Chapter 6: Finishing Their Apprenticeships Part 3

Other than Li Jinrong, everyone at the scene was completely shocked by Zhou Fei's action. However, Li Da Dang Jia seemed to already anticipate Zhou Fei's move and expressionlessly flicked her wrist, causing the age-old épée in her hand to make a quiet, sigh-like sound. With a quick slash, the stone slates on the Picking Flower Platform were lifted up and prepared to push Zhou Fei three chi into the distance.

Zhou Fei didn't move at all and pulled out the dao in her hand...Xiu Shan Hall's trashy dao had gone so long without use, it became rusted and she was unable to draw it out.

Ma zongguan could barely bear to watch.

Zhou Fei tsked and gave up. With the dao still in its sheath, she used a controlled "Wan Shan He" (Save Mountains and Rivers) to create a path between the stone slates which were flying all over the place. Created through sheer force, the path was just wide enough for her to pass through. Zhou Fei had used her experience from the countless times she maneuvered through the Qian Ji web and Li Jinrong praised her internally while remaining expressionless externally. She jumped into the air, chasing after Zhou Fei and pressed down with her épée from above.

Li Jinrong already had a very solid neigong [1] and with the épée in her hand, it only made her stronger. Faced against Zhou Fei, she unexpectedly didn't rein in her force, even causing the entire Picking Flower Platform to tremble. Zhou Fei only felt that there was an additional Tai Hang [2] in the air that came crashing down on the top of her head.

Wang lao furen couldn't help but shout: "Da Dang Jia, please show mercy!"

But Zhou Fei didn't panic.

If someone could, every single day, slip in and out of the Qian Ji web that filled up the entire river; countlessly brush right past the Qian Ji wires that could slice gold, break jade and crush rocks; and treat it like it's nothing…then there really aren't that many things in the world that could make her panic.

Zhou Fei didn't have to blatantly receive Li Jinrong's blow. Using the wooden column as a base, she moved sideways to create an angle and "taking the easy way out", she flicked her trashy rusted-stuck dao up and matched Li Jinrong's épée from the side. The sheath of Zhou Fei's dao was poorly made with inferior materials and mostly made of wood. The épée pared off a long wood shaving and as Zhou Fei and Li Jinrong pressed against each other, the shaving only continued to extend. If someone was able to look closely, they would be able to see that the wood shaving was the same width from beginning to end.

The next moment, the wood shaving suddenly broke off. Zhou Fei decisively flipped her wrist and, off of Li Jinrong's strength, she used her dao to prise herself higher on the wooden column.

Wang lao furen exclaimed in surprise and narrowed her eyes, mindlessly stroking the wooden walking stick in her hand.

In the 48 Strongholds, when you enter a sect, each shifu teaches their own disciples. However, once the disciples have a solid foundation and begin to officially learn gongfu, there are no limits between sects. As long as the disciples still have energy, they can go to other sects and learn their gongfu at any time. All the elders knew each other and as long as they had time, they were all willing to teach. As a result, even though Zhou Fei entered the sect through Li Jinrong, the gongfu she learned wasn't necessarily taught by Li Jinrong.

Take for example, the first move that she made to blast away the stone slates: "Wan Shan He". This move belongs to a sect in the Strongholds called "Cang Hai" (Deep Blue Sea). In the sly avoidance afterwards, she moved like a ghost and her move was very crafty, showcasing an entirely different style.

Ma Jili whispered: "I seem to see a shadow of 'Ming Feng' (The Sound of Wind) in her technique?"

"Ming Feng" was a very special sect in the 48 Strongholds and they were very cunning, always coming and going like a shadow. It is said that before they sought refuge in the 48 Strongholds, they were a famed group of assassins who were especially skilled at traps and many different types of secret arts. In fact, the Qian Ji in the Xi Mo River was the work of the Ming Feng Sect. The weapons of assassins are mostly delicate and odd and typical changdao and swords were rarely seen. As a result, their sect didn't have any decent sword or dao techniques but unexpectedly, Zhou Fei was able to grasp the essence of the Ming Feng Sect's craftiness and use it on top of her dao technique. Together, it worked flawlessly against Li Jinrong.

Wang lao furen nodded and had a hint of a smile on her face: "This yatou, really…"

Just now, before she even finished worrying, Zhou Fei already completely shocked her. Now, once again, before Wang lao furen could finish praising Zhou Fei, there were more changes in the arena—after Zhou Fei slid off her blow, Li Jinrong didn't jump up and down to chase after her. Without even lifting her head, she followed with a palm blow on the wooden column, reproaching: "Come down!"

Ma Jili seemed to have also been hit on the chest by Li Dang Dang Jia and bit down at his teeth. He said: "Indeed, with Da Dang Jia's ability, she really does not have exchange moves with these xiao bei (juniors). After all, faced against those with true skill, all schemes are useless."

