Shui Qianyue walked down the corridor of the male gold badge Nightwatcher’s quarters. She wore her usual black and loose-fitting robes, wearing a pair of long black boots, of which only the tips could be seen as they peeked out from beneath the black fabric of her robes.
They looked quite heavy, but her footsteps were light as a feather. Even the sound of her sleeves brushing against her robes was louder than her footfalls. As she walked, her ponytail swayed left and right.
She stopped before door number 33 and knocked twice. As she waited, she hummed a light tune, her right foot tapping to the beat.
However, the door that opened was not the one in front of her, but the one behind her and to the right. Wan Qiushou’s head poked out from behind the door of room 21, a deadpan expression on his face.
“Hello little Wan.” Shui Qianyue greeted, smilingly.
Wan Qiushou nodded in response. At the same time, he tightly gripped the money pouch nestled within his robe’s inner pocket.
“Sihai Wuxian is busy. I knocked on his door last week, but he didn’t respond.”
“That’s normal for a cultivator. He’s probably doing some closed-door cultivation.” Shui Qianyue explained, before knocking again.
Seeing this, Wan Qiushou returned into his room. He opened a hidden safe, depositing most of the money within his pouch before leaving his room and closing the door.
“If he’s in closed-door cultivation, it would be better not to disturb him.” He stated.
“I know.” Shui Qianyue replied, knocking on the door again.
Seeing this, Wan Qiushou blinked twice.
“Is there anything you need? I can help on Wuxian’s behalf.”
Shui Qianyue shook her head.
“Nope. I need a sparring partner.”
She turned to look at Wan Qiushou whose expression had shifted to become more lively and energetic.
“You’re still badly injured. The official diagnosis was no fighting or demanding physical activity for three weeks. Go back and rest.”
The competitive spirit within him ignited, Wan Qiushou cracked his knuckles. He jumped up and down and loosened his joints, as if showing off how well he’d recovered already.
At this moment, the door to room number 33 shifted open slightly. Wuxian, who was wearing his Liang armour, Han battle mask and holding the Northern Dark Edge tightly, cautiously looked out from within the gap.
Shui Qianyue pushed her head through the gap in the door, forcing it wide open.
“Boo!”
“Ah!”
Wuxian, startled, almost stabbed forwards in reflex, but stopped himself in time upon seeing Shui Qianyue’s mischievous grin.
“Ahem…”
Recollecting himself, he stowed away the treasure weapon and discarded the face mask, though his shining lamellar armour wasn’t exactly inconspicuous either.
“Hello sister Shui, how do you do?” Wuxian greeted, a slightly guilty look on his face.
From the corner of his eye, he spotted Wan Qiushou standing there in a battle-ready stance as well.
“Oh, Qiushou, you’re here too. How are your injuries?” He asked courteously.
Wan Qiushou nodded his head in response, cupping his hands.
“Very well. As you can see, I’m in fighting shape. You don’t look too bad yourself.” He replied.
“Being a cultivator has its perks.” Wuxian chuckled, not deigning to tell them about the Natural Spirit Blood art.
Glancing down at Shui Qianyue, who was staring at his face intently, he cleared his throat awkwardly.
“So, what brings you two to my doorstep?”
Shui Qianyue’s eyes shone, as if they were water bodies reflecting the moon’s bright rays.
“After all the other Nightwatchers left, I’m the only gold badge cultivator left. Cultivating alone is all well and good, but to consolidate your gains, physical practice is required too. Would you like to come and do some training with me?” She asked, head tilted at an angle.
“I’m coming too.” Wan Qiushou added.
Wuxian scratched his head.
“How about Brother Jiang? Is he not joining you?”
“He’s not feeling well.”
“Oh, I see.”
Looking at Shui Qianyue’s expectant expression and Wan Qiushou who was jumping up and down, loosening his body in the corner, he couldn’t help but agree.
“I’ve been meaning to test out my mystic arts for a while now. How can I decline?”
Shui Qianyue clapped her hands together.
“That settles it then. Follow me!”
———
Within the grounds of Nightwatch HQ sat a large 20 by 20 metre courtyard. It had protruding roofs on either side, while the section directly above it was uncovered. The ground was covered in packed sand.
