Ding Songyan withdrew his right palm and turned his attention back to the manual, leafing through the corresponding introductory saber art.
The saber art possessed a beauty of clearly defined order.
"An excellent saber art," he praised, handing the manual back to Tao Wenshu.
Tao Wenshu looked through it a little longer, then raised her head and addressed Pan Yunzhou:
"Young Hero Pan, would you mind if I showed this manual to the Martial Grandmasters of our sect?"
"That is precisely what I hoped for, but dared not ask." Pan Yunzhou immediately cupped his hands in a salute.
After the guest attendant escorted him to temporary lodgings in the Warm Lantern Pavilion, Tao Wenshu turned toward Ding Songyan.
"You've mastered star-order true qi?"
"Not quite. I only evolved it. Next time I want to use it, I'll still have to study the visualization diagram and spend quite some time evolving it again." Ding Songyan answered honestly, without boasting.
"Then what about your ten thousand stars true qi?" Tao Wenshu asked in puzzlement.
Ding Songyan gave an embarrassed smile.
"I used the secret art Yan Changqing taught me to turn the corresponding state into a bodily instinct. It consumes my vital essence and lifespan, so for now, I only intend to use it on ten thousand stars true qi and illuminating candle true qi."
He spoke openly, hiding nothing, lest his master overestimate him and say, "Songyan, try practicing this," whenever she acquired a good cultivation art.
How could he possibly have so much vital essence and lifespan to expend?
Understanding dawned on Tao Wenshu, and she asked no further questions.
She had already suspected something from Ding Songyan's ability to conceal the abnormalities in his appearance. Since her disciple never mentioned it, however, she never asked. She had merely told