Su Yang reached into his mother's storage ring once again.
After searching through the collection of manuals and ancient scrolls, his fingers touched a thin black book buried beneath several cultivation texts.
He pulled it out.
A faded image of a saber had been engraved across its cover. Although the manual looked ordinary, the moment Su Yang touched it, he felt a faint sharpness against his fingertips.
He narrowed his eyes.
Basic Saber Manual.
"A saber manual?"
Interest immediately appeared in Su Yang's eyes.
After receiving the Dragon-Tiger Inheritance, his understanding of cultivation had undergone a terrifying transformation. Whether it was martial techniques, movement techniques, or methods of controlling spiritual energy, things that would normally require months or years of practice seemed almost ridiculously simple to him.
But the saber was different.
He had never seriously studied a weapon before.
Su Yang opened the manual.
The first few pages explained the philosophy behind the saber.
The sword is elegant.
The spear dominates through reach.
The saber advances with courage.
A saber cultivator must possess an unyielding heart. Once the saber leaves its sheath, hesitation becomes the greatest enemy.
Su Yang's eyes brightened.
"So this is the Saber Dao…"
He continued reading.
The manual divided saber training into three levels.
The First Level — Wielding the Saber focused entirely on the fundamentals.
How to hold the saber.
How tightly the fingers should grip the handle.
How to position the wrist.
How to coordinate the shoulders, waist, hips, and legs.
How to maintain balance while attacking and defending.
Even breathing was important.
According to the manual, a beginner who ignored these foundations might still become powerful, but flaws would eventually appear in his Saber Dao.
Su Yang nodded thoughtfully.
"A towering tree begins from its roots. The same should apply to martial arts."
He turned to the second level.
Second Level — Saber Techniques.
This was where true combat training began.
Slash.
Thrust.
Chop.
Sweep.
Parry.
Deflect.
Draw.
Reverse cut.
Every movement could be combined with footwork to create countless variations.
A seemingly simple slash could change depending on the angle of the blade, the movement of the wrist, the position of the feet, and the circulation of spiritual energy.
But what truly attracted Su Yang was the final section.
Third Level — Listening to the Saber.
Su Yang's expression became serious.
He slowly read the explanation.
At this stage, the saber was no longer merely a weapon held in one's hand.
A cultivator had to become familiar with every vibration traveling through the blade.
The resistance of the air.
The impact of another weapon.
The circulation of spiritual energy.
The slightest tremor caused by an opponent's attack.
Eventually, the cultivator would become so familiar with his saber that wielding it would feel as natural as moving his own arm.
The manual called this—
Communicating with the Saber.
Man and saber would gradually enter a state of harmony.
When the saber moved, the cultivator understood.
When the cultivator intended to strike, the saber responded.
At the highest stage described by the manual, there would seemingly be no separation between the wielder and his weapon.
Su Yang closed the manual.
For several seconds, he remained silent.
Then a smile slowly appeared on his face.
"Interesting."
Something had awakened within him.
He suddenly wanted to know how far the path of the saber could go.
Perhaps this simple manual couldn't lead him very far, but every great Dao had to begin somewhere.
"If I'm going to cultivate the Saber Dao…"
Su Yang looked toward the weapon beside him.
"…then I'll begin from the beginning."
He carried the saber deeper into the forest until he found a spacious clearing surrounded by towering trees.
Unsheathing the weapon, Su Yang positioned himself according to the manual.
There were eight basic steps that every beginner had to master.
Advance.
Retreat.
Left shift.
Right shift.
Diagonal advance.
Diagonal retreat.
Pivot.
Turning step.
They seemed ridiculously simple.
Yet the manual repeatedly warned:
Do not underestimate the Eight Basic Steps.
A saber begins from the hand, gains power from the waist, but reaches its enemy through the feet.
Su Yang memorized the sentence.
He lowered his stance.
His right hand held the saber while his left remained slightly behind him for balance.
Then he stepped forward.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
At first, his movements were slightly unnatural.
But after several repetitions, something changed.
The knowledge contained within the Dragon-Tiger Inheritance seemed to awaken.
His mind analyzed everything automatically.
The positioning of his feet.
The distribution of his weight.
The rotation of his hips.
The movement of his shoulders.
