Bamboo Transformation

The Golden Generation's training continued for ten days.

Every day, Lin Qing arrived at the training ground at dawn and left after sunset. Sparring, running laps, polishing the basics-the days were like lengthened bamboo segments, growing upward one joint at a time.

He gradually adapted to the rhythm and got a feel for what the others could do. Shen Du's short spear was precise but lacked follow-through; Lu Qingya's movement was extremely fast, but his attacks were relatively weak; and the control-type Soul Master who used sand and dust was good at stalling but couldn't break through defenses.

Xie Yue, Yan, and Hu Liena occasionally came to the training ground, but they never sparred with the reserves. They simply watched from the sidelines, exchanging a few quiet words now and then.

Lin Qing was in no hurry to show off, nor did he deliberately hold back. He didn't flaunt his victories or make excuses for his losses. He couldn't see what Qin Wuj iu wrote in his booklet, but he could feel that he was in a little better shape after each day's training than he had been the day before.

There was still no movement from the fourth bloodline.

Three bamboo segments glowed, and the fourth was only a hair's breadth away. It was as if a thin membrane lay between them: he could feel it there, but he couldn't pierce it.

He had tried increasing his training, forcing Bamboo Breath to circulate while exhausted, and deliberately taking heavy blows in sparring to stimulate his bloodline-none of it worked. Lone Bamboo told him that awakening the fourth bloodline required an opportunity and couldn't be rushed.

At sparring on the eleventh day, Qin Wuj iu called Lin Qing's and Xie Yue's names.

This was their second match. Xie Yue stepped quickly out of the line, his Moon Blades already in hand, their silver-white edges gleaming coldly. He stood opposite Lin Qing, his gaze calm, as if waiting for a start he had calculated long ago.

Qin Wuj iu wasted no words. "Begin."

Xie Yue moved first. He was faster than last time. His right blade traced an arc toward the side of Lin Qing's shoulder, its angle cutting off his route of retreat to the rear left.

Lin Qing didn't retreat. He pressed his left hand to the ground and activated Bamboo Sea Emergence. Bamboo shot up from the cracks between the stone slabs, green-gold light spreading across the ground as a barrier rapidly rose between him and Xie Yue.

Xie Yue didn't stop. His Moon Blade struck a bamboo stalk, its edge sliding along the surface. His second slash immediately cut diagonally through a gap between the stalks, aimed straight at Lin Qing's ribs.

Lin Qing retreated half a step. Bamboo Sea Emergence grew faster beneath his feet, the stalks shooting up considerably faster than they had ten days ago, and growing denser as well.

Xie Yue threaded his way through the bamboo grove, swinging his Moon Blades alternately left and right. Every slash struck a point where the stalks connected, dismantling the grove at its structural joints.

Lin Qing didn't wait for him to finish taking it apart. He released Bamboo Soul from his sea of consciousness, sending it silently toward Xie Yue.

Xie Yue's movements paused for the briefest instant as Bamboo Soul approached. Seizing that opening, Lin Qing vaulted off a bamboo branch, circled above Xie Yue to his flank and rear, and struck at the back of his shoulder with cold gathering in his palm.

Without looking back, Xie Yue slashed backward with the Moon Blade in his right hand, placing it directly in the path of Lin Qing's palm. The cold struck the blade and formed a thin layer of frost. At the same moment, the Moon Blade in Xie Yue's left hand cut in from another direction, forcing Lin Qing to pull back his hand and retreat.

The two opened some distance between them. Xie Yue glanced at the frost mark on his right blade, his gaze still steady. He readjusted his stance, slowly raised both blades, and stepped half a pace forward with his left foot.

That half step brought him farther forward than before, almost to the edge of Lin Qing's Bamboo Sea Emergence.

Xie Yue slashed with both blades at once.

His left blade swept across the outer edge of the bamboo grove, while his right went straight for Lin Qing. This strike was faster than the previous ones, and its angle was trickier. Lin Qing didn't retreat. He charged straight at the right blade.

At that moment, beneath his clothes where no one could see, a fourth Bloodline Soul Ring slowly lit up behind Lin Qing. The Bloodline Soul Ring broke through. Bamboo Transformation Stress Response activated.

A green protective layer of bamboo appeared over his skin, spreading from his shoulders to his forearms, its surface covered in fine bamboo-joint patterns.

