King of Beasts

Chapter 41: Worse Than a Dog

“Are you seriously not joking?”

Old Master Jiang Dou asked again, his nose twisting skeptically.

He felt that Lu Ran was deliberately teasing him.

Teaching Erha to wield a sword was more absurd than trying to train an eagle.

No, both were ridiculous.

One was obsessed with TV dramas, insisting on keeping an eagle.

The other, well, its thought processes were a bit off…

“No, I’m serious. If you don’t believe me, just watch.”

With that, Lu Ran pulled out his black card.

The card flickered at his fingertips as if ignited by flames, and shortly after, a summoning circle appeared on the ground of the dojo.

Within the circle, General Ha emerged, looking dazed.

“Woof…” After appearing, General Ha observed its surroundings curiously, turning its gaze towards the dignified old man and the clueless Senior Brother He beside him.

As Lu Ran brought his Wind Cutter Sword to General Ha’s mouth, it understood Boss Lu’s intention.

Show some moves, demonstrate some swordplay!

“Awooo!” At this, a glint of intelligence passed through General Ha’s eyes, and it got excited. Lu Ran had taught it many fancy tricks, but General Ha felt that wielding a sword was the coolest.

The reason was simple; wielding the sword significantly enhanced its strength, and the pursuit of power is a basic instinct of all life!

Click.

General Ha gripped the Wind Cutter Sword in its mouth, executing its best move, the Gale Draw Sword Technique!

“Woof woof!” It sprinted at an incredible speed, its figure vanishing from the onlookers’ view for a moment.

By the time the spectators realized what happened, they only saw a flash of the sword’s light, appearing before General Ha itself.

It was as if a sharp sword swiftly unsheathed itself, breaking through the darkness at dawn.

General Ha paused mid-air, leaping up and slashing through the air with a burst of sword light, which flickered momentarily along with the hum of the sword!

Thump.

General Ha landed nonchalantly, exuding the demeanor of a master, glancing at Old Master Jiang Dou and the wide-eyed Senior Brother He.

“Holy moly.” Senior Brother He was shocked. This Erha could really wield a sword?

That move looked quite skilled!

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Most importantly, was this what supernatural beings were like? It was so fast… he barely saw it clearly.

He felt he might not be able to beat this dog!

“All flash and no substance!”

“Thinking this level is enough to grasp sword momentum?” However, Old Master Jiang Dou was evidently more critical.

He immediately spotted various shortcomings.

And the immaturity in General Ha’s swordsmanship.

“Ha… ha… It’s true that it’s not perfect yet, but you should know that it hasn’t integrated its trait yet…”

Lu Ran said with a sheepish smile. General Ha had indeed made rapid progress, firstly because of its astonishing aptitude, and secondly due to Lu Ran’s initial successful development of reverse super beast mimicry, which had successfully fed back Lu Ran’s swordsmanship experience to General Ha.

“Once it integrates the trait, its potential will definitely be second to none!” Lu Ran declared.

Master Jiang Dou, however, still couldn’t accept the idea of teaching Erha swordsmanship as having any practical use.

But General Ha was the most intolerant of these comments.

Holding the sword in its mouth, it looked discontentedly at Master Jiang Dou.

Why say it couldn’t grasp the sword momentum!

It remembered this grievance!

Just wait and see.

As it held the sword, a terrifying aura began to emanate from General Ha, sharp as the howling north wind, causing Master Jiang Dou and Senior Brother He to shudder and stare in solemn awe.

“Err wu!!!”

General Ha growled, sword momentum!

Master Jiang Dou, Senior Brother He, and Lu Ran were bewildered: ???

“Ha…” Master Jiang Dou’s expression gradually turned to one of disbelief.

The feeling he had faced when confronting Lu Ran’s beast sword momentum reappeared.

Looking at General Ha, for a moment, Master Jiang Dou felt as if he was standing in the north wind, facing off against an alpha wolf.

The chilling wind was bone-piercing, momentarily causing him to lose focus.

“Impossible.” Master Jiang Dou muttered unconsciously.

At this moment, Lu Ran was again shocked as he looked at General Ha.

You’ve grasped a new skill?

No, this wasn’t just a skill, but the application of an aura!

By continuously using reverse super beast mimicry, allowing General Ha to learn his sword momentum, it had finally borne fruit!

“Ha ha ha, Master, look, isn’t this sword momentum? Who dares to say Erha can’t learn swordsmanship now?” Lu Ran laughed joyously, feeling incredibly proud of General Ha.

In ancient times, parents hoped their children would become dragons.

Today, one hopes for Erha to become a sword saint, exhilarating!

In Xia Country, those who mastered sword momentum were probably no more than ten.

Now, even a dog had achieved it. Who could say it wasn’t suitable for learning swordsmanship? With this ability, General Ha should be even better at fighting demon cats, as sword momentum… also acts like a minor control skill, perhaps causing the demon cat to be briefly stunned.

“Damn!” At this moment, Jiang Dou’s entire worldview was shattering.

He had been practicing the sword since childhood, proclaimed by his father to be born for the sword. Even then, it took him over two decades of rigorous practice before he could grasp the sword momentum.

Such prowess, even if it were in the martially intense ancient times, would make one a master.

And now, what was he witnessing? An Erha… actually displaying sword momentum!

He couldn’t accept it!

This was even more incomprehensible than Lu Ran and Jiang Man, who leveraged supernatural powers to easily learn sword momentum.

“Bark!” General Ha was overwhelmingly dominant, its gaze commanding, as if to say, “Old man, times have changed!”

