The plan, conceived with Azula, was beginning to work. Having learned some rumors, which I supplemented with my memories of the canon, we managed to get a good understanding of Piandao's character even before meeting him. It was not difficult for the brilliant girl to pique his interest. I could observe Azula's intellect, cunning, and excellent acting skills from the best seats as she followed the master into the stone garden.
Everything was going according to plan; all the princess had to do was perform well during the sparring match.
She had devised most of the plan herself; I only corrected and smoothed the edges of some particularly sharp moments. After all, starting an acquaintance with a display of status and hints of threats is not the best idea, and Azula rarely acted otherwise. The girl impressed with her quick-wittedness, and at the same time, it became sad to see her flaws that hindered the princess from living and developing. Childhood traumas manifested in all their glory.
However, if the princess didn't have these weaknesses, I would have had a much harder time. But one cannot remain indifferent, seeing her diligence, dedication, and genius. Yes, like any human, Azula had both positive and negative qualities, making her personality very peculiar, but undoubtedly, she deserved at least respect.
I have achieved considerable success during my time in her body, understood a great deal about this world and the workings of vital energy Qi in a human body, not forgetting to study my spiritual life and development possibilities as a spirit. Yes, I was not idle at all while inside the princess, even if it might have seemed so from the outside. Let Azula continue to think that I do nothing when she sleeps. Though, she is a smart girl, she likely guesses my actions and suspects something.
I don't think she'd like the fact that I'm looking through her entire life's memories while she's having dreams. However, these weren't exactly dreams, but rather the girl's deep memories, which she might not even remember. I almost gave myself away when I first started doing this. I can only hope she won't pay attention to a single nightmare. It's good that I managed to figure everything out quickly and not wake the girl during her dreams. It's doubly good that the brain independently erases, or in this case, puts back her deep memories, which I retrieve and review from the depths of another's mind, like immersive films. It was thanks to this that I learned so much about the world and the Fire Nation during a few days of sea travel. After all, when looking through the girl's memories, time is perceived somewhat differently. In just one night, I can review several dozen days of her life.
Getting Azula to go to Piandao was the best idea that had crossed my mind. Having obtained the much-needed time, I began to act, and now I was reaping the fruits of my successes. Spiritual vision, which previously only allowed me to observe Azula and all the processes occurring in her body, as well as see her aura, now, after numerous experiments, training, and trials, allowed me to see the world much more broadly. And looking through solid objects, like walls, was only a small capability of my spiritual vision. Now I could see other people, their auras, heartbeats, breathing, and most importantly—the flow of Qi within their bodies.
Comparing Azula's Qi with that of other firebenders, I found many differences. It was precisely thanks to these differences: in breathing, energy flows, the presence of vortices or accumulations of Qi, the variety and quality of energy pools, and the work that occurred in the flow of life energy through the body... All this made Azula stronger than all the firebenders I had seen, not to mention her strong genes, intelligence, and a huge amount of diligent training. From my perspective, she was already if not at her father's level, then very close. And her energy surpassed Ozai's by an order of magnitude, which also explains her stronger, blue flame.
Previously, I had never seen a higher quality Qi structure than the one the girl possessed. I considered what I saw to be the ideal, or something close to it. But now… now, looking at Piandao, I saw proof of my erroneous initial opinion. What was happening in the body of the true master was many times better and higher quality than the Qi circulation system Azula had. Nothing superfluous, everything was simple and without errors. Qi flowed in the sword master in a continuous stream, not lingering in energy pools or forming unnecessary vortices. It was like a perfectly working mechanism that had no flaws and gave exactly as much as the situation demanded, without making noise or wasting a single drop of energy in vain.
If we imagine Qi as a flowing river that winds its way along its path. Then, for the princess, it flowed slowly in places, quickly in others, and too crookedly in some, forming whirlpools here and getting delayed by extraneous objects there. The princess's river was still clean and drinkable, possibly even tasty, but not as perfect as Piandao's. The master looked like an ideal; his river was much simpler, without whirlpools or extraneous objects, it flowed evenly, perfectly evenly along its entire path, without slowing down or speeding up. And the old man's body itself looked surprisingly young for his age.
Comparing their energies, I tried to remember all the differences between the two recognized geniuses in order to create the exact same thing for myself in the future, if not better, as soon as I dealt with the body's problems.
Meanwhile, Piandao, along with Azula and the butler, went out to the backyard of the castle, where the stone garden was located, as well as a convenient sand-covered area for training and sparring. Wow, what was about to begin. Clearly sensing something, the hawk left the princess's shoulder, flying to the nearest wall. How I want to see the action of their life energy during the fight!
