Chapter 31: Striking Later, Arriving First
After being cut down by his Senior Sister in the Blood Shadow thousands upon thousands of times, Lu You's movements suddenly began to flow like drifting clouds and running water.
Unlike ordinary practice, with his Senior Sister shadow as a sparring partner, Lu You could correct mistakes much faster.
Through frame-by-frame analysis, he could even sense the rhythm between the sword and the flow of force.
And beyond sword techniques, the Blood Shadow could perfectly reproduce Zeng Yan's killing intent.
In a single night, Lu You had, in effect, truly fought tens of thousands of life and death battles.
Clang
The scene within Blood Shadow froze.
Lu You drew his sword and blocked the shadow Zeng Yan's blade.
Evil Eye said, "Congratulations, Boss. In just one night, you managed to withstand a sword cultivator's attack. Boss, Madam is really formidable. Even though she's only at the Qi Refining realm, in that ancient tomb, she was the only one whose sword gave me even the slightest sense of threat."
Ignoring Evil Eye's flattery, Lu You withdrew from the Blood Shadow technique. He didn't deactivate the Eye of Hell; instead, he took out a large number of Purifying Heart Talismans and activated them.
Suppressing the joy of successfully blocking his Senior Sister's sword strike, Lu You calmly recalled the battle just now.
Not enough. A sword is a tool of killing, it isn't meant for defense.
During the exchange, Lu You realized he was always missing something. Through constant reflection and replaying the fight in his mind, he finally came to an understanding.
Ever since being stabbed to death by his Senior Sister's shadow the first time, all he had thought about was how to block her sword. Because of that, there was always a hazy layer missing in his sword intent. Thanks to the help of the Purifying Heart Talismans, Lu You immediately pinpointed the fatal flaw in the tens of thousands of bouts he had fought.
What I need to do isn't to block my opponent's attack, what I need is to kill them before they can attack.
That is the true meaning of drawing a sword.
Afraid the effect of the Purifying Heart Talismans might fade, Lu You activated dozens of them in succession, then immersed himself back into the Blood Shadow technique.
As the shadow of Zeng Yan appeared, Lu You no longer tried to block her blade. Instead, he desperately sped up his draw, frantically adjusted the angle of his strike, everything he did was aimed at piercing the shadow of Zeng Yan.
Lu You's sword was still a fraction slower. After abandoning defense and committing fully to offense, his blade stopped just short of the shadow of Zeng Yan's throat—while her sword had already pierced through him.
Feeling his shadow shatter, Lu You showed not the slightest bit of discouragement. On the contrary, he dove back into grinding with renewed enthusiasm.
"Boss, you died again... huh? I see now."
Watching Lu You get cut down again and again in the Blood Shadow realm, Evil Eye's pupils first showed confusion. Lu You could clearly block the blade, so why wouldn't he? But after observing for a while, Evil Eye's eyes were left with nothing but shock.
What shocked Evil Eye wasn't Lu You's progress, but Lu You's killing intent.
Clearly still at the fifth level of Qi Refining. Clearly the same person, the same sword. And yet, in that single moment, Evil Eye realized that Lu You had truly become a sword cultivator.
Within the Blood Shadow realm, there was no longer any sound of blades colliding.
The moment the technique was activated, a cloud of blood mist would appear.
After another thousand or so rounds, the blood mist became two clouds.
Lu You had reached the point of mutual destruction with the shadow of Zeng Yan.
But he didn't stop. He continued activating Purifying Heart Talismans, clearing away distracting thoughts, and entering the Blood Shadow technique again and again.
"Break."
With a soft shout, the Blood Shadow technique dissipated once more.
This time, however, it ended because the shadow of Zeng Yan shattered.
Within the blood mist, Lu You's sword struck later yet arrived first. The instant the shadow of Zeng Yan began to draw her sword, Lu You's sword tip had already pierced her throat.
With the Blood Shadow technique and Purifying Heart Talismans, Lu You maintained a training rhythm of one strike every two seconds throughout the entire night. Calculated carefully, it was equivalent to nearly twenty thousand life-and-death bouts.
