Surviving in a world of demons and monsters to achieve martial arts sainthood

In the following days, Zhao Shan did not rush to teach sword techniques, but instead rigorously trained everyone to hold the sword and practice stances to solidify their foundation.

As the morning sun rose, a group of trainee demon-suppressing envoys stood in the training ground, each holding a standard longsword and assuming the "Tiger-Taming Stance".

In the first few days, many people found the training tedious and boring, but as time went on, everyone came to understand the deeper meaning of the training.

Shen Lian stood in the queue, his long sword held horizontally in front of his chest.

After several days of knife training, his blood and qi have become more robust. Whenever his arms feel sore, his blood and qi nourish his muscles, making his hand holding the knife more stable.

[Skill Point +1]

While Shen Lian was training with his sword, he gained another skill point.

Zhao Shan strode over, his gaze sweeping over the crowd. He nodded and said, "Not bad. You've all improved a lot these past few days practicing stances with your swords."

He walked to the center of the training ground and slowly drew his long sword from his waist: "From today onwards, I will formally teach you the sword techniques of the 'Demon Subduing Sword Technique.' The 'Demon Subduing Sword Technique' has only three moves, but each move is fierce and powerful, specifically targeting the vital points of demons. The first move of the 'Demon Subduing Sword Technique' is the 'Mountain Splitting Strike,' which emphasizes using the waist to generate power, slashing down from top to bottom, ensuring that it breaks through the defense in one strike."

He stepped forward, twisted his waist, and slashed down with his long sword. A whistling sound was heard, and the sword strike was simple but contained tremendous power.

Bang!

Zhao Shan cleaved the wooden stake in front of him in two with a single stroke of his blade.

Dust billowed in the training ground as everyone watched the scene unfold with bated breath.

Zhao Shan sheathed his sword and stood up: "Did you all see that clearly? The essence of the 'Mountain Splitting Style' lies not in its flashy moves, but in the flow of power. The waist is the axis, the legs are the root, the arms are the extension, and the sword is the blade. Qi follows the blood, and power rises from the ground, only then can you break through a defense with a single strike."

"Now, everyone take your knives and follow me in the drill."

The thirty trainee demon slayers quickly dispersed, forming neat square formations on the training ground.

"Raise your sword!"

Thirty trainee demon slayers simultaneously raised their swords.

"Start your stance!" Zhao Shan shouted. "Take a half-step forward with your left foot, shoulder-width apart. Sink your waist, drop your hips, slightly bend your right arm, and point the tip of your knife diagonally towards the sky."

The group followed instructions and, although their movements were somewhat clumsy, after more than a month of training in stance work and knife handling, most of them had a stable lower body and no longer swayed.

Shen Lian stepped out with his left foot, his waist and hips sinking down. A force rose from the soles of his feet, traveled up his spine, and reached his right arm, where his hand gripped the hilt of the knife tightly.

"cut!"

At Zhao Shan's command, thirty longswords slashed down simultaneously, their movements perfectly synchronized, creating a whooshing sound.

"Pay attention to your breathing. The blade moves with your breath, and your breath follows your mind. Inhale to gather strength, and exhale to unleash it. Only with each breath can the power flow smoothly," Zhao Shan said. "Continue! No one is allowed to leave the training ground until we have completed five hundred repetitions today."

Upon hearing Zhao Shan's words, everyone gasped, then continued swinging their knives.

With each slash, everyone felt their arms ache. Every time they raised or chopped with their swords, they were squeezing out the last bit of strength from their muscles.

Shen Lian took a deep breath, expanded his chest, and then exhaled forcefully, slashing down with his long sword.

[Ding! Host detected to be in the 'Demon-Subduing Blade Technique' training state. Consuming 1 skill point will allow you to learn the 'Demon-Subduing Blade Technique'. Confirm?]

"yes!"

Shen Lian immediately chose to consume skill points to upgrade the "Demon Subduing Blade Technique".

[Host]: Shen Lian

[Realm]: None

[Combat Strength]: 5~8

[Martial Arts]: Tiger-Taming Stance (Minor Success) (1/5), Demon-Subduing Blade Technique (Beginner) (1/3)

Skill Points: 0

A profound understanding of swordsmanship surged into Shen Lian's mind, and he instantly grasped the power generation techniques, energy circulation, and blood circulation of the "Mountain Splitting Style."

A surge of heat rose from his dantian and flowed rapidly to his right arm and wrist. The soreness and swelling caused by continuously swinging the knife quickly subsided, replaced by a feeling of abundant power.

Shen Lian raised his sword again, lowered his waist, and swung it down.

This time, the movements were fluid and graceful, the blade drawing an arc in the air, the sound of the blade cutting through the air sharp and carrying an indomitable momentum.

One cut, two cuts, three cuts...

Shen Lian continued to swing his sword, maintaining a steady breathing rhythm. He inhaled to gather strength and exhaled to unleash his power, making each swing of his long sword more and more steady.

