I Obtained Guan Yu's Martial Arts - Chapter 21

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Obtaining Guan Yu’s Martial Arts 021
Green Dragon Halberd (1)
“…….”
Guan Hui’s expression grew complicated as he gazed at the Crescent Moon Blade.
The silver Crescent Moon Blade that Guan Hui wielded was a sort of spoil of war he’d obtained roughly two months ago during a battle with Guang Shaxun, the sect master of the Hun Yue Sect, whose blade-name was Soul Poison.
A martial implement that the Guan family, lacking a proper Crescent Moon Blade, had found quite useful.
That very weapon now lay in the bamboo grove, snapped clean in half.
“It seems I pushed it too hard,” Guan Hui murmured.
Judging by the fracture pattern, it had broken while he was using the shaft to block Huang Xiaoxiao’s arrows just moments before.
Well, he’d swung it recklessly during all this time, so its durability had finally reached its limit.
He’d wielded it extensively—both in training and in actual combat.
—Don’t worry yourself. That blade was insufficient to contain your strength from the start.
Unlike what those connoisseurs say—that a master calligrapher needs no brush—in real combat, the superior the weapon, the brighter it shines.
In actual fighting, numerous elements come into play: martial prowess, external strength, inner methods, endurance, and more.
The martial implement, essential to the expression of martial arts, naturally stands paramount among them.
“It’s about time I acquired a proper weapon of my own,” Guan Hui said.
The existing silver Crescent Moon Blade was small relative to his frame and felt light in his hands.
Now that he’d begun serious training in the Heaven Extreme Cloud Extinction Blade, he needed a weapon truly suited to him.
One might even say the silver Crescent Moon Blade had broken at a rather opportune moment.
—You’re right. You need a Crescent Moon Blade far heavier than what you have now.
People commonly say that lighter weapons are superior.
But that applies only to weapons like swords and sabers that prioritize speed.
A Crescent Moon Blade, whose martial form rests upon weight, has no need to be light.
Rather, the heavier it is, the more brilliantly the Crescent Moon Blade reveals its power.
—A creature of your Heavenly Martial Body would do well with a weight of roughly a hundred catties or so.
“A hundred catties!?” Guan Hui gasped.
His pupils dilated in shock.
A hundred catties—roughly fifty kilograms.
Considering that ordinary swords weighed about three catties, it was a madman’s weight.
How could one even endure actual combat carrying something so heavy?
He’d collapse from exhaustion before swinging it a hundred times.
—The Crescent Moon Blade I once carried had a shaft alone weighing a hundred and eighty catties.
“What? The Green Dragon Halberd? Isn’t that eighty catties?” Guan Yu said with a snort of derision.
Guan Yu let out a dry laugh upon hearing those words.
—History is written by the victors to their advantage, after all.
“I see. So the shaft alone weighed a hundred and eighty catties.”
It was a weight ordinary people couldn’t even fathom attempting.
How could one even wield such a heavy weapon in real combat?
“Then I’ll go with a hundred and eighty catties as well.”
—……!
But Guan Hui was no ordinary person either.
Born with the Heavenly Martial Body, his Body Strength was second to none anywhere.
‘If I’m to follow the general, I need to carry at least that much.’
If one wished to excel like someone, one had to walk the path that someone had walked.
Guan Hui wanted to follow faithfully every path Guan Yu had trod.
Even if it was merely the weight of a weapon.
—Now you sound like my successor.
A satisfied voice belonging to Guan Yu echoed in his mind.
Though his face wasn’t visible, Guan Hui could picture him wearing a gratified smile.
—Have you considered where you’ll obtain one?
“Hmm.”
Guan Hui stroked his beard thoughtfully.
“A shaft of that weight won’t be forged by just any blacksmith.”
A skilled blacksmith was harder to find than a skilled martial artist.
Moreover, in Shanxi Province, which was called a wasteland of martial studies, there wasn’t a single blacksmith of decent ability.
“I’ve heard that those bearing the Yu family name are skilled blacksmiths in Sichuan. I was thinking of making the journey there.”
—The Yu family of Sichuan……. So it’s your elder brother’s clan.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
—I wonder how time has transformed imperial blood into a blacksmith’s anvil. I’d like to see it myself.
“That’s fortunate, then. I’ll prepare for departure, General.”
Guan Hui collected the fragments of the shattered Crescent Moon Blade and made his way toward the Guan family estate.
-By the way, what do you make of the eldest daughter of the Huang family?
“Pardon? I think she’s quite useful—an archer of exceptional skill.”
-…… You’re a dull one.
Guan Yu’s sigh filled Guan Hui’s mind.
“Why are you sighing like that? Going through a rough patch?”
‘Why are you sighing?’
