Star Gallop Under Moon

For the next few days, Ye Xinglan never missed a session; she would arrive, fight, and then chat once the sparring was over.

Sometimes, they would talk for four or five hours straight.

Yun Jingheng remained curious: didn't she have classes to attend?

Ye Xinglan's answer was simple: she did, but she skipped them.

"Jingheng, how exactly do you pull off that Mark Pursuit of yours?"

One day, right after they finished sparring, she sat by the lake and suddenly asked.

Yun Jingheng thought for a moment. "Hmm... it's just that wherever there's a mark, I can go there."

Ye Xinglan frowned. "I know you can go there, I'm asking how you do it."

Yun Jingheng fell silent.

This question... was a very good question.

Because he truly didn't know how to explain it.

"It's just a feeling."

He stammered, "I just sense the mark, and then I can go."

Ye Xinglan stared at him with her large blue eyes, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly.

"What you just said... is the same as saying nothing at all."

Yun Jingheng pondered this.

"That is true..."

Ye Xinglan: ╬!!!

The next day.

She wasn't in a rush to fight, instead standing blankly by the lake, staring at her own martial soul.

"I have an idea that isn't quite fully formed yet..."

Yun Jingheng looked up. "Hm? What's up?"

Ye Xinglan looked at him very seriously. "Can I use your marks?"

?

What was she talking about?

Ye Xinglan continued, "Your first soul skill and second soul skill both apply a mark to the target when they hit, and then you can teleport to them."

She paused.

"What I mean is... what if I also had a way to quickly close the distance to that target?"

Yun Jingheng thought about it.

"Your Sword God Star is a single-target piercing skill, and Sword God Net is an area-of-effect damage skill; you don't have any displacement skills."

Ye Xinglan nodded.

"I'm not an idiot, of course I know that, which is why I'm wondering if I can borrow your marks."

Yun Jingheng didn't speak; he was starting to doubt Ye Xinglan's intelligence.

Could this thing even be borrowed?

Ye Xinglan continued, "Are you the only one who can sense your marks?"

Hey! That was a question he actually didn't know the answer to.

He dove into his spiritual sea and found Xiao Jiu.

"Xiao Jiu, am I the only one who can sense these marks?"

Xiao Jiu rubbed against his pant leg.

"Theoretically, only you can use them, but if you are willing, others can sense them too."

Yun Jingheng was stunned.

Was it really that magical?

"Is that so?"

Xiao Jiu scratched its ear.

"Mmhmm, but you would need to actively open up control over the marks."

"However, if you do that, it won't just be the person you designate who can sense them; others will be able to sense them as well."

"It's sort of... a minor drawback."

"Oh... alright, I'll give it a try."

Yun Jingheng exited his spiritual sea and looked at Ye Xinglan.

"We can try it out."

Ye Xinglan's large, "Lan"-like eyes lit up.

"Really?"

Yun Jingheng nodded, "I'm just not sure if it will succeed."

Ye Xinglan stood up, her tone slightly excited.

"We'll know once we try!"

The two stood their ground.

Yun Jingheng swung his sword, sending a Crescent Slash toward a target thirty meters away.

The lunar blade struck home, leaving behind a silver mark invisible to others.

He closed his eyes, attempting to release his conscious control over that mark.

Within his sea of consciousness, Xiao Jiu wagged its tail.

"Right, right, just like that—let it radiate outward."

Yun Jingheng did as it instructed.

A few seconds later, Ye Xinglan suddenly stared at the target and spoke.

"I can sense it."

Yun Jingheng opened his eyes.

Ye Xinglan was staring at the target, specifically at a spot that seemed to be...

"There, it feels like there's something."

"It's very faint, but it's definitely there!"

Yun Jingheng was stunned for a moment.

"For real?"

Ye Xinglan was very certain, "Real. It's like a form of guidance. My eyes can't see it, it's just... a feeling in my heart."

Yun Jingheng looked at her, then glanced back at the mark on the target.

"Can you walk over there and point out the position you're sensing?"

Ye Xinglan tentatively took a step forward.

She walked very slowly, appearing as if she were confirming whether the mark truly existed.

She reached the target, hesitated for a moment, then pointed to a spot on it and looked back at Yun Jingheng.

"Here?"

Yun Jingheng: "..."

Holy crab!

What the hell is the logic behind this?

She can actually sense it?!

Hiss~ well... her intelligence is fine.

It just makes my own understanding seem limited...

Ye Xinglan walked back, her eyes brimming with excitement.

"Let's do it again!"

The two of them tried dozens of times.

From thirty meters, to fifty, to eighty.

Ye Xinglan was able to follow the guidance of the mark and precisely locate its position every time.

But she could only locate it; she couldn't teleport there like Yun Jingheng.

She still had to run over there herself.

"That's no fun..." she frowned.

Yun Jingheng thought for a moment.

"How fast can you run?"

"Huh?"

"I mean... from over there to where we are now, what is your limit in terms of speed?"

Ye Xinglan thought about it.

"For thirty meters... a little over one second."

Thirty meters in a little over a second...?

Bolt's record for the 100-meter dash is 9.58 seconds.

If we calculate this based on variable acceleration in a straight line...

The acceleration from 0 to 30 meters is the process of going from zero to maximum.

So, calculating it this way... the theoretical speed should be over 5 seconds, but I remember the speed test results being around 3 seconds.

666, you're even more impressive than Bolt.

Can the nourishment of soul power really let a nine-year-old girl blow Bolt out of the water?!

Is it really that ridiculous?!

Yun Jingheng's gaze was exceptionally strange.

