Volcanic Age

Sects of the Righteous Faction needed a valid reason to fight among themselves. Because they valued their reputation and were cautious about public perception, they generally didn't fight much.

However, the Evil Faction was different. While they didn't fight every day like those of the Demonic Path, compared to the Righteous Faction, they fought frequently.

Even if the Night Sects and one Gang, or the Five Great Ancient Families had conflicts, they would settle them through competitions to preserve their reputation and pride or handle their grievances with individual sparring. On the other hand, the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao would have such great battles that sometimes escalated into wars.

Because of their chaotic nature, the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao were nearly impossible to control. Even the Evil Valley Master had a hard time handling their problems. As the saying goes, the free-natured lawlessness of the Evil Faction wasn't necessarily a good thing.

Moreover, there was even an ongoing conflict between the Miao Family Sword Gate and the Flashing Waterfall Saber Gate, with neither side showing any interest in the tomb of the Ominous Demon.

Long ago, the Flashing Waterfall Saber Gate made some bold declarations.

"In martial arts, the saber is King!"

"Swords are only used by those hypocrites of the Righteous Faction!"

"If you're a member of the Evil Faction, you should be using the saber! Those who use swords are all invalids or cowards!"

The Evil Faction's techniques were generally aggressive, which was why most of them used the saber. However, that didn't mean that none of them used swords.

In fact, there were numerous formidable techniques associated with the sword.

"What?"

The Miao Family Sword Gate had been the first to react to these claims.

"Haven't you heard of the phrase, a hundred days to master the saber, a thousand days to master the spear, and ten thousand days to master the sword?"[1]

"Even toddlers know that the sword is the King of All Weapons!"

Surprisingly, the trigger for the war was just that simple.

These adults, not children, but fully grown adults, had started a fight over a childish reason, a fight that quickly escalated into an all-out war between two sects.

Both the Miao Family Sword Gate and the Flashing Waterfall Saber Gate had their positions on the matter and were forces that couldn't move recklessly. Thus, they tried to keep the fight contained to their people.

Still, in the end, the battle erupted, and there was no turning back once someone died.

Fujian, the Miao Family Sword Gate.

"Name," a butler for the Miao Family Sword Gate asked.

"Zhou Xuchuan."

"Affiliation."

"Mount Hua."

The butler raised his head.

Zhou Xuchuan was wearing a black robe instead of his usual uniform.

"To think a lay disciple of the famed Mount Hua Sect is struggling to make a living to such a degree that he would get involved in an Evil Faction conflict. It's almost laughable."

Lay disciples were usually not bound by the rules of the sect, nor were their actions controlled.

As long as they didn't teach Mount Hua's techniques to others without permission, the sect generally didn't care whether or not they got involved in the Evil Faction's conflict. Usually, they were hired by the small and medium-sized sects of the Righteous Faction as guards or became mercenaries and guards for Security Agencies rather than getting involved in the Evil Faction's conflicts.

"If you can survive until the day's truce, you'll receive two taels of silver. If you die, your death gratuity will be paid to your family. Finally, if you can bring us the head of someone of the Flashing Waterfall Saber Gate's upper ranks, you'll get additional rewards, so keep that in mind. Well, from the looks of it, it doesn't seem like you'll be able to do much and you might even end up as a corpse soon."

The Mind Qi Separator was in the Flashing Waterfall Saber Gate. Fortunately, the Flashing Waterfall Saber Gate was at war with the Miao Family Sword Gate right as Zhou Xuchuan needed a reason to infiltrate them, leading to his quick enlistment in the Miao Family Sword Gate's mercenary corps.

It really was fortunate, considering no matter how strong he was as a master at the Harmony Realm, he couldn't just storm into one of the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao and steal a Dharma Treasure.

"You want me to risk my life for only two taels of silver? You complete thieves!" Zhou Xuchuan swore, dumbfounded.

"If you don't like it, then leave," the secretary snorted.

"Next!"

The butler marked Zhou Xuchuan's name before calling on the next person. Then, after confirming that Zhou Xuchuan was walking away, he quickly changed what he had just written.

"How are we supposed to find and send the death gratuity to the families of all of these warriors when they die? The treasury head told me to keep an eye on bastards that are likely to die and remove their names, and I have to make sure I do that properly."

***

Zhou Xuchuan was the only one who came to Fujian.

Tang Hui had stayed in Nanchang to prepare to treat the Sword Demon's daughter, and naturally, her guards had stayed with her.

"Right. It's actually better they didn't come. Those bastards might even go around muttering to themselves, 'How dare you order the Miss around?!' and aim a hidden weapon at the back of my head while I'm fighting."

Zhou Xuchuan didn't trust the Sichuan Tang family one bit.

Regardless, he ran all the way to Fujian and stopped at the Miao Family Sword Gate to express his intention to participate in the conflict.

Afterward, he went through the proper procedures and registered before arriving in Zhouning.

Zhouning was a county between Fu'an and Pingnan and was the halfway point between the Miao Family Sword Gate and the Flashing Waterfall Saber Gate.

"There are a lot of tea leaves."

