Chapter 19

Hss.

Lin Sheng held a wooden stick and thrust it straight ahead again and again.

He blended in with the group of students, unremarkable at a glance. But a closer look showed that his movements were the most precise of them all.

Chen Huan stood to one side with her arms folded, watching closely with a frown.

"He's improving so fast!" she murmured.

Beside her, Xu Yi took a sip of hot water from her thermos.

"Only three weeks, and he's practically a born swordsmanship prodigy. Looks like we've struck gold."

Chen Huan shook her head. "Even if we have, there's not much we can do. We're not an official organization, so we can't properly register him for competitive events.

"Even we coaches have to register through other organizations. If he wants a certification, he'll have to pay for it himself."

"He's still a beginner. There's plenty of time before he needs to worry about rankings," Xu Yi said with a smile. "But we can give him some proper training. If he wins a medal, wouldn't that bring the club back to life?"

"Let's hope so." Chen Huan was tempted by the idea, too.

The truth was, competitive sports were all about youth and quick reflexes. It was a young person's game.

Naxi Swordsmanship had competitive events throughout Celine, too. If they could get someone to represent the city, that would be far better than the club's current half-dead state.

The entire swordsmanship club was being kept afloat by investments from a few rich kids. Its day-to-day expenses far exceeded its income.

To be honest, she and Du Xinlei had only opened the club to teach students in hopes of earning a little extra and cutting costs.

"Actually, if we're being honest, we're all half-baked," Chen Huan said helplessly. "I've studied Naxi Swordsmanship for two years at most. Du Xinlei's only been at it for three."

"It's not that complicated to begin with. It's all about your overall abilities, and there are only a handful of moves. No matter how you learn them, they're still the same," Xu Yi said with a smile. "Besides—"

She took another sip of water. "Besides, this club was something Young Master Chen and the others set up just for fun.

"You and Du Xinlei are the only ones taking it seriously. If they were really worried about losing money, they wouldn't have started it in the first place."

"That may be true," Chen Huan said with a wry smile.

She was about to say more, but it was time for the students to practice sparring.

"All right, everyone, listen up. We're starting sparring now. No hits to the head or below the waist. The first person to touch their opponent's torso wins." Chen Huan clapped her hands and began directing everyone to put on their protective clothing and helmets.

Lin Sheng was drenched in sweat. He lowered his wooden stick and could feel his body as if it had just awakened from beneath the surface of the water. A strange sense of familiarity kept correcting his thrusts.

Something's off. Could the changes in my dream really be affecting reality?

His heart skipped a beat.

After killing the Rotten Swordsman in his dream a while ago, he hadn't thought much of it after waking up.

But when he started practicing swordsmanship again this time, he began to sense that something wasn't right.

The feel of his thrusts and the way his movements flowed together were on a completely different level from before.

It was as if he had practiced them countless times. Some movements came naturally, while others were still awkward, as though he only knew the basic stance.

He stood frozen, gripping the wooden stick.

He had just tested a few movements and already figured out what was wrong.

"My basic thrust is so much more practiced than before."

Could it be...? Lin Sheng's pupils contracted as he suddenly thought of what had happened in his dream.

"In the dream, I got the Rotten Swordsman's memory fragments and muscle memory after killing him. Now it's even affecting reality..."

Lin Sheng's mind went still, and for a moment, his thoughts were a tangled mess.

This supernatural phenomenon frightened him, but also filled him with anticipation.

"If the Ravel I killed really existed, then what about Black Feather City? Was there really once a place called Black Feather City? Did it actually exist?"

Lin Sheng felt increasingly unnerved.

He realized that his dreams were definitely not just a little unusual, as he had previously thought.

If such a transformation could happen in a dream, did that mean similar anomalies existed elsewhere in the world?

"Is this world really the ordinary one I thought it was?" Lin Sheng's hand tightened slightly around the wooden stick.

"Lin Sheng! Feng Xia, you two spar."

Chen Huan's voice suddenly jolted him out of his daze.

Lin Sheng looked up. Feng Xia, one of the more skilled students, was already standing opposite him in protective gear and a helmet, holding a black wooden stick.

Feng Xia pulled down her helmet's visor and took up Roof Stance, holding her stick upright beside her ear.

Lin Sheng realized it was time to spar. He hurriedly put on his bamboo helmet, donned his headgear, and pulled down the visor. All he could see of his opponent was through the wire mesh.

The other students were pairing off around them, getting ready to spar.

Everyone at the club was a beginner. In just the few weeks he'd been there, Lin Sheng had already seen two new faces replace students beside him.

Most students only came to a few lessons. Once their initial enthusiasm wore off, they stopped showing up.

It made sense. These days, who wanted to suffer through daily sword training? No matter how skilled you were, one bullet could take you out.

And around here, you needed a permit just to carry a sword in public.

"Get ready. Three, two, one, begin." Chen Huan finished assigning the pairs, raised her right arm, and brought it down.

Lin Sheng quickly raised his wooden stick and faced Feng Xia.

Although Feng Xia was a woman, she weighed 183 pounds and stood about the same height as Lin Sheng, a little over five foot seven. Facing him, she exuded a fierce, imposing presence.

When she saw Lin Sheng raise his stick, she quickly took up a stance and brought it down in a slash.

Hss!

In an instant, Lin Sheng turned his stick. It was a feint—his downward slash became a straight thrust.

His black wooden stick shot forward, covering less distance than Feng Xia's slash and striking its target first.

"Ah!"

Feng Xia clutched her stomach and crouched down. Her stick fell from her hand as she groaned in pain over and over.

Lin Sheng stood frozen, still holding the thrusting stance.

In that instant, he had almost instinctively used Ravel's thrust.

And the result...

"Looks like it really works." His expression didn't change, but he was deeply shaken inside.

That thrust really was much more ferocious in a fight than the other moves he'd learned.

Feng Xia had moved first, but her sword had to travel a much greater distance than his.

When their speeds were about the same, the distance between a blade and its target was what truly decided the outcome.

"Again!" Feng Xia rested for a moment, then stood up and took her stance again, gripping her wooden stick.

Lin Sheng fell silent. He wanted to find out whether he had really changed.

Soon, Feng Xia was struck again and again, crouching down and crying out in pain each time.

The other students quickly noticed the commotion.

Thump.

A single strike knocked the wooden stick out of Feng Xia's hand.

She stubbornly clutched her hand, then tried to pick it up and continue.

"That's enough. The gap between you two is too great. I'll take over." Chen Huan walked over and stopped Feng Xia. "Lin Sheng has improved too quickly. He only knows one move, the straight thrust, but he's better at it than anyone else."

"I'm just not in good shape today. I didn't sleep well last night. Otherwise..." Feng Xia said unwillingly.

"It's not your fault." Chen Huan shook her head and cut her off.

Holding her wooden stick, Chen Huan stood opposite Lin Sheng.

She gripped the stick with both hands and held it upright beside her ear.

"Your fighting style reminds me of the old battlefield swordsmanship manuals I've seen. In ancient times, Naxi Swordsmanship was also used primarily for thrusting in battle formations."

"Coach, are you...?" Lin Sheng asked hesitantly.

"Let's spar one-on-one." Chen Huan lowered her gaze and bent her body slightly, radiating a hint of sternness.

Lin Sheng opened his mouth to say something, but when he saw that Chen Huan wasn't going to speak again, he settled down.

He wanted to find out just how good he was after gaining Ravel's muscle memory.

The two faced each other, their wooden sticks held upright like real swords as they stood off against one another.