A Man Like None Other (Jared Chance) novel Chapter 5272

“Your foundation is solid, but your sword technique relies too much on explosive eruptions of spiritual energy. A true swordsman needs a touch of gracefulness.”

Each afternoon, Corin awaited him inside the narrow bamboo lodge. He never once rose to demonstrate. Instead, he reclined on a low bamboo couch, fingers roaming the length of a pitch-black wooden sword, and pointed out Jared's flaws with a casual nod or a single tap of the wooden blade.

“Look at this old bamboo,” Corin remarked, “When the wind comes, it bows; when the wind fades, it straightens. It looks fragile, yet its strength is hidden in its bend. A sword should be the same. Steel breaks if it stays hard too long. Mix hardness with grace and you can slice, coil, deflect—maintain control of the battle.”

Jared focused on the bamboo outside the window. Gusts whipped the green trunk until it seemed certain to snap, yet each time the gale peaked, the stalk leaned, shedding most of the force before settling upright again.

Understanding struck him like flint on steel. Dragonslayer Sword hummed in his grip, and the brutal sword technique he had practiced for years melted into something lighter. Sword light fluttered like shadows of bamboo leaves—one instant shooting straight up like a newborn shoot, the next skimming sideways as gently as a leaf riding the wind.

“Mm. Now we are getting somewhere,” Corin remarked, “Sword technique is not a set of fixed rules. Follow forms too closely, and you are merely ordinary. Grasp the idea behind the blade, and you become something special. Until today, you've only known to 'sever.' Remember the blade can also coil and circle.”

With a flick of his finger, Corin sent a bronze practice sword whirling from the floor. The blade drifted toward Jared, slow as falling snow yet closing every angle of retreat. Instinct screamed for a head-on block, but Jared heard Corin's lesson ringing in his ears. He rolled his wrist in response.

Dragonslayer Sword slithered around the incoming edge like a silver serpent, gliding down the spine of bronze and redirecting its weight into empty air. Steel kissed steel for an instant—long enough for Jared to twist once more and aim his point at the opponent's hilt.

Ding! The bronze sword crashed to the ground, ringing bright and hollow before lying still.

Shock pinned Jared in place. The insight of that single heartbeat tore through the last bottleneck of Wandering Immortal Realm Level Seven. Power roared out to every muscle and bone—the unmistakable surge of a Wandering Immortal Realm Level Eight.

“You broke through?” Flaxseed gaped from the doorway. “It has only been four days. Are you even human, Jared?”

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