Romance of Dragons and Snakes

Based off an achievement like this, there should be no reason a person would be able to get close to him, let alone catch his blade.

Catching a sword bare handedly wasn’t something that was meant to be done by grabbing onto the blade itself. Rather, it was meant to grab hold of the wrist of the sword wielder when they drew close with a stab or slash.

Lin Tingfeng’s ability with the sword was something that could strike as fast as lightning and withdraw as fine as rain. No matter how strong his opponent was, catching the blade bare handedly was simply not something that could be done with ease. Most wouldn’t even be able to get close to his wrists. By rights, Tang Zichen shouldn’t have been able to draw so close when he struck out.

The difference between man and beast was the fact that humans could create weapons. A practitioner of martial arts had this same distinguishment as well. A practitioner that used a weapon and one that didn’t use one were completely black and white in ability. When Lin Tingfeng wielded a sword, he could strike, stab, slash and chop against an opponent. Flesh and bone was not something that could be so easily used to defend against metal, so the only option left was to dodge. But to dodge the strike was merely just a way to evade the enemy’s strike and not a way to retaliate.

In a battle between experts where victory and defeat had only a hair’s breadths worth of distance, earning the upper hand was extremely vital. To force the enemy into only dodging was to earn the upper hand and great opportunity to win.

It had been unfortunate for him that Tang Zichen had reached a pinnacle of mastery with her Baguazhang. With a single moment, she had been able to not only catch hold of the blade, she had snapped it in half. This was a skill that reached the zenith of what martial arts should be capable of. Even Lin Tingfeng had no other choice but to give up and bow his head to her. It was pointless for him to continue fighting.

His only option to reclaiming the Tortoise and Snake sword was left to Jiang Hai maturing and bettering his own skills to duel Wang Chao for it again now.

“Ai…..” As soon as Lin Tingfeng left, Tang Zichen sat back onto the sofa in the lounge and turned her head upwards. As she looked up, her eyes seemed as if it could penetrate through both the roof and the clouds in the sky to look towards the east where China was.

“Brother of mine, it’s been five years now. You’ve finally made your name known to the world. While you didn’t fail to meet my expectations, this isn’t what I wanted from you. I wanted you to live a life free of worries and in peace. It’s unfortunate to see you continue to walk this path. Sooner or later, you’ll come across me. In one or two years, the two of us will definitely meet. But when we do, you and I will not be able to live as carefree as we used to be. And neither will our brother and sister relationship remain as pure as it was.”

Tang Zichen had an extensive information network with plenty of informants working for her in almost every part of the world. When Wang Chao first became known in China, she had known about it. And even his match with Cheng Shanming, she was privy to the inside details of that match as well.

When Wang Chao began to intersect with the inner government of China by earning a grudge with the Shaolin Temple and earning the nickname of being undefeated in Beijing, she had known about that as well. Her own brother was beginning to shape up into a great master of the generation and was no longer the same malleable and tender youngster she knew before.

Even though she knew about Wang Chao and what he was up to, Tang Zichen had never sought him out. This was because Wang Chao had already been caught up with the affairs of the internal government. If she and Wang Chao were to meet, then troubles would begin to accrue for the both of them. She had still been worried for him however and had managed to deliver her own personal needles to Chen Aiyang through another member of the Hongmen so that Chen Aiyang could help treat her carefully fostered younger brother.

Considering the circumstances with the internal government and Wang Chao’s relationship with them, Tang Zichen knew all about it. Before her younger brother could even create a basis for himself, he had been hastily recruited into the government and made into the public enemy of everyone. His future was not looking too favorable for him.

So thus she had started to plan for an escape route for Wang Chao.

In Tang Zichen’s mind, Wang Chao had already become something like a true younger brother to her.

“Ling’er, you have more talent than I do. But I still don’t wish for you to fight with others unless necessary. In truth, I only wanted you to learn martial arts as a way to educate yourself and have some form of self-defense. I never want you to fight with others in a battle to the death one after another.”

From her mansion in France far far away from Wang Chao, Tang Zichen had not been very happy to see her younger brother earn a name for herself. She wanted him to live peacefully and not like as he was now. Similarly, Wang Chao was not too happy to see his disciple Huo Ling’er use the killing move “Magpie Stepping on Branch” to kill Lee Cheol-han.

Huo Ling’er’s ability to kill Lee Cheol-han with calm-headed thinking, improvisation, and cold-hearted efficiency had been a testament to her skills in martial arts. It had been very shocking to everyone else; Tan Wendong most especially who was now regarding her with even more respect than before. Initially, he had been worried about her wellbeing after she offered to deal his troubles for him.

While she had been the winner of this vicious match, it did not mean to say that she would not be the cold corpse lying on the floor in the next one.

Wang Chao had been the most unwilling in that regard. Huo Ling’er was the heiress of a large family, and yet she was starting to become a second him where he had been thrown into a fight to the death one battle after another.

