Teasing Yue Lingshan

"Done."

With Yue Lingshan's soft cry, her tender fingertips left Ji Boying's face.

Only then did Ji Boying open his eyes again.

He saw his Junior Disciple Sister lowering her head and taking out a handkerchief from her robes, carefully wiping the remaining ointment from her left palm and right fingers.

Half her profile was delicate and lovely, her forehead smooth and adorable, her dark hair gathered into a bun.

"How is it? Does it hurt less now?"

Yue Lingshan raised her face, her smile radiant.

"This ointment works very well."

Ji Boying felt the cool sensation on his face and could indeed tell that the ointment was taking effect.

But he still grinned mischievously. "For this face to be fortunate enough to receive the touch of Junior Disciple Sister's jade fingers, no injury could possibly hurt."

Yue Lingshan lowered her head somewhat shyly, curling her little hand into a soft pink fist and hiding her fingers in her palm as she held it to her chest. A flush rose to her cheeks, and she pouted with her rosy lips, muttering softly, "You're always talking nonsense."

Fearing that her response had not been bold enough, she hurriedly stood up again, planted her hands on her hips, puffed out her chest, and declared loudly, "Your words sound nice, but you don't mean them. If you're going to call me Senior Disciple Sister, then call me that. Yet you insist on calling me Junior Disciple Sister. You clearly just want to tease me. You don't take me, your Senior Disciple Sister, seriously at all."

Ji Boying chuckled and rose to his feet as well.

"How could I not take Senior Disciple Sister to heart? It's just that we're about the same age. Calling you Senior Disciple Sister makes you sound old. Calling you Junior Disciple Sister is both respectful and cute. Isn't that much better?"

Yue Lingshan turned away shyly. She was clearly no match for Ji Boying.

"D-Don't talk nonsense. Do you want to practice boxing? Want me to be your sparring partner?"

Seeing Yue Lingshan hurriedly change the subject, Ji Boying found her even more adorable, though he stopped teasing his Junior Disciple Sister.

"Let's practice swordplay first. We can't focus only on me—Junior Disciple Sister needs to improve her martial arts too. I don't need a partner to practice boxing. I'll only need someone to exchange moves with after I've trained it to a certain level."

Yue Lingshan gave a short laugh.

"So you don't need my help with boxing after all. I was being sentimental for nothing."

"Not at all. With a beauty like Senior Disciple Sister sitting nearby, my training is already twice as effective. Junior Disciple Sister has been a tremendous help."

That truly made Yue Lingshan blush all the way to her ears, as though she had been steamed through in a bamboo basket. It felt as if heat might rise from her head.

"Y-You... if you keep talking nonsense, I'll... I'll... never speak to you again. Never, never, never pay any attention to you again."

A smile lingered at the corner of Ji Boying's lips. Seeing Yue Lingshan so bashful, he said no more.

This sort of Junior Disciple Sister was particularly amusing.

"Fine, let's practice swordplay."

Yue Lingshan was afraid that Ji Boying might say something else so forward, so she did not dare trade words with him anymore.

She merely raised her sword and, with her head lowered, began practicing Mount Hua Swordplay with Ji Boying.

Yet after only two or three exchanges, Yue Lingshan was startled once again.

Her little mouth fell slightly open in surprise, revealing neat pearly teeth.

"Junior Disciple Brother, y-your swordplay has improved again!"

How could those two or three exchanges be called sparring? Ji Boying was clearly guiding Yue Lingshan. Every move and stance landed precisely against her sword, plainly pointing out the flaws in her techniques, applying just enough pressure to guide her responses.

After only a few exchanges, Yue Lingshan felt that her Auspicious Phoenix Arrival had been executed incorrectly, and she was already beginning to correct it.

She had only felt such guidance when she had first started learning swordplay. Back then, Senior Disciple Brother had been more than ten years older than her, using his decade of martial arts experience to guide her, who had only just begun learning the sword.

But even after she had trained in swordplay for a year, Senior Disciple Brother had never again been able to guide her so effortlessly.

Defeating her was easy, but offering pointers on her swordplay during a spar, feeding her moves with such perfect precision as an elder or teacher would—such a thing required an enormous gap between the two parties' understanding of swordplay.

In Go, this was generally called a teaching game, something experienced adult players used to instruct children.

Junior Disciple Brother's strength had improved again after the recent minor competition.

Judging by how effortlessly he was guiding her sword now, his mastery of Mount Hua Swordplay was clearly even greater than her father's and mother's.

"Junior Disciple Sister, didn't I say so? I had a bit of insight last night and practiced swordplay all night. That's why I ended up bruised and battered."

Yue Lingshan sighed, then looked at Ji Boying with a touch of admiration. "If we speak only of mastery of Mount Hua Swordplay, you're probably the foremost person in all of Mount Hua now."

"Not at all. With skills like these, I'm nowhere near first."

Yue Lingshan merely assumed he was being respectful toward Master and Mistress, taking his words as modesty.

After thinking about it, she found it amusing and said with a smile, "It's true. I'm not exaggerating. If we speak only of Mount Hua Swordplay, you probably use it even better than my father and mother. Junior Disciple Brother, your Mount Hua Swordplay has surpassed the Mount Hua Sect Leader."

Ji Boying merely smiled simply and offered no further explanation.

He lifted the longsword in his hand, signaling for Yue Lingshan to continue attacking.

The two resumed their clanging practice.

Guiding Yue Lingshan's swordplay like this would not slow Ji Boying's progress in Mount Hua Swordplay. After all, his swordplay had long since been simplified; he only needed to swing his sword to increase his proficiency.

As he practiced swordplay alongside a beauty like his Junior Disciple Sister, admiring her graceful figure and receiving her gratitude and admiration, he watched "Mount Hua Swordplay Proficiency +1" continually flash before his eyes.

What a wonderful thing that was.

The two practiced like this for half an hour. The sun rose ever higher, and quite a few glistening beads of sweat appeared on Yue Lingshan's smooth forehead.

After taking a brief rest, she felt that her swordplay had improved greatly and was overjoyed.

She no longer clung to Junior Disciple Brother to practice swordplay with her, instead sitting to the side to rest for the time being.

She had originally wanted to pull Junior Disciple Brother into chatting a little longer. Though his words were embarrassing to hear, they made her happy inside.

But Ji Boying had already set down his sword and walked over to the wooden post. He rolled up his sleeves, settled into a horse stance, and prepared to practice boxing.

Yue Lingshan's beautiful eyes were filled with admiration.

Watching Ji Boying throw punch after punch at the wooden post until he was drenched in sweat, she admired Junior Disciple Brother's diligence as well.

Though Junior Disciple Brother was highly talented, his tremendous progress was inseparable from his hard work.

She thought, Oh dear, he's sweating so much. The ointment on his face is going to wash off again. I can only apply some more for him later.

Yet she felt somewhat embarrassed. Her slightly flushed cheeks—she did not know whether it was from the heat or from shyness—while she awkwardly rubbed her fair, slender fingers.

Ji Boying, however, had no mind for a young girl's thoughts. As he kept punching the wooden post, he was wholly immersed in the pleasure of gaining another point of proficiency.