Chapter 10: Living on One's Feet, How Free It Is

Zhang Yuan felt as if he were standing before Yu Lin, facing the blade that was descending upon him.

Dodge.

Retreat.

Advance.

Draw the blade to parry.

...

Yu Lin finished the eighteen forms of his saber technique, took a deep breath, and turned back to look at Zhang Yuan.

"This time, how much did you remember?"

Zhang Yuan, standing where he was, looked pale, his face covered in sweat.

Relaxing his clenched fists, Zhang Yuan slowly closed his eyes and whispered with lingering frustration, "Eight moves."

Yu Lin’s face was filled with surprise. He asked again, "You mean to say, you remembered eight moves?"

When he first learned this saber technique himself, he had only remembered three moves the first time he watched it, and only five by the second time.

Looking at it this way, Zhang Yuan’s martial arts talent was even greater than his own!

Was it possible that his legacy was not meant to die out?

Zhang Yuan opened his eyes, looked at the saber in Yu Lin’s hand, shook his head slightly, and said in a low voice, "It’s not that I remembered eight moves."

"It’s that I was defeated at the eighth move."

...

Perhaps due to mental exhaustion and his unhealed wounds, Zhang Yuan’s steps were somewhat unsteady as he walked out of the small courtyard.

Watching Zhang Yuan leave, Yu Lin stood where he was, his expression shifting from calm to agitated.

He had thought Zhang Yuan’s talent was high, but he hadn't expected it to be absurdly so!

Zhang Yuan had actually placed himself in the opposing position while watching him perform the Mountain Saber Technique, using combat to comprehend the blade.

Yu Lin had only heard of such cultivation talent among the direct descendants of top-tier great clans and the world-renowned prodigies.

"If I can let the Mountain Saber Technique be passed down, I will have no regrets."

He whispered softly, looking out toward the courtyard gate, his eyes narrowing.

He had not told Zhang Yuan where he had inherited this Mountain Saber Technique from, nor had he told him how profound it truly was.

"It seems Zhao Changming’s proposal is worth considering."

...

Zhang Yuan returned to the infirmary and collapsed into sleep.

In his dreams, perception beads shattered one by one, turning into phantoms that flowed continuously through his mind.

When the setting sun dipped below the horizon, he finally woke up.

In his mind, a chaotic curtain of light rose.

【Zhang Yuan】

Identity: Ninth-rank Constable of Luyang Prefecture, Great Qin; Conscripted soldier of the Red Scale Army

Cultivation: Post-natal Realm (Mid-stage); requires twelve Blood Essence Beads to advance

Martial Arts: Cloak Saber Technique (Grand Completion), Iron Armor Fist (Grand Completion), Mountain Saber Technique (Beginner; requires proficiency before further comprehension)

Battle Formation: Azure Wolf Formation (Minor Completion)

Chaos Space: Blood Essence Beads (3), Perception Beads (7)

Chaos Auxiliary Combat: Not unlocked

He had consumed three perception beads.

The eighteen forms of the saber technique seemed to be etched into his heart.

The Mountain Saber Technique had been mastered.

"Lad Zhang, you're awake?" Chen Wuxiong, who had been sitting against Young Master Tao’s wooden bed, shifted his weight and leaned over toward Zhang Yuan. He glanced around and lowered his voice, "How are you recovering? If we have to leave the city, can you still move?"

Leave the city?

Just as Zhang Yuan had returned to the infirmary to sleep, Commander Yu Lin of the Red Scale Army had gathered the officers and announced a decision.

They would seek an opportunity to send the wounded soldiers and the remaining civilians out of the city, while the remaining troops would hold Fengtian County to the death, perishing with the city.

There were currently nearly a hundred wounded soldiers in the city, along with over two hundred civilians.

With food supplies running low, these people would become a burden for the defense, so it was better to let them leave first while the soldiers held the line.

"The Commander has arranged for our battalion to escort the civilians out of the city."

According to Chen Wuxiong, their battalion was composed of locally conscripted martial guards, yamen runners, and even some death-row prisoners, making them familiar with the surrounding terrain.

Giving them the task of escorting the civilians and the wounded offered a better chance of success.

Leave the city.

Zhang Yuan lay on the bed, staring blankly at the leaking roof tiles above.

Having held Fengtian County for three months, he had long since stopped thinking about leaving alive.

But now, he wanted to live.

If he were given enough time, his future would certainly not be limited to the mid-stage of the Post-natal Realm.

