Chapter 34

It seemed that Min's desire to become a full disciple of Tai Xu Zhenren, who had caught his eye, had made him put all his effort into it.

Although the sword movements and footwork were not yet fully formed, they were far from ordinary.

However.

‘This... works?’

Lian glanced at the fierce mark left on the ground by the momentum he had gathered and released.

Of course, Ye Yun's sword had flown towards him, and he had to block it quickly.

As the speed and movement of the sword increased, Lian had predicted and guided the direction, leading the opponent while releasing the excess force, and this had happened more than five or six times.

At that moment, Lian suddenly thought, "Can I use this momentum to counterattack directly?"

At the same time, Lian's wooden sword moved at a strange angle. Just as Ye Yun's sword approached, he used the same but opposite movement to deflect the momentum.

Bang!

Tai Xu Zhenren's eyes widened.

To him, who had experienced countless battles, the sparring of young boys and girls might have seemed like a mere game, but perhaps because they were Ye Yun, whom he considered a disciple, and the daughter of a deceased friend, he felt a renewed sense of emotion.

He had never expected, let alone hoped, to see such a scene.

The small girl took the initiative to attack, and her sword technique was quite impressive. It seemed as if she knew the Kunlun Sect's sword techniques very well, as if she had seen them for a long time.

He was somewhat surprised. It was unexpected sparring, yet she had prepared so thoroughly, and despite only seeing it in books, she could handle it so well.

As their cooperation increased, Tai Xu Zhenren could no longer sit still and had to move his body.

He also noticed that Ye Yun had started to use his internal energy, but he couldn't stop him, as Lian had immediately countered the sword.

There was no hesitation in the girl's sword. Although it was clear that she was judging after seeing with her eyes, there was no hesitation, and the movements were smooth.

Like a dense Milky Way without any breaks, Lian's sword was the same.

‘Is he... releasing the momentum?’

Tai Xu Zhenren narrowed his eyes. At the moment Lian's and Ye Yun's swords met, the force in the sword path was very subtly dispersed.

It felt like a stream of water spreading out when it reached the sea.

If he saw it a few more times, he might have understood how it worked, but at that moment, the girl's eyes sparkled, and the sword she used to counter Ye Yun's sword moved strangely.

Duan Mu Tian Ji and Tai Xu Zhenren, who had developed a near-prescient sense through long practice, flew towards them at the same moment.

Bang!

The two quickly enveloped the children, and the wooden swords shattered and scattered.

"Ye Yun!"

"Lian!"

Duan Mu Tian Ji wrapped one arm around Lian and gently swung the other. The fragments of the wooden swords, which had exploded, stopped in mid-air, then slowly fell to the ground as if time were rewinding.

‘Suction in mid-air...!’

This was a near-miraculous use of internal energy. Amid the shock of the onlookers, Duan Mu Tian Ji smiled mischievously at the surprised Tai Xu Zhenren.

"More importantly, the children seem to have been quite startled. Are you both alright?"

"Yes, yes... I'm fine, but is Daoist Ye Yun alright?"

Lian had practiced sword techniques with senior practitioners several times, but such an outcome had never happened. She was very surprised and looked at Ye Yun's complexion with a flustered expression.

She had tried to counter the internal energy, thinking it might be possible to deflect it in the opposite direction, but she hadn't expected the weapon to shatter from the force!

A red scratch appeared on Ye Yun's cheek.

"I told you not to use internal energy. Why did you act so rashly, Ye Yun?"

"Sorry... I'm sorry. I got carried away... I'm sorry, young lady."

Ye Yun clasped his hands and apologized. Duan Mu Tian Ji, who had been watching, shook his head.

"No. This time, it's not your child but this one who should apologize."

"Ye Yun initiated the use of internal energy... but..."

"Is it right to counter it so openly and create such a mess? Duan Mu Lian, what are you waiting for to apologize?"

Lian clasped her hands and bowed deeply without a word, but Tai Xu Zhenren's lips twitched.

If you listened carefully to Duan Mu Tian Ji's words, the tone was scolding, but the content was boasting. 'My granddaughter did this!'

Is it boasting or scolding that she managed to counter the opponent so energetically in the sparring?

