"A swordsman carrying a green sword was coming this way. He was dressed like an Immortal Elder, so I figured he was here to help you. I brought him over." The Boatman on the other ship leaned on his oar as he explained to Jia Ruo.
With such a distinctive appearance, there was a nine-in-ten chance he was the Sword Saint, Jia Ruo thought.
He gave a bashful grin. "My master was probably worried about me, so he came along too."
"Your master? Who is he?"
Rakan seemed to have found a subject that interested him.
Jia Ruo leaned close to Rakan's ear and whispered, "I'll let you in on a secret. My master is Master Yi."
"That Wuji Sword Saint? You must be pulling my leg." Rakan looked astonished. "How could someone like you become a disciple of the Wuji Sword Saint?"
The Wuji Sword Saint had made a name for himself in the Noxian invasion. His deeds were known in every household across Ionia.
However, he rarely removed the helmet with its strange goggles, so few people knew what he really looked like.
Rakan had heard of him, of course. But... hadn't the Wuji Sect, the Wuji Sword Saint's sect, been wiped out? And besides...
He looked Jia Ruo over again. He simply couldn't imagine Jia Ruo as the kind of promising young talent the Wuji Sword Saint would take on as a disciple.
Jia Ruo rolled his eyes. "Didn't you meet my senior brother before? He's a Symi Ape."
Rakan stroked his beard, thinking that these great masters all seemed to have rather unusual tastes.
At another beach on the island.
Yi drew his sword.
Standing before him were Zed and the Ninja disciples, who were preparing to leave.
Zed hadn't fled that temple because he was afraid of Xayah, Rakan, and the others.
Quite the opposite: he was confident he could defeat them, though it would be a bit of a hassle.
But ever since rebelling against the Kinkou, Zed had stopped caring about personal honor and emotion.
He only wanted to grow stronger.
All is void. All is permitted.
Only the power in his hands was real.
And he needed enough power to realize his ideals...
Now that the stone ring had been destroyed, there was no point stirring up more trouble just to vent his frustration. It would be better to save himself the hassle.
Returning to the Shadow Order and planning his next move sooner was the sensible choice.
But things didn't go as he wished.
The tree longed for stillness, but the wind would not cease.
The man blocking his way gave Zed a dangerous feeling.
Zed signaled the others to leave first. He would deal with this man alone.
Yi didn't stop the Shadow Order disciples as they disappeared one by one.
Zed stared at him. This was a true duel between masters.
They both studied each other. A careless attack would be the beginning of defeat.
Before long, only Zed and Yi remained on the beach, facing off.
Zed broke the deadlock and attacked first.
Two shuriken streaked toward Yi, trailing black mist.
Of course, this was only a feint. Zed and two Shadow Clones attacked at the same time.
All of them were shrouded in black mist formed from Shadow Magic, making it difficult to tell which one was the real Zed.
Yi turned slightly, casually dodging the shuriken.
The trouble was figuring out how to deal with Zed's attack next.
Through his Sevenfold Insight Goggles, Yi clearly saw that the Zed on the left contained slightly more Shadow Magic than the other two.
He had already readied himself to counterattack, the Mana needed for Alpha Strike building within him.
At the critical moment, Yi hesitated for a split second. No. Someone who can control Shadow Magic to this degree wouldn't leave such an obvious opening.
It was a trap.
Yi's eyes narrowed beneath his helmet.
In that case, he would cut them all down in one strike.
He moved after them, yet reached them first, passing through all three Zeds in midair.
Only once Yi's form solidified behind them did blades flash across the three Zeds.
Pfft, pfft, pfft.
All three Zeds crumbled into dissipating black mist.
Not one of them was the real one!
Where was he now?
Yi raised his guard. His Sevenfold Insight Goggles revealed no clues.
He gave up on sight, using his ears, his breath, and his heart to sense everything around him.
Still, he found nothing.
Yi sheathed his sword and slowly walked away.
After a long while, Zed appeared out of thin air on the beach.
