The world of martial arts, the immortal swordsman in the mortal realm.

Chapter 8, What is talent? This is talent!

With the plan settled, Huang Rong immediately signaled to Lu Chen to give her the money.

Lu Chen then took out a stack of coins from his pocket, counted out fifty strings of cash, and handed them to Master Mo.

In those years, the Mongols had just completed their unification and had not yet attacked the Jin Dynasty. The Jin Dynasty, having been badly beaten by the Mongols, did not turn around and attack the Song Dynasty to make amends. The Song Dynasty was still peaceful and prosperous, with thriving commerce. The court did not over-issue paper money due to huge military expenditures, and the value of the paper money was still strong and quite useful.

Master Mo took the token, verified its authenticity, and immediately invited Huang Rong and Lu Chen into the martial arts hall for tea with a beaming smile.

Huang Rong, however, lacked such patience and waved her hand dismissively:
"Forget about tea, Master Mo, please begin teaching me swordsmanship now."

Yes, Huang Rong wanted to learn swordsmanship herself and then pass it on to Lu Chen.

In her opinion, Master Mo's skill level was too low. He hadn't even mastered the swordsmanship himself. If a novice like Lu Chen were to learn swordsmanship from him, who knows how long it would take him to learn.

So she decided to learn the sword technique herself first, figure it out thoroughly, and then pass it on to Lu Chen.

Anyway, the Yue Nu Sword Technique, which she used to look down on as a common skill, could be learned quickly with her talent, as long as she put her mind to it.

Seeing that she was eager to learn swordsmanship, Master Mo did not refuse. After all, the most important thing is to have a generous customer. He invited Huang Rong and Lu Chen to the martial arts school's training ground, said "I'll make a fool of myself," and then personally took a wooden sword and went down to the field to demonstrate from beginning to end.

The Yue Maiden Sword, widely circulated in the martial arts world, consists of thirty-six moves. The moves are conventional and the variations are unremarkable. With Huang Rong's memory and comprehension, she could memorize all thirty-six sword moves and their accompanying footwork after just one look.

Of course, simply learning sword techniques and footwork is not enough.

Without proper breathing techniques, one cannot cultivate internal strength.

No matter how beautiful the swordsmanship is, or how skillful the moves are, it's all just a showy facade that's useless.

That's why the tuition for breathing exercises is so expensive—

Even if the internal energy cultivated through the Yue Maiden Sword Technique is ordinary and weak, it is still internal energy.

While he might not be enough to stand up to a true master, after ten years of rigorous training, he could still be a powerful local strongman, swaggering around among ordinary idlers in the martial arts world.

Master Mo had just finished demonstrating the moves and was about to break them down for Huang Rong when Huang Rong said:
"When breaking down the moves, let's also talk about the breathing techniques that accompany each move."

Upon hearing her words, Master Mo felt that this young lady was a bit too ambitious.

They haven't even learned the moves yet, they just watched me demonstrate once and they want to learn the breathing techniques?

Learning martial arts is not that easy!
However, no matter how big the world is, the big spender is the most important. Since we've taken the money, we have to do as the big spender asks.

Therefore, Master Mo had no complaints. He immediately began to break down the moves one by one while verbally describing the rhythm of breathing during sword practice.

Huang Rong pursed her pink lips, her small face tense, and listened very attentively. At the same time, she used her martial arts knowledge to discern whether Master Mo was holding back or teaching inappropriately.

Fortunately, Master Mo's professional ethics, or rather his business ethics, were quite solid. He did his job after receiving the money, and the breathing and exhalation method he taught was something that Huang Rong, with her knowledge, felt was not problematic.

Although there were some minor flaws, it was probably because Master Mo himself hadn't mastered the technique properly, rather than because he was deliberately trying to sabotage it.

Huang Rong was naturally satisfied, and Master Mo was spared a bloody disaster thanks to his excellent business ethics.

The breathing techniques accompanying the Thirty-Six Forms of the Yue Maiden Swordplay were not difficult for Huang Rong; their complexity was far less than that of the outer martial arts of Peach Blossom Island.

With her martial arts skills and intelligence, Master Mo only had to explain it once for her to remember it perfectly.

Of course, to avoid any mistakes, after Master Mo finished telling the story once, Huang Rong asked him to tell it again. Master Mo was very patient with his generous guest and readily told the story from beginning to end again.

Comparing the two, both were exactly the same, confirming that the breathing technique was correct. Huang Rong nodded with a smile:

"Very good, thank you for your guidance, Master Mo. That's all for today. Come back and try Master Mo's family's traditional herbal soup when you have time."

With that, she waved her hand and led Lu Chen away.

Watching Huang Rong stride away, Master Mo shook his head, thinking to himself that Miss Huang's attitude towards learning kung fu was not at all; it was probably just a passing fancy, and she would lose interest in a few days.

However, Master Mo didn't care.

What business is it of his if the rich girl from a wealthy family is willing to throw money away?
Anyway, he made the money.

Even if Miss Huang failed to learn the sword technique and didn't give him the remaining fifty strings of cash, he would still have made a fortune.