The northern section of the training ground had several wooden racks filled with training weapons, while to the east, there were ten straw dummies. To the west, there were several sets of lifting stones with their weights engraved into their sides. These weighed from 100 jin all the way up to a thousand!
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Wuxian surveyed the area briefly, nodding appreciatively.
“For an auxiliary training area like this to be so lavish, I can’t imagine how nice the larger stadiums are.” He tutted.
Shui Qianyue hummed in response as she started stretching.
“The main training halls require special access since they contain many dangerous things inside. Only the chief and the people above have clearance. For just sparring or basic conditioning though, this place will do.” She explained.
After they all finished warming up, they drew lots to decide who was going first. In the end, it was decided that Wuxian and Qiushou would fight first, then Qiushou and Shui Qianyue. Wuxian and Shui Qianyue would spar last.
The two men squared off at a distance of roughly ten metres apart. Wuxian held the Northern Dark Edge, while Qiushou was unarmed, fists raised in a martial stance.
‘The whole point of sparring is to train… killing the other party seems counterproductive.’
Wuxian thought for a moment before stabbing the rear end of the treasure weapon into the sandy ground beneath his feet. He then rotated his wrists a few times, cupping his fists together after.
“Please.” The two said, bowing to one another.
Sizing his opponent up, Wuxian felt slightly apprehensive.
‘Previously, when we fought the white robed man, Wan Qiushou was pretty helpless, while it was I who ultimately decided the fight. However, that does not mean he is a pushover- far from it. The reason why Wan Qiushou was at such a disadvantage was because of the white robed man’s constant kiting tactics. He was able to neutralise everyone of Qiushou’s attacks, remaining wholly unscathed.’
‘I, on the other hand, do not have such control at range. The white robed man could attack from afar, while my methods are generally limited to medium-close range. My effective range is similar to Qiushou’s- it is not possible for me to strike him without receiving his retaliation.’
It had been a week since he’d started conditioning himself with the Natural Spirit Blood technique, while he had only just recently learned the Zhurong’s Breath technique.
‘Of course, I could just set Qiushou on fire… but where’s the fun in that?’
As he finished thinking things through, Wan Qiushou had already made his advance. Sand sprayed into the air as he shot forwards, body hugging the ground closely.
Though Wuxian had some level of proficiency in close-combat, he did not entertain any intentions of fighting ‘fairly’.
‘Play to my strengths. In the end, I am a cultivator, while Qiushou is a martial artist. I refine my qi while he refines his physical body.’
And Wuxian had not spent the past week in vain either. Not only did he refine his meridians and condition his body to the Natural Spirit Blood art, he also played around with some alternative uses of Effortless Flow.
Activating Effortless Flow now, he felt the qi rushing through his meridians. Wuxian took a step forward and adopted a defensive stance, arms raised, his legs protecting his centre line.
Just because White Crane did not have many leg-based techniques, did not mean that Wuxian couldn’t use any. In the end, the practitioner was more important than his martial art, since one was alive and ever-changing while the other was static and would eventually grow outdated.
8 metres.
4 metres.
Contact!
Wan Qiushou’s right fist flew forward. This was his style- straightforward and unforgiving. One wrong step and the Nightwatcher’s tempered fist would undoubtedly cause fractures.
Wuxian’s left arm shot forwards like a whip. Using his forearm, he aimed to push Qiushou’s outstretched punch downwards and to the side. This would also prevent Qiushou from following up with another punch, since his torso would be turned away to face the ground.
But Wan Qiushou was no fool. Sensing Wuxian’s intent, he dug his right heel into the ground. His body abruptly pivoted and with his currently outstretched hand as a counterbalance, spun around like a top.
His left arm spun out, the backfist making straight for Wuxian’s now-outstretched left arm.
With not enough time to retrieve it, Wuxian activated Effortless Flow. A burst of green qi shot out from his left palm that twisted to face the sky, causing his arm to lower a fraction downwards, just before Qiushou’s backfist sailed over it.
A narrow escape!
Qiushou followed up with a new volley of attacks, leaving no room to breathe. With his right leg, he pushed up, attempting to grapple Wuxian’s left leg and pull it out from beneath him. At the same time, his right arm reached out to gain control over Wuxian’s left arm.
‘He’s good!’
Wuxian couldn’t help but marvel at Qiushou’s martial prowess. He didn’t doubt that if given a chance, the man would have no doubt turned the white robed man into mincemeat if he’d gotten close enough.
