Martial Arts Sainthood Begins with the Tiger-Taming Fist

When Chen Mo arrived at Fangyuan, it was already late afternoon.

Today, the Fang Academy was quite lively, with almost all the disciples in the training grounds.

Chen Mo asked Tan Yuan and learned that it was his fifth senior brother, Li Xuanyin, who had proposed a swordsmanship competition.

Li Xuanyin was a martial arts fanatic, especially skilled in the swirling cloud sword technique, which was so refined that he ranked second among the disciples of Fang Academy.

Second only to Qin Yang.

"Junior Brother Chen, you're late."

Tan Yuandao said, "Just now, all of us brothers fought. In the end, our eldest brother won, followed by Senior Brother Li, and as for me... I was only in the middle."

Chen Mo nodded; this result largely aligned with his understanding.

Among all the masters of the Transformation Realm in Nine Swords Mountain, Qin Yang's swordsmanship ranks among the top ten.

Li Xuanyin's swordsmanship was also quite good.

At this moment, Tan Yuan suddenly said, "Junior Brother Chen, why don't you choose to challenge one of them? It's a rare opportunity to have so many senior brothers and sisters present."

Chen Mo frowned and began to think.

Xu Yan, standing to the side, said, "Why choose? Let him spar with Senior Brother a few times. The stronger the opponent, the more he'll benefit!"

Upon hearing this, Qin Yang raised an eyebrow and said, "Why don't we let Xuan Yin go? Xuan Yin has a long tradition of teaching new junior brothers."

Li Xuanyin coughed lightly, but his body language betrayed him as he stepped forward. "Yes, yes, Junior Brother Chen, please."

Chen Mo was taken aback. Judging from the situation, he was now trapped here and had no choice but to intervene.

Furthermore, sparring with a master swordsman greatly helps improve his own swordsmanship.

So he took two steps forward, stood in front of Li Xuanyin, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "Fifth Senior Brother, then I must offend you."

Li Xuanyin waved his hand, "Between fellow disciples, why talk about offending each other? I am in the late stage of Transformation Realm, while you have not yet reached Transformation Realm, so I will only exert 30% of my strength."

"Thank you for your understanding, senior brother."

Having said that, the two of them stopped wasting words and decisively drew their swords.

As soon as Li Xuanyin unleashed his Cloud Swirling Sword Technique, a slight flick of his wrist created layers of swirling air that burst forth from the tip of his sword.

Its swordplay is sometimes fierce and sometimes gentle.

Faced with this dense and seamless air current, Chen Mo's Dragon-Slaying Sword Technique appeared somewhat crude. He changed his sword moves several times, but each time his landing point was blocked in advance.

The two passed each other seven or eight times, their swords striking each other five or six times.

With each sword strike, Chen Mo retreated several steps, not from the force of his muscles, but from the shockwave of the sword technique.

The people nearby frowned more and more as they looked at it.

Tong Lu said, "The difference in their swordsmanship is too great. If this continues, Chen Mo will be defeated in less than five rounds."

Tan Yuandao said, "Junior Brother Chen mainly practices fist techniques, and it seems that he is not very familiar with sword techniques."

During the confrontation, Chen Mo took a few steps back again and stood still for a moment.

He realized that the gap between his swordsmanship and Li Xuanyin's was greater than he had imagined.

If Li Xuanyin is like this, then how about the even stronger Qin Yang?

What level would the experts with the "Baodan Jin" skill above him be?

Chen Mo also realized that although he had practiced the Dragon-Slaying Sword Technique for more than half a month, his sword moves still had traces of fist techniques due to the influence of his previous fist training.

However, swordsmanship is swordsmanship and fist techniques are fist techniques; they cannot be confused, much less permeate each other.

Fortunately, he had the ability to cultivate his skills in the mountains and rivers, and his improved understanding of the Dragon-Slaying Sword Technique was now putting to good use.

