Little Zhang sank into deep thought, feeling that this matter was anything but ordinary.
Meanwhile, in the room next door—
Old Man Zhang was on the phone, contacting someone he hadn’t spoken to in years.
The moment the call connected, his tone was sharp: “You old geezer, asleep yet?”
At that, the other end went silent.
A long while passed.
Only then did a low voice emerge: “Speak.”
“I saw a young man practicing swordplay today. Found it interesting, but I’m not a sword practitioner myself, so I couldn’t make up my mind. Figured I’d let you take a look.”
Old Man Zhang got straight to the point.
The other end went silent again.
After another moment: “Send it.”
With that, the call was hung up.
Hearing the dial tone, Old Man Zhang wasn’t surprised. He just absentmindedly touched the scar on his thigh and silently cursed—”That old geezer still knows how to put on airs.”
Then he opened WeChat, found the other man’s chat window, and sent the video Little Zhang had just recorded for him.
And the other man’s name now came into view—Yu Chenghui!
Honestly speaking, Old Man Zhang and Yu Chenghui hadn’t gotten along at first. You could even say there was bad blood between them.
After all, back at the martial arts tournament, Yu Chenghui had sliced open the artery in his leg with a single sword strike.
If not for the many doctors on site who treated him the moment he was injured—
He probably would’ve died.
But later, as time went on, the two came to know each other through fighting. Their relationship gradually shifted from enemies to friends.
Just as Old Man Zhang was reminiscing and sighing over the past—
Before long, the phone rang.
Yu Chenghui called back, as concise as ever: “Who is this?”
“Jiang Nian.”
Old Man Zhang didn’t hold back and gave the name directly: “So? What do you think of this video?”
“I don’t understand it.”
Yu Chenghui didn’t mince words—said exactly what he thought.
Hearing this, Old Man Zhang was stunned: “Explain yourself. You don’t understand it? Or you can’t understand it?”
“Can’t understand it. Based on my calculations, every single move in there is viable, but I can’t figure out why they fit together, or how he generates power, or how he circulates his energy.”
“Not even a clue?”
“Not a single one.”
As Yu Chenghui’s words landed—
Old Man Zhang went silent. The expression on his face was replaced by solemnity.
Only one thought remained in his mind: How is this possible?!
After all, the man on the other end was Yu Chenghui.
The only Sword Saint of modern times!
Without exaggeration—when it came to swordsmanship, if he claimed second place, no one dared claim first.
Of course, this “Sword Saint” was just an honorary title—not some mystical label from a novel.
But even so, he was now stumped by a video Old Man Zhang had sent him—not even a single clue.
This…
“How can that be? Could it be a problem with the technique itself? Like mixing Taiji into Taizu Long Fist, or maybe what he’s practicing is flawed to begin with?”
Old Man Zhang pressed further.
But Yu Chenghui shook his head: “No. The possibilities you mentioned—I already calculated them in my head just now. Among all the martial arts I’ve encountered, none correspond to this. Moreover, every move in there is连贯—连贯的, they all connect, each one supporting the other. It’s so complete that my guess is this is a very ancient, previously unseen lost sword technique—like the two-handed sword technique I studied before.”
“Alright then, that’s fine, that’s fine.”
Hearing this answer, Old Man Zhang finally breathed a sigh of relief.
It wasn’t his fault for reacting this way—this matter was simply too big.
For martial artists, once your strength reaches Yu Chenghui’s level—
It’s not quite “master one, master all.”
But the mainstream martial arts—he basically knew them all.
The reason Old Man Zhang had reacted so strongly earlier was that he’d been scared by Yu Chenghui’s words—”can’t figure out how he generates power, how he circulates energy.”
After all, if you looked at it lightly, this was just a new branch of swordsmanship.
But if you looked at it seriously—a young man in his early twenties, practicing martial arts that even Yu Chenghui couldn’t figure out. His strength might even surpass Yu Chenghui’s.
How absurd was that?!
When that got out, the entire national martial arts circle would be rocked by a massive earthquake!
“Hey, by the way—what do you think about that stick-splitting-rock thing at the end?”
With his heart back in his stomach, Old Man Zhang remembered his original purpose.
That was the scene that had shaken him.
He knew full well it couldn’t be real—it was special effects.
But his gut told him it might actually be real—which was why he’d reached out to Yu Chenghui.
At this, Yu Chenghui pondered briefly: “Should be special effects.”
