Chapter 170: The Secrets of Swordsmanship

John saw Alice standing behind him and noticed the murderous look in her eyes. Instantly, his face turned ashen, sweat breaking out on his forehead at a visible pace. He stood there, mouth agape, speechless.
“Hehehe… Um, well, the weather is nice today, huh? Alice, I think you look even more beautiful now. Definitely—even Lucia can’t compare to you now. Seriously, you’re so beautiful. Damn it, I have to go find those guys. It seems the ranking of the academy’s four beauties is about to change. You must be number one. I’m going to ask them to settle this!” After a long pause, John hurriedly said, then turned to leave. Alice’s gaze terrified him; staying there was even worse than being killed. Especially when he heard her cold laugh after hearing his words—it was chilling to the bone!
“John… come back here!” A furious roar finally made Alice lose control.
She stepped forward in one big stride. It was hard to believe that a female mage could move so swiftly. She grabbed John and pulled him back, then cast an instant spell—water balls smashed heavily onto his head, splashing everywhere.
Seeing this, Rod and the others wisely stepped aside. At this point, the only choice was to betray their friend—they didn’t want to get involved in their conflict.
“Well, are you sober now? Am I really that beautiful today? Then why did I hear someone say Linda is pretty and that I can’t compare to her? Oh, and some people said they don’t like me, that others are afraid of me, and that I have a bad temper. Is Linda really that good? Hehe, maybe I need to change too?” Pulling John in front of her, Alice spoke slowly, each word delivered with gritted teeth, sending chills down Rod and the others’ spines.
“Cough… Alice, I… I really didn’t say that. You must have heard wrong. How could Linda compare to you? Look at how gentle and considerate you are—anyone who marries you would be lucky. Everyone wants to be related to you. How could Linda ever compare?”

“Yes, you truly are the most beautiful one—no one else can compare, right? Ask the captain; they’ll agree! I really didn’t say that! Please let go of me—I can’t breathe!” Under Alice’s furious shouts and grip on his collar, John suffered in silence. He never expected a female mage to have such strength. At that moment, he realized just how terrifying Alice could be. How could he dare admit what he had said earlier? Otherwise, he might end up having his skin peeled off alive! He quickly pulled Rod and the others over, hoping they could help share the burden.

“Really?” Alice asked coldly, staring at John with a smirk and wide eyes.

“Really, it’s true!” John answered hastily, nodding his head repeatedly.

“Cough, cough… Alice, enough. This is a public place. Hehe, let it go. John surely didn’t mean it!” Only after seeing that Alice had almost calmed down did Kiro step forward with a wry smile, pulling her away and comforting her.

The others also stepped forward to persuade her. With their persistent efforts, Alice’s anger gradually subsided. She glared at John one last time before reluctantly releasing him with a dissatisfied snort.

“Captain… you’ve really put me in trouble!” Walking behind Alice, John complained to Rod with a pained expression. He knew everyone must have heard what he said. He didn’t understand why he had acted so foolishly, forgetting that Alice was like a fierce tiger right there. It was pure suicide. And the captain hadn’t even warned him—otherwise, this wouldn’t have happened. Thankfully, there were many people around; otherwise, he might have met a tragic end today.

“Cough, cough, I didn’t see anything. Really, I didn’t. I’ll take you with me tomorrow!” Rod said quickly, trying to reassure him with a shaky smile.

“That’s better. Well, you’ll pay for it tomorrow as compensation for me. Remember to invite me—otherwise, even as a ghost, I won’t let you off!” Hearing Rod’s words, John finally showed a hint of satisfaction on his face.

The group returned to the dormitory. Since Rod’s health hadn’t fully recovered, after helping him settle in, they left first, leaving Rod alone in the room.

Seeing that everyone had left, he had nothing to do, so after practicing his combat energy, evening had already fallen. He went to the academy’s cafeteria, had a meal, and then found the open area where he had practiced last time. Under the glow of the sunset, Rod began his new training session.

