Roadmap to the Boundless Sky-Chapter 38Book 3, : Sparring

With his saber in hand, Chen Chuan returned the salute and said, “Please go easy on me too, Senior Zheng.”

Mr. Zheng then gave a reminder by the side, “Chen Chuan, I want you to only parry her attacks. You cannot counterattack or dodge. Also, stay where you are. Use the moves I taught you to negate her refined force. Once you’re familiar with those moves, we’ll proceed to the next step.”

Zheng Tongtong swung the thick-bladed saber a bit and said, “Please draw your saber, Chen Chuan.”

Chen Chuan grabbed the hilt and slowly drew the Frost King Saber out of its sheath. As its light shone, a chill filled the training ground.

“Oh? A mutated weapon?”

Mr. Zheng was a little taken aback. Such weapons were rare nowadays, because there weren’t many weaponsmiths who could craft them anymore.

The glare from the saber was making him feel threatened, though he couldn’t quite describe why. He was certain that plenty of powerful martial artists had died to that saber.

Zheng Tongtong waited until Chen Chuan fully drew the saber and positioned it in front of himself. “Careful now, Chen Chuan.”

She swung the saber down and moved with such agility that she seemed like a ball of air. After a single bounce, she arrived in front of him.

Remembering what Mr. Zheng had told him, Chen Chuan didn’t dodge. Instead, he activated his mutated tissue based on the moves Mr. Zheng had taught him and positioned his saber horizontally to receive the attack.

With a clang, a powerful force came charging at him. His feet sank, and the custom-made floorboards sank as well. That power only faded away after pushing against him for a while.

Zheng Tongtong didn’t deliver her next attack immediately. Instead, she took a few steps back so that Chen Chuan could have time to think. Clearly, this wasn’t the first time she sparred like this and was really experienced in helping.

Figuring out her kind intentions, Chen Chuan took the time to think. While he had managed to negate all the power in the attack, he had been too slow. Since he wasn’t allowed to dodge, if Zheng Tongtong had delivered her second attack right away, Chen Chuan would have been sent flying, and his defenses would have been thrown out of whack. He had to do his best to increase the speed at which he negated the power of her attacks.

With that plan in mind, he gave Zheng Tongtong a nod.

Zheng Tongtong’s first attack was actually her testing Chen Chuan’s resilience. Now, she knew how much strength she should put into her attacks, so she delivered another downward slash.

Clang!

Chen Chuan parried the attack. This time, his feet didn’t sink together. Instead, there was a logical distribution of weight between them, and he could even deliver a counterattack.

“Nice parry, Chen Chuan!” Zheng Tongtong praised him.

She had been thinking about holding back a little, but Chen Chuan had been able to parry her attack immediately. Even though he was still not used to negating her refined force, his movements were textbook-perfect and executed flawlessly.

“You have a solid foundation. I won’t be holding back anymore,” she declared.

She brought her saber down again, but this time, she didn’t end with just one slash. Instead, she delivered more than a hundred slashes at him in succession.

The posture behind each slash was exactly the same. Regardless of the distance or the power, everything was the same. Whenever she performed a slash, it was at the moment Chen Chuan had just negated her previous attack, giving him no time to catch his breath. This showed her incredible foundation and control.

Under the overpowering wave of downward slashes, Chen Chuan was forced to use every ounce of his energy to mobilize his mutated tissue in order to negate the refined force. Chen Chuan had been barely able to adjust to the speed at first, but Zheng Tongtong’s continued attacks and ingenious control gave him no pause, and he managed to catch up and even master how to negate her refined force. At the final dozens of slashes, he was able to do so with ease.

Mr. Zheng watched from the side. When Zheng Tongtong delivered more than one thousand slashes, Chen Chuan had gotten used to parrying the downward slashes, and he said, “That’s enough. Let’s take a break.”

Immediately, Zheng Tongtong retreated to her original position. Despite attacking at such a high intensity, her breathing remained stable, and she appeared relaxed. The execution of those attacks was nothing to her. Perhaps it was not even a warm-up for her.

Chen Chuan adjusted his breathing and gave Zheng Tongtong a nod as thanks.

She was stronger than she looked. Chen Chuan didn’t even factor in her strength and was just considering the skill she displayed during their sparring session. He had never seen such level of skill before. He had to use every bit of his energy to do his best. He didn’t even think about anything, because Zheng Tongtong gave him the perfect response and helped him bring out his best.

If he had been training by himself and wanted to reach the same state of mastery, he would have needed a full day for it at the least. Yet Zheng Tongtong had condensed it into a thousand slashes.

He could sense that his mutated tissue had memorized how to negate refined force. This was a natural response after getting external stimulus and realizing his needs.

It was no wonder why martial artists would spend so much money to hire a good sparring partner. Things like that were really different. A good sparring partner could provide a lot of help to a martial artist.

“I’m going to ask Tongtong to amp up the difficulty. Get ready.” Mr. Zheng turned to his daughter. “Tongtong.”

“Got it,” Zheng Tongtong said and gave Chen Chuan a warning. “I’m going to increase my power output. Be careful now.”

“Okay.” Chen Chuan got ready.

When Zheng Tongtong saw that Chen Chuan was all set to go, she swung her saber down without hesitation, and Chen Chuan could clearly sense that its power was greater than before.