Since the ancient times, there has existed a tale of "hitting an ox though a mountain". [3] And Li Jinrong, separated by a wooden column so large you couldn't wrap your arms around it, straight up sent the power of a single palm through the wooden column and right onto Zhou Fei's body without any reductions in power. In that instant, Zhou Fei was unable to take a breath and, even with a column between them, was sent flying into the air by Li Jinrong's blow.

This blow was very harsh and Zhou Fei's vital energy and blood surged in her chest. There was even some sweetness in her throat. She sat on the ground and couldn't help but turn to the side and cough a few times, unable to get a good breath. Li Jinrong didn't leave the range of the column. Instead, she held her épée and looked at Zhou Fei wordlessly.

A nearby column guard couldn't resist and bent down to help Zhou Fei up, whispering: "There's thirty-two columns in the entire arena, why must you go there to seek a beating? Are you looking down on us shixiong?"

That shixiong then took a look at her rusted dao that seemed like it had a piece bitten off and worriedly said: "Ai…and this trashy thing, the Xiu Shan Hall exam is such a huge deal, it's only once a lifetime. You've come too informally, hurry and go find Uncle Ma to change a weapon before returning."

Zhou Fei turned and looked at the timer incense table where the first incense stick was about to finish burning. She then looked at the window paper-cut on the top of the Li Family Sect column that was loosed by Li Jinrong's blow just now and turned around to smile at the kind-hearted talkative. With pressure, she twisted the dao a few times and finally rubbed away all of the rust, drawing the dao out. Afterwards, Zhou Fei pat off the dust on herself and jumped up, still choosing to walk towards the base of that column.

Li Jinrong finally nodded once at her.

The next moment, Zhou Fei suddenly jumped into the air and leapt onto the wooden column. However, Li Jinrong's épée was even faster. In a flash, the two had exchanged over ten moves in that one square of a cun of space. Each time the weapons clashed with each other, Wang lao furen and the other spectators felt that Zhou Fei's dao was about to break. But unexpectedly, that squeaky rusted dao shook dangerously the entire time but didn't show any signs of dying.

The large Li Family Sect column couldn't bear Da Dang Jia's force and was constantly slightly swaying. Zhou Fei took a quick glance up and avoided Li Jinrong's next blow. She then suddenly changed her technique and decided to use an old skill once again. She chose Ming Feng's technique and appeared to plan on climbing the column through force.

Wang lao furen sighed—when Li Jinrong shook her off just now, she was warning Zhou Fei that in front of true masters, all tricks were useless. This xiao yatou forgot so quickly and would likely suffer some more.

As expected, Li Jinrong seemed to furrow her brow and threw the épée sheath in her hand up into the air. That ordinary wide sheath whistled and, as fast as an arrow, swept towards Zhou Fei. This time, likely due to experiencing a beating already, Zhou Fei instantly let go and broke away from the column. The wide sheath slammed into the column and caused the column to swing to the side with saw dust flying everywhere…

And the red window paper-cut at the top also swung with the column. It suddenly broke free from the tiny hook and was about to lightly fall down!

In the air, Zhou Fei lifted her dao and chopped downwards, right onto Li Jinrong's sheath which had yet to fall down. At the same time, she used that force to jump up and pounce towards the window paper-cut to grab it.

Li Jinrong's épée was already chasing after her. Zhou Fei drew her dao with both hands and she bent in mid-air. [4] She took a deep breath and poured all of her strength onto her two hands. With a "clang", the trashy dao in her hands could not longer cope with the pressure and broke into four-five pieces on the spot. The fallen dao pieces stuck straight into the ground of the Picking Flower Platform. Li Jinrong's épée instantly slanted and Zhou Fei flew out like a kite. She folded her arms and perfectly scooped the red window paper-cut into her hand. At the same time, her back forcefully slammed onto a wooden column on the side. Right away, blood appeared at the corner of her mouth and rolled down in a sorry state.

However, Zhou Fei didn't pay attention to the pain. She wiped her face and smoothed the red window paper-cut in her hand out on the ground. It was a little pig of the 12 Zodiacs and held a "fu"* character in a charmingly naive way, smiling widely at her. Zhou Fei glanced at it twice and felt that pent-up anger she had held for so many years finally dispersed. She felt an unexplainable sense of ease. She then lifted up her head and smiled at Li Jinrong, who was a few steps away from her: "One sheet."

*福 fu: good fortune, good luck

Li Jinrong had a slightly shocked expression.

Ma Jili's open mouth could not close. After a long time, he asked in a low voice: "This is…"

Wang lao furen smoothed the wooden walking stick in her hand and said: "It is 'Po Xue Dao' (Split Snow Saber)." [5]

The true dao technique of the Li family was an incomplete copy passed down from the ancestors. The Old Stronghold Leader had spent twenty years finishing it and it was famous all over the world. Once, it accompanied Li Jinrong as she broke through the heavily guarded Bei Du (North Capital). In all, there were nine forms of the Li family's Po Xue Dao and it required extremely high ability, comprehension and inner and outer technique from those who studied it.

