A talkative member of the Harris Family voiced William's true feelings—he thought it was pretty good too! What was wrong with it?

“That's complete nonsense!”

The Zhao-named Martial Instructor cursed angrily, “Do you think he can fight against the Turkic cavalry like that? Have any of you ever been on a battlefield? Thousands of horses and soldiers clashing, swinging a broadsword weighing dozens of jin—can you wield it for hours without getting tired? Turkic cavalrymen standing seven feet tall on magnificent horses—can you split both man and horse in half with a single strike? The little knives in your hands, damn it, don’t even weigh ten jin. If they’re not women’s embroidery needles, what are they?”

Martial Instructor Carter's voice boomed like a bell, making William's heart tremble with every word, each one striking him like a heavy hammer.

He used to listen to Sui and Tang legends, hearing how Li Yuanba wielded an eight-hundred-jin hammer, Pei Yuanqing’s hammer weighed three hundred jin, and Yuwen Chengdu’s phoenix-winged golden mace was two hundred and forty jin. As a child, he was utterly fascinated, believing it all to be true. Only when he grew up did he realize it was just the novelist’s exaggeration.

But later, he happened to see an old photograph of a soldier holding what was said to be Wu Sangui’s Seven-Star Sword. The sword was taller than a person and weighed at least forty or fifty jin. Only then did he realize that real martial skills in history were nothing like later martial arts. Although there was no inner power like in wuxia novels, it was definitely not just flowery fists and fancy footwork.

In the era of cold weapons, victory depended on strength and bravery, pushing human potential to the limit. True martial skill was far more than just knowing a set of sword or fist techniques.

At this moment, someone muttered in defiance, “How could everyone on the battlefield be that strong? You can’t do it yourself, can you?”

Martial Instructor Carter blushed and stepped forward to give a kick. “Damn it, I’m just a leader of two hundred men, of course I can’t. But what about those great generals? Do you think they’re called ‘able to kill a hundred men’ or ‘a thousand men’ for nothing?”

This sentence from Martial Instructor Carter flashed through William’s mind like lightning. Suddenly, he understood: being skilled with a blade was just a basic requirement for a common soldier, but what the great generals trained was true martial skill. Otherwise, how would they be different from ordinary soldiers?

Volume One: A Boy Grows Up in the Harris Family

Chapter Six: The Secret Manual of Swordsmanship (Part Two)

Training began again. Dozens of Harris Clan youths mounted their horses, galloping across the training ground. The strong steeds flew like the wind, arrows shot with force, and William watched, his blood boiling. He wished he could leap onto a horse and ride and shoot with them.

He was completely entranced, forgetting the passage of time, as if he too was training alongside everyone else.

‘Smack!’ Suddenly, he felt something hit his little butt. Turning around, he saw a small stone fall from the tree. Looking down, he was startled to see his {aunt} standing with hands on her hips, a frosty expression on her face, staring at him. Glancing at the sky, he realized it was already dusk.

Embarrassed, he scratched his head, slowly climbed down from the tree, and bowed his head to admit his mistake to {aunt}, “I got so absorbed watching that I lost track of time.”

“Not only did you lose track of time, I’ve been calling you until my throat is hoarse and you still didn’t hear me. If you keep ignoring me, I’ll have to get a bamboo stick to knock some sense into you.”

“Aunt, I was wrong!”

“Hmph! Just admitting your mistake isn’t enough—you need to be punished. You haven’t written a single word of your homework today, so you’ll go hungry for one meal. Come home with me now.”

William’s little stomach growled with hunger, but he had no choice but to obediently follow {aunt} home.

Back in the house, he didn’t dare ask for food. He sat down and dutifully made up his homework. Seeing that he truly knew he was wrong, Evelyn Brooks brought him a meal and set it in front of him, saying gruffly, “I’ll let you off this time. Next time, you’ll go hungry for a whole day.”

William was so hungry he was about to faint. He grabbed the bowl and shoveled rice into his mouth, still managing to flatter her between bites, “I knew {aunt} loves me most and would give me food.”

Seeing how ravenous he was, Evelyn Brooks felt both sorry for him and amused. “You little rascal, you’re only three years old. You have to wait until you’re five to start learning martial arts.”

William paused, surprised. “Aunt, you know martial arts too?”

Evelyn Brooks looked a bit awkward. “I don’t know martial arts, but Niuniu’s father was a mighty general. I heard it from him.”

“What else? Tell me, {aunt}, I love hearing about it!”

Seeing that he forgot to eat as soon as martial arts were mentioned, Evelyn Brooks tapped his little head. “Eat first! After you finish your meal and homework, we’ll talk.”

William usually dawdled over his homework, but today he finished it at unprecedented speed and immediately ran to the kitchen to pester Evelyn Brooks.

“Aunt, I finished my homework. Tell me now!”

Evelyn Brooks was washing dishes and couldn’t escape his pestering. She wiped her hands on her apron and smiled, “Actually, I don’t know much about martial arts, but I can give you a book. It was left by Niuniu’s father.”

William jumped for joy. Niuniu’s father was a mighty general, so what he left behind must be a secret martial arts manual. “Aunt, please give it to me!”

Evelyn Brooks took him to her room, pulled out a book chest from under the bed. William was puzzled—he’d already read all the books in the chest and never saw a martial arts manual. Could it be written in invisible ink between the pages?

His imagination ran wild, but then he saw {aunt} pull a thin booklet from a hidden compartment in the chest. William’s eyes widened—it really was hidden there! It must be a secret martial arts manual.

“This book is the only keepsake left by Niuniu’s father, so I hid it in the compartment, afraid you’d damage it.”