Sparring

Saber in hand, Chen Chuan cupped his fist in return and said, "Senior Sister Zheng, please instruct me." Standing to the side, Instructor Zheng reminded him, "Trainee Chen, I require you only to parry. You cannot counterattack, nor can you dodge. Stand where you are and use the method I taught you to deflect and dissipate force. Once you have mastered these techniques, we will move on to the next stage." Zheng Tongtong deftly twirled the thick-backed saber in her grip and said, "Classmate Chen, please draw your blade." Chen Chuan gripped the hilt and slowly drew the Xuejun Saber. As its snow-bright gleam gradually showed itself, a wisp of chill seemed to settle over the entire training ground. "Oh? A mutated weapon?" Instructor Zheng was taken aback. Such weapons were exceedingly rare these days; few craftsmen possessed that skill anymore. And... His expression grew somewhat grave. The cold glint on the blade gave him an indescribable sense of menace, making him certain at once that more than a few formidable fighters had fallen beneath it. Zheng Tongtong waited until the Xuejun Saber was fully drawn and Chen Chuan had settled into a stance before saying, "Junior Brother Chen, watch out!" With that, she leaped forward with an overhead slash. Her movements were remarkably nimble, bounding over like an inflated rubber ball in an instant. Remembering Instructor Zheng's words, Chen Chuan did not dodge. Instead, he channeled his mutated tissue according to the instructor's method, raising the Xuejun Saber horizontally to meet the strike. *Clang!* A surge of powerful force traveled through the blade. His feet sank slightly, causing the specially made floor beneath him to dip as well, and the pressure took a long moment to disperse. Zheng Tongtong did not press her attack. Instead, she took several steps back, giving Chen Chuan time to adapt and reflect. Clearly, this was not her first time feeding moves to a partner; she was exceptionally experienced. Chen Chuan understood her good intentions. He thought it over: though he had neutralized the force from that blow, his redirection had been too slow. Under the constraint of not dodging, a second strike from Zheng Tongtong would have knocked him straight out of position, throwing his entire defensive posture into disarray. He needed to accelerate the speed of his deflection and dissipation as much as possible. Once he had worked this out, he gave Zheng Tongtong a nod. Her first strike had merely tested his tolerance so she would know how much force to apply. Now that she had a clear measure of him, she stepped forward with another slash. *Clang!* Chen Chuan met it steadily. This time, his feet did not sink together; instead, the weight was distributed rationally, carrying within it the subtle posture for a counterattack. Zheng Tongtong offered an admiring remark, "Junior Brother, nice catch!" She had intended to hold back somewhat, yet Chen Chuan had taken the hit cleanly. Although his redirection and dissipation of force were not yet seasoned, they were standard and executed precisely. She said, "Junior Brother Chen, your foundation is very solid. I won't hold back now." Saying so, she raised her saber and chopped down again. This time, it did not end with a single blow; she unleashed over a hundred consecutive slashes against him! Her posture remained identical with every stroke. The distance of each swing and the force behind it were completely indistinguishable, and each subsequent blow fell precisely at the instant Chen Chuan finished dissipating the prior force, denying him any buffer or breathing room. It demonstrated an extraordinarily solid grasp of fundamentals and supreme control. Under such suffocating strikes, Chen Chuan had no choice but to push his mutated tissue to the limit to dissipate and deflect the incoming power. Although he had nearly failed to adjust during the first dozen blows, Zheng Tongtong's superb sparring guidance allowed him to quickly adapt and master the art of force deflection. By the final dozens of strikes, he had grown composed. Instructor Zheng watched from the side throughout. Only when Zheng Tongtong had delivered over a thousand strikes in succession and Chen Chuan had completely adapted to the onslaught did he speak up: "That's enough. Take a break." Zheng Tongtong immediately retreated to her original position. Despite maintaining such high-intensity strikes, her breathing remained remarkably steady, and she appeared entirely relaxed. Clearly, that level of exertion meant nothing to her. Chen Chuan adjusted his breathing, looked up at Zheng Tongtong, and nodded in gratitude. She was truly extraordinary. Setting aside her combat capability, he had never seen such a high caliber of sparring instruction. All he had to do was focus entirely on doing his absolute best without worrying about anything else, because she naturally provided the right responses, guiding him toward his optimal state. Had he practiced alone, reaching that final state would have taken an entire day even under the most optimistic estimate. Yet it had all been condensed into those thousand-odd strikes. He could now feel that the technique for dissipating and deflecting force seemed to have been memorized by the mutated tissue in his body. In truth, this was the inevitable feedback born of external stimulation combined with the needs of his conscious will. No wonder fighters were willing to spend exorbitant sums hiring elite private trainers; the difference was profound. A good sparring partner was an enormous boon to any fighter. Instructor Zheng said, "Trainee Chen, I'm going to have Tongtong increase the difficulty. Prepare yourself." He then called out to his daughter, "Tongtong." Zheng Tongtong acknowledged the instruction and cautioned Chen Chuan, "Junior Brother Chen, I'm going to increase the power of my slashes this time. Be careful." Chen Chuan agreed and adjusted his stance. Seeing him ready, Zheng Tongtong brought her saber down without the slightest hesitation. The momentum carried far more force than before. Upon seeing it come, Chen