The first thing Anji noticed as the two ladies clashed against each other was the difference in the air. Although Shao Yin was considered graceful, there was still a different type of sharpness to his movements that lacked the flexibility of these ladies.
Yu Jiang and Hao Yizhen lacked power and stamina compared to the male disciples who sparred earlier. This could be due to their lower level of cultivation or biological disadvantage. However, both girls had something else that the men lacked. Anji frowned, unable to place a finger on this strange feeling.
Yu Jiang was a recruit with Hong Nian Niang. Not many people were expecting her to be able to hold her own against an inner disciple of the Heavenly Phoenix Sect. Although both sects had female sect leaders, their training methods did not share any similarities.
Unlike Hong Nian Niang, Liu Guiya’s philosophy was to use minimal movements to confront the enemy. Regarding swordsmanship, the Heavenly Phoenix Sect had one of the most refined techniques that was easy for most people to learn. It did not emphasise power, flexibility or reflex time. Most of their sword skills looked boring and lacked flair. It was a very straightforward style that capitalised on efficiency over everything else. Although it appeared simple, mastering it was difficult. If not for the strict discipline under her aunt’s tutelage from a young age, Liu Yanxia would not be able to become the new sect leader as soon as she did. The Heavenly Phoenix’s sword style’s true potential heavily relied on the swordsman’s mastery. With sufficient time and training at the Heavenly Phoenix Sect, Hao Yizhen quickly gained momentum and early advantage, pushing Yu Jiang into a defensive stance.
However, Yu Jiang did not seem panicked as she deflected attack after attack. Anji noticed how she was constantly moving with a rhythm around those predictable sword strikes. In contrast to the strict sword style of the Heavenly Phoenix Sect, Yu Jiang’s movement resembled a dance. It reminded Anji of the way Hong Nian Niang walked. She always had a flamboyant sway in her steps, catching everyone’s eye. It was a different sort of grace from Shao Yin’s.
One incense stick later, Yu Jiang held up well against Hao Yizhen without returning a single counterattack. Anji frowned. Nobody was using qi in their match. Were they not going to use it?
Smiling from two seats away, Zhang Yi placed down a silver ingot and turned to Liu Yanxia.
"Hey, lass! I’d bet you one silver that your disciple will lose."
Annoyed by the gambling, Liu Yanxia was about to turn it down when Bai Dajin threw in his lot with a string of copper.
"She might be lacking in her brain, but her foundation is decent," the White Tiger leader grunted. "I’m betting she would last another incense stick without taking a hit."
Offended that they were betting on her disciple’s loss right in front of her eyes, even if it were true, Yanxia lodged a formal complaint to the leader of the Rainbow Alliance for their unruly behaviour. However, Hong Nian Niang stirred the pot further by offering a golden ingot.
"I’ll give you this golden ingot if your disciple can defeat mine within the next incense stick," the lady in the provocative red dress smirked. "Do you think you’ll lose? Yu Jiang is just a rookie I picked up three months ago."
After being teased by her elders, Yanxia turned as red as her dress and demanded permission to ’spar’ with these shameless gamblers, much to the three troublemakers’ amusement. Zhao Mingfeng tiredly begged the more senior members of the alliance to behave appropriately and stop bullying the young child who had just assumed the role of a sect leader.
Sulking in her chair, Hong Nian Niang played with the gold ingot with a large pout.
"Even when I went through the trouble of teaching Yu Jiang The Petal Dance footwork, you won’t amuse me?" Hong Nian Niang rested her chin on Yanxia’s shoulder, whispering in her ear. "Didn’t you also secretly prepare your representative with something? She’s technically your junior sister, right?"
Junior sister? Anji became distracted for a moment after hearing that. She knew that Liu Yanxia was a young sect leader. However, she was more curious about Hao Yizhen’s situation.
The glint of metal and a different sound that sliced the air brought Anji’s attention back to the match. Although her bottom was becoming numb from sitting this long, she was finally witnessing the use of qi in this match!
Unlike the previous match, Anji had no idea what was happening. Yu Jiang quickly retaliated with a kick to Hao Yizhen’s stomach and somersaulted twice to put a huge distance between them. Nothing happened at first as both ladies stood motionless in a defensive stance. Then, Anji saw the falling of black hair strands carried by the wind and a cut on Yu Jiang’s sleeves.
Anji blinked again. She was very sure it wasn’t there previously. When did they injure each other? It was too quick to see.
Before Anji could figure out what was happening, the two ladies lunged at each other. Yu Jiang no longer dodged the sword. Instead, she retaliated with a unique weapon of her own. Content originally comes from novᴇlfire.net
"Needles and threads?" Anji gaped.
The threads and needles were difficult to spot from this distance. However, the small sounds of needles clinking against Hao Yizhen’s sword and weird slash wounds tearing her skin and clothes gave the young princess clues about her unique choice of weapon.
Ordinarily, needles and threads could never win against the sword. The needle was small and easily bent, while the sharpness of a blade could easily slice the threads. However, Yu Jiang’s threads were as sharp and strong as steel wires. Her needles hit with a heavy force, like a dart thrown at high speeds. Anji had never seen anything before and became mesmerised.
"How can that needle not break?" Anji tilted her head to one side, deep in thought. "Is it made from wire? But there’s no light reflection. Did she paint them? But it’s very flexible..."
Chuckling from the other side of the sitting panel, Chen Zhong decided to help the young princess out a little.
"She coated her qi on the needles and threads to strengthen them and move them according to her will," the Black Tortoise sect leader smiled. "Our beautiful Sect Leader Hong specialises in qi manipulation."
Ohhhh! Receiving a huge hint, Anji leaned forward to observe the serious sparring more closely. Now that she looked more closely, wasn’t Hao Yizhen’s sword too bendy?
"Is her bendy sword also a result of qi manipulation?" Anji asked the kind grandpa.
Before Chen Zhong could answer, Liu Yanxia explained quickly that the bendy sword was a hybrid application of qi.
"To bend the sword, internal energy must be channelled from the hand into the weapon. It’s not the same as their sect’s manipulation techniques that bend the air in an area around their qi field. The Heavenly Phoenix Sect believes in altering the properties of our sword using qi, like how the phoenix constantly changes its growth from young to old, weak and strong. When forged in fire, a sword is malleable. When polished with a grindstone, the sword is sharp."
Nature of qi... properties... Anji’s frown deepened as the mischievous sect leaders imprinted her serious expression in their brains. Yan Ping’s assignment might be too difficult for a three-year-old child who had never learned anything cultivation-related in her life. Even if the child was smart and knew how to read a few characters, it did not mean she could understand everything she read.
From old to young, sharp to blunt, stiff and flexible, they were complete opposites. Then, it clicked. Anji remembered something her second brother had read to her before from one of the Five Classics.
"Shifu," she whispered with barely contained excitement. "Is the nature of qi related to the properties of yin and yang?"