By rights, before this, the original Fu Yan had always been an outer disciple of the Shuiling Sect. She should never have had the chance to see Bai Li at all.
So there was no reason her memories should contain the sword in Bai Li’s hand.
For a moment, Fu Yan couldn’t help staring at Bai Li’s figure on the stage, slightly dazed.
Not until Bai Li and Yu Heng cupped their hands to each other to concede the match on the arena, then turned to leave with the Moon-Swaying Sword in hand, did Fu Yan slowly come back to herself.
She remembered.
A few days ago, when she was being chased through Black Spring Town by that lecherous bandit, she had been rescued by a passing expert. The sword in that person’s hand had been exactly the same as the one Bai Li was holding now.
The only reason Fu Yan found this particular sword so familiar… was because that person had used it to hook and slice right through her belt.
Fu Yan: “…”
Thinking back on her experience in the Red-Black Mountain Range, then recalling the gossip she’d just overheard before the duel—about how Bai Li had also once gone to the Red-Black Mountains—Fu Yan no longer had anything she didn’t understand.
That day, the one who had saved her and even gifted her an opportunity… had been this very senior sister, Bai Li.
The truth left Fu Yan a bit surprised. But looking at Bai Li’s receding back as she left the arena, she didn’t run after her to ask anything. Right now she had nothing with which to repay a life-saving grace anyway.
Besides, Bai Li had probably just lent a hand in passing. She most likely didn’t even remember who Fu Yan was.
Once her thoughts settled, Fu Yan finally noticed that almost all the disciples around the dueling arena had already dispersed. She didn’t linger either and quickly left the place.
Having just arrived at the inner sect peak, everything was new to her. She wandered around for a while, casually familiarizing herself with the various areas, then finally decided to find a place to rest.
Halfway up the mountain, wooden cabins could be seen everywhere, each with a small courtyard outside. This was where the sect had prepared lodging for all disciples. There were probably over a thousand cabins on the whole peak, more than enough for the eight hundred plus inner disciples.
Which meant there were plenty of empty ones.
Fu Yan had always liked quiet places, so she walked a bit farther and picked a slightly more remote cabin—remote enough that there was no one else for dozens of li around.
The sky was already growing dark. After all she’d gone through in the Red-Black Mountain Range—one life-and-death struggle after another—then rushing back to the sect on top of that, she was already utterly exhausted.
In the end, Fu Yan even skipped dinner and hurriedly fell into bed.
The next day, the sky was again perfectly clear.
Fu Yan got up at the crack of dawn. After a night’s rest, she felt completely refreshed. There was a regular cafeteria on the inner sect peak as well, so she went straight there and had breakfast.
“Did you guys go watch Senior Sister Bai Li and Senior Brother Yu Heng’s duel yesterday? I heard they ended in a draw, is that true?”
“Of course it is. Looking at this year’s inner sect ranking tournament, that first place is really hard to call now.”
“Exactly. Senior Sister Bai has kept first place for three years in a row. There’s no way Senior Brother Yu Heng is willing to accept that. He’s definitely going all out this time.”
“…”
Even while eating breakfast, Fu Yan could hear the disciples at the neighboring tables still talking about yesterday’s duel. She didn’t react much.
Once she finished eating, she headed straight in the direction of the Martial Skills Pavilion. Her current strength was far too weak; she naturally needed to learn a new sword art.
The inner sect’s Martial Skills Pavilion was two or three times larger than the one for the outer sect, and it looked much grander as well. Perhaps because it was still early, such a large pavilion had very few people inside.
The entire first floor was filled with low-tier, human-rank techniques. To be honest, Fu Yan didn’t think much of them. Since she had stepped onto the path of cultivation, she naturally wanted to strive for the best. Only strong power could truly protect her life.
So, the moment she walked in, Fu Yan headed straight for the second floor.
Her actions immediately sparked a small wave of murmurs.
“She’s only at the early Enlightenment stage and she’s going up to the second floor? Who is she? I’ve never seen her before.”
Someone stared doubtfully at Fu Yan’s back.
The person beside him shot a contemptuous glance over.
“What’s there to guess? She’s obviously new. Just broke through and already wants to study mid-tier, human-rank techniques. That’s unbelievably stupid.”
Harsh as the words sounded, they weren’t entirely wrong. For most people, cultivation still needed to be steady and grounded. Mid-tier, human-rank techniques were hardly easy to learn. Fail, and it was not only a waste of time—if you went astray and had a deviation in your cultivation, you’d be finished.
Fu Yan heard the mocking comments clearly, but she didn’t care. She ignored them and went straight up to the second floor.
The second floor’s space was vast. Row after row of bookshelves were neatly arranged, making it look rather like one of those huge libraries from the twenty-first century.
“Junior Sister, are you new to the inner sect?”
Just as Fu Yan was about to move off to look for sword techniques, a crisp voice suddenly sounded by her ear. She turned and saw a figure walking slowly toward her.