This time, drawing on his insights from these past few days, he started modifying and refining both the Shadow Sword and the Autumn Wind Sword, hoping to achieve the results he envisioned. The first sword he focused on was the Shadow Sword—a technique that emphasized speed, relying on rapid strikes and fierce intensity. This time, Rod aimed to make it more flexible while retaining its strength, achieving a balance of hardness and softness. As for speed, he wanted to be able to vary it, controlling the rhythm well so as to completely dominate his opponent with this move—perfect, in his mind! From his match with Cael, he realized that this move could be very effective against opponents of his level, even allowing him to defeat them in a single strike. However, against someone far stronger, it might become a stumbling block; over-reliance on it would only lead to a crushing defeat, failing to inflict any real damage on the opponent.

Moreover, as opponents grew stronger, would this move still be effective once they reached the Holy level? Rod couldn’t imagine it. All these factors pushed him to make improvements as soon as possible.

Drawing out Dark Dragon, he held it tightly in his hand. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes slightly to calm his mind completely, then activated his combat energy, circulating it throughout his body before channeling some of it into Dark Dragon. Hearing its joyful growl, a faint smile appeared on his lips—as if he had grasped something important.

The next moment, he suddenly moved—just as fast as before. In an instant, sixteen figures appeared across the plain around him, moving swiftly and confusingly, making it impossible to tell which one was his real form.

“Almost there!” After everything was ready, Rod silently told himself. Then, controlling the flow of his combat energy and his own speed, he began to slow down. His sword moves shifted from fierce and direct to erratic and unpredictable.

“Damn it!” Yet, in less than a moment, Rod cursed out loud.

As his speed decreased, the Shadow Sword instantly lost its effectiveness, leaving Rod standing alone, frowning as he held Dark Dragon in his hand.

As the speed slowed down, it was no longer sufficient to sustain the use of the Shadow Sword, resulting in failure. Moreover, the changes in his control of force nearly caused him to lose balance and fall to the ground. Reality is always more difficult than ideals. Just like now—though the prospects seem bright and idealistic—when it comes to actual practice, everything turns out to be much harder than imagined. Many problems arise at this point. It makes sense; if it were really that simple, the world would be in chaos, not as it is now. Regaining his composure with a bitter smile, Rod thought carefully before deciding to change his original plan—waiting until he could walk properly before rushing to fly. After some reflection, he decided to first control his current speed by focusing on the control of force, aiming to achieve a balance between strength and softness. If he could do that, even if he still couldn’t control speed, it would still represent a significant breakthrough. Acting on this thought, he used the Shadow Sword once again, and instantly, sixteen figures appeared over the open plain. Then, Rod began trying to control his force, making it light and unpredictable. Drawing on his past memories and imitating the essence of Tai Chi sword techniques, he hoped to achieve agility, continuity, and grace, with a clear sword style that combined form and spirit. However, as he tried to adjust his force, Rod, unaccustomed to this feeling, accidentally fell to the ground like a fool, letting out a cry. Losing his balance, he was unable to continue. “Kid, have you figured it out?” came the voice of the Xuanyuan Sword Spirit just as Rod was about to complain and curse. “Why did you appear? Can’t you see I’m busy?” Frustrated by his failure in mastering the sword technique, Rod was extremely angry. With his anger ready to be vented, the appearance of the Sword Spirit was like inviting criticism. He directed all his anger at the Sword Spirit. “Cough, cough, cough—why scold me? It’s not me who caused your trouble. You take good intentions and treat them as nonsense. Tell me why you failed. I saw everything. Your ideas are good, but you don’t understand many key details. And you still want to improve? Do you even know the true essence of sword techniques? If not, how can you improve?”

With such stiff body, still wanting coordination and grace? Listen to me—start with the most basic swordsmanship drills. First, focus on body coordination, then on footwork. Footwork includes side steps, lunge steps, half steps, forward steps, back steps, resting steps, independent steps, parallel steps, and split steps—you need to master all of these. After that, come the movements of the sword strikes, the paths of the movements, as well as the precise opening and closing of the sword hand, requiring seamless coordination and natural flow. Make it seem effortless. I have some materials here; study them thoroughly before starting your practice. How can you expect success like this?” To Rod’s complaints, the Sword Spirit felt even more wronged than Dou E. Despite his complaints, it kindly began to teach him. After teaching, another set of materials entered Rod’s mind, as if it had anticipated this day and been fully prepared.