The world of martial arts, the immortal swordsman in the mortal realm.

Chapter 38, Deducing Sword Techniques, Nine-Finger Beggar
At this celebratory banquet, Lu Chen and Huang Rong only drank until they were slightly tipsy, but Li Mochou got drunk.

Lu Chen and Huang Rong had no choice but to open a small guest room in the restaurant and stay there temporarily.

At night, Li Mochou went to bed early. Lu Chen carried the Xuan Tie Heavy Sword and practiced his sword in the courtyard. Huang Rong sat under the eaves, her hand supporting her cheek, watching him practice with a smile.

After practicing the heavy sword technique several times and then practicing "half a move of sword one" for a while, Lu Chen sat down next to Rong'er to rest, covered in sweat.

Huang Rong handed him a handkerchief and asked:

Why did you keep that sword?

Lu Chen took the towel, wiped his sweat, and said:
"You mean that broken sword?"

Huang Rong nodded:
"Yes, it's just an ordinary steel sword, worthless and broken, so why keep it?"

"That was the first real sword I ever owned."

Lu Chen looked at Huang Rong with a smile:

"And it was you, Rong'er, who bought it for me. I also used it to commit my first killing in front of Senior Huang, which made Senior Huang allow Rong'er to travel the world with me. A sword with such great significance, no matter how ordinary it is, I would never discard it."

Hearing this, Huang Rong felt secretly pleased, but outwardly she pretended to be nonchalant:

"I don't even care about an ordinary steel sword, but you're making it sound like a priceless treasure. Oh well, whatever, take it or leave it..."

Even so, the corners of her lips couldn't help but turn up, and her eyes curved into crescent moons.

The next day, Lu Chen and his two companions did not leave Xiangyang. They first spent half a day wandering around the city, and then visited the place where Prime Minister Zhuge Liang farmed in Longzhong Wolonggang. They did not return to the city until evening.

That evening, the three of them ordered another table at a restaurant. This time, Li Mochou didn't get drunk. She only drank until she was slightly tipsy and her cheeks turned slightly red before stopping.

After eating and drinking their fill, they returned to the guest courtyard and digested their food for a while. Huang Rong suggested that Li Mochou spar with Lu Chen. Li Mochou also wanted to personally experience Lu Chen's powerful swordsmanship, which had defeated the Beggar Clan's Nine-Bag Elder with a single sword strike, so she readily agreed.

Lu Chen and Huang Rong had the same idea: to see if they could learn Li Mochou's Ancient Tomb Sect swordsmanship through sparring, just as they had mastered the heavy sword technique.

The two then each took a practice wooden sword and began practicing in the guest courtyard.

After exchanging a few moves, Lu Chen figured out Li Mochou's background.

Swordsmanship is far superior to Rong'er's, who is too distracted and wants to learn this and practice that.

His skill level was similar to Rong'er's, who, despite not focusing much on practicing internal energy, had a significant increase in skill due to her luck in eating snake meat, but was far inferior to him.

However, even without relying on his internal strength, in a pure swordsmanship contest, he would only need a maximum of twenty moves to easily defeat Li Mochou.

He studied the sword intent imprint every day and delved into the principles of swordsmanship. His swordsmanship improved every day. The ordinary Yue Maiden Sword Technique was given new vitality in his hands, and the already exquisite Falling Petal Sword Technique became even more fierce.

With his current swordsmanship, if he were to spar with Huang Yaoshi again, and if Huang Yaoshi suppressed his power to be equal to his own and only used swordsmanship, Lu Chen felt that he could conservatively last for two or three hundred moves.

His swordsmanship was far beyond the reach of Li Mochou, who had not yet inherited the Ancient Tomb Sect's highest secret technique, the "Jade Maiden Heart Sutra Swordplay," and was new to the martial world.

Of course, Lu Chen's sparring with Li Mochou was to study swordsmanship, so he wouldn't defeat her too quickly. He not only suppressed his power to be equal to hers, but also only used three-tenths of his swordsmanship. For a time, he fought Li Mochou to a standstill.

Li Mochou's Ancient Tomb Sword Technique is elegant and swift, like a sword dance.

Lu Chen's Falling Petals Sword Technique is also elegant and gorgeous, with a graceful posture.

The two moved with the agility of rabbits and falcons, darting and shifting across the arena while rapidly exchanging sword techniques. It looked as if they were gracefully dancing together, a truly spectacular sight that made Huang Rong beam with delight, clapping and cheering from time to time.

Li Mochou displayed all her skills and fought with great gusto.

She knew, of course, that Lu Chen hadn't gone all out, but she wasn't dissatisfied at all. On the contrary, she felt that this was an excellent opportunity for improvement.