Senior Brother He didn’t dare to look directly at General Ha, fearing the notion of “being inferior to a dog” would sink deep into his mind.

“Could it really be so?” Jiang Dou seemed to be rethinking his entire worldview. He said, “Is this what it means to be a beastmaster? Is this what supernatural beings are?”

“But it’s still unscientific, how can a dog grasp sword momentum?”

“Lu Ran, how did you manage this? What were you thinking teaching a dog swordsmanship?”

And crucially, it was successful!

It had achieved a realm that countless swordsmen had not.

“Uh, well.” Lu Ran said, “It’s actually quite funny. At the time, I just happened to learn about Yazi from the legends of the nine sons of the dragon, known for holding a sword in its mouth, with the sword handle sticking out…”

“Yazi has a jackal-like image…”

“And, I happen to be skilled with dual swords and had an Erha. I was just fooling around and wanted it to cosplay as Yazi, so I gave it a wooden sword.”

“Who knew, its learning ability was not bad…”

“But before, it was just for fun. The real decision to seriously teach it swordsmanship came when we got involved with the occupation of beastmaster and gained supernatural powers.”

“Yazi?” Jiang Dou said, “Indeed, there seems to be such an image, but that’s just a fabrication by people… Anyway, now that super ancient civilizations have appeared, those legends of divine beasts from history might actually be traces left from ancient times.”

Hearing Lu Ran’s explanation, the old man seemed to come to terms with it.

Jiang Dou’s expression kept changing as he wrestled with his thoughts.

Finally, gritting his teeth, he turned to General Ha and said, “You, not bad, the old man acknowledges you now.”

General Ha: ?

Jiang Dou, the elder, asked, “Would you like to take me as your master? Do you understand?”

Senior Brother He and Lu Ran: ???

General Ha displayed a wise expression. Huh, it didn’t understand, but it still liked the defiant look it had shown earlier.

“Master, please stop, you can’t teach it,” Lu Ran quickly interjected. “You’re getting on in years, and I’m worried it might be too much for you.”

“Cough, if you have any special skills left, why not teach me? I can then teach it. It’s the same thing.”

“I read in Senior Brother Jiang’s diary that you, master, had already mastered sword momentum, and even mentioned something about sword intent?” asked Lu Ran.

Teaching General Ha was not something just anyone could do… It really was uniquely bound to him.

“Is that so? What a pity!” Jiang Dou saw that General Ha was indeed not very bright and didn’t understand his words, shaking his head in regret.

He then responded to Lu Ran’s question.

“Of course, your master has long understood sword momentum, but mine is different from yours.”

“Your and this Erha’s sword momentum is more about enhancing presence, creating a sense of oppression to disrupt the enemy.”

“Just like in the natural world, where the king of beasts only needs to release its scent to make a bunch of animals flee in terror.”

“As for my sword momentum, I don’t know if you’ve heard of the term ‘sword momentum like a rainbow.’ Look at the name of our dojo, Rainbow Heaven Dojo. Our swordsmanship here is based on speed, reaching the extreme, like the light of a rainbow. It’s about enhancing the speed of the swordplay to dazzle the enemy, overwhelm them, create oppression, and leave them unable to react.”

“You were young when you trained at the dojo and only learned the basics, so you didn’t get exposed to these aspects. But that’s not a big problem.”

“Sword momentum is best when it suits the individual. You two should focus on mastering the sword momentum you have now; there’s no need to force anything else.”

“Just like you asked, pursuing a higher realm of sword momentum, sword intent, is indeed your goal!” Elder Jiang Dou looked at Lu Ran with an excited expression.

“This legendary realm of sword intent, I have never entered, nor did your Senior Brother Jiang Man manage to enter it in his lifetime.”

“However, after he became a beastmaster, he shared a lot of insights with me. Sword momentum, as it is called, is the result of cultivating one’s swordsmanship to such a height that it instills the swordsman with powerful self-confidence and superb skills, imbuing the individual with a kind of resolve that can only be comprehended from a certain level of inner strength and position.”

“This kind of skill is actually present in various fields. Many masters who hold high positions and have achieved extraordinary accomplishments in their respective domains possess an aura far beyond that of ordinary people.”

“Sword momentum, then, is about integrating this aura into the sharp sword, clearly imposing it upon the opponent.”

“If sword momentum is still traceable, then sword intent becomes more elusive, akin to legend. Ancient swordsmen believed that those who grasped sword intent could not only inflict physical wounds on their enemies but also strike a powerful blow to their spirits!”

“It’s about transforming one’s mental will into the embodiment of the sword. Before the sword is even drawn, a mere glance can act like a sharp blade, cutting down the enemy’s beliefs… Isn’t it elusive and intangible?”

“Indeed…” Lu Ran, listening by the side, felt it was far-fetched. If it were really that powerful, the old man wouldn’t have been so deflated when asked whether guns or swords were mightier.

Sword momentum might sound impressive, but it’s just that, and a gun could easily take it down.

But this sword intent sounds like it defies science. Even guns find it bizarre.

“It’s a very fantastical realm, only existing in legends, but things are different now. You also saw in your Senior Brother Jiang Man’s diary that he seemed to have found a method to cultivate sword intent, but unfortunately… he couldn’t continue down that path.”

“Back then, the occupation of beastmaster was still in its exploratory phase. Now, three years later, some theories should have matured. Perhaps you could achieve it!” Jiang Dou, the elder, looked at Lu Ran and General Ha with great hope in his eyes.

However, looking at Erha, who was eager to try, and thinking that a dog might achieve the sword intent that countless exceptionally talented swordsmen had failed to reach, he felt a bit worried. What a strange situation this was.