Upon seeing this, Chen Chuan didn’t wait for her saber to hit his own. Instead, he brought his arms up and pushed the back of the Frost King Saber against her saber.

After parrying the slash, he didn’t sense the violent clash from before. The force from Zheng Tongtong’s saber only made him sink a little, as if Zheng Tongtong hadn’t delivered a powerful slash but only tapped her saber against his.

When Mr. Zheng saw this, he was pleased. Technique was just the use of all beneficial circumstances to get rid of all things that were disadvantageous to a martial artist. If an opponent increased the strength of their attacks, it was only natural for a martial artist to search for new breakthroughs. Chen Chuan had taken the initiative to meet Zheng Tongtong’s attack but didn’t violate any of the limitations imposed on him.

Good. It was no wonder why his battle tactics had been classified as outstanding during his entrance exam. Mr. Zheng had seen his potential in this aspect, which was why he decided to teach Chen Chuan seriously. The lack of technique and physical attributes could be compensated for through training and other means, but combat talent was something only a few people possessed. It was practically impossible to get it through training.

As a great sparring partner, the moment Zheng Tongtong saw the change in Chen Chuan’s response, she switched up the difficulty of her attacks. She no longer limited her attacks to downward slashes but also used sideways slashes, which were even more difficult to parry.

In the beginning, Chen Chuan had some difficulty blocking her attacks but soon adapted to them. When he got used to them, Zheng Tongtong switched her attacks to diagonal slashes, then thrusts, and later on, sweeps. Every single time Chen Chuan got used to her attacks, she would change to another method of attack.

Once Chen Chuan got used to every possible attack, she started using various combos. She never gave him room to catch his breath. Her chain of attacks was incredibly tight. With such high speed and attacks, Chen Chuan’s control over negating refined force kept improving steadily.

Just then, Mr. Zheng said, “Let’s stop this for now. We’ll continue in the afternoon.”

Zheng Tongtong swiftly stopped her attacks the moment she heard the order.

Chen Chuan checked the time; it was already 11:30 a.m.. Before he even knew it, an entire morning had passed.

“Go get ready, Tongtong,” Mr. Zheng said to his daughter.

“Sure thing.”

Zheng Tongtong left the training grounds. Despite several hours of high-intensity attacks, she was not out of breath. She wasn’t even sweating. Evidently, her mastery over refined force and breathing technique was at an incredibly high level.

Mr. Zheng went over to Chen Chuan and scrutinized him. When he saw that Chen Chuan was showing no signs of exhaustion and his eyes were full of energy, Mr. Zheng was pleased and said, “You have a great foundation, Chen Chuan. That’s good. Based on your performance, we’ll increase the difficulty in the afternoon and put our focus on refined force.”

Chen Chuan sucked in a deep breath and said, “Got it.”

He knew that up to this point, his training was still considered easy, because Zheng Tongtong had only ever changed her saber attacks. She never changed the output of her refined force, which would be the true test of Chen Chuan’s skills.

Mr. Zheng gave him some advice on what he needed to pay attention to until they smelled the alluring aroma of meat coming from the courtyard. With a smile, he said, “Let’s have lunch first. Come with me.”

He brought Chen Chuan to the courtyard, where a barbecue rack stood. Zheng Tongtong was putting slices of meat on the skewers.

“Good preparation leads to better efficiency. With good food as a stimulus, we’ll have more energy to train. I think that no matter what sort of school, be it the study of literature and science or martial arts, should have a barbeque grill set up by their classrooms. Those who study well can have barbeque, and those who don’t do not. I guarantee you, every student will become great then.”

Zheng Tongtong couldn’t help but say, “That’s just your personal preference, Dad.”

“How can that just be my personal preference? The best things in the world are eating and sleeping. As martial artists, it’s only after we have good food and rest that we have the energy to fight others,” Mr. Zheng retorted.

He went over to the grill, grabbed a cooked skewer, and tossed it at Chen Chuan. “Try it.”

Chen Chuan took a bite and was surprised.

The texture was great. The skin was crispy, and the meat was tender. When he bit down, it was full of juices. It was also warm, which helped him swiftly replenish the energy he had burned up. It made him feel as if he had just taken a tube of nutritional paste.

“It’s no normal mutton. The meat is from Highland Goat, a creature bred in a special area. We got this from Zhantong Alliance, and the meat is only for martial artists. This is a benefit the Resolution Department is providing for us lecturers and students.”

Compared to expensive medicine, good ingredients’ effects were relatively lower, but they could provide great joy and satisfaction to those who ate them. By providing the meat, the Resolution Department could easily gain the approval of the martial artists they were sponsoring. Honestly, it was a show of kindness that cost them nothing.

As for Zhantong Alliance, Chen Chuan had never heard of the company before. After looking for them through his Realm Pass, he learned that it specialized in selling all sorts of niche items and unusual products. No matter how rare they were, as long as a person was willing to spend the money, the company would have channels to get them.

After finishing her skewer, Zheng Tongtong handed Chen Chuan a dozen more grilled skewers, and he took them with thanks.

Mr. Zheng then said, “If you want to absorb all the nutrients inside, you need intense exercise. The meat here will be enough for today’s training.

“You’ve already picked up the basics of the neutralizing force I taught you, but it’s not second nature to you yet.

“Just like how everyone has their own habits, you also need your own way of using the neutralizing force. Our training in the afternoon will be to help you find that unique style of yours.”