Li Hu, standing nearby, was panting heavily. Every time he raised his knife, his arm felt like it was filled with lead. He glanced at Shen Lian and saw that although Shen Lian was also covered in sweat, his knife-wielding movements were becoming more and more fluid and powerful. He couldn't help but feel envious.

"Brother Lian, you seem to be getting stronger and stronger? I can barely lift my arms anymore," Li Hu said, panting.

Between swings of his sword, Shen Lian replied, "Don't use brute force. Coordinate with your breathing, imagine the power rising from your feet, passing through your waist to your arms, and finally exploding at the tip of the blade."

Li Hu seemed to understand but not quite, but he still tried as Shen Lian had instructed. He took a deep breath and swung his sword again. This time, it seemed to go much more smoothly.

The sun is setting in the west.

The dust on the training ground was constantly being stirred up and then falling back down by the gusts of wind from the swords.

"stop!"

Zhao Shan immediately told everyone to stop.

The exhausted crowd felt as if they had been granted a pardon, and they all put away their swords. Many of them collapsed to the ground, rubbing their arms that had almost lost all feeling.

Zhao Shan said with his hands behind his back, "Today's 'Mountain-Splitting Stance' training is just the beginning. You must remember that swordsmanship is not for posing; it is for killing enemies. For the next few days, practice stance training in the morning and continue to practice the 'Mountain-Splitting Stance' in the afternoon until you can split a wooden stake in one stroke. Only then will you be considered qualified."

Everyone responded in unison.

"That's enough for now. Get some rest, we'll continue tomorrow," Zhao Shan waved his hand.

As the crowd gradually dispersed, many people excitedly discussed their training as they walked away, while others rubbed their aching arms with furrowed brows.

Shen Lian and Li Hu returned to their quarters and sat cross-legged on their beds to begin their daily routine of regulating their breathing and restoring themselves from the fatigue of their daytime cultivation.

Shen Lian closed his eyes and looked inward, feeling the changes within his body. After choosing to consume skill points to upgrade the "Demon Subduing Blade Technique," not only did his understanding of the moves become enlightening, but the flow of qi and blood within his body also seemed to have formed a subtle connection with the blade's power.

The "Tiger-Taming Stance" forges a solid foundation and a continuous flow of vital energy; while the "Demon-Taming Blade Technique" transforms this solid foundation into a powerful, all-or-nothing, explosive force from top to bottom.

His combat strength was thus slightly improved, reaching 5-8 points.

Shen Lian pondered that this was not merely an increase in strength, but also an improvement in the application of that strength. Given time, once the 'Tiger Subduing Stance' and 'Demon Subduing Blade Technique' broke through again, his combat power would undoubtedly experience a qualitative leap.

"Brother Lian..." Li Hu suddenly spoke, interrupting Shen Lian's thoughts, "I feel like I've hit the nail on the head."

Shen Lian opened his eyes and looked at Li Hu: "What threshold?"

Li Hu scratched his head and said, "It's... what you were talking about today, the feeling of power rising from your feet."

While I was meditating just now, I tried to recall the way you wielded your sword. As I coordinated my breathing, I seemed to vaguely feel a wisp of heat flowing from my lower abdomen to my arm.

Although I'm still weak, and I always have trouble timing my movements when wielding the knife, this feeling... is a bit like when I was almost at the beginning of stance training.

Upon hearing this, Shen Lian smiled and said, "That's a good thing. It means you've memorized the external movements of the 'Mountain Splitting Stance' and have begun to grasp the basics of 'internal force' circulation."

Martial arts training often hinges on this crucial point. Now that you've sensed it, practice repeatedly over the next few days to find the smoothest power generation path and make it an instinct for your body.

As Commander Zhao once said, mastering the application of force is difficult; to use force skillfully, we must hone it ourselves.

Li Hu nodded vigorously, his eyes blazing with fighting spirit: "I'll definitely work twice as hard tomorrow. By the way, Brother Lian, you said you've only taught me the first move of the 'Demon-Subduing Blade Technique.' I wonder what the next two moves will be like? Will they be even more powerful?"

Shen Lian recalled the scene of Zhao Shan splitting the wooden stake with his sword today and pondered, "Commander Zhao said that this sword technique was created specifically to subdue demons and monsters, emphasizing offense over defense and killing with a single blow."

"Mountain Splitting Style" is a frontal attack that breaks through defenses and clears a path.

I suspect that the latter two moves may have variations to deal with different situations, such as flanking attacks, dealing with encirclement, or a tricky strike targeting the weaknesses of specific demons.

In short, the combination of these three techniques should be able to handle most common combat scenarios.

You have to eat one bite at a time. Master the "Mountain Splitting" stance first before you can better understand the subsequent moves.

Li Hu nodded: "Brother Lian is right. Let's not think that far ahead. We still have to get up early tomorrow to practice our stances and swordsmanship."