Epoch of Twilight

Chapter 209: The Three Stages

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Luo Yuan put his sword away, looked at Deng Chao and smiled. “You want to learn how to fight?”

He was as strong as a light green mutated beast by now. As much as he did not mean for things to be like that, ordinary people still felt pressured in his presence. Even Huo Dong and the other adults felt that way, let alone Deng Chao, who was just a kid.

Sweat kept dripping down Deng Chao’s forehead. In a few seconds, he was as wet as if he'd been under the rain. He tried his best to force a stiff smile although his mind was completely blank. He gulped and shook all over as he said, “Yes, that's right. I want you to be my master!”

“Say it louder, I can’t hear you!” said Luo Yuan, shaking his head.

“I… I want you to be my master!” said Deng Chao. He was so frightened of Luo Yuan that he took a few steps back.

“I still can’t hear you!” Luo Yuan smiled.

Wang Xiaguang could not stand the sight of poor Deng Chao, so she reminded him, “How can you learn to fight when you don’t even have the courage to speak up?”

With Wang Xiaguang’s blessing, Deng Chao shouted, “I want you to be my master! I want to be stronger! I want to survive!”

“I want you to be my master, too!” shy Zhong Chuqiang said loudly, standing up too.

Chen Jiayi wanted to do the same, but before she could stand up, Luo Yuan said, “There’s no need for that. If you guys really want to learn, then you’ll have to put in all your effort to learn as much as you can. Everybody should learn how to use a sword. I will spend some time every day trying to teach all of you”.

Given the unusual temperature that day, animal and plant evolution would definitely speed up. The situation would only get more and more dangerous. If they did not know how to defend themselves, most of them would not be able to survive long. Learning how to use a sword would not show immediate results, but at least it would give them a chance to defend themselves.

Huo Dong looked excited. Ever since his departure from Hedong City, his journey had been a tough one. The lack of spare time had forced Boss Luo to stop his sword training. Although Huo Dong still practiced whenever he had the time, no matter how hard he tried, the result was just not the same. He had not expected Boss Luo to offer to teach them now.

Everybody else was excited too. Huang Jiahui suggested, “Since we have nothing to do now, we might as well start training!”

“That’s a great idea!” Luo Yuan said. He'd had the same thought as well. “A well-trained person can handle two to five people attacking them at the same time. Regardless of reaction time, our strength and intuition are way ahead of ordinary people's.”

“If you guys put in more effort, you could achieve in three months what others would need one year of training to accomplish. It is not hard to do. However, this is only the basics. What I want is for you to train your muscles to unleash the most strength possible. Huo Dong, take off your shirt and demonstrate for us briefly!” said Luo Yuan.

Huo Dong stood up in excitement and took off the top part of his heavy armor. His beer belly and fat had disappeared a long time ago. He now had some nice-looking abs instead. He took a deep breath, and once he had calmed himself down, he pointed his sword in the air and swung it around fast. There was a series of whooshing sounds before Huo Dong retracted his sword and put it away.

Lin Xiaoji could not help but chuckle. The way Huo Dong had retracted his sword was exactly like Luo Yuan. Even though he had tried to imitate him, Luo Yuan was as smooth as flowing water while Huo Dong had been clumsy as hell. It had been painful to watch him. Lin Xiaoji’s chuckle made everyone laugh out loud. Some of the soldiers looked confused while Huo Dong blushed with hatred for Lin Xiaoji.

“That’s enough!” Luo Yuan stood up and started walking while he removed his bullet-proof suit. He took off his shirt as well, revealing his upper body. His skin was as smooth as jade, his strong muscles swaying with the movement of his arms. His skin was like mercury, an impeccable image of strength and beauty.

Zhao Yali and the rest of the women mumbled to themselves, blushing while they secretly checked him out. Even some of the guys found Luo Yuan’s body attractive. Luo Yuan walked up to Huo Dong and said, ”Everyone please look carefully. The first time I swing my sword, I'm going to be very slow. The second time, I will swing my sword to match Huo Dong’s level of physical fitness”.

