With the Blade

"So, is this what you all think?"

The master who called himself Huangtian furrowed his eyebrows even tighter.

"No wonder, no wonder you couldn’t see the mystery of this sword..."

"Hmm?"

Now, it was Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan’s turn to frown.

Was there another meaning behind this?

"Using the sword to command Qi, using people to command intention."

The master who called himself Huangtian pondered for a moment but then began to speak.

"The most basic essence, Qi, and spirit—you know this, right?"

"We know this."

Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan nodded repeatedly.

Although the exact origin of this concept is lost to history, there is no doubt that it’s basic common sense—for instance, if someone is in a good state, we say the person has a lot of essence, Qi, and spirit. Even those who aren’t physicians or martial artists know these words.

For physicians and martial artists, these three words have to be interpreted separately.

Essence, which is energy, is a rather broad concept and usually encapsulates the physical state itself. Saying someone is energetic actually means their condition is excellent, and they aren’t very tired. This has nothing to do with whether the body is strong or not. Weak people can also be energetic, working all day long, while strong people can be exhausted, falling asleep immediately—that’s called lacking energy.

As for Qi, everyone has their own interpretation. Physicians describe the feeling of blockage in the body as Qi not flowing, while martial artists use Qi to describe the force exertion feeling. Many scholars believe Qi is everywhere between heaven and earth, but experts like Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan understand it more directly as Evil Qi.

As for spirit...

"Spirit is the sum of everything."

The master who called himself Huangtian explained.

"Spirit is the manifestation of will, overseer of everything. Using people to command intention, where intention is essence, using the sword to command Qi, where the sword and Qi merge... But after all this, spirit must govern everything to form a complete whole."

"So what you’re saying..."

After all these explanations, how could Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan not understand what this master was saying?

Clearly, this master’s understanding of "using spirit" involved loudly shouting the name of the technique.

"Having a name brings spirit, with spirit, a technique is complete."

Seeing that Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan somewhat understood, the master nodded.

"So, do you understand now?"

"..."

Actually, they still didn’t understand.

Although they understood that the master was trying to impart a principle to them, they couldn’t accept this logic—shouting out loud while facing a slash? Even the weakest Evil Qi entering the body wouldn’t lead to such absurdity.

Indeed, this behavior was akin to mental paralysis within their martial arts system, insisting on shouting technique names while fighting equated to voluntarily sacrificing the opportunity to attack.

Perhaps that was their biggest difference.

"You all... fine then."

The master shook his head and then raised his hand.

The roasted meat slices floated over from afar.

"Eat something first; it’s all good meat."

"...?"

Seeing the meat slices emitting a fragrant, oily aroma in front of them, Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan looked at each other but neither dared to eat.

Because they both knew full well that it was cut from those monsters just before.

They had thought those monsters were hunted by martial artists trying to improve their skills by seeking worthy opponents, but it turned out the master was just hunting to earn some meat.

However, therein lay the problem.

"Eating this... isn’t it inappropriate?"

Jiang Wenyuan forced a smile.

"After all, they are monsters..."

"What’s wrong with monsters? We eat them."

Saying this, the master used the sword tip to pick up a large chunk of thick meat.

"Look at this heart meat, could it come from a regular cow or sheep? Only these monsters have such large hearts..."

"..."

Jiang Wenyuan’s face became increasingly nuanced.

True, the heart meat in front of him is large, comparable to sizeable loin meat, but he knew that the heart wasn’t originally this big—since all Evil Qi monsters are those who became deranged by Evil Qi entering their bodies. The master eating monsters meant...

"We’ve learned a lot today. The two of us have important matters to attend to, let’s meet another day."

With that, Jiang Wenyuan cupped his hand and immediately pulled Shan Bing away.

Staying wasn’t an option; if he continued observing, he might vomit.

As Chief Constable, he had seen scenes of human cannibalism many times, and during the days disguising as vagrants, he witnessed some inhumane events—even though theoretically he should be used to it, there are some things that still cause physical discomfort.

Shan Bing understood this too, so he didn’t say much. Compared to Jiang Wenyuan’s stronger reaction, Shan Bing was relatively fine—being originally stationed as War Soldiers in the south, where the barbarians did things more extreme than this, using human bones to make tools was common practice, and some Earth Kings even drank from empty skulls.

"Well, it’s normal for masters to have eccentricities... at least he only eats monsters, right?"

Sighing, Shan Bing patted Jiang Wenyuan’s back.

"Don’t overthink it, we’ll find masters ourselves."

"Yes, I’m fine."

Jiang Wenyuan nodded, understanding Shan Bing’s intentions to comfort him and remind him not to hold grudges over minor issues against someone they really couldn’t provoke.

After all, those monsters initially threatened their Prairie Riders. To make an enemy of someone over such a thing—someone they couldn’t possibly defeat—was unnecessary.

"However, I see why you became Chief Constable, your temperament just suits it."

Seeing Jiang Wenyuan was alright, Shan Bing laughed.

"Alright, it’s not such a big deal, let’s pretend we didn’t meet that master today... What’s the plan now, where do we go?"

"Next step..."

Jiang Wenyuan began to feel a headache.

Clearly, unconventional methods weren’t working; originally, he thought gathering enough monsters would draw out Master Du Taishi, but who could have thought this approach would attract other masters—considering this, perhaps disguising as vagrants wasn’t necessary anymore. After all, gathering in large numbers with little combat ability made them perfect prey for monsters.

"Let’s just visit the nearby city."

After a moment’s thought, Jiang Wenyuan opted for the most conventional approach.

A city is the transport hub and goods distribution center for this region, with bustling human traffic and abundant information—although searching for a needle in a haystack, gathering intelligence where people gather is never wrong.

"Consider it a publicly funded vacation."

Sighing, Jiang Wenyuan finally chose temporary idleness, like Shan Bing.

Indeed, it was time to take a break, at least to replenish travel supplies. They’ve been rushed eastward since being chased out of Songzhou, and their food and water were long depleted, so a pause was necessary.

What they both didn’t expect was when they arrived at Dengzhou City, the city guards surrounded them.

"You punks! Last time you fooled us saying you’re some kind of heroes of the martial world!"

The leading soldier pointed a gun at them.

"Jiankang City’s information revealed you are the eunuch traitor’s cronies!"