"Boss..." Evil Eye, for once, didn't flatter him.
Stepping out of the Blood Shadow technique, Lu You stood in the courtyard, his hand only lightly resting on the sword hilt. Evil Eye's gaze instinctively averted, as if, if it didn't look away, a blade of sword light would pierce straight through its pupils.
After a long while, Lu You finally let out a breath, shut down the Eye of Hell, and returned to that harmless, nonthreatening aura.
"Only I can train like this.... using repetition after repetition to make up for the gap between myself and geniuses," Lu You sighed. In just one night, he had used up over a hundred Purifying Heart Talismans. The life essence in the small cauldron had supplied Evil Eye with the equivalent of a thousand people's worth. Adding up all these invisible resources, Lu You felt no joy at his own progress. Instead, he became even more aware of the gap between himself and true geniuses.
"Senior Sister definitely didn't go through tens of thousands of life-and-death fights to master that kind of sword technique. What's more, there are geniuses in this world even stronger than Senior Sister. Only through bitter training can one contend with them. But my contention isn't about fighting over resources, it's about fighting through hard cultivation."
Dawn broke. A beam of morning sunlight filtered through the dense leaves and fell down.
Lu You's hand pressing on the sword hilt moved slightly. In an instant, the sword completed both its draw and return to the scabbard. The sunlight that fell upon Lu You seemed to break for a split second, reconnecting only after a breath.
Creak
Lu You's door was pushed open. Zeng Yan came in casually with a food box. Seeing Lu You standing with sword in hand, a beam of sunlight washing over his face, Zeng Yan froze for a moment. After meeting Lu You's gaze for a long while, she finally snapped back to herself.
"My, not bad. You're starting to look like a real sword cultivator."
In the instant their gazes met just now, Zeng Yan had actually felt as if she might die in the next second, and all of that sense of danger came from the sword at Lu You's waist that hadn't even left its scabbard.
"Draw it. Let me see."
Originally, Zeng Yan had planned to call Lu You over for breakfast, but after noticing the change in him, she tossed the thought of breakfast aside. Right now, all she wanted was to see Lu You draw his sword.
"Senior Sister, please pardon my clumsiness."
Lu You held back three-tenths of his strength and thrust out a sword strike—fast, precise, and straight. Then the blade slid back into its scabbard without the slightest deviation.
"You..." Zeng Yan looked Lu You over carefully again. "Junior Brother, you've worked hard. Come eat."
It was obvious Lu You hadn't slept all night and had been practicing the sword the whole time. As a sword cultivator, Zeng Yan was astonished by the speed of Lu You's improvement, but even more so by his perseverance and execution. Instinctively, she thought of herself.
It seemed that she hadn't practiced the sword day and night without pause in a long while.
"I was going to teach you how to put on a good show, but I ended up getting a lesson from you instead." The two of them sat in the courtyard, sharing the breakfast from the food box. Zeng Yan deliberately ladled an extra bowl of plain congee for Lu You. "We won't drink in the morning. Let me toast you with a bowl of porridge instead. I've always reminded you to fight for things, but today I realized I neglected practice myself. Looks like if I don't work harder, I might not be able to protect you anymore."
With that, Zeng Yan rose from the ground, took Lu You's sword, and drew it with a clear clang. In the next moment, her figure danced through Lu You's courtyard.
Before Lu You's eyes, there was nothing but flashing silver light.
The dancing sword light sometimes leapt lightly, delicate streams of brilliance fluttering like poetry and song; at other times, the blade cut through the air, light as willow fluff, blending with the morning glow and the breeze.
"Junior Brother, your sword carries too much killing intent, it's showing," Zeng Yan said as she finished the sequence and set the sword before Lu You. Then she turned, her long hair flying, her white robes drifting like clouds beneath a clear sky as she floated out of Lu You's courtyard. "Junior Brother, that sword dance just now is a family technique of mine. Take your time to comprehend it. We'll meet again in the inner sect."
Seeing Lu You's effort, Zeng Yan couldn't bear to waste time herself. She hurried back to cultivate.
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