I Can Devour Spirits

Chapter 140: Basic Form

Xiao Zongting finished the three moves, already panting heavily. He sighed and said, "I’m really getting old!"

Looking at the Broken Blade Saber in his hand, Xiao Zongting laughed at himself, "Old buddy, my frail bones can no longer move you!"

Duan Rong stood there in a daze. Although Xiao Zongting had already stopped, Duan Rong’s mind kept replaying the Nameless Three Forms that Xiao Zongting had just executed.

Seeing Duan Rong standing there, eyes bright and gaze focused on the void, Xiao Zongting knew that those three moves had left their mark.

"This child... he has an epiphany..." Xiao Zongting chuckled softly. Honestly, even if Duan Rong was completely confused after watching, that would be normal. Instead, it’s Duan Rong’s deep contemplation now that surprises him.

Xiao Zongting put the Broken Blade Saber back in the room, then let Duan Rong stand there in a daze while he limped out of the courtyard.

There’s something he needs to take care of in the backyard.

Xiao Zongting walked to the Outer Court and saw Xiaoqi. He asked, "Duan Rong is in the Inner Courtyard, don’t disturb him!"

"Oh." Xiaoqi was puzzled, but seeing Xiao Zongting’s serious face, she agreed.

Xiao Zongting took a few steps and urged again, "Don’t talk to him either."

"I got it!" Xiaoqi pouted, seemingly a bit annoyed by Xiao Zongting’s nagging.

Only then did Xiao Zongting leave the courtyard.

As she watched Xiao Zongting’s back and then glanced through the moon gate at the dazed Duan Rong standing there, Xiaoqi grumbled, "Who cares to talk to him anyway?"

Xiao Zongting left the courtyard, crossed the Martial Arts Arena, and went to the backyard.

Xu Shouxian, Zhou An, Wang De’an, and Zhu Shicheng had already been detained separately, and Xiao Zongting was ready to go over and pour them some tea, offer some apologies with a smile to ease tensions, because they still had to work together in the future.

Xiao Zongting first went to Xu Shouxian’s room, where Xiao Yu was guarding the door.

Seeing Xiao Zongting, Xiao Yu hurriedly asked, "Dad! What were Duan Rong and Lu Feng called to the Juyi Hall for? I saw Lu Feng’s face, looking like his father had died. What’s going on?"

"There’s nothing going on! Stay at your post! Too many questions!" Xiao Zongting glared at Xiao Yu and scolded.

Xiao Yu was slightly taken aback; Xiao Zongting hadn’t scolded her in a long time. But precisely because of this, Xiao Yu felt something was wrong, yet she had her duty and couldn’t leave her post, only standing there anxiously...

Duan Rong was standing in Xiao Zongting’s courtyard, motionless, for nearly the time it takes an incense stick to burn.

Xiaoqi was already standing at the moon gate, having looked at him several times. If Xiao Zongting hadn’t instructed her, she would have called out to Duan Rong herself.

"Standing there foolishly, what’s he doing? Could he be bewitched?" Xiaoqi murmured while picking vegetables.

Suddenly, Duan Rong drew his Cow Tail Saber, startling Xiaoqi who was sitting in front of the moon gate, picking vegetables.

The Cow Tail Saber gleamed coldly, but Duan Rong held it aloft without moving for a long time.

Xiao Zongting’s Nameless Three Forms had replayed several times in Duan Rong’s mind, but when he tried to perform them himself, he felt at a loss.

It’s like a dance; you know all the moves, but can’t find the rhythm.

Without rhythm, or rather cadence, the moves can’t connect.

Ordinary Saber Techniques have a rhythm that’s easy to grasp; you just need to practice, and the rhythm naturally follows.

But these three forms are basic forms; even when Xiao Zongting performed them, they seemed disjointed.

But it’s not truly disjointed; the rhythm of these three forms is reserved and concealed, hard to perceive.

Although Duan Rong felt at a loss, he still braved it and practiced the first form.

Duan Rong’s moves were choppy, and Xiaoqi watched from the moon gate, covering her mouth and laughing.

Despite this, Duan Rong practiced again.

And then a third time, a fourth time!

Yet the feeling of being at a loss didn’t diminish in the slightest.

Duan Rong closed his eyes in thought, recalling Xiao Zongting’s moves, which also seemed disjointed.

But Xiao Zongting’s disjointedness was entirely different from Duan Rong’s choppy execution.

Xiao Zongting performed with rhythm, only that the rhythm was concealed, so it appeared disjointed.

"Concealed rhythm doesn’t mean there’s no rhythm. I just need to find that hidden rhythm!"

In his mind, Duan Rong again recalled Xiao Zongting’s moves, but this time his focus was different.

Duan Rong gradually realized that Xiao Zongting’s disjointedness was a deliberate, controlled pause.

Duan Rong’s eyes lit up, as if a lightning bolt had illuminated his heart.

He suddenly understood that Xiao Zongting’s pauses were moments for change!

"These three forms are incomplete moves! You need change to fill the gaps to complete the techniques!"

"Meaning, filling these three forms with different changes will evolve them into different techniques!"

"These three forms are just the soul, and their body can be diverse!"

Once Duan Rong realized this, he suddenly felt a cold chill. "Xiao Zongting is truly a genius, to have created such open-ended saber techniques!"

"Mastering these three moves, one can transform any Saber Technique, turning the mundane into the miraculous, elevating to a higher level."

In that moment, Duan Rong understood why Xiao Zongting chose to teach him these three moves now. If he can quickly comprehend them, he can elevate his Martial Arts techniques to a higher level, increasing his chances of survival when delivering gold to the Desolate Burial Mound.

But first, he must understand them!

Once Duan Rong understood, he immediately began practicing, although he had absorbed many Saber Techniques, he was most familiar with the Five Tigers and Sheep Saber.

He wanted to try first, filling the Nameless Three Forms with changes from the Five Tigers and Sheep Saber.

After repeated attempts, Duan Rong finally integrated the Black Tiger Ascending Mountain and Leopard Drilling Forest techniques into the first form.

Although the three forms merged, the first of the Nameless Three Forms remained as the soul, overseeing Black Tiger Ascending Mountain and Leopard Drilling Forest, injecting something new into the original technique.

The merged first form was elusive and strange, and Duan Rong noticed that this move was a looping structure.

Connecting Leopard Drilling Forest to Black Tiger Ascending Mountain, then Leopard Drilling Forest again...

Endlessly cycling, continual and unbroken...

This was determined by the original structure of the first form...

In the courtyard, Duan Rong performed endlessly, his gaze focused and excited, the saber light shifting like water...

At this moment, Xiao Zongting returned to the courtyard, seeing Duan Rong enveloped in saber light, and Xiao Zongting was taken aback. He originally intended to return and guide Duan Rong after his deep thoughts and attempts, but Duan Rong had already comprehended on his own.

"This..."

Watching Duan Rong execute the saber techniques he created so well, Xiao Zongting felt an indescribable emotion.

Yes, it was emotion!

Because he greatly desires to pass down what he has learned!

But these three forms are so peculiar; he always feared no one would understand them.

Yet Duan Rong had comprehended them on his own.

"Kid, us two martial arts nuts really are like-minded!"

Actually, with Duan Rong’s Martial Arts Realm alone, it’s impossible to understand such strange and peculiar moves.

But he had absorbed more than ten minor success realm Saber Techniques and had undergone several life-and-death temperings on his escort journey, broadening his horizons and deepening his understanding of Martial Arts.

And these are things ordinary people cannot possess.

In this world, no one would master more than ten Saber Techniques to a minor success realm!