Becoming a Saint Starts with Copying Martial Arts

Chapter 26 Practical Combat Training

Yu Qiuyu led Lin Qing to the west side of the platform, where wooden chairs were placed for onlookers to rest if they got tired of watching.

"Lin Qing, if you want to improve your combat skills, this is the place for you. The people sitting around here are all officers of the Soul Suppression Division, and they are all martial artists, with varying strengths. From now on, come here every seven days to spar, and in less than three months, your combat ability will be greatly improved!" Yu Qiuyu said in a low voice.

Lin Qing nodded slightly, his gaze fixed on the high platform in front of him. The atmosphere here was very enthusiastic, with cheers rising and falling. He was also filled with excitement and wanted to go on stage and exchange a few moves.

Yang Feng is right. Simply practicing behind closed doors won't improve your combat skills. The only way is to go out on stage and fight against others.

Before long, the two on the stage had decided the winner. With a loud shout, the taller man standing on the left side of the stage was punched and sent flying, falling off the high platform.

The arena was surrounded by a layer of soft sand. After the man fell to the ground, he was not injured at all. However, he was covered in dust and looked a bit disheveled.

"Old Cao, hahaha, I won!" On the stage, the winner was a dark-skinned man wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt, who let out a hearty laugh.

The man who had fallen to the ground got up and dusted himself off: "Hey, Chu, don't get cocky. I didn't play well just now, so I let you win!"

"Old Cao, you're still as stubborn as ever, haha." Chu Feng laughed even more heartily.

"That's it for today, let's fight another day!" Old Cao threw a silver tael onto the arena and turned to leave.

Yu Qiuyu lowered his voice and said, "The people fighting here are all acquaintances. Chu Feng and Lao Cao are both from the Jingming Division."

"If you win when you go up on stage later, you'll get one or two taels of silver. That's always the rule."

Lin Qing nodded. On the stage, Chu Feng shouted again, "Who else? Come up here now!"

After a moment's thought, Lin Qing stepped onto the arena, and dozens of eyes immediately converged on him.

"A new face? Are you the new body collector?" Chu Feng asked with a smile. He had noticed Lin Qing long ago because Yu Qiuyu often came here to fight and was familiar with many people present.

Lin Qing nodded slightly: "My name is Lin Qing. I joined the corpse collection team two months ago."

"Two months? That means you've only been learning martial arts for less than a year. What kind of skills could you possibly have? We should find someone else." Chu Feng shook his head.

The best training comes from sparring when the opponents are evenly matched; if the skill gap is too large, it is actually detrimental.

As for the one or two taels of silver, it was just a lucky charm, and he didn't care about it.

"Chu Feng, who do you think you are? I think you're going to suffer a big fall later." Yu Qiuyu shouted from below the stage.

Lin Qing also cupped his hands and said, "Lin Qing knows that his actual combat ability is lacking, and he wants to come here to gain more experience. Please give me your guidance, senior."

Chu Feng no longer refused: "Since Yu Qiuyu thinks so highly of you, let's have a fight. Do you want to compete in fist techniques or sword techniques?"

"We have rules here. If we're competing in fist techniques, we can only use the Eight Strikes of the Serpent; if we're competing in sword techniques, we can only use the Gentle Breeze Sword or the Lone Goose Reflecting its Shadow."

"Then let's have a swordsmanship contest," Lin Qing said.

In actual combat, the vast majority of techniques used are knife skills rather than fist skills, because it is the norm for constables to carry a knife with them at all times.

"Then let's have a swordsmanship contest! Bring on two swords!" Chu Feng shouted as he turned around.

Someone below the arena raised their hand and tossed two wooden swords onto the stage.

Chu Feng stepped forward, picked up the two knives, and tossed one of them to Lin Qing.

"Since this is just a friendly spar, we'll stop when we've reached a point. The main goal is to hone our martial arts skills and improve our combat abilities. So, for the swordsmanship competition, we'll use wooden swords. Whoever drops their sword loses." Chu Feng twirled his sword and patiently explained.

"Alright, let's begin." Lin Qing said, gripping the knife with both hands, his body slightly tense, ready to strike.

"Look at the knife!"

