Chapter 234: Fighting with swords with chopsticks, stunning the audience

If I could drink with old friends.

Yes, if an old friend is around, any wine you drink would be rich and mellow, right?
After hearing what Zhan Qi San Ren said, everyone fell silent. At this moment, everyone had the same emotion, but the old friend in their hearts was different.

Cheng Xinzhan thought of Miaoyuan, the Taoist brother who drank the best wine. He thought that his image as a hermit and a madman was just an act, and he was the truly free and easy one.

"Ding!"

A crisp sound woke the tipsy people from their memories.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and found that it was Fenyan Sanren who was knocking on the jade cup with a bamboo chopstick.

"I say, Zhan Zhuo, today is a day to welcome new guests, but you insisted on inviting an old friend to drink with you. Drinking with an old friend is good, but isn't welcoming new guests and making friends a happy thing? You ruined the mood like this, so you have to drink three cups as punishment!"

Fluffy-faced Sanren knocked on the jade cup and glanced at Zhanzhao with a carefree look on his face. He was the most free and unrestrained person at the banquet, and his passion was even greater than that of any other man.

Zhan Qi Sanren also suddenly woke up and apologized to Cheng Xinzhan repeatedly. After that, he wanted to pour himself a drink to plead guilty.

"Wait a minute."

Fenyan Sanren spoke again, with a teasing look in his eyes, and said with a smile,

"Zhan Zhu wants to apologize, how can he drink pear wine? Come, use my pyracantha wine."

Zhan Qie Sanren had a bitter look on his face, but he still took the wine jug handed to him by Fun Yan Sanren and filled his own cup.

After three cups of wine, Zhan Qie Sanren's face turned red.

Everyone burst into laughter when they saw this, and the atmosphere at the table turned from gloomy to cheerful.

Zhuyue Sanren considerately poured a cup of "Huanhuaxiang" for Zhanqi Sanren.

"According to the rules of our Xuanmen, drinking cannot be accompanied by a sword fight. I wonder if Yunlai is interested?"

Fenyan Sanren looked at Cheng Xinzhan again.

Cheng Xinzhan smiled and nodded.
"Of course we have to follow the local customs. I wonder what the rules are?"

Upon hearing this, Fen Yan San Ren laughed, picked two litchi leaves from the fruit plate in front of him, handed one to Cheng Xinzhan, put the other on his shoulder, and then knocked the edge of the cup with the bamboo chopsticks in his hand and said,
"It's very simple. Then I will ask Yun Lai for advice. You and I will put the fruit leaves on our shoulders. You can't move. If the leaves fall, you lose. You can't use any other means. You can only use the bamboo chopsticks in your hands as flying swords and fight with the chopsticks on this wine table.

"If the fruit leaf on my shoulder is damaged by the opponent's chopstick sword, I lose. If my own chopstick sword is damaged, I lose. If the sword energy leaks out and damages the fruit and the wine on the table, I lose. How do you think?"

Cheng Xinzhan took the fruit leaf, placed it on his shoulder, and nodded.

“It’s simple indeed.”

Fenyan Sanren smiled and loosened her hand. The bamboo chopsticks in her hand floated in the air. She wiped her hand on the bamboo chopsticks again, coating them with a layer of orange-red glow.

It turns out that he was practicing the way of Jianxia.

Cheng Xinzhan's mind moved, and a bamboo chopstick in front of him flew up on its own. He flicked his finger again, and a flash of red fire fell on the bamboo chopstick, just wrapping it but not damaging it at all.

Bamboo chopsticks are fragile and cannot be used as swords. They can neither be used to attack nor to defend. So it is said that they are fighting with swords using bamboo chopsticks, but in fact it is using magic power as swords. What is being tested is the depth and purity of the magic power.

And the sword-fighting battle in the small space of the wine table is also a test of the soul's ability to control objects with great precision.

The rules of this bamboo chopstick sword fighting are simple, but there are many restrictions. It is not easy to really master it.

"Well, the battle between the Cloud Sword and the Fire Sword will surely be a battle of lightning and shadows, and we will be feasting our eyes. However, the sword fight should be limited, and we must not offend the harmony."

