Nine-layer armor-breaking

Chapter 285 The Balance of Weapons

Take a longsword as an example. A good swordsmith can forge a longsword with excellent balance from some relatively ordinary materials.

This demonstrates the importance of a skilled weapon craftsman to a weapon.

At this moment, the longsword Jiang Xuan was holding had excellent weight and balance, which were the basic attributes of a top-tier longsword.

This doesn't mean that having such attributes makes it undoubtedly a top-tier longsword, but rather that possessing these attributes provides the basic conditions for this longsword to become a top-tier weapon.

Ultimately, whether a weapon is truly a top-tier weapon still needs to be tested in actual combat.

For example, when Jiang Xuan competed with the captain, he used actual combat to verify that the captain's two short swords were a top-tier short sword and a high-tier weapon, respectively.

Jiang Xuan gripped the longsword with one hand and gently exerted force to move it.

The long sword then obediently danced in Jiang Xuan's hand.

At this moment, an incredulous expression appeared on the face of the swordsman.

That expression showed that although Jiang Xuan did not use the strength of a peak martial artist, he had taken the sword moves of the longsword martial artist from before to a new level.

The swordsman could clearly see that, between the sword moves he had just demonstrated, Senior Brother Ling had actually created a connecting sword move that he had never expected.

It was precisely because of that one sword move that the two sword moves before and after became exceptionally smooth.

"Senior Brother Ling's understanding of swordsmanship is indeed beyond that of ordinary martial artists. No, it should be said that Senior Brother Ling's understanding of swordsmanship is beyond that of ordinary peak martial artists."

The swordsman's face beamed with joy as he spoke from the bottom of his heart.

The surrounding martial artists all agreed with the longsword-wielding warrior's statement.

"Senior brother, would you like me to demonstrate these sword techniques?"

Jiang Xuan stopped wielding his longsword, looked at the finely crafted sword in his hand, and asked the swordsman.

Jiang Xuan showed his fondness for the longsword, and the swordsman was naturally very pleased as well.

After all, this weapon was chosen by Senior Brother Ling, who has great insight into swordsmanship, so it is undoubtedly a good sword.

"How could I trouble Senior Brother Ling any further? I have already remembered Senior Brother Ling's demonstration just now."

How could the swordsman not know that Senior Brother Ling was joking? So he respectfully cupped his hands to Jiang Xuan and said happily.

When a martial artist reaches the Earth Rank, their understanding of weapons and martial arts reaches a high level.

It can be said that for martial artists at the Yellow, Profound, and Earth ranks, the most important and fastest-growing aspect is their understanding of martial arts and weapons.

When a martial artist's strength reaches the Heavenly Rank, their understanding of martial arts enters a higher stage, and their growth rate will significantly slow down.

Similarly, a martial artist's understanding of weapons has also reached a relatively advanced stage, and like their understanding of martial arts, their growth rate will slow down considerably.

Therefore, at the level of a Heavenly Rank martial artist, one can memorize some key moves after just one repetition of a few simple techniques.

As for martial artists like longsword warriors, they can memorize all the moves and subtle changes after just one viewing of a move they are very familiar with.

The swordsman knew that Senior Brother Ling's demonstration was almost a replica of his own, with only one connecting move being different.

For a longsword warrior, and a Heaven-ranked warrior, simply memorizing a single move is a very simple and easy thing.

In fact, not only this longsword warrior, but also the father and son greatsword warriors present, as well as other warriors who used knives or other weapons, all noticed the difference in Jiang Xuan's demonstration.

Some of the martial artists with a strong ability to memorize moves had already memorized most of the moves after the longsword martial artist and Jiang Xuan demonstrated them separately.

Many of them may not be able to use these sword techniques, but they will certainly help them understand weapons to some extent.

At least, the longsword example offers some insights into the connection between certain moves and provides some ideas.

Hearing what the swordsman said, Jiang Xuan smiled and handed the sword to him, saying, "Senior brother, you can try demonstrating it again."

The swordsman happily accepted his sword and repeatedly thanked Jiang Xuan.

At Jiang Xuan's prompting, the swordsman finally changed his tone from politeness and prepared to demonstrate the modified sword moves.

Jiang Xuan had a smile on his face at this moment, a smile that came from the bottom of his heart.

He had already studied the Falling Leaf Spear Technique and was familiar with the swordsman's moves.

After watching the longsword warrior's demonstration, he quickly realized that the longsword warrior also had problems with the smooth transitions between sword moves.

Jiang Xuan had encountered similar issues with the smooth transitions between moves during his training, but not to the extent that this longsword warrior was experiencing. In fact, Jiang Xuan also had methods to resolve the longsword warrior's situation.

Moreover, this method is readily available; there is a suitable follow-up move in the Falling Leaf Spear Technique.

