Chapter 22 I Want to Learn. Can You Teach Me?

If Zhao Gao’s kick had really been blacked by Adjutant Qian, he could have directly announced the end of the spar.

Otherwise it would appear that he was being superfluous.

If he had to add a kick when the Saber and Shield Technique required no kicks, surely that would be deemed superfluous?

The Techniques they had derived from years of fighting were not something Zhao Gao-who had only practiced for a few days-could change.

In the Saber and Shield Technique, the feet were used for maneuvering, not for attacking.

If he really wanted to use this form of attack, he would use it he wanted to torture noobs.

However, Adjutant Qian was clearly not a noob.

“Continue!” Adjutant Qian urged, when he saw that Zhao Gao was still observing.

When he heard this, Zhao Gao hurriedly withdrew his thoughts and refocused all his attention.

“Bang!” Zhao Gao stomped on the ground and raised his saber again, swinging it towards Adjutant Qian’s head.

“Clang! Clang! Clang!” This time, Zhao Gao simply used his Saber and Shield Technique. He was no longer making any fancy movements. Saber and shield were used interchangeably. Shield strike, defend; sabers slashed. They were used to attack Adjutant Qian continuously. Zhao Gao displayed all his skills to his heart’s content.

The intense sparring lasted less than an hour. Zhao Gao made use of Adjutant Qian’s counterattack force and retreated safely. Standing five meters away from Adjutant Qian, Zhao Gao had beads of perspiration covering his forehead. His face started to turn red as he panted heavily.

The saber and shield in his hand were also severely damaged.

This set of saber and shield was designed according to the strength of an ordinary soldier. In consideration of Zhao Gao’s current strength, and the intense sparring, the saber and shield could not withstand such intense collisions at all.

As a result, Zhao Gao’s saber had actually become an uneven ‘saw’; and the shield was only left with the bottom half.

“Adjutant Qian, what do you think…??” Zhao Gao showed Adjutant Qian the current state of his sword and shield.

“Throw it away and let’s practice the Black Stone Fist.” Adjutant Qian said simply, and threw his saber to the side. He was indicating that Zhao Gao could attack.

Adjutant Qian knew very well that with the strength of both of them, even if they had gotten new sabers and shields, the weapons would not be able to withstand a few rounds of sparring

In that case, why not start training on something else? Adjutant Qian already knew the kind of saber and shield that would be suitable for Zhao Gao.

“Okay!” Zhao Gao threw his saber and shield aside when he heard Adjutant Qian, and lunged towards Adjutant Qian immediately.

“Bang!” Their fists collided, producing a dull sound.

Zhao Gao followed up with a kick towards Adjutant Qian. However, Adjutant Qian merely took a step back and avoided the attack. He slashed at Zhao Gao’s hamstring with his opened palm.

Zhao Gao took advantage of the situation and changed his tactic. After he retracted his foot, he kicked at Adjutant Qian’s arm joint to block this attack.

Every time their bodies collided, there would be a dull thud.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!” As the sparring continued, Zhao Gao became more detached from the outside world. He was completely focused on this sparring match as he fully displayed what he had learned. Zhao Gao did not know about Adjutant Qian’s physical stats, but he was aware of his own.

With his current physical stats of 12 points, even if he were to only exert 60% of his strength, he could still deliver a force equivalent to that of 500 kilograms.

Zhao Gao had calculated this based on the fact that an ordinary person could only exert 50 kilograms of force. And with 60% of his current physical fitness level and a Stats of more than 7 points, he would be able to deliver a force of 350 kilograms even if he was an ordinary person.

However, Zhao Gao’s level of physique should not be calculated in this way.

An ordinary person who had 1 Stats point would not merely have a two-person’s strength after adding another Stats point.

The increase to 2 Stats points was not only an increase in quantity, it also resulted in a qualitative change in one’s physique.

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“Bang…” After an unknown period of time, Zhao Gao was once again defeated. He began to pant heavily.

