Spirit Cultivation

Tianshi was getting irritated seeing Xuefeng become friendly with Yi as she kept giving him corrections which turned out to be spot on. She wasn't sure from the start if the twins were doing it intentionally but now she could confirm that they were definitely up to something.

Xuefeng didn't mind the correction that much and he was actually glad someone did say what he was doing wrong. If he can perfect each move then why should he care who gives him a piece of advice? He didn't suspect Tianshi would be annoyed by it as there was no alternative motive for him other than learning more. ​​

"Master Xuefeng~! Try tilting your chest more to the left while swinging with this cut. Adding more rotation will give additional power to your attack." Yi suggested calling out sweetly.

"Oh, I should try it then… Nice, it's actually better this way. Thanks, Lady Yi." Xuefeng did as one of the twins suggested and it turned out to be true advice once again.

"No problem." Yi smiled softly and continued to watch.

Tianshi didn't want to sound like a jealous girlfriend but that's how it would turn out if she told Xuefeng to not socialize with her fake servants. She knew he wouldn't go as far as making them his lovers but she was still annoyed. Tianshi tried to change them for different servants when she figured out it was them who rat her out, but her father didn't agree.

"Xuefeng, how about we stop practising the sword techniques and you teach me some of your Air Arts in private? I'm getting tired already." The tip of Tianshi's training sword dropped to the ground and she finally called out while wiping her sweat.

"I thought we just finished our warmup. Those were just the basics." Xuefeng grinned, teasing her which caused Tianshi's cheeks to redden. It literally meant for her, 'What? You can't even handle basic training?'

"... I just want some diversity from time to time… I'm more skilled at spells than actual fighting." Tianshi admitted hesitantly.

"Well, why no…" "Master Xuefeng~! How about before you start studying arts, we can have a sparring session? It would be a nice finish to spar with a skilled swordsman. I can be your sparring partner today. How about it?" Before Xuefeng could agree to Tianshi's request, Aquamarine eyed twin called out, challenging Xuefeng for a spar. She pulled out a thin sword from her Storage Ring and created a swift circle in the air, leaving a white strip of Qi behind her blade.

"Well, I'm here for Tianshi, so you will have to ask her if she allows me. I'm only hers for the next few days." Tianshi thought Xuefeng would instantly agree to Yi proposal but to her pleasant surprise, he approached her, caressing her rosy cheek with his free hand and left the decision for her.

'He is so nice to me and I was being jealous over two twin servants…' Tianshi thought, blaming herself for her previous behaviour.

"Why not. I will have a break and maybe I can learn something from your fight. But it would be boring without any stakes, right? I will provide the reward for Xuefeng if he wins but you as a challenger should be punished after losing. Don't you think?" Thinking about it for a moment, Tianshi agreed and turned towards Yi, proposing the upgrade for this spar.

"What Young Princess suggest?" Yi asked not too bothered as she was confident in her skills.

"If you lose, you will leave us alone for the rest of the evening and if Xuefeng wins, I will… allow you to join me in the bath after training…" Tianshi explained to Yi and then paused before whispering into Xuefeng's ear. With enough motivation, he would win for sure.

"I agree!" Indeed, when Xuefeng heard Tianshi statement, his eyes instantly lit up and he didn't think before agreeing.

"What can I get if I win?" Little Yi smiled confidently as she asked.

"It was you who challenged Xuefeng, but I guess we can agree to one thing. What do you want?" Tianshi didn't want to give her anything at the start but after Yi asked she decided to give her something.

"...I want to spar with Young Master at least once a day." Yi looked at her twin Yu who nodded her head only to shake it after she heard Yi's condition. Yi decided to be selfish and choose the thing she actually wanted for herself.

"Great, I'm down." Xuefeng agreed before Tianshi could confirm it, but she also nodded not expecting Yi's condition to be this simple.

"So how are we sparring? What are the rules?" Xuefeng asked.

"The first one getting hit on the body loses. You can only use your swordsmanship without any arts. That would be pointless otherwise. Any suggestions?" Yi explained, asking after she was done.

"Yes. We will use the same swords and only after three hits on the body one will win. I don't want to win too fast." Xuefeng nodded, adding the changes before picking the second practice sword from Tianshi's hand and throwing it towards Yi.

"Why not. I will not hold back then. I hope you will not lose your confidence after your defeat." Yi caught the sword by the handle and played with it skillfully for a moment, before agreeing.

"Haha, same to you. Tianshi... you should prepare yourself for later, hehe… Let's get started." Xuefeng laughed and kissed Tianshi on the lips before teasing her. She accepted it, before shyly walking to the side. She wanted Xuefeng to win but now Tianshi realised that she will have to take a bath with this pervert and everything can happen. She thought she was ready, but after thinking about it deeper, she couldn't tell if she was.

Xuefeng relaxed his body and prepared his stance aiming his sword at Yi. He held it upright in front of him with both of his hands on the handle and with the blade being perpendicular to the ground.

Xuefeng already had a plan for the first point and he only needed to wait for her strike to execute it. He didn't know Yi's fighting style so he couldn't go straight away for attacking. He decided on the three hits rule to leave some leeway for himself if something went wrong. Xuefeng couldn't lose the great bathing experience with Tianshi.

Xuefeng also released his Spirit Awareness to his surrounding scanning everything that could help him gain an advantage, but they were in the garden with nothing but a short grass in the diameter of ten meters. He left it spread around even after checking everything as it would act as his second pair of eyes.

It turned out Yi wasn't as careful as Xuefeng and decided to show Xuefeng who is the boss by attacking first. She quickly lunged, cutting diagonally down to the right only to sidestep by the end of her attack, aiming for Xuefeng's right shoulder. Just as Yi said that she would not hold back, she stayed true to her words.

The attack was extremely swift and if Xuefeng wasn't already prepared in the defensive stance he wouldn't be able to counter it. Xuefeng retreated, keeping the safe distance which would allow him to defend with the full strength of his arms. Hitting Yi's sword at the right angle, he redirected the attack, causing it to dive downwards, missing the target.

He wanted to sidestep, attacking her while she was still pulling her sword away, but Yi wasn't affected by the strength of his block and acted ahead of him. Dragging her sword back with a quick move of her wrist, she struck once again without losing her momentum.

Xuefeng blocked her attacks each time, trying to use his physical strength as his advantage but she kept using his energy to increase the force of her next attack, continuing to bombard him with unpredictable moves. She aimed from every direction, cutting, slashing and thrusting at him one by one without leaving him a chance to counter-attack.

Each time he parried her sword, bouncing it off its track and trying to create an opportunity for himself, she managed to turn it into her favour. With his Spirit Awareness as the main help, Xuefeng could keep up with defending in time, but there was no option for him to get the hit he wanted.

'This is going to be much harder than I thought…' Both of them thought at the same time, not expecting the other to be this skilled.

Xuefeng might not have all moves mastered but he definitely had the swordsman's intuition and experience after a hardcore training inside the Wisdom Tree's space.

Feeling that there was no point continuing wasting her strength, Yi's suddenly retreated with a long leap, returning to her starting short guard stance.

"Not bad for a Young Master," Yi commented with a warm smile. There wasn't any tiredness or sweat visible on her face, proving how well trained she was.

"Not bad for my girlfriend's servant... Unfortunately... our current tie in points ends now!" Xuefeng returned the same, changing into a Window Guard. They walked in the circle observing each other before Xuefeng finally decided to strike.

He already knew her fighting style and wasn't worried to be the one to start. She was good at using the opponent's strength to her advantage, but it would not happen anymore when Xuefeng held the lead.

Xuefeng advanced forward with the ready strategy in his mind.