"You lost, but Wood Spirit Peak didn't?"
Hearing Ji Fenghe's words, Mo Qi perked up.
"Exactly. I lost this time. But what we were mainly competing over before was the title of the outer sect's number one alchemy peak. Ye Xuan is a disciple of Wood Spirit Peak, and he refined a flawless pill, so naturally, Wood Spirit Peak won."
Ji Fenghe waved his folding fan as he spoke, as though it were only natural.
Indeed, at the very beginning, the two had been competing over which was the outer sect's number one alchemy peak. At some unknown point, Mo Qi had begun treating the contest as a personal competition.
Perhaps it was when I first met Junior Sister, or perhaps when Junior Sister first met Ji Fenghe.
Mo Qi lowered his head. For the first time, he reflected on himself. Compared with Ji Fenghe, his perspective seemed a little narrow.
On Wood Moon Peak, Ye Xuan clutched the thousand Spirit Stones he had just won, grinning from ear to ear.
Although Mo Qi had challenged Ye Xuan before leaving, declaring that he would surely defeat him someday, Ye Xuan had not taken it to heart.
At Mo Qi's current level, he would be unable to catch up to Ye Xuan within ten years.
And ten years from now, Ye Xuan's alchemy would certainly not have stood still.
Now that he had Spirit Stones, Ye Xuan could also put his earlier plan to refine poison pills into action.
Wood Spirit Peak also had a pill pavilion on Wood Moon Peak. According to Ji Fenghe, quite a few Alchemists were affiliated with Wood Spirit Peak and worked for the pill pavilion, but only Zheng Huaiyuan and his two disciples could stay on Wood Spirit Peak itself.
Even with the somewhat cheaper medicinal ingredients at his own peak's pill pavilion, Ye Xuan spent all thousand of his newly earned Spirit Stones. Once again, he was penniless.
"Junior Brother, what cultivation methods have you practiced before?"
Back on Wood Spirit Peak, Ji Fenghe knew that Ye Xuan had originally sought him out to consolidate his cultivation, so he began teaching him cultivation methods.
"Qi Refining Instruction, Black Tiger Fist, and Minor Cloud and Rain Instruction."
At present, these were the only three cultivation methods Ye Xuan had obtained through exchanges at the Scripture Pavilion. All his other cultivation methods had come from signing in.
Although he had obtained Azure Feather Swordsmanship through signing in long ago, he had never practiced it.
"Didn't you practice the cultivation methods I gave you before? Oh, right, you probably didn't know how to choose. I hadn't realized you were still practicing Qi Refining Instruction. Take this first level of the Azure Feather Mental Cultivation Method for now. It can increase your cultivation speed."
"As for the other cultivation methods, Azure Feather Swordsmanship is suitable as an introduction, Clear Breeze Steps as a footwork technique, and Golden Bone Instruction as a body-refining cultivation method."
Ji Fenghe took out more than ten cultivation manuals, picked through them, and selected a few to hand to Ye Xuan. These cultivation methods were just right for laying a foundation. The more profound a cultivation method, the slower it was to practice. Right now, Ye Xuan needed to reach the Qi refinement peak quickly and did not need to practice anything too profound for the time being.
Ji Fenghe put away his folding fan, took out a longsword, and began demonstrating Azure Feather Swordsmanship in front of Ye Xuan.
"Watch closely. As one of the Dao Sect's basic sword arts, Azure Feather Swordsmanship has been painstakingly refined by countless predecessors. Its first level consists of thirteen forms."
Swish, swish, swish!
Ye Xuan watched Ji Fenghe's swordsmanship while rehearsing it in his mind. With his innate sword heart, he could grasp a basic cultivation method like this almost at a glance. He even spotted several openings in Ji Fenghe's movements during the demonstration.
Ji Fenghe demonstrated it three times in total. After the third time, Ye Xuan closed his eyes, quickly rehearsed it once in his mind, then took out a longsword.
"Mm, a fine bearing."
With the longsword in his hand, an indomitable presence rose from Ye Xuan, making Ji Fenghe's eyes light up. It seemed this junior brother of his was not only talented in alchemy but also had considerable talent in swordsmanship.
"Take it slowly. Don't rush your first time. The important thing is to find the feeling. Try to let the sword move with your body..."
Ji Fenghe stood to the side, instructing Ye Xuan in the finer points of practice, but soon he could no longer speak.
Ye Xuan's swordsmanship was far too fluid-silky smooth, even. He looked exactly like a swordsman who had immersed himself in Azure Feather Swordsmanship for years.
Soon, Ji Fenghe could no longer close his mouth. Ye Xuan's demonstration of Azure Feather Swordsmanship was simply too good. Even with his years of experience, he could find no flaws whatsoever.
"Junior Brother, have you really never learned Azure Feather Swordsmanship before?"
When Ye Xuan finished his demonstration, Ji Fenghe asked, dumbfounded, his folding fan waving incessantly in his hand.
"It really is my first time."
Ye Xuan pondered briefly before answering.
Although he had looked over this sword art when he obtained it through signing in, today really was his first time using Azure Feather Swordsmanship.
"How was it, Senior Brother? Was my swordsmanship up to standard?"
"You've already earned full marks."
Ji Fenghe spoke as he circled Ye Xuan. He had never expected this junior brother of his to have such monstrous talent.
Comparing himself with Ye Xuan, Ji Fenghe fell far short. Back then, it had taken him a full month to gain an initial grasp of Azure Feather Swordsmanship, and his master had even praised him for it.
If his master learned that Ye Xuan had gained a complete initial grasp after watching him demonstrate Azure Feather Swordsmanship just three times, wouldn't he be over the moon?
"Come on, come on. Although you've gained an initial grasp of the sword art, you haven't used it in actual combat yet. I'll suppress my cultivation and spar with you using the strength of the Qi refining sixth layer. Just focus on attacking."
Ji Fenghe drew his longsword again to serve as a sparring partner. However, he played a little trick when suppressing his cultivation, lowering it to the peak of Qi refining sixth layer, which seemed considerably stronger than Ye Xuan.
Ji Fenghe took his stance and beckoned Ye Xuan to attack.
Ye Xuan took a deep breath, and the longsword in his hand left its sheath.
Clang, clang, clang!
Ji Fenghe stared blankly at his empty hands. Ye Xuan had knocked his longsword away with just three strikes, leaving him feeling rather miserable.
He was, after all, a cultivator at the Qi refinement peak who had immersed himself in Azure Feather Swordsmanship for years. Although he had just suppressed his cultivation to the Qi refining sixth layer, there was no reason he should have lost within three moves.
Back then, he too had been considered a young genius, and he had even placed in the top hundred in last year's outer sect competition. He had never expected to lose to Ye Xuan so easily.
"Senior Brother, what's wrong?"
Ye Xuan looked cautiously at the utterly dejected Ji Fenghe, worried that he might have struck too hard just now.
But he had not used his full strength. He had only made three probing moves before knocking Ji Fenghe's longsword away.
At first, he had thought Ji Fenghe was going easy on him, but after the second move, he realized that Ji Fenghe truly seemed unable to withstand three moves from him.
This really wasn't his fault!
"Nothing. I was overconfident just now. Let's start again."
Ji Fenghe tapped his head, picked up the longsword from the ground, and faced Ye Xuan in full readiness, while quietly raising his strength to the peak of Qi refining seventh layer.
Clang, clang, clang!
Three moves later, Ji Fenghe's longsword was knocked away once again.
This time, Ji Fenghe had nothing to say. He had defended to the utmost, without the slightest carelessness. He looked at Ye Xuan as though he had nothing left to live for.
"Junior Brother, I can't teach you."