“Hello, Junior Sister. I’m Zhou Zhenlie, ranked one hundred and eighteen in the inner sect. Just call me Senior Brother Zhou.”
Zhou Zhenlie beamed as he introduced himself, his gaze discreetly sweeping up and down over Fu Yan.
Fu Yan was a bit speechless. What a clumsy way to strike up a conversation…
“Fu Yan.”
Her tone was flat.
At that, Zhou Zhenlie was clearly taken aback, as if surprised by her attitude. Generally, when people heard that he was ranked one hundred and eighteen, they treated him with respect.
But he quickly recovered.
“Is this your first time in the inner sect’s Martial Skills Pavilion, Junior Sister? As it happens, I’m free. I can give you a quick introduction.”
Fu Yan didn’t turn him down. Since someone was offering to be a guide, she might as well use him. It would save her from roaming aimlessly through this sea of manuals.
“Look, Junior Sister Fu. These two rows on your left are palm arts. Up ahead are fist arts… over there are sword arts, and directly in front of us are body-tempering and movement techniques.”
After he finished, Zhou Zhenlie looked at her.
“You probably haven’t cultivated any body-tempering movement arts yet, have you? Come, I’ll take you to pick one that suits you.”
As he spoke, he headed straight forward.
But as soon as Fu Yan heard where the sword manuals were, she turned and went right instead. By the time Zhou Zhenlie realized something was off and looked back, she had already disappeared.
Zhou Zhenlie: “…”
Among cultivators, sword cultivators usually made up half the population, so the sword techniques here were naturally the most numerous. Fu Yan had barely walked past one row before she was dazzled.
Greenridge Sword Art, Scorching Sun Sword Art… all kinds of sword arts, a dazzling array.
After another circuit around the shelves, Fu Yan’s gaze finally landed on a manual titled Illusionless Sword.
Illusionless—no illusion, no trace. A sword that was and was not. All that was conjured was blade.
“This one is interesting. I’ll take it.”
Fu Yan skimmed a few pages and immediately decided to cultivate this Illusionless Sword.
At that moment, Zhou Zhenlie appeared again from who-knew-where, sounding a bit helpless.
“Sigh, Junior Sister Fu, how did you end up over here?”
Then he noticed the sword manual in her hands and couldn’t help smiling.
“So Junior Sister Fu is a sword cultivator too. What a coincidence. I happen to be a sword cultivator myself. My sword arts might not be peerless, but I do have some insights. If you run into any problems, feel free to come ask me. We can always practice together, exchange pointers with our swords.”
“No need.”
Fu Yan put away the Illusionless Sword manual and couldn’t be bothered with him.
After choosing her sword art, Fu Yan went to select a movement technique. Seeing Bai Li’s light movement technique yesterday had made her fully aware of how important speed was. In any battle, so long as your speed was fast enough, you would always have an edge.
And if you couldn’t win and had to run, knowing a good movement technique was absolutely vital.
Before long, Fu Yan picked out a manual called Windshadow Steps. Then she chose another called Pure Essence Art for refining true essence. Only then did she feel satisfied enough to prepare to leave the Martial Skills Pavilion.
“Junior Sister Fu, aren’t you going to pick a body-tempering art?”
Zhou Zhenlie, who had dogged her steps the whole time, couldn’t help advising her kindly when he saw this.
He actually wasn’t surprised. Many newcomers didn’t understand the importance of body-tempering and thought cultivation techniques were all that mattered, so they chose to ignore tempering the body.
“No need.”
Fu Yan answered bluntly.
She had already been cultivating the Frost Tempering Art. She naturally had no interest in the Shuiling Sect’s body-tempering methods. She didn’t explain any of this, of course. If the sect learned what sort of body-tempering manual she had, eight or nine times out of ten they would demand she hand it over.
With that, Fu Yan headed downstairs on her own.
This time, Zhou Zhenlie didn’t hurry to catch up. He only stared fixedly at Fu Yan’s departing back.
Just then, another figure emerged from behind the shelves and stepped up beside him, saying meaningfully,
“Looks like even Senior Brother Zhou can misjudge people sometimes. Our little junior sister clearly isn’t the least bit interested in you.”
Zhou Zhenlie wasn’t angry at all. Instead, he laughed silently, then lifted his eyes to that person and said carelessly,
“What do you know? Girls like that are the fun ones to conquer. Playing with them… has its own flavor.”
“Oh?”
The other man chuckled as well.
Zhou Zhenlie glanced again in the direction Fu Yan had left. His eyes narrowed slightly, something flickering in their depths that was hard to catch.
“Just watch. Within seven days, at most.”
The other only shrugged.
“All right. Seven days it is. If you fail, your monthly spirit qi pills and spirit stones are mine.”
At that, Zhou Zhenlie gave a cold snort.
Clearly, he didn’t believe he would lose.
