Teaching

Although their status was not equal, Li Nannan was still grateful to Ji Ruo.

That was why, while she was treating her wounds and purging the poison, she had devoted some of her attention to carefully listening to Ji Ruo's theories on swordsmanship.

Li Nannan had already made up her mind to give Ji Ruo proper guidance. If he was willing, she even planned to teach him everything she knew.

After all, he had saved her life.

But after hearing Ji Ruo explain his theories on swordsmanship, she suddenly felt that this student was a little too ambitious.

Were Ji Ruo's theories on swordsmanship any good? Actually, they were excellent.

Were they impractical? In theory, they were feasible.

But for a Martial Apprentice, they were far too advanced.

Even for a Qi Pulse Realm martial artist like her, they were somewhat advanced.

As everyone knew, whether one was at the Martial Apprentice Realm or the Qi Pulse Realm, the only way to use sword techniques to defend against hidden weapons—or, for that matter, any flying object—was to meet speed with speed, using an extremely fast sword technique to form a crude "sword perimeter" in front of oneself and block the attack. Put simply, it all came down to luck.

Listening for a sound and pinpointing its source was a skill almost every martial artist possessed, but predicting the attack? That wasn't something one could learn just by listening and locating sounds!

Battles against Demon Monsters or other martial artists changed in the blink of an eye. To pinpoint every flying object in an instant by listening for its sound, calculate its position in one's head, predict where each one would land, and then execute a sword move—it was practically impossible!

Not to mention a Martial Apprentice. Even a Qi Pulse Realm martial artist rarely had such incredible reflexes!

The sword technique Ji Ruo described could only be called an imaginary sword technique!

After a moment's hesitation, Li Nannan said, "Ji Ruo, when it comes to the Martial Dao, you still need to keep your feet on the ground..."

She couldn't put it too plainly. She was afraid of hurting Ji Ruo's pride.

But Ji Ruo understood what Li Nannan was implying. Didn't she just think he was getting ahead of himself?

So Ji Ruo flourished the Small Wooden Stick in his hand, spinning it into a graceful flourish, and said, "Then that's enough theory for now. Teacher, could I ask you to help me with something?"

Li Nannan froze. "What is it?"

Ji Ruo turned and picked up a pile of small stones from around the hollow, then set them in front of Li Nannan. "What you gain from books will never compare to what you learn by putting it into practice. You can't learn swordsmanship just by listening to theory. We need to see it demonstrated in a real fight. Sorry for the trouble, Teacher, but could you throw stones at me? I'll demonstrate it for the class monitor."

"Throw stones?" Li Nannan hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "All right."

She was trying to decide whether to throw them hard or go easy on him.

If she threw them hard and Ji Ruo couldn't block them, it might crush the child's confidence.

But if she went easy on him, Li Nannan felt she would be deceiving these children, which would do nothing for their progress in the Martial Dao.

She was torn.

"Teacher, I'm ready."

"Mm."

Li Nannan took a deep breath and decided to throw hard after all. So what if it crushed his confidence? There was no room for cutting corners on the path of the Martial Dao.

She would use this opportunity to teach Ji Ruo that "you can't get ahead of yourself when practicing martial arts."

Then Li Nannan reached out and picked up a stone. With a turn of her wrist, she threw it using the standard technique for hurling hidden weapons.

"Whoosh—"

The stone tore through the air, moving so fast that even Ji Ruo, a level-six Martial Apprentice, could barely see it.

Li Nannan thought, If this stone hits him, it's going to hurt. But the lesson will certainly sink in!

She watched Ji Ruo. Given her cultivation, even though she hadn't fully recovered, she wouldn't miss.

And Ji Ruo was only a level-six Martial Apprentice. This strike was bound to hit!

But in the next moment, she froze.

Ji Ruo hadn't even looked at the stone she'd thrown. He'd even turned to talk to Liang Shixian. "Watch closely, class monitor. Listening for sounds and predicting the attack—that's the Nine Swords of Dugu: Arrow Breaking Form."

At the same time, the standard longsword that had been strapped to his back had somehow appeared in Ji Ruo's hand. He hadn't even looked as he swung it seemingly at random, stopping at a particular spot—

"Clang!"

The stone bounced off the blade. Li Nannan stared in astonishment.

Was it luck? Or had Ji Ruo really mastered a sword technique like that?

Just then, Ji Ruo turned back and smiled. "Teacher, don't stop. Throw more. One at a time won't show the results, will it?"

Li Nannan took a deep breath. "All right!"

She picked up three stones and threw them at once.

The three stones shot through the air, still moving too fast for the naked eye to follow. They flew in a triangle, aimed at Ji Ruo.

Their angles of attack were extremely tricky. By Li Nannan's reckoning, even if Ji Ruo managed to block one, the other two would surely hit him.

With the reflexes of a level-six Martial Apprentice, it was impossible to block all three stones at once!

Even if he reacted in time and blocked one, he wouldn't have time to stop the other two.

But Ji Ruo suddenly extended his sword to the left for no apparent reason, sweeping it upward in a half-circle—

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

Three clangs rang out almost simultaneously!

Li Nannan's mouth fell open slightly.

It wasn't that she couldn't do it. But could Ji Ruo, a level-six Martial Apprentice, really predict the stones' trajectories and the order they would arrive in just by listening for their sounds?!

Ji Ruo turned to Liang Shixian again. "Class monitor, once you learn this sword technique, it doesn't matter whether your eyes can see them. As long as you can still hear—"

Li Nannan's eyes narrowed. There's an opening!

She attacked almost instantly, using a special technique to throw seven stones at once!

Some of the seven stones were faster and some slower, but their speeds didn't differ much. They could just about be considered simultaneous.

What was more, three of them didn't fly in straight lines. Two curved in arcs, while one followed a zigzag path!

Forget the fact that Ji Ruo wasn't even looking this way. A level-six Martial Apprentice couldn't possibly see them clearly. Even if he could, he still wouldn't be able to predict their trajectories.

A continuous series of clanging sounds rang out as one stone after another was knocked aside, and Ji Ruo hadn't even turned his head!

In almost the same instant, the only stone Li Nannan had thrown that remained was the last one, flying along a zigzag path.

Ji Ruo still didn't turn around.

The stone had already reached Ji Ruo. If he didn't block it, it was bound to slam into his chest.

Yet Ji Ruo seemed not to have noticed it at all. He didn't raise his sword to block. Instead, he suddenly lifted the longsword in his hand and held it horizontally above his head.

Liang Shixian didn't understand what Ji Ruo was doing, but Li Nannan was already staring in utter shock.

The stone hadn't struck Ji Ruo. Instead, in defiance of the laws of physics, it abruptly shot upward and burst into more than a dozen tiny fragments above Ji Ruo's head, which then rained back down!

The longsword in Ji Ruo's hand danced again, his movements graceful and effortless.

"Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!"

The clattering of stones against the sword ran together in a single burst—they had all been blocked!

And Ji Ruo was still talking to Liang Shixian. "...the sounds, and you'll be able to predict their paths, then take them down one by one! In fact, this sword technique doesn't require much calculating ability. I'll teach you a few tricks to it later. Once you've got the hang of those tricks and practiced enough, you'll naturally master its unique rhythm and cadence. Then it'll be easy to fight with this sword technique. Just let your instincts guide your strikes."

"Uh, wow..."

Li Nannan was dumbfounded.