"Go ahead."
The boy didn't budge. He just raised his head up. He swept his indifferent gaze over him and the young man's heart froze and the boy's sword-qi vanished.
The boy was very tall. When he looked up, his wide shoulders and thick back were visible. His gaze was lonely and broken-hearted like a scholar. But on closer inspection, he had the physique of a fearsome warrior. He was about the same height as himself and he would eventually be taller given his age.
What the young man felt was odder though was how his own qi on his sword vanished. He wondered himself: He didn't even move. He managed to erase my qi on my sword with a single glance? What sort of strange art is that?
But as he had limited inner energy, he couldn't just sustain this sword-qi battle situation forever, so he shouted: "Enough with the talk! Take this!"
The young man's sword met with the air. As soon as he drew his sword, he unleashed on of the Falling Geese from Beyond Heaven's Three Peaks. His techniques were brilliant, taking the upper hand against the opponent first.
The boy with white hair didn't block or even look up. He just turned his body side-on a little. The young man's sword passed by the spot where he just was. He was surprised to find he missed the strike.
"That's one move."
The young man swung his sword horizontally and then used "Seven Shining Sunrays". The sword-qi was aimed stood horizontally and shined with the winter sun during the day. The sword transformed into seven rays of light, but none of the rays of light managed to leave a mark on the boy. In fact, none of them even touched him.
From the day he began learning swordplay, there have been those who could block or evade his strikes, but none of his strike had ever gone through and stabbed thin air when he was right next to his opponent. It was as though his eyes were lying to him. The boy he saw was like his own hallucination.
No matter how he slashed, stabbed or switched techniques, he couldn't touch the boy.
The middle-aged man standing to one side chuckled and said: "That wasn't bad. The execution of Lotus was clear. You're about as fiery as your founder. It's amazing that an idiot like you managed to reach this level in your twenties."
The boy didn't comment or even spare him a glance. He indifferently said: "Third move."
Cold sweat ran down the young man's back, leaving the back of his shirt wet. He drank all night last night and was a little drunk right now, but the shock he received in the cold breeze made him sober.
The speed at which he learnt swordplay was unmatched at Hua Shan which made him happy yet disappointed. His talent which showed itself early on in his life also led to him indulging in bad habits at a younger age.
It wasn't until he met this boy that he started to reflect on his past and think he was living in a tiny world. He had never given himself an opportunity to go and find out about this big world. This boy was much younger than him yet his skills were already at such a high level.
He struck with all his might, stabbing over and over, but he couldn't even touch the boy's shirt.
The young man suddenly reflected on himself: H-Have I been resting complacently on my laurels? Did I step out of line, boldly complimenting myself with my meagre skills?
He felt ashamed when he thought back to the ridiculous things he'd done in the past months, the rude things he said to his teachers and his audacious behaviours. Wh-Why did I behave like that?
Upon realisation of his errors, his gaze regained clarity.
The middle-aged man off to the side praised him: "No bad. Breaking through to a new level in a crisis. You're a talented young man."
Having realised these things, the young man's confused mind regained its clarity. The things he experienced the past months were like a dream. Like a flash of thunder, his way of the sword and the techniques he learnt flashed before his eyes.
The young man with overwhelming talent broke through to a new level in that moment, causing a blue light of qi to envelope his blade, moving about non-stop like a slithering snake. It was a sword-qi that had taken full-shape.
The qi enveloping his sword meant that his interior and exterior elements were beginning to combine as one unit.
Only those who have mastered sword-qi will have the chance to pursue higher heights.
Mastering sword-qi is a technique that every swordsman dreams of mastering. The young man finally mastered it under the pressure of the powerful boy. His sword skills which had plateaued had improved once again.
The pride of the young man resurfaced. While he had stopped with the arrogance, his confidence had returned: I'll attack you with sword-qi. Even if I can't hit you with my sword, I'm sure I can hit you with the qi at least!
The sword-qi and sword that transformed into a blue snake danced messily. The young man's sword-qi and his swordplay fused together, thereby improving his swordplay tremendously.
However, his opponent jut indifferently said: "Ninth move."
Sword-qi is useless against him?!
The blue snake-shaped qi surrounded the white-haired boy but couldn't get any closer. It couldn't even scratch the boy.
The young man lost sight of him. He couldn't see where the boy was.
The difference between them was too significant. The difference was so significant that he couldn't see where the boy was.
It was as though the boy was enveloped in a faint layer of mist, preventing one from getting a clear view of him.
It was as though his eyes had become useless. As soon as he made contact with the boy, it appeared as though he was caught in a mist with a terrifying beast behind him. As a matter of fact, he didn't even have a chance to see him.
"Tenth move."
A finger came at the young man like it pierced its way out of a chaotic dream. The young man couldn't budge or react. All he could do was watch the finger reach for his forehead. The poke cleared away all of the young man's alcohol and the qi on his sword, as well as his indulgent feelings and pride. The young man's love for swordplay was revived in that moment.
He finally understood that the boy was the ultimate goal of his pursuit of swordsmanship.
The young man was a man in love with swordplay to the point he could sacrifice his body to begin with. In that moment, he found the heart-throbbing sensation and passion he felt when he first touched a sword and wielded it. The boy was his ultimate goal.
The boy poked him, opened his eyes then opened his hand to catch a falling snowflake and in a lonely tone said: "You're here too? … Xue."
The young man lying on the ground didn't hear clearly the name the boy murmured, hearing only "xue".
The young man wondered to himself: The girl he's enchanted with has the character snow character in her name?
"That'll be it." The middle-aged man walked over, shook his head and said: "Looking at you, I assume you've realised you're a nobody, right? Walk back on your own after you come to your senses. It's going to cost more than two-thousand ingots to carry you."
As soon as he finished speaking, he and his disciple vanished from Bamboo House, leaving behind a sky full of snowflakes and the young man lying on the ground.
After that, the young man returned to Hua Shan Mountain and begun his sword training, not bothering with other things. He focused entirely training every technique.
Be it orthodox or unorthodox, as long as it was a sword style, he'd learn it.
He focused on nothing but swordplay and did everything to improve his skills.
He had a goal. And that was to catch up to the boy he couldn't even get close to despite his best efforts.
That young man's name is Jia Yunfeng, the most talented swordsman in Hua Shan's century-long history, as well as the second assassination group Mystery's leader, Kuang Tian.
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