Guidance (Two Chapters Combined)

After Leng Yaozhu finished speaking, she stepped out from beside the seat of honor and turned her gaze toward the main hall's entrance.

"Come on. Take me to the place where you usually practice."

At her words, Chu Yan nodded slightly without asking any questions, then turned and led the way.

He guided Leng Yaozhu through the courtyard, around the covered corridor, and along the stone path to the entrance of the training ground in the rear courtyard.

Leng Yaozhu followed behind him at an unhurried pace, her gaze sweeping over the layout and furnishings of the Chu Clan residence. She paused briefly now and then but said nothing.

At the entrance to the training ground, Chu Yan stepped aside to make way, inviting Leng Yaozhu to enter first.

Leng Yaozhu did not decline. She walked into the grounds, swept her gaze over the smooth granite floor, and glanced at the Ironwood Staffs on the weapon rack along the wall, each worn to a different degree. Then she turned to face Chu Yan and spoke.

"Give it everything you've got. Let me see your current combat ability."

At her words, Chu Yan's gaze sharpened for a moment.

He looked at Leng Yaozhu. She stood there casually, without even releasing her Soul Power.

But a faint glimmer in her deep brown eyes showed that she was clearly not joking.

"You mean you want to spar, Teacher?"

"Mm." Leng Yaozhu nodded, then continued, "Don't hold back. Use whatever moves you like. I'll take them."

She paused, then added, "Don't worry. You won't get hurt."

At that, Chu Yan did not hesitate. He briskly loosened his wrists and rolled them twice, then strode forward and took his position in the center of the training ground.

He knew Leng Yaozhu wanted to test the results of his three years of training through actual combat. A verbal report could never be as clear as a real fight.

And with Leng Yaozhu's cultivation, even his full-strength attacks could not hurt her in the slightest. He had nothing to worry about. If anything, he could use this opportunity to test his strongest trump card.

"Teacher, forgive me."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Chu Yan released his Martial Soul.

Bzz—!

The dark golden Yan Divine Weapon appeared in his hand. Ancient golden light flowed across the secret patterns on its shaft, which looked deeper and more substantial than it had three years ago.

Immediately afterward, two purple Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet and slowly revolved around him.

The first Soul Ring had deepened in color since three years ago, now tinged with dark purple—the distinctive hue of a thousand-year Soul Ring.

The second Soul Ring was a pure, deep purple, approaching three thousand years old. The purple light around it was almost solid.

Leng Yaozhu's gaze passed over the two purple Soul Rings revolving around Chu Yan. She showed little surprise, only a look of confirmation.

She had known all along that Chu Yan's Soul Rings far surpassed those of his peers. After three years, she had expected them to change.

Without hesitation, Chu Yan stomped forward, his body shooting ahead like an arrow loosed from its string.

Hunyuan Staff Technique: Opening Stance!

He held the Yan Divine Weapon across his body, his steps steady and his stance solid. Three years of practice had made the fundamentals of this staff technique instinctive.

As he neared Leng Yaozhu, he used his momentum to sweep the Yan Divine Weapon upward from below. The tip of the staff traced a sharp arc straight toward her chest.

Upward Sweep!

The strike carried solid force, and its whoosh through the air rang clear.

Leng Yaozhu did not move her feet. She merely raised her right hand and flicked a finger.

Ting—!

A faint, crisp sound rang out as her fingertip struck the side of the staff with pinpoint accuracy. A gentle yet irresistible force traveled along the shaft, forcibly deflecting Chu Yan's attack. The force of the rebound sent him stumbling half a step to the right.

The gap between them was clearly immense.

Chu Yan steadied himself, neither discouraged nor pausing. Using the momentum of that half-step, he twisted at the waist and turned, sweeping the Yan Divine Weapon from right to left. The staff whooshed through the air toward Leng Yaozhu's waist.

But Leng Yaozhu still did not move her feet. She casually pressed her palm downward and stopped the sweeping staff.

Then she applied a little pressure, pressing the staff down. Chu Yan felt an unbearable weight pour from the shaft. The force dragged his center of gravity downward, bending his knees and forcing him halfway to the ground.

He had attacked twice in a row without so much as brushing Leng Yaozhu's clothes.

Chu Yan regained his footing, took a deep breath, and stepped back twice to create some distance.

"Your close-quarters staff technique is already quite good." Leng Yaozhu withdrew her hand, her tone approving. Then she changed tack and continued:

"But your Martial Soul, the Yan Divine Weapon, is probably better suited to something other than close-quarters combat, right?"