The drunken man said.

The two nodded and said in unison,

"That's natural."

Then the two looked at each other.

"please."

In an instant, the chopsticks of Flunyan Sanren were glowing with light, as if the sun was rising in the east. The chopsticks themselves were as swift as the light, turning into a long rainbow and rushing straight towards Cheng Xinzhan's shoulders.

Cheng Xinzhan's mind moved, and his bamboo chopsticks suddenly caught fire. Heat waves surged and then turned into a line of fire facing the sunset.

"call--"

When the two swords collided, there was no sound of metal, but instead a whistling sound like wind blowing through fire, which exploded into a ball of sparks and fireflies.

The Xia Sword moved back and forth in all directions, opening and closing, sometimes dispersing into a rolling cloud of mist, sometimes expanding into falling fire and stars, each time with great force and heft, turning rivers and seas upside down.

The flaming sword was erratic, like an antelope hanging on a horn, sometimes dragging its tail three feet long, turning into a red dragon, and sometimes the flames suddenly shrank into a point, like a thunderbolt marble. Each move was controlled and released freely, as smooth as flowing water.

The sword lights intertwined, one hard and one soft, one heavy and one light, and the clouds and fire intertwined, causing a sky full of brilliance that was a feast for the eyes.

The flying sword was swift, and in the blink of an eye, eighty rounds had passed.

All the spectators, including Fenyan Sanren himself, were extremely surprised by Cheng Xinzhan's performance.

Controlling flying swords is the specialty of the Shuzhong Xuanmen. The first thing everyone does when practicing Taoism is not to eat air, but to pick a flying sword. The first breath of food is to nourish the body, and the second breath of food is to nourish the sword. When the magic power and thoughts are cultivated, the object of intake is also a sword.

The longer a person practices Taoism, the longer he can wield a sword. That’s why he can let his sword power soar into the sky and command it as easily as his own arm.

But how come this Taoist priest from the East can wield the sword so miraculously?
Among them, Mingting, Diebai and Huqing were even more shocked. Cheng Xinzhan used fire magic to control the sword, which was not surprising to them, because when they first saw him that day, his two boys were one holding a fire weapon gourd and the other holding a water weapon sword, so they could naturally guess that Cheng Xinzhan was good at water and fire.

But at the same time, precisely because of the boy holding the magic sword, the three naturally thought that Cheng Xinzhan was good at the way of magic sword, but what they really didn't expect was that this person's attainments in flying swords were also so high.

Obviously, Fenyan Sanren was also interested. He made a sword gesture and controlled the chopsticks as a sword. The chopsticks drew a circle in the air, leaving eight afterimages. However, these eight afterimages did not disperse. Instead, they attacked together with the chopsticks. Nine rays of light pressed down like waves.

Seeing this, Cheng Xinzhan also became serious, thinking about how to deal with it. At present, his practice of flying swordsmanship basically comes from the sword scriptures of Toujian Mountain. Although there are classics from Juqu and Sanyuan Mountains for him to read, Shangqing Sect does not practice swords, and Wanshou Palace is only good at magic sword and body sword.

However, Toujian Mountain is also quite famous in the Eastern Taoism, because the East is indeed based on talismans, inner alchemy, thunder magic, and concentration of spirits. The sword art is a branch of the way of treasure weapons, and the practice of magic swords and body swords is the main focus here. Flying swords are actually very few people practice them, and many sects hate flying swords and reject them because of their hostility towards the Western Shu Xuanmen.

However, Sanqingshan is an extremely open-minded sect, not an inflexible conservative. Its doctrine is that all things are mutually inclusive.

The first lineage in the sect to practice physical swordsmanship was the Shilin lineage, and later the Toujianshan lineage was established to practice magic swordsmanship. When the way of flying swords flourished under the leadership of the Western Shu Xuanmen, Toujianshan began to learn the way of flying swords again. Therefore, in the Eastern Taoism, when it comes to flying swordsmanship, the Toujianshan lineage of Sanqingshan is already second to none.

Therefore, if people in Shu talk about Eastern flying swords, the first thing that comes to their mind is probably Sanqing Mountain.

