"Before we start, eat and drink. You have understood hunger already, from now on it will haunt you even when you close your eyes so there is no chance that you'll forget it, that is just what sort of existence pain is."

Hongzai flipped her hand as she spoke, removing some food and water from her interspatial ring. While she brought out plenty of water, she brought out comparatively less food. It wasn't a good idea to overfeed someone who had just been starving, Hongzai had seen more than her fair share of people die from complications that arose from this. So the best option was to do it slowly so that his body could get used to eating again.

Yin Long wasn't polite about it and accepted everything she had to give, gulping down the water and quickly swallowing the almost glue-like food she gave him. The food wasn't tasty by any means, but it made him feel rather invigorated so it seemed like it was quite nutritious and energy-rich, it was probably something she had specially prepared for a time where she would be without food for longer stretches of time.

"You two, you'll be his sparring partners whenever I don't throw him to a Demonic beast, the difference in strength between him and me is too big for me to be a suitable partner. If you have any complaints then you can just leave, I agreed to train him, the two of you don't fall under that clause so the least you can do is make yourselves useful."

Hongzai directed her gaze towards Jin Wang and Xiao Yin Yu while Yin Long ate, her expression not leaving any room for discussion. She saw something in Yin Long so she was a bit softer towards him, but that sentiment wasn't extended towards the other two, they should just leave if they weren't going to make themselves useful.

"That's fine by me, I'm still hoping to learn lots of things by sparring with him so this is nothing but advantageous to me."

Jin Wang was going to follow wherever Yin Long went and Yin Yu had every intention to do the same, she did not want to lose that clenched sensation in her chest. Hongzai nodded her head slightly, if they were going to work then there wasn't much problem with them staying, her gaze turning back to Yin Long.

"I'll give you 15 minutes to digest after you've finished eating, but after that, we're going to start straight away. I'll need to learn your strengths and weaknesses so I'll have you come at me for a bit."

Yin Long only nodded his head simply and continued stuffing the food down his throat, picking his pace up slightly so that they could start training straight away. Yin Yu had been at his side for a bit of time now so she realized what he was doing, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards slightly. It really was rare to find a training freak like Yin Long, and now that he had gotten an actual teacher, she couldn't help but wonder how quickly he would grow.

Looking at the time that Lang Yin was supposed to have died, she could easily calculate how long he had been cultivating for, at least properly cultivating. And the number that she reached was so laughably low that he put every other cultivator she knew to shame. And now that freak of nature had gotten a proper teacher that could point him down the right path, it was scary to think about where he would end up once he was done here.

Yin Long quickly finished stuffing himself and then closed his eyes, quietly regulating his own state while his body digested what he filled it with. It hadn't been long since he finished his battle with the two-headed snake, but with the help of Yin Yu and her medicines his current state wasn't too bad, he would at least be battle-ready once the 15 minutes were up.

His black pupils were completely still when he opened his eyes again, but there was light flickering within their depths, the only sign of the immense excitement he was feeling right now. He wouldn't let it get to his head, couldn't let it interrupt what was about to happen, it was not allowed to get in the way of his training.

He let out all the air in his body and stood up, Hongzai nodding her head without letting them see it. This really was a good seedling, even his mind had already become a blade, so sharp that it cut down everything that may distract him, even if that thing was himself.

The group left the cavern and stepped into the clearing in front of the mountain, scars from Hongzai's earlier battles still carved into the earth. Yin Yu and Jin Wang walked a bit away to give the two others some space, Hongzai's law of swords forming a shimmering sword in her grasp. She pointed the tip of the weapon at Yin Long, the sharp aura radiating from it prickling his skin like tiny needles.

"Pain, is the warning signal your body gives you when something is wrong. If you're feeling pain then it means that you've messed up, that you failed in doing something. As such, pain is the greatest teacher, because the moment you feel it you realize that you made a mistake. So, Yin Long, try to keep your mistakes to a minimum so that you can avoid as much pain as possible."

It could be considered a lesson, but at the same time it also served as a warning. She wasn't kind enough to hold her punches just because she was training someone, there likely wouldn't be a single time during their training that she would use a blunt sword. Yin Long simply nodded his head calmly, a transparent silver sword forming in his grasp.

The tip of Hongzai's blade was pointed at him, but she didn't make a move. She had said that he would be the one to come at her so it was obvious that she wasn't going to make the first move, the battle would probably end instantly if she did.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Yin Long grasped his sword tightly and shot forward. Strictly speaking, this battle wasn't about winning, it was actually impossible for him to win, all he has supposed to do was show off his skills and weaknesses. But he wasn't content with just doing that, he wanted to give his best shot, wanted to unleash everything he had. And if possible, he wanted to at least land a hit on her. To him, that would be considered the lowest benchmark of victory.

The distance between them wasn't great so it was crossed almost instantly, Yin Long's sword slicing upwards in a diagonal manner. But before his blade could even get within one metre of Hongzai's body, her own weapon swept out and swatted his attack away. She had accurately aimed at the part of his blade where the least power was gathered, she had barely needed to use any strength to swat his sword aside.

