On the other side of Huaisha City.
At night, scattered lights glimmered across the vast, dark city like pale yellow fireflies, some brightening while others dimmed.
In a building near the road, less than five hundred meters from the port, Chen Huan stood in the fifth-floor training room.
Holding a black wooden staff, she stood by the window, gazing at the scattered lights slowly coming on outside without saying a word.
Her hair was tied in a ponytail. She wore a close-fitting white protective underlayer that outlined her taut, slender, graceful figure.
"Practicing your sword again?"
The training-room door opened behind her, and Xu Yi walked in carrying a cup of hot tea.
Unlike Chen Huan, she wore black pajamas, her long hair loose. She looked as if she had only just gotten up.
"Yeah. The qualifying spots are coming up soon, so I'm getting in some extra practice." Chen Huan turned around. "Why are you up so early?"
"I was supposed to come open up, but when I got here and saw the lights on in the practice room, I knew you must have arrived early. So I came up to check."
Xu Yi paused, walked over to Chen Huan, and pulled over a wooden chair to sit down.
"Are you still worried about that Lin Sheng?" she asked in a quiet voice.
"I have to be. Huaisha City only has two spots, and there are ten teams in all. I'm not in great shape right now, so I can't guarantee I'll hold on to second place." Chen Huan replied gravely.
"So you're pushing yourself with all this extra practice?" Xu Yi asked. "Do you think it'll help?"
"..." Chen Huan said nothing.
Xu Yi fell silent too.
She knew exactly why Chen Huan was pushing herself so hard.
The National Amateur Swordsmanship League was mainly organized by wealthy people interested in Naxi Swordsmanship.
Naturally, those wealthy organizers attracted teams from all over with generous prize money.
Here in Huaisha City, anyone who qualified for the provincial round received a 50,000-yuan qualifying bonus. Chen Huan couldn't afford to go without that money.
The National Amateur Swordsmanship League, held every so often, was her chance to earn extra income openly and legitimately.
Things had been going well enough that way. But now Lin Sheng had suddenly appeared.
Chen Huan clearly wasn't confident she could beat him, which was why she was under so much pressure and had gotten up so early to practice.
"Be careful. You'll wear yourself out."
"It's fine. I know my own body." Chen Huan shook her head slightly.
Xu Yi sighed, said no more, and turned to leave with her tea, walking slowly.
The door clicked shut behind her.
She paused for a while. Soon, she heard the sound of wooden staffs whistling through the air inside the practice room.
Sighing again, Xu Yi quickened her pace and went down to the fourth floor, returning to the building's management office.
Her main job was managing the sports center. She handled the martial arts center and coordinated the rental of practice rooms to outside groups.
Back in the office, Xu Yi closed the door, quickly picked up the desk phone, and skillfully dialed a number.
"Beep."
"Hello?" A faint crackle came through the receiver, followed by a calm male voice.
"It's me," Xu Yi replied. "She practiced extra again today. That makes three days in a row."
"..." The man on the other end didn't answer.
"Her injury still hasn't completely healed. I'm a little worried." Xu Yi stopped and paused.
"I understand," the man replied over the phone. "Keep an eye on her for me."
"Got it." Xu Yi let out a breath. She waited until she heard him hang up before putting down the receiver.
"I'm not sick! I'm not sick!! I swear!! Believe me!!"
Inside the Steel Scale Club.
Russell had Madilan by the neck with both hands.
"You're seriously sick! You need treatment!" Madilan shouted, his face flushed. He was dark-skinned to begin with, so the redness barely showed.
When Lin Sheng walked in early that morning, he saw several club attendants nearby, trying to hold in their laughter as they watched the show.
Russell and Madilan were grappling with each other, and he had no idea what they were up to.
Xiayin stood to one side, touching up her makeup in a little mirror, seemingly not interested in them at all.
"What are you guys doing?" Lin Sheng asked, baffled. Russell had grabbed at Madilan's lower body, only to be blocked, and now the two were desperately wrestling.
"He's gone crazy, Teacher!" Madilan yelled. "He suddenly lunged at me and tried to kiss me! Good thing I dodged in time!"
"I wasn't trying to kiss you, damn it!! I was trying to kiss Xiayin!!" Russell shrieked as Madilan tightened his grip around his neck.
"But you kissed me, damn it!!!" Madilan roared.
Xiayin put away her little mirror and chuckled at the two of them.
"Russell's an idiot. He saw me sneaking upstairs and wanted to surprise me, but Madilan got caught in the crossfire. Did he really think I didn't know what he was up to?"
She sneered, adjusted the two buns she had just tied on her head, and hopped down from the stone counter at the front desk.
Lin Sheng couldn't help laughing, though he also had to envy how close they were.
He simply went to sit off to the side and rest, waiting for the two of them to finish fooling around.
Russell claimed he'd undergone special training, but he still wasn't as strong as Madilan. The close-range wrestling quickly settled the matter, ending with Russell shouting for mercy.
Once they were done, Lin Sheng clapped his hands.
"All right, let's get started with today's lesson."
"Let's go, let's go!"
"Come on, Teacher Lin."
Madilan and Russell followed Lin Sheng into the practice room.
Xiayin went alone to the women's changing room to get changed.
The Steel Scale Club was much more professional than the Tengchong Club. Even the protective gear had two layers, and they had every kind of equipment, from elbow and shoulder guards to knee and forearm guards.
The swords were solid, too. They were only a little lighter than the Black Sword Lin Sheng used in his dreams. They weren't sharpened, but they felt quite realistic.
Once the three of them had changed into their protective gear, they gathered in the middle of the practice room.
"Teacher Lin, there's a competition coming up. Are you going to enter?" Xiayin was usually the most dependable, and she was the first to ask.
"What competition?" Lin Sheng asked, puzzled. "You know I used to practice alone and didn't have much contact with the outside world."
He had told the three of them that he was a self-taught expert, and that all his swordsmanship had been forged in real combat.
His style really did match that explanation, so none of them doubted him. The only thing they wondered about was where he had gained all that combat experience.
After all, hardly anyone practiced Naxi Swordsmanship these days.
"It's the National Amateur Swordsmanship League, usually shortened to the Amateur League," Russell quickly explained. "Going by past years, Chen Huan from the Tengchong Club usually competes. She's the strongest around here."
"That was before. Things are different now," Madilan continued. "If you want to enter, Teacher Lin, we can help you sign up early. The club will cover the entry fee."
"What's the point of entering?" Lin Sheng had never heard of this competition or had any way of learning about it elsewhere, so he looked puzzled.
"The biggest benefit is getting to exchange swordsmanship with other opponents. Then there's the prize money, and it can help you get your name out there," Madilan explained.
"But honestly, you can ignore the fame part," he continued. "It's just an amateur competition. It's mostly people who like swords getting together and putting on a tournament for fun."
"How much is the prize money?" Lin Sheng was more concerned about that. His family wasn't in the best financial shape, and he didn't hide the fact that money mattered to him.
Madilan thought for a moment. "I forget how much it is, but I think you get some money for qualifying at each level."
As he was still trying to remember, Xiayin had already handed Lin Sheng a sheet of paper.
Lin Sheng took it and saw that it was an information sheet for the National Amateur Swordsmanship League.
He skimmed past the other details, his eyes quickly landing on the prize money.
"City and county qualifiers—two spots, 50,000 yuan per person."
"Provincial qualifiers—one spot, 100,000 yuan."
"National rankings—first place, 500,000 yuan; second place, 200,000 yuan; third place, 150,000 yuan."
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