The flying sword technique of Sanqing Mountain is also very distinctive. In terms of sword cultivation, it is often integrated with the Inner Alchemy Dao and the Five Thunder Dao. It can be manifested as the integration of lead, mercury and Gangsha to nourish the flying sword by running the Zhoutian method, or it can be manifested as the generation of thunder to use the sound and light of thunder to enhance the power of the flying sword.

In terms of sword style, compared with the Xuanmen flying swords that are unstoppable and can split mountains and rocks, the flying swords of Sanqing Mountain are more agile and elegant, and the sword moves as the heart moves, and can be released and retracted freely. The sword moves as gracefully as a startled wild goose, as if the snow dances in the wind. The fundamental sword scripture of Toujian Mountain is called "Hunyuan Feiqi", which treats the sword as a kind of "qi" to be cultivated.

It was just a trial just now, and even if it was a flexible approach, it would only make people feel that it was easy and left room for maneuver. Now that it is serious, if it is still this approach, people will have to speculate.

Or, is this Flunyan Sanren just trying to find out where he came from?
However, looking back on his kendo journey, Cheng Xinzhan was undoubtedly very lucky.

In the early stages of his practice, he was just a registered disciple recruited from the mortal world outside the mountain. He had no family wealth, and most of his energy was focused on breathing in and out, as well as visualization and concentration. His free time was spent practicing talismans and spells that did not cost much money.

As for swordsmanship, it was the old abbot of Yulin Temple who taught him how to do it before he went down the mountain for the first time.

As for the sword skills on the mountain, the first one he came into contact with was not the sword skills of Toujian Mountain, but the sword skills he learned in Qinglong Cave in Miaojiang.

Therefore, his swordsmanship was not marked by the Sword-Toujian Mountain mark from the beginning.

When he returned from his first travels, he had a real evil acupuncture point, and he also learned the Five Thunders Method to Dispel Evil in Shuji Mountain. However, he still had no time to learn the sword manual of Toujian Mountain.

At this time, he found out that the spring thunder in Qingzhou had weakened, so he went to Huangshan to check the earth veins. Here, he obtained a sword manual that had the greatest influence on his sword practice.

"Li Tieguai's Commentary on the Fire-Removing and Rapid Sword".

A book of immortal scriptures.

There are quite a few immortal scriptures in Sanqing Mountain, but the ones that involve flying swords can be counted on one's fingers.

And who is Li Tieguai?

The immortal's Taoist name was Li Ningyang. He was a famous swordsman in the State of Ba during the pre-Qin period. According to legend, he was also instructed by Laojun and eventually became the leader of the Eight Cave Immortals.

Tieguai Li's swordsmanship has been passed down in both the East and the West.

The immortal was born in the ancient country of Ba, practiced Taoism in Shu, and was a leading figure in the art of flying swords. In addition, the story of the immortal's soul leaving his body, living in a beggar, and ascending to heaven is widely sung in the area of Western Shu, which is an excellent example of the belief of the Western Shu Taoism that "the body is false, the soul is true".

In the East, the immortals were also very famous. According to legend, the swordsmanship of the pure Yang immortal Lü Dongbin was taught by Li Tieguai. Although the immortal was born in Ba State, he later opened a temple in Luzhou in Qingzhou and preached the scriptures.

Cheng Xinzhan had previously speculated that Master Canxia's immortal inheritance might have been obtained in Luzhou.

From this we can see how precious the "Lihuo Jiji Sword Sutra" is.

Cheng Xinzhan first learned the art of physical swordsmanship because of the True Micro-Viewing Master, and first learned the art of magic swordsmanship because of the ability to dispel evil and attract thunder, but it was this immortal scripture that really enlightened him on the art of flying swordsmanship.

So, he was lucky. When he first embarked on the path of flying sword, the sword he held was the sword of the immortal, "Taodu", and the scripture was the scripture of the immortal, "Lihuo".

It is precisely because of this that his attainments in flying swords are so high.

After returning from the sword-fighting meeting in Baiyujing, the head monk ordered him to sit in on the Toujian Mountain, read all the sword scriptures, and practice the "Hunyuan Feiqi" technique. As a result, his swordsmanship became orthodox and mature.