Chu Feng shouted, and Lin Qing also attacked at the same time, charging forward with his sword. The two figures quickly closed in and struck at the same time.

Bang bang bang!

In an instant, the two circled the center of the platform, moving around and drawing their swords, and for a short time they were evenly matched.

The two swordsmen had very different styles. Lin Qing's swordsmanship was more elegant, mainly consisting of swinging the blade. Each forward slash would create a gust of wind and leave a faint afterimage. Chu Feng's swordsmanship, on the other hand, was more straightforward, with more sharp and less varied moves.

This is the difference between the Lone Goose Reflecting its Shadow and the Gentle Breeze Sword Technique. The former has a higher learning threshold, but once mastered, the moves are more varied and the improvement in combat power is more significant. The latter has a lower threshold, so the vast majority of constables learn the Gentle Breeze Sword Technique.

Many people in the audience, upon hearing that Lin Qing was a newcomer who had only been learning martial arts for less than a year, were somewhat dismissive of him, thinking that he would be easily defeated by Chu Feng.

But in the blink of an eye, the two had already exchanged more than ten blows.

Lin Qing not only did not lose, but his swordsmanship became increasingly fierce, forcing Chu Feng to retreat continuously.

At one moment, Lin Qing slashed out with his sword, striking Chu Feng's right wrist. The latter's hand trembled, accompanied by a tingling and numb sensation, and the sword in his hand fell to the ground.

"You flatter me!" Lin Qing sheathed his sword, slowly exhaled a breath of pure air, and cupped his hands in greeting.

Chu Feng looked surprised: "You are a force to be reckoned with. How can you have such amazing swordsmanship at such a young age? No wonder Yu Qiuyu has so much confidence in you."

The people around them burst into enthusiastic cheers.

"Excellent swordsmanship!"

"This is the Lesser Completion stage of Lone Goose Reflecting its Shadow. Although Chu Feng's Qingfeng Sword is at the Great Completion stage, the quality of these two martial arts is too different. It is normal for Chu Feng to lose."

"That's impressive."

...

"Let's fight again next time!" Chu Feng threw down a silver coin and leaped off the stage.

Lin Qing picked up the silver, his mind replaying the scene of the fight.

Practicing on your own and sparring with others are two completely different things.

He had only fought Yang Feng twice before, so he had very little practical experience.

At this moment, after exchanging blows with Chu Feng, he discovered many problems with the connection between moves.

"Only through repeated sparring and practice can my combat skills be improved rapidly."

"Brother Lin, shall we continue?" an elderly man with a mustache asked from beside the arena.

"Continue!" Lin Qing replied.

"Next!" the old man called out.

As soon as he finished speaking, another person came up on stage. He was a short, stout middle-aged man, about fifty years old, from the Yin-Yang Division. He was a veteran constable who had served for twenty-three years and had mastered the Qingfeng Sword Technique.

The two then engaged in a fierce battle, their sword techniques changing rapidly and dazzling the eye.

After about thirty moves, Lin Qing's knife was knocked away in one strike.

"You flatter me!" the old man said with a smile, sheathing his sword.

Lin Qing put down a tael of silver, leaped off the stage, and felt completely refreshed.

"How is it?" Yu Qiuyu leaned closer.

"Very good, especially this sparring match, which made me discover a lot of problems," Lin Qing said with a smile.

"That's good. If you want to find someone to spar with in the future, this is the place to come," Yu Qiuyu said.

...

Back at the corpse collectors' compound, Lin Qing intended to practice his swordsmanship for a while longer, to solidify the insights he had gained from the previous sparring session in his mind.

Unexpectedly, just as he stood there with his sword in hand, a heavy rain began to fall.

He had no choice but to sheathe his knife and go back into the house.

The next day.

The rain stopped, the sky cleared, and early in the morning, Lin Qing stepped out of his house. The training ground was filled with the fresh scent of earth.

He stood still in an open space, and with a thought, the Record of Rebirth appeared, along with the image of a lone goose with perfect equipment.

In an instant, the level of this sword technique on the panel changed to "breakthrough".

Numerous techniques flashed through his mind, and his understanding of this martial art deepened rapidly. The insights he gained in yesterday's actual combat also solidified quickly and were gradually digested.