Chapter 61

Chapter 61: Blade Technique Breakthrough

After leaving the forbidden grounds, Rong Shu immediately rode the Red-crowned Cinnabar Crane to Spirit Nurturing Peak’s Task Pavilion and retrieved everything she had left there.

Her mind kept circling back to the blade arts carved into the rock wall, and when she saw the two wooden practice blades in her storage pouch, a ripple of excitement stirred in her chest.

Forcing herself to stay calm, Rong Shu went first to the Hundred Herb Garden behind the mountain, tended every spirit herb in the fields, and only then, unable to wait any longer, began practicing with the blades.

Relying on the memory in her head, beneath the thick night, and to the faint swaying of the flowers and grasses in the spirit fields, she threw herself into the practice and forgot everything else.

The longer she drilled, the more the blade marks on that cliff felt carved into her very heart, impossible to dispel, following her like a shadow.

There was a low hum as the wooden blade in Rong Shu’s hand trembled.

“Wind,” she intoned softly: the edge of the wooden blade in her right hand swept through the air, and the currents around her shifted. The soft, boneless breeze hardened in an instant into a spray of piercing cold needles.

“Fire,” she whispered: under the hazy night, within that small patch of heaven and earth, a bright flame bloomed like a long-budded flower, dazzling and hot. As the wooden blade in her left hand chopped down, that flickering flame that seemed ready to gutter out suddenly bared its hidden fangs.

Driving two kinds of spiritual qi at the same time is no small feat for any cultivator; a single misstep and the two streams will repel and collide.

Yet Rong Shu’s face stayed cool and steady. The wind qi and fire qi in her body, though distinct, accompanied and engendered one another.

The wind fed the blaze, the fire rode the wind, and layered waves of heat rolled out.

From within the billowing flames, it was as if a massive fire-beast strode forth, bloody maw gaping to devour the world.

Crack… crack… Two crisp snaps rang out as the wooden blades finally reached their limit. The right-hand blade split into several pieces, and the left shattered into a handful of splinters.

Rong Shu paid the damage no mind; delight flooded her face and she even hopped in place as she cheered: “Woohoo, the first form of the dual-wielding blade art on the rock wall is done!”

From this day on, she was a proper blade cultivator with a blade art to her name.

Her joy lasted only a moment. When she glanced at the sky and saw it was already past midnight, her expression changed: “Oh no, there’s still the Spirit Beast Garden task…”

Without meaning to, she had lost herself in the practice; the first half of the night had whooshed by.

She hurried to tidy the mess she had made, picking up every chunk and chip of wood. Some patches of grass had been scorched black, so she flicked out a few wind blades to trim away the burned leaves; where bare patches remained, she used wood qi to urge the seeds in the soil. In no time, the lawn looked as it had before.

With that done, Rong Shu rushed off toward the Spirit Beast Garden.

…

After locating the feeding task inside the forbidden grounds, Rong Shu slipped back into her two-point routine over the next few days.

By day she meditated in the forbidden grounds, practiced spell arts, and secretly drilled blade work with a tree branch. By night she meditated in the back mountain, kept practicing with wooden blades, and refined pills.

On the tenth day, during the day, Rong Shu waited outside the forbidden grounds for three Golden Core sect elders to complete their inspection; as usual, one Golden Core Stage sect elder led her inside.

Once Rong Shu had gone in, the mustached sect elder who remained behind muttered to the tall, thin sect elder beside him: “Why hasn’t that little girl given up on this task yet?”

The tall, thin sect elder paused, then said: “Now that you mention it, it really has been ten days… I thought that little girl wouldn’t last even a single day, and I didn’t expect her to hold out for ten.”

“Then should we…” The mustached sect elder’s eyes flickered. Seeing this, the tall, thin sect elder shook his head: “Let’s wait a bit. It’s only been ten days. In the past there were disciples who stuck it out this long, even completed the full half-month, and still got nothing for it.”

“Just in case, look into that little girl,” the mustached sect elder said. “If she is practicing the blade, that would be just right.”

“Fine,” the tall, thin sect elder nodded.

When the sect elder who had escorted Rong Shu into the valley returned, the tall, thin sect elder finally took a moment to leave.

There are watchers posted all throughout the forbidden grounds, and the rule for the three of them is that only one may leave at a time while the other two remain on duty.

Four hours later, the tall, thin sect elder came back.

“How was it?” The mustached sect elder asked with clear expectation.

The tall, thin sect elder shook his head, regretful, and said: “A pity. She is Immortal Venerable Ze Yu’s personal disciple. A few months ago she went to Scarlet Sun City and bought a spirit sword at the weapons shop. She probably intends to study the sword.”

“Study the sword? Then it really has nothing to do with that little girl. Should we find a pretext and have her removed?” The mustached sect elder sighed, then asked.

“There’s no need to remove her for now,” said the sect elder responsible for guiding Rong Shu into the valley. “The Task Pavilion won’t be able to find a second candidate on short notice. Let’s make do like this for the time being.”

“True.”

“…”

As for Rong Shu, waiting in the valley within the forbidden grounds, she noticed none of this. She did not know that, because Yu Ruan Ruan had promoted the sword to her and Qin Yuan had gifted her a spirit sword at the Scarlet Sun City weapons shop that day, she had sidestepped much trouble.

If Rong Shu knew, relief would ease her heart and she would silently thank generous Senior Brother Qin and warm-hearted Yu Ruan Ruan.