That was Zhou Xuchuan's first impression after arriving.

The surrounding area was steep and hilly, with tea fields similar to the ones he had seen before. However, instead of the faint scent of tea that should have filled the air, there was only the scent of blood and decay.

He could see scattered, half-broken weapons coated in blood wherever traces of people spanned the ground.

Rotting arms and legs, giving off a foul stench, were lying among the tea leaves.

"If you advance for about five li (里: 1 li = 400 meters), you will come across the second position of the Flashing Waterfall Saber Gate built on the hill. It will be our victory if you're able to capture this position and reach the next one. Group up in groups of ten and fight."

As soon as he arrived, an expert of the Miao Family Sword Gate gave him an order.

Listening, Zhou Xuchuan paired up with the nine people nearby.

"Ahem. The name's Tie San."

A middle-aged man with countless scars on his face stepped forward. His face seemed to represent a veteran who had been through countless battles.

"It seems I'm the strongest among us. So, I'll be taking the position of Ten Man Commander. Listen to my orders if you want to live. Trust me."

Everyone nodded, standing in the unfamiliar environment.

All except for one person.

"Ahem, The name's Zhou Xuchuan."

Tie San tilted his head, then frowned. His already fierce face seemed to turn into that of a monster.

"You brat. How rude. Speak politely."

Zhou Xuchuan seemed to only partly pay attention as he stood in front of Tie San.

Then, he raised his head and looked directly at him blankly.

"You arrogant brat. I should teach you some manners!"

Picking fights was a daily occurrence within the Evil Faction. Hot-blooded brats would often attack without taking the time to assess the situation.

The remaining eight waited for Zhou Xuchuan to cry and apologize for his mistake.

Swish!

Tie San's sword aimed for Zhou Xuchuan's neck. However, there wasn't any bloodlust in his attack. After all, they were about to enter a battle, and he couldn't afford to lose his comrade foolishly.

No, he was planning to stop just before the brat's neck.

Clang.

Huh?

Tie San couldn't understand what had happened at that moment.

Although it seemed he had hit something, the sword in his hand bounced out of his grip and rolled to the ground.

"What then…"

Smack!

"Ugh!"

Tie San fell to the ground, smacked across the face.

Zhou Xuchuan turned around and said to the eight.

"It seems I'm the strongest among us. So, I'll be taking the position of Ten Man Commander. Listen to my orders if you want to live. Trust me."

"If we refuse?"

"I'll slap you in the face."

"Please take care of us, Ten Man Commander."

Although the Righteous Faction had fewer people than the Evil Faction, they had many more experts. On the other hand, while the Evil Faction had more people than the Righteous Faction, they had many more lower-level grunts.

Almost all the nine members of Zhou Xuchuan's Ten Man troop were in the Third Class. Only Tie San had reached the Second Class. Thus, it hadn't just been an empty boast when he had declared himself the strongest and taken the Ten Man Commander spot.

"Whew."

"Sir Ten Man Commander. You look worried. You said that we would live if we followed you, are you really sure about that?"

"Well, I was wondering that myself after seeing your skills, but don't worry, I can do it."

"Mmmm!"

Tie San considered running away.

"Although it's better to be alone than having to fight while worrying about strangers, there's no way I can go through an Evil Faction battlefield on my own. At the very least, I need people who I can trust to follow me," Zhou Xuchuan said.

One could never fight in a war alone. That was something that he had realized after experiencing the Era of War and Chaos.

Even though he was a master at the Harmony Realm and knew multiple martial arts, what good would that be without any comrades he could trust?

If the fact that he was from the Righteous Faction was found out, even the Miao Family Sword Gate that he was risking his life for could turn against him at the last minute. After all, blinded by the merits he may have earned, the Miao Family Sword Gate might move to take all that he had and make it their own.

Words were power.

When those words were spoken by multiple people, they became a great power.

Even if their martial arts weren't strong, with the support and trust of the Evil Faction members, he would be able to avoid the worst outcomes.

Moreover, that trust could be quickly built by risking his life.

Even if I storm through the Flashing Waterfall Saber Gate in a single move, I'll still need some time to find the Mind Qi Separator. Moreover, I might get injured and be unable to move after fighting their leader, who's also a Harmony Realm master. No, I'm sick of being alone.

Zhou Xuchuan drew an arrow from the quiver on his back and nocked it.

"I'll support you. Don't worry about anything around or behind you. Just run forward."

"Sir Ten Man Commander. Are you really going to use that bow?"

Unless the bow was wielded by a master archer, most people assumed that bows were useless in battle. In particular, the perception of archery in the murim was relatively low.

"If you don't want to get hit again, don't worry about it and just move forward."

Zhou Xuchuan pointed forward with the tip of his chin as the nine nodded while looking at each other.

Let's run when we have the chance.

No matter how I look at it, we're gonna die.

He's just going to use us for a bit before throwing us away.

Loyalty and trust were hard to find even within the Righteous Faction. Finding trust on the battlefield was even harder, and finding trust within the Evil Faction…

Well, that went without saying.

The nine mercenaries vowed to at least pretend to fight because of the pressure from behind and then escape during the ensuing confusion.