“Should be?” Old Man Zhang keenly seized on the key word: “Don’t tell me you’re also like me—can’t make up your mind?”
“Correct.”
Yu Chenghui nodded:
“Because splitting a boulder with a wooden stick is simply too absurd. Throughout history, no one has ever been able to do it. But his performance gives me a feeling I can’t quite pin down—maybe because I’ve never seen his sword technique before.”
“Speaking of which—do you know where he is now?”
Yu Chenghui changed the subject.
Old Man Zhang was startled: “What are you planning?”
“Nothing much. Just want to have a chat with him. This sword technique is very unusual. If I could understand its principles, I reckon my swordsmanship could reach an even higher level before I die.”
Yu Chenghui shared his thoughts.
As the saying goes: “Hear the Way in the morning, die content in the evening.”
As a swordsman—and the only “Sword Saint” of modern times—
The reason he’d achieved what he had today—
Beyond natural talent, it was his passion for swordsmanship and relentless perseverance that had been the key to getting this far.
Now, with a sword technique he’d never seen before appearing—
He couldn’t just stand by.
Hearing this, Old Man Zhang grinned: “You little old bastard—you’re already this strong and you still want to improve? You’ve been out-competing our entire generation your whole life, and you still want to keep going? Can’t you just take it easy for the few years you’ve got left?”
Yu Chenghui didn’t answer—just repeated his earlier question: “Do you know where he is now?”
“No idea. Go look him up yourself. This guy’s in the entertainment industry like you—just ask around and you’ll find him.”
Old Man Zhang said.
Yu Chenghui understood. Then he said “Thanks” and hung up directly to start making inquiries.
Seeing how the old bastard moved with such lightning speed—
Old Man Zhang was speechless.
He really couldn’t understand—the man had only a few years left to live, so why was he still running himself ragged like this?
But then he thought about the man’s personality—
And let it go.
After all, if not for Yu Chenghui’s pure, childlike heart—
They never would’ve become friends.
“But a sword technique even he can’t figure out…”
“Tsk, hearing about it makes my hands itch.”
Old Man Zhang muttered to himself, then looked toward the door and called out: “Grandson, stop lurking by the door. Help your grandpa find this Jiang Nian—if we get the chance, we’ll pay him a visit!”
Hearing this, Little Zhang at the door gave an awkward smile, quickly said “Got it!”, and hurried back to his room to mobilize his connections and start searching for Jiang Nian.
And just as he was searching—
On the internet, after Jiang Nian’s martial arts practice aired on Back to Field—
Many martial arts bloggers, seeing Jiang Nian swing a stick and split a rock, smelled business opportunities and traffic.
So they all started posting.
In no time—
“Special Effects or Real Kung Fu? A Ten-Year Boxer Speaks Out.”
“Splitting a Rock with a Stick: On How Absurd Variety Shows Have Become.”
“A Ten-Thousand-Word Analysis: Does Jiang Nian Have Real Kung Fu?”
“Not Even Pretending Anymore: What Real Martial Arts Looks Like.”
…and so on—content like this kept popping up.
Meanwhile, Jiang Nian, far away in the Jinyun Xiandu villa, knew nothing about any of this.
At this moment, he’d just finished a bottle of wine and looked at the TV.
And there on the screen—
After Back to Field finished airing his martial arts segment—
It cut to the Mushroom House.
Funny thing—who knows how the editor actually cut this thing.
Jiang Nian clearly remembered the tension and hostility between him and Huang Lei.
But under this editing job—worthy of the “Spring and Autumn brushwork” tradition—
Not only did the two seem perfectly amiable—
Jiang Nian even noticed his own words had been altered, changed into him politely and harmoniously inviting Huang Lei to a cooking contest.
“Tsk. When it comes to embellishing and spicing things up, people seem to have a natural gift and understanding.”
Jiang Nian murmured, then kept watching.
Sure enough—after changing his words, the cooking contest that followed was also altered by the production team.
The dishes that should’ve been made by him were now attributed to Huang Lei.
And the pot of “pesticide” Huang Lei made became Jiang Nian’s.
Jiang Nian wasn’t surprised.
After all, Huang Lei was a regular on Back to Field.
And the persona he’d built on the show was that of an all-rounder and master chef.
If the production team had just released the raw footage, never mind the audience—just Huang Lei’s sore-loser personality would probably make him fall out with the production team.
