After a few days, the wounds on Gu Yanqing’s arms had mostly healed.
The newly grown skin showed a pale pink hue, and moving his arms no longer gave him any trouble.
Taking off the bandages, he practiced a sword routine in the courtyard to test them. The joints in his wrists and shoulders were as nimble as ever, completely free of pain even when exerting force.
Having been cooped up in bed nursing his injuries for days, he was bored out of his mind. Now that he could finally move about, the very first thing he did was pick up the sword flight technique he had been longing to practice.
The basic formula for sword flight was tucked inside that copy of 《Overview of Yunxiao Sect Rules》. He had memorized it long ago, merely lacking the time to put it into practice.
Laying his longsword flat on the ground, he stepped onto it to give it a try.
The sword wobbled violently, feeling like a wooden plank bobbing on water with no solid purchase beneath his feet.
He quickly spread his arms to stabilize his balance, his legs held rigid. He looked somewhat like a crane about to take flight, though his posture fell terribly short of graceful.
Refusing to obey, the sword underfoot tilted left and listed right.
He swayed along with it, nearly tumbling off several times, saved only by the core strength he had forged through body tempering to forcibly yank his center of gravity back in line.
“Harder than body tempering.”
Gritting his teeth, he channeled a sliver of spiritual energy into the blade, hoping to steady it.
Instead, he infused too much. The sword jolted upward by half a chi, pitching him backward. His arms flailed in wide circles through the air before he barely managed to keep from falling.
Quickly reigning in his power, the sword sank back down, the soles of his shoes scraping the dirt with a rustle.
He took a deep breath and readjusted his spiritual energy output.
This time, he finally found the right measure of force. The sword hovered steadily one and a half chi off the ground, no longer darting erratically up and down.
Though barely higher than a door threshold, at least it was floating.
For the better part of a shichen, he drifted back and forth across the courtyard—from the stone table to the gate, and from the gate back to the stone table—at a speed roughly equivalent to a brisk walk.
Eventually, he could ride the sword in a full circle around the courtyard without touching down. His speed picked up slightly, looking at least less clumsy than a child learning to ride a horse.
He hopped down from the sword and sheathed it.
...
Lin Zhixue closed the well-worn copy of 《Yunxiao Sect Basic Mental Cultivation Method》 and rubbed her eyes.
Ever since she received this book from the outer sect, she had reread it dozens of times until every detail was etched into memory. Paging through it further yielded nothing new.
She needed to read something else. Jiang Yinglan had casually mentioned last time that the sect’s Scripture Pavilion had books regarding sword intent. Having recently absorbed sword intent, this was the perfect opportunity to go see what they had to offer.
Xiaoyu drifted out from the jade pendant, stretching lazily before her. Its collar-length golden hair swayed gently with the fluctuations of its spiritual form.
Having just awakened, it rubbed its eyes with a yawn, its voice still thick with languor.
“Zhixue, are you going to the training grounds again today? You practiced there all day yesterday. Let’s switch to somewhere else today.”
“Didn’t Jiang Yinglan say the Scripture Pavilion has books on sword intent? You said you’d go the day before yesterday, but you kept putting it off until now.”
“I was just about to go.” Lin Zhixue rose to her feet and fastened the Guilan Sword to her waist.
Xiaoyu drifted beside her, chattering nonstop.
It wondered aloud whether the Scripture Pavilion might have some extraordinarily powerful ancient sword manuals, promising to help her pick one out. Even if it couldn’t touch the books, its eye for quality was bound to be spot on.
Lin Zhixue let it babble as she pushed open the door and stepped out, walking along the flagstone path toward the Scripture Pavilion.
The morning light was warm and pleasant, dusting the flagstones with a thin sheet of gold as the roadside spirit pines rustled in the breeze.
Upon arriving at the entrance of the Scripture Pavilion, just as Lin Zhixue stepped onto the stairs, a pavilion guard disciple stepped out from the side of the entrance to block her way.
Glancing at the token at her waist, the disciple pointed to a wooden placard standing beside the door. It was carved with instructions for entry, the third rule stated in plain terms:
Study companion disciples may not enter alone without being accompanied by an inner disciple.
“You’re a study companion, right? Without an inner disciple to bring you in, you can’t enter.”
The pavilion guard disciple’s tone wasn’t hostile, but it left no room for negotiation. Having spoken, he pulled his hand back and leaned against the doorframe with folded arms once more.
Only then did Lin Zhixue notice the wooden placard. She said nothing.
She recognized the rule, having simply forgotten about it before coming. Just as she was about to turn and leave, someone spoke from behind.
“She is with me.”
A female disciple wearing the dark blue Daoist robe of the inner sect approached. She was slender with delicate, fair features, her almond-shaped eyes curving slightly.
Her eyes crinkled warmly when she smiled, and her voice was soft and gentle.
Stepping beside Lin Zhixue, she gave the pavilion guard disciple a slight nod.