— Show me everything you're capable of, — they stood opposite each other. The master's Qi began to move several times faster. He was ready for battle, while from Azula, I felt excessive self-confidence, but her Qi also accelerated. She did not take him as a serious opponent, very much in vain.
— Under no circumstances underestimate him; he is far stronger than you can imagine, — I decide to help the girl not to fall flat on her face.
— As you wish, Master, — Azula replied with a confident voice and immediately attacked swiftly.
A blue fireball shot towards Piandao. For a moment, his eyes widened in surprise, but his body's reflexes easily allowed the old master to dodge, and his combat experience suggested the best way to counterattack.
Having attacked unsuccessfully, Azula was forced to dodge the sand flying towards her from a simple swing of the sword. She managed to save only one eye; the counterattack was too sharp. The master did not delay, immediately attacking with a lunge.
Instantly closing the distance, Piandao did not allow her to create fire. Dodging a direct lunge, Azula did not expect a continuation of the attack. This is exactly what the master did, trying to hit her with the hilt of his sword. Cartwheeling backward, she dodged again. She glanced at her opponent and received another portion of sand in her eyes.
Blinded!
Azula didn't panic; she immediately created a fire shield, and with the next movement, turned it into a wave of fire, which, at the girl's will, headed towards the master. Seeing nothing, she continued to throw arcs of fire one after another in the direction where the master might be. Unlike the princess, I could clearly see how easily he dodged her blind attacks, gradually increasing the distance from his opponent, fearing the hot flames.
On the fifth blind attack, Azula decided to rub her eyes with one hand while continuing to attack with the other. It was at this moment that Piandao chose to attack.
— Ow! — squeaking like a girl, Azula fell to the ground, feeling a sharp pain in her forehead. It was the scabbard of the sword that Piandao had thrown that hit her. Not embarrassed in the least, she immediately got up, preparing to continue defending herself.
— Enough, wipe your eyes, and we'll continue, — the master said to his opponent.
Both froze. The girl, after thinking for a bit, began to wipe her eyes, trying to restore her vision and get rid of the sand. Everyone understood perfectly well that instead of the thrown scabbard, the master's sword could have hit her, ending the fight with the girl's death. Less than a minute passed, and the brilliant princess tasted defeat. Piandao was a genius and a true master of his craft, who, according to rumors, had never lost to anyone. Only by seeing him in combat did I believe that he could have taken down a hundred mages with the support of an army.
Noticing the girl's overconfidence, he took advantage of it, defeating the master of firebending and close combat without any effort. Azula simply didn't have time to use her skills, and Piandao skillfully deprived her of her sight with a simple but terribly fast movement and skillful use of the terrain. Simple and brilliant, I was greatly impressed by such a quick victory over the brilliant princess. Unfortunately for the girl, she had little experience fighting against various opponents. Meanwhile, Piandao had hundreds of times more experience.
— I warned you not to underestimate him. Get up and continue, show your perseverance and determination. It doesn't matter how many times you fall; the main thing is to get up and keep fighting! — I decide to encourage Azula, suggesting how she should act. But would she be able to cope with the humiliation and her own anger?
— I must say, your skills are not particularly impressive, — the man noted with some disappointment, picking up his scabbard and holding it loosely in his hand.
— Don't make excuses, get into a stance! — I advise the girl, feeling her anger boiling.
— I wasn't ready, — the girl replied aggressively, unaccustomed to defeats, as well as to battles with such dirty opponents.
— A true warrior is always ready for battle, let alone a master. If you see an advantage, use it. You mentioned that you are considered a master where you come from? — he plays well on her pride and self-confidence, also sensing the girl's self-importance and decided to test how well she would control herself in battle.
— Oh, after such words, don't expect any pity from me, — Azula replied with a smirk, getting up from the sand.
— Restrain yourself in a fight with me? You are either trying to insult me or are excessively self-confident. It will be an honor for me to die in battle; try to kill me if you want to win! — he added pathos to his speech, taking a combat stance.
— As you wish, Master, — Azula adopted her own invented firebending stance, which was more effective than the standard stances of firebenders.
The sun's rays warmed the grass and earth, the wind howled in the distance… a moment, and the battle began.
This time, the girl did not allow herself to be caught by dirty tricks, completely focusing on the duel and expecting anything. It was much harder for Piandao to catch her. Several attempts to blind her with sand were unsuccessful. Keeping the opponent at a distance with fire, Azula felt her superiority. However, he dodved extremely quickly; not a single attack managed to even touch him. But he himself did not rush to throw his sword at the opponent, lacking alternative long-range attacks. Instead, he began to provoke and laugh at the girl's slow attacks.
