Chapter 20 Drifting Cloud Sword

"I... well, I didn't really catch anything myself, but it felt good. Just perfect! I wonder, Miss Wu Xuan, did you spot any problems?" Tang Yan lobbed the question right back at Wu Xuan.

Wu Xuan shot him a sidelong glance, then said crisply, "You truly have put in hard work of late. The flaws are gone now; all that's lacking is finesse. Given time, you'll certainly bring it to great accomplishment. To carry the moves to great accomplishment quickly, though, you need constant tempering. Finding someone to trade blows with is a fine way to improve."

Tang Yan rather agreed with the first half of her words, but the more he listened, the worse his premonition grew. They really meant to make him the sparring partner?

"Alright, alright. Since Miss Wu Xuan has begun imparting the Dao and teaching, I'd best not linger, lest I be suspected of stealing techniques. Farewell!"

"Stop right there!" Just as Tang Yan moved to slip away, Lin Dongxue called out at once. "What, Young Master Tang means to slip off again? Didn't you just say you'd be this young lady's sparring partner?"

"This... I'm only Origin Rank Eighth Grade, while Miss Lin's strength presses close to Black Rank. Why trade blows with a small fry like me?" Tang Yan said, pulling a bitter face. "Besides, I'm no masochist. Why should I be your sparring partner?"

At his words, Lin Dongxue and Wu Xuan were both struck dumb. Was this fellow's brain addled? How many people in Yun City longed to be Lin Dongxue's sparring partner? And this one actually wanted to refuse?

Still, his point held, and for a moment neither woman had a reply. After a brief silence, Wu Xuan said, "How about this: Young Master Tang serves as Dongxue's sparring partner for the time being, and we'll pay you a fee for it. Agreeable?"

"How much?" Tang Yan perked up at once.

"Money-grubber!" Seeing his reaction, Lin Dongxue snorted coldly. "Fine. This young lady will trade blows with you using strength below Yellow Rank. If you can hold out for half a shichen, I'll give you a first-rank Middle Grade Pill. How about it?"

A first-rank Middle Grade? Great Alchemist Tang naturally had no interest in pills. He shook his head. "I've no interest in cultivation, but a great deal of interest in silver. How about this instead: if I can hold out for half a shichen, or force you to use Yellow Rank strength, you pay me ten thousand taels of silver. What do you say?"

Lin Dongxue's willow brows shot up, and she sneered, "You, make me use Yellow Rank strength? This young lady accepts. Just don't run off once you've been beaten. Come!"

"Miss Wu Xuan, might I borrow your longsword?" Tang Yan smiled.

A faint blush touched Wu Xuan's pretty face. She unfastened the scabbard and tossed it over. "Here. I'll observe Young Master Tang's swordsmanship as well."

Taking the longsword, Tang Yan found the blade somewhat broad and heavy in the hand, and was mildly surprised. Just what strength did this Wu Xuan possess, that even her weapon was heavier than an ordinary sword?

"Many thanks, Miss Wu Xuan." Tang Yan voiced his gratitude, but inwardly a thought kept turning over: if he could serve as Lin Dongxue's sparring partner, why couldn't he make this little miss serve as his?

The more he weighed it, the more sound it seemed. Delighted, he mulled it over a moment and decided to use Lin Dongxue to hone a Tang Family martial art, the Drifting Cloud Sword.

After all, as the Tang Family's sole heir, if he wasn't even Expert in the family's own martial arts, wouldn't word of it bring shame? And in his memory, Old Master Tang had once said the Drifting Cloud Sword was a fine sword art, only that gaps in the method had kept its rank from rising.

Tang Yan's memory was sharp. After a brief recollection, he ran through the Drifting Cloud Sword's moves once in his mind.

"Watch yourself!" Lin Dongxue had long wanted to give him a thrashing. With a delicate cry, the slender sword in her hand quivered as she charged.

Sensing her aura, he confirmed she was indeed using only Origin Rank Eighth Grade strength. Tang Yan smiled inwardly and raised his sword to meet her.

All the while he probed for the flaws hidden in the Drifting Cloud Sword. With his mind split two ways, facing Lin Dongxue's fierce assault, he looked clumsy and harried.

