# Chapter 97: The Sword Has Three Feet, the Sword Glow Seven Inches!
Zhen the Invincible had ignited Jiang Wang's fighting spirit, but before he had some measure of confidence, he was firmly determined not to return to the Great Void Illusion to be tormented again.
After all, that Zhen the Invincible did not even rank within the top hundred of the Great Void Illusion's Wandering-Meridian Realm. And judging by the way he had "hounded relentlessly" after winning a single bout against Jiang Wang, he was likely unaccustomed to battles this easy...
Such a deduction did not drive Jiang Wang to despair; on the contrary, it roused his fighting spirit all the more.
What did it amount to, to reign supreme among cultivators of the same realm in Fenglin City?
Jiang Wang had closely witnessed that great battle outside the Huánzhēn Temple, and his horizon naturally was not so shallow.
Gongyang Bai and Mo Jingyu had borrowed the realm to slay their enemies, Zuo Guanglie had been valorously unmatched, and Li Yi's sword had taken heads in a single stroke. The whole of the Zhuang Kingdom could only stand by and watch — partly awed by the pressure of the forces behind these people, and partly because they truly were too strong!
So strong that, for the Zhuang Kingdom to deal with them would amount to declaring a war. And looking across the world, how many powers could truly go to war against Qin and Chu?
Leave aside for now the matter of establishing the minor Zhou Heavenly circulation; even within the Wandering-Meridian Realm, in the resources he possessed alone, he was far from perfection.
The Four Spirit Body-Tempering Art had only completed the Azure Dragon chapter; the confluence of the four spirits was still far off. His application of Dao arts was even more shallow — to this day he had never revolutionized any Dao art's use, let alone spoken of elevating it into an original creation.
And the Purple Qi from the East Sword Art alone — had it truly been cultivated to completion?
Within the Wandering-Meridian Realm, in the range his eye could reach, his room for advancement was already very great.
Failure was not frightening; what was frightening was the inability to face failure correctly.
...
To deal with Zhen the Invincible, one first had to grow familiar with his ceaselessly emerging combinations of Dao arts.
Though the Dao Academy's instructors had always stressed that breadth was inferior to depth, that diversity was inferior to specialization — and Jiang Wang agreed those were words of gold and jade — yet if one truly found a cultivator of such dazzling talent, developed across the board, his true combat power was something to terrify.
And a cultivator of this type, in Jiang Wang's memory, there was one. Wei Yan's deputy general, Zhao Lang.
Jiang An'an was still in the Mingde Hall at the moment, so Jiang Wang brought Tang Dun along to the city garrison's grounds to see the world.
For Tang Dun, being able to observe Jiang Wang's battles up close was naturally almost beyond his wishes.
The city garrison's grounds were in the southern outskirts, which, compared to Fenglin City, were actually closer to Fengxi Town.
Over the recent stretch, the Jiang family's properties had been gradually returned to them, and Jiang Wang had no heart for managing them, so he donated them wholesale to the town in Jiang An'an's name. Each year, the gross profit of the medicine shop would be put toward funding the education of Fengxi Town's poor children.
Nor did he need to worry about some townsman helping himself to the funds; having wrested the properties back from the Lin family of Wangjiang City, he would not see his prestige quashed in Fengxi Town.
The reason he did this under Jiang An'an's name was because, although Jiang Wang did not firmly believe in such things as good and evil karma, if such things did exist, then he hoped they would watch over An'an.
On the road, Jiang Wang remarked offhandedly: "Back then I went with Senior Brother Zhang Linchuan to Tangshe Town. How did you never think to ask him for help? He's far stronger than I am."
Tang Dun replied honestly: "Senior Brother Zhang is very polite, but he's not an easy man to get close to."
And having said so, he waved his hands repeatedly: "I'm not saying anything bad about him, it's just — just a feeling."
He no longer peppered every sentence with "this humble one," but his honest, country forthrightness had not changed.
Jiang Wang paid it no mind: "Senior Brother Zhang is, at his core, a very proud man."
Even as they spoke, the two had arrived outside the city garrison's encampment.
After the gate guards relayed his arrival, Zhao Lang hurried over before long.
"What brings Brother Jiang here today?"
They had crossed paths in the battle at Little Grove Town, and with Du Yehu now having entered the Jiujiang Profound Armor and Jiang Wang himself rising in repute, Zhao Lang was polite enough.
Of course, since they were not truly familiar, there was no great closeness either.