But Lian, who hadn't noticed the exchange of glances between Duan Mu Tian Ji and Tai Xu Zhenren, looked at Ye Yun with an embarrassed face.

She thought she had made a mistake. She had tried to counter the force that her opponent had unknowingly used, but...

‘I never expected the wooden sword to break like this.’

But there was a gain.

It meant that a counterattack was possible even if the opponent used internal energy. Although she had no internal energy herself.

"But how did you...?"

While Lian was happily reflecting on her realization, Ye Yun, who couldn't accept the outcome, was looking at the sparring platform with a red, flustered face full of embarrassment and shame.

Lian recognized that expression.

‘He has never lost before.’

Tai Xu Zhenren, while trying to give him various experiences, had not called him a disciple.

He intended to make him a disciple of the sect leader when they returned to Kunlun Mountain.

He was so talented that he had probably never lost to his peers. He had only known victory since he started learning the sword.

"Thi... This..."

Not knowing what to say, Ye Yun's face turned red, and he only moved his lips. He seemed angry.

"This can't be... There must have been a problem! If we do it again... again..."

"Ye Yun!"

At that moment, Tai Xu Zhenren called Ye Yun's name softly.

Ye Yun, who had been alternating between looking at his hand and Lian, suddenly came to his senses and bowed deeply with a redder face.

"It was a great sparring session."

"Bu... But..."

"But?"

Ye Yun seemed unable to accept that it was a "great sparring session." After a long time, he managed to speak.

"I... I lost..."

"Since when has victory been a given for you?"

Tai Xu Zhenren, who had been casual until then, spoke sharply.

Ye Yun looked at him with a blank face and then bowed deeply again. Duan Mu Tian Ji, standing beside him, tried to stop him.

"Jin, don't push the child too hard."

"Senior."

Tai Xu Zhenren lowered his voice. Duan Mu Tian Ji moved his lips slightly. It was a secret message.

─ Didn't you also think that Ye Yun would naturally defeat Lian and teach her?

It was a valid point, so he had no response.

"Can a martial artist accept every defeat willingly? Holding a grudge can also be a quality."

Tai Xu Zhenren pursed his lips. Ye Yun, with red eyes, straightened his back, realizing that he had acted shamefully.

"Th... It was a good match, Miss Lian. I showed my inadequacies. I apologize..."

This time, Lian felt even more awkward. She thought, "If there were people to applaud a clean loss, this would be a place where people live."

"No, it's fine!"

When she waved her hand, Ye Yun seemed even more embarrassed by his attitude.

To break the tension, Tai Xu Zhenren cleared his throat and approached Lian.

"Cough! Ahem. But... can I ask how you did it just now...?"

His tone was very cautious. Ye Yun, whose eyes had been red, also listened intently. Lian nodded readily.

"Just now, when Daoist Ye Yun used the final move of the Tai Qing Sword... the end of the sword path..."

"The final move of the Tai Qing Sword. It moves like this."

Tai Xu Zhenren moved his hand lightly. The sleeve fluttered gently with the wind, but unlike Ye Yun, it did not flap roughly and settled softly. Lian nodded and continued.

"Yes, it's a great sword technique. The footwork is like a dragon soaring above the clouds, and the sword technique is like lightning striking from the clouds, or like a stream flowing down a mountain... "

Before getting to the main point, Lian shared her impressions that had come to mind.

Although Ye Yun had only recently started learning the Tai Qing Sword and the Yun Long Da Ba Shi, he could feel the scenery of Kunlun Mountain through his sword tip.

"Ah! That's why. The internal energy that followed the sword path was exactly like... the feeling of the mountain terrain."

He used the term "feeling" because, strictly speaking, Ye Yun had not infused the sword with internal energy, or used sword qi. It was more like the momentum naturally arose from the principles of the sword technique.

"Like looking down from a high place. The stream flows down, and the stone at the top of the mountain rolls down. It's actually difficult to reverse this. Like climbing a mountain. So, I thought, um, like using a lever to bounce the stone up..."

"...A lever?"

"Yes. I thought of the sword as a lever, and the point of contact as the fulcrum, and I applied force a little further away to deflect the momentum...? I thought that by applying force to the hilt of the sword, I could redirect it with less force, but I didn't expect the wooden sword to break..."

Tai Xu Zhenren's mouth opened and closed repeatedly.