Guan Hui, who had accidentally spoken his true thought aloud instead of what he’d meant to say, quickly covered his mouth in alarm.
“Oh, that slipped out.”

* * *
Yuncheng City. The Yetie Inn.
The third floor of the Yetie Inn—where a white rice dish came with two complimentary side dishes—held only a single occupied table.
While the first and second floors were so busy that seats were scarce, not a soul had set foot on the third floor; the innkeeper had cordoned it off.
“Who’s up there that the owner bothered to block it off?”
“Heard someone rented the whole third floor.”
“What? So if you’ve got enough money, you can do whatever you want? Renting a whole floor like some fool?”
“Hush! Keep your voice down.”
The man drinking wine hastily raised a finger to his lips, signaling silence with a pointed look.
“What? Why the sudden caution?”
“Do you know who’s up there!? It’s Zhang Cheng, the eldest son of Anwen Zhang—Absolute Shadow Blade Zhang Cheng!”
“…… ! Oh, you mean that Zhang Cheng—the Rising Talent rated at the level of Five Dragons Three Phoenixes!?”
“That’s right! So mind your tongue. Unless you want your head to roll!”
“G-good lord! I understand!”
The people on the first floor, who had been chattering loudly, began lowering their voices one by one, conscious of the presence above.
“Hah……”
Zhang Cheng, who had quieted those around him without intending to, exhaled a long, heavy sigh.
The eldest son of the Anwen Zhang family and its young patriarch, already beginning to lead the house—one of the most notable Rising Talents of his generation.
Though his family’s power was insufficient to earn him a place among the Five Dragons Three Phoenixes, the world often spoke of him as part of the Six Dragons Three Phoenixes instead.
Those who knew martial prowess understood well how exceptional Zhang Cheng was.
“Damn it all.”
From the lips of Zhang Cheng, who possessed talent enough to shake the world, sighs escaped without cease.
The reason his breath came forth in sighs deep enough to sink the earth was none other than Guan Hui.
“I know for certain it was him.”
His only true brother, Zhang Liu, was dead.
Word had it that while Zhang Liu was plotting with the Blood Strong Sect, the sect itself was betrayed by Bai Shi and perished alongside him.
“My mind knows the truth, but I have no way to prove it.”
In Zhang Cheng’s eyes, it was Guan Hui who killed Zhang Liu.
If the Blood Strong Sect and Zhang Liu had merely joined forces to capture the master of Guan, they should have succeeded—yet both fell apart and destroyed each other?
Someone had orchestrated this carefully.
And the only one in that place capable of such maneuvering was the very man who had seized the master of Guan, delivered the Blood Strong Sect warriors to the magistrate’s office, and collected a enormous bounty: Guan Hui.
“I wish there were some mark, some trace.”
Zhang Cheng had examined his brother’s corpse dozens upon dozens of times, investigating every detail.
Yet the only wounds found on his brother’s body were those inflicted by Bai Shi’s blade.
That cunning dog had not left so much as a scratch upon his brother by his own hand.
“…… I must have my vengeance on that wretched man.”
Zhang Cheng wanted to avenge himself upon the one truly responsible for his brother’s death.
Even if that man were not the one truly responsible, it mattered little to him.
The Long Blade of Anwen Zhang cried out for vengeance, and he meant to slaughter everyone connected to this affair without exception.
It was for this reason that he had exterminated all surviving members of the Blood Strong Sect.
“There is no way to kill him.”
Killing Guan Hui was not the same as slaughtering those rabble of the Blood Strong Sect.
Unlike the Blood Strong Sect warriors with bounties on their heads at the magistrate’s office, Guan Hui was the unquestionable patriarch of a White Path house.
To kill such a man recklessly would invite the retaliation of enemies upon Anwen Zhang as well.
For this reason, Zhang Cheng now remained in Yuncheng City, suppressing his fury.
He searched for any pretext, any justification, to take Guan Hui’s life.
“Young Patriarch, if I may be so bold as to offer a word.”
Hu You, who bore the alias Cloud Fox, pulled his chair forward and drew slightly closer.
He was one of Zhang Cheng’s trusted followers, distinctive for having once walked the Black Path as a martial artist in his past.
“Speak.”
“What if we could kill him using the Black Path’s methods?”
“What?”
“As you know, Yuncheng City is a place where the Black Path’s influence runs quite deep. There isn’t a single proper White Path family to be found.”
“So?”
“So we use the Black Path to kill him.”
Zhang Cheng drained his cup and let out a derisive snort.
“You haven’t thought about how calling in those Black Path dogs could make everything go wrong? The family’s reputation has already been tarnished because my brother joined hands with the Blood Strong Sect.”
For the White Path sects, honor was everything.
The Anwen Zhang family’s reputation had already been sullied once by the scandal with the Blood Strong Sect.