"It's like this, Brother Zhao." Jiang Wang explained: "I've come to a bottleneck in my cultivation. I've been turning over in my mind how to handle an opponent who has mastered all sorts of Dao arts, and after mulling it over I've arrived at no leads, so I thought I might as well simply test the matter with real steel. Of the people I know, you, Brother Zhao, are the only one with such a wealth of Dao arts at your command."
"So you've come to find a sparring partner!" Army men generally acted with directness, and Zhao Lang showed not a trace of awkwardness, leading the way toward the drill grounds in the encampment: "I'm just the one curious about Brother Jiang's swordsmanship."
The army delighted in battle, and when word spread that their Deputy General Zhao was to duel a Dao Academy disciple, every barracks along the way was set ablaze with excitement.
By the time they reached the drill grounds, the soldiers had already surrounded them layer upon layer.
Tang Dun grew nervous and asked Jiang Wang in a low voice: "If he loses, they won't jump us all together, will they?"
Jiang Wang rolled his eyes. Tang Dun had a little too much faith in him.
As deputy general of the city garrison, Zhao Lang was at minimum an Eighth-Rank Zhou Heavenly Circulation cultivator, and might well have been a Seventh-Rank Heaven-Access cultivator already.
And he came from a military background, battle-hardened — by no means comparable to certain Dao Academy disciples who only knew how to cultivate behind closed doors.
Stepping onto the drill grounds, Jiang Wang gave a dry laugh: "Brother Zhao, just give me some pointers — is there any need for such a crowd?"
Zhao Lang burst into laughter: "No matter, let these fellows learn a thing or two from the Academy's fine disciples, so they stop thinking too highly of themselves!"
This Zhao Lang, with his thick brows and big eyes, was not a good soul either. Jiang Wang had wondered why he was being so easygoing, only to realize he was being used as a convenient target — both to rouse his men's fighting spirit and to serve as a live demonstration.
"Yes! Let us learn too!"
The soldiers beyond the ring clamored aloud.
"Show your brothers what a Dao Academy disciple's majesty looks like!"
And there were the wilder ones: "Beat down Zhao Lang! Put him on his arse!"
The Dao Academy, the Ministry of War, and the Marshal of Justice — these were the three places where cultivators gathered most densely. Between each of them ran some current of rivalry.
Among these, the Dao Academy focused on nurturing cultivators, was the hardest to win admission to, and boasted the richest resources.
Dao Academy disciples could enter the Ministry of War or the Marshal of Justice with great ease, while cultivators from those two places found it comparatively harder to return to the Academy to study.
These rough soldiers, seeing Jiang Wang enter the camp, had no reason not to wish for him to make a fool of himself.
Seeing the situation, Jiang Wang knew there was no escape. Still, at worst he would only be mocked; there was no real loss. Far better than squandering merit in the Great Void Illusion.
"Then at your pleasure, Brother Zhao!"
His sword drawn from its sheath, Jiang Wang's whole air was already transformed.
Had one seen Jiang Wang before he drew his blade — laughing and joking, fresh-faced and gentle — he would, in the eyes of the soldiers outside the ring, have seemed a lamb awaiting the butcher.
Then once the sword was out, he was a man-eating tiger!
The sword has three feet; the sword glow, seven inches!
A single inch of sword glow was the limit of mortal martial artists; to exceed one inch was to transcend the mortal.
Seven inches of sword glow had become a white cascade.
The discerning would see at a glance how dire the danger was.
Zhao Lang hurled two water spikes with a flick of his wrist, and as his feet shifted, vine serpents rose before him.
The sword glow slanted in, cleaving through the water spikes. Jiang Wang's body, however, was already ahead of his sword, and he drew the blade back, severing the vine serpents. He wheeled to dodge a flame bullet and was about to surge forward when he abruptly reined in his sword's momentum and shot up off the ground.
In his place appeared a stone wall.
Zhao Lang had carved into the Zhou Heavenly Circulation an instantly released Dao art, the Stone Wall Art. This Dao art was not refined, yet he wielded it with great cunning — constructing the stone wall with Jiang Wang at its center, turning a purely defensive Dao art into one that trapped foes and dealt damage.
Jiang Wang dodged quickly, hurtling down out of the air.
Another stone wall slanted before him, cutting off his path.
Jiang Wang drove sword and body together, smashing through the stone wall with brute force. But Zhao Lang had already extricated himself to one side, and another stone wall shot out, once again between him and Jiang Wang.
Jiang Wang simply dispelled the half-formed Dao art, turned his body with the sword, and the sword glow cut open this stone wall. He followed with a kick, and the stone wall crashed to the ground.
But Zhao Lang's figure was gone.
Behind the stone wall stood another stone wall.