Yet there was not the slightest fear in his eyes, only a faint excitement. An exchange this intense was enormously useful for repairing the sword art's moves. Those seemingly perilous strikes were helping him hunt out gaps and patch them from every side.

Watching from the edge, Wu Xuan saw his harried state, her eyes brimming with amusement, ready to enjoy the show of him being put in his place.

But as time wore on, the teasing in her eyes slowly faded, replaced by mounting confusion.

At first Tang Yan had been pressed the whole time, with barely enough strength to defend himself. Now a quarter of an hour had passed. By rights he should have shown clear signs of defeat, yet after so long his state was somehow no different from the start.

Tang Yan, for his part, grew more and more excited. This Drifting Cloud Sword truly was riddled with flaws. Many places had been altered, and a few moves were even missing in the middle. Given a little time, he could restore the whole set!

Soon Wu Xuan's eyelid twitched, her eyes filling with disbelief.

She saw it plainly: Tang Yan, harried from the very first, had gradually steadied his footing.

An utterly absurd notion rose in her heart. Was Lin Dongxue serving as Tang Yan's sparring partner?

On the field, after failing to beat him for so long, Lin Dongxue felt deeply mortified, growing more frantic by the moment. Clenching her silver teeth, she loosed Origin Rank Ninth Grade strength in an instant. The pressure on Tang Yan shifted all at once, throwing him back into the perilous straits of the opening.

A gap in rank was like a gap between mountains; the distance between Origin Rank Ninth Grade and Eighth Grade was no small thing. Just as both Wu Xuan and Lin Dongxue concluded that Tang Yan would soon lose, the aura of the longsword in his hand abruptly changed.

Though still only Origin Rank Eighth Grade strength, the once plain and stiff moves had turned incomparably fluid and Proficient, and the sword Qi had swelled stronger by several degrees!

Another quarter of an hour passed. From having no way to fight back, Tang Yan gradually turned the tide, trying counter after counter.

The one in the thick of it is blind; the onlooker sees clear. Watching from the side, Wu Xuan's expression turned grave.

After several years in Yun City, she had some grasp of the various families' methods. The sword art Tang Yan wielded was precisely the Tang Family's signature martial art, the Drifting Cloud Sword. Yet in both technique and power, it was far stronger than anything she had seen of it before.

Could it be this brat wasn't merely practicing the sword art, but perfecting it? For a moment the look in her eyes grew complicated.

There was wonder in it, and a measure of wariness as well.

Before anyone realized, half a shichen had passed, and Tang Yan still showed no sign of defeat.

Fire all but blazed from Lin Dongxue's eyes as she ground her teeth. This fellow was a real wet blanket. However strong he was, couldn't he spare a thought for this young lady's feelings? I've already used Origin Rank Ninth Grade strength and still can't knock you down. Are you set on making me lose face in front of Sister Wu Xuan?

This time Tang Yan couldn't be wholly blamed. On any ordinary day he would surely have left Lin Dongxue a little face.

But at this moment he was utterly lost in the Drifting Cloud Sword.

The art flowed smooth and natural, like drifting clouds and running water. Set beside the Graceful Sword Art, both were nimble and ethereal, but the Drifting Cloud Sword was more natural still, unforced and never jarring, like white clouds drifting idly across a blue sky, without the least trace of ferocity, yet able to kill without a sound.

The more he fought, the deeper he sank, his moves edging ever closer to Perfection. After blocking another incoming sword, Tang Yan gave a great shout. The longsword in his hand seemed to turn into a white cloud, seeping into every gap, blotting out the sky as it bore down on Lin Dongxue.

Feeling the force of his sword, Lin Dongxue's pretty face turned frosty with determination, her beautiful eyes flying wide.

Even having raised her strength to Origin Rank Ninth Grade, against this sword art of his she felt there was simply no way to break through.

Clenching her silver teeth, Lin Dongxue shifted her sword once more, and a stronger aura surged forth.

Yellow Rank!

Wu Xuan's beautiful eyes settled on Tang Yan. Lin Dongxue using Yellow Rank strength counted as breaking the rules, yet even so she found herself burning with anticipation. Could Tang Yan, at Origin Rank Eighth Grade, hold his own against Yellow Rank?

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