Chapter 128
One With the Sword
Connie waved her hand, her new robe shimmering against the midnight blue sky. Her figure was solitary against the moon’s reflection.
“To learn my understanding of the sword is to know my past,” Connie explained softly. “My story might sound like tall tales to you, but I want you to listen. Just…listen.”
“Lend me a sword, Martell.”
The strawberry-haired boy’s ears twitched and he quickly took out the best sword from his Item Ring, the one that belonged to the leader of the robbers that he just killed a few hours ago. He presented it with both hands.
Connie took the sword and unsheathed it from the faded leather sheath it was in. It was a well-balanced sword. The handle was a typical Calendian model with a gradually tapered edge.
“Good sword,” she commented.
After a few moments of silence broken only by the sound of night creatures and the rustling of the leaves, she began.
“One lifetime ago, I was a man…a poor scholar who dreamed of nothing more than a good job in the Da Hu Government. At that time, I knew nothing of the sword or the world of Jiang Hu. The only thing I wield is a pen.”
“Compared to my peers, I was a bit worse than average. So, it came not to anyone’s surprise that I failed the Government Exam two times in a row. Upon failing my third, I drank myself to a stupor and managed to fall off a cliff. As I was falling to my death, a traveling Cultivator saved me,” her eyes softened when she reminisced about her old teacher. “The man flew to me, riding a Flying Sword. The first feeling of flight, and the wonder of Cultivation,” she took a deep breath. “That moment…was my first contact with a sword.”
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Connie laid her eyes on the brilliant reflection of the moon on the lake's surface. But in her mind, she was gazing far into a memory of a long time ago. A bittersweet feeling filled her chest.
“He…introduced himself as Wang Yun. He took me to his sect. And under his tutelage, I learned Cultivation, along with my Senior Brother, Li Hanfeng. I lived in the Sect for twenty years, during which I achieved the first stage of understanding the Sword, Sword Knowing. This is a stage that everyone starts with, which is also the stage Martell is in right now,” Connie rubbed her chin with a snicker. “At this stage, you learn how to swing a sword, how to cut at a perfect angle, the right snap of the wrist, the proper way to hold a sword,” She explained while swinging the sword she was holding. In their eyes, it was as if she was dancing, the sword a silvery blur, flowing like a river. Sometimes gentle, sometimes fierce.
“All the swordsmanship of the Plum Blossom Sect is based on a poem.”
One sword to bring peace to all men.
One sword to slay evil and uphold justice.
Pure and inviolable as the plum blossom
Our sword sighs against the myriad attachments
The sword became part of her body, moving in concert as she recited the steadfast poem.
Once she finished doing the basic moves, she held the sword aloft.
“Beautiful,” Martell said slowly, his eyes transfixed on the figure of his Mistress. Illumca and Akula even forgot to breathe. It was no longer just a sword technique; it was art.
“It has been ages since I used these moves. It was too flowery and superfluous for my current taste.”
These words caused the three listeners’ jaw to drop.
“There was also a little joke back then, that any children with a sword is already at Sword Knowing. Because even children know what a sword is,” Connie paused, expecting a reaction from her disciples or Akula. Finding none, she coughed awkwardly. “Teacher Wang Yun meant well but comedy is not his strongest suit.”
She then continued with her story. “On my Thirtieth Spring, I attained the second stage of Understanding the Sword. Sword Comprehending, although people usually call it Heart of Sword. I got it two full years faster than my Senior Brother. At this stage, one could control the sword as if it is a part of one’s body.”
Connie let go of the sword and it flew up onto the sky. It zipped through the trees and across the lake; making a silky, soft noise as it cut through the air. It made a sudden jump into the sky and as sudden as its rise, it bolted onto Connie’s head.
“Connie!” Illumca was about to protect Connie, but the sword was faster. They all gasped as they imagined the sword stabbing her head.
Contrary to their expectation, the tip stopped less than an inch away from her eye.
“This is Sword Comprehending taken to its limit,” Connie said simply.
Martell was astonished. He could control swords easily with his Telekinesis, but to be able to have such precise control was beyond him. As for Akula, she was so taken aback by the scene in front of her that she could not utter a curse for making her heart jump so fast.
The sword spun 45 degrees before her. She grabbed its hilt, one finger at a time.
“Upon achieving this stage, the Sect Elder had my Senior Brother and I go to a cave named Sword Grotto, where many Named Swords were stored by our Predecessors. After many trials and tribulations, I obtained a sentient sword named Tranquil Lake.”
“Tranquil Lake was a sword that chose its wielder based on strength and will. As for my Senior Brother, he failed the trial due to having too many distracting thoughts.”
Connie put her arm behind her and turned her back against them so that they could not see her face.
