Perfect Harmony

The next day.

Early morning.

Zhou Zhiruo stood in a corner of the courtyard, her wooden sword held level. Nearly three pounds of stone had been tied to the blade, and beads of sweat had already formed on her brow. From time to time, her gaze drifted toward Gu Shao'an in the courtyard.

Gu Shao'an moved like a roaming dragon, his sword like flying blossoms.

His body never paused as he naturally raised his sword, unfolding the moves of Willow Leaf Swordplay like mercury spilling across the ground.

Moving like a roaming dragon did not mean being fierce or swift. It meant stretching and gliding, carrying an indescribable rhythm of calm ease.

His sword was like flying blossoms, and like willow catkins. Specks of silver light leaped and flickered beneath the dim morning glow, their paths light and elusive, as though willow catkins were being drawn by an invisible wind and drifting with the breeze.

Gu Shao'an had long since committed every move of Willow Leaf Swordplay to memory. As he practiced it now, the forms flowed without the slightest hitch.

Yet even more striking was the charm contained within them. It was not deliberate imitation, but the natural sense of drifting with the wind that accompanied his every gesture.

The sword tip thrust out like willow threads lightly touching spring water.

The blade curved back, like clumps of catkins spinning in the wind.

His footwork shifted and turned like willow branches swaying in the breeze, supple and boneless.

Logically speaking, after obtaining profound martial arts such as Sunset Swordplay, Gu Shao'an should not have continued devoting his efforts to a basic martial art like Willow Leaf Swordplay.

But Gu Shao'an knew well that the application of martial arts lay within one's heart.

The power of martial arts varied from person to person. In different hands, the power they displayed could be utterly different.

Moreover, when facing an enemy, flexibility was what mattered. Martial arts were dead; only people were alive.

There was no martial art in the world that was completely useless. It merely depended on how one used it.

For Gu Shao'an, although the Sword Moves of Sunset Swordplay were more domineering and fierce, its sword qi spanning the air like a rainbow at sunset and its power greater,

in terms of his current precise control over his sword and inner force, as well as his natural perception and use of the surrounding Qi mechanism, it fell far short of Willow Leaf Swordplay.

Against suitable opponents, Willow Leaf Swordplay could likewise prove more effective than Sunset Swordplay.

When martial artists fought, unless their inner cultivation differed by an overwhelming degree, battle was like a game played across a chessboard: the more skilled prevailed.

Sweat soaked his temples, yet Gu Shao'an remained unaware of it. His mind had fully immersed itself in the three-foot Qingfeng in his hand and the currents of breath around him.

Once, twice. The Sword Moves cycled over and over, without any sign of fatigue.

He did not know whether it was the seventh or eighth repetition when he slowly unleashed Wind Sweeping a Thousand Strands. His longsword slanted outward, on the verge of falling—

Buzz!

An indescribably profound sensation, like a gentle warm current, suddenly spread from the fingers gripping his sword throughout his entire body.

Everything around him seemed to slow in an instant.

Or perhaps his senses had simply become incomparably clear.

Within that mysterious feeling, Gu Shao'an felt as if some aspect of Willow Leaf Swordplay had suddenly become clear to him.

After that, the subtle path carved through the air by his sword edge formed an unprecedentedly harmonious resonance with the faint morning breeze in the courtyard.

Though his movements appeared to involve nothing more than slight adjustments of his wrist and footwork, the traces of deliberate effort had vanished entirely from Gu Shao'an's Sword Moves.

Every rise, transition, turn, and conclusion of his sword momentum was like willow catkins meeting the wind, drifting with it and flowing naturally onward.

Where his Sword Moves went, his inner force followed.

At that moment, even the swinging blade seemed to become willow catkins dancing in the wind themselves, swaying without leaving a trace.

Congratulations, player. Willow Leaf Swordplay has successfully entered the realm of Perfect Harmony. Achievement Points +500.

At that moment, a notification also appeared before Gu Shao'an.

Glancing at the notification before him, Gu Shao'an slowly raised the Qingfeng in his hand. His gaze settled on the still plain and unadorned blade, yet his mind remained immersed in the realm he had just broken through to.

The sensation was far too clear. The sword was no longer a cold piece of iron, and inner force was no longer merely simple energy flowing through the meridians.

The two seemed to have merged into one, like a natural extension of his will.

With the slightest movement of intent, the sword tip seemed to possess an instinctive understanding, pointing wherever his heart desired. His inner force expanded and contracted with the sword momentum, circulating in perfect harmony without the slightest obstruction.

As though it should have been this way all along.

"So the level of 'Perfect Harmony' is not merely becoming proficient in Willow Leaf Swordplay."

Gu Shao'an murmured softly, a light of understanding glinting in his eyes.

He casually raised Wind Sweeping a Thousand Strands once more. The movement appeared slow and entirely lacking in force, as gentle as a spring breeze brushing one's face.

Yet as the longsword cut through the air, a supple, dense force of attraction naturally arose around the blade.

Several withered leaves that had just fallen to the ground were not directly shredded by sharp sword qi.

Instead, drawn by that seemingly feeble force, they silently traced several smooth circles along the path of his sword momentum.

In the end, they gently gathered at Gu Shao'an's feet.

"Sure enough, the basics are the foundation of a towering edifice."

Though Willow Leaf Swordplay was simple, it contained the most fundamental principles of the sword: yielding, softness, agility, and resilience.

By practicing these most basic sword principles to Perfect Harmony, making sword and heart one, intent and force one, form follow intent, and inner and outer become harmonious,

Gu Shao'an had effectively forged a solid, flawless boulder for the foundation of his martial path in swordsmanship!

If the martial arts he cultivated in the future involved the principles of yielding, softness, agility, and resilience, Gu Shao'an would be able to quickly draw parallels and grasp their true meaning.

It would even aid his subsequent cultivation of Sunset Swordplay.

If he wished to create new martial arts in the future, it would likewise be of tremendous help.

It was like writing.

When first learning, one practiced level horizontals, straight verticals, dots, strokes, and sweeping lines to perfection, laying the foundation for iron strokes and silver hooks.

Only then could one later write with the grandeur of wild cursive and flying white, letting the brush dance like dragons and snakes while strength arose naturally from the bones, and letting composition run free without losing its rules.

"This hard training has not been in vain!"

After more than a month of effort, even Gu Shao'an now felt the sense of accomplishment that came when every drop of sweat had finally borne fruit.

Then Gu Shao'an turned his attention to his Achievement Points.

875

From the time he descended the mountain until now, through his continuous diligent training and what he had gained yesterday and today, Gu Shao'an's Achievement Points had finally neared one thousand once more.

In a few more days, he would be able to gather enough Achievement Points for another draw.

Just then, Miejue's door suddenly opened.

Seeing the two of them bathed in the morning light, a gratified smile unconsciously appeared on Miejue's face.

At the sight of Miejue, Gu Shao'an and Zhou Zhiruo both sheathed their swords and bowed at once.

"Master!"

Miejue gave a slight nod and slowly walked into the courtyard, then beckoned to them both.

After her gaze first swept over Zhou Zhiruo, Miejue finally looked at Gu Shao'an. She raised her right hand, and as her wide sleeve slipped down, it revealed her right hand and the wooden box she held within it.