that who is who, who has been a county magistrate for three years in an unknown place, how much do you guess? 5,000 pieces of silver! …… That guy used most of them to dot the relationship, no, it's a county too guarded at this time, this fucking world! ]

[…… Shi Ah went to make food for the master......]

[Don't say goodbye, I'm full for the teacher, oh, by the way, I brought you a leg of mutton for the teacher...... That bowl of pickled rice wasn't yesterday, pour it out, you eat this, the leg of lamb is fragrant...... purr, purr......]

[……]

Glancing at Wang Yue who was sleeping on the bed, Shi Ah took off his boots for him, covered him with a quilt, and didn't look at the fragrant leg of mutton, soaked the rest of the cold rice in hot water, and filled his hungry stomach with pickles, and immediately picked up the sword, went straight to the empty sword hall, and meticulously studied swordsmanship.

――5 years ago――

[Shi A, the teacher is back.] ]

The drunken king came back, and when he looked left and right, he found that Shi Ah was no longer in the house. In the end, he finally found Shi Ah in the sword pavilion who was soaked with sweat.

Compared with the past few years, Wang Yue's clothes have become more and more high-end, from cloth clothes to satin, and then to gold-edged robes, but Shi A's body only wears the most simple coarse cloth sword robe.

[Shiah, you should have lost that robe, right?] ]

Sitting slumped next to the pillar of the Sword Pavilion, the drunken Wang Yue said with a smile.

However, Shi Ah didn't seem to hear it at all, and was engrossed in comparing swordsmanship with one move at a time, until Wang Yue fell asleep.

[……]

Glancing at Wang Yue, who had fallen asleep against the pillar, Shi Ah Chang took a breath and put away his sword move, immediately put down his sword, picked up Wang Yue, and carried him back to the residence behind the sword pavilion.

I don't know when the four or five-year-old boy who followed Wang Yue at the beginning has grown taller and stronger than Wang Yue, but his expression has gradually become indifferent.

――Two years ago――

[Shia, you're squeaking.] …… There are a few rich lords who are ready to donate a large sum of money to us, and they say that they will make some connections and tell us to go to the inner city to open a martial arts hall. ]

During the period when they finally had dinner together, Wang Yue asked Shi A, who was like a parent-child, a beloved apprentice.

[…… What about the martial arts hall in the outer city? ]

Shi Ah asked with an expressionless face.

[Turn it off.] ]

Wang Yue said casually.

[No!] ]

Shi Ah only cares about his own rice, the rice is still hot water and cold rice, and the vegetables are still pickles that seem to never be eaten. And this kind of food, Wang Yue couldn't swallow it a few years ago.

[Are you stupid?] Even if we continue to open martial arts halls in the outer city, can we get out of the way? Don't look at the name of the sword hero as a teacher, it's useless! …… Let's go to the inner city to open a martial arts hall with the teacher. Most of the people living in the inner city are high-ranking officials and nobles, and we accept a few children of the family as apprentices, and use this relationship to be a teacher and a big official. ]

[What about the Wang School?] ]

[Huh?] …… Uh, the one who can't be in a hurry. ]

[……]

Shi Ah didn't say a word, and went out with a plate of vegetables after eating.

[What do you say?] ]

Wang Yue asked while drinking fine wine on the couch.

[Don't go!] ]

Eventually, Wang Yue opened another Wang Sword Hall in the inner city, and began to accept the children of the Shi clan as apprentices to teach some fancy but not very practical swordsmanship. However, Shi Ah stayed in the Sword Pavilion in the outer city and continued to recruit those who were gifted as apprentices. Teach those people the swordsmanship that Wang Yue taught him in the early years.

However, because Shi A's requirements for swordsmanship were very strict and his training was very hard, there were not many disciples in the Wang Clan's martial arts hall in the outer city. Especially after Wang Yue climbed to the Shi clan and his reputation gradually deteriorated, for a long time, only Shi A was left in the martial arts hall in the outer city.

He adhered to the martial arts hall he opened with Wang Yue, and adhered to the venue where he practiced swords for twenty years, even if the sword hall was very dilapidated.

The master and apprentice who were once close and close like father and son. I don't know when, a layer of estrangement has faintly appeared.

――A few days ago――

[Shiah, how are you doing?] ]

[…… (nods)]

[How's the Sword Pavilion?] ]

[…… (nods)]

[You dick...... By the way, it may be a bit of a problem to be a teacher in two days. You go to the sword hall in the inner city to teach the master for two days...... Just deal with it, don't teach it according to your request. In case those little ancestors are injured, our master and apprentice will die in the world. ]

[…… (nods)]

[Also, aren't you really going to go to the Sword Pavilion in the inner city?] You look here. It's all about to fall. ]

[Shi A is not interested in officials, Shi Ah only has kendo in his heart!] …… Master, let's go a while. Shi Ah may have to leave Luoyang......]

