Volume One, The Youngest Among Three Hundred - Chapter 142: Overcoming Hardness with Softness

Feeling the soreness and weakness in his arms, Chen Chang'an subconsciously had the urge to give up. After all, as mentioned earlier, facing someone at the post-Xuan realm of the Eighth Rank—the current ceiling of martial arts—might look cowardly if he avoided the fight, but losing would be the most normal thing in the world.

Just at that moment, Chen Chang'an inadvertently glanced at the surrounding onlookers and noticed Li Bai shaking his head at him, even wearing a very deliberate smile after catching his eye.

It wasn't an encouraging smile. It was the kind of disappointed smile a teacher gives to the worst student in the entire class.

What the hell are you smiling at?!

Chen Chang'an was utterly speechless. You're the one who picked me, aren't you? Passing over Cao Wu and Cheng Mulong, who were both at the Seventh Rank, you just had to...

The more Chen Chang'an thought about it, the angrier he became. On the spot, he raised Cāngmíng and ignited his fighting spirit once more.

He shifted from defense to offense, turning passivity into initiative, and charged forward with gathered momentum.

As the distance between him and Jōdō Takuya closed, Chen Chang'an's mind raced faster and faster, searching for a strategy to break the enemy.

"Whether it's fancy realm techniques or pure sword skill, I am no match for him. Even if there's a chance I could match or surpass him in sword skill, Jōdō Takuya is simply too strong."

"What on earth should I do? Do I have any strengths that can make up for my lack of strength?"

"Wait, strength... great strength, rigidity. My strength is small, small... weakness... Right! Overcoming the massive with the minuscule, defeating rigidity with fluidity, deflecting a thousand pounds with four ounces."

Chen Chang'an suddenly thought of the philosophy of Tai Chi created by Zhang Sanfeng in later generations. If the theory of overcoming rigidity with fluidity was indeed true and viable in the realm of martial arts, perhaps he could give it a try.

He immediately reined in even the tiny sliver of power available from the Xinglang Monster Bone, relaxing his entire body and stretching his meridians to the state of ordinary sleep. Especially the arm holding the sword, which hung limply down and looked no different from being broken from afar.

Cheng Mulong and Cao Wu furrowed their brows so deeply they could practically hold a pen, their expressions grave. "What... what is he doing? Even when he used all his strength earlier, it was hard to block him, and now he directly chooses not to exert any force at all?"

The three Black-Clothed Guards of the Xuan rank spoke in unison, "The kid must have been beaten stupid!"

Ye Rin stomped his feet in anxiety, "We're done for, completely done for. He's setting himself up to be sent flying with a single strike."

Ruan Jingchu lightly knitted her delicate brows in deep thought. She seemed to vaguely sense what Chen Chang'an was about to do, yet she couldn't quite articulate it—that flash of insight had merely flickered across her mind and vanished.

Up in the clouds, standing upright on his sword, Su Dingfeng couldn't stop showing his disgust, sighing, "Alas, what a blockhead!"

Only Li Bai nodded in satisfaction, chuckling to himself, "Not bad, not bad. That's more like it. He's got a tiny fraction of my insight back in the day."

As his opponent, the corner of Jōdō Takuya's mouth curled upward into an even wider arc of contempt. He accelerated his pace, crossed the distance in an instant, and brought his blade down in a chop.

Chen Chang'an smoothly imagined an arc in his mind, and without using much force, controlled Cāngmíng to sweep along a trajectory that didn't physically exist. With a crisp *clang*, at a specific node, it intersected with the edge of Jōdō Takuya's straight blade.

In an instant, the momentum and force that Jōdō Takuya had accumulated all the way seemed to be completely drained away as Cāngmíng traveled along its circular arc, even tugging and altering the trajectory of the straight blade's chop.

Jōdō Takuya's thrusting blade felt as though it had been adsorbed onto the surface of Cāngmíng by some magical force, following it to spin and draw an arc.

"What... what is going on?"

Jōdō Takuya was greatly startled. His first reaction was that Chen Chang'an was invoking his realm to use an esoteric technique or some sort of skill. Yet, concentrating his focus, he didn't sense the slightest fluctuation of internal energy. So... this effect was achieved purely through sword skill?

How could that be!

His sword strokes looked limp and utterly devoid of force; how could he block such a heavy and ferocious strike of his own without the slightest external influence?

Jōdō Takuya's wooden clogs creaked against the ground as he took two steps back, pulling back his straight blade and changing his attack from a thrust to a hack.

Chen Chang'an turned around leisurely, once again mentally conceptualizing a circular arc where the two blades were likely to meet, and guided Cāngmíng lightly to sweep along the arc.

