Chapter 38

Chapter 38: You Are Not Suited for the Sword

Yan Zi Mo murmured after hearing that Rong Shu possessed only a mid-grade dual spiritual root: “Truly a pity.”

As soon as he learned Rong Shu was merely mid-grade, the flicker of interest that had risen in Yan Zi Mo’s eyes faded. She was nothing more than a somewhat amusing little girl; her aptitude did not match his.

Rong Shu came from Heaven’s Evolution Sect, with decent identity and background, and Yan Zi Mo could hardly make her his nameless confidante. Moreover, he glanced at the prodigious young lady beside him from Heaven’s Evolution Sect who possessed an ice-type Heavenly Spiritual Root; his gaze softened as he comforted the kind girl who worried for her junior sister: “Everyone has their fate, Ruan Ruan, do not grieve.”

Yu Ruan Ruan nodded: “Mm, I will cultivate diligently so that I can protect junior sister in the days to come.”

Yan Zi Mo praised with a light smile: “Ruan Ruan, you truly are kind.”

Yu Ruan Ruan laughed: “Not really~”

Off to the side, Qin Yuan watched this little rascal Yan Zi Mo cozy up to his junior sister Ruan Ruan, and his face darkened a shade. This was Scarlet Sun City, and one had to show a measure of respect to the young city lord; had they been at Heaven’s Evolution Sect, he would already have driven Yan Zi Mo away from Ruan Ruan’s side. He brooded, thinking: [Ruan Ruan, honestly, how could you ignore your third senior brother on account of an outsider?]

Elsewhere, Rong Shu returned to the familiar little grove and first flipped through the sword manual. She muttered while reading: “This manual is just an ordinary beginner’s sword manual. As expected, things given away for free tend to be average, but for now I can only make do with it.”

After studying for a while, she followed the forms in the manual and used the newly mooched-for-free Spirit Sword to mime the moves one by one. Even without seeing the whole picture, Rong Shu could feel how awkward her current postures were.

Without her noticing, a figure stopped not far away. When he saw that it was Rong Shu practicing sword, a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes. He considered for a moment, then took another route. This little interlude passed entirely outside Rong Shu’s awareness.

After practicing several days in a row, Rong Shu’s posture was still crooked, and she kept feeling she had missed the method somewhere. She practiced while whispering to herself: “No one can see me anyway, so rounding up, there is absolutely no problem.”

A soft cough shattered her fantasy: “Ahem.”

Rong Shu’s face stiffened. She turned her head woodenly and saw Lin Dao standing not far away, his expression faintly odd as he looked at her. [Uh…] she thought, hoping desperately: [Senior Brother Lin Dao did not hear what I said, right? He did not, right?]

The next second despair struck, because even if Senior Brother Lin Dao had not heard her muttering, he had definitely seen her clumsy swordwork. She could not fool herself into believing he had suffered a convenient bout of temporary blindness and seen nothing.

In just a few seconds, Rong Shu ran through hundreds of pep talks in her mind before she put on a façade of calm and greeted him: “Seni… Senior Brother Lin Dao, what a coincidence.”

She told herself: [As long as I do not care and I do not expose it, social death can never catch up to me.]

Lin Dao pointed ahead and answered evenly: “Just passing through. There is the inn where I am staying.”

Rong Shu nodded quickly: “Oh, then take care.”

Hugging her sword, she felt too embarrassed to keep practicing in front of him. Lin Dao also noticed her awkwardness and did not linger. Today Rong Shu had started an hour early, and Lin Dao had failed to avoid the grove, thus running into her by chance.

After Lin Dao left, Rong Shu let out a small breath. She considered changing practice spots, but could not immediately find another quiet and secluded place. Besides, since Senior Brother Lin Dao now knew she practiced here, he probably would not come back this way, right? Right?

She very soon regretted not leaving, because Senior Brother Lin Dao came back again.

He returned because, after he left, the image of the young lady practicing stuck in his mind: rigid postures, awkward angles, a sword swung soft and powerless. The last few days he had not seen clearly; this time he had. The more he thought, the more it bothered him, and in the end he came back and told her directly: “You are not suited to the sword.”

Rong Shu, maintaining a façade of calm as she practiced, froze and wondered if she had misheard. She looked over, and he looked back. It was not an illusion; Senior Brother Lin Dao had indeed spoken to her.

She sheathed her sword and said with a wry smile: “Senior Brother Qin Yuan gave me this Spirit Sword and said I could try practicing.”

Lin Dao did not mince words; his tone was cool as he pointed out: “The sword is the sovereign of a hundred weapons, hard yet unyielding. With a sword in hand, where under heaven is barred? What you were doing has form but no intent. You are not suited to the sword.”

Rong Shu did not get angry; she knew her own limits. She only pulled a face and said: “Senior brother, aside from a small dagger, I do not have a second weapon. I can only make do for now.”

Lin Dao fell silent for a beat and clicked his tongue. He had forgotten that this young lady was poor and not that filthy rich Zi An.

He opened his palm and said: “Try this.”

A strand of lightning sprang forth, but in Lin Dao’s hand the violent arc behaved obediently. He casually pulled and shaped it until it became a long spear. With a slight turn of his wrist he flicked it toward Rong Shu: “Catch.”

Rong Shu’s eyelid twitched and she did not catch it. The spear of lightning stuck into the ground at her feet. “…”

“This… it will not shock me, right?” Rong Shu looked at Lin Dao with pleading eyes, trying to explain.

Lin Dao pressed his brow and sighed: “It will not shock you. Pick it up.”

Rong Shu obeyed: “Oh.”

At his instruction, she gave the lightning spear a few experimental swings. After a moment, Lin Dao asked: “How does it feel?”

Rong Shu compared the feeling of the sword and the spear: “It seems smoother than using a sword.”

By temperament and experience, she was not the sort to bash her head against a wall. She was good at weighing the situation and avoided thankless effort. A long spear that could be straight yet flexible fit her nature better than a longsword.

Lin Dao continued: “Try a saber.”

As he spoke, the lightning spear in her hands reshaped into a massive saber. A petite frame hefting such a ferocious blade made for an odd picture. He hesitated, then refined it into a long, straight saber, like a sword yet not quite a sword.

After a while he said: “Change again.”

She complied silently.

He said once more: “Change.”

She kept at it.

“Change.”

Eventually, Lin Dao grew too lazy to speak. With a snap of his fingers, the lightning in Rong Shu’s hands obediently manifested into other weapon shapes. He cycled through dozens of weapons in succession, and Rong Shu tried them one by one.

As she tested which weapon felt right in her hand, she could not help marveling inwardly at Senior Brother Lin Dao’s control over spiritual energy; this terrifying precision was utterly unlike the level an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator should possess.

Lin Dao’s faint voice drifted over: “Hmm? You still have time to let your mind wander?”

Rong Shu shivered on reflex, like a student caught daydreaming by the teacher, and at once banished every stray thought to focus solely on the “weapon” in her hands.