Already, the sun was approaching the middle of the sky. It might be cooling at the top of the mountain when it was autumn and approaching winter. However, the martial artists sparring were working up a sweat.
"Oh, the new Elite Disciple of the Azure Dragon Sect and the famous Advance Disciple of the White Tiger Sect are sparring now," Zhao Wanting announced, introducing the contenders.
On the left with double sabres was Bai Dajin's oldest student, Wei Jie. Unlike other disciples of the White Tiger Sect, who graduated immediately after learning the skills they wanted and travelled as mercenaries, Wei Jie was in charge of training recruits on behalf of Bai Dajin, who did not care much about the management of his martial school. The White Tiger Sect was a unique school focused mainly on martial arts. Their students and graduates were accustomed to actual combat, and only those worthy could request a sparring session with the sect master. Unlike other murim sects and schools, Bai Dajin did not request his students to serve the sect. He encouraged them to seek battles outside of his school and experience the pugilistic life with a strict code that they must prioritise the sect's summons if they were called for duty even after graduation. However, the number of times Bai Dajin summoned his disciples since its founding could be counted on one hand. As a result, only Wei Jie, obsessed with sparring with his master, remained in the sect no matter how many times Bai Dajin tried to get rid of him.
Some would say the young warrior with barbaric clothes and fighting style was tenacious. However, in Bai Dajin's eyes, Wei Jie had no talent. He was the definition of all muscles and no brains because no matter how many martial manuals Bai Dajin threw at him, the books bounced off his skull, retaining nothing. Wei Jie could memorise an entire book but still not understand the true essence of swordsmanship. His level of enlightenment was too low, and the only way he could understand anything was to have it pummelled into his body.
Anji looked at the feral warrior with the long ponytail as he threw his sabre at his opponent while charging at him. Anji had never seen anyone fight so recklessly. Even his opponent was caught off guard as he dodged.
The elite disciple of the Azure Dragon Sect, Shao Yin, was handpicked by Zhang Mou himself. Despite being much younger than Wei Jie, the teenager possessed a slender frame and fair complexion. He sported a scholar hat shaped like a lantern and wielded a special paper fan as his primary weapon. According to Wanting, this agile young scholar was a qinggong master, his footwork akin to leaves dancing on a pond's surface. His name was Shao Yin. Zhan Mou selected him as an elite disciple due to his stealth skills and talent for gathering information.
Remembering her teacher's assignment, Anji paid close attention to Wei Jie and Shao Yin's fight. Although she did not know much about how qi could be used, she had a basic understanding of what it could do from growing up in a murim sect.
Although Wei Jie was strong, he did not solely rely on the power of his muscles. Anji could tell how different the force was in his sabre swings compared to the blocks. On the other hand, Shao Yin did not use qi to enhance his raw power. Instead, he used it to accelerate his reflexes, changing the path of his movements with fluid-like movements. His footwork was also completely different from Wei Jie's as he barely made contact with the ground's surface before he was propelled high up into the air. In her eyes, his flowy robes and flighty fight made him look like a bird.
With two drastically contrasting uses of qi, Anji observed silently as they took a seat with the other sect leaders who observed the skills of their disciples. Bai Dajin clicked his tongue in dismay when Wei Jie landed a hit on Shao Yin with the handle of his weapon. Although Shao Yin winced at the injury, his eyes did not reflect any trace of fear or hesitation. Instead, he looked very confident, as if it were a chance he had been waiting for and struck.
In two moves, Shao Yin wrestled the weapon free from Wei Jie's grip and sent him kneeling on the ground with his fan held to the warrior's jugular from behind.
"The match is set!" Zhao Mingfeng announced. "The winner of this match is Shao Yin from the Azure Dragon Sect."
Anji clapped in awe as the respective sect masters handed out praises of acknowledgement and criticism for their techniques. The servants hurried out with brooms to clean the mess and prepare the arena for the next participants. There was a five-minute break, so Yan Ping turned to Anji and asked if there was anything she'd observed from them despite showing up late for their match.
Anji beamed. She did not see many applications of qi during the fight because it ended too quickly. However, she was sure each disciple used at least one kind of qi during that short match.
"I think Senior Wei Jie used qi to strengthen his body, especially when attacking with his weapons. However, Senior Shao Yin used his qi to increase the movements of his body, especially his feet. As for the nature of their qi... Anji isn't sure."
Not bad. Yan Ping nodded in approval.
"Your conjuncture of their qi application is correct. However, that's not all. Qi is the essence of life in any living thing. It flows consistently even if you do not use it. Pure energy is useless without a purpose. Just like spiritual herbs, the qi in them cannot be useful unless it is extracted and transformed into medicine. However, the medicines created from different herbs each contain unique properties. The nature of qi is unique to every individual. What could treat a cough might not necessarily be able to treat a fever."
Using the hint her teacher had given her, Anji mulled over it. The nature of qi was similar to a character trait that a person was born with. It was an identity that could not be changed no matter how much someone trained themselves. What would Wei Jie's unique trait be that Shao Yin could never hope to achieve and vice versa?
Overhearing Yan Ping's lecture, many curious eyes fell on Anji, anticipating her response. Most children first started learning cultivation with their bodies. Due to the instability of their cultivation cores, they were not taught qi gathering until the age of six, much less the theory of cultivation, until they could understand the Four Books. Unlike imperial officials, murim cultivators weren't interested in the Five Classics. Zhao Mingshen and Zhang Mou were the rare cases of scholars interested in the Four Books and Five Classics.
Could Anji, who was only three, figure out the nature of qi?
As Zhao Mingsheng announced the names and backgrounds of the next participants, Anji continued to think over her teacher's words. Unlike the application of qi, it was harder to understand the nature of qi because a person's nature was not something she could see. Even with the help of her Heavenly Eyes, Anji did not know if it would be possible to identify someone's nature.
"Next match, participants Yu Jiang from the Vermillion Bird Sect and Hao Yizhen from the Heavenly Phoenix Sect, please step up!"
With the next match about to begin, Anji paid closer attention to the ladies who introduced themselves. Unlike the previous match, Yu Jiang was merely a recruit, while Hao Yizhen was a newly promoted inner disciple. None of the men knew what these ladies were thinking, bringing such novices to a martial arts exchange.
However, Anji was excited. Unlike experienced cultivators, maybe she could derive an answer from observing rookies spar instead!
Author's Note: ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ Nov3lFɪre.ɴet
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