Situ Qin's Shock

Xie Yuan did not stop thinking about those eyes until he returned to the Servant Courtyard and lay down on the common sleeping quarters.

It was as though an entire river of stars had fallen into them—or as though they themselves were the river of stars.

"I can't sleep..."

A flutter stirred in Xie Yuan's heart. Unable to rest for a long while, he simply sat up and prepared to go out and train.

Normally, he would rest for two hours first in the evening, but it seemed that would not be necessary today.

Moonlight slipped through the window, leaving the room hazy and dim.

Xie Yuan straightened up from among the row of servant disciples lying on the common sleeping quarters, got down, threw on his clothes, put on his shoes, and silently left the room.

Further inside the common sleeping quarters, Tian Zhuang was restless. He suddenly opened his eyes and sat bolt upright, making the neighbor beside him grunt twice.

He glanced around, but there was no movement in the room. He could not possibly notice Xie Yuan's movements.

Yet Tian Zhuang simply could not settle down. He had woken for no reason at all. Squinting, he looked carefully and sensed that someone was missing from the bedding... Xie Yuan was missing!

His eyes flew wide open. He instinctively looked at the moonlight outside the window and gritted his teeth.

"He only just lay down... surely not? He must have gone to the latrine. Right, that has to be it!"

Tian Zhuang lay back down again, eyes open as he stared at the ceiling beams and waited for a long while.

There was no movement at the door, and his heart gradually sank.

"He's actually not sleeping... If he goes now, can the steward even see him... Forget it. I lost."

Tian Zhuang let out a heavy sigh and closed his eyes.

Xie Yuan knew nothing of these petty competitive thoughts among the servants. He arrived at a secluded spot by the cliff, raised his sword, slowly recalled the sword formulas Situ Qin had taught him, and went through them move by move.

When he revisited the subtle errors from before—the imperfect stances, the imprecise application of force—he understood the reasons behind them. Practicing according to the sword art formula truly was much better.

"Worthy of a great lineage. These simple formulas for basic sword arts are pearls of wisdom in every word, without a single wasted sentence. Every line strikes at the heart of it. Even the outer sect Instructor doesn't explain things this well!"

After practicing several times, Xie Yuan felt that he had improved greatly and could not help but sigh in admiration.

It was not that Yunshan Sword Sect taught sword arts poorly. It was simply that outer sect Instructors taught servant disciples in broad strokes. With so many servants, they could not correct every single one. Once they had led them through the gate, cultivation was entirely up to themselves, and omissions in the finer details were inevitable.

Moreover, an Instructor's understanding of sword arts naturally could not compare with a grandmaster's. The two grandmasters at Situ Qin's side were both masters of the sword. A few casual remarks from them could naturally spare a beginner like Xie Yuan many winding roads.

Reflected on the panel, his progress was shooting upward.

Standing at the cliff's edge, Xie Yuan continued dancing with his sword beneath the night wind and moonlight, his gray servant's robes snapping loudly in the gale.

Not only were his sword arts becoming increasingly proficient, but the residual medicinal power of the Blood Dragon Pill was still advancing his cultivation. Each repetition of the sword art was likewise refining his blood qi and replenishing himself.

Feeling his rapid improvement, Xie Yuan found cultivation addictive and almost did not want to stop.

At dawn.

Tian Zhuang opened his eyes groggily. He had barely slept that night and felt utterly drained.

Yet the moment he struggled to open his eyes, he instinctively looked to the side.

Many servants had already begun rising one after another. Tian Zhuang counted them, then suddenly froze and could not help rubbing his eyes.

Xie Yuan was actually lying there perfectly well. He had not gone to the Main Peak early!

Tian Zhuang blinked, and his mood inexplicably lightened considerably.

So he really had only gotten up to relieve himself... He sure took a long time.

For several days in a row, Xie Yuan went to the Main Peak Rear Hall each morning to comprehend the Sword Peak's Sword Qi. At noon, he brought food to the Mid-Mountain Courtyard and lunched with Situ Qin. During the afternoon, they would either chat and listen to the qin, practice and discuss martial arts, or seek out secluded sights and tour Yunshan.

At night, Xie Yuan would quietly find a secluded place by the cliff on his own, summarize the grandmasters' sword-art experience that Situ Qin relayed to him, review and master it, and train without pause. Every day of his schedule was packed to the brim.