As for how things developed after that—no need to say more.
Jiang Nian “suffered a crushing defeat.”
Huang Lei’s cooking had everyone “praising it endlessly.”
Looking at the close-up the production team provided—
Deng Sha couldn’t help swallowing and looked at Jiang Nian: “Teacher Jiang, is Teacher Huang’s cooking really that good?”
Jiang Nian didn’t defend himself—just took a sip of wine, smiled ambiguously: “You guess?”
Deng Sha’s attention was all on the TV at that moment, so she didn’t notice Jiang Nian’s reaction. She said absentmindedly: “I guess it should be pretty tasty.”
“Heh. If you think it’s tasty, then I’ll introduce you sometime—let you go on that show too and try his cooking. How’s that?”
Jiang Nian said with a smile.
Deng Sha was surprised: “Really?”
“Really!”
“Wow, thank you Teacher Jiang! Teacher Jiang, you’re the best!”
Deng Sha happily hugged Jiang Nian.
Seeing this, Chen Qiaoen’s expression turned a little strange.
Not because she thought Deng Sha and Jiang Nian were being too intimate—
But because…
“Something feels a bit off about this.”
Looking at the peculiar expression on Jiang Nian’s face, she couldn’t shake the feeling that this matter wasn’t as simple as it appeared.
But if you asked her to pinpoint exactly what was wrong—she couldn’t say.
After thinking it over and getting nowhere—
Chen Qiaoen ultimately didn’t say anything more.
After all, this wasn’t particularly important.
But Huo Jianhua—
He stared at the screen for a long time, then couldn’t help asking Jiang Nian: “Um, Teacher Jiang, if I may ask—do you and this Teacher Huang have some kind of conflict?”
Jiang Nian raised an eyebrow, a little surprised: “Why do you say that?”
Huo Jianhua pondered for a moment: “I just feel like in the show, the relationship between you and Teacher Huang seems… not great. But… it also comes across as fine. It’s a bit confusing.”
At these words, everyone’s attention was immediately drawn, and they all turned to look.
Because they’d had the same thought and feeling.
Although the first episode of Back to Field was overall warm and slow-paced—
After Jiang Nian appeared, his conversations with Huang Lei always carried an indescribable flavor.
Especially if you looked closely—you’d notice Jiang Nian and Huang Lei barely appeared in the same frame.
Their dialogue was always voiceover.
Which made them feel something was off.
At this, Jiang Nian was just about to say something—
But just then—
“Ring ring ring—”
“Ring ring ring—”
The phone suddenly rang.
Jiang Nian pulled it out and saw it was an unknown caller.
So he gave everyone an apologetic gesture and walked off to the side to answer.
But before long, he frowned and hung up.
Seeing this, Chen Qiaoen was curious and asked: “Teacher Jiang, what’s wrong? Who was that calling?”
Jiang Nian didn’t hide it: “Yu Chenghui.”
“Yu Chenghui?”
At these words, everyone let out a soft “huh?”
Many found the name somewhat familiar, but couldn’t place it right away.
Yang Rong pulled out her phone and searched, then quickly exclaimed: “The number one Sword Saint?!”
“Yep.”
Jiang Nian nodded.
Everyone’s curiosity was instantly piqued: “Teacher Jiang, what does he want with you?”
Jiang Nian’s expression was odd: “Seems like he watched this Back to Field and wants to spar with me—exchange some pointers.”
“Huh???”
Hearing this, everyone was dumbfounded.
What the hell?
He went on a variety show and now someone’s coming to challenge him?
“Teacher Jiang, what are you thinking?” Yuan Shanshan asked.
Jiang Nian lit a cigarette and took a deep drag: “What am I thinking? Of course I declined. I don’t even have enough time to practice martial arts as it is—where would I find time to spar with him? And even if I did spar, what if I accidentally hurt him? Then what?”
This wasn’t Jiang Nian bragging, nor was it him looking down on Yu Chenghui.
It was simply that they weren’t on the same level.
Yu Chenghui was very strong—he had the reputation of Sword Saint—but at the end of the day, he was just an ordinary person.
Jiang Nian, on the other hand, had the system, and his strength was infinitely close to the transcendent.
In this situation, sparring with Yu Chenghui would not only be meaningless—it would also bring him a lot of unnecessary trouble.
“Damn, this damn variety show is such a pain. Caused all this crap. If I’d known, I never would’ve joined!”