He stood with his legs apart. His stance was rather simple. He took out his Zhanmadao, held it with both hands, and swung it slowly. Although he was slow, Luo Yuan still managed to amaze them with his cool, smooth movement. Everyone was dazzled by his charm. The movement made the muscles on his back stand out. The muscles of his entire back had been used for that swing.

“Now you try it, Huo Dong. Everybody please look closely and note how we use our muscles differently,” said Luo Yuan. Huo Dong seemed to realize something. He nodded and mimicked Luo Yuan in swinging the sword slowly. Luo Yuan stabbed the sword into the ground and asked, “What did you guys notice?”

“His muscles are crude while yours are refined,” said Wang Shishi shyly. Luo Yuan was speechless. He thought it was pointless to ask the women, so he turned to Lin Xiaoji and asked him instead, “What do you think?”

“He was stiff when he swung the sword. He only used his back muscles and very little of his psoas1 muscles. His movement did not flow. When you did it, almost your entire back was involved.” Although Lin Xiaoji had a low EQ, his vision was very good.

Luo Yuan nodded. “You are only half right. I did not just use my psoas and back during that swing. I also used my thighs and my hips. I used most of the muscles in my body. Drawing my strength from the ground, I held the toes of my right foot tight and bent my left knee, using all the strength in my thighs, hips and psoas. Eventually, I gathered more strength from my fingers and the muscles all over my body, forming a strong force. This is the first stage of sword training. You have to fully unleash all the strength you have inside your body.”

He pulled the sword from the ground and repeated the same slow swing. Closing his eyes, he adjusted his Strength and Agility to around +12. Suddenly, he swung the sword around swiftly. There was a swooshing sound in the air, as if a piece of cloth had been ripped apart. They could almost see a silver shadow forming by the motion of the swing before Luo Yuan retracted the sword again.

“This swing is what a man with Huo Dong’s body is capable of,” Luo Yuan said softly.

Everyone looked shocked. Even some of the soldiers seemed stunned. They could not believe what they had just heard. Luo Yuan’s speed during that swing had been way faster than Huo Dong's when he had demonstrated earlier. His speed had been twice as fast while his force could have easily killed a blue level mutated beast.

After the initial shock, everyone got excited and could not wait to start training. Luo Yuan asked them to calm down before he said, “This is only the first stage of the training. I know most of you were shocked to see a glow coming off my swing. You are probably wondering if I've had internal strength training.”

Commander Xia turned serious. He had been wanting to ask that question for a long time. He had already reported this to the staff. If they had not had to go back to rehabilitation area, the military would have sent someone over to investigate. After all, this matter was not just crucial to the reconstruction, but also mankind as a whole. If legendary internal strength really did exist, it would be beneficial for humanity.

“Of course I haven't. The glow is a symbol of the second stage of sword training. There’s a term in the Book of Buddhism called 'The Communion of Essence, Chi and Spirit'. From what I understand 'essence' is the body, 'chi' is the blood, and 'spirit' is the Will. When these three elements come together, this glow is formed,” said Luo Yuan.

With a serious expression, he swung his sword around, a brimming cloud flowing like water over the sword’s body. Everyone held their breath, scared that they would blow the cloud away if they breathed too hard. Luo Yuan laughed and fanned the glow away. “This happens when you concentrate your Will. Or to put it simply, when you are focused.”

“Everyone gets distracted. Buddha said that humans have 900 thoughts in the blink of an eye. He meant that people have countless thoughts anytime, anywhere. Getting rid of those distractions is the most important factor. In my experience, daily meditation helps. A second method is hypnosis. People are the most focused when they are facing dangerous situations, because at that moment their focus is only on one thing. Using an imaginary enemy for hypnosis helps a lot, but it’s even better if you have really been through a dangerous situation.”

“In many novels, the main character will look for a challenge or expose themselves to a dangerous situation so their power will increase faster. It's the same metaphor. However, the most crucial factor is not fearing death. There's no distinction between the first and second stage. They could basically be taught at the same time. I can't say the same for the third stage, though, because I am still exploring it.”

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