Chapter 416: End of First Day

The courtyard that was present in the centre of the residential quarters was specifically created for disciples to practice, gather and relax together.

At the moment, a few disciples were practising there with their weapons and trying out their newly learnt martial techniques.

A few were gathered around a tree, talking to themselves, while a few were just sitting outside their room on the veranda on the ground floor and watching the other disciples train.

It was at that moment that Yi Chen’s arrival at the courtyard caught everyone’s attention.

"Senior Brother Chen?... Is he going to train?"

"What is he going to train in? A martial technique? Swordsmanship? Or even a mace?!"

"Whatever it is, I’m sure we are going to learn a lot from just observing him!"

.

.

.

The disciples muttered amongst themselves with their eyes fixed on Yi Chen’s figure, as he found an empty place suitable for practice.

By now, he had grown a little used to all the whisperings and mutterings whenever he passed by the other disciples, so instead of focusing on listening to their words, he focused on finding an appropriate place to practice.

"Mhm. This place looks good enough."

He nodded the next moment, seeing an empty spot. The next moment, his storage ring subtly glimmered, and his sword appeared in his hand.

"It’s swordsmanship! Didn’t I tell you earlier? Pay up now!"

"Like hell I would! I agreed to place the bet, but did you ever see me saying that I’ll stick to it?"

"...You treacherous bastard!"

"Hm? What’s Senior Brother Chen doing?"

Someone pointed out the very next moment as everyone saw Yi Chen with his head tilted down a little and standing with his eyes closed in his spot.

They thought that he was focusing or clearing his mind before starting his practice. However, if one were to pay close attention to his hand, which wasn’t holding the sword, they would have noticed a jade slip which he was tightly clutching.

It was the Memory Jade Slip that Grand Elder Jian had given him, and he was currently practising the three basic moves which Grand Elder Jian had told him to master in these two months.

’To use only my right hand...’ Yi Chen thought inwardly while seeing Grand Elder Jian’s image fluidly moving in his mind as his sword flowed like an unimpeded wave, shifting from slashing to thrusting and parrying.

Since Yi Chen was supposed to only be using his right hand, Grand Elder Jian had deliberately done the same and used the moves with only his right hand as well while imprinting them in the Memory Jade Slip for Yi Chen to take reference from.

’Let’s do it then...’ Yi Chen finally thought to himself. Once he was done reviewing the moves and taking the required stance, he started enacting the three moves one after the other.

SLASH!

PARRY!

THRUST!

.

.

.

He kept repeating them in different orders as the sound of the wind being cut by the flow of his sword kept resonating in his ears.

Meanwhile, all the disciples who had been patiently waiting for Yi Chen to start practising his swordsmanship couldn’t help but be left speechless the moment he started showing his moves.

"This..."

"...Isn’t this the basic?"

"Why...is Brother Chen practising these..."

A group standing in the corridor muttered among themselves while staring at Yi Chen, who was at a distance, repeating the same three moves one after the other.

Tch. Tch. Tch.

It was at that moment that they heard someone clicking their tongue in their direction, making the three of them turn around.

The moment they did, they found Qin Yao’s short figure standing behind them with his arms behind his back. A disappointed expression was evident on his face as he looked at the three of them.

"Even after hearing about the many deeds, Brother Chen, the few of you still can’t understand what he’s doing? It makes me feel as if all the effort I put in yesterday to share Brother Chen’s accolades with everyone was in vain..." Qin Yao sighed in a disappointed manner the very next moment.

Seeing this, the three disciples exchanged glances with each other, confusion evident in their eyes. Despite what Qin Yao had just said, they could only see Yi Chen’s actions as repeating the very basic moves which they were already aware of.

"Brother Qin, what do you mean? Could you please enlighten the three of us?" One of the disciples asked Qin Yao with a flattering smile on his face.

"Alright. Since you’re unable to understand it, I’ll help you with it." Qin Yao answered with superiority evident in his eyes and explained, "What Brother Chen is practising right now might seem like he is just repeating those three basic moves which almost all the disciples would be familiar with.

However, before judging, you must ask yourself, why would someone like Brother Chen, at the level he’s at, go back to these basic moves all of a sudden?"