She also possesses exceptional combat talent. Through her evenly matched sparring with Lu Chen, her understanding of real combat deepened. Even though the Ancient Tomb Sword Technique is inherently less lethal, she gradually figured out how to defeat her enemies using swordsmanship.

Many of my moves are instantaneous, and even if they lack lethality, it doesn't matter. The Ancient Tomb Sword Technique is swift enough. Other sword techniques may be fierce and ruthless, but they can only injure an enemy once in a split second. My sword technique, however, is light and airy, yet it can injure an enemy three times in two split seconds. My lightness skill is also very strong, so I can take advantage of it. Even if I miss one strike or even ten strikes, I won't be in a hurry. I can rely on my lightness skill to prioritize my own safety and patiently engage in hit-and-run combat.

As long as I continue to refine and improve my skills along the path of "lightness and speed," as long as my movements are light and swift enough, my sword is sharp enough, and my moves are fast enough, I can accumulate small injuries into major ones, and even make my enemies bleed to death slowly.

Furthermore, they can later develop powerful enough finishing moves to compensate for insufficient lethality. Of course, this cannot be achieved in a short time.

Li Mochou gained a lot, and Lu Chen also felt that he benefited greatly.

This sparring match confirmed his earlier speculation after mastering the greatsword technique:
He possesses the "mark of sword intent," deeply understands the principles of swordsmanship, and can gain a commanding perspective to perceive the mysteries of various sword techniques and decipher their essence.

Even without the internal techniques, simply observing sword moves and feeling the force feedback from the opponent's sword when the two swords collide is enough to slowly reverse the process and deduce the internal techniques.

However, this method takes a long time.

The more exquisite the sword technique, the greater the difficulty in deconstructing and deduce it purely through sword moves and force.

Sword techniques as complex and varied as the Ancient Tomb Swordplay require more than one sparring session; even ten or a hundred sessions would probably not be enough.

Of course, this is also because Lu Chen's understanding of sword principles is not yet profound enough.

As he unlocks the "Sword Intent of Immortal Slaying" layer by layer in the future, obtains more sword intent imprints such as "Sword Two, Sword Three," and touches upon more profound sword principles, his sword comprehension will inevitably become higher and higher.

He believed that one day, no matter how profound or exquisite the sword techniques in the low-level martial arts world were, they would no longer be hidden in his eyes. The moves and mental techniques would be completely transparent and readily available.

However, for now, let's just honestly compete and patiently break down and deduce the solutions.

Lu Chen and Li Mochou sparred for an hour or so, until Li Mochou was drenched in sweat and her strength was almost exhausted before they stopped.

"No! If this keeps up, I'll collapse..."

Li Mochou's cheeks were flushed, her legs were weak, her forehead was covered in fine sweat, and her chest was heaving.

Lu Chen felt as if he had just warmed up; he wasn't sweating or blushing, and his breathing rhythm hadn't changed at all.

"Sister Mochou, your stamina is a bit lacking."

Huang Rong said with a smile:
"You need to practice more in the future. Hmm, practice two rounds with my brother Lu Chen every day. After a month, I guarantee your stamina will increase significantly and your skills will improve greatly."

Lu Chen secretly gave Rong'er a thumbs up, and said to Li Mochou with a smile:

"Today's sparring session has been incredibly beneficial. If Miss Li is interested, how about we have two matches like this every day from now on?"

Although Li Mochou was almost exhausted, she felt that she had made rapid progress and gained a lot from today's sparring match, so she immediately agreed:
"No problem, two sessions a day, it's settled!"

As soon as the words were spoken, a deep, gruff male voice rang out:

"Both children are quite skilled. I never expected to witness the swordplay of two old acquaintances today..."

Upon hearing this sound, Lu Chen's heart stirred. With his current skill, there were probably very few people in the world who could deceive his senses and get this close. In addition, he had just killed Elder Peng at the Han River Gang headquarters the day before yesterday...

Looking in the direction of the sound, they saw a beggar who looked to be only in his forties sitting on the top of the guest wall.

The beggar had a long, rectangular face, a thin beard, rough hands and feet, wore clothes covered in patches, carried a jade-green bamboo cane, and had a large, vermilion gourd on his back.

Lu Chen's sharp eyes noticed that the beggar's right index finger was severed at the base, leaving him with only four fingers.

Looking at the beggar's red gourd, green bamboo staff, and his agility that even Lu Chen couldn't detect, a resounding name was already emerging—

Hong Qi, the "Northern Beggar," one of the Five Greats of the World, also known as the Nine-Fingered Divine Beggar!
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(End of this chapter)