— Not fast enough; are you showing off or fighting? — the master provoked, easily dodging both fiery blades and arcs of fire, and even simple fireballs. Piandao was too fast for her fire.
— Simple provocation; don't pay attention, watch his movements, — I support my princess while she continues to attack the greatest swordsman in the country. However, it was not necessary; the girl already understood everything herself.
— Such skills would be useful in a circus! Perhaps you should reconsider becoming a warrior? You're much better as a circus performer, — the master continued to provoke.
Outwardly, Azula remained calm and collected, but inwardly, I felt her anger. Although it didn't hinder her at all during the fight, she clearly didn't like the master's fighting style. Unfortunately, she couldn't do anything about it; her attacks still didn't reach their target.
This continued until Azula created a fiery dagger and moved into close combat. The girl held her own quite well. Alas, in close combat, despite the strength of her young body, acrobatics, and great agility, Piandao still confidently resisted her, giving her a worthy fight. Skillfully dodging each other's blows, they continued this dance, rapidly moving around the sandy ring.
The two masters fought on equal terms, although I could see Piandao holding back a little, clearly not showing everything he was capable of. It was a very fascinating spectacle to watch his Qi circulation system at work. The fight was beautiful and dangerous; they were almost equal, and no one knew who would win. It seemed as if the opponents were equal, but unexpectedly…
— Spit! — a successful spit in the eyes was accompanied by a blow from the sword hilt. Azula was once again on the sand, blinded and humiliated. The master's dirty trick had worked on the princess again.
— Get up; don't you dare give up; get up! — I support the princess, wanting to observe the battle and the Qi work of both participants longer. However, she didn't need my support; she managed on her own.
Getting up, the girl wiped her eyes again and prepared for battle. Ignoring the pain, suppressing her emotions, Azula was ready to fight and learn. Everything began to repeat again: fire, dodges, close combat…
This time, Azula was more serious than ever. Driving the master back with fire, she decided to use lightning. Piandao had no time to do anything; despite the rather long process of creating lightning, it took the girl a few seconds to unleash deadly magic on her opponent, which knew no barriers. The master merely threw his sword in front of him; the lightning hit it and went into the sand. Azula did not expect this at all…
— Your lightning bending leaves much to be desired. It takes too much time to create it. Nothing would stop me from throwing my sword at you and ending the fight, — the master slowly approached the sword, drawing it from the sand with one movement.
— Shall we continue?..
The next half-hour of fighting was less spectacular.
Azula used everything she knew, wanting to defeat and humiliate her opponent, but Piandao easily withstood the agile girl. Although she no longer used lightning, her arsenal was very extensive without it. The princess put up a worthy fight, using all her combat experience and honed skills in firebending and hand-to-hand combat, but it was not enough to win, and she began to learn and think more broadly. Once she managed to successfully blind the master with sand, but he caught her and knocked her to the ground, using an analog of my spiritual vision, or did he truly have such acute hearing comparable to echolocation?
In any case, the fight continued for quite a long time; all this time, Azula fell into the sand quite often but got up again and again, showing her perseverance and character. She didn't pay attention to the scrapes, bruises, and contusions she received. Once she even managed to get the better of the master, knocking him to the ground thanks to a distracting maneuver involving her hair accessory. This is how their sparring ended, with the princess's first victory, who introduced herself under the name of her best friend—Tai Li. How many times the girl suffered defeat and ended up on the sand, I don't want to remember.
— Ha, I suppose that's enough. Clearly, old age is taking its toll, — the master said calmly, getting up from the sand, sheathing his sword and showing by his entire demeanor that the duel was over.
— I didn't notice it hindering you from defeating me in any way, — Azula replied calmly, stung by the master's words. She won only thanks to her skills and cunning, as well as her ability to learn and find solutions in any situation, but certainly not because Piandao was succumbing to old age.
— That's true. How old are you, Tai Li?
— I turned fourteen about two weeks ago, Master.
— Young, and so well-trained. I am impressed by your skills. I suppose you deal with the masters in the capital much faster and easier?
— That's right.
— Their low standards for mastery haven't changed at all. Do you still want to learn the art of swordsmanship under my tutelage?
— Everything worked out, no… — but Azula didn't even listen to me, answering on her own.
— Yes. In one fight with you, I learned a lot, including not to underestimate opponents who don't possess magic. Our duel has only strengthened my belief that it is from you that I can learn something new and useful. Please, become my mentor, — Azula answered with feeling, maintaining icy composure within herself. What a wonderful actress she is.
— Over our fight, I saw enough good qualities of a future warrior. I will become your master…