"Zhang Yuan, did you see the Commander?" Young Master Tao, leaning against the bed nearby, turned his head to look at Zhang Yuan.

Zhang Yuan nodded.

Young Master Tao struggled to pull a blood-stained roll of linen from under his bed—a scroll recording the military merits and final wishes of the soldiers in their battalion—and handed it to Zhang Yuan.

"I don't mean anything else by it," Young Master Tao said with a forced smile, his voice soft. "Your chances of getting it out are better than mine, aren't they?"

Young Master Tao’s injuries meant he wouldn't be able to use martial arts for at least two or three months.

Even if he recovered, his martial path would essentially be ruined.

Zhang Yuan pondered for a moment, then reached out to take the linen scroll.

The scent of blood on the linen made Zhang Yuan tighten his grip.

Could he really get this scroll out?

...

Night insects chirped.

Unable to sleep, Zhang Yuan walked out of the infirmary to the broken wall behind the courtyard to practice his saber.

He had memorized the eighteen forms of the Mountain Saber Technique; now, he needed to practice the moves until they were fluid, then use the perception beads to deduce them until they reached the Grand Completion level.

*Clang—*

The long saber left its sheath, and the previously silent light-shadows in Zhang Yuan’s mind emerged.

Step forward, draw the blade.

With a single slash, the edge was revealed.

The blade felt like a range of mountains stretching out, layer upon layer, lush and green, yet also like mountains surrounding him—the grandeur of the scene was fully displayed in that one strike.

Mountain Saber Technique, First Form: Peaks and Ridges.

With the saber in hand and his feet moving constantly, Zhang Yuan let out a low shout, and the second strike was already unleashed.

This strike continued the expanse of the first; the blade shimmered in the moonlight like a rushing river that never ceased.

This strike possessed not only the expanse of mountains but also the momentum of a surging great river—majestic and swift.

Mountain Saber Technique, Second Form: Rivers Rushing.

With the blade in front, Zhang Yuan took a step forward, his figure suddenly lunging ten feet, slashing horizontally.

Third Form: Mountains and Rivers Afar.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step; once this form is mastered, one strike covers ten feet, killing a man every ten steps, leaving no trace for a thousand miles.

...

After running through the saber technique three times, Zhang Yuan was sweating, his blood surging, before he finally stopped.

At this moment, the Mountain Saber Technique was not yet perfectly fluid, but it was not far from proficiency.

"If you didn't stop, lad, I would have had to call you out myself." Not far away, Hu Chunnui, who had been pacing back and forth, walked over with his hands behind his back, eyeing Zhang Yuan. "Your wounds didn't tear open, did they?"

This small courtyard was Hu Chunnui’s medical clinic, so he was naturally very familiar with the surrounding area.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I learned a technique today, and my heart was itching—I couldn't sleep without practicing a few rounds." Zhang Yuan sheathed his long saber, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and sat down by a pile of rubble.

Hu Chunnui chuckled and sat down beside him. "That’s true. Back when I was learning medicine from my master, whenever I encountered a new prescription, I always felt restless until I used it on a patient."

A new prescription, used on a patient?

Seeing Zhang Yuan looking at him, Hu Chunnui grinned. "Don't worry, it won't kill anyone."

...

Fengtian County bordered the Yan Kingdom and was in a state of constant warfare.

The county, which once had over twenty thousand people, had been whittled down by death and flight until only a few hundred households remained.

Hu Chunnui was a native of Fengtian County; he told stories, but they were more than just stories.

"Starting from my great-grandfather’s generation, when the Marquis of Yanbei rebelled, this war has never stopped."

"Sometimes I wonder, the Nine Provinces have collapsed, and everyone who should have died before the Great Wall of the Northern Frontier is already dead—what are we old Qin people fighting for?"

He reached out and patted Zhang Yuan’s shoulder, a faint smile appearing on his face.

"It wasn't until you shared that half-can of meat soup that I finally understood."

"‘How can you say you have no clothes? I will share my robes with you.’"

"As long as we old Qin people have a breath left, as long as we have brothers-in-arms, a home, and a country, we are human beings."

"Upright, decent human beings."

"We can live standing tall."

"Those Yan dogs, those creatures from the old lands of the Nine Provinces—they can only be the lackeys of gods and demons."

Standing up, Hu Chunnui spread his arms, looked up at the stars in the sky, and took a deep breath. "Living standing tall... how free that is..."

Living standing tall.

(End of chapter)