‘But he’s underestimating me.’
Surprisingly, rather than withdraw, Wuxian pushed forwards too. His left leg dodged around Qiushou’s attempted grapple, moving between Qiushou’s legs and then flicking to the right, putting him off balance.
At the same time, using his strong core, Wuxian grasped Qiushou’s right arm as he turned over, flipping him and throwing Qiushou to the ground.
To Qiushou’s merit, he immediately flipped backwards, negating most of the impact and returning to his feet, ready to re engage.
He nodded with a dull expression, though his eyes gleamed brightly, like a cat with a new toy.
“You’re good! Let’s go again.”
Wuxian grinned in response, though in truth, he was slightly terrified. Each of Qiushou’s movements tore the air and created waves of wind that battered against his body. If one of those punches actually connected, he had no doubts that he’d suffer.
‘Of course, with Natural Spirit Blood, I can recover easily… but it’s best to avoid pain and injuries whenever possible.’
Standing at the side, Shui Qianyue watched with unconcealed interest. Glancing at her from the corner of his eyes, Wuxian couldn’t help but let a slight grin creep onto his face.
‘Since I’m going first, she’ll be able to learn how I fight and my favourite moves, as well as my tells and habits, before I even spar with her. However, Qiushou and her are next, while I’ll also have more time to rest and recover my qi. I’m probably the one with the advantage here.’
Refocusing his mind, he cupped his fists and saluted Wan Qiushou a second time, receiving one in response.
‘Qiushou likes to spin a lot to reposition himself and strike from abnormal angles that are hard to guard against. However, in doing so, he often exposes himself too. I suppose he likes playing this high risk, high reward game.’
Wan Qiushou sprinted forwards, once again taking the initiative to attack. After closing in, he opened with the same attack- a straight right fist.
This time, Wuxian stepped backwards. Simultaneously, his long left arm shot out beneath Qiushou’s right arm, stabbing towards his armpit.
Wan Qiushou made no delay in reacting, changing his offence to a defence. His punch turned into an elbow, launching downwards at Wuxian’s left arm. He also prepared a left hook, aiming for Wuxian’s neck.
The entire time, Wuxian had been wary of Qiushou’s successive attacks. If left unchecked, they would undoubtedly cause massive damage. He withdrew his left arm and retaliated with his left knee instead.
Bone collided with bone as the elbow and knee clashed in midair. Relying on his superior martial artist’s physique, Qiushou won the exchange, forcing Wuxian back into a passive position.
Using his forward momentum, Qiushou’s left hook shot out like a praying mantis’s scythe-like appendage.
Despite this, Wuxian reacted calmly.
Though he could not block the attacks due to the difference in physical power, he could still deflect and grapple. Wuxian’s right arm lashed out, slapping Qiushou over the left ear, aiming to disable him and stop the hook from arriving.
Qiushou’s cheeks rippled under the force of the impact, but his hook flew true and continued on to hit Wuxian’s right shoulder. Both sides stepped back, inspecting their physical conditions briefly.
Wan Qiushou rubbed his ear repeatedly while his face turned red from the damage. On the other side, Wuxian circulated the Natural Spirit Blood art, furiously repairing the muscle and ligament damage he’d sustained in his arm and shoulder.
A mere minute later, they continued again.
“I’ll stop going easy on you now.” Wuxian taunted.
“Perfect. I’ve just finished warming up.” Qiushou responded, a broken smile appearing on his face.
Though Wuxian had previously decided not to set Wan Qiushou on fire, he changed his mind after receiving the punch on the shoulder.
Circulating his qi and taking in a deep breath through his nose, a plume of red fire collided with the ground before Qiushou, who had been running forward, eager to engage.
Wuxian began to tilt his head upwards. Each degree he moved, the flames rose higher and higher, leaving a layer of glass behind where sand used to be. Wan Qiushou reeled back in alarm, flipping backwards and then running in the opposite direction.
The beam of fire followed him as he moved, a scorching laser that glassed the ground beneath their feet.
As he ran, his heels kicked up sand that was glazed-midair by the Zhurong’s Breath. After ten seconds, Wuxian cancelled the technique after having expended half of his refined fire qi.
“Does that count as a win?” He asked, grinning at Wan Qiushou’s panting form.