Chapter 7

After that day, the young man practiced his breathing exercises every day and then practiced his sword techniques. He preferred using a sword, and he had modified the saber techniques taught by Murong Qing to suit his own sword style. If Murong Qing knew this, he would surely be shocked and exclaim, "What a monster!"

It's not impossible to convert saber techniques into sword techniques, but only grandmasters or exceptionally talented geniuses can do it. Even such geniuses can't achieve what this young man did, modifying the techniques so well right from the start.

The young man had a terrifying talent that even he didn't realize. His sword techniques became more and more suited to him, but they also became less and less like Ling Aoxue's sword techniques, let alone Murong Qing's saber techniques.

He seemed to have noticed this and thought he was too stupid to learn their techniques, but this didn't make him give up practicing the sword. After all, he could feel the benefits of practicing the sword—his strength, speed, and reaction time were all improving.

To practice the sword, he needed a sword. Initially, he used a wooden sword, but later he found it too light and unsuitable. So he thought of one of his few good friends.

In the mountains, there was a small, irregular plain, a patch of earthy yellow. The walls were earthy yellow, the thatched roofs were earthy yellow, and occasionally there were houses built with blue bricks and tiles. This was the young man's village.

The young man walked through the village, greeting everyone politely, including his uncles and aunts who had taken his house and fields. However, the villagers didn't treat him well because he was an orphan without a home and couldn't even practice breathing exercises.

The young man was used to this attitude and didn't take it to heart. He went directly to the village square, where the person he was looking for should be practicing martial arts.

Most of the young boys and girls in the village practiced martial arts on this square, receiving guidance from Brother Dahu.

"Xiuying, Xiuying!"

The young man quickly found his friend. Even though she was very ordinary, he could spot her at a glance because she was his friend.

"Bu Zheng, you're here too."

The girl named Xiuying noticed the young man and immediately responded, then walked over.

She was indeed a very ordinary girl, not just in appearance but in everything—her height, personality, and so on. She was the embodiment of the word "ordinary," with nothing about her standing out.

The young man was ordinary, but he had some special qualities, such as his unfortunate circumstances and his "poor" talent that prevented him from practicing breathing exercises. There were always some unique aspects to him.

But Xiuying's uniqueness was that she had no unique qualities at all!

Her name, Xiuying, was also very common. In the small country of Qixing, there were probably hundreds of thousands of people named Xiuying, and with Li being a common surname, there were at least tens of thousands of Li Xiuyings. This was just within Qixing; in the entire Dongyue Divine Continent, there were even more. As for other continents, that was a different story.

Even in the same village, there were others named Xiuying.

Xiuying was the epitome of an ordinary girl. If you put her in a crowd, you wouldn't be able to find her. She was also a good standard for comparing others. Those better than her were above average, and those worse than her were below average, in any aspect, including martial prowess. The young man's martial skills were weaker than hers because he didn't meet the average standard and was considered a poor student.

"Bu Zheng, do you want to practice together today?" Brother Dahu asked when he saw the young man.

Bu Zheng was the young man's full name. Although he was of the Yun generation, his cousins were all named Yun something. Logically, he should have been named Bu Yun Zheng, but for some reason, he was just named Bu Zheng, without the Yun.

This might have been intentional on the part of his parents or his uncles, but everyone accepted it without objection.

Bu Zheng was not competitive, gentle and unassertive, but this gentleness was not weakness or cowardice; it was a deeper philosophical meaning...

To get back to the point, although Brother Dahu knew that Bu Zheng couldn't practice breathing exercises and had basically given up on his martial path, he still treated Bu Zheng well, encouraging him to learn as much as possible.

"No, Brother Dahu, I want to practice the sword on my own. I'm here to borrow Xiuying's family sword." Bu Zheng shook his head and replied.

"Okay, that's fine. Practice on your own, and if you have any questions, come ask me." Brother Dahu didn't mind, thinking that Bu Zheng was just practicing the basic sword techniques he had taught. He assumed Bu Zheng, like many others, was trying something new because he thought he wasn't suited to something else.

"Alright, I understand. Xiuying, is your family's sword still there?" Bu Zheng turned to ask Xiuying.

"My family's sword? My father probably threw it in the cellar, and it's already rusty. I don't know if it's suitable for practicing the sword." Xiuying replied.

Xiuying's family sword was just an ordinary iron sword, not very valuable. Bu Zheng was frugal and wanted to borrow it. Even if he had to buy it, it would be much cheaper than a new one.

"That's fine, as long as it has some weight." Bu Zheng replied.

"Okay, come with me to get the sword." Xiuying didn't mind; it wasn't a treasure, and giving it to Bu Zheng wouldn't be a problem.

Not long after they left, a girl and some boys walked over...

"Hey, Bu Zheng, your sweetheart is here." Xiuying's tone changed, looking at the girl with a teasing glance at Bu Zheng.

To say this girl was beautiful would be an understatement. In this small place, she was a rare sight, and with her youth, she was the object of many people's admiration, including Bu Zheng and the boys around her.

Whenever Bu Zheng saw this girl, he would try to get close, staring at her foolishly and sometimes even giving her gifts. However, the gifts he gave were often dismissed.

Once, Bu Zheng had mustered the courage to buy a jade hairpin in the county, spending almost two months' income, which was a significant expense for him. When he gave it to her, she casually threw it aside, saying the jade was too poor for her.

Bu Zheng's mood immediately sank...

At that moment, Xiuying had seen and tried to comfort him, but realizing that the comfort wasn't working, she understood that Bu Zheng was upset because he had wasted money on the jade hairpin.