Cultivator from the Modern World

"Maybe I did tell you that. Ah. It's probably because your Qi at the time wasn't fully condensed yet, and I didn't want you to rush to Demigod Realm as having a good foundation is extremely important. Yeah. It must be that." Daoist Fireblade continued to speak as he made up a reason on the spot.

"No, my Qi was already completely established that day. I still don't -"

"It must be your attitude that day then. You were too excited that day, and one needs to be calm while cultivating. Plus, advancing to Demigod Realm requires zero errors. To prevent any mistakes, I told you to delay it purposely." Daoist Fireblade interrupted, not allowing Shen Long to say anything else.

Seeing Shen Long was about to refute again, Daoist Fireblade continued to speak. "Instead of wasting time, let's get started on the Second Stance. Don't think about the past too much, and believe in my instructions, alright? I'm your master, and everything is for your own benefit. You have to trust me, alright? I will show you the second stance right now, so watch closely. I will perform it twice: once with just the second stance, once with the two stances combined."

Shen Long nodded as he adjusted his mind a little. Being completely focused, his eyes were fixated on Daoist Fireblade's movement. As his Master was also using twin swords to demonstrate, it's the best opportunity for Shen Long to learn the sword art. Unlike the first stance, this stance appeared to be more graceful. Instead of the overwhelming strength, it seemed a little more soft and smooth.

The second demonstration left Shen Long in awe. Combined with the first, the sword art had transcended to a brand new level. Although the two stances seemed completely different, they merged into one perfectly. The offensive stance (First stance) seemed even more deadly, as it became even more unpredictable. At the same time, the second stance helped to cover the major flaws of the first. Its defence was hugely improved, just by the fusion of the two stances.

It was Shen Long's turn to now attempt the second stance. Although the combination of the two stances was the most difficult part, just perfecting the second stance was already hard enough. With Shen Long's experience of the first stance, he tried to apply his knowledge for the Second Stance. Per usual, getting into the positions was fairly simple, and Shen Long easily achieved that despite the stance was crazily long.

"Master, I think I've noticed a few problems with my sword art. Firstly, I couldn't quite achieve that softness. Plus, the harmony felt incomplete. Although I could feel that there were simultaneous, interweaving elements, it couldn't be compared to your version. I'm not sure but I think this stance primarily focuses on evenness between light and hard, and "flow" and "abruptness". It's really hard to describe it in words." Shen Long questioned.

"Very well. It seems like your comprehension of the Sword have improved again. The most difficult aspect of this stance is definitely the flow of your swords. If you ever studied music, you should be familiar with these two terms: legato and staccato. Legato refers to the smooth, flowing notes without any breaks; staccato refers to the notes being detached from each other, making it sound very sharp. It is the same principle here. How can you merge the smoothness with a sense of detachedness? That's for you to find out." Daoist Fireblade explained in a profound manner.

Music and this entire set manual were closely connected. Just like Earth, music was very popular in the cultivator world as well. The instruments, however, were slightly different. Piano, strings instruments, percussion instruments were basically non-existent in the cultivator world. The "mainstream" instruments here were flutes, oboes, and other woodwind instruments.

Most cultivators, especially the old ones, would dabble in the art of music. Music can help them to calm down and reduce stress. When stuck in a bottleneck, they would often play some music, to hopefully relax and get some sudden inspirations. Some cultivators, even, would embark on the Dao of Music, a non-martial Dao. However, it still had some offensive capabilities as it could directly attack the soul.

As a Celestial Immortal himself, Daoist Fireblade was no exception to this. Occasionally, he would play some flute to relax, and to pacify his inner demon. He had always longed to return to Earth, and this thought would always bug him and distract him. Playing music with his flute will prevent him from going insane.

Especially after lying to Shen Long about how he could return to Earth anytime he wished, music helped him to lessen his guilt. He knew that Shen Long deeply cared about his family and that he would be furious upon finding out the truth, so he just wished that he would request to go home until reaching Celestial Immortal level.

They continued with their training as time continued to pass. Since it was already night time, Master told Luo Qingben to stay with him, as he planned to cure his mental illness. Shen Long continued to train in the training ground as he thought how important the duel was. Although he planned on to avenge Luo Qingben, he realised other benefits after listening to his Master's words. Shen Long wanted to be admired by others, especially female disciples.

As Shen Long discovered the trick of the first stance before, he tried to apply it for the Second Stance as well. The trick was relatively simple: the balance point should be the absolute mid-point of the two extremes. Shen Long thought that it would definitely work here as well, but he found out that it was all his imagination.

Not only that it didn't work at all, it even made his sword-play lose the sense of harmony. It seemed like his "trick" was completely useless for the Second Stance. Shen Long was slightly disappointed, but he continued to practise, hoping to find another "Trick" for this stance.

Well, it made perfect sense that his trick was invalid. The balance point didn't have to be the mid-point of the extremes. If you think about Earth's temperature, surely it should be at 50 degrees (between ice and steam). If that was the case, we would all be dead already as our body had no way to sustain that temperature at all.

The balance point for anything would be different. Upon understanding the concept, Shen Long continued to attempt finding the perfect balance between "legato" and "Staccato". The Second Stance was even more difficult than he thought. It required a much higher level of comprehension of the Dao of Balance, and Shen Long had yet to meet the standards of this stance.