"Hey! What's that look for? With my level 21 soul power fully unleashed, even if I can't surpass you, I wouldn't fall too far behind!"

Yun Jingheng withdrew his gaze.

Soul power fully unleashed?

Then it's fine.

But his mind was still turning over that thought from just a moment ago.

A nine-year-old girl, relying on soul power augmentation, can run thirty meters in just over a second.

What kind of concept is that?

It's equivalent to a speed of over twenty meters per second.

In his past life, that would be more than double the speed of a top-tier sprinter.

And she's only nine years old, only at the second ring.

He suddenly had a more intuitive understanding of this world's power system.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?"

Ye Xinglan's voice pulled him back.

Yun Jingheng looked at her.

"I was thinking about how fast you run."

Ye Xinglan was stunned for a moment, then the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl upward.

"Well, obviously."

Yun Jingheng thought for a moment.

"Then what if we add my traction to that?"

Ye Xinglan blinked.

"What do you mean?"

Yun Jingheng said.

"You run toward the mark at your top speed, and at the same time, I use Moonlight Protection to pull or push you in that direction."

"With the two forces combined, your speed should be even faster."

Ye Xinglan's eyes lit up.

"Wanna try?"

Yun Jingheng nodded.

The two stood side by side.

Yun Jingheng gripped his Moonlight Sword and unleashed a Crescent Slash, striking the target thirty meters away.

He then immediately released his control over the mark so that Ye Xinglan could perceive it.

Ye Xinglan took a deep breath, and her entire body shot forward like an arrow.

The moment she dashed out, Yun Jingheng lit up his second soul ring.

A silvery-white light spread out from beneath his feet, but he kept the range to a minimum, aiming it at the forward-dashing Ye Xinglan.

A supple force surged forth, pushing Ye Xinglan forward.

She was already fast to begin with, and with this added traction... no, it wasn't gravitational, at this very moment, it was repulsive.

From another perspective, traction is just repulsion; the essence is the same, only the direction differs.

However, the effect achieved was: her speed doubled, and in a mere half-second, she had already pierced the target with her sword, her momentum carrying her forward several more steps before she could barely come to a halt.

She stood there in a daze, looking at the target, then back at her own sword.

Then, she whipped her head around to look at Yun Jingheng.

Her eyes were shimmering with a marvelous light.

"That just now..."

Yun Jingheng walked over with a smile.

"How did it feel?"

Ye Xinglan thought for a moment. "Too fast."

"I hadn't even managed to draw my sword before it hit the target."

Yun Jingheng nodded. "Then draw it a little earlier?"

Ye Xinglan looked at him and suddenly laughed.

"You guy, why do you talk as if you're executing a move?"

Yun Jingheng pursed his lips. "What do you mean? It's supposed to be like this."

They tried many more times.

From the initial clumsiness, they gradually developed a sense of synergy.

Ye Xinglan's sword speed grew faster and faster, striking the moment the pulling or pushing force reached its peak.

Speed and power, perfectly superimposed.

Yun Jingheng also slowly found the most suitable method; it wasn't just simple pushing or pulling, but applying force along the trajectory of her movement.

It was like the composition of forces, the superposition of vectors.

From linear directions to curved paths.

From the transition between pulling force and repulsive force.

By dusk, the two sat by the lake to rest.

Ye Xinglan was panting heavily, but her eyes were startlingly bright.

"This coordination feels amazing!"

Yun Jingheng didn't speak, merely recovering his soul power in silence.

Ye Xinglan looked at him.

"Should we give it a name?"

Yun Jingheng was taken aback.

"A name?"

"Yeah, it's a combo move that belongs to the two of us. Shouldn't it have a name?"

Yun Jingheng thought for a bit. "You run, I pull, you strike..."

"How about we call it..."

"Call it what?"

"The Ultimate Invincible Star-Moon Push-Pull Super-Absolute Bidirectional Force Field Final Dream Light-Speed Instant Kill Slash--!"

Ye Xinglan: "..."

"Are you insane? What kind of trash name is that?!"

Yun Jingheng retorted irritably, "You're the insane one. Isn't such a sacred name good?"

Ye Xinglan gritted her teeth. "Sacred my foot! It's more like 'deranged'!"

"You aren't allowed to name it! I'll do it!"

Yun Jingheng wanted to say something else, but Ye Xinglan had already stood up.

She paced back and forth with her hands behind her back, muttering to herself.

"You are the moon, I am the star... the star chasing the moon... no, that's not right, I'm running and you're pushing..."

She stopped and looked back at him.

"How about Star-Moon?"

Yun Jingheng shook his head decisively. "Too plain. I still think we should call it: The Ultimate Invincible--"

"Shut up, you're not allowed to call it that. It sounds awful."

"..."

Ye Xinglan frowned and took a few more steps.

"Then how about... Moon Shadow Chasing Star?"

Yun Jingheng thought about it. "Sounds like I'm chasing you."

Ye Xinglan's face flushed slightly. "Who told you to chase me!"

Yun Jingheng: ???

Yun Jingheng spread his hands. "Then by all means, continue."

Ye Xinglan paced back and forth a few more times before suddenly stopping.

"Star Gallop Under Moon."

She turned around to look at Yun Jingheng.

"The stars gallop under the illumination of the moon. You push me, and I charge ahead."

She paused.

"How is it?"

Yun Jingheng opened his mouth, wanting to say something.

But seeing the way someone's eyes were slightly narrowed and her fists were clenched...

Yun Jingheng swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue; he chose to follow his heart.

"It's quite good."