Chapter 32: Practice Drill
Zeng Yan couldn't break down her family sword art move by move for Lu You.
Just demonstrating the complete set once was already her pushing her luck against her family's taboos.
The reason she taught Lu You this set at all was because the killing intent he was showing now was too heavy, so she hoped he would rein it in a little.
"Evil Eye, did you remember it?"
After watching his Senior Sister's breathtaking sword dance, Lu You gained a new understanding of sword cultivators.
When drawing a sword, life and death are decided.
That killing intent should be in the heart, not on the blade.
A sword should be as beautiful as his Senior Sister's dance.
Like the rising sun, gentle and warm to look at, yet if you draw close, you realize it burns at fifteen million degrees Celsius.
"Boss, don't worry. Even if this weren't sword techniques but just a dance, I recorded it all for you."
Evil Eye grinned slyly. Great, Boss didn't forget about me even while admiring the dance.
Seeing Evil Eye act like a shameless flatterer left Lu You speechless.
It was obvious—over these thousands of years, Evil Eye must have had a rough life.
Zeng Yan had only meant for Lu You to gain some insight from the sword dance, but once Evil Eye recorded it with the Blood Shadow technique, it immediately became Lu You's private resource.
Within the blood mist, Lu You could pause the dance at any moment in time and carefully examine every posture of Zeng Yan.
So, sometimes Lu You observed the overall artistic intent from afar, sometimes he moved in close to study the details.
Whenever he didn't understand something, he even let his own shadow overlap with Zeng Yan's shadow, carefully feeling out the movements and rhythm of the sword dance.
Evil Eye clicked its tongue. "Wow, so the Blood Shadow technique can be used like this—uh, I mean, for cultivation."
An entire day slipped by quietly as Lu You immersed himself in Zeng Yan's sword dance.
When he was hungry, he ate spiritual rice.
When his mind grew restless, he scattered Purifying Heart Talismans.
When his spiritual energy ran low, he took out spirit stones to absorb.
To make the details in the blood mist clearer, Lu You didn't stint on cultivation-origin blood either, letting the small cauldron supply Evil Eye generously.
Evil Eye also pulled its weight. With a steady supply of origin blood, the Blood Shadow technique's "resolution" was cranked from 720p all the way up to 4K Blu-ray. The consumption was staggering—nearly ten thousand people's worth of cultivation-origin blood was burned through. Evil Eye was overjoyed, loudly declaring that working for Lu You for a single day was more than it had eaten in tens of millions of years combined.
It wasn't until evening, when Lu You's door was shoved open with a bang, that he was pulled out of his training.
"Hey, this is Lu You's place, right?" A cultivator carrying a long sword strode into the courtyard with disdain. Seeing Lu You inside, he snorted. "You Lu You?"
"That's me. Fellow Daoist, you are?" Lu You frowned. When Senior Sister barged in, that was familiarity. Who was this guy, barging in out of nowhere?
"Who's your 'fellow Daoist'? My name's Hu Da, a ninth-level Qi Refining sword cultivator. You can call me Brother Hu." Hu Da snorted. "Someone already gave me a heads-up to give you a draw if we meet. Damn it, don't think having backing makes you hot stuff. I've cultivated for so long—what I hate most is pretty-boy types like you."
So this was the ninth-level Qi Refining cultivator who'd been "spoken to."
Lu You understood at once. "Brother Hu, then you're here to tell me that when we meet on the arena, we'll each rely on our own true abilities, right?"
Lu You suddenly wasn't angry anymore. If Hu Da was the kind of cultivator who lived by clear grudges and loyalties, Lu You actually admired this refusal to go along with power for personal gain.
"Bullshit. I already took the money—why the hell would I give it back? And what real ability do you even have? On the arena, you're just the kind of trash I knock over with one sword strike." Hu Da spat. "I'm here now to practice some fake moves with you. You think the people of Verdant Cloud Sect are blind? If cheating ends up delaying my promotion to the outer sect, what are you going to use to compensate me?"