“I happen to be looking for a few herbal medicine books and can’t search through them all by myself, so I asked her to lend me a hand.”
The pavilion guard disciple looked at her and recognized who she was.
Inner disciple Xu Muhe was a familiar face over at the Medicine Hall. He did not object further and stepped aside to let them pass.
Lin Zhixue followed her into the Scripture Pavilion.
The building was so quiet that only the faint rustle of turning pages could be heard. The scent of ink and paper mingled with aged sandalwood filled the air. Several rows of dark wooden bookshelves stood in neat alignment, extending up a wooden staircase to the second floor.
Pausing in her steps, she bowed slightly to the person beside her. “Thank you.”
Xu Muhe turned around, her almond eyes crinkling into a soft curve. Her voice was gentle, as though afraid of startling the birds under the eaves. “A small matter. My name is Xu Muhe. What about you?”
“Lin Zhixue.”
“Lin Zhixue,” she repeated the name.
Then she asked, “What kind of book did you make this trip to find?”
“I wanted to find some texts explaining the fundamentals of sword intent.”
Xu Muhe pointed toward the stairs. “The third row on the east side of the second floor holds the sword cultivator texts. The introductory volumes are placed on the outermost shelves, very easy to spot.”
“I’ll go pick out some herbal medicine books. You go ahead and take a look.”
Lin Zhixue nodded and climbed the wooden stairs to the second floor.
Running her fingertips along a row of cool book spines, she quickly pulled out a slender volume with 《Elementary Introduction to Sword Intent》 written on its cover.
Flipping through a couple of pages, she found the content to be exactly what she was looking for, so she carried the book back downstairs.
By the long table near the window downstairs, Xu Muhe was already seated. Two or three herbology volumes lay open before her, an empty jade slip resting by her hand.
The seat across from her was empty, the teacups neatly arranged as if intentionally reserved.
Seeing Lin Zhixue come down, she tipped her chin toward the vacant seat. “Have a seat. The air is fresh here.”
Lin Zhixue sat down and opened the booklet in her hands.
The room was serene. Aside from the occasional rustle of branches brushing against the eaves outside, only the quiet turning of pages between the two broke the silence.
Eyes lowered to the pages, Xu Muhe’s fingertips bore faint traces of ink as she held a brush and lightly inscribed notes onto the jade slip.
Whenever she came across an intriguing spirit herb, she nudged the book slightly toward Lin Zhixue, her voice soft and delicate. “Look at this one. Its fruits are completely round, like a string of little lanterns hanging down.”
Tapping a fingertip against the herb’s notes, she casually added, “Its medicinal properties are quite unusual—completely contradictory on both sides. It can be refined into soporific incense, yet it can also dispel Tendon-Softening Powder.”
Without taking her eyes off the sword intent text in her hands, Lin Zhixue responded softly once or twice, quietly listening to her chatter.
Xiaoyu circled lightly between the bookshelves twice before suddenly darting to Lin Zhixue’s ear, whispering in a breezy undertone.
“I feel like I’ve seen this spirit herb somewhere before!”
“Hey, look at its medicinal properties! They’re so similar to those herbs Gu Yanqing uses for his medicinal baths!”
It paused, then added in a quiet mutter, “Though it’s way more interesting than that bitter junk Gu Yanqing uses.”
Her fingertip pressed against the edge of the page, Lin Zhixue pursed her lips, suppressing the smile that threatened to curl at the corners of her mouth.
Sitting there for the better part of a shichen, Lin Zhixue read through most of the sword intent booklet, committing its core essentials to memory.
Xu Muhe also closed her book and tidied the jade slips beside her hand.
“It’s about time to head out.”
The two of them went to the entrance together to register the loan. After verifying the tokens, the pavilion guard disciple handed the book back.
As they stepped out of the Scripture Pavilion, the breeze met them carrying the scent of grass and trees. The shadows of the eaves fell across the bluestone steps in staggered patches.
Xu Muhe paused on the steps, glancing sideways at Lin Zhixue. A faint smile touched the corner of her lips, passing as quickly as the shadow of a windblown leaf.
“Whenever you want to visit the Scripture Pavilion in the future, just come look for me at the Medicine Hall,” she said casually.
“I’m either here or at the Medicine Hall all day long anyway. I have plenty of free time.”
She paused, then added with a chuckle, “Next time, no need to make up an excuse about helping me flip through books. Just tell me you want to go in, and I’ll bring you.”
With that, she waved her hand and turned toward the Medicine Hall.
After taking a few steps, she turned back and waved once more, her eyes crinkling warmly, before departing without another word.
Xiaoyu hovered beside Lin Zhixue’s shoulder, staring at Xu Muhe’s retreating back for a long while before letting out a soft humph.
“She certainly has a way with words, and she seems pleasant enough.”
“Still, we need to observe her a bit more... What do you think of her?”
“Very warm.”
Tucking the borrowed book into her robes, Lin Zhixue stepped down the stairs.
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