Even the tiny amount of force wasted whenever his foot touched the ground.
Su Yang corrected them one after another.
Ten breaths later, his movements became smooth.
Twenty breaths later, they became natural.
After only a few minutes—
Whoosh!
Su Yang suddenly crossed several meters.
His body flowed between the trees like water.
Advance.
Pivot.
Diagonal step.
Retreat.
Turn.
Every movement connected seamlessly with the next.
Su Yang stopped.
He looked down at his feet.
"So that's how it works."
If another saber cultivator had heard him, they might have coughed blood from anger.
What Su Yang had casually understood within minutes could require an ordinary beginner several months of repetitive training.
Yet he wasn't satisfied.
Footwork was only the beginning.
He raised the saber.
"Next…"
His eyes sharpened.
"Slash."
Su Yang stepped forward and swung.
SWOOSH!
The saber tore through the air.
Su Yang frowned.
"Too much strength in the shoulder."
He adjusted.
Another slash.
Swoosh!
"Better."
Again.
Swoosh!
Again.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Horizontal slash.
Diagonal slash.
Downward chop.
Reverse cut.
Thrust.
Sweep.
His movements became faster with every repetition.
The Dragon-Tiger Inheritance displayed its terrifying effect once again.
Su Yang's comprehension could no longer be described using ordinary standards.
He only needed to perform a movement once to understand its basic structure.
Twice to discover its flaws.
Three times to improve it.
After several repetitions, the technique seemed as though he had practiced it hundreds of times.
His saber suddenly thrust forward.
WHOOSH!
The tip stopped inches from a tree.
Su Yang withdrew it.
He twisted his waist.
Slash!
A faint light flashed along the blade.
Su Yang froze.
Something had just left his saber.
He looked toward the tree several meters away.
Nothing happened.
Then—
Crack!
A thin line appeared across its trunk.
The upper half slowly slid sideways.
BOOM!
The tree crashed onto the forest floor.
Su Yang stared at it.
"Saber Qi?"
His heart began pounding.
He hadn't touched the tree.
There had been several meters between them.
Yet the force released from his saber had cut completely through the trunk.
Su Yang looked down at the weapon.
Excitement appeared in his eyes.
Again!
He stepped forward.
His spiritual energy circulated.
The muscles throughout his arm tightened as power traveled from his feet, through his waist, into his shoulder and finally toward the saber.
Slash!
SWOOOOSH!
A crescent-shaped wave of Saber Qi tore through the forest.
One tree was severed.
Then another.
And another.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Several massive trees trembled simultaneously.
For a moment, the forest became strangely silent.
Then—
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Trees began crashing onto the ground one after another.
Leaves exploded into the air.
Birds fled from their branches.
Dust rolled through the clearing.
Su Yang stood at the center of the destruction with the saber still extended before him.
His clothes fluttered from the remaining force of the attack.
He slowly lowered the blade.
He had merely wanted to practice the basic movements described in a beginner's manual.
Yet somehow…
He had produced Saber Qi.
Su Yang stared at the fallen trees before suddenly laughing.
"Hahaha!"
His grip tightened around the saber.
The Saber Dao was far more interesting than he had expected.
But then his gaze returned to the manual lying nearby.
His excitement gradually disappeared.
He remembered the third level.
Listening to the Saber.
Compared to merely learning how to slash and thrust, that realm seemed completely different.
Su Yang lifted the saber before his eyes.
The blade reflected his face.
For the first time, he didn't look at it merely as a piece of sharpened metal.
He studied it carefully.
Its weight.
Its balance.
The faint vibration traveling through the handle.
The almost inaudible hum of the blade.
His eyes slowly narrowed.
"If the third level requires me to listen to you…"
He lightly tapped the blade.
Ting—
A clear metallic sound echoed through the forest.
Su Yang smiled.
"…then I'll learn how to listen."
He returned to his stance.
The fallen trees surrounding him were forgotten.
The sweat running down his forehead was forgotten.
Even time itself seemed unimportant.
Slash.
Thrust.
Step.
Turn.
Sweep.
Slash again.
Every movement became another piece of understanding.
And without realizing it, Su Yang had taken his first true step onto a path that would accompany him for countless years.
The path of the saber.
The Saber Dao.