One Sword, One Palm, One Escape. Tang Ruowei gripped the hilt and tugged twice with all her might, but couldn't budge it. She tried with all her strength, yet still couldn't wrest the Flying Sword from Bai Qiuran's hand. Finally, just as she was about to open her mouth and bite his palm, Bai Qiuran gave Kun Ling Sword one last longing look and let go. "So this sword thrust is the fighting style that suits me best?" "Take good care of it, like you would your husband—no, like you would your children!" Bai Qiuran paused, glanced at his palm, and added, "I mean under normal circumstances. If you can practice this thrust until you can start and stop it at will, then, at the very least, no one at your cultivation level will be able to block it—unless they have some special means or technique." Tang Ruowei pouted miserably. "I don't want to beat people up. I just want to protect myself from that mother monkey on the mountain." "That's it." Looking inward at the Flying Sword radiating dazzling light above her Purple Mansion, Tang Ruowei seemed to remember something and asked, "Now that I can control a sword with my mind, shouldn't you teach me a move or two?" "Oh, right, Master." Bai Qiuran withdrew his gaze and said dejectedly, "I wasn't actually going to keep fighting you for it." Bai Qiuran raised the iron sword. Tang Ruowei keenly sensed Primordial Magnetism emanating from him. Then, using Primordial Magnetism along with his own strength to control the iron sword in his hand, he thrust it casually. The combined force of Primordial Magnetism and True Qi gave the attack immense power. A black Sword Light flashed, and a massive black rock on the dark mountain split in two. Tang Ruowei puffed out her cheeks. "Did you see that thrust clearly? Could you block it?" Tang Ruowei stared at him. "So the result is just one simple thrust?" "If you can kill an enemy with one move, why bother with all those fancy techniques?" "A move, huh?" Tang Ruowei thought it over, seeming to grasp the crux of the matter, and fell silent. "But can I really rely on this one move to win every fight?" "Being like your children is fine." "After all that you spent ages bragging to me about how I needed to focus on laying a solid foundation." "You've got some nerve saying that." "It's true. Now that you've reached Foundation Establishment, it's time I taught you how to protect yourself and beat others up. And there are some new cultivation methods I should teach you, too." Bai Qiuran clutched Kun Ling Sword's hilt tightly and muttered to his little disciple, "I've always dreamed that one day, after breaking through to Foundation Establishment, I'd use the True Essence in my body to forge a blood pact with a Flying Sword of every attribute. Then I'd ride a five-colored Sword Array over the graves of everyone who ever laughed at me..." Bai Qiuran asked in return. After snatching the sword, Tang Ruowei hurriedly forged a blood pact with Kun Ling Sword using the method she had already learned, then stored the Flying Sword in her Purple Mansion. Although it was a royal cultivation technique, the Mysterious Dragon Technique's palm and sword forms were merely mortal martial arts, and clearly no match for the Qingming Sword Technique created by the founder of the Azure Nether Sword Sect, the Immortal Daoist Qingming. Tang Ruowei shot him a sidelong glance. As a result, although Tang Ruowei's foundation had continued to improve, her combat skills, experience, and techniques hadn't advanced in the slightest. The residents of Seven Star Peak, however, weren't just her and Bai Qiuran. There were also many spirit beasts that had absorbed the Spirit Qi of Seven Star Peak and gained intelligence. "Beating people up is fine..." "Why are you so nervous..." "Let go, Master!" Tang Ruowei asked. Most of the other spirit beasts were around the Qi Refining Stage. Tang Ruowei could just about drive them away using moves from the Mysterious Dragon Technique she'd once practiced, combined with the cultivation brought by Great Evolution Primal Magnetism and the physical strength granted by the Fortune Body Forging Technique. But that mother monkey wasn't just at the peak of the Qi Refining Stage; she'd somehow learned the complete sword technique of the Azure Nether Sword Sect. Bai Qiuran lectured her, "Ruowei, I've always taught you to think beyond appearances and understand the principles beneath them. The same goes for combat. In a Cultivator's battles, the most important thing is never just one thing. Someone with a deep cultivation foundation can shatter mountains and split rocks with nothing more than a simple punch or kick—even without using any techniques—and overwhelming force can break through a hundred tricks. But exquisite techniques can also make up for a lack of cultivation. Miraculous spells, strange escape techniques, and mysterious formations can make up for the shortcomings of both cultivation and technique. Finding the fighting style that suits you best among all these possibilities is the best way to improve your combat strength." Bai Qiuran nodded. "This is the fighting style I've worked out as the best fit for you for now. In the future, you'll have to learn to figure out your own fighting style." Bai Qiuran rubbed his nose and said nothing. "I've always had a dream." Tang Ruowei stared blankly as Bai Qiuran sheathed his sword. "Master, that's it?" The next morning, atop the dark mountain beside Seven Star Peak, Bai Qiuran reluctantly handed Tang Ruowei a Flying Sword whose surface shimmered with earthen-yellow Spirit Light. "Who cares about you? Didn't you lose this sword to me?!" "This sword is called Kun Ling." "All right, watch closely." Bai Qiuran had clearly come prepared. He took an ordinary-looking iron sword from his Storage Bag and said to Tang Ruowei, "Normally, since you've joined the Azure Nether Sword Sect, I should teach you the Qingming Sword Technique created by my master. But during the years you spent working hard to reach Foundation Establishment, I thought it over for a long time. The Qingming Sword Technique favors lightness and agility, which doesn't suit someone like you, with an Earth Spirit Root and control over Primordial Magnetism. So I broke the sword technique down and created a whole new one just for you. This is the first move. Watch closely." As a result, Tang Ruowei went back in tears, her bottom covered in bright red welts, while the heartless Bai Qiuran laughed about it all afternoon. For the past six years, aside from the Fortune Body Forging Technique and Great Evolution Primal Magnetism, Bai Qiuran hadn't taught Tang Ruowei a single move. That afternoon, the girl had flown into a rage after the mother monkey provoked her for the second time. The monkey had beaten her until she was eating dirt, using nothing more than a branch she'd casually picked up in the wilds. Perhaps with Bai Qiuran's approval or tacit permission, the spirit beasts would go out of their way to pick on Tang Ruowei whenever she was cultivating, bathing, or occasionally going up or down the mountain. The worst offender was the mother monkey who had once flaunted her chest muscles at Tang Ruowei in the hot spring to provoke her. Bai Qiuran nodded. "What else did you expect?" "Don't be fooled by how ordinary this thrust looks. The essence of the move is knowing how to coordinate the flow of your True Essence with Primordial Magnetism so that the Flying Sword's power reaches its maximum. To use this move, your foundation must at least be at Foundation Establishment." Bai Qiuran rolled his eyes and thought for a moment. "There's also a palm strike and an escape technique. With this sword thrust, palm strike, and escape technique, you'll be invincible within the limits of Foundation Establishment."
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