If they became entangled with the Black Path even once more, repair might become impossible.
“Yes, I understand. But I’m not like them.”
“Ah… I forgot about your background for a moment.”
Only then did Zhang Cheng remember Hu You’s origins, and he slid a cup of baijiu across to him.
“Can you do it? Do you have a way?”
Hu You drained the cup in one gulp and nodded.
“Of course. I’ve already thought of a plan.”
“Speak. But if it’s nonsense, I’ll cut off your arm.”
Even under Zhang Cheng’s threat, which dripped with killing intent, Hu You didn’t blink. He simply nodded.
“A few days ago, I drank with some Black Path dogs called the Black Flame Gang.”
“And?”
“They run an underground martial arena where they pit martial artists against each other for money. It’s basically a gambling operation.”
Zhang Cheng exhaled with the weary expression of a man hearing something tedious.
It wasn’t news that Black Path thugs ran underground martial arenas to line their pockets.
He couldn’t fathom what made this worth boasting about.
“So what are you saying?”
“Here’s the crucial part. Apparently, they possess a Family Heirloom from some prestigious household.”
A Family Heirloom.
A precious treasure passed down through generations of a family.
The only proof that the family was the legitimate line, and a treasure imbued with their ancestors’ legacy.
The Anwen Zhang family had one as well.
If he recalled correctly, it was called the Heaven Heavy Long Blade.
“State your purpose first. You have a habit of dragging out your words.”
As Zhang Cheng’s brow furrowed with irritation, Hu You hurried to continue.
“That Family Heirloom belongs to the Guan family!”
“…What did you just say?”
In a fit of anger, Zhang Cheng gulped down an entire bottle of baijiu, his eyes widening slightly.
Of course, his eyes were already small and deeply set, so the change wasn’t particularly noticeable.
“The Guan family’s Green Dragon Halberd. They have it.”
A massive polearm that weighed over one hundred eighty catties.
The Green Dragon Halberd, which had been passed down as a family treasure of the Guan family for ages, was said to have once belonged to Guan Yu, called Yunchang—a legendary hero of the past, a rival to almost none, and the greatest general of his era.
“How did they get their hands on that? Did they steal it?”
“No. The Guan family’s patriarch two generations back sold it because he needed money desperately.”
“That fool. How could he sell the family treasure?”
“Well… a wretched family makes wretched choices.”
“Hah! I rather like the sound of that.”
Zhang Cheng smiled with satisfaction and took another drink.
“So this is what I did: I suggested to them over drinks that they put that heirloom up as a prize in the underground arena. They said it would draw plenty of martial artists.”
“Ho?”
Zhang Cheng’s smile deepened considerably.
“From what I hear, Guan Hui is obsessed with restoring his family’s fortune. If he learns there’s a chance to recover the lost Green Dragon Halberd, won’t he head straight for the underground arena?”
“Of course. He’ll go, without question.”
Once a family treasure is sold, it’s lost forever.
Such an heirloom being offered as a prize?
Any family patriarch would be forced to participate and seize that prize, no matter what.
“But… won’t that man simply defeat the Black Path dogs at the underground arena?”
Zhang Cheng’s expression, which had been brimming with anticipation, crumpled like thin paper in an instant.
Now that he thought about it, this was the man who had killed Guang Shaxun, the First-rate master and leader of the Hun Yue Sect.
“That’s why I’ll be entering the arena myself.”
“Hm. But will you be any different? You said yourself he killed Guang Shaxun.”
Zhang Cheng twisted his lips into a sneer.
Hu You nodded with a thin smile.
“That quack Guang Shaxun is nothing compared to me.”
There was a vast gulf between the martial traditions of the Black Path and the White Path.
And that gap only widened at higher realms.
The White Path’s martial studies, rooted in centuries of history, possessed a depth that the Black Path could never match.
“I’ve reached First-rate thanks to the Anwen Zhang family’s martial heritage. I could kill him without difficulty.”
Hu You spoke with unshakeable confidence.
He was the man who had turned two First-rate masters against each other with nothing but cunning words, then watched them destroy themselves.
In other words, his raw skill fell far short of a true First-rate warrior’s.
So how could he possibly stand against one who had broken through to First-rate through genuine cultivation?
“I can dispatch the patriarch of some Third-rate martial family without breaking a sweat.”
“You?”
“I have a hidden technique, as you well know.”
“Hmm. That much is true.”
Hu You possessed a secret technique so formidable that even the Anwen Zhang family coveted it.
The real reason Zhang Cheng had taken in this Black Path scrap was precisely because of that hidden card.
“Very well. I’ll trust you on this.”
“You won’t regret it. I’ll end the Guan family patriarch with my own hands.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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