White Robes, a Wine Gourd, and a Blade

From that day on, Yuan Yu's easy life was over.

Before, the first thing he thought when he woke up was where to go have fun.

Now, the first thing that happened when he woke up was Ling Yuan dragging him out from under the covers.

"Get up. Blade practice."

Yuan Yu kept his eyes closed.

"Sister Ling Yuan, it's not even light out."

"The strong don't wait for daylight."

"Do the strong sleep?"

"One more word and you won't sleep tonight."

Yuan Yu immediately played dead.

It didn't work.

Ling Yuan threw him into a pool of cold water.

Splash.

Yuan Yu surfaced, hair plastered to his face, his eyes full of resentment.

"Just because I passed the Water God Trial doesn't mean I want to relive it every day."

Ling Yuan stood on the bank.

"Water Element Control starts with keeping yourself from sinking."

Yuan Yu clung to the edge of the pool.

"Isn't this teaching method a bit crude?"

"It works."

Training began in the cold pool.

Mornings were for blade practice.

Azure Luan was in charge.

He spoke little and taught without mercy.

Draw the blade.

Sheathe it.

Slash across.

Turn.

The same movements, over and over.

When Yuan Yu's arms ached, he couldn't help asking, "Grandpa Azure Luan, I have a God-given Spirit Ring. Shouldn't I be learning something powerful?"

Azure Luan said, "A man who can't stand steady will fall and kill himself even with a Divine Artifact in his hands."

Yuan Yu thought about it.

"That sounds harsh, but I think you're right."

"Continue."

"Can I rest for half a cup of tea?"

"No."

"Half a sip of water?"

Azure Luan looked at him.

Yuan Yu raised his blade.

"I love training."

Afternoons were for practicing water element control.

Chrysanthemum Douluo supervised.

Outside Worship Hall lay a pool.

Thirty lotus leaves floated in it.

Yuan Yu's task was simple.

He had to lift a drop of water with the water element and roll it across every lotus leaf.

The drop could not break.

It could not fall.

It could not wet the edges of the leaves.

On the first day, he blew up half the pool.

Chrysanthemum Douluo doubled over laughing.

"Little Yuan Yu, is this Water Element Control or pool demolition?"

Yuan Yu wiped his face.

"I think water needs freedom."

"Enough excuses."

On the second day, he made it across three leaves.

On the fifth, ten.

On the tenth, twenty-one.

By the fifteenth day, he could control three drops at once, guiding them around the leaves from different directions.

Chrysanthemum Douluo laughed less.

But his eyes grew brighter by the day.

The boy really did have a smart mouth.

And he really was a genius.

Hu Liena and the others came by once.

That day, Yuan Yu was crouched beside the pool, watching three drops race around the lotus leaves.

After watching for a while, Yan couldn't help saying, "What's the point? Your opponent won't be a lotus leaf."

Yuan Yu didn't look up.

"Exactly. You're not a lotus leaf, so you'll dodge."

Yan snorted.

"I'll hit you, too."

"All the more reason to practice control."

Yuan Yu moved a fingertip. A drop rolled along the edge of a lotus leaf without falling.

"If I can hit my opponent, I hit them. If I can't, I go around. If I can't do that, I'll worry about it then."

Xie Yue studied the drops' paths.

"He's practicing where his blade will land before he draws it."

Hu Liena blinked.

"He isn't just playing with water?"

Xie Yue shook his head.

"No."

Yan still wasn't convinced.

But when all three drops passed the final lotus leaf at once, he said nothing more.

Yuan Yu looked up and grinned at him.

"Thanks for letting me win, Brother Yan."

Yan frowned.

"We weren't competing."

"You sure sounded like we were."

Hu Liena burst out laughing.

Chrysanthemum Douluo watched the children bicker and didn't stop them.

Spirit Hall's future geniuses couldn't spend all their time putting on airs.

Evenings were worse.

Papal Hall had arranged lessons for Yuan Yu.

General knowledge of the continent.

Soul Master Ranks.

The Two Great Empires.

The Upper Three Sects.

The history of Spirit Hall.

And etiquette.

Yuan Yu dreaded etiquette most.

The teacher told him how to stand.

He said his legs hurt.

The teacher told him how to sit.

