Visiting Mu Xuanyin.
Su Zhi's courtyard was a beautiful and peaceful place. Various kinds of herbs and flowers could be seen in a small garden.
Li Ying was carefully pruning and watering the plants, following Su Zhi's instructions. The plants were not ordinary, they had spiritual energy that could be sensed by cultivators.
Li Ying held a delicate flower in his hand and looked up at Su Zhi and said, "Master, I want to go train outside the sect."
"You've reached the foundation building realm recently, you must be excited to test your newly gained powers on demonic beasts." Su Zhi smiled and continued, "You can go, but be careful and don't stray too far."
Li Ying thanked Su Zhi and left the courtyard.
It had been a few days since Li Ying had ended his seclusion. He had fixed his apparent cultivation to the first stage foundation building level with the help of the jade token.
Su Zhi was satisfied with his cultivation speed. It hasn't even been a year and a half and Li Ying had already broken through foundation building first layer from his previous qi condensation fifth layer cultivation.
…
Li Ying left the sect behind.
As a golden core cultivator, Li Ying dashed through the Skyreach Forest with great speed. He could have been faster if he used his movement technique, the Leopard Sprinting Art, but he did not.
He remembered the promise he made to Mu Xuanyin in exchange for martial arts.
Li Ying finally arrived at the barrier and noticed the changes.
There was a huge hole in the ground on one side of the barrier. It looked like something had exploded there, leaving behind a crater. The crater formed a smooth arc on the side facing the barrier.
Small weeds had grown on the edges of the hole, and the trees around it were either uprooted or snapped in half.
Li Ying had a guess about what had happened.
He crossed the invisible barrier. The forest inside the barrier had a large field in the middle.
A herd of massive Flame Horn goats could be seen. Some of them were grazing on the grass, some were sleeping, and some were sparring with each other, clashing their horns and creating sparks.
Li Ying slowed down his pace and walked leisurely to enjoy the sight.
He continued walking until he reached a wooden house. He stopped in front of the door and bowed respectfully. "Master, let me in." He said politely.
"Come inside." A voice replied from inside.
Li Ying opened the door and entered the house.
Li Ying saw Mu Xuanyin sitting on a cushion, with a veil covering her face.
He sat on the carpet, facing her.
Li Ying smiled, trying to please her. "Master, how have I done so far?"
"Boring. All you do is cultivate, what is so good about it." She said, sounding unimpressed.
Li Ying had expected the insults. "What do you want me to do then? If I go fight for opportunities and wander the land, I will get squished like a mosquito with my cultivation level."
"Don't make excuses, coward. Why are you here anyways?" She mocked even more.
"I am here for the martial arts you promised me." He said, reminding her of her words.
"Hmph. Coward and greedy. Did not even ask how I am doing." She said, pretending to be offended.
"Master, you look so good that I can't even think that something bad has ever happened to you." He said with a pleasant smile.
"Well at least you are good at flattery." She said, softening her tone.
"It's not flattering if what I say is true." he sounded sincere.
Li Ying's eyes caught a book on a wooden table next to Mu Xuanyin's bed. The title was, 'Adventure of the Supreme Dragon Martial Emperor Soaring Against the Heavens.'
'Volume 54! how is that possible, that author is still alive.' Li Ying was shocked.
Mu Xuanyin saw his look and asked, "What are you looking at?"
"Master, that book. I have read it until volume 5, didn't the author say at the end that he was at the end of his life?"
Mu Xuanyin chuckled and replied, "Oh, he does that often to attract the readers. He is a mysterious figure and I don't think he will die anytime soon."
Li Ying was stunned and asked, "How did the story extend to volume 50? I thought it would finish when the protagonist reached the sun to take his revenge." He stopped and continued speaking like a realist scholar, "I still can't comprehend that, how can someone survive on the sun? Even the novice scholars know that's impossible."
Mu Xuanyin scoffed, "Just because you lack imagination, don't judge an artist's creative freedom." She went on, "After the protagonist reaches the sun he discovers the vastness of the chaos. He travels to the different galaxies after that. After exploring the entire universe, he finds out there are other universes…"
'What nonsense!' two words flashed in Li Ying's mind. But he soon sighed, 'She has to be very bored to read that junk to this level.'
