A Private Deal

Han Li grabbed the rope attached to the wooden bucket, tossed it into the pool, then pulled it back and lifted it up.

He brought up a bucket brimming with spring water.

Han Li raised the bucket effortlessly above his head. With a flick of his wrist, he dumped the clear water over himself with a splash, drenching himself from head to toe.

"So cool!"

"That feels wonderful!"

Han Li and another youth cried out at the same time as the cold washed over them.

It was no wonder. It was the height of summer, and the heat was unbearable. Both had stripped to the waist, and with the icy mountain spring water pouring over their heads, every part of their bodies felt wonderfully refreshed.

"Hehe! Junior Brother Han, you really know how to find a good spot. You even managed to find a little pool hidden away like this." The cold-looking youth suddenly spoke up.

"This is nothing. I've found quite a few places that were even harder to find, but unfortunately, none of them had water as cool as this." The other youth accepted the compliment without a trace of modesty.

That youth was Han Li, while the other was Li Feiyu, who had come to collect medicine.

After Li Feiyu first obtained the painkiller from Han Li, he had gone back and tried it. It had proved remarkably effective, greatly easing the pain caused by the Marrow Extraction Pill.

From then on, Li Feiyu could no longer stop. Without Han Li's medicinal powder, he could no longer endure the pain of the Marrow Extraction Pill. As a result, he used up a year's supply in just a few months.

Tormented to his limit by the inhuman pain, Li Feiyu had no choice but to steel himself and seek out Han Li to ask for more medicine.

Han Li, meanwhile, had been looking to strengthen himself. When he learned that Li Feiyu had entered the Seven Ultimates Hall for further training, he immediately proposed an exchange: Li Feiyu would teach him the hall's secret arts.

Li Feiyu, who already had only a few years left to live, agreed readily and promised to meet his request.

To keep outsiders from discovering their secret, Han Li found several well-hidden spots throughout the Rosy Cloud Mountain Range, which stretched for over ten li, where they could conduct their exchanges.

At regular intervals, the two would meet in secret. Han Li would give Li Feiyu the medicine, and Li Feiyu would teach him martial arts he had learned at the Seven Ultimates Hall.

Both were fairly satisfied with the arrangement, and the exchanges continued for more than half a year.

During those months together, Li Feiyu and Han Li came to find each other more and more agreeable. Before they knew it, they had truly become close friends who could talk about anything.

Li Feiyu was very pleased with the places Han Li had found, especially this spot with its little pool. Sheer cliffs surrounded a small basin, and the only way in was through a hidden cave. The passage was so narrow that they had to crawl through on their bellies, and, even more unbelievably, its exit lay inside a hollow in an old locust tree growing right against the cliff.

Most importantly, in this sweltering weather, the place had such a cool little pool.

After stretching their muscles, there was nothing more refreshing than pouring a few buckets of cold water over themselves here.

Having finished dousing himself, Han Li looked at the sun and said:

"The Mad Python Force you taught me last time is too fierce and forceful. I don't think it suits me very well. Do you have any cultivation methods that are more subtle and gentle?"

"Junior Brother Han, do you really think the Seven Ultimates Hall belongs to me alone? That I can learn whatever martial arts I want? I can only choose a small portion to study myself. My cultivation method leans toward the vigorous and masculine, so of course I have to learn fierce and forceful secret arts." Li Feiyu rolled his eyes at Han Li and answered irritably.

"What sort of person is Senior Brother Li? You're the foremost among all our disciples. How can you be compared to an ordinary disciple of the Seven Ultimates Hall?"

Han Li gave an embarrassed, awkward laugh. Seeing that Li Feiyu was a little angry, he hurried over and offered a few flattering words.

"Well, this is a rare sight. Our great genius Han actually condescended to butter me up." Li Feiyu teased Han Li with the hint of a smile.

"What genius? Don't you always finish me off in just a few moves?"

"Hmph! That's because I use True Qi to overcome finesse with brute force. There's no real skill in that. If I didn't use True Qi, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to do a thing to you within a hundred moves."

"Who would fight without using True Qi? Senior Brother Li, you're being far too modest."

"Modest? I'm not being modest at all. You'd never learned martial arts before, and you'd never fought anyone. The only thing you'd studied was that useless piece-of-shit cultivation art, yet in such a short time you've come to understand your moves so thoroughly. If you're not a genius, what are you? Speaking of which, that mnemonic doesn't have a shred of power. Why do you still study it every day?"

Han Li gave a bitter smile inwardly and thought:

You think I want to study it? I'm riding a tiger and can't get off. I have no choice but to keep studying it.

"Junior Brother Han, it's not that I want to nag, but given the talent you've shown for martial arts these past six months, hurry up and throw away that lousy mnemonic and learn some real skills from me. I'm certain that in less than two years, you'll stand head and shoulders above the rest and make a name for yourself. Then the two of us can rule the Seven Mysteries Sect together. Wouldn't that be wonderful!" Li Feiyu earnestly urged him once again.

Han Li was somewhat moved. Although Li Feiyu had said this many times and it had begun to wear on him, he could still feel the sincerity behind his words.

Han Li shook his head gently in refusal and changed the subject.

"Isn't there a martial art in the Seven Ultimates Hall that can defeat an enemy without using True Qi?"

Seeing that Han Li had changed the subject and was unwilling to keep dwelling on this old question, Li Feiyu stopped pressing him. He knew that, like himself, Han Li probably had things he found difficult to talk about.

He lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then looked up and said:

"There really is a strange sword art like that. It can be used without True Qi, but..."

"But what?" Hearing that there really was a martial art suited to him, Han Li was overjoyed and hurriedly pressed him for an answer.

"But this sword art has been in the Seven Ultimates Hall for over a hundred years, and no one has ever managed to master it. They say even the elder who created it passed away before he could master it. The name is strange too: it's called Blinking Swordsmanship. Don't you think that's a strange name?" As Li Feiyu spoke of the sword art, he repeatedly marveled at its oddities.