He said the chair was too hard.

The teacher told him to maintain Spirit Hall's dignity when meeting other factions.

Yuan Yu asked, "Does winning a fight count as dignity?"

The teacher's face remained blank.

"Copy the Soul Master Ranks chart ten times."

Yuan Yu immediately sat up straight.

"I think dignity is very important."

A month passed like that.

Yuan Yu was still Yuan Yu.

He loved to banter.

He loved to laugh.

His eyes still lit up whenever he saw a Wine Gourd.

But something about him had changed.

His grip on his blade had steadied.

So had his footwork.

The water element was no longer a force he could only grab at blindly by instinct, as he had when it first awakened.

It was beginning to obey him.

Most of the time, at least.

Yuan Yu still wore nothing but white.

Worship Hall had prepared many outfits for him.

Gold ones.

Black ones.

Purple-and-gold ones.

Even fine clothes embroidered with subtle patterns.

He looked them over, then carried off a pile of white clothes.

Ling Yuan asked, "Why do you only wear white?"

Yuan Yu answered without hesitation.

"It looks good."

Azure Luan said mildly, "It gets dirty easily."

Yuan Yu smiled.

"Then I'll wash it. If my white clothes stay spotless, it means I've never been out there getting knocked around."

Qian Renxue heard that and laughed for quite a while.

Yuan Yu always wore the Black Jade Wine Gourd she had given him at his waist.

Bibi Dong had forbidden him to drink for three months, and he really hadn't touched a drop.

But he touched the gourd every day.

Ling Yuan noticed and asked, "Itching for a drink?"

Yuan Yu sighed.

"I'm cultivating my self-control."

"What self-control?"

"I can see it but can't drink it. It's torture."

Ling Yuan gave a cold laugh.

"Want me to take it off your hands?"

Yuan Yu immediately covered the gourd.

"You can't cultivate self-control if you take away the temptation."

Thirty days later, his first official match was scheduled.

It would take place at Spirit Hall Academy's Training Ground.

His opponent was named Lin Xiu.

Twelve years old, a two-ring Soul Grandmaster.

His Martial Soul was the Ironback Wolf, and he specialized in assault.

Among his peers at Spirit Hall Academy, he was not among the very best, but he was far from weak.

Pitting a six-year-old who had awakened only a month ago against a twelve-year-old, two-ring Soul Grandmaster sounded unfair.

But this match was never meant to be an ordinary contest.

Worship Hall wanted to see Yuan Yu fight.

So did Papal Hall.

Hu Liena, Xie Yue, and Yan had also come to the edge of the Training Ground.

Seeing Yuan Yu dressed in white with a little gourd at his waist, Hu Liena laughed. "Little Yu, are you here to fight or just to look the part?"

Yuan Yu answered earnestly, "Can't I do both?"

Yan folded his arms.

"Don't start crying when you get hit."

Yuan Yu looked at him.

"Don't worry. Before I cry, I'll make sure to shout your name."

Yan froze.

"Why?"

"So you'll feel involved."

Hu Liena burst out laughing.

Even the corner of Xie Yue's mouth twitched.

Yan's face darkened.

"When you're a little older, I'll beat you up myself."

Yuan Yu blinked.

"I'll put that on your tab."

Ling Yuan stood a short distance away, listening with a growing headache.

"Yuan Yu."

Yuan Yu turned at once.

"Yes?"

"No killing moves today. You're only allowed to use half of Water Surface Slash."

"Understood."

"Winning or losing isn't important. Control is."

Yuan Yu nodded.

"You mean I should make the win look good?"

Ling Yuan stared at him.

Yuan Yu corrected himself.

"I'll win without going too far."

Lin Xiu stepped into the arena.

He looked at Yuan Yu, his expression conflicted.

"I'll hold back."

Yuan Yu drew his Sun Wheel Blade.

"Thank you."

Lin Xiu breathed a little easier.

But then Yuan Yu added, "You'd better take this seriously, though. It'll be embarrassing if you lose too quickly."

Lin Xiu's face fell.

At the edge of the arena, Yan snorted.

"He's got a big mouth."

Xie Yue watched Yuan Yu's blade.

"Let's see how he fights."

The referee raised a hand.

"Begin!"