Even after spending three days in my inner world, fighting endlessly and dying dozens of times, they still have the energy to have a short, two-hour-long spar when evening comes. The island and surroundings once more light up when the moon emerges directly overhead, but this time, they do not fall into a martial trance of enlightenment.
Though the formation is still powered by their sword Qi, its effects are weaker but still present.
In this way, they test each other’s swords and gain first-hand experience with their vast improvement. It is a learning experience for me as well because I notice several key differences in Lan Xiaohui’s martial arts which I am most familiar with.
The method I taught her — the Heartless Blood Lily — is nothing like the sword martial art that she wields now. Where the heartless blood lily — the sundrinker — remains motionless and conquers all hardships, this flower in my mind that Lan Xiaohui shows me through her swordsmanship does not wait or remain still.
However, I cannot yet clearly see this flower; its shape and identity remain ambiguous because Lan Xiaohui also does not know what it is yet.
The one thing that I can see clearly is the fact that this flower and I are the same. Through her sword, Lan Xiaohui expresses this one thought that resonates with me and makes me consider my own existence; if I were a flower instead of a sword, would I also cut my roots and advance further on the Dao?
When Lan Xiaohui slashes, my momentum lifts her off the ground as if she were as light as a feather. However, in her hands, I am also just as light, and she is capable of reversing my trajectory with simple ease, causing her to remain airborne longer.
When Lan Xiaohui dashes forward, she floats above the ground for several steps like a fairy, and each time her heels click on the ground, a spark of purple lightning emits. The Heartless Blood Lily method is only slightly related to metal Qi — of which lightning Qi is a derivative of — so it should not be able to produce these effects.
My consciousness expands, however, not by much, unlike the first time she wielded the Transient Sword. I never disappear from Lan Xiaohui’s grip, but I cannot with my current understanding explain the phenomena occurring to me in order for Lan Xiaohui to perform these otherworldly feats.
She is not only using the primary concepts of the Transient Sword, but also the primary effects of the Fractured Sword, like [Collapsing Cosmos] which should shroud me in a collapsing higher dimension to hide me from sight. However, instead of disappearing from sight in a veil of gravitational lensing, I only become heavier.
It is a combination, I realize; while [Collapsing Cosmos] makes me heavier, Lan Xiaohui utilizes [Law of Transience] to make me lighter in her hands. The technique of the Transient Sword distributes my weight through space, and the physical sword in her hand is just a reflection from a collapsed dimension — at least, that is my guess.
In other words, if Lan Xiaohui were not to use the primary principles of Fractured Sword, I would likely vanish from this world as a wave of quantum probability. The opposite is also true; if Lan Xiaohui were to use Fractured Sword without Transient Sword, I would become too heavy for her to wield, and become shrouded from view.
This cannot be a coincidence — both Lan Xiaohui’s instinctive use of this combination and the compatibility that these two techniques have with each other.
The Transient Sword is very likely a derivative of Fractured Sword, as both methods employ similar concepts. The supreme sword exists — I am certain of that. It is not a mythical, unreachable concept. Therefore, I am also fairly certain that all sword martial arts come from this sword, and are derivatives of it.
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If this is true, then this Ancient Sword Graveyard is not merely a monument or a legacy, but rather a compass. For now, this is only a conjecture, but it makes sense to me that the other Ancient Sword Graveyards would also contain other inheritances that lead toward the essence of the supreme sword.
Wu Yulan’s swordsmanship also changes, but I am far less familiar with her martial art to identify all the points which have transformed into something different. During their first spar, Wu Yulan kept her distance from Lan Xiaohui and relied on her exceptional sword Qi to counterattack.
But that is no longer the case.
This time, Wu Yulan stays within Lan Xiaohui’s striking range, relentlessly pursuing my owner’s openings and weaknesses, while Wu Yulan herself dances on a dangerously thin string that could snap and lead to disaster.
Even when the two separate due to a particularly forceful blow against a parry, Wu Yulan wastes no time to close the distance again and the way in which she does so demonstrates her own understanding of the Transient Sword inheritance she received.
Wu Yulan slashes her finger forward, as if marking the line that she will cut, and a moment later she appears before Lan Xiaohui and slashes exactly along that line with such speed and force that the Lan Xiaohui from the previous spar would have no hope of defending against.
I don’t believe there is anyone in the Foundation Establishment realm who could withstand this technique that Wu Yulan is still developing. Even Core Formation cultivators might find themselves at significant risk of falling to her sword.
This spar only lasts for two hours before the two are satisfied and make their way over to a bench to sit down and observe the stars and moon together.
They sit close to each other, leaning on each other and Wu Yulan even rests her head on Lan Xiaohui’s shoulder. Of the two, Wu Yulan is the more exhausted one, the mental fatigue of spending nearly three days in endless combat catching up to her.
Wu Yulan smiles and links her fingers with Lan Xiaohui’s. My owner rests her head on top of Wu Yulan’s head and sighs.
They remain like this for a while. As if spoken words might wake them from this dream, they remain silent. They both know how unlikely this meeting was, which now seems as though it was destined. Wu Yulan has never been able to see the road ahead, but now she can glimpse a path that she wants to walk. Lan Xiaohui saw the road ahead, but it was taken away from her before she could even put her foot on it.
The fact that their paths converged like this is certainly something that might seem extraordinary to them.
Eventually, they return to the mansion and crawl into bed, turning their backs to each other as they almost instantly fall asleep.
When Lan Xiaohui falls asleep, I decide to enter my Inner World, alone, and confirm something that has been on my mind.
My consciousness unravels over the Second Layer of my Inner World, and I reach out and touch the Martial Hall Pavilion. Almost immediately, I discover my answer.
Lan Xiaohui and Wu Yulan have already solved 642 theoretical models during their practice. This is already almost three times what the [Killing Field] accomplished in the last cycle. Not only this, but they also generated 96,000 Inner World Energy, offsetting a majority of the 140,000 Inner World Energy cost to operate the [Killing Field] for that cycle.
Though, this does not surprise me at all. It is the next bit of information that I was curious about.
They have each earned 32 Inner World Tokens which they have exchanged for higher comprehension rates of new methods.
Because the Transient Sword method is incomplete, comprehending it is not possible. Instead, what they comprehend are new methods derived from their own martial arts and this incomplete inheritance.
Wu Yulan obtains the Eternal Moment Swordsmanship method. Her comprehension of transience is that even though all things are transient, the moment itself is eternal. Through this swordsmanship, Wu Yulan relinquishes the normal power of her sword to instead focus it into bursts of speed and devastating strikes.
Lan Xiaohui’s comprehension of transience is both startling and enlightening. The method she comprehends both describes my place in her heart, and her place in the world: Finality Moon, Liminality Flower. In her heart, she perceives me as an everlasting moon that she will become a part of when she dies; the same moon that gave her this life — as a flower — that blooms in the transitional state between the past and the future.
When I return from my Inner World, I find Lan Xiaohui smiling, whatever dream she is having is filling her heart with overwhelming love.
“…yue…” she whispers.
The fact that this new method is an advancement of the method I taught her, and the fact that she uses characters from both our names — moon and flower — is a promise that we will never be apart, even if all things truly are transient. It is a declaration of love.
I reach out with my consciousness and with its limited physical manifestation, I pat Lan Xiaohui’s head, as a reward for her loyalty and to ensure that she continues having good dreams.
Such a foolish girl.