Chapter 81 - Jade Ring Steps, Lovers’ Feet
Chapter 81: Jade Ring Steps, Lovers’ Feet
“Greetings, Brother, Master. I’m Wu Song!”
After landing, Wu Song walked straight to Ji Ye and Lu Zhishen. He cupped his fists and bowed at Lu Zhishen.
“Brother, I’m honored by your bow, but I don’t deserve it!”
Lu Zhishen hurriedly reached out and held Wu Song’s arms.
Ji Ye had already stepped aside because he knew that Wu Song’s bow was meant for Lu Zhishen.
The most perilous moment in Wu Song’s life doubtlessly occurred during the crusade against Fang La. His arm was severed by Bao Daoyi’s flying sword. He passed out and nearly died.
At that time, wielding his Buddhist cane, Lu Zhishen rushed to Wu Song’s side at the risk of his own life and saved the man on the battlefield.
After that battle, Lu Zhishen suddenly had an epiphany and passed away in Liuhe Temple in Hangzhou while listening to the sound of tides.
With his arm severed, Wu Song was considered a disabled man by Song Jiang. He turned down the reward from the emperor and chose to become a monk in Liuhe Temple, where Lu Zhishen passed away. He lived with this disability until he died at 80.
It was safe to conclude that the comradeship between these two men was tighter than that between any other members of Liang Shan.
And there was a reason for Wu Song’s behavior as well.
Apparently, just like Lu Zhishen, he had obtained the memory of his fate in the future as well.
“Brother, seeing you again is the happiest thing in my life. Thanks to our master here, I’m able to come back to Twin Dragon Mount after using this alien demon bone as an offering.”
Compared to the deep feelings Lu Zhishen expressed back then, Wu Song sounded much more light-hearted. This was probably because he was able to meet Lu Zhishen directly.
He then turned to Ji Ye.
“Chief Wu, I know that you can master twin sabers. Unfortunately, we’re low on Frost Metal in the mount at the moment. Otherwise, I’m sure I can forge a splendid saber for you!”
Ji Ye spoke with a smile.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m content enough to have this tiger-soul saber. As for the other one, I’ll obtain it from the alien races myself. I’ve only heard about these alien races but have never met one. Fortunately, my brother hasn’t killed them all!”
Wu Song sounded very confident.
Although he indeed had memories of his later days, compared to that, the present ideology was still the mainstream.
Therefore, Wu Song didn’t have the apathetic feeling of someone who had lived 80 years. Instead, he was full of heroic ambitions.
…
Early in the next morning, in the arena!
Wu Song had spent half of last night drinking with Lu Zhishen, but he wasn’t drunk and looked as fit as a fiddle.
After all, he used to drink 18 bowls in a row before he crossed the Jingyang Ridge and downed another 30 bowls in the Delightful Forest.
Therefore, when Ji Ye arrived at the arena for his training, Wu Song had already started to test the Tiger Soul Saber that he obtained the day before!
Hum! Hum! Hum!
Holding the saber in one hand, Wu Song started using his blade technique. The blue-black monk saber left remaining images in the air, and one could hear the faint roaring of a tiger among the swooshing sounds.
“Roar!”
When he finally slashed the saber down with one last forceful strike, the vivid tiger’s roar resonated in the entire arena. The image of a winged tiger made of cold blue flames sprang out of the blue-black saber. It growled and leaped out for as far as 30 meters.
Everywhere it went, dark grey marks were left on the ground, killing all the insects and mice nearby.
“That saber energy is incredible!”
Such a scene doubtlessly caught the attention of all the players and indigenous people that were in the arena.
Of course, there was a reason that this saber was so powerful that it could unleash the tiger saber energy.
Apart from Wu Song’s own capability, it was also because the Extraordinary Rank-2 Tiger Soul Saber had reached the Perfect level itself, enabling him to release the accumulated Extraordinary power all at once.
However, in terms of Extraordinary power alone, it still wasn’t as great as Ji Ye’s Black Serpent Sword. After all, the latter had a higher ranking.
“Master, do you wish to learn my martial arts skill?”