[Leaving Luoyang?] Why? ]

[Shi Ah feels like he has reached a bottleneck recently, and he wants to find a quiet place to refine, and devote himself to studying my Wang's swordsmanship!] ]

[…… Oh. ]

Wang Yue was stunned, and then he realized that the beloved apprentice Shi A in front of him was no longer the cowardly boy who followed him twenty years ago, and he had been practicing swordsmanship for twenty years, so that Shi A had grown into a swordsman with exquisite swordsmanship.

In Shi A's eyes, it was the scorching pursuit of swordsmanship, and this scorching heat, he Wang Yue had already melted away in the past twenty years.

[which...... Which bottleneck? ]

[There is no sword in his hand, and no sword in his heart.] ]

(Note: There is a sword in the hand, but there is no sword in the heart.) beginner's level; There is a sword in the hand and a sword in the heart. The level of swordsmanship is pure; There is no sword in the hand, but there is a sword in the heart. swordsmanship Dacheng level, that is, a sword hero like Wang Yue; There is no sword in his hand, no sword in his heart, and the supreme realm that swordsmen are desperate for is almost everything can be a sword, and Cheng Dù can hurt people as he wants. ）

[……]

Wang Yue's mouth opened wide in shock.

Only then did he realize that he had not practiced swordsmanship for a day in the past twenty years, and his beloved disciple who regarded him as a parent and child had surpassed him.

――Time back to the present――

"Hoo ......"

The memories of the past twenty years seemed to be presented in front of him one by one, and Shi Ah let out a long breath.

"Senior brother, that person is still kneeling in the hall."

In the sword hall in the outer city, an apprentice in the sword hall whispered to Shi A. Because Shi A has always been the relationship between the substitute master Wang Yue and the apprentices, the apprentices in the Sword Pavilion in the outer city unanimously call Shi A a senior brother, although Shi A fulfills his duties as a master.

Shi A turned his head slightly and glanced at the gate of the Sword Pavilion, only to see that there, Chen Dao, who had a relationship with Shi A in the Wang's Sword Pavilion in the inner city yesterday, among Zhang Huang and his group of black feather crows, was kneeling by the gate solemnly at the moment, looking at Shi A intently, motionless.

"Don't be distracted by distractions, continue to practice swords! …… But all those who have achieved great swordsmanship are deeply immersed in it and are fascinated by it. ”

"Yes!" The few apprentices in the Sword Pavilion in the outer city responded with a full sigh of anger, waving their wooden swords towards the stake.

Although he also swung his wooden sword at the stake, the heavy whipping sound coming from the stake made people a little surprised. The relatively slender wooden sword, after cutting the heavy wooden stake, actually trembled slightly, and even one apprentice swung the wooden sword at the wooden stake, a crack would be added to the wooden stake, if it were not for the fact that the wooden stakes were wrapped in iron rings, I am afraid that they would have broken from it.

"Gas, don't disperse!" Slowly pacing past the apprentice, Shi Ah shouted expressionlessly.

"Yes!"

"You don't have to follow the so-called sword moves, the sword moves are just the most reasonable sword swing trajectory summarized by the predecessors! But after all, that is summarized by the ancestors, and it may not be suitable for you! Keep in mind the action of the starting hand, look at the position where the sword will fall, and as for how to swing the sword, you can wait for your own ideas! …… The right sword move for you, that's what belongs only to you and yourself! It doesn't need to be fancy, it doesn't need to be flashy. Remember, the sword is a weapon of killing, and swordsmanship is a trick to kill! …… In my opinion, there are only two steps to swordsmanship, draw the sword and hurt people! All the complicated things in the period can be omitted. You don't have to listen to hearsay such things as 'false moves' and 'real moves', if you wait for the speed of the sword to be fast, and kill the opponent before he can draw the sword, this is the supreme swordsmanship! ”

"Yes...... Be! ”

Listening to Shi A's views on swordsmanship, Chen Zhi couldn't help but tremble all over his body with excitement.

Finally, Shi Ah paced in front of Chen Zhi and looked at him expressionlessly.

Seeing this, Chen Zhi bowed to the ground and said in a deep voice, "Please teach the master swordsmanship!" ”

"You've got a lot of talent, and you've got a pretty solid foundation, but ...... I don't take disciples. ”

Shi Ah said in the same indifferent tone as ever.

Chen Zhi couldn't help but sweat a little when he heard this, he had much hope for this matter, so he just came alone today, and did not tell Zhang Huang and the others.

But just when he was secretly disappointed in his heart, Shi Ah grabbed his arm and pulled the whole person up.

"From now on, I will call him Senior Brother. …… I only teach swordsmanship on behalf of the teacher, Wang's swordsmanship! ”

Chen Zhi couldn't help but tremble with excitement when he heard this.

"Yes...... Yes, brother! (To be continued......)