The First Sword of the Universe

Chapter 342 Iron Palm Water-Walking. Provoking Me?
The waterfall roars, and the pool remains still.

The last rays of the setting sun lingered on the western hills for a moment before being abruptly dragged away, replaced by a dim night sky filled with stars.

A crescent moon rises from the east and hangs obliquely on the branches.

The soft moonlight spilled across the earth and mountains, and also fell upon Xu Xingchen.

Xu Xingchen, sitting on the rock, slowly opened his eyes, and a divine light flashed through them.

After an afternoon of research, he barely managed to figure out the power of breaking through to the fourth realm.

This enhancement is to spiritual power; becoming stronger is secondary. The most crucial thing is that it has gained a touch of spirituality.

It was this wisp of spirituality that gave him the power to break through to the next realm four times.

If the power gained from breaking through three realms is considered the aspect of martial arts, then the power gained from breaking through four realms can be called the spirit of martial arts.
By imbuing one's martial arts with spirituality and one's internal energy with spirituality, one can generate some incredible and wondrous changes.

This change was beyond the imagination of ordinary martial arts practitioners, and it was almost no different from the magical artifacts of immortals in myths and legends.

The only thing that disappointed him was that the power of the Martial Spirit was very weak and could only sustain him for a very short time during the battle.

The recovery speed after the battle is also very slow.

The estimate is based on his recovery rate over the course of an afternoon.
It will take at least three to five days to fully recover!
All this is because this power comes from the heavens and earth, resides within his body, and its energy level is ridiculously high.

He used his own essence, energy, and spirit to nourish and transform, achieving an astonishing conversion rate of ten to one.

With all one's essence, energy, and spirit, one can transform a portion of the spirit of martial arts.

It would be strange if it wasn't difficult!
No wonder Hong Qigong, Huang Yaoshi, and Ouyang Feng were unwilling to use their power from breaking through four realms to deal with him.

If you don't really want to kill him, but only use him for a friendly spar, it's really not worth the risk.

The spirit of martial arts, as subtle as a strand of hair, resided in Xu Xingchen's ancestral aperture between his eyebrows, slowly flowing and circulating within it.

Without careful observation, you wouldn't even notice its existence.

Although its "body" is small and weak, it can be cast like a net, reaching all the muscles, organs, and blood in the body, integrating into the internal energy, making Xu Xingchen's body stronger and giving Xu Xingchen's internal energy more variations.

A single thread of energy can leverage the power of the entire body.

This phenomenon is simply unbelievable and unimaginable!

Xu Xingchen sat for an entire afternoon, both recovering this trace of power and studying its properties.

Unfortunately, his understanding of the spirit of martial arts was completely blank; apart from figuring out how to use it, he couldn't research anything else.

By the time I composed myself, the moon was already high in the sky.

Xu Xingchen didn't rush back. Instead, he picked up the twisted trunk of the big tree that he had smashed during the day and piled it up into a tower shape.

Then, using the power of the flames, they dried out the moisture and lit a campfire.

Sitting by the campfire, he placed the Dragon Slayer Sword across his knees, holding the scabbard in one hand and the hilt in the other.

He slowly channeled his inner energy into it, repairing the many disharmonious parts within.

On the way to Peach Blossom Island, he had a fierce battle with Ouyang Feng. The Dragon Slayer Sword appeared undamaged on the surface, but some of the internal textures had become twisted and loose.

A few days ago, he tried to slowly repair it with his internal energy, but to no avail.

Now that he has cultivated the spirit of martial arts, he repaired it again with his internal energy and immediately noticed obvious changes.

The internal energy, imbued with the spirit of martial arts, seemed to possess a faint trace of spirituality, and was able to pry open and repair the disharmonious parts of the Dragon Slayer Sword one by one.

However, this repair process is very slow and takes a lot of time.

Only then did he understand the true meaning of Hong Qigong's words when he said "to use internal force to repair the jade bamboo staff".

So, ordinary internal energy simply can't do this; only internal energy that has broken through to the fourth realm can.
Repairing the damage to the Dragon Slayer Sword with internal energy is not something that can be done overnight.

The damage to the Dragon Slayer Sword came not only from its fierce collision with Ouyang Feng's Ghost Head Serpent Staff, but also from some disharmony left over from the initial forging process.

The campfire leaps, while figures sit silently.

Strange cries of night owls echoed continuously from the nearby mountains and forests.

Everything seemed peaceful and beautiful!
Before I knew it, the night passed.

As the sun rises in the east, it once again illuminates the earth, mountains, rivers, and waterfalls.

Xu Xingchen opened her eyes from meditation.

He glanced at the campfire, which had burned out and was now just a pile of ashes, and leaped up from the ground.

After a night of repairs, only a small part of the damage to the Dragon Slayer Sword has been restored; many other parts still need to be slowly repaired.

"The effect of this martial arts spirit is excessively powerful."

Xu Xingchen murmured to himself and turned to leave the valley. Once outside the mountains and at a market, he realized that more than a month had passed.

The scorching summer has passed, and July has arrived.
The deep mountains where he secluded himself were not far from Jiaxing, but not close either.