When Wang Chao himself had embarked on the path of martial arts, he had been embroiled in one duel after another. It had been so much that the amount of lives he claimed were beginning to coil around his legs in numerous strands. Such were the strands that he was beginning to feel trapped. This result was satisfying the old saying that had once been said to him by Zhang Wei, “When in the Jianghu, one cannot move freely.”

Compared to Huo Ling’er, Wang Chao did not have the economical, societal, or personal status that she enjoyed. The only thing he could rely upon was his own fists and skills. Otherwise, he would have long since been reduced to chopped body parts in some abandoned alleyway.

Huo Ling’er was drastically different than him in circumstances. As the daughter of a rich and influential family, she did not have to be fighting with people to the death.

Huo Ling’er had earnestly hoped to display the teachings that Wang Chao had shown her in this match. In her heart, she longed for a few words of praise from him. But instead of earning those words of praise, she had instead heard the words of warning and to not fight anyone like that again.

“Understood.”

Yet even though she did hear praise from Wang Chao, Huo Ling’er was still happy. From the words of Wang Chao, she could hear his concern for her–something that any young woman would be happy to hear.

In between this master and student relationship, there was a bubbling feeling of warmth.

Early one morning in the spring where the weather was still chilly and the skies were just beginning to light up, Wang Chao and his two students were currently learning martial arts by the nearby lake.

Tan Wendong’s skill at Tantui was extremely proficient, and his skill with the Shaking Fist wasn’t too far behind. As it were, he was roughly at the level where sound followed the fist.

According to what Wang Chao knew of his skillset, Tan Wendong had first been taught the Seven Star Steps from Baguazhang and the stances for the Smashing Fist from Xingyiquan. Among these two studies, Wang Chao had also taught him the Retreating Smashing Fist, Chain Smashing Fist, Rotating Smashing Fist, the Half-step Smashing Fist, and the Leaping Smash from the dragon stance.

There were nine variations to the Smashing Fist and six variations to the Drilling Fist. From the nine variations of the Smashing Fist, Guo Yunshen had been said to be ‘unequal under the heavens with his Half-step Smashing Fist.’ With this one variation, he had been able to fight across the thirteen provinces north to the Yellow River without equal. From that it could be seen how dangerous he was.

The Shaking Fist emphasized drawing power from the elasticity of the abdomen. This wasn’t too far away from the Smashing Fist in principle.

Tan Wendong had already a deep understanding of martial arts and how to break out with power. In terms of comprehension of martial arts, he was slightly better than the disciple of the “Little Arm Saint”, Xu Zhen.

So when Wang Chao taught him, he did not needed to focus so much on the general basics and had instead focused on strengthening Tan Wendong’s foundation.

Tan Wendong had a peculiar habit when it came to martial arts however. Whenever he learned a new stance and the posture for it, he would hide away in a quiet place where no one could watch him practice. After he learned the stance to proficiency, he would come back to Wang Chao to evaluate.

Huo Ling’er had been the opposite of him. Each time she had a new stance, she would want Wang Chao to watch over her carefully. When there was something that wasn’t quite right, she would immediately ask him for guidance.

And today, Huo Ling’er was currently practicing with the “Flying Eagle Striking Ape” stance.

“In Xingyiquan, the art of submission emphasizes tearing and knockdowns. Baguazhang on the other hand emphasizes tripping and grapples with the legs. When you used the ‘Monkey’s Hanging Mark’ the other day against Lee Cheol-han to grab at his wrist, you managed to use the Eagle Claw. After that, the move became the ‘Magpie Stepping on Branch’ which involved a kick. It was just right for the situation, but while you were transitioning into it, there had been a small mistake. For example, look here.”

Gesticulating towards himself, Wang Chao began to break down the killing move Huo Ling’er had used to show her where the weak points in it were. From there, he began to add his own improvements and suggestions so that later use of the move would be even more refined and seamless than before.

Huo Ling’er had been wearing a pure purple robe today with her hair tied behind her head. Her eyes had a sharp look to them, and in the light, they twinkled with an equally sharp reflection to add onto her beautiful face. Any single person that saw this observant face would be able to see the charm she had.

She was practicing martial arts in earnest as Wang Chao taught her, and her body had shown the flexible and spirited nature to show it.

To Wang Chao’s sudden realization, there had been an exceedingly familiar air to her. It was a faint feeling though and had felt rather immature in its feeling.

As Huo Ling’er moved about, her purple robes flowed with her as if it were dancing.

“Ah, this feeling. It’s the feeling of sis Chen.” Wang Chao remarked to himself when he saw Huo Ling’er’s robe dance about. His heart skipped a beat as another thought occurred to him, “When sis Chen was practicing martial arts, was she like this as well?”

Suddenly, Huo Ling’er finished up her movements and brought her arms from up over her eyebrows to down below her abdomen as if she was pressing down on some sort of invisible weight. As her arms lowered downwards, a breath of air escaped her mouth.

As the hot air escaped between her lips, it formed an arrow-like shape as it dissipated into the cold air. But as it dispersed from sight, Wang Chao had been stunned into silence at it.