Li Jinrong asked: "Who taught you?"

She never passed down Po Xue Dao to those in younger generation because Li Sheng used daggers and his disposition was more pensive than resolute and his comprehension wasn't enough. Zhou Fei, on the other hand, was more like Zhou Yitang. Her build was even slimmer than the girls of her age. Though she enjoyed exceptionally natural advantages while practicing qinggong, Po Xue Dao had an extremely ruthless air and the sharpness of "breaking through huge groups without obstacles", not really suitable for Zhou Fei. Studying it anyway would be laboring hard to little avail and if done improperly, it could even injure the bones, muscles and jingmai.

"I saw Yu tai shishu [6] do a few moves." Zhou Fei indifferently jumped up and extended her hand towards Li Jinrong, saying, "Mother, let me borrow your sword to try."

Li Jinrong looked at her and threw the épée in her hand to Zhou Fei.

Zhou Fei caught it and turned, targeting the closest column guard. This column guard hadn't yet come to his senses after seeing "Professional Dao Breaker" Zhou Fei's "Po Xue Dao" and upon seeing her come his direction, he instinctively prepared to get out of the way. However, it was only a false move and after going around the guarding disciple, Zhou Fei leap into the air. While in the air, she pierced the épée in her hand into the wooden column and flipped onto the hilt of the sword. Standing on her toes, she picked the red window paper-cut off of the hook and nimbly got her second sheet. The guarding disciple didn't even realize what happened.

Zhou Fei brought the two red window paper-cuts to Ma Jili to hand them in. The corners of Ma Jili's mouth twitched: "The second incense stick has yet to finish burning, why did you come down?"

Zhou Fei asked curiously: "Uncle Ma, didn't you say that two sheets were enough?"

Ma Jili said: "Yes, but…but this, the disciples of our Strongholds only go up on the Picking Flower Platform once in their lifetime. Each person's result is recorded in Xiu Shan Hall's records, do you understand?"

In the future when bragging to the younger generation, to say "In my time, I took fifteen window paper-cuts from the Picking Flower Platform"—without needing to ask, this person must have been outstanding among their generation.

"When I took the Xiu Shan Hall exam, I took two sheets and thankfully passed"—with just one look, this obviously wasn't that great. They might've only passed by bribing the guarding shixiong and shijie to turn a blind eye during their exam.

Zhou Fei casually nodded: "Then just record two sheets then."

She said it so carelessly yet arrogantly. Her words seemed to imply: "What is there to brag about?" Earlier, upon seeing her, Li Sheng's expression had been somewhat complex but after hearing that sentence, his face instantly turned green. If Da Dang Jia wasn't still standing on the Picking Flower Platform, he seemed ready to flick his sleeves and leave.

Li Jinrong came down from the Picking Flower Platform and said to Ma Jili: "I'll trouble you about the mingpai—you two, follow me, Wang lao furen has an errand for you."

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破雪刀 Po Xue Dao or Split Snow Saber (see [5])

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[1] 内功 nei gong: lit. internal technique. Wushu or qigong that is aimed at strengthening the body's inner organs

[2] 太行 tai hang: Back in Ch5Pt3 footnote #13, there was a reference to 五行山 Wu Xing Shan/Wu Xing Mountain. The Tai Hang here refers to 太行山 Tai Hang Shan/Tai Hang Mountain which is another name for Wu Xing Shan. It also has a bunch of other names, but that's not as relevant here.

[3] 隔山打牛 ge shan da niu: lit. separated [by] mountain hit ox, or that someone can hit an ox with even a mountain in between then. This is a fictional gongfu that generally refers to the ability to hit a target despite there being a distance.

[4] I'm not sure if the bending is a forward bend or a backwards bend, but I would imagine it's forward since if she bent backwards she'd have to turn back around to really put pressure on her dao?

[5] 破雪刀 po xue dao: 破 po can mean break, cut, split and more. In this case, I thought split was more fitting (and lyrical) but there are other meanings out there. 雪 xue is just snow, so nothing much there. 刀 dao means knife, BUT the dao here refers to 长刀 changdao (remember Zhou Fei's 窄背长刀 zhai-bei changdao?). Changdao has been translated as "long saber," "saber-staff," " long-handled saber." I can foresee a lot of incorrect/misunderstood translations of "knife" in the future so I just wanted to clarify.

[6] 太师叔 tai shi shu: taken from Ch6Pt1: If you recall, Li Jinrong called Yu Lao 师叔 shishu. I don't remember if I explained last time, but 叔 means uncle (general term for older men, kinda like "Mr.") or paternal uncle (for family, but specifically your father's younger brother as older brother is another term) (叔 also refers to one's husband's little brother). In this case, shishu is a brother (xiongdi, anyone remember last time's footnote?) of your shifu, so he's your uncle. 太 tai is like the "great-" you would apply to great-grandpa, so since Zhou Fei is Li Jinrong's daughter, she would call Yu Lao tai-shishu (great-masteruncle? I don't even know).