Back in her room that night, Fu Yan could barely wait before taking out the jade slip Bai Li had given her.
She thought for a moment, then closed her eyes and sank her consciousness into the jade slip.
The “insights” recorded inside were not a cultivation manual, but understandings left behind by seniors who had once grasped the Insightful Sword. They were their own views, some simple recognitions and interpretations.
Even so, such insights were rare treasures that one could only stumble upon by chance. No wonder Fu Yan had been so surprised that Bai Li would give something like this to her.
To perform the Insightful Sword, one had to sense the flow and trajectory of sword qi, move according to the heart, and pour one’s entire mind and will into the sword.
Man is the sword, and the sword is man.
On the surface, it looked like a perfectly ordinary line.
Fu Yan knew, however, that actually doing it was another story entirely. This jade-slip of insights had been in Bai Li’s hands for so long, yet Bai Li herself still hadn’t managed to comprehend it. That alone showed how incredibly difficult it was.
Sitting in meditation allowed her to both cultivate and rest. The entire night slipped past in a hurry.
After staring at the jade slip of insights all night, Fu Yan still hadn’t managed to grasp any real clue. She wasn’t anxious, though; she knew everything had to be built up step by steady step.
She refined some more of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into true essence in her body, and only when the sun was already high at noon did she finally leave her room and head straight for the weapons shop.
“Here, the scabbard you wanted.”
The shopkeeper had apparently spotted her from far away; he turned around with the finished scabbard already in hand and passed it over.
“Thank you, Boss.”
Fu Yan reached out and took it, sheathing her Exquisite Broken Sword.
The scabbard was an ashen white, carved over with fine, delicate patterns. Fu Yan probed a trace of spiritual power into it, only to feel as if it had sunk into the sea without a ripple.
“All right, all right. Since I charged you eight hundred low-grade spirit stones, you think I’d dare scam you?”
Noticing her little test, the shopkeeper spoke with lazy pride.
“This was made from top-grade saltstone.”
The sect’s weapons shops were, in general, there to serve disciples, so you didn’t really see much blatant cheating. As long as you had the spirit stones, most things were negotiable.
“Oh right, you’re that Fu Yan who shattered Zhou Zhenlie’s qi sea, aren’t you?”
The shopkeeper had felt her name was familiar when he saw the rankings yesterday. It was only later he remembered the life-and-death challenge that had been the talk of the inner sect for days.
Fu Yan froze for a moment and looked at him, puzzled.
“Is there some problem?”
They’d only met twice before, and he didn’t seem like the gossipy type, which made her even more curious.
He just chuckled.
“You haven’t been in the inner sect for long, have you? There’s a training ground the sect set up for disciples in the back mountain. With your strength, I think you can try the Bing-level trial.”
Fu Yan paused.
That, she truly hadn’t heard of.
Leaving the weapons shop, she thought it over, then turned toward the back mountain. His words had piqued her curiosity, and what she needed most right now was solid, practical training.
When she arrived at the training ground, there were already quite a few disciples around. Fu Yan didn’t pay them much attention and went straight to the registration point.
“Hey, isn’t that Fu Yan, the one who’s been in the spotlight lately? She actually came to the training ground too. What level do you think she’ll pick?”
“Her cultivation is only at early Aperture Opening, but her combat power’s mid-stage at least. She’ll probably choose the Bing-level trial.”
“…”
Her appearance again sparked a fresh wave of whispers, leaving Fu Yan with a bit of a headache. That business of shattering Zhou Zhenlie’s qi sea had indeed made her a minor celebrity in the inner sect.
“First time here?”
At the gate of the training ground sat an elder in charge of registration. As Fu Yan walked over, he asked without even raising his head.
Fu Yan nodded.
The elder didn’t waste words.
“The training ground is divided into four levels: Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding. The recommended cultivations for challenging them range from Aperture Opening completion down to the early stage.”
Only after he finished did he finally look up at her.
“What level do you choose?”
“Bing.”
Fu Yan answered calmly. This was her first time here; she had no idea what she would run into inside. Choosing the Bing-level trial, given her current strength, was the more conservative option.
The elder tossed her a glass bead.
“If you encounter mortal danger, crush this bead to forfeit the trial. You’ll be teleported out immediately.”
Fu Yan nodded to show she understood.
“The Bing-level trial is about to open. Anyone else want to enter?”
He placed a spirit stone into a groove on the formation plate, then casually called out to the crowd behind her.
