Paradise of demons and gods[En]

Chapter 11 Grizzly Bear

After Kyle finished speaking, the wooden sword in his hands rose, and with it a vigorous aura appeared around him. The sword thrust out and swept to the side, creating a distinct sound of wind and thunder.

He concurrently explained, “The School of Sword Arts has a history of a hundred and fifty years, and it was founded by those who belonged to the previous generation of Outsiders from the Western Land, when they first came to the Empire.

However, during these past a hundred and fifty years, genius swordsmen have sprung out endlessly across generations, and the sword arts of our school have long since evolved from the style of the Western Land sword arts, eventually gaining a shape of their own. This Grizzly Bear Sword Technique has been improved and modified by many masters of swordsmanship in order to turn into what it is today.”

The muscles all over his body kept twisting and turning. Although the sword was in his hands, it was as if all his muscles’ power had been wrung into a single line. However, it was different from a human’s usual body constitution. The technique had its own unique rhythm, as if portraying a standing grizzly bear swaying right and left, and training the powers of the four limbs.

“Martial arts are divided into four types, namely Nurturing, Training, Amassing and Killing. Nurturing refers to the accumulation of the physical body’s potential. It is just like how a good sword requires daily maintenance, application of sword grease and blade polishing, to make it sharper and sharper. The same goes for the human body.

“Careful nurture is required in order to develop a strong base that may allow for the further development of one’s physical body.

“The Grizzly Bear Sword Technique is a Nurturing technique created by the masters of previous generations, designed to imitate the habits of grizzly bears, after a close observation of their movements.

“In the long run, practicing it will allow one to wring his or her body into a single line, thus gaining the strength of a grizzly bear.”

In between his words, the wooden sword trembled in Kyle’s hands, creating many afterimages. He suddenly swelled up like a grizzly bear woken up from deep hibernation, and the most powerful energy hidden in the human body exploded outwards.

A light roar echoed, as if a bear had cried out. With a thrust of Kyle’s sword, the air currents scattered the fallen leaves on the ground several feet away.

“When a bear hibernates, its whole body will tremble every few days. Thus, its muscles won’t stiffen, and its blood flow won’t stop, which would prove extremely harmful to its body. When we practice the Grizzly Bear Sword Technique, the most important thing to note is the trembling, as if all living things on earth have sprung to life at the sound of the spring thunder.

“This trembling is the Nurturing technique, and in it lie the profound mysteries of nurturing the human body.”

After demonstrating the full set of the Grizzly Bear Sword Techniques, Kyle retracted his sword as he turned and smiled at Fang Xingjian. “But, while this set of sword techniques seems easy, one has to slowly grasp and tune the weight, advance and retreat, and consider each move in its turn very carefully. It isn’t possible to master this in just a short moment.

“Today, I’ll teach you a few of the simplest moves…”

One could tell that Kyle, after accepting the tuition fees, was truly professional and did not hold back anything as he shared the essence of the Grizzly Bear Swordplay in its entirety with Fang Xingjian.

Of course, this was very similar to the countless other Nurturing techniques across the world. While the Grizzly Bear Sword Technique was powerful, it was in no way considered a peerless technique. But even through it alone one could already tell that this particular martial arts system was very well developed and thought-out, having become a unique part of this world’s culture.