The World of Mei

Chapter 32 Inspiration from Chuang Chou Dreaming a Butterfly

Surrounded by sword aura, Mu Qianmei did feel that her vital parts were under the threat of Ye Suifeng's sword aura just like what he said. She could only see hundreds of thousands of blade points floating around. Her mind seemed to be freed out of her and her body stood still, unable to dodge.

Perhaps she could narrowly avoid the point relying on her martial art foundation and the instinct of a martial artist at the moment the sword was stabbed out.

Although she didn't feel the intention of killing, she couldn't help but feel a flutter in her heart. It was suffering to be controlled by the sword aura!

At that moment, the master of her life did not seem to her, but the opponent.

"This gentle move can be more than usually effective!" Mu Qianmei praised.

Ye Suifeng didn't stop. He changed the aura and speeded up. The momentum of this move became fierce like a violent storm. Ye Suifeng made fast and dense stabs and said,

"This is the second move of Wind Floating Sword Skill, the Wild Wind Destroy Withered Lotus. The aura of this move should be wild and unrestrained while the action firm and rapid, leaving the opponent no time to adjust and react."

"Even your opponent reacts quickly and can dodge in a hurry, his (her) pace will be disrupted. You win yourself an advantage and a chance to win again."

Then, he changed the aura of the sword for the second time. The atmosphere around turned bleak as if they suddenly had fallen into cold autumn. A negative feeling of "life is boring" arose from the bottom of her heart, bringing fatigue and the thought of giving up. Why be so happy about life? Why so afraid of death?

When Mu Qianmei was indulged in passive emotion, Ye Suifeng opened his mouth,

"The third move of Wind Floating Sword Skill is Leaves Fall in the Autumn Wind. It aims at making an atmosphere of depression and loneliness to manipulate the opponent's mood as to mental state and giving rise to the thought like 'life is boring and death is a relief'. Therefore, the opponent will give up and you can win."

After this move, Ye Suifeng wielded the sword and changed the aura again, freeing her controlled mind.

However, no sooner had her mind be freed than it was seized by a piercing chill. It was as if she had been covered with ice and snow, frozen and cold, and almost immovable.

It was so cold!

Her bone was chilling!

Coldness invaded her heart!

Enveloped by the aura of Wind Floating Sword Skill, Mu Qianmei felt her body didn't belong to her as she could not control it to do anything.

"This is the fourth move, the Freezing Wind. The key point of this move is coldness! Your opponent is too cold to control the body, letting alone defense and fighting back."

Ye Suifeng finished the introduction and put the sword back into the sheath. The sword aura he provoked vanished at once.

So did the coldness. Everything went back to normal.

Ye Suifeng said,

"As to the fifth move, the Wind Whirls in the Universe, it's too destructive and lethal for demonstration, and I have never used it even in fighting. I've tried this move before and destroyed half of a forest. This move is beyond the realm of martial arts in the ordinary sense."

"The fifth move is created based on the first four moves and its inspiration, which goes beyond the four seasons in nature and comes from my understanding of the wind: the wind goes with the sword. The sword is under my control. I follow my mind, and my mind is inspired by the wind. I'm assimilated into the universe. The wind is me. I am the sword. The sword is the wind, and we all embrace freedom. A move like this can frighten heaven and change the landscape. Who can defend such an attack?"

He said the last sentence with pride and ambition as if he had remembered the time when he used the world-shaking move.

Mu Qianmei and Liu Tingfeng admired that scene very much.

"Well, in another realm, this is just a beginning!"

After a long while, Ye Suifeng calmed down and sighed.

Five Moves of Wind Floating Sword opened a gate to martial arts in another realm for Mu Qianmei.

A demonstration could provide such a surprise, so what would it be like when fighting against enemies?

What kind of life must a person go through to have such a deep understanding of the wind?

Listening to Ye Suifeng's words, Mu Qianmei knew the true meaning of "knowledge is infinite".

In another realm, such an earth-shaking sword skill was just a beginning.

Would there be countless new realms beyond another realm?

All his life, the Great Sword Master explored only one thing, the sword.

At the age of more than 100, he had achieved so much, but in another realm, it was only a new beginning.

How extensive and profound the realm of sword skill was!

How many people could penetrate the "law"?

Seeing Mu Qianmei in deep thought again, Ye Suifeng left in silence without disturbing her.

Liu Tingfeng stayed by her side quietly without moving, being afraid to interrupt her thoughts.

Mu Qianmei contemplated calmly. Her mind traveled.

She recalled the story in her previous life, Chuang Chou Dreaming a Butterfly. Philosopher Chuang Chou became a butterfly in his dream, not knowing he was originally a human being.

