Chương 16: War God — Chapter 16 - A Fierce Tiger in the Heart, Raising the Saber Forward

Wang Xian walked over to the weapon rack. These practice weapons were real — weight, material, all of it. Just mostly unsharpened. Since they were for student practice, they couldn't really be called proper combat gear.

"Technique..." Wang Xian looked at a spear. Like seeing an old friend. His gaze softened. That's right — in his past life, he'd used a spear. As the saying goes: a month for the staff, a year for the saber, a lifetime for the spear, and the sword stays hidden at your side. Among the three major weapons, saber, sword, and spear, spear technique was the hardest to master. As the greatest killing weapon of ancient battlefields, the best path to mastering it was surviving countless battles.

In his past life, he'd trained with the spear because he'd already decided to enter the Alien Star Battlefield. Likewise, decades of slaughter on the Alien Star Battlefield had forged his spear technique to the tenth stage. Displaying that level of technique with his current body was impossible. As for breaking through the tenth-stage boundary, equally impossible for who he was now. The condition for breakthrough was reaching at least his past life's Eighth Realm strength.

Besides the spear, the other weapon he excelled at was the throwing knife. As for other weapons, Wang Xian didn't know them particularly well. Had almost never trained with them. He could only say he'd fought against other high-stage weapon masters. As for now... Wang Xian's gaze fell on the sabers and swords. The sword was the mainstream martial technique for most students. Or rather, in modern society, the mainstream technique for most martial artists.

The reason was simple: Dragon Nation's first Martial God had used a sword. The saber was the choice of very few students. As for the spear, even fewer, unless they were considering joining the military. Otherwise, there might not even be a handful in the entire school who trained with it. The rest, hammers, axes, halberds, fist-blades, unless someone awakened a corresponding martial talent, no one would choose them. Having been reborn, Wang Xian naturally wouldn't choose the spear again.

For who he was now, spear technique had essentially no room for improvement. Better to take advantage of his growth phase and learn one or two more techniques. With his past life's martial understanding and combat talent, that wouldn't be difficult. Besides, if he actually used his spear technique, Teacher Cui probably couldn't handle it. So... Wang Xian reached out and picked up an Embroidered Spring Saber. The pinnacle achievement of Dragon Nation's ancient cold-weapon saber craft.

After being refined through modern high technology, its hardness, flexibility, and aesthetic quality had all far surpassed the ancient versions. Even as an unsharpened practice blade, the edges still carried a faint killing edge that gave people a subtle chill. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"Sword technique emphasizes intent. Saber technique emphasizes spirit. To cultivate the spirit is to cultivate the saber." Beside him, Cui Sanyan's voice rang out.

"You used fist-blades in your first and second year, switched to sword at the start of third year, and now you're thinking of switching to saber?" Using fist-blades had been because Third Uncle's martial hall specialized in fist techniques. He'd been influenced by that since childhood. In his third year, because of that letter, he'd started chasing Chen Yuting and switched to sword technique.

"I want to use it, so I'll use it," Wang Xian said.

"The saber is like a fierce tiger. The sword is like a soaring phoenix. To train the saber, if there is no fierce tiger in your heart, you cannot master it."

"If you've never trained in saber technique before, it's better not to use it for the technique assessment." Cui Sanyan gave Wang Xian a long look. Wang Xian shook his head. Seeing this, Cui Sanyan said nothing more. Before long, the students had all picked their weapons and formed a circle around the combat platform. This kind of combat platform didn't look large, only about the size of a basketball court. But it contained quite a bit of high technology, including millisecond-level holographic scanning.

As long as someone went up and fought a round, it could detect the combatant's technique score in real time with precision. It could also sense a martial artist's life force level. In all of Rong City Martial High, there were only three of these platforms.

"... Are you serious?" Zhou Xukun stood beside Wang Xian, lowering his voice. He held a short sword, turning it over in his hand, while his peripheral vision kept drifting toward the platform.

"What?"

"You're really going up for the assessment? And with a saber?" Zhou Xukun coughed softly.

