Chapter 20

Upon hearing these words, our protagonist was utterly flustered. He thought of many things, his first thought being: Am I dreaming?

His second thought: I must be dreaming.

His third thought: This dream feels quite real.

...

Of course, there were other thoughts mixed in, such as: My manhood is missing, how am I supposed to marry you now?

...

Thus, our Luo Fan stood there speechless for a long time. Originally, when Xiaolongnü said those words, it meant she no longer cared about her reputation, making this the most anxious moment for her.

The Ancient Tomb Sect's rules: A woman must have the chastity mark and swear to never leave the tomb for life. If there is a man who is willing to die for her, unaware of this rule, then she can break the vow and leave the mountain.

Xiaolongnü originally thought Luo Fan was the one who could make her break her vow and leave the mountain. However, seeing his hesitation, tears glistened in her long lashes, and she turned to run into the ancient tomb.

"Miss Long!" Luo Fan tried to stop her, but seeing that he still called her "Miss Long," Xiaolongnü felt even more heartbroken. She used her lightness skill to fly into the ancient tomb, and the tomb door slammed shut.

"Damn it!" Luo Fan's state of mind could no longer be described as just being flustered; if it had to be described, it would be like being flustered in a typhoon. He paced outside the ancient tomb, shouting loudly, "Miss Long, listen to me! Come out!"

Xiaolongnü locked herself in the ancient tomb, ignoring Luo Fan's voice. By the end of the day, Luo Fan's voice was hoarse, but there was no sign of movement from the ancient tomb.

Luo Fan suddenly remembered that in the original story, Xiaolongnü often overthought things and, as a recluse, never shared her thoughts with others, leading to her and Yang Guo's on-and-off relationship for over a decade. Thinking of Yang Guo's lifelong struggle with love, Luo Fan couldn't help but sigh, "Although Xiaolongnü has already fallen for me, the road ahead is still long!"

...

Helpless, Luo Fan had to return to his small wooden house to wait for the right moment. In the past few days, since Luo Fan had recovered, Little Yang Guo had been sent over by Wang Chuyi and the other Taoists. Watching Little Yang Guo practice the sword technique in front of the house and looking at the ancient tomb not far away, Luo Fan felt the atmosphere was somewhat strange.

"Master, how is my practice of the Complete Perfection Sword Technique?" After finishing a set of sword techniques, Little Yang Guo hurriedly asked Luo Fan. Luo Fan's sword technique was so excellent that even Guo Jing thought it was unparalleled in the world, so Little Yang Guo naturally valued his evaluation.

Sitting ungracefully at the door of the small house with a blade of grass in his mouth, Luo Fan thought about Little Yang Guo's sword technique and said, "Guo'er, your practice of the sword technique is quite standard, and your form is solid. However, learning sword techniques isn't just about mimicking; you must also understand the meaning behind the technique."

"The meaning of the sword technique?" Little Yang Guo scratched his head, thinking, and asked, somewhat puzzled, "What is that?"

"The meaning of the sword technique is the mindset and method required to perform it. For example, the Complete Perfection Sword Technique was created by your ancestor's master, Wang Chongyang, who devoted his life to Daoist studies. Therefore, this sword technique is based on the Daoist principle of moderation. When you use it, you should be upright and peaceful." As he said this, Luo Fan recalled the scene a few years ago when Wang Chuyi taught him sword techniques at Chongyang Palace. He couldn't believe how quickly time had passed; it had been four years in the blink of an eye.

Little Yang Guo still looked puzzled and asked, "Master, isn't the purpose of sword techniques to kill people? How can a moderate and peaceful sword technique kill people?"

"You little brat." Luo Fan chuckled and patted Little Yang Guo's head, saying, "Who told you that sword techniques must be used to kill people? If you encounter an opponent you must defeat but cannot kill, would you give up using the sword?"

"Do you mean that this sword technique is only for defeating opponents, not for killing them?"

"That's a reasonable interpretation." Luo Fan neither confirmed nor denied, "Just remember that every sword technique has its meaning. You must understand and apply it to the technique to maximize its power. It's like if someone is naturally suited for martial arts, making them study would be a waste, but making them practice martial arts would lead to great achievements."

"Ah." Little Yang Guo nodded, seemingly understanding, and then asked, "What is the meaning of your sword technique, Master?"