When he woke up, he found he was a human being after all.

He didn't know whether he was then a man dreaming that he was a butterfly, or whether he was a butterfly, dreaming that he was a man.

It was hard to discern.

The feeling of another object blended with me and changed was familiar with Ye Suifeng's feeling of "the wind is me. I am the sword, and the sword is the wind".

Mu Qianmei was suddenly enlightened. She seemed to capture an abstruse feeling.

When she wielded sticks to practice Flying Dragon Thirty-Six Sticks, she would also forget herself and the environment, dancing like a fluttering butterfly.

But she didn't come to the state of "I am the stick. The stick is the butterfly, and the butterfly is me".

The "flying dragon" in Flying Dragon Thirty-Six Sticks revealed the extreme conceitedness of this fierce stick skill. It described an image of "a flying dragon soaring in the firmament".

The Dragon Internal Magic Citta that supported this stick skill was also an Internal Magic Citta full of masculinity.

As a girl, it was impossible for her to cultivate masculinity.

That was why she made little progress in practicing inner magic and only attained the shape of this stick skill instead of its essence.

Even if she had reached the state of forgetting herself and other matters and becoming a butterfly in her inner world, she could not integrate the stick into this state.

So she could not give full play to this stick skill.

"I wish to see the sword skill that master creates for me!"

Mu Qianmei said softly with expectation.

"Oh, you are awake, senior apprentice-sister! Have you got anything from meditation?"

Liu Tingfeng heard Mu Qianmei speaking, and asked in surprise.

"Yes! Haha... I seemed to capture an abstruse feeling. By the way, Feng, what do you feel when you practice Wind Floating Sword Skill?"

Mu Qianmei asked.

"Well, I concentrate my mind to imagine, as master told me, that I am the wind, intangible wind. I control the sword with the wind. Just like that. But I haven't cultivated profound inner magic so the only move I can use is Vernal Breeze Caresses Cheeks."

Liu Tingfeng blushed as he felt his progress was too slow.

"Haha... master said your progress is fast enough. You'd better go on step by step. I believe you will be able to reach the same realm as your master."

Mu Qianmei encouraged him.

"Yes, master always says that, too. He told me there's no need to be too serious, just take it as a game. The more fun I get, the more progress I'll make. Haha... now I find it more and more interesting to practice martial arts."

Liu Tingfeng laughed happily.

"Really? Take it as a game? The more fun you have, the more progress you'll make. Is it true?"

Mu Qianmei was surprised and kept seeking confirmation.

"Yes, that's what he said. Each time I feel happy and carefree when I come into the state of being the wind. I am as free as a bird."

Liu Tingfeng told her his mental state of practicing in a light tone.

"I do envy you! I finally understand what is 'They who love it are better than those who know it, and they who delight in it are better than those who love it'. I was forced to practice martial art skills every day when I was a kid. If I slack off, I'll get clubbed. Well, all paths lead to the same results."

Mu Qianmei smiled. She wasn't to complain about her past but to miss it because she reminded old guy's pains.

"You must have suffered much! My master had never beaten me!"

Liu Tingfeng felt sympathy.

"No, that's a precious experience!"

Mu Qianmei shook her head.

"Why are your words so deep? I can't understand."

Mu Qianmei was confused.

"Not so deep, I think. Which sentence do you think is deep?"

Mu Qianmei asked.

"What is 'all paths lead to the same results'? And what is 'they who love it are better than those who know it, and they who delight in it are better than those who love it'?"

Liu Tingfeng asked.

"'All paths lead to the same results' means although we practice different martial art skills in different ways, as long as we both work hard and succeed, the result is the same."

"'They who love it are better than those who know it, and they who delight in it are better than those who love it' means active learning is more effective than rote learning, while enjoy learning will produce a better result than active learning. Because you have fun in learning, you will make more progress!"

"That's why your master let you take it as a game and have fun with it. You will make more progress as long as you feel it interesting."

Mu Qianmei explained according to her understanding.

"Oh, that's what it means! You know so much. By the way, senior apprentice-sister, you were thinking quietly. What did you think of?"

Liu Tingfeng asked.

"Me? I thought of my mental state when I practiced stick skills. I felt I was a butterfly flying freely, just like your feeling of becoming the wind. There was a pleasure of doing what I want."

Mu Qianmei answered in short.

"So you do like butterflies! Haha... master will create a sword skill about butterflies for you."

Liu Tingfeng smiled.

"Haha... I'm looking forward to it!"

Mu Qianmei smiled, too.