“Let’s stop for now! That’s all for today.” Adjutant Qian spoke after defeating Zhao Gao.

Adjutant Qian then picked up his large saber and prepared to leave. “Adjutant Qian, I want to learn the saber techniques. Can you teach me?” Zhao Gao hurriedly stopped him when he saw that Adjutant Qian was about to leave.

After today’s spar, Zhao Gao was clearly aware that he needed to learn a new way of using a weapon, and not the Saber and Shield Technique used by the ordinary soldiers.

In addition, in order for him to unleash his strength, his weapon should not be too light as well.

Zhao Gao could only think of the Large Saber. Not only could Adjutant Qian guide him to use it, he could also make the Large Saber into a heavy weapon. Adjutant Qian stopped in his tracks when he heard this. He looked at Zhao Gao and said, “Who do you think you are? Why should I teach you? Besides, I’m not free. Take this book. We’ll talk about it after you learn it, Kid!”

Although Adjutant Qian acknowledged Zhao Gao’s strength in his heart, he would not teach for nothing. Being able to guide Zhao Gao in sparring was already the greatest compliment he could pay Zhao Gao.

Although his words seemed heartless, out of appreciation for Zhao Gao’s ability, Adjutant Qian still took out a crumpled book and threw it to him.

Zhao Gao caught hold of it, and could not help but thank Adjutant Qian joyously, “Thank you, Adjutant Qian, for fulfilling my wish!”

“Hmph…” Adjutant Qian ignored Zhao Gao. He hung the large saber back on his waist, and walked towards Chiliarch Ling.

After Adjutant Qian had left, Zhao Gao came back to his senses and eagerly checked out the book in his hands.

As he read it, Zhao Gao realized that this book… Well, rather than call it a book, it would be better to be called a booklet. The entire book had only about 20 pages. The blue cover of the book was about to turn completely black; and the dog-eared corners proved that the book had been read frequently.

On the blue booklet, there was a line of words written vertically in traditional characters.

The words ‘Basic Saber Art’ were written.

Zhao Gao could not care less and retreated to a corner of the wall.

He flipped open the book, while he rested. “Eight Techniques of Saber: Sweep, Cleave, Plow, Slice, Nail, Slash, Strike.”

The beginning was an introduction to Saber techniques.

Zhao Gao continued to flip the pages.

1. Lunar Blade Flash – Opening stance – Saber Raising
2. Unconcealed – Forward Double Kill
3. Ushering – Forward Sweep, Hooking Block
4. Golden Dragon Emerges – Forward Flick, Stab
5. Cosmic Revolution – Twirl Parrying, Flick
6. Flag-waving Victory – Cleave, Spin, Cleave
7. Azure Dragon Swipe – Forward, Double Swipe
8. Lone Saber – Hook, Parry, Stab
9. Flash Scattering – Flash Back, Flash Front
10. Awaiting – Right-handed, Raised Saber
11. Storm – Back-handed Broken Saber, Wine Offering
12. Coiling Dragon Tongue-Flick – Revolution Cleave
13. Tyrant’s Victory – Counter Cleave
14. Flood Dragon’s Waves – Churning, Dual Cleave
15. Penta-Carnage – Backsweep Steps, Bayonet Steps. Dragging Saber Spin, Incomplete, Spinning Flick
16. Deployment – Backstab
17. Thunderous Might – Rending Cleave
18. Active Dragons and Tigers – Single Flash, Dual Flash, Back Flash, Top Flash, Neck Flash. Leaping Double Slash
19. Unblemished – Spinning Chaos

On every page, there were detailed explanations on the moves.

However, Zhao Gao was stumped by the complex traditional characters. He could not understand them.

However, the good thing was that every page was filled with a simple introduction written by Adjutant Qian. He also included his cultivation insights.

This had helped Zhao Gao and saved him from feeling embarrassed by the fact that he could not understand the secret manual and hence could not cultivate his skills.