Chapter 630: Preaching the Sword (II)
Another young cultivator rose up to offer their knowledge. They were even less impressive than the first two and retreated with heads lowered. Preaching the Dao was not a simple matter. It was clear that even among the best of the best that the metropolis had to offer, it was a difficult challenge for those so young.
This was it meant to be a genius.
Everyone expected an old cultivation master with many decades of experience to be able to preach the Dao. Everyone expected an immortal who had traveled the world and seen unbelievable things to be able to guide others along the correct path. It was another thing entirely for young men and women who had not even reached the peak of the Spirit Initiate Realm. By average measures, everyone gathered in the meadow this morning was already talents that even immortal sects would fight over.
As the sixth participant sat back down with a disappointed expression, the preaching event fell into a lull. Nobody else wanted to immediately take the reins. Those not confident in their answers didn't want to go up and embarrass themselves. Others didn't stand because their ideas had already been presented by others.
Zhou Ziyun looked around and felt a small urge to go for it. Her answer was rather strange but she felt confident about it. The idea had suddenly come to her. She had thought about left to right and front to back. She felt that her deduction was the most accurate.
Her conjecture about the Falling Leaf Sword Dao was that it was weak because it had two glaring flaws. The first was that it was an incomplete sword art. In its current state, it had ten forms and eight movements in each form for a total of eighty-eight movements. It was a lot but it was still missing movements.
The movements were mostly cohesive but occasionally, there would be jarring pauses or irregular movements as if the pieces didn't quite fit together. It wasn't easy to spot these as pauses would only be for a split second or a slight imbalance in their movement which was corrected within a breath. Solving for the gaps, the natural conclusion was that there was something missing. This was what she had comprehended from the demonstration and from her own knowledge of the sword.
The second flaw was that the sword style had two creators and the two did not mess together seamlessly. Around three-fourths of the movements were created by a far stronger person and were filled with precision, vigor, and power. The rest were made up by a second person trying to imitate the first, resulting in a sword style that felt disjointed and messy, a sword that had great style and showmanship but lacked some fundamentals such as speed, killing power, and most importantly, sword intent.
Zhou Ziyun sighed and leaned back in her seat. Although she was convinced of the result of her comprehension, she couldn't be totally sure. She was already satisfied to be able to thoroughly analyze this sword art. She didn't feel the need to stick her out on the chopping block.
Her master and their sect were already embroiled in several high-profile events. Their reputation could be considered infamous across the subcontinent. And especially in the metropolis, public opinion wasn't great. He was known as someone who stole disciples from other immortal sects and as someone who fled in the face of demons. He relied on a bunch of women from the Virtuous Order of Chunzhen and couldn't do anything for himself.
All of these were false but also secrets that could not be easily revealed. Thus, she decided that she wouldn't cause trouble this time around.
As Zhou Ziyun looked back up, a person finally stood up. There were a few gasps from fellow participants and a surging roar from the massive crowd. It was the Little Devil Tang Liang.
"Hmph, you guys are so useless. How much face have you lost for the metropolis already? I still have to live here, you know?" Her voice was sharp and her words were piercing. She glared at everyone before snorting again, "Rest of you can stay seated. I will take care of our guests and there won't be any need for any more garbage ideas."
Such arrogance, such bristling attitude, her reputation as the Little Devil was truly worth it.
But there were no complaints from her competitors or the crowd. They all waited for her to continue.
"Good! Listen closely, the problem with the Falling Leaf Sword Dao is very simple. The solution is also very simple. You won't believe it if I told you." Tang Liang paused and faced the senior of the Falling Leaf Sect. Her eyes gleamed like a predator and she smiled without smiling, "Your Falling Leaf Sword Dao cannot even be considered a proper sword art. It is bastardized version of another sword art and not a complete one at that. The idiot who stole the original sword art didn't even manage to grab the complete texts. And on top of it all, they added their own erroneous movements haphazardly until it became a worthless mortal sword art."
"Impossible! No! No!" The old man from the Falling Leaf Sect shouted, "Our sect founder created the Falling Leaf Sword Dao by himself and established our sect three hundred years ago! What you say is impossible!"
His outburst seemed genuine and nobody blamed him. Each cultivator would defend their sect and their master like this. If their honor and history were questioned, for some, it was akin to declaring war.
Tang Liang laughed harshly, "Those that doubt me can check the Central Association Library in the Sky District. I remember it from that one time I visited it about five years ago. You can look on the third floor, in the Blue Forest Room, aisle twenty-one, fifth column, and on the third shelf from the top. There will be a large book titled Records of the Grand Sword Historian. Its cover has a dark grey color like iron. Within, on page one hundred and eighty, it describes a sword style that originated from Immortal Autumn Leaf Liu Ye, a loose cultivator who was a senior member of the Eastern Sword Alliance sometime around three hundred and fifty years ago. It was called the Falling Leaf Sword Style."
She pointed a finger accusingly at the old man, "Your old founder must have encountered Immortal Liu at some point and gotten some pointers. Feeling that this was not enough, they stole most of the Falling Leaf Sword Style but they didn't even bother changing the name, only changing one word so that it became the Falling Leaf Sword Dao."
"That can't be true... that can't be..."
Tang Liang raised her hand as a shiny sword appeared, "You don't have to believe my words, you just have to keep your doggy eyes wide open and watch closely! This is the true Falling Leaf Sword Style!"
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