After leaving the Mo family martial arts school, Lu Chen finally spoke:
"Rong'er, you've already learned it?"

"Yes, I've memorized it all."

"Rong'er, your memory is truly amazing!"

Lu Chen sighed. He had also witnessed the entire event, but he didn't have a photographic memory. He only remembered one-fifth of the sword moves, and after hearing the more complex breathing techniques twice, he only remembered one-tenth of them. At this moment, he felt like a background character, only able to shout "666!" in front of this celestial beauty.

Huang Rong, with her hands behind her back, walked lightly, her eyes filled with pride, and the corners of her lips couldn't help but turn up, but her tone was nonchalant:
"It's a small matter, not worth mentioning. Don't worry, I'll teach you personally, and you'll definitely be much better than that Master Mo."

Lu Chen nodded with a smile:

“I firmly believe this.”

The two chatted and laughed all the way back to their lodgings.

This place was rented from a brokerage firm when I first entered the city; it was a small courtyard house.

There are east and west wing rooms on both sides of the main house. The three rooms enclose a spacious courtyard. There is also a big tree with a trunk that is as thick as a person's embrace in the courtyard. Under the tree is a stone table with a chessboard carved on it. When you have nothing to do, you can sit under the tree, cool off, and play chess.

Huang Rong naturally stayed in the main house, while Lu Chen stayed in the east wing. After returning, seeing that it was getting late, Huang Rong went straight into the west wing kitchen to cook, while Lu Chen continued to practice basic sword techniques in the courtyard.

Tonight, Huang Rong cooked stir-fries, and her superb culinary skills earned Lu Chen's high praise.

"I'll think about it tonight and start teaching you tomorrow morning."

"Hmm, I'm not in a hurry. But Rong'er, how long do you think it will take me to develop internal energy after practicing this sword technique?"

"Well... that's hard to say."

After a moment's thought, Huang Rong explained to him the key to the "from the outside in" training method.

Cultivating internal strength using external martial arts is not as complicated as internal martial arts, and the requirements for mental state are also lower.

After all, not everyone can quickly concentrate and enter a meditative state when meditating.

Many martial arts practitioners cannot even subdue their restless minds. As soon as they close their eyes, their minds are filled with all sorts of random thoughts, and they cannot enter a meditative state for a long time.

Therefore, internal martial arts require higher mental and physical qualities, while external martial arts are much simpler. As long as you supplement your movements with breathing techniques, the risk of getting out of control or going into qi deviation is much lower.

Of course, this "simplicity" is only relative to the internal energy cultivation method.

Maintaining a special breathing rhythm while simultaneously performing footwork, sword techniques, and other movements is not an easy task.

Beginners often lose sight of the bigger picture. They focus on hand movements, but their footwork becomes chaotic. They pay attention to their hands and feet, but their breathing rhythm becomes disordered. They try to focus on their breathing rhythm, but their hands and feet become chaotic again.

Therefore, even though the external-to-internal training method is relatively easy, ordinary martial arts practitioners still need to practice persistently for a long time to gradually form a habit and internalize the skill to the core in order to achieve unity of hands, feet, mind, and spirit, and to take into account the moves, footwork, and breathing.

After explaining this principle, Huang Rong said seriously:

"Your comprehension is sufficient. You shouldn't need long to learn the moves, footwork, and breathing techniques. But how long it will take to master them all, to integrate them, and eventually develop internal energy, I can't say for sure!"

Lu Chen, on the other hand, was full of confidence:

"It's just a matter of hard training. I have a strong recovery ability, and I can train from morning to night without any problems. With Rong'er, your wise teacher, personally guiding me, I should be able to master it in no time."

Upon hearing this, Huang Rong immediately perked up and patted her chest to assure him:
"Don't worry. I can certainly teach you the Yue Maiden Sword in the shortest amount of time."

That night, Huang Rong returned to her room to study the Yue Maiden Sword Technique, while Lu Chen continued to practice the basic sword techniques that Huang Rong had corrected for him. He practiced until midnight, when he was almost completely exhausted, before finally returning to his room to rest.

The next morning.

Huang Rong officially began teaching Lu Chen the Yue Nu Sword Technique.

Originally, she was prepared for a long battle.

But once she actually started teaching, Lu Chen gave her a big surprise.

Although he cannot remember everything he sees, he needs to be taught each move, as well as the corresponding footwork and breathing techniques, several times before he can learn them.

But once he learns it, he can instantly master all three: wielding the sword, stepping, and breathing in and out, all perfectly coordinated and without the slightest disorder.

Upon discovering this, Huang Rong was not only happy that her "journey to the immortal realm" was finally seeing the light of day, but also felt a sense of excitement that she had personally discovered a gem in the rough.

If Lu Chen achieves great success in martial arts and becomes famous throughout the martial arts world, even shining brightly in the "Mount Hua Sword Tournament," wouldn't Huang Rong also be able to become famous throughout the world solely based on her reputation as a "wise teacher," without relying on her father's prestige?

At that time, even my father might have to show me great respect.

I'm actually kind of looking forward to it.

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(End of this chapter)