Hu Da walked up to Lu You and patted his shoulder with the flat of his blade. "We'll spar a bit now and set up some fake exchanges, so later we can pretend to wound each other and end in a draw. I don't have time to waste here—one hour. If you can't learn it by then, I'll fight you for real on the arena. The money stays."
Lu You looked Hu Da over again. "Who's the one who paid you?"
Lu You suddenly realized his Senior Sister had lied. If this had really been arranged by Bai Zihua, Hu Da wouldn't dare be so arrogant.
"Huh? Why are you playing dumb? Who else could it be but Zeng Yan?" Hu Da scoffed. "Let me tell you, if Zeng Yan hadn't lucked her way into the inner sect, I wouldn't take this job no matter how much she paid." Hu Da drew his sword and tapped Lu You's shoulder with the blade. "Hurry up. I'll teach you how to fake a fight."
"Fine." Lu You thought about it and didn't argue with Hu Da. They were in the Verdant Cloud Sect anyway, he couldn't kill this guy here. People with filthy mouths like this, once offended, might go around smearing Zeng Yan's name afterward. If nothing else, the cheating incident alone could affect his Senior Sister's entry into the inner sect.
Worried about dragging his Senior Sister down with him, Lu You pretended not to hear the filth pouring out of Hu Da's mouth and drew his sword.
"Damn, it's actually a treasured artifact. Kid, you've got some nerve," Hu Da said, swallowing hard when he saw Lu You's sword.
Treasured artifacts were usually only forged by Golden Core realm refiners. For a cultivator to reach Golden Core and also master artifact forging—the difficulty was obvious. That meant how expensive this artifact must be. Even among inner-sect Foundation Establishment disciples, only a handful could afford treasured artifacts. And yet here was Lu You—someone who even needed to rely on a woman just to get through the outer-sect recruitment—holding one in his hand.
"Damn it, I took too little money. No way—you've gotta pay me more."
Hu Da's face twisted with jealousy. He was at the ninth level of Qi Refining, but in real combat he wasn't a match for Zeng Yan, so he only dared to bark at Lu You. He didn't dare go back to demand more from Zeng Yan.
So now I'm being treated like a fat sheep again.
A chill rose in Lu You's heart, though his face remained calm. "It's just a draw. What you're getting is already plenty. If you want more, then in the fake fight, I win."
People this greedy might use the cheating as leverage again later. Lu You already felt a hint of killing intent. Sometimes, what Senior Sister said was right—every cultivator is fighting for something. If you're weak, everyone around you becomes a bandit.
"You want to win?" Hu Da froze, then snorted with a laugh. "Oh? Then how much can you pay?"
"Wait a moment." Lu You went back into the house, then came out and tossed Hu Da a small pouch. "There are two hundred low-grade spirit stones in here. Let me win, and afterward you'll get another three hundred."
Five hundred spirit stones!
Hu Da swallowed hard.
"But I want the win to look real," Lu You continued. "When we exchange blows, you sell me an opening. I'll wound your right arm and you'll pretend to drop your sword and concede."
Lu You had always only guessed at his own strength. Just like with his unlimited talismans, he didn't know how strong he really was when he went all out, he only conservatively estimated that he was comparable to Foundation Establishment. This time was the same. His swordsmanship had advanced, but the recruitment was the day after tomorrow, and his opponent was a ninth-level Qi Refining sword cultivator. Without exposing his talismans, Lu You wasn't certain whether his sword alone could actually defeat Hu Da. So the spirit stones were insurance.
"Fine. It's just one loss. I'm not like you, even if I lose to you once, I'll still rank solidly in the top ten," Hu Da cursed as he agreed. Then the two of them went through the motions of the fake exchanges, arranging that at the crucial moment, Hu Da would leave an opening. Lu You's sword would slash Hu Da's right arm, and Hu Da would pretend to drop his sword and admit defeat on the arena.
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