“After obtaining it, I cultivated until I gained my Dao. The name of my Dao back then was the Dao of the Benevolent Sword. The moment I obtained it, I was empowered. And in my youthful arrogance, I believed that I could reach the next stage of the sword in one go. But no matter how I tried, I could not advance. I stagnated.”
“A river that does not flow will never change. Teacher then ordered me to descend from the mountain and join the Righteous Faction. A Faction filled with so-called righteous men. With justice and goodwill in my heart, I went on to slay villains and evil demons.”
The hazel eyes of the hero-admiring Centaur met hers. There were many questions in her head. Her answer was a bitter chuckle. “Yes, Akula. I once walked that path you sought, that is how I know of your struggles. How else could my words resonate within you?”
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“I had adventures that could be written in stories by Minstrels and Songstresses. My deeds quickly earned me the moniker Silk Blossom Swordsman.”
She stopped suddenly. Her voice began to tremble, then she continued like nothing happened. “And It was during this journey that I met Yao-er,” Yao-er popped up from her hair and nuzzled his head against her blonde hair.
“Years went by and yet I still did not get any closer to the next stage. I did my work zealously and dutifully as if possessed, slaying evil wherever I go. At that time, I believed that I was right in my choice,” Connie’s fist tightened. “Until that fateful day.”
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“One day, out of the blue, my Senior Brother visited me in my abode. I was happy about his visit, for he was my best friend. We drank and talked deep into the night. We told each other of our dreams, of our ideals,” Connie gazed at her hand, stiffly moving it about as if the feeling was there still. “After a few cups of wine, I realized that I could not muster any strength, not even to hold my cup. The Senior Brother that I respected the most had poisoned me with Meridian Destroying Poison.”
“By the time I realized it, it was too late. I tried my best to fight, but Tranquil Lake left me as I was no longer strong enough to hold it. The betrayal affected me so much that it shattered my Dao. When I asked that vile man why he would do this, he laughed and simply said that he coveted my sword and my fame. He did not even do me the courtesy of killing me. He wanted to see me broken. He wanted to see me suffer.”
There was no pain in her voice as if it happened to someone else. A bitter smile adorned her lips. The smile of someone who had come to terms with her pain but had never forgotten.
“Connie…”Illumca did not know what to say. She knew that pain well. So well that it hurts. Her hand unconsciously touched the scar hidden underneath the eyepatch.
“I am fine, Illumca. I must tell my story. So that you do not repeat the mistake I have made. Betrayal is the one true poison. The bane of all men, kings, and gods alike. It is a poison that seeps deep and never let go.”
Illumca’s eyes narrowed, a memory she would have liked to forget resurfaced momentarily only for it to be squished down again.
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“Without a sword, without cultivation, I became mortal once again. News of my downfall was spread quickly to the Heretic Faction. Thus, those who knew this fact hunted me ceaselessly. Afraid for my life, I sought help from the Righteous Faction, but to my surprise, they did not even lift a hand to help me. No. To them, I am nothing but a liability. A worthless cripple.”
She looked up to the moon and raised the sword she was holding. “In anger, I cursed the Heavens! In despair, I abandoned the sword!”
Her voice boomed across the forest, causing the still lake to trouble and the trees nearby to shake.
“…not long after, one of my enemies caught me and sold me to a Poison User called the Northern Poison Toad.”
“He was a cruel man. Ugly in both heart and appearance. Along with me, he bought more than a hundred men from all over the reaches of the continent. He threw us into a deep cavern filled with poisonous creatures and was made to kill each other until only one survived, in what I later found out to be a Forbidden Ritual named Infernal Gu Ritual,” she then explained the meaning of Gu. “Gu is a process wherein poisonous insects are put into a jar and were left to fight and eat each other until there is only one survivor. Which is the most ferocious and poisonous of all the insects.”
“Then.…I…,” Connie went silent for a few long minutes. There was a definite reluctance in her expression. “I…cannot tell you what I experienced in there. All I can say is that what I experienced in there changed me forever.”
“During my stay in the cavern, I found a Heretical Scroll containing the art of Gu Body Tempering. Left with no hope, I used it and was reborn into a new body, with a new mind. A new me. I shed off the pitiful shell of naivety and righteousness and became something else! With my new cultivation, I managed to be the only survivor of that hellish carnage.”
The ripple of violent emotion cascading off her body caused goosebumps to appear on the three listeners’ skins.