However, his flying sword skills were no longer restricted by Toujianshan's sword techniques, but he integrated them into his own, and could be soft or hard, slow or fast.

So at this moment, when Fenyan Sanren attacked with all his strength, his mind raced, and he thought of a way to deal with it. He decided to change his approach from the "Hunyuan Feiqi" style to the "Lihuo Jiji" style.

Moreover, he had not used the "Lihuo Sword Sutra" very often since he obtained it. Most of the time, he just understood and deduced it in his mind, using the immortal scripture as a guideline to apply it to other similar cases. He had only actually used it in the Baiyujing Sword Fighting Conference and the battle against demons in the Thunderstorm Sea.

Needless to say, the latter, demons do not know the immortal scriptures, and will not come to the land. When the former was performed, only the Seven Swordsmen of Emei fought against him head-on, and should be able to discover the sublime sword style. As for those bystanders through the mirror of Huanzhu Louzhu, they were not in the scene, and the battle was chaotic at the time, with many flying swords flying back and forth, so they could not see what was going on.

In addition, the method of "Lihuo Ji Ji" must also conform to the mainstream style of the current flying swords in Shu, so if Fenyan Sanren wants to use this to test his origins, he will definitely be disappointed.

And if I suddenly change my posture, it will definitely scare her.

Of course, right now it was just a duel to entertain the guests at a banquet, so there was no need to use the essence of the immortal scriptures. Just some quick sword moves would be enough.

As Cheng Xinzhan thought of this, the bamboo chopsticks suddenly accelerated and disappeared into the void in an instant. Then they reappeared somewhere else, as if thunder piercing the clouds, extremely fast, suddenly in the east, suddenly in the west, dizzying and impossible to guard against.

Fen Yan Sanren was shocked when she saw this, she didn't expect Cheng Xinzhan's flying sword style to change so quickly and so drastically.

However, due to her personality, this woman is very competitive. She likes to drink strong wine and use strong sword. She doesn't want to lose whether she is slaying demons or sparring at a table.

Then the woman exerted all her strength at once, and the bamboo chopsticks split into light and turned into shadows. The number changed from nine to eighty-one, and then from eighty-one to seven hundred and twenty-nine. Then, the shape of the bamboo chopsticks could no longer be seen, and only the sky full of rosy clouds covered them, as if the sky had collapsed.

Seeing this, Cheng Xinzhan changed his sword moves again, and the flame became even faster and more ghostly, like a star in the fog, vaguely visible but difficult to discern its trajectory. It was also like a nimble fish swimming against the diffuse glow, but the glow could not touch the flame.

The sparks passed through the sea of clouds, and just when the sea of clouds was about to swallow Cheng Xinzhan, the sparks passed over Fen Yansanren's shoulders one step ahead and split the fruit leaves in half one by one.

The two fruit leaves that slipped off Fen Yansanren's shoulders floated in the air. After the sunset glow smashed the fruit leaves on Cheng Xinzhan's shoulders into pieces, they slowly floated down to the wine table in front of the woman and landed next to the wine glass.

Everyone at the table was stunned, and when Fen Yansanren caught a glimpse of the two fruit leaves on his shoulders falling, he was shocked. The diffuse rays of light returned to their original appearance after shattering the fruit leaves on Cheng Xinzhan's shoulders, revealing the original form of the bamboo chopsticks wrapped in magic power. At this moment, the bamboo chopsticks lost control and fell onto the rock behind Cheng Xinzhan, leaving a small hole on the rock. It was unknown how deep the bamboo chopsticks had sunk into the rock.

After the spark controlled by Cheng Xinzhan cut the fruit leaf on Fen Yansanren's shoulder, it turned into a bamboo chopstick again and floated back to the porcelain plate in front of him, falling down close to another bamboo chopstick.

Everyone looked at Cheng Xinzhan, as if trying to see something on his face.

He actually won.

It was this Taoist priest from the East who won, he actually defeated the female Flying Bear Wu Mei!

In addition to surprise and admiration, there was also a hint of doubt in Zhan Qi Sanren's eyes:
I seem to have seen this kind of erratic and swift sword technique before.

(End of this chapter)

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