"AHGHHHH!"

Warriors on the grassy hill.

The Miao Family Sword Gate versus the Flashing Waterfall Saber Gate.

Moreover, the Flashing Waterfall Saber Gate seemed to have hired a large number of mercenaries.

"Ha-a-eup!"

Tie San took the lead and swung his sword.

A mercenary from the Flashing Waterfall Saber Gate dropped to the ground, groaning from the attack.

"You dare!"

Immediately following, mercenaries directly behind the fallen one rushed at Tie San.

There were three of them.

Swish!

"Ugh!"

Suddenly, one of the heads of the mercenaries running toward him snapped backward, an arrow that had come flying out of nowhere stuck in his forehead.

"... huh?"

The mercenary behind Tie San opened his mouth wide in surprise.

"Di-did you see that?"

"No, I couldn't even see it."

"Are arrows normally that fast?"

Tie San had blinked, and arrows were stuck in his enemies' foreheads. Although they were fast, not a single one missed.

For most martial artists, arrows were something that could be evaded easily or countered as long as there weren't too many of them.

After all, there was a reason that the bow was considered inferior within the murim. No matter how chaotic a battlefield was, martial artists could dodge or block sufficiently.

However, Zhou Xuchuan's arrows weren't like that. Most of their targets fell to the ground without knowing how they died.

Thwip!

"Agh!"

Every time his arrows flew forward, cutting through the wind, screams erupted. His arrows never missed.

"Amazing!"

"If he can keep this up—!"

The nine men, including Tie San, changed their minds.

At first, they had just been waiting for an opportunity to run. However, now that they saw Zhou Xuchuan stopping any threat the moment danger reared its head, their hearts were moved.

"AHAHAHA!"

"COME! YOU BASTARDS!"

"THE GOD OF ARROWS IS BEHIND ME!"

The nine men shouted proudly and cornered the enemies around them.

The other mercenaries and warriors of the Evil Faction nearby also noticed what was going on and gathered around Zhou Xuchuan's men. Bows weren't common within the murim, so their Ten Man troop was bound to stand out.

"Just what the hell are these arrows—agh!"

"Where are they flying from?"

"Find the archer first!"

If they blinked, a comrade standing next to them would fall, hit by an arrow. It was horrifying because none of them could notice the arrow until it had already killed someone.

"He's over there!"

They were standing on a hill that had only knee-high grass and flowers. What one's allies could see was what the enemy could see.

The Flashing Waterfall Saber Gate disciples and hired mercenaries shouted until their blood boiled as they ordered Zhou Xuchuan to be killed, swearing at him.

"Hey, you archer! Don't walk up to them!"

The expert of the Miao Family Sword Gate, who was leading the mercenaries, also noticed Zhou Xuchuan and decided that he would be helpful, even going as far as to give him a warning.

Oh! This is an excellent opportunity to practice my technique!

For swordsmanship, considering he had the experience of his past life, it didn't matter if he didn't have any opponents to fight properly. However, since this was the first time in either life that he was learning archery, he needed actual experience.

Zhou Xuchuan decided to use this opportunity to practice. He placed the quiver he had prepared in advance on the ground and held his position, circulating his qi in preparation for the Eclipse Divine Archery Art.

1. While the raws say 100-Spear, 1,000-Saber, and 10,000-Sword, I switched the words saber and spear to match The Legend of the Condor Heroes. The original quote itself is ancient and doesn't actually have a source because it's been adapted and warped so many times. Still, if you're seeing this specific quote from any murim/wuxia, I can 99.9999% guarantee it's referring to the one from The Legend of the Condor Heroes, which is where it resurfaced in popularity in Wuxia. ☜

Cyncoco's Thoughts

Aight, so if you've read my novels, you know I love little lessons on weapons.

Now, if you've read some of the other stories on this platform, like Martial World, The Second Coming of Gluttony, (Spear), or Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (Saber), you'll get conflicting references to the "hardest weapon to master."

But, at least traditionally, no matter which version of the phrase,

100 days staff, 1000 days spear, 10,000 days sword

100 days to the fist, 1,000 days to the spear, 10,000 days to the sword

A hundred days to master the saber, a thousand days to master the spear, and ten thousand days to master the sword

In the end, you'll always see the sword.

For context, in Korean/Chinese, all single-edged bladed weapons are considered a form of Dao/Do, or saber while all double-edged bladed weapons are considered a form of Jian/Geom, or sword.

Also, Jian/Geom weren't generally slashing weapons, but piercing ones. Unlike sabers, which were pretty self-explanatory (see sharp edge, feel heavy weight. swing), swords required finesse and agility. You needed a lot of wrist strength and mobility, and shoulder stability.

Don't get me wrong, all weapons at their peak of mastery are extremely difficult to master. Just because I know how to use a geom doesn't mean I'd like to take the respected master Penguin on in a sword-to-saber fight, for example.

But, the learning curve of how to use each weapon is different.

Generally, the assumed difficulty in starting to be able to use a weapon properly goes:

Fists -> Stick/Staff -> Saber -> Spear -> Sword

Let me know if you have any questions.

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