*Clang!*

The white edges of their blades collided anew. Jōdō Takuya's strike landed as if hitting a bag of cotton, and his immense force once again drained away in a bizarre fashion. The momentum of his straight blade, which should have been unstoppable, was once again deflected off course by Cāngmíng.

"This..."

Having attacked twice in succession without even figuring out the reason, Jōdō Takuya wore a bewildered expression.

Not far away, watching the battle with rapt attention, Cheng Mulong wore an uncle's smile. "Haha! Hahaha, this... this is simply unimaginable! To think that something seemingly soft and powerless could neutralize all of Jōdō Takuya's attacks—damn it, that's magical! How did he do it?"

Cao Wu shook her head and then nodded. "I seem to understand, yet I can't quite put it into words!"

Ye Rin was dumbfounded!

Ruan Jingchu as well.

"What on earth?"

Amidst the clouds, Su Dingfeng had initially been shaking his head and sighing with dull disinterest, muttering words like idiot, fool, and numbskull, when his eyes suddenly dilated in shock. His upper body leaned forward too eagerly, causing him to slip off his sword and plummet straight down, landing squarely in the giant crater Chen Chang'an had smashed earlier.

The onlookers: "..."

Dusting himself off and climbing out, Su Dingfeng said, "I'm... I'm fine. Keep fighting, keep watching."

Ahead, Jōdō Takuya flicked his wrist rapidly, spinning out several continuous sword flowers to break free from Cāngmíng's guidance and control. With intense reluctance and frustration, he chose to launch an upward slash.

Chen Chang'an held Cāngmíng with his entire arm hanging down limply, tracing an arc in the opposite direction.

The result was predictable. No matter how formidable the strength was, the moment it contacted Chen Chang'an's Cāngmíng, its force was first neutralized, and then its direction was forcibly diverted.

"What is going on? Baka!"

Cursing irritably under his breath, Jōdō Takuya erupted with ten-tenths of his physical strength, directly boosting his sword speed to five or six times faster than before. *Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh*—the sound of the air being torn apart echoed continuously. He transformed into a blurry afterimage that the naked eye could no longer capture, spinning rapidly around Chen Chang'an and launching continuous attacks.

Because his straight blade's force was guided, pulled, and deflected off course every single time it contacted Cāngmíng, the crisp, momentary *clang-clang* collisions of earlier imperceptibly morphed into a long, sustained metallic scraping sound.

Li Bai watched the scene intently, enthusiastically narrating for the onlookers whose realms were insufficient to see clearly: "Ah, the twenty-third move. Jōdō Takuya feints a slash at Chen Chang'an's right waist, but actually attacks his crotch."

"As clever as Chen Chang'an is, and Chen Chang'an being so clever, he quickly dodges and makes a precise prediction, successfully blocking it with my Cāngmíng."

"The twenty-fourth move. Realizing his feint failed, Jōdō Takuya flashes behind him for a horizontal push with his straight blade. Chen Chang'an once again wields his sword with a wonderfully graceful arc to parry it. Yes, using my Cāngmíng."

"The twenty-fifth move... because... therefore... thus it can be seen... Chen Chang'an... is using my Cāngmíng."

"The twenty-sixth move... How formidable! Ah, thrilling, thrilling, perilous yet safe. He's using my Cāngmíng."

"The fiftieth move... Using my Cāngmíng."

"The seventy-eighth move... Using my Cāngmíng!"

"The eighty-ninth move... Using my Cāngmíng!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"The one hundredth move..."

With a swish, the moment Li Bai uttered those words, everyone's pupils constricted instantly, their gazes locked in intense focus. Yet, in a development both unexpected and entirely reasonable, Jōdō Takuya's swiftly chopping straight blade suddenly halted half a meter away from Chen Chang'an and was pulled back into its scabbard.

Chen Chang'an: "???"

Jōdō Takuya smiled politely and said, "Under heaven, no more than three people can block this final strike. If it were unleashed, victory and defeat would surely be decided. You have already done remarkably well to block the previous ninety-nine moves; let's call it a day."

You old fox, you're clearly just looking for a way to save face, aren't you? Chen Chang'an twitched his lips speechlessly, figuring that Jōdō Takuya must have been utterly bewildered by the Tai Chi philosophy of overcoming rigidity with fluidity. Without relying on realm coercion and relying purely on sword skill, it was indeed hard to find a way to break it in a short time, and the result of that final strike would undoubtedly have yielded no resolution.

Hence, he chose to sheathe his blade and act cool.

Li Bai shouted out, "The one hundredth move! Jōdō Takuya voluntarily gives up. In the end, Chen Chang'an achieves victory—using my Cāngmíng! This just goes to show that having a good sword when walking the pugilistic world is truly important."