As soon as he finished, a somewhat dopey-sounding voice piped up from the crowd.
“Hey! M-me, me, me, I want to do the Bing-level trial too!”
Fu Yan looked over to see a broad, solid figure hurrying toward them. At first glance she thought it was a man, but when the person drew closer she realized it was a girl about her own age.
It was just… that figure really was a bit on the sturdy side.
Fu Yan wasn’t one to judge by appearances. The girl had indeed put on some weight, but it gave her a certain clumsy charm. Her big, watery eyes were especially pretty, and her face was a picture-perfect cute, baby-faced girl.
The girl was still holding a chicken leg in one hand as she spoke to the registration elder.
“Elder, I want to enter the Bing-level trial too.”
Her arrival immediately stirred up another round of commotion.
“Hey, who’s that? Never seen her before. Must be another newcomer to the inner sect, right?”
“No way, two disciples at early Aperture Opening going for the Bing-level trial? Are the new disciples all this brave now?”
“I can understand Fu Yan’s confidence. But this little junior sister—she’s so chubby. Kind of adorable, though.”
“What, so that’s your type?”
While the chatter went on, the girl finished registering and, still holding her chicken leg, trotted over in Fu Yan’s direction.
“Senior Sister Fu, hello. I’m Tong Zhen. I’ve been in the inner sect for less than ten days. I hope I won’t drag you down.”
She let out two sheepish laughs, then took another bite of the chicken leg, smiling like a child who’d just been given candy.
“Hello.”
Fu Yan nodded politely and didn’t say much more.
A moment later, a blinding light flashed before their eyes. Both of them had to raise their hands to shield their faces, and in the next instant, they landed steadily on solid ground.
Looking around, Fu Yan realized the formation had sent them to a small island in the middle of a lake. Water encircled them on all sides, hemming them into the center.
What was worse, the lake’s surface was crowded with heads breaking the waterline.
“Swordtooth Crocodiles!”
Fu Yan couldn’t help blurting out in surprise.
Swordtooth Crocodiles, second-rank demonic beasts, each one as strong as a peak mid-stage Aperture Opening cultivator. And there were this many of them. If they got surrounded and swarmed…
It didn’t bear thinking about.
Fortunately, the distance from the island’s center to the shore wasn’t that great. With her current minor accomplishment in Windshadow Step, sprinting through the Swordtooth Crocodile group to reach the bank would be no problem at all.
But for Tong Zhen beside her, that might not be so easy.
“Junior Sister Tong Zhen, this should be the first stage of the trial. We need to get to the other shore. A single Swordtooth Crocodile is easy to handle, but there are too many here, so we can only dash through quickly.”
Fu Yan kindly explained her thoughts, then asked,
“By the way, have you learned any movement techniques?”
“Huh?”
Tong Zhen scratched her head, embarrassed.
“I have, but my movement technique is… kind of half-baked.”
Fu Yan felt a headache coming on.
This was training; she couldn’t exactly just grab the girl and carry her across. That would defeat the entire purpose.
She studied the terrain around them more closely, then said,
“Then we’ll go from here. I’ll show you first. You need to make use of every little advantage you can find, understand?”
“Okay.”
Tong Zhen quickly finished off the last bite of her chicken leg and stared at Fu Yan with rapt attention.
Fu Yan didn’t waste more words. She activated Windshadow Step and shot out, skimming over the surface of the lake. Her figure was like a fading afterimage, flashing past countless Swordtooth Crocodiles, not so much as a single drop of water touching her clothes.
In less than three breaths, Fu Yan landed steadily on the far shore.
She turned back just in time to see Tong Zhen start moving.
The girl’s movement technique seemed only good enough to keep her from sinking; it had essentially no speed to speak of.
So Fu Yan watched, dumbfounded, as Tong Zhen walked step by step over the lake’s surface toward the shore.
At the same time, the nearest Swordtooth Crocodile surged up out of the water, jaws gaping as it lunged straight at her.
Fu Yan’s heart leapt into her throat. The word “Careful!” had barely formed on her lips when, in the very next second, her expression froze in utter disbelief.
Tong Zhen reached out, grabbed the Swordtooth Crocodile by the tail with one hand, and casually swung it up into the air.
Just like that, three Swordtooth Crocodiles, each about as big as she was, were flung in quick succession and ended up hanging from a tree branch on the bank, caught high in the fork of the trunk.
Fu Yan, who had witnessed the entire scene:
“…!!!”