The right blade cut into the bamboo layer, its edge sinking between the patterns and becoming stuck. Xie Yue's pupils contracted slightly. He tried to pull the blade back, but the resilient bamboo layer had bitten into it, and it wouldn't budge.

Lin Qing gave him no time to react. Gathering cold in his right hand, he struck at Xie Yue's chest with his palm. Xie Yue abandoned his right blade and swept the Moon Blade in his left hand across.

Lin Qing turned sideways to evade it, his right palm continuing forward. Cold burst across Xie Yue's chest. Xie Yue retreated three steps and drove his left blade into the ground to steady himself. He looked down at the frost mark that had formed on his chest, then at his right blade, which was embedded in the ground.

He fell silent for two seconds, then pulled out his right blade and stood straight. "What kind of ability is that? How did you break through?"

Lin Qing withdrew the bamboo layer. The joint patterns on his arms slowly faded, sinking deep beneath his skin. He didn't answer Xie Yue, only looked down at his arms.

Bamboo Transformation had indeed succeeded, but it had only held for that one exchange. That brief contact had drained almost a fifth of the Soul Power in both his arms. If Xie Yue had kept up the fierce assault, he wouldn't have lasted much longer.

Qin Wuj iu's voice came from the sidelines. "Lin Qing wins."

As Lin Qing returned to the line, he felt several gazes settle on his back. Lu Qingya stood on the right side of the line, watching the hand Lin Qing had pulled back, his gaze heavy, as if confirming something.

Shen Du leaned against the wall, expressionless, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the shaft of his short spear.

Hu Liena, standing on the other side of the training ground, let her deep-purple eyes rest on Lin Qing for a moment, a little longer than she had when he first met her.

Lin Qing didn't look back. He simply returned to his place.

After afternoon training ended, Lin Qing didn't do any extra practice. He returned to his quarters, closed the door, and sat down beside the bed, laying both arms flat across his knees.

Bamboo Transformation was only a start, still a long way from truly combining offense and defense. It could hold for one exchange, but not an entire fight.

He tested its passive activation by scratching a shallow line on his arm with a fingernail.

The outer layer of his skin hardened slightly the instant his nail passed over it. An extremely thin layer of bamboo flashed into existence at the point of contact and vanished, like a pebble striking the surface of water and sending out a ring of ripples before disappearing.

He tried again, using more force this time and drawing a red mark across his palm. The bamboo layer appeared at the point of impact again, slightly thicker than before, and blocked some of the force.

The red mark was still there, but it was much lighter than it would have been without the bamboo layer.

"Passive activation works," Lone Bamboo's voice came from his sea of consciousness. "But it's still too thin to block a heavy blow."

"What about active use?"

"What you did against Xie Yue today was active use. It can hold, but not for long."

Lin Qing nodded. He stood, pushed the door open, and went out into the courtyard. Night had just fallen, and the stone paving still held some of the day's warmth.

He extended his left arm and tried activating Bamboo Transformation again. This time, he didn't use it at full strength, only allowing bamboo-joint patterns to appear on a small section of his forearm.

Maintaining this partial Bamboo Transformation, he walked slowly around the courtyard. His Soul Power drained slowly, and Bamboo Breath could keep up. He made another circuit, the bamboo layer remaining stable. Not until he was halfway through his third circuit did the patterns begin to flicker and fade.

He looked down and noted the duration. About half a quarter of an hour.

"A little more tomorrow," he said to himself.

Back in his room, he opened his training log and wrote a line under today's date: "Sparring, Xie Yue, win. Initial success with Bamboo Transformation, half a quarter of an hour."

He closed the log and lay down. Outside the window, wind blew through the alley. The fourth bamboo segment glowed quietly deep within his sea of consciousness, its light a little steadier than it had been over the past few days.

Bamboo Transformation was still weak, but it had indeed awakened. Next, he needed to nurture it and let it slowly grow strong.

When it was time to hunt for his fourth Soul Ring, he would have to make a trip to the Soul Beast Forest. He would put on a show for everyone, making them all think his Soul Ring had come from hunting a Soul Beast.

Though he himself knew that the Soul Ring would grow out of the fourth bamboo segment, just like the first Soul Ring Lone Bamboo had given him.

He closed his eyes and went over the plan in his head. Then he fell asleep.

[End of Chapter 27]