Changing Tides

In the blink of an eye, time flew by.

Lin Hui stuck to his routine, practicing the Seven Section Fast Sword every day at Qingfeng Temple. His proficiency rose rapidly, and his stamina and reflexes gradually improved with all that training.

Though he had promised his parents he wouldn't train too hard, seeing the Mist Zone and the strange shadow that had flashed by inside it had changed things. The sense of safety he'd only just regained was shifting once more.

He tried to imagine the shadow from the Mist Zone lunging at him and wondered whether he could react in time.

The result of the simulation gave him even more motivation to train hard.

As time went by, he gradually mastered the Seven Section Fast Sword through his own practice, while the Blood Seal's evolution of the first move, Denggao Wangyuan, was also nearing its end.

One morning, in the training ground in Qingfeng Temple's rear courtyard,

the disciples each held a wooden stick and found a spot to practice their sword moves over and over.

Some had visibly crooked postures, but most had become fairly proficient, repeatedly practicing this sword form that looked more like a health exercise.

Lin Hui found a spot beside a wooden post. The stick in his hand spun in circles as he repeatedly practiced the first move, Denggao Wangyuan.

For some reason, he had a sudden feeling in his gut. The Blood Seal's evolution was almost due, and he'd been wondering how it would manifest its effects.

Now it seemed to be some kind of method that induced changes in the body on its own, eventually bringing about a qualitative transformation.

Whoosh.

The stick in his hand picked up speed, faster and faster. Though he was repeating only the first move, few disciples could perform it at this speed with such pinpoint precision.

But the sky was still dim; dawn had only just broken. Most people were absorbed in their own practice and didn't notice the details over here.

Soon, about three minutes later,

smack.

The wooden stick in Lin Hui's hand came to a halt. He slowly finished the move, stood upright, and quietly regulated his breathing.

Just then, the Blood Seal on the back of his hand flashed. It changed from a circle back into its original diamond shape.

An indescribable flood of insight and sword-practice experience poured into Lin Hui's mind.

His body shuddered, and he sank into a strange state of enlightenment.

A vast trove of memories about the first move, Denggao Wangyuan—its strengths and weaknesses, ways to refine and optimize it, and even the results of experiments and investigations—rushed into his mind.

It was as if he had spent years testing and correcting mistakes, gradually refining and optimizing this sword move until it was perfect.

A few dozen breaths later,

Lin Hui slowly raised his hand again. The wooden stick swept forward in a flawless, nimble arc, then dipped down and angled up in a diagonal thrust. His footwork shifted along with it, natural and harmonious.

It worked! Lin Hui felt an inexplicable certainty.

The move he'd just performed was still Denggao Wangyuan, but now it was perfect. So it could be called Denggao Wangshan.

And after mastering this perfect move, he'd gained a much better understanding of the remaining fast sword moves, too.

So this is what makes it a fast sword. The Seven Section Fast Sword is fundamentally about storing power in the muscles. The first six moves tighten it like a spring, one turn at a time, until the final move is poised to strike. There isn't a single finishing blow in the entire set. The killing moves clearly belong to a different sword art.

As Lin Hui reflected on this, he glanced at the other disciples practicing. After two months of training, their moves all looked crooked, twisted, and riddled with mistakes to him.

"A-Hui, why are you practicing all by yourself over here?" A familiar voice drifted from behind him.

It was Chen Zhishen.

He yawned, wooden stick in hand, and ambled over.

"Why didn't you call me to practice?"

He and Lin Hui were actually making similar progress, as were most of the disciples with the Seven Section Fast Sword.

This was a training method, not a combat technique. The hidden mechanics of exerting force were extremely complicated, and it took training more than fifty points of power in the body.

If even one of those fifty points was wrong, the effect would be greatly diminished. But once someone mastered the sword art completely and got every point right, the tempering of the body would officially begin.

For an ordinary student starting from scratch, it took at least three years to master all the points of exertion and fully learn the sword art.

And that was only a rough mastery. Even when practicing alone, getting every point right even once in ten tries was cause for gratitude.

That was why many disciples eventually gave up and slipped away. Knowing the moves was one thing; performing them correctly and consistently every time was another.

Lin Hui estimated how long it would take him. With his hard training and the Blood Seal's evolution, he'd probably need only a year to master the art completely—and perfectly.

And during his practice just now, he'd discovered another powerful advantage.

After evolving Denggao Wangshan, every time he performed that move, it was perfect, without the slightest error. The feeling was incredibly smooth. He didn't have to think or hesitate; everything happened naturally.

He knew exactly what that meant.

"What were you doing last night? You look exhausted," Lin Hui asked, coming back to himself.

"Don't ask. I spent the whole night dreaming. It was all..." Chen Zhishen's cheeks reddened, and he trailed off.

"How's your sword practice going?" Lin Hui asked, rolling his eyes and changing the subject.

He knew Chen Zhishen had been getting close to one of the new female disciples lately. Over the past few days, they'd been helping each other with little things and gradually growing more familiar.

"Not bad. I feel like I'll have all the moves down before long. As for the points of exertion, I've got a handle on them. I got four right a few days ago!" At the mention of sword practice, Chen Zhishen grew serious.

"That's pretty good," Lin Hui said with a nod.

"What's good about that? Huang Shan and Qiu Yiren are the impressive ones. One mastered the whole thing in a week, and the other took only four days... I really don't know how those geniuses' brains are wired," Chen Zhishen sighed.

Lin Hui fell silent.

He'd watched the two new geniuses practice. They'd joined the temple just over two weeks ago.