Chu Yan nodded.

"Then I'll switch things up."

He gripped the Yan Divine Weapon tightly and channeled his mental power into it.

Fine cracks spread across the surface of its dark golden shaft. One, two, three...

Eighteen Golden Small Swords flew out through the cracks and hovered around him.

Each small sword was only the size of a palm. Delicate secret patterns flowed across the blades, which gleamed with a cold metallic sheen in the afternoon sunlight.

The eighteen small swords formed a semicircle in the air, their points facing outward and glinting with razor-sharp menace.

Leng Yaozhu glanced at the eighteen Golden Small Swords, her gaze noticeably more focused than before. This boy's Martial Soul was unlike any other.

Chu Yan did not hesitate. At a thought, all eighteen small swords moved at once!

Nine of them accelerated immediately, turning into nine streaks of golden light that stabbed toward Leng Yaozhu along different trajectories!

At the same time, the other nine traced more erratic arcs through the air, appearing and disappearing like phantoms as they circled the area. Clearly, they were meant to confuse and distract her.

Nine golden beams shot toward her from different angles, moving at astonishing speed.

Seeing this, Leng Yaozhu finally moved.

She merely leaned to the side, and the first golden streak skimmed past her clothes.

Then came the second, third, fourth... Her body moved as though she already knew the path of every sword beam. Each time, she shifted just half a step at exactly the right moment, and every Golden Small Sword—moving fast enough that even an ordinary Soul Ancestor might not have been able to dodge—missed.

Chu Yan did not stop. His mental power kept driving the nine attacking swords to change course, trying to seal off every possible route Leng Yaozhu might take to evade them. Meanwhile, the other nine swords created distractions around the perimeter, searching for an opening.

But Leng Yaozhu remained composed throughout. Her steps were minuscule; much of the time, she only tilted a shoulder or turned her head slightly, without needing to move her feet at all.

The nine golden streaks crisscrossed around her, forming a dense web that seemed to leave no gaps, yet not one managed to touch her.

A sheen of sweat appeared on Chu Yan's forehead as his mental power drained faster and faster.

But he did not give up. At a thought, the nine attacking swords withdrew at once and gathered beside him again.

He took a deep breath and immediately activated his second Soul Skill.

The nine Golden Small Swords abruptly accelerated. As they spun at high speed, they began to intertwine and compress!

Golden light blazed. The nine streaks of light swiftly converged into a spiral, compressing and fusing layer by layer. Their phantoms peeled away until only their razor-sharp cores remained, shrinking as they spun at tremendous speed.

In just a breath, a palm-length, dark golden conical spike appeared in front of Chu Yan.

The spike was smooth all over, fine golden patterns flowing across its surface. At its tip, a hair-thin black crack flickered briefly in the air.

The spatial patterns had been activated.

Chu Yan's mental power linked to the spike's tail through a slender thread of telekinetic light. His gaze sharpened as he drove the spike forward with all his might!

Whoosh—!

As the spike tore through the air, it left a thin black line behind—the mark of space being ripped open before it could heal.

This thrust was more than twice as fast as the Phantom Sword Style from before. Almost the instant it left his hand, it was already in front of Leng Yaozhu!

At last, Leng Yaozhu did not evade by leaning aside.

She raised her right hand, palm facing forward.

About half an inch from her palm, an invisible force appeared from nowhere, like a wall of air that could not be seen but could not be breached. It held the dark golden spike firmly in midair.

The spike's tip still quivered faintly. Black spatial cracks flickered repeatedly across its surface, yet it could not advance a fraction farther.

Leng Yaozhu's gaze paused on the spatial crack at the spike's tip. A rare flicker of emotion passed through her eyes.

She did not speak at once. She simply held her hand up, keeping the spike suspended in the air for two or three breaths, then flicked a finger.

Pop!

With a soft crack, the dark golden spike shattered into the phantoms of nine Golden Small Swords, which scattered through the air before solidifying and flying back to Chu Yan's side.

Chu Yan breathed a little heavily. He recalled the eighteen small swords, and the Yan Divine Weapon reassembled into the shape of a long staff in his hand.

He looked at Leng Yaozhu, waiting for her to speak.

Leng Yaozhu walked up to him, her tone much more serious than before.

"Your Phantom Sword Style can already blend the real and the illusory across nine swords, and your second Soul Skill, Sky Piercing Form, can produce a spatial rift. It's only a tiny one, but you've genuinely brushed the edge of the Law of Space. To reach this point at level twenty-nine is far beyond what I expected three years ago. You should know that plenty of Titled Douluo can't even touch the edge of a law."