“As the Gu Ritual’s only survivor, The Northern Poison Toad then took me in as his disciple and forced me to learn the Thousand Poison Claw. He also used me as a testing site for many of his poisons to force me to create a Poison Core within my body. Barely a day would pass without me suffering in agony as his poisons wreak havoc inside me. Boils would appear on my skin, pustules and tender bruises that leak pus would break out everywhere. To distract myself from the pain, I had to hurt myself, again and again. The only reprieve I had was the moments when I fell asleep from exhaustion. During those days of pure agony, I gradually formed a new Dao. One that was filled with my curse and my hatred against the Heavens.”
Hearing this, Martell and Akula shuddered. As for Illumca, there was a part of her that was angry for her, but also…rather happy to have once shared the kind of pain that only the two of them could know. It was a strange and conflicting emotion.
“Months passed and I finally rose onto Treading Earth Early Stage - my former Cultivation Stage - thanks to my Poison Core. Then I found out that he was grooming me because he wanted to put his soul inside my body to obtain my youth. Not long after, I hatched a plan to escape. Unfortunately, he found out and I had to kill him with my own two hands, with the Technique I created from the same Claw Technique that he forced me to learn,” she formed her free hand into a claw. Akula could feel the power contained within that claw and was reminded of that battle she had with her.
The three of them shuddered as they listen to Connie telling her past life’s experience. They felt a mix of pity and awe. Pity for the life that she led, and the awe for the strength of her heart.
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“Soon after, I resurfaced in Jianghu using a new name. Wang Tian Gu. A name I chose to remind me of my purpose. While I was on my way back to my sect, I found out that my past self’s name had been slandered and defaced, my deeds forgotten and mocked by the people.”
“As for my Senior Brother, he had since become the Sect Leader of the Plum Blossom Sect and turned the once pure Sect into a mockery of its past identity. A post he obtained by colluding with other Sects. Killing my teacher in the process.”
“Upon discovering what had transpired, I was enraged. Thus, I decided to turn his heaven into hell. I disguised myself as a disciple and turned the corrupt disciples onto each other. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. And life for a life. I watched as he fell into despair and paranoia. And the moment he reached the bottom, I took his life the same way he took mine. With poison.”
“It was irony at its best,” A look of ecstasy appeared as she remembered it. “However, Li Hanfeng at that time was one stage higher than me at the time. A fight was inevitable,” Connie’s eyes turned serpentine as she spoke. “I turned my rage and hatred of him into a sword. And we fought for hours before he finally succumbed. Upon his defeat, he begged me to be spared. He even offered to give me back Tranquil Lake and to give me all his treasures.”
“And…what did you do?” Illumca gulped.
“…I looked him in the eyes…and then...,” Connie cracked her fingers with glee. “…I ripped his chest apart with my bare hands. I then took his body and hung it on the sect's entrance for all to see. With that, my revenge against him was complete.”
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“What…happened to the sword, then?” Illumca asked. “Did you not take it back?”
“Ah, yes,” Connie once again turned her gaze at the moon. “I took Tranquil Lake back. But by then I no longer had any attachment for that sword. What good is a weapon that would betray its Master for greener pasture?”
“After leaving the sect, I happened upon a lake, just like this one. I threw the sword into the lake and - as I was parched at the time - I exchanged the scabbard for a cup of tea and some sweets from a nearby stall. The tea was lukewarm and tasted of soil, while the sweets were barely passable, as it had some grits mixed in.”
“Then, as I sat there and drank that lukewarm tea, enlightenment came upon me. And I attained the state of One with the Sword. The state of where you realized that anything in the world can be a sword.”
Connie swung the sword in a straight, downward arc against the lake. At first, there was no reaction, but then the moon’s reflection on the lake suddenly was cut into two.
“Huh?” Akula blinked in disbelief.
The lake water then exploded, creating a huge wave which came at them. Connie gathered the falling leaves using her Energy and send them into the oncoming wave, breaking its lower portion into pieces.
“The water, the leaves, they all can be a sword! For the sword is me…”
She spread her arms apart and focused Yin Energy into her palms, then brought them down, creating two blades of Yin Energy which broke the rest of the curtain of water apart.
She turned around, her robe flapping against the midnight breeze. Her deep blue eyes shining against the darkness as water cascaded back into the lake as a light rain behind her.
“And I am the sword.”
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While the others were still agape from watching the performance that she had given them. Connie explained. “One with the Sword is not just Sword Mastery in the strictest sense. It is a culmination of your training, your cultivation, your Dao, and the life that you have led.”
“...M-mistress, you mean you obtained this while drinking tea? That – that easy?” Martell gasped in disbelief.
Connie did not get angry upon hearing his words. Instead, she fell silent, reflecting on the path that led her to achieve that most sought-after stage of Sword Mastery. The life that she had experienced, the bitter loss that she had overcome. She did then gaze upon her reflection on the troubled water.
“Yes, it was that easy.”