"What is the meaning of my sword technique?" Luo Fan was taken aback. He had never seriously considered this question and was now stumped by Little Yang Guo. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, he scolded, "That's not a question for you to ask now. Go practice your sword technique!"

After sending the dejected Little Yang Guo to practice, Luo Fan began to think about this question. Every sword technique should have its own meaning, which is essentially the creator's understanding of martial arts when they created the technique. Some sword techniques even consider the form secondary, focusing instead on expressing the meaning of the technique, leading to the concept of "meaning over form." Of course, this is different from the "sword intent" in some novels Luo Fan had read in the real world, where "sword intent" refers to a swordsman's martial will, not the same as the "meaning" of a sword technique.

Luo Fan wasn't without thoughts on such "sword intent." According to legend, it could even cut through a mountain with a single strike, incredibly powerful. However, such "sword intent" requires an extremely strong martial will and deep obsession, which Luo Fan admitted he didn't have, so he had to abandon such thoughts for now.

Regarding the "sword intent" of the Invincible Sword Technique and the Nine Swords of Dugu, Luo Fan thought for a long time. The Invincible Sword Technique was created by the Red Leaf Zen Master based on the Manual of the Sunflower, sharing the same origin. The Invincible Sword Technique is known for its speed; its movements are ghostly and swift, with complex and bizarre changes. Although it is said to have seventy-two moves, each move has dozens of variations, making it extremely complex. When used to its limit, the opponent can't even see the user's shadow, only feeling dizzy and nauseous. Therefore, the "sword intent" of the Invincible Sword Technique lies in speed, as the saying goes, "In the world of martial arts, speed is invincible."

As for the Nine Swords of Dugu, Luo Fan recalled the words Feng Qingyang said to Linghu Chong when the technique was introduced. The main idea was to advance without retreating, anticipate the enemy's moves, exploit their weaknesses, and strike first. The primary goal was to see through the opponent's moves and break them, so the "sword intent" of the Nine Swords of Dugu should be "breaking." Moreover, the highest principle of Dugu Qiu's sword path is "no move is better than a move," making the Nine Swords of Dugu a typical "meaning over form" technique.

Luo Fan had thought about these things before, but he hadn't considered them in terms of "sword intent." Instead, he treated them as separate theories without a clear line of thought. For example, when he thought about the principle of "no move is better than a move," he would break down all sword techniques, including the Invincible Sword Technique, without realizing that the Invincible Sword Technique required speed. As long as you were fast, the technique would be sharp and fierce, and you didn't need to think about anything else; the key was speed.

Initially, he thought the theories from the real world were incredibly powerful and applied them to every sword technique without considering how to apply them or why his techniques needed these theories. In other words, he was just blindly applying them. Fortunately, most of these theories were based on practical principles from these great worlds and were widely applicable; otherwise, Luo Fan might have ended up with a mental breakdown.

Once Luo Fan understood these things, he had a clearer idea of the general direction for practicing these two techniques. For the Invincible Sword Technique, the goal was to increase its attack speed. For the Nine Swords of Dugu, the goal was to break the opponent's moves, with no specific requirements for his own moves. For example, in the original story, when Linghu Chong disguised himself as Wu Tiande, he used a strange knife technique, which was very powerful.

With a clear mind, Luo Fan suddenly thought, if the theories in Jin Yong's works are correct, what about the others? For example, are the theories in Huang Yi's works, or in "Fist of Legend," "Sword and Fairy," and other works also correct? Can I borrow some of them?

At this thought, Luo Fan's eyes lit up. However, the theories in the immortal and primordial worlds were too abstract and had little connection to the martial arts theories Luo Fan knew. Even if he understood some of them, he couldn't fully grasp them, so he decided to start with some lower-level worlds.

If these lower-level martial arts worlds were divided into high, medium, and low levels, many of Gu Long's works would be in the low level, most of Jin Yong's works in the medium level, and Huang Yi's works in the high level, as many of Huang Yi's works involve transcending the void.

For the medium and low levels, the theories of Dugu Qiu were already at the highest level. What Luo Fan needed to consider now was borrowing theories from the high-level worlds.

In the high-level worlds, some of Huang Yi's works involve transcending the void, and "Fist of Legend" and "Naruto" could also be considered, though their power systems were not closely related to what Luo Fan was learning and might not be very useful.

Therefore, Luo Fan's main focus should be on the theories from Huang Yi's works and the "Fist of Legend" world, which were more closely related to martial arts. What theories from these worlds could he use?