He was fewer than ten paces from where the Sword Saint had been standing.
Yi hadn't kept searching for Zed's whereabouts where he stood, because that would have left him open.
And Zed hadn't taken advantage of Yi sheathing his sword and turning away to launch a surprise attack, because that would have played right into Yi's hands.
Though the two masters hadn't clashed again face-to-face, they had still engaged in another contest in the shadows.
Jia Ruo sat on one of the wooden posts used to moor boats at the pier, pretending to gaze out at the sea while secretly circulating Magic Power through his body.
Though the Sword Saint had praised his exceptional talent many times, Jia Ruo understood that even a genius needed to put in the work to grow.
Besides, he had gotten a late start, so now he had to work twice as hard.
"You're working hard, Jia Ruo."
Yi's voice suddenly sounded behind him.
"Master, I knew it was you. When the Boatman said a swordsman with a green sword had arrived, I guessed it was you. You must have come because you were worried about your promising, precious disciple."
Jia Ruo leaped off the post and spoke to Yi with delight.
"Yes, the promising Great Hero Jia Ruo. He didn't even notice me walking right up behind him."
Over the six months since he had taken Jia Ruo as his disciple, Yi had influenced Jia Ruo's temperament.
And Jia Ruo, it seemed, had made Yi more talkative.
In fact, Jia Ruo wasn't the only one.
Neeko, crouched by the shore and fiddling with the seaweed; Xayah and Rakan, leaning together as they watched the sunset; and the Boatmen, chatting on their respective boats—all had failed to notice Yi's approach.
It wasn't until Yi and Jia Ruo started talking that they noticed someone new at the pier.
"I could never compare to you, Master. Even if I trained for a hundred years, I still wouldn't measure up."
Jia Ruo hurriedly piled on the flattery.
"Master Sword Saint!"
Neeko, Xayah, and Rakan gathered around too.
"You must be the Vastaya couple Wukong mentioned. My disciple told me about you. He caused you a great deal of trouble, and I apologize on his behalf."
Rakan and Xayah hurriedly shook their heads. "It's all right. You're too kind."
"You..." Rakan lowered his voice. "Are you truly the Wuji Sword Saint?"
Yi glanced at Jia Ruo. He didn't need to ask; Jia Ruo had surely told them.
"Yes."
Yi answered softly.
In truth, Yi didn't want to mention that title.
He was called the Wuji Sword Saint because, at the time, he was the only swordsman left in the Wuji Sect.
"In that case..."
Rakan started to speak, then looked at Xayah. When she nodded, he continued, "I have an immodest request."
The Sword Saint wasn't actually much older than Rakan, but Rakan still addressed him respectfully.
Yi deserved it, given the great contributions he had made to Ionia.
"Go ahead."
"I'd like to spar with you."
"Very well. Here will do."
"Here?"
Rakan glanced at the rather cramped pier and the Boatmen watching them.
"Yes. Here."
Yi repeated himself.
"All right, then. Forgive me for the offense."
Golden light began to gather around Rakan.
Suddenly, there was a soft crack.
The golden light around Rakan shattered, and a purple feather appeared between Yi's index and middle fingers.
The feather had come from the ornament on Rakan's chest, a decoration unique to the Lotlan tribe. Made of a bird's skull and several feathers, it looked like a little bird.
Rakan's ornament had been made with Xayah's feathers.
Before Rakan could recover, Yi held out the purple feather to him.
Only then did Rakan notice that one of the feathers was missing from the ornament on his chest.
He hadn't even seen Yi make his move.
"I yield."
After Rakan took back the feather, Yi spoke.
"Your skill is incredible."
Rakan was thoroughly impressed and bowed.
Yi gave a slight nod in return.
"Master Sword Saint, we encountered the culprits behind the Magic Power depletion. They were a group of Ninja from the Shadow Order..." Neeko finally found a chance to speak.
She couldn't wait to tell Yi how far they had gotten on their journey.
But Yi interrupted her. "Let's talk on the boat. It's getting dark."
Before you continue