Seeing the furrowed brows on the three disciples’ faces, Qin Yao smiled subtly and said, "That’s because he’s touched an important milestone as a swordsman that requires him to understand the essence of swordsmanship to a much greater degree..."

With confidence brimming on his face, Qin Yao continued, "...and where does one gain the most understanding if not from the basics!

Otherwise, why would Brother Chen be pouring so much effort into these simple moves? Look, he’s already covered in sweat because of his intense movements."

Hearing Qin Yao’s words, the three disciples widened their eyes in realisation and turned to look at Yi Chen.

Just like Qin Yao had mentioned, he was completely covered in sweat even though only a few minutes had passed since he started.

Admiration and respect rose in their hearts as they watched him perform the very basic moves with such dedication.

"So that’s how it was..."

"So, Brother Chen is really about to reach a new height..."

"I’ll learn from Brother Chen and also go back to training my basics from now on!"

Qin Yao nodded with a satisfied smile, seeing their response and understanding that his work here was done, and went towards other groups spread around the courtyard one after another and repeated the same thing to them.

Meanwhile, Yi Chen, who was least bothered by his surroundings, kept repeating the three moves while paying close attention to the corrections that had been personally pointed out by Grand Elder Jian yesterday.

Eighty times...

One fifty times...

Six fifty times...

He didn’t even pause in between his swings to take a small breather and only stopped when a little more than an hour had already passed.

’One thousand...’

He muttered in his mind as he thrust the sword forward before finally placing it back in his storage ring.

Taking in deep breaths while wiping the sweat from his forehead, Yi Chen glanced at the courtyard, which looked a lot different from how it looked an hour ago.

’I’m glad I didn’t fall asleep earlier...’ Yi Chen thought to himself with a smile while glancing at the dozens of disciples who were practising their weapons in the courtyard at this moment.

He felt that he would have really regretted it if he had found out later that, while he was sleeping, there were so many other disciples practising their hearts out in the courtyard.

’Strange... why are they all only practising with weapons?’ Yi Chen thought with a subtle frown as he remembered that earlier there were a few disciples who were practising their martial techniques in the courtyard.

"Well, whatever... I still need to go and cultivate."

Not thinking over it any longer, Yi Chen soon went towards his room and, a while later, returned from the bathroom feeling completely refreshed.

"Let’s start then." With that said, he soon sat in a cross-legged position and started refining his remaining meridians.

Time moved on slowly, and when a little more than three hours had passed, Yi Chen reached his saturation point and couldn’t proceed further.

When he opened his eyes, the next moment exhaustion was evident in them. He clearly knew that if he were to lie down on his bed right now, he would instantly fall asleep.

However, before that, there was still something he needed to do.

Searching for something in his storage ring using his consciousness, he soon found what he was looking for and pulled it out.

The next moment, a blue manual which he had received last night from the registration hall appeared before him.

==== STATUS ====

Name: Coiling Azure Flame

Type: Martial Technique (Tier 2)

Rank: High

Remark: Learning it will heighten your understanding of Fire Qi [Regenerate: 10, 000 EXP]

================

He had already checked it a few times since getting his hands on it. It was the strongest martial technique he had gotten his hands on until now, and looking at the remark, it was obvious that this was good for him.

However, there was only one problem preventing him from learning it at the moment.

"...I just don’t have the time."

Yi Chen muttered with a forced smile.

Yesterday, after getting the technique, he didn’t start practising it immediately, as he wanted to understand his schedule before allocating time to learning it.

However, now that he was done with all the necessary things, his mind was in no state to understand something new.

"This..." he sighed the next moment as he flipped through the manual’s first few pages with his mind not in any position to absorb new things.

As a result, a few seconds later he placed it back into his storage ring.

"Once I’ve become more efficient with my current routine, I’ll start practising it then..."

He muttered under his breath before finally preparing to sleep.

A while later, the sound of calm breathing echoed inside Yi Chen’s room, indicating that he had already fallen asleep.

The next morning.

Waking up completely rejuvenated, Yi Chen enthusiastically got dressed after freshening up before leaving his room right after.

’Elder Hong said that he’ll be showing us both the theoretical and practical sides of Pill Refining today. I just can’t wait to see how those things actually work in this world!’

He thought, with an expectant smile evident on his face, while making his way towards the Dining Hall.