This market is located exactly in the middle of the two.

The streets were packed with people, many of them carrying knives and swords, with long weapons such as spears and halberds on their backs, and soft weapons such as whips wrapped around their waists. They all had fierce looks on their faces, and seemed ready to draw their swords at the slightest provocation.

Xu Xingchen entered a restaurant and, led by the waiter, went up to the second floor and sat down by the window.

Soon, the food was served, a pot of tea was brewed, and everything was ready.

Xu Xingchen picked up her chopsticks and began to eat and drink slowly.

It was midday, and the other seats on the second floor were mostly occupied, many by martial arts practitioners carrying weapons.

"Hey, have you heard? Lin'an City is overflowing with people right now!"

"I've heard all about it. Martial arts practitioners from all over the country, as well as some masters from beyond the Great Wall, have all gathered in one city. How could it not be crowded?"

"This isn't just a matter of crowding; it's a matter of chaos. I've heard that over a hundred battles have already broken out in Lin'an, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries."

“We martial artists are all hot-blooded and short-tempered. In addition, some of us have grudges against each other over trivial matters. Now that we've met, it's only natural that we'll fight.”

"Hehe, I heard that those princes and ministers in the imperial court are so angry every day, they curse us江湖人士 (jianghu people) very fiercely."

"Yes, I've heard that too. They say we're all a bunch of scoundrels who disrupt world order."

"No wonder they're cursing! Those people have made Lin'an City unbearable. Even scholars hate them every time they encounter them."

"I've also heard that those martial arts practitioners who have gathered in Lin'an have fought many battles with those scholars, with both sides experiencing victories and defeats."

"Oh my, after hearing you all describe it so vividly, I really want to go to Lin'an City and see that grand scene for myself!"

While eating and drinking, Xu Xingchen listened attentively to everyone's conversation, thinking to himself, "Things are finally getting more and more interesting."

"This is a world where martial arts reign supreme; without the clashes and battles among numerous martial artists, it would be far too bland."

"When all the martial arts practitioners gather in Lin'an, let us present a magnificent and spectacular battle. I want to see if the princes and ministers in the Song Dynasty court will still remain indifferent, suppress martial artists, prolong their lives, or pretend to be asleep."

When Xu Xingchen was halfway through her meal, a sudden exclamation came from outside the window.

Xu Xingchen turned her head and saw a person walking across a river outside.

Ordinary martial arts practitioners, if they want to walk on water, must step on a bamboo pole or a wooden plank as a support.

The man's feet were on empty ground, with nothing to hold onto. With each step he took, ripples spread across the river, but never submerged his feet.

He thus strode forward step by step.

What's most surprising is that he's holding a large, round, and short water vat in his right hand. The vat is filled with water and probably weighs no less than three or four hundred pounds.

For ordinary martial arts practitioners, walking on water without any support is already an extremely difficult task, let alone carrying a large water vat filled with clean water in their hands.
Such a feat has exceeded the imagination of many martial arts practitioners, no wonder it drew gasps and shouts from countless people on both sides of the river.

Xu Xingchen's face also showed a hint of surprise.

He and Ouyang Feng fought fiercely on the sea, each attack from both sides carrying a force of no less than a thousand catties.

In that situation, the two fought from the surface of the sea to the middle of the sea, and then from the middle of the sea back to the surface.
Although the two of them unleashed the power of breaking through to the third realm in that battle, it took place on a turbulent and ever-changing sea.
In terms of difficulty, it still surpasses the scene before us where this person is carrying a large water vat in one hand and walking on water.

The two sides are not comparable.

However, Xu Xingchen and Ouyang Feng were among the very elite in the martial arts world, so it was not surprising that they could accomplish such a feat.

The fact that the person on the river outside the window could do such a thing is enough to prove that his martial arts skills are unparalleled in the martial arts world, far surpassing most people.

Such a master could not possibly be an unknown figure.

Sure enough, a martial arts expert who recognized the man exclaimed in surprise, "Iron Palm Water Skimmer? It's Qiu Qianren, the Iron Palm Water Skimmer!"

The crowd on both sides of the river was in an uproar.

"What? It was him?"

"I heard he's the leader of the Iron Palm Clan, his Iron Sand Palms are powerful and fierce, he's invincible throughout the world."

"I heard that when the Five Greats held their sword competition at Mount Hua, this person didn't go. Otherwise, there wouldn't be five Greats in the world, but six."

"I've also heard that this person once single-handedly fought against the Hengshan Sect, killing and injuring countless Hengshan Sect masters, thus suppressing the Hengshan Sect completely."

"This man is a legend in the martial arts world. Under his rule, the Iron Palm Clan grew from a small gang into a powerful force that could rival the major gangs in the world in just two or three decades."

Amidst the various opinions, the figure that came walking on water had already arrived near the restaurant.

Just then, he flicked his arm, and the large water vat suddenly flew up, slicing through the air for several meters, and shot towards the window where Xu Xingchen was.
"Hmm?" Xu Xingchen raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.
(End of this chapter)