Chen Chang'an: "..."

Jōdō Takuya: "..."

Cheng Mulong and Cao Wu could hardly contain their overflowing excitement, finding it incredible that Chen Chang'an had actually managed to last a full hundred moves against Jōdō Takuya, an Eighth Rank post-Xuan martial artist. Even without using realms, the Eighth Rank was not something just anyone could touch.

The three Black-Clothed Guards of the Xuan rank all gave thumbs up, speaking in unison, "Brilliant, brilliant! Such martial arts talent is exceedingly rare in this world!"

Ye Rin, with a streak of snot hanging from his nose in astonishment, looked at Ruan Jingchu—the goddess of his affection—and clicked his tongue. "Quick... punch me and see if it hurts. Why does this feel like a dream?"

Su Dingfeng chuckled, "Kid... you're being a bit... monstrous here!"

Facing the ecstatic reactions of the onlookers, Jōdō Takuya stepped forward and announced, "That final strike—I retracted it of my own accord without delivering it, so it shouldn't count as a loss. Let's call it a draw!"

Li Bai immediately retorted, "The wager between Chen Chang'an and you was whether he could survive a hundred moves. Naturally, surviving means he wins, and failing means he loses. You withdrew your blade yourself; who else is to blame?"

Chen Chang'an had no fondness for this islander from Hinomoto who lived such "splendid days." He lifted his chin and said, "That's right! If Master Jōdō feels unconvinced, you're welcome to unleash that final strike and try again!"

Having spoken with supreme hegemony, he seemed to realize he had missed something and hurriedly added with a cowardly tone, "Of course, you're not allowed to use your realm!"

Jōdō Takuya's face darkened instantly. Given his status and standing, haggling over petty details would look cheap, but magnanimously admitting defeat would make him lose too much face. It was a difficult situation either way.

"Fine then!"

Weighing the pros and cons, he swallowed his pride and said, "My purpose in coming today was to fight Commander Wang. Playing around with little brother Chen here was just for fun, and I only used thirty to forty percent of my strength. That being said, little brother Chen's sword skills are indeed exquisite beyond compare. With you in Da Min, I'm certain another high-ranking martial artist will emerge in years to come."

Li Bai picked at his teeth and muttered four offhand words, "Shameless to the core!"

A flicker of cold intent flashed through Jōdō Takuya's eyes, though he pretended not to hear it. He looked up toward the ninth floor of the Weapon Treasury and said in a clear voice, "Commander Wang, having sparred in sword skills with the newcomer under your command today, I have gained quite a bit of insight and must return to ponder it. I take my leave now, but when autumn arrives in a few days, I will surely come to pay another visit."

With that, he turned and strode away amidst the creaking clatter of wooden clogs striking the ground. Before leaving, he didn't forget to cast a glance back at Chen Chang'an, tinged with a hint of reluctance. He had clearly overwhelmed him completely with sheer force; why, starting from the thirteenth move, had things reversed?

Why on earth? Wherein lay the wonder of Chen Chang'an's sword technique? Clearly light and powerless, how could it block such thousand-pound force? For the sake of his pride, he refrained from asking.

"Brother Jōdō, those two female disciples of yours are still trapped within my Black-Clothed Guard's formation. Wait a moment and let Cao Wu lead them out to the martial training ground so you can take them back together." At that moment, Commander Wang You's resounding voice echoed once more from the ninth floor of the Weapon Treasury.

Jōdō Takuya felt a suffocating fire burning in his chest. Indeed, his early arrival at the Weapon Treasury today, ostensibly to challenge Wang You, was actually a diversion to draw the Black-Clothed Guards' attention while Kiyoko and Sakura searched for the Amaterasu Divine Scripture and documents related to the Mountains and Rivers Map. Never had he imagined he would suffer defeat on both fronts.

Openly defeated by Chen Chang'an, and secretly defeated by Wang You, who had deployed defenses in advance.

He had to suppress all his foul emotions, force a smile, and reply, "Very well, many thanks, Commander Wang."

Soon, Cao Wu brought out Kiyoko and Sakura—who had sneaked into the Black-Clothed Guard's archives and been injured by the formation. Jōdō Takuya gave them a cold glare and said nothing. After performing a unique Hinomoto ritual, he strode away directly.

The creaking sound of wooden clogs striking the ground grew more chaotic and distant.

Chen Chang'an sheathed Cāngmíng and chuckled, "Punk!"

Just as his voice fell, Wang You's booming voice rang out from the ninth floor of the Weapon Treasury, "Chen Chang'an, you're doing very well. If I were to promote you to a Earth-rank Black-Clothed Guard, would you be willing?"