Looking back at the arena, he saw the two exchanging quiet words with due courtesy. Junior Brother Shang seemed to ask about the sword in the Bright Sword Master's hand, and she turned its hilt toward him for him to examine.
Then the jade cauldron rang out with a clear cry. They each retreated a few steps, and the Sword Inquiry began.
First came "the guest asks, the host answers."
"On my journey from the Southern Sect to Heavenly Mountain, one of the things on my mind was the Five Peaks Sword in Officer Shang Fuyu's hands. Having just heard, regrettably, that Officer Shang Fuyu is absent, I feared this journey would lose some of its luster." Ming Qitian raised her wrist, and a point of silver light gleamed on her sword. "Fortunately... please instruct me."
Shang Yunning flourished his sword, his expression solemn. "For forty days, this has been my wish."
He stepped forward, and the clouds and mist were abruptly drawn into motion.
The Five Peaks Sword was the first sword art that disciples formally studying at Heavenly Mountain encountered, but its threshold was not low, and its ceiling was very high. Even in sparring between Heavenly Mountain cultivators in the Profound Gate Realm, this sword art appeared frequently.
It was also on the basis of one of its offensive moves that Heavenly Mountain had designed the Wind and Snow Order, the small magical artifact disciples often carried when descending the mountain.
Gu Yunfu watched the dazzling, intricate sword light in the arena, his expression somewhere between comprehension and incomprehension—he too was a disciple of Weifeng Pond, having come up from East Pond, and had practiced the Five Peaks Sword through and through. Its moves, its Sword Theory, and all its essential points were thoroughly familiar to him.