To Ji Ye, the arrival of Wu Song was without a doubt another chance for him to improve his capability again.
He chose to learn Wu Song’s martial arts skill rather than copying Ninth Uncle or Lu Zhishen, who had chosen to learn a specific type of advanced martial arts on their own.
The reason was that the paths of the latter two didn’t really suit him.
It was obvious with Ninth Uncle. Although as a Daoist priest, he was much swifter than ordinary men, essentially, he was still a mage.
Lu Zhishen was a martial arts practitioner, but he was ferocious and aggressive in his style with big, heavy strikes, which didn’t fit Ji Ye’s habit.
However, Wu Song was a different story.
His own martial arts skill wasn’t specified in the original book. In some folklore and stories, he was said to have been trained in the Shaolin Temple for three years or had the same master as Yue Fei or Lin Chong.
Just like Lu Zhishen, Wu Song was born with incredible strength. He could easily toss a block of stone that weighed half a ton for over three meters before catching it effortlessly.
Therefore, when facing the enemy in a battle, his single strike was enough to make an impact.
During their crusade against the Liao kingdom, Wu Song cut off the horse head of Yelv Dezhong, the great general of the kingdom, before killing another man with another strike. He killed Shen An with a single swing of his blade during the war against Tian Hu. With one stroke of his saber, he hacked Fang Mao to death. After that, during a chase after Deng Yuanjue, he killed Bei Yingkui, one of the 24 generals of Hangzhou, with one strike!
Meanwhile, among the heroes in Water Margins, Wu Song was also unparalleled in fighting with bare hands.
Apart from defeating the tiger, the Jade Ring Steps and Lovers’ Feet he used when he beat Jiang the Door God up were the only skills that had been given specific names in the book.
Even though one might still argue who was the top warrior of the 108 outlaws, Wu Song was doubtlessly among the top three.
One could say that Wu Song’s combat style was a combination of strength and skill, which suited Ji Ye very well.
“I don’t have specific arts when I use my saber. I just act according to circumstances. Master, although you use a sword, the basic skills are the same.
“However, you won’t be able to master it by fighting alone. You can only make great achievements after you’ve witnessed a few battles!”
Because the Tiger Soul Saber was an offering, of course Wu Song wouldn’t turn it down. After letting Ji Ye show him his moves, Wu Song gave it some thought and said those words.
“As for the fist movements, I see that you’ve already had a solid foundation. All you lack are some skills of the Extraordinary level to confront enemies of that level!
“I have a set of movements that are known as ‘Jade Ring Steps, Lovers’ Feet’. Master, you may learn something from it.”
After that, Wu Song stuck the blade on the ground and demonstrated the movements.
They had some features of their own.
“It winds on all sides and spins up and down. It reminds one of an osprey hitting the water or an antelope with hanging horns springing up on hind legs. The moves are swift and nimble. One can charge like a cannonball and stand still like a mountain. It’s as soft as the willow-blowing spring wind and as tough as a bell-striking hammer!”
Thud!
With a swift movement, Wu Song kicked a target in the arena. It was made from beast bones refined by the Soul race and was wrapped inside thick armor.
Boom!
The first few layers of the armor immediately shattered, and the broken pieces splashed everywhere. The rock-hard beast bones at the center of the target were all broken and flew away for tens of meters.
Come to think of it, Wu Song’s martial arts skill was somewhat related to the Seven-Sided Mantis Fist that Ji Ye practiced because the “Jade Ring Steps, Lovers’ Feet” was moves taken from the Shaolin Mantis Fist on Earth.
Of course, in the Land of Inheritance, Wu Song had evolved the “Jade Ring Steps, Lovers’ Feet” into his unique skill.
The sudden surge of power when it was used was even stronger than that of the Primordial Chaos Force, which Ji Ye had already made some achievements in.
Wu Song explained the tricks of the skill in detail.
Ji Ye spent some Honor and recorded it in the form of a Skill.
After that, he spent thousands of EXP and as long as almost a day to cultivate it until he had reached the Basic stage.
The City of Humans was about to open. Without knowing much information about it, if he could master some human combat skills, they might come in handy later!