However, Jiang Xuan did not want to casually show the Falling Leaf Spear Technique to others. Instead, he used a move from one of the sword techniques he had learned in his battle with Chi Yunfeng at the Five Continents Martial Arts Competition and incorporated it into the longsword warrior's previous moves.

He had never tried to use some of the moves from Chi Yunfeng's swordsmanship as a link before.

Therefore, Jiang Xuan was not confident about putting this idea into practice.

Unexpectedly, incorporating it into the moves of a longsword warrior had a considerable effect, which gave Jiang Xuan a pleasant surprise.

Under Jiang Xuan's gaze, the longsword warrior recalled the sword techniques demonstrated by Senior Brother Ling earlier, then drew his longsword and began to show them off.

At first, the swordsman seemed to have a deep understanding of the technique, so he simply closed his eyes and began to wield his sword.

The longsword, wielded by the longsword warrior, initially appeared somewhat clumsy, much like the giant swordsman, but after a few moves, it began to find its rhythm.

At a certain moment, the connecting move that Jiang Xuan had just demonstrated was incorporated.

Seeing that the swordsman had almost perfectly replicated Jiang Xuan's previous move, the crowd finally relaxed and continued watching the swordsman's demonstration.

"it is good!"

Finally, one martial artist, unable to contain his excitement, shouted out, cheering for the longsword-wielding warrior.

Everyone turned to look at Jiang Xuan. They all knew that the cheers from that martial artist were not only for the longsword-wielding martial artist, but also for Senior Brother Ling.

What they didn't know was that Jiang Xuan was feeling the same way they were.

Firstly, he was worried that his connecting moves might not be effective in the hands of that longsword-wielding warrior.

Secondly, there was concern about whether the longsword warrior could fully grasp the concept behind the connection of his longsword techniques.

These are the two things that Jiang Xuan is very worried about.

But after the longsword warrior's demonstration, Jiang Xuan, like most warriors, felt relieved.

At this moment, Jiang Xuan, like most martial artists, was genuinely happy for the swordsman.

"Thank you very much, Senior Brother Ling. I will never forget your help. If you ever need my help, you can come to Qixi to find me. My surname is Pi."

The martial artist surnamed Pi sheathed his longsword and carefully returned it to its scabbard. He then clasped his hands in gratitude to Jiang Xuan.

Jiang Xuan waved his hand, indicating that his opponent should not take it to heart: "Senior Brother Pi, there's no need for that. We're all martial artists, just exchanging ideas."

Seeing this, the swordsman could not hide his excitement and said, "Senior Brother Ling, could you tell me the mystery behind this?"

Clearly, while this swordsman successfully replicated Jiang Xuan's connecting move, he only knew the form but not the underlying reason.

Jiang Xuan laughed and said, "Does Senior Brother Pi know about my battle with Senior Brother Chi at the Five Continents Martial Arts Competition?"

"Senior Brother Ling, are you referring to a fight with Senior Brother Chi Yunfeng from the Jinzhou Martial Arts Academy?" the swordsman asked.

“Indeed, Senior Brother Chi Yunfeng’s swordsmanship inspired me,” Jiang Xuan said to the longsword warrior with great emotion.

"Oh, Senior Brother Ling, could you elaborate?" the swordsman asked curiously.

"Actually, the move that connected just now was taken from the Golden Ape Sword Technique of the Jinzhou Martial Arts School, which was used by Senior Brother Chi Yunfeng," Jiang Xuan said slowly.

"When I sparred with Senior Brother Chi Yunfeng, I noticed that his swordsmanship had an excellent sense of rhythm, and I felt that this swordsmanship was an excellent choice for connecting sword moves," Jiang Xuan said to the longsword warrior with a look of emotion.

The swordsman looked at Jiang Xuan with disbelief, seemingly finding Jiang Xuan's ability too astonishing, for he was speechless.

The surrounding martial artists all looked at Jiang Xuan with disbelief and admiration.

Jiang Xuan was also a little embarrassed by everyone's gazes, and then spoke up: "Actually, this connecting move is applicable to many sword styles. The key to its ability lies in its extremely strong connecting ability."

Jiang Xuan's implication was that the ability to connect the sword moves of a longsword warrior so smoothly was not mainly due to his own efforts, but rather to Chi Yunfeng of the Jinzhou Martial Arts School's powerful ability to use and link the Golden Ape Sword Technique.

He simply discovered the connecting ability of one move in the Golden Ape Sword Technique used by Chi Yunfeng and used it to connect the sword moves of longsword warriors.

The surrounding martial artists all felt the humility of Senior Brother Ling, and at the same time, they began to recall some memories of the Chi Yunfeng Sword Technique, searching for connecting moves that they could use.

(End of this chapter)