"It's not that I don't believe you, but Cui Sanyan is famously uncompromising. If you can't block even a single move up there... that's embarrassing."

"This technique assessment is something you absolutely cannot fake." After all, it was a live assessment, combined with the platform's detection. Otherwise, how could it be one of the Martial Exam's components?

"If I can't block it, then I can't. I'll just work harder next time," Wang Xian said. He'd run through countless saber combat scenarios in his mind. As someone picking up a saber for the first time, Wang Xian had a rough sense of where he stood. Zhou Xukun was slightly taken aback. Felt like there was nothing wrong with what was said, yet also felt like something was off that he couldn't quite put into words. At that moment, Cui Sanyan jumped directly onto the platform.

"I will only use 1 point of life force in overall ability."

"This is the basic requirement for the standardized exam." The screen above the platform immediately displayed the information.

"Cui Guoliang. Life Force: 1." Cui Sanyan was a Third Realm Martial Artist, so naturally he had to suppress his strength for this kind of assessment.

"Yuan Xin, you're first." Cui Sanyan held a long staff, his tone flat. Yuan Xin held a longsword and hurried onto the platform. The screen immediately displayed:"Yuan Xin. Life Force: 0. 39." Not far off from what Cui Sanyan had said. It was clear this homeroom teacher was extremely responsible. He was very familiar with every student's situation in the class.

"Attack." Cui Sanyan stood in place without moving. Yuan Xin froze for a few seconds, then charged forward, swinging his sword in a thrust. Unfortunately, Cui Sanyan didn't even move his staff. He simply clapped the sword aside with one hand, sending it flying. Yuan Xin himself stumbled and swayed, and was sent flying as well. The crowd fell silent. The gap was too large. Even with only 1 point of life force, it wasn't that much more than most of the students. But the gap in technique level was too great.

He couldn't block even a single move.

"Yuan Xin. Sword Technique: 26 points." The screen behind the platform immediately displayed the result. This score was very low, essentially the most basic level of beginner. As a liberal arts student, one couldn't ask for too much. Good enough was good enough. So Cui Sanyan didn't say anything about it. Only the severity in his eyes made everyone break into a cold sweat. For Yuan Xin, this was actually considered relatively gentle treatment.

"Next!"

"Limp and powerless. Can't even hold the sword steady."

"With 0. 3 life force, you didn't even bring out half the power of a single sword strike..."

"I've said it hundreds of times — saber technique emphasizes spirit. You can't even look your teacher in the eye, and you want to use a saber?" Cui Sanyan pinpointed every student's strengths and weaknesses with precise clarity. He kept shaking his head. As the saying goes, weapons are an extension of fists and feet. These kids, most of them had only reached beginner level even in basic body-conditioning fist forms. How many stages could their martial techniques possibly be at?

To become a martial artist, how could it be so easy? Perhaps most of them were just waiting to awaken their martial talent? Hoping to use that as a leap through the dragon gate. Thinking of this, Cui Sanyan sighed inwardly, feeling a vague sense of melancholy for reasons he couldn't quite name. Most of the students, though somewhat embarrassed, weren't too discouraged. Just as Cui Sanyan had suspected, most of them were waiting to awaken their martial talent in the future.

Only a small number of the diligent ones furrowed their brows in thought, reflecting on their own shortcomings.

"Cui Sanyan is too strong..." Zhou Xukun rubbed his aching shoulder.

"I barely managed to block two moves..." Having blocked two moves, his sword technique score had already reached 82. That put him among the top few in the class. If one could reach 100 points, they would truly cross into the first stage of sword technique. At that level, one could directly begin training in some fairly decent foundational sword technique martial arts. Li Zihang, who came after, was also at the 80-plus level. Unfortunately, still no one had managed to block three of Cui Sanyan's moves.

Though being able to make Cui Sanyan actually strike was already considered decent. Until Chen Yuting stepped onto the platform. ➤ Next: First-Stage Blade Technique, Shocks the Entire Arena!