Chapter 76: Use Imagination to Satiate Thirst

On the outskirts of the Xian Yang City lies a wooded mountain, within which rings bird songs crisp and delicate, and flows mountain spring wandering among the hills.

A waterfall cascades down the high cliffs and roars into a pond, shrouding the surface with mist.

Gu Nan sits at the bank of the pond, holding a wine gourd in her hand.

After a sip from the gourd, a drop of “wine” slides from the corner of her mouth but does not leave any trail on her skin that real wine would.

From her look of enjoyment, it appears to be a fine wine that she is drinking. However, in reality, the gourd does not contain one drop of alcohol but only full of plain water.

Gu Nan is merely satiating her thirst for wine using imagination.

She has never taken one sip of wine ever since Bai Qi’s death, as it is also her intention to be on the wagon. The old man when alive told her multiple times that alcohol is bad, but back then, she never listened.

Now, when she wants to listen, she no longer has the chance to.

“Sploosh.”

The sound of surging water resounds through the forest, scattering the mist that damps her clothes and wets her nose.

The river under the waterfall is not very deep, more like a shallow creek, which snakes downhill to the bottom of the mountain, and probably ends at someone’s doorstep.

Due to the waterfall splashing the river, white foams and bubbles floating on the surface of the water obscure the bottom of the river from one’s sight. Only some distances away where the water is still can one see the pebbles at the bottom of river. If lucky, they may even catch a glimpse of small crabs and fishes.

The crabs are small and fishes also ordinary. However, it does not bother Gu Nan at all as her sword Guardless springs out like a snake and pokes one out of water.

Ever since the Guardless ended up in Gu Nan’s hand, it has been used to either shave woods or catch fish. At worst, it has been even occasionally used as a drying rack. Should the sword have its own consciousness, it would find its life miserable.

“Slap.” A fish as big as her palm falls to the ground struggling helplessly.

Gu Nan picks it up and puts it on a stone stand.

Ever since she arrived at Qin, there has been very few varieties to the food she ate. Other than rice, beans, and boiled meat, she could only have some vegetables when the season was good. The seasonings available are only salt and meat sauce, which does not preserve any freshness of the food at all.

As a result, she wants to have some fish as a refreshment.

Although she is aware that it is already fortunate enough for her to not starve when most people are short of food during the warring era, she just cannot leave the delicious meal from modern times out of her mind.

She lights a bonfire, and places the fish on the stone stand next to it. By each one she puts down, she utters a dish name, as if she is right now preparing a feast.

“Braised pork belly.”

“Sweet and sour carp.”

“Mapo tofu.”

Set aside the stupid deeds that Gu Nan is doing.

Some distance away, in the middle of the pond which the waterfall runs into, two teenagers are standing there practicing swords.

The pond is shallow but still reaches their chest. The violent current beneath the surface rattled by the waterfall makes it hard to even stand still in the water, let along wielding sword.

Holding their swords and thrust them forward cost them ten times the strength it takes on normal days, and despite their greatest effort, their thrusts are still out of form.

Only maintaining a single form in such condition costs most of their strength, let along practicing a full set of swordsmanship.

The whether is turning cold, and it starts to feel difficult to stand in the freezing water even to someone with internal energies like Gai Nie and Wei Zhaung.

Yet, Gu Nan instructed them to only come ashore and rest after they are completely exhausted.

Gu Nan already told the Ghost Valley Master that she is not exactly an expert in swordsmanship and hence not sure if she can teach them well.

However, the old man did not listen at all, and instead insisted that Gu Nan could train them at will.

Yet, should she really train them in whatever way she likes, they just might get seriously wounded, and such consequence is too hard to bear.

As a result, she has to put their safety at priority. As for how much she can teach them, she dares not wish too much.

Her swordsmanship results from the deadly battles that she experienced, and the Ghost Valley Master said that it will only fit her and her alone.

Upon hearing the two people’s intention to build insights to swords, Gu Nan came up with an idea.

In her previous life, she liked reading wuxia, and knows of the famous character Dugu Sword Devil and Yang Guo.

Yang Guo obtained almost half of the Dugu Sword Devil’s inheritance, and upon it built his legend wielding a heavy sword.

Yang Guo forged his swordsmanship by practicing against the ocean waves.

The Qin does not have an ocean within its territory. Therefore, Gu Nan figured that the violent current driven by waterfalls may have the same effect and thus brought them here.  

Barely on their feet under the waterfall, Gai Nie and Wei Zhuang keep muttering what Gu Nan told them earlier: lift heavy weights with ease; lift heavy weights with ease.

Gu Nan, on the other side, is catching fish at the riverside while having her hallucinated feast.

The two disciples of Ghost Valley Master’s are talented, and after two years of learning under him, they are approaching the Heavy Sword realm.

However, although it seems to be within their reach, it is still hard to obtain, as if they are blocked from enlightenment of swords by merely a thin layer of window paper that they cannot see through. 

According to the Theory of Five Swords, the first two, Soft Sword and Swift Sword, are on equal footing, but only differ in styles.

But Heavy Sword is superior than the first two, and above them are Wooden Sword and No Sword.

In fact, the so-called realms of swords do not necessarily have much influence on a swordsman during their initial stage. What it promotes is but insight to sword.

Therefore, even if the two gain insights to the Heavy Sword, they still may not immediately defeat their current selves. However, they will for sure have a more promising future as a result of their insights.

By the time when their internal energies and swordsmanship have both matured, insights to sword will begin to significantly impact the two swordsmen’s strengths.

The impact could be extraordinary such that it may elevate one from earth to heaven.

They are both introverted people who are prideful but do not talk much; thus, neither of them will admit that they cannot accomplish it.

Moreover, Gu Nan does not know that only one of the Vertical or Horizontal disciples will live in the end.

That means the two of them must be enemies of life and death, and neither one of them is willing to be the one who loses.

It is already sunset before the two realize it, as they are both standing in the river, legs shaking, as if they can be washed away by the running water at any time. 

Already unsteady on their feet, they desperately try to hold firm of the bronze swords which feel like weighing a thousand jin, as the two people are completely exhausted of all their internal energies, leaving none in their body.

Lift heavy weights with ease. Lift heavy weights with ease. Simultaneous, they both thrust forward. Almost there. Almost there.

They both admire Gu Nan for being able to conclude the realm of Heavy Sword into a mere few characters, which push their insight to sword forward.

The realms to swords are vague and indiscernible; even their master, the Ghost Valley Master, cannot explain them clearly.