Yet they'd mastered every move in the Seven Section Fast Sword perfectly in almost no time, and got more than eighty percent of the power points right. It was terrifying.

Compared to them, his Blood Seal was as slow as a snail...

Lin Hui sighed again and stopped thinking about it. At least the Blood Seal's greatest advantage was that once it got something right, it stayed right. Its accuracy in that test just now had been frightening, more mechanical than a machine.

He might start slowly, but he'd catch up faster later!

That was how he comforted himself.

After chatting for a bit, the two went back to practicing together.

Apart from taking breaks to drink water and use the toilet, they practiced without stopping.

Before long, noon arrived, and the kitchen helpers carried in large buckets of food.

Thick, dark-red mixed-grain rice, big chunks of braised pork ribs, and a soup made by simmering chopped green wild vegetables with brown mushrooms.

The dining hall was in a separate building. Its rows of wooden benches reminded Lin Hui of the university cafeteria in his previous life.

The men and women began filing inside.

Many disciples from well-off families gathered around the senior brother, Chen Sui, and the second senior brother, Zhao Jiang'an, forming little cliques.

The senior sister, Mu Qiao Zhi, didn't come here often; he only saw her now and then.

A few other cliques gathered around the newly recognized geniuses, Huang Shan and Qiu Yiren.

Everyone else sat in twos and threes, waiting for their food.

A server with a large ladle went from one person to the next, carrying a wooden bucket and serving each person a scoop.

Lin Hui had always sat with Chen Zhishen, but just as he sat down this time and was about to call him over, he saw the fellow trotting over to sit across from a girl with shoulder-length hair. Their faces were flushed as they lowered their heads and talked about something.

"It's only been a few days... He hasn't even mastered the sword art, and he's already got time for romance?" Lin Hui was at a loss for words.

Still, Chen Zhishen didn't seem to be too distracted. He'd kept up with his sword practice on schedule these past few days, without missing a single session.

Without his friend to chat with, Lin Hui ate much faster than usual. Now that he'd mastered Denggao Wangshan, he could practice all eight power points in the first move without a single error.

In his good mood, he'd worked up quite an appetite. He finished a big bowl of rice, gnawed through seven or eight ribs, then paid for another serving of meat and kept eating.

He was halfway through the second helping when a commotion broke out nearby.

It was accompanied by the cries of several disciples in pain.

Lin Hui frowned and quickly looked up.

In one corner of the dining hall, by the food buckets, two groups were already fighting fiercely.

One girl in a group was clutching her backside, her face red with anger as she glared at a tall boy across from her. He was grinning and making a squeezing gesture with his hand.

Both groups were cursing and shoving one another.

To avoid getting caught up in it, Lin Hui quickly stood and backed away, abandoning his meal.

Chen Zhishen and the girl he'd recently met came over to join him.

"Someone pinched Huang Shan's butt!"

"Who would dare? Huang Shan's talented, and the teachers are keeping an eye on her, aren't they?" the girl beside them asked quietly.

"It was that Chen Chong fellow. He's harassed plenty of pretty girls at the temple. As for talent, what does that matter against the Chen Family's background? He's a distant relative from a branch family, but he's still a Chen," Chen Zhishen said with a frown.

After explaining, he quickly introduced Lin Hui and the girl to each other.

The girl was Lu Baihua, the daughter of a medicinal herb farmer. She had a pretty, pleasant face and was a little thin, but her personality suited Chen Zhishen perfectly.

"Huang Shan may be in trouble, but the boys around her aren't from ordinary backgrounds. If they dare face Chen Chong head-on, they must have some confidence. Let's keep our distance and stay out of it," Chen Zhishen warned them.

"If Chen Chong is so brazen, why don't the teachers at the temple do anything?" Lu Baihua couldn't help asking.

"What can they do? Qingfeng Temple can't afford to offend the Chen Family. There's no way around it." Chen Zhishen shook his head.

"But this time it's Huang Shan. What if it were a girl without talent or connections... What would happen to her?" Lu Baihua asked anxiously.

Chen Zhishen fell silent for a moment.

"She can only stay out of his way. An older disciple once told me that two years ago, two female students went home after Chen Chong harassed them. Later, one managed to escape him. The other... someone saw her near Chen Chong's home. She was raving mad, barely human anymore..."

The mood grew tense.

Lin Hui saw Lu Baihua's gaze tighten, her face paling.

She was clearly worried about herself.

"It's all right. Don't worry. If you dress yourself up to look uglier and dirtier, Chen Chong won't set his eyes on you," Chen Zhishen reassured her.

Lin Hui said nothing. He only sighed and turned to leave.

Back in the crowded dormitory, he lay on his bed and silently focused on the second move of the Seven Section Fast Sword: Hundred Turns and Thousand Returns.

"Hundred Turns and Thousand Returns—the second move of the Seven Section Fast Sword, one of its basic sword moves. It contains eight points of exertion. Once mastered, it can speed up training in the sixth move. Available evolution branches: 1."

"1—Hundred Turns and Thousand Hearts."

"Evolve Hundred Turns and Thousand Hearts?"

"Required resources: one wooden sword, sixty days' stored energy."

"Time required: sixty days."

He chose yes. He thought of the frightened look on Chen Zhishen and Lu Baihua's faces today, then remembered Chen Chong's arrogant, horse-faced features...

It looks like there are times when just running fast isn't enough...

Against someone like Chen Chong, even if Huang Shan ran away, she still had her parents and family to worry about. There was no way she could just leave them behind.