Chapter 135 — The Circling Sword Stance

The others, hearing Imperial Preceptor Jingping's explanations, were sunk in bitter pondering; some simply stopped pondering and instead memorized with all their hearts; others used primal qi to control a brush, swiftly writing down Imperial Preceptor Jingping's words, intending to comprehend them gradually in the days to come.

Those who could understand on the spot and comprehend thoroughly were, after all, the few; most wore blank expressions.

When Imperial Preceptor Jingping finished the Circling Sword Style, he said, "Scholars, you may now try it once. " The many officials of the Directorate of Education and the Palace Library, and the Libationers, all roused their spirits.

They had been listening just now, absorbed in it, but now they had to pull themselves together, their eyes falling on the thousand-odd scholars below. By having them try the sword, Imperial Preceptor Jingping in truth wished to see whether there were any among these people worth noticing; those of strong comprehension would surely be singled out, to wait for the duel with Daozi Lin Xuan two days hence.

Before the Hall of the Imperial Academy, scholar after scholar began clumsily to try, attempting to turn their own primal qi into sword qi and execute the Circling Sword Style. Some could not control their sword qi; their primal qi burst apart and shot in all directions, nearly injuring the scholars beside them, causing a stir. Others gathered qi into a sword pillar, but when they tried to make the sword qi revolve in unison it would not turn no matter what; their pillars went straight and stiff.

Nor were there few among those who possessed divine abilities who had already learned the Great Six Harmonies Sword Art taught at the academy — the Great Six Harmonies Sword Art was itself created by Imperial Preceptor Jingping, and having learned it, they naturally made a decent show of it.

There were also a few who, having received Imperial Preceptor Jingping's guidance, took their swordsmanship up another level; though they had not grasped the innermost essence of the Circling Sword Style, their power was greatly increased from before. And there were those of exceptional intelligence who, though they had never learned the Circling Sword Style, after that guidance comprehended a measure of its mystery and managed to produce a sword pillar; though the variations of their swordsmanship were still obscure, each attempt was nimbler than the last.

Shen Mu, too, was trying to execute the Circling Sword Style, but he immediately knitted his brows and stared blankly at his "primal qi threads. " Other people's primal qi was fine as a hair, so that when they produced a sword pillar, the pillar was made of incomparably slender sword qi; his primal qi threads were as thick as an arm.

To execute the Circling Sword Style with such thick "primal qi threads"? How thick would the sword pillar that formed be?

The youth shook his head.

A sword pillar that thick was no longer a sword pillar but a sword peak! A mountain peak made of sword qi, thrusting forward?

"My primal qi is indeed mighty, but it is not so mighty as all that.

Such a sword peak — I cannot execute it.

" Beside Shen Mu, even the little fox was copying the Circling Sword Style in fine style; Wei Yong, Yun Que and the others had already tried to make their sword qi revolve; Ling Yuxiu and Shen Wanyun were progressing fastest — only he sat staring blankly.

After a while, Shen Mu tried releasing one arm-thick "primal qi thread" and thought: "Since it does not work, can I use the Circling Sword Style to break my primal qi thread apart?

" He thought, and he did; at once he began, full of eagerness, to try breaking apart his own primal qi thread by the method Imperial Preceptor Jingping had taught. His primal qi was mighty and robust, and extremely pure, making it hard to refine qi into threads; especially after he had cultivated the Crimson Heart Art, his primal qi had grown purer still.

Nor had anyone in the village taught him how to refine qi into threads, for the highest swordsmanship belonged to the village head, and the village head had taught him only one swordsmanship, the fourteen sword stances, and asked nothing of the rest, leaving Shen Mu's "primal qi threads" to grow unchecked. This time too, a flash of inspiration had crossed Shen Mu's mind, and he felt that using the Circling Sword Style to refine qi into threads would surely succeed.

The Circling Sword Style Imperial Preceptor Jingping had taught was indeed exquisitely subtle, and very soon he grasped the knack, and joy showed on his face.

Before the Hall of the Imperial Academy, the young Patriarch's gaze fell upon Shen Mu and he could not help but frown slightly: "This rascal does not go and learn swordsmanship — what is he doing there, fiddling with a club?

" Not far off, Shen Wanyun saw Shen Mu's primal qi club and smiled: "He may be very strong, but his comprehension is only so-so — far inferior to mine! " Just then, Shen Mu suddenly went wild with joy and burst out laughing, a sound like thunder rolling through the whole assembly: "Done, at last it is done!

Heaven has eyes — I have finally refined primal qi into threads!

"