Early the next morning, Neeko got up bright and early and promptly shoved Jia Ruo awake.
She could hardly wait to pack their things. She was even taking the bear hide they were sleeping on.
The story behind the enormous bear hide had been quite harrowing. Jia Ruo recalled.
Its owner had been a bear he and Yi had encountered a few days earlier:
At the time, a brown bear that hadn't yet stored up enough fat for winter had charged at Jia Ruo in a frenzy.
Yi wanted him to get some real combat experience, so he didn't intervene. He simply tossed You Meng to Jia Ruo.
The bear had looked truly massive. When it stood upright, it was well over two and a half meters tall, and its swiping paws packed a tremendous force.
During his first real fight, Jia Ruo could only dodge in a panic.
"Haah... haah..."
Jia Ruo panted heavily. He had already mastered all the basic sword moves Yi had taught him, but putting them to use in a real fight was an entirely different matter.
The brown bear had thick skin and tough flesh. You Meng was incredibly sharp, but unless he struck a vital spot, the blade might get stuck in the bear's muscles and fat, leaving him with no chance to turn the fight around.
Jia Ruo thought it over.
Besides, his breathing was already ragged. He had to find an opening as soon as possible.
He couldn't match a wild bear for stamina. His only advantages were his nimble build and sharper mind.
"Roar!"
The brown bear lunged at him again. It was already enraged, and Jia Ruo had dodged its attacks time and time again.
Now it was even angrier.
Now!
As he darted past the brown bear, Jia Ruo drove You Meng into its neck.
Just like a Spanish bullfighter.
With a soft thud, You Meng, wrapped in a violet glow, came away with a great gush of steaming blood.
The strike hadn't damaged the windpipe, but it had severed a major blood vessel in the bear's neck. Blood poured out without stopping.
Now Jia Ruo only had to evade its final, desperate attack to win.
But just then, Yi moved.
A streak of light flashed by, and the bear's head fell to the ground.
"An extremely precise strike," Yi remarked. "You'd already won. I put it out of its misery. You don't mind, do you?"
"Not at all, Master."
Jia Ruo was panting hard.
Even with Yi nearby, he couldn't afford to let his guard down in a fight to the death like that.
The tense battle had nearly drained all his strength.
Jia Ruo called over the hunters from a nearby village.
The hunters butchered the brown bear and skinned it in one piece. They kept praising Jia Ruo and Yi's skill, since they hadn't damaged the hide.
They gave the remaining bear meat to the hunters, who were five sturdy men. They had to make several trips to carry it all away.
In return, the hunters took the hide back to the village to tan and stretch it.
Two days later, the finished hide was ready. It was the blanket they were now using to keep warm.
By the time Jia Ruo came to his senses, Neeko had already packed a bulging bundle.
The bear hide took up more than half of it. The rest consisted of nine Golden Siren Coins, several sets of winter clothes she'd traded for with one Golden Siren Coin in a nearby village, some seasonings, and a small iron pot.
Neeko patted the bundle with satisfaction, then went with Jia Ruo to meet the Sword Saint.
"Are you ready?"
Yi emerged from his meditation and slowly landed. "Then let's go."
And so the three of them set off for northern Ionia to look for Wukong.
Along the way, Jia Ruo marveled at Ionia's breathtaking, artfully sculpted landscapes, while also beginning his true study of the Wuji Dao.
Yi taught him a complete set of techniques, including how to control his breathing, how to vary his steps, and the true Wuji Sword Style.
More importantly, Yi guided Jia Ruo's Mana through a very peculiar circuit inside his body.
"It's like a farmer digging channels to draw water from a river and irrigate his crops," Yi explained.
"Remember the route your Mana took this time. It'll help you carve channels for Mana through your muscles, further nourishing your life force. You can think of it as opening up your meridians."
From that day on, Jia Ruo finally began to learn genuine supernatural techniques.
Day after day passed, and Yi guided Jia Ruo through the circuit twice more.
The process was extremely complicated. Even with the boost to his comprehension from the shard, Jia Ruo had only just managed to memorize every detail of the circuit.
As Mana circulated through his body, he could feel something inside him slowly unfolding.
Then the Mana flowed into those places, which resembled the veins of a leaf.
For the first time, he sensed the meridians he'd only ever heard about in martial arts novels.
As the Mana circulated, the meridians he'd opened gradually expanded, and the Mana flowed through them, further nourishing the life force in his bones and muscles.
"Good. Once you've opened all your meridians, you'll be able to meditate just like me. By then, you'll be able to widen them and strengthen your life force much faster."
Yi watched Jia Ruo with satisfaction.
The kid really did have a fine talent. If he kept at it and practiced diligently, it wouldn't be long before he learned to meditate.
As he walked, Jia Ruo kept the Mana circulating through his body. After learning the Wuji techniques, his physical abilities had finally made a major leap forward. He was now far stronger and faster than before.
That also let him make much faster progress in the Wuji Sword Style.
Yi was pleased with Jia Ruo's progress, so he decided to teach him something more advanced.
"Jia Ruo, the essence of the Wuji Sword Style is to make your will and the sword in your hand one."
"Watch closely."
With that, Yi drew his sword and slashed at a rock by the road. He didn't use the streak-of-light sword technique he'd displayed before. This time, he was demonstrating it for Jia Ruo.
Jia Ruo saw Yi's sword hovering above the rock, not yet touching it, while deep sword marks had already appeared across its surface.
"Focused will can pierce solid rock."
Yi returned his sword to its sheath.
Jia Ruo seemed to grasp something.
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