Chuan did not simply wait for the blade to drop. Instead, he lifted his hands slightly and angled the spine of the Xuejun Saber upward to meet it. When the blades met, there was none of the jarring collision from earlier. The force of the strike merely bore down on him slightly, making it feel less like a chop and more as though the blade had simply been laid upon his own. Instructor Zheng watched with great satisfaction. Technique was about leveraging every favorable condition to diminish unfavorable factors. When an opponent's strength changed, one naturally had to seek a new way to break through. That move had been thoroughly proactive, yet it remained strictly within the boundaries he had set. Excellent. No wonder his combat decision-making had been rated superior-upper during the entrance evaluation. It was precisely this trait that had convinced him to teach Chen Chuan in earnest. Technique and physical conditioning could be compensated through training and other means, but such innate combat intuition was something extraordinarily few possessed, virtually impossible to acquire after the fact. As a qualified sparring partner, seeing him initiate proactive adjustments, Zheng Tongtong heightened the difficulty accordingly. Her attacks were no longer restricted to vertical chops, shifting instead to horizontal slashes from the left and right, which were far harder to block. At first, Chen Chuan found it somewhat challenging to ward them off, but he adjusted quickly. Once he could roughly adapt, Zheng Tongtong shifted to diagonal upward slashes, followed by thrusts, and then sweeping cuts... Every time Chen Chuan adapted and kept up, she would alter her attack pattern. Once Chen Chuan proved capable of handling all of these, she followed with a seamless series of combination strikes, leaving not a sliver of an opening between them. Under this fast-paced guidance and drilling, Chen Chuan's mastery over deflecting and dissipating force advanced steadily. At that point, Instructor Zheng spoke: "Let's leave it here for now. We'll continue this afternoon." Hearing the instruction, Zheng Tongtong briskly sheathed her blade. Chen Chuan checked the time and realized it was already eleven-thirty. Without noticing, the entire morning had slipped away. Instructor Zheng said, "Tongtong, go get things ready." "Right away!" Zheng Tongtong turned and walked out. After swinging her saber for hours, she wasn't out of breath in the slightest, nor had she broken a sweat. Clearly, her jin and breathing technique had reached an exceptionally refined level. Instructor Zheng stepped in front of Chen Chuan and looked him up and down. Seeing no sign of exhaustion in him either, his eyes still brimming with vigor, the instructor felt very pleased. "Trainee Chen, your foundation is solid. Very good. Based on your performance, we'll step up the intensity this afternoon and focus on jin." Chen Chuan took a breath. "Understood, Instructor Zheng." He knew full well that, up to this point, the training could still be considered simple. As the attacker, Zheng Tongtong had only varied her saber forms without incorporating any variations in jin. The latter was the true test. Instructor Zheng gave him a few more pointers on things to watch out for. Just then, an aroma of roasting meat drifted in from the front courtyard. He smiled and said, "Let's get something to eat first. Follow me." He led Chen Chuan to the front courtyard, where a barbecue grill had been set up. Zheng Tongtong was actively skewering thin slices of meat onto it. Instructor Zheng remarked, "Sharpening the blade doesn't slow your woodchopping. With good food for motivation, training has all the more kick. If you ask me, every academy class—whether academic or martial—ought to have a row of grills lined up nearby. Do well, and you get to eat; do poorly, and you watch others eat. I guarantee every student would be screaming to study." Zheng Tongtong couldn't help chiming in, "Dad, that's just your personal preference." Instructor Zheng retorted, "How could this just be my personal preference? The greatest things in the world are eating and sleeping. We fighters only have the strength to brawl with others when we eat well and sleep well." He stepped forward, picked up a finished skewer, and tossed it to Chen Chuan. "Try it." Chen Chuan caught it and took a bite, looking somewhat surprised. The meat's texture was extraordinary—crispy on the outside, tender and smooth on the inside, bursting with rich juice when bitten into. A single mouthful imparted a warm glow that rapidly replenished his expended stamina, giving him an experience akin to consuming nutritional paste. Instructor Zheng smiled. "This isn't ordinary mutton. It's high-cliff sheep raised in special regions, procured through Zhantong United's channels exclusively for us fighters. You could call it a perk provided by the Disposal Bureau for instructors and students." Chen Chuan considered this. Compared to supplying expensive pharmaceuticals, good ingredients required relatively little outlay yet brought immense pleasure and satisfaction. Arrangements like this from the Disposal Bureau easily fostered a sense of belonging, achieving substantial goodwill at minimal cost. As for Zhantong United, he had never heard of the company before. Looking it up on his boundary credential, he discovered that its business specialized in niche items and rarities. No matter how novel or scarce an item was, so long as one could afford the price, the company had channels to acquire it. After Chen Chuan finished the skewer, Zheng Tongtong handed him a dozen more freshly grilled ones. He thanked her and took them. Instructor Zheng said, "To fully absorb the nutrition within, intense exercise is required. This meat will be more than enough to fuel your afternoon session. "You have gained an initial grasp of the jin I taught you, but it is not yet your own. "Just as every person has their own habits, every person has a jin unique to themselves. So in this afternoon's training, you must find a way to discover the jin that belongs to you!"