Even though Xie Yuan cultivated both internally and externally, possessed an exceptional physique, and brimmed with energy, he still felt some physical fatigue from this. Yet though his body was tired, whenever he looked at the steadily rising numbers before him, then spent the afternoon admiring scenery, listening to qin music, and appreciating a beautiful woman, his spirit was utterly fulfilled and his condition superb. He could keep cultivating like this forever without issue.

Within the courtyard.

"Not bad, not bad. Your sword arts have improved greatly lately. You're starting to look like a seasoned disciple of the Sword Sect."

Situ Qin lightly clapped her hands and praised him with a beaming smile.

Xie Yuan held his sword upside down by the hilt and cupped his hands modestly.

"It is because Miss Qin guided me so well."

Situ Qin clasped her hands behind her back and nodded slightly, looking every bit the manner of a lofty expert—if not for her darting eyes, which revealed a touch of her cunning.

"It's good that you know! Mm, your blood qi is vigorous, your Inner Breath clear and pure; you possess both inner and outer cultivation, and your martial arts are sharp and fierce. You are no worse than any great sect disciple of the same realm! Once you break through to the Qi and Blood Transformation Realm, you'll be a true force to be reckoned with!"

Xie Yuan was also greatly looking forward to it. Yesterday, he had taken the second Blood Dragon Pill, and his blood qi had surged again. He was not far from completion now. Once he fully digested it and took the third pill, he would surely reach the limit of external training. Then he could seize the opportunity to break through!

Breaking through a cultivation barrier was a formidable problem for anyone, especially a leap across such a major realm. It required careful preparation.

But Xie Yuan was naturally an exception. As long as his blood qi reached its limit, he could temper his entire body, use quantity to shatter quality, complete the transformation, and let it happen as naturally as water flowing into a channel.

Just as Xie Yuan was lost in his imaginings, he heard Situ Qin say meaningfully, "Chief Escort Leader Xie, your cultivation foundation is extremely solid, with almost no shortcomings. But there is one aspect in which you still lag somewhat behind true sect disciples. Do you know what it is?"

"Hm? This... Miss Qin, please enlighten me."

Xie Yuan was somewhat surprised. He believed that whether in terms of possessing all four methods of "nourishing, training, fighting, and killing," lineage, and rank, or in combat experience, adaptability, and strength of will, he was no weaker than anyone in the same realm. He even had the beginnings of ranged attacks, with weapon force and Sweep Through a Thousand Armies to make up for it. When Xie Yuan had sparred with Huang Zifeng of Yunshan Sword Sect before, he had already held the upper hand. Now, he should be even less inferior to anyone else.

"You're good at everything, except you're missing one thing."

Situ Qin smiled faintly.

"Remember when we went to climb over Peng Yue's wall?"

Xie Yuan heard that and suddenly understood.

"You mean I don't have a movement technique?"

That day, Situ Qin had moved with light grace, turning gently as she drifted over the high wall. Xie Yuan, meanwhile, had relied on brute strength, scrambling up like a dog climbing a wall. It had not taken much effort, but it was still lacking somewhat.

Situ Qin nodded.

"That's right. Though movement techniques are overlooked by many, they're still very important. In fact, some great clans teach their descendants movement techniques first thing, because those little troublemakers need to run fast when something happens—escape with their lives, then go home and bring back all those uncles and elders as reinforcements."

She seemed to tease and mock some family for a few words, though it was impossible to tell which one, before turning back to the subject.

"There's some sense in it, after all. As long as the green hills remain, there'll be no shortage of firewood. Take your hard martial arts, for example. You can take hits and dish them out; staying on your feet is victory. But movement techniques are a level higher—they keep people from hitting you, let you run fast, and ensure you remain forever undefeated.

"Good lightness and movement techniques are hard to find, though, and most require Inner Strength to support them. You usually won't see them out in the streets, so people make do with the footwork that comes with their Stance Training fighting methods. But since Chief Escort Leader Xie's foundation is already this solid, you can consider more. Once you reach the next realm, if others are dodging, weaving, and shifting while you have no movement technique, you'll suffer greatly."

Xie Yuan listened thoughtfully and said repeatedly, "Thank you for the guidance, Miss Qin. Looks like I'll have to find a movement technique in the sect..."