She paused, then changed tack. "But you still rely too much on your Soul Skills."

At her words, Chu Yan did not argue. He simply listened in silence.

"You've built a solid foundation in staff techniques, but in actual combat, they're only a support for you. The Yan Divine Weapon's true potential lies in your comprehension of the Law of Metal and the Law of Space, not in controlling a few more small swords."

She pointed at the Yan Divine Weapon in his hand and continued, "The fact that you can create a spatial rift today means you've had your first contact with the Law of Space. But it was triggered passively; you didn't control it yourself. If you want to go further, you need to learn to comprehend it actively."

Chu Yan nodded, committing her words to memory.

Leng Yaozhu glanced at him. Seeing that he was neither rushing to explain himself nor arguing back, but quietly accepting her words, she said no more.

She turned away and walked to the stone table at the edge of the Martial Arts Arena, where she sat down. Her posture returned to its usual languid ease, as though her visit to the training ground had been nothing more than a brief stop.

"All right, I've finished assessing you. You have a good foundation. Just keep going in this direction."

Chu Yan put away the Yan Divine Weapon and went to the stone table as well, sitting on the stone stool opposite her.

Leng Yaozhu glanced at him and added, "By the way, the Spirit Ascension Platform at the Eastsea City branch of the Spirit Pagoda should be enough to support your Soul Ring upgrades through the Spirit King stage. Don't use other methods unless absolutely necessary. Stability matters more than anything."

"I understand, Master."

They sat at the edge of the training ground for a while. Leng Yaozhu offered a few suggestions about his future cultivation. Her tone was casual, as if they were chatting about everyday matters.

Chu Yan mostly listened quietly, responding now and then and occasionally asking a few questions about the finer details of how Soul Power circulated.

About the time it took an incense stick to burn, Leng Yaozhu stood up.

"I have to go. I have other things to take care of today. Prepare well, and come to Shrek City in a month. I'll have someone prepare the apprenticeship ceremony."

"Yes, Teacher."

Leng Yaozhu took a few steps, then suddenly stopped and looked back. Her gaze rested on Chu Yan for a moment before she spoke in a flat tone.

"By the way, take good care of that pendant."

Chu Yan gave a slight start and looked down at the silver pendant around his neck. It was the one Na'er had left him. He had put it on absentmindedly after reading the letter that day and had not taken it off since.

He looked up, wanting to ask how she knew about it, but Leng Yaozhu had already turned and walked out through the courtyard gate. Her moon-white skirt swayed once by the doorframe, then vanished into the depths of the covered corridor.

Chu Yan stood at the edge of the training ground, watching her figure disappear at the end of the corridor. He lowered his head and touched the cool silver gemstone against his chest, lost in thought.

He knew how perceptive Leng Yaozhu was. At the Limit Douluo level, sensing the pendant he had added was nothing unusual.

But the fact that she had stopped specifically to mention it meant something.

She must have sensed a special energy fluctuation inside the pendant, which was why she had reminded him to take good care of it.

Chu Yan took the silver pendant from beneath his collar and examined it in his palm for a while longer.

The layer of seven-colored light flowing inside the gemstone continued to drift slowly, like a living creature sealed within the transparent crystal.

What exactly was this of the Silver Dragon King's?

After looking at it for a while, he put it back on, then turned and walked back to the training ground. He took the Ironwood Staff from the weapon rack and began practicing the basic moves again.

He needed time to digest what Leng Yaozhu had told him today, especially her advice about comprehending laws. But he did not rush to throw himself headlong into it. Instead, he finished his daily training first and planned to sit down and sort through everything in peace that evening.

In the days that followed, Chu Yan's cultivation routine did not change much because of Leng Yaozhu's visit.

Every morning, he practiced with the staff; in the morning, he cultivated Soul Power; in the afternoon, he studied the Soul Guidance Array Notes or practiced controlling the Yan Divine Weapon with greater precision; and in the evening, he meditated in stillness.

The only difference was that he began consciously incorporating the "comprehension of laws" Leng Yaozhu had mentioned into his daily training.

For instance, when controlling the Golden Small Swords, he deliberately tried to feel the subtle changes in resistance as they cut through the air, sensing the path the air took in the instant it was split.

He still had no real clue, but he was not in a hurry. Comprehending laws was never something that could be accomplished overnight.

Days passed, and the start of the intermediate division's school year at Eastsea Academy drew closer and closer. So did his trip to the Heaven Heavenly Pagoda.