He immediately focused his mind and recalled each move of Li Xuanyin's Rolling Cloud Sword Technique, extracting its essence and transforming it into moves for the Dragon Slaying Sword Technique.

This thought process was completed in just a few breaths.

Chen Mo drew his sword again.

This time, his sword techniques were noticeably different.

It is no longer about sticking to a single move or technique, but about variation.

In other words, it has spirituality.

Faintly, a few wisps of air were generated around the tip of the sword, something that had never happened before.

"Um?"

Li Xuanyin uttered a question.

Just now, Chen Mo's swordsmanship was somewhat stiff, but now it has gained a touch of spirituality.

Clang!

The two swords clashed, and each took two steps back.

"Has Chen Mo's swordsmanship improved in just a few rounds?"

Li Xuanyin was secretly astonished.

In the following rounds, this idea grew stronger.

It's the fifteenth round.

Chen Mo suddenly took a step forward and slashed down with his sword, displaying a power reminiscent of slaying a dragon across the sea.

Li Xuanyin's expression hardened slightly, and he also swung his sword, his momentum like a rainbow.

The two swords clashed in mid-air, instantly unleashing a wave of energy that whistled outwards and swept past everyone's ears.

The two men each took two steps back again.

Tong Lu and Tan Yuan, standing to the side, were both somewhat surprised.

Why is Chen Mo still persisting even after fifteen rounds?

Xu Yan seemed to have noticed something, "Chen Mo seems to be imitating Senior Brother Li's swordplay!"

Qin Yang nodded in agreement. "That's true. It's quite interesting. I've never seen anyone learn on the spot through a competition like this before."

Li Xuanyin also noticed this, so he frequently changed his sword moves so that Chen Mo could see more of his techniques.

……

After twenty-five moves.

"This is the last move, Junior Brother Chen!"

Li Xuanyin shouted, and with a sudden flick of his wrist, the longsword snaked forward like a serpent, finally stopping three feet in front of Chen Mo's chest.

"You're too kind."

Li Xuanyin smiled and said, then sheathed his sword, patted Chen Mo on the shoulder, "I used seven-tenths of my strength for this last sword. With your strength in the Dark Force, you have managed to hold on until now. You can say that you are invincible in the Dark Force realm. Some early-stage Transformation Force cultivators are not even as good as you."

Although he was a martial arts fanatic, he had heard about Chen Mo's defeat of Cao Tai. At first, he didn't want to believe it, but now he had no choice but to believe it.

Chen Mo clasped his hands in a fist and said, "It's because my senior brother has always been accommodating to me."

Several people around him came up one by one to praise him, making Chen Mo unsure of how to be modest.

He knew in his heart that the reason why his Dragon-Slaying Sword Technique had improved so much today was because he had been diligently honing his understanding of the art, which allowed him to put it into practice in today's actual combat.

If it were any other swordsmanship or martial arts technique, no matter how well it was used in actual combat, it would not have such an effect.

After the competition ended, the senior students left one after another.

Chen Mo, Tan Yuan, Jiang Xiaoyun, and Xu Yan were left behind.

Xu Yan said, "Hey, why didn't you call me when you went to the Sword Forging Pavilion today?"

Chen Mo scratched his head and said, "I came over early this morning, before you even got up, so I went by myself and handed in the three swords for this month."

Xu Yan asked in surprise, "It's done so quickly! You're such an honest person. I always waited until the very last day to go. By the way, what did Elder Tang say about sheathing his sword?"

Chen Mo replied, "Elder Tang is quite satisfied."

Xu Yan said happily, "Elder Tang has always been strict, which shows that he approves of you. Did you take on any family swords next month?"

"It seems to be the Yun family." Chen Mo briefly recounted what he had encountered that day.

Upon hearing this, Xu Yan frowned slightly. "The Yun family? So the one who went to the Sword Forging Pavilion was Yun Zan?"

Upon hearing the name, Tan Yuan exclaimed in surprise, "Yun Zan? It's said to be the most beautiful hairpin in Chuzhou?"