Mu Xuanyin saw his look and got furious.
"Did you just…pity me? How dare you! you tiny bug who would blow away if i exhaled right now." Her voice was low yet intimidating.
Sweat dripped from Li Ying's forehead and he clasped his fist, "No Master, I was only feeling sorry for the author who has nothing else to do but write that novel in his life."
Li Ying had long wild black hair. In a black robe, he looked like a haughty figure who would never submit to anything. But in front of Mu Xuanyin, his clasped hands were trembling.
Mu Xuanyin stared at Li Ying who looked terrified and said in her normal tone, "See the only one you should feel sorry for is yourself, you almost wet your pants when I yelled." She laughed out loud after saying that.
Li Ying was silent. He admitted that Mu Xuanyin was right. He was too weak.
Mu Xuanyin did not tease him more and pulled out three books from her spatial storage, they materialized out of thin air and landed in her hands.
She tossed one of the manuals in front of Li Ying, the title read 'Sword Basics.' It was too simple.
Li Ying picked up the book forgetting the embarrassment from before. There was no shame in trembling before someone as powerful as Mu Xuanyin.
He looked at the book, he knew something given by Mu Xuanyin had to be special.
He respectfully asked, "Master, what is this?"
Mu Xuanyin replied, "It was made by the Sword Sovereign. After you fully understand everything in it, learning any other sword technique will be very easy for you and no other offensive sword technique will ever be a threat to you."
She paused for a bit and continued, "Basically, it has everything you can learn about a sword in it. But it is not something that only I have, Sword Sovereign wanted everyone to follow his teachings, so many top figures have it. On the other hand, these two…"
She showed two manuals in her hands to Li Ying and continued, "These two are unique, my master got them when she killed a mighty figure. The Spiritual Qi Reaping Art is part of them. These three form a set. I can give them to you, but…" She hoped Li Ying would beg for it.
Li Ying didn't delay and asked while smiling, "But what master?"
"You have to do something."
"What is it, master?" Li Ying kept smiling.
"End the purple snake society." Li Ying's smile vanished. This task was very hard.
"Don't want it?" Mu Xuanyin asked teasingly.
"I accept, master." It was better to think about the difficulties later.
"Alright, I will give them to you when you finish the task."
Li Ying didn't feel disappointed, even if she gave them to him right now. He wouldn't have time to practice as he would focus on the 'Sword Basics' manual first.
Li Ying remembered something and asked, "Master, who is your master?"
"You don't have to know that right now. It would be a waste of my words if you perish too soon anyways. Plus, it's better not to bring her up. She has achieved a realm, she would detect if we talk about her too much." Mu Xuanyin responded.
Li Ying was dumbfounded by the answer and kept quiet.
"You can go now." Mu Xuanyin said.
Li Ying bowed and left.
…
Li Ying stood in the common training yard of the Bright Moon Sect.
He held a metal sword in his hand that he had received from Su Zhi.
He swung the sword in random directions, following the instructions of the Sword Basics manual.
Sometimes he would slash the air from left to right, and sometimes he would thrust the sword forward.
The manual said that the first step of learning swordsmanship was to familiarize oneself with the sword's shape and weight.
The sword that Li Ying was using had a blade length of about 65 cm and a weight of about 0.9 kg. It was the standard size for most swords in the world.
Li Ying was not practicing any sword art. He was just trying to get a feel for the sword's balance and momentum.
He swung the sword tirelessly for the whole day.
No one present in the yard judged his methods anymore. They all pretended not to see him.
As the sun set and the sky turned dark, a figure walked towards Li Ying.
Li Ying stopped his movements and lowered his sword, recognizing the person who approached him.
"Senior Brother Tian", Li Ying greeted respectfully, bowing slightly.
The person was Tian Cheng, the third disciple of Su Zhi and Li Ying's senior brother.
Tian Cheng greeted him back and said, "Li Ying, you have grown stronger. Master has asked us to take you with us on our expedition tomorrow. So, rest well tonight. We will head out tomorrow morning."
"Yes, senior brother." Li Ying nodded.
Li Ying had expected this after exiting the seclusion. His cultivation appeared to be at the first layer of the foundation building stage. With that cultivation, he had to participate in the Sect's expeditions against evil cultivators.