Of course, as a menial disciple, he could forget about it. Once he became a formal disciple, he would be able to receive basic footwork.

But if he wanted something profound, he would have to exchange contribution points for it.

"Why make it so troublesome?"

Situ Qin said with a smile. With a flick of her hand, a booklet appeared, and she tossed it to Xie Yuan.

"Since we're talking about it, naturally I came prepared!

"Flying General's 'Cloud Dragon Step,' along with his personal annotations. The only copy."

Xie Yuan caught the booklet and looked at it. Three bold characters—Cloud Dragon Step—were written in a dragon's soaring, phoenix's dancing flourish across the blue cover. Situ Qin's explanation sounded by his ear.

"Tai Bo earned the title of Flying General back then through this movement technique. He made long-distance raids, fought across thousands of miles, and never failed. But others only know this technique for traveling a thousand miles in a single stretch. They don't know that when Tai Bo turned and shifted at close quarters, no one could so much as touch the corner of his clothes."

Xie Yuan was somewhat astonished. This was the movement technique a Soaring Dragon Ranking grandmaster had relied upon to make his name—a naturally supreme art—and she was simply giving it to him?

"Stop right there! Less nonsense. Tai Bo agreed to it. He developed this himself through summarizing and comprehending battlefield formations, so there are no sect rules involved. As long as you can learn it, go ahead and learn it. But even with his annotations, I'm afraid it won't be easy to truly understand."

Situ Qin seemed to know what he was about to say and waved him off in advance.

Xie Yuan laughed and shook his head, faintly moved. He carefully put away the manual.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony. Once I learn it, I'll teach you."

Situ Qin rolled her eyes at him.

"Keep bragging! I learned it ages ago. I won't say my realm is all that high, but it's far higher than yours, when you haven't even entered the first realm! Come on, read it now. If you can't learn it, I'll teach you!"

Situ Qin eagerly pressed him down beside the desk, forcing him to begin studying at once.

Xie Yuan had intended to return and properly study such a profound movement technique, but now he followed her suggestion and opened it.

He quietly read through the technique. After about One Incense Stick, Xie Yuan closed the booklet, looking thoughtful.

Cloud Dragon Step: (1/100)

"How is it? Does it all look like clouds and fog to you? Ask if there's anything you don't understand."

Situ Qin smiled until her eyes curved into crescents. Her face practically had Hurry up and beg me to teach you written across it.

Xie Yuan pondered for a moment.

"It seems all right. I just need to get familiar with it."

He rose to his feet, his figure swaying as he swiftly circled the chair once. A faint afterimage seemed to trail behind him, like a dragon's tail amid the clouds.

Situ Qin's expression stiffened. Her cherry lips slowly parted into a round O, and she stood there blankly.

Though Xie Yuan's footwork looked utterly awful, like a drunken crab scuttling sideways, crooked and uneven—

That rhythm, that speed—it was unmistakably the Cloud Dragon Step of someone who had just gotten started!

How could this be?

Tai Bo's Cloud Dragon Step stood peerless beneath heaven, and its difficulty was also among the very highest. The theory of the technique alone had to be read ten or a hundred times before one could grasp its meaning.

Even she had spent some time on it back then... well, not too long before getting the hang of it.

And yet this guy had read it once and could already twist himself into that crooked mess?

Xie Yuan swayed through another circuit, and Situ Qin's little head followed his footwork around as well, her expression frozen in a daze.

That was right—he had truly performed it!

And this second attempt was clearly much better!

Hiss...

Situ Qin stared at him in disbelief, her mouth hanging wide open. Only after a moment did she close it, though her large eyes remained full of incredulity.

"Chief Escort Leader Xie, no way... you can really walk it?"

"Hm? Is Cloud Dragon Step supposed to be walked falsely? Hm, Cloud Dragon, Cloud Dragon—it's rather similar in name to the Sword Sect's famed sword art, 'Cloud Dragon Nine Forms.' Does it also emphasize the union of falsehood and truth, seeming real and illusory? Hm..."

Situ Qin saw that Xie Yuan had misunderstood, yet somehow struck upon the right answer. What he said was actually not wrong, and she fell silent.

After a long while, she finally said with a complicated expression, "Yes. That's what I meant."