She moved her arm right after and pushed her blade towards Yin Long, but she clearly held back her speed a great deal since he was actually able to see the trajectory of her blade. Another transparent silver sword formed in his other hand and quickly rose to block, but compared to her he was so slow that he only managed to block when the tip was a few centimetres away from his chest.

But him blocking barely did anything, she slid the tip of her blade up along his sword, poking the place where the least amount of power was gathered. His own blade was pushed against his chest with considerable force, giving Hongzai ample time to raise her sword so that she could prod his chest with the tip of her blade.

She stabbed so deeply that her weapon hit his ribs, only pulling back when she felt the sensation of striking bone. By the time she was pulling her blade out of his chest, Yin Long's right hand was already moving again, the sword she had swatted aside flashing towards her waist.

But her blade moved to meet the weapon before he could even detect it moving, arriving in front of his sword by the time he was about to arrive within one metre of her body. But this time, his blade vanished from sight and reappeared by her other waist, only a short few centimetres away from her.

But a bit of water surged out from her body and blocked the weapon, which once again vanished and reappeared, this time by her right shoulder. But once again a bit of water surged out from her body and blocked the attack. She glanced at the sword for a second before pulling back her own blade and slashing at Yin Long's head.

Yin Long tilted his body back to evade, his sword vanishing and reappearing in the position where it had originally slashed at her waist from. This was the position closest to his face so he had the chance to send an upwards slash that would collide with Hongzai's blade from below to deflect it.

But her blade extended before the two weapons could collide. Or rather, a tentacle of water had connected the handle of her blade and her hand, pushing it forward so that Yin Long's attempt at deflecting it would be rendered fruitless. The tip of the blade sliced across his face, going from one end to the other while passing just underneath his eyes, Hongzai's voice reaching him.

"It is admirable to focus on your sword skills, but avoiding using your laws in battle if they don't enhance your swordsmanship is just naive. Take advantage of every...Oh?"

Her voice cut off at the end as she made a slightly surprised remark. Yin Long's ascending slash had curved as it reached its apex, morphing into a sideways slash that aimed at her throat. She could feel the hunger in the blade, the hollow pain as an arm slid down a child's body and swung against the side of the bed. Esi, the sword of starvation, was aimed directly at her throat.

But just like his previous attacks, it was swatted away by her blade. She had flicked her wrist and drawn back her blade using the tentacle of water that was attached to it, angling it so that it crashed into Yin Long's sword as it flew back. His other hand swept out at the same time, the swinging blade duplicating four times as he unleashed the first move of the Lang clan's ancestral technique, Ravenous Beast.

The number of duplicates he could form had gone up compared to the past, he had gotten more time to train and get used to the technique so he was getting more proficient with it. But all five blades were blocked by small bits of water that came from Hongzai's body, the woman in question nodding her head appreciatively.

"Good, the fact that you can alter the way you launch Esi shows that you are already quite proficient with it, but it's a shame that it doesn't seem like you can launch Esi with these duplicates. But it is an astounding technique, coupled with that earlier one where your sword blinked about its clear that you've already become very proficient at using your law of space in combat. Good, that's an excellent strength. But your weaknesses are just as apparent."

Her sword flashed forward as she spoke, moving faster than before. It reached Yin Long before he could even react, digging into his left shoulder and carving a path all the way to his right shoulder. The blade stopped just before it reached his bones, but it was painfully obvious that it was by Hongzai's mercy and nothing more. She pulled back her sword slightly after carving the gash into his body, pointing the tip at his eyes.

"The first weakness, your vision. Or perhaps senses is a better word for it. You aren't able to detect the flaws in your opponent, the subtle openings in their defence and the places where their energy is the sparsest. And if you are then you aren't skilled enough at it to use it properly in battle, this will form a huge gulf between you and the opponent as you get stronger."

Her sword moved after she made her declaration, the tip poking a small hole into Yin Long's flesh, just between his eyes. The sword then moved again, the tip pointing towards his legs.

"The second weakness, you're slow. Slow to move and slow to react, being slower than your opponent means that you will be nothing more than a punching bag. You don't have any speed-based techniques, and I don't know any such techniques for the law of space, so you'll have to rely on something else to make up for that weakness."

Once again her sword moved forward, poking small bloody holes into each of his legs, as if to emphasize that this was where his weakness lies. The sword then moved again, pointing at his torso this time, moving slightly as it seemed like it was trying to roam across his entire body.

"Third weakness, your body. The body is the core of every swordsman, it is what you use to swing your sword, to dodge, to produce the power to kill. A weak body means a weak sword, and a weak sword means a quick death. I don't have a body cultivation technique that will suit your laws, but I have a fundamental technique that can serve as a start, you can add on to it as you grow and go further."

Her sword moved forward multiple times, poking bloody holes all over Yin Long's torso as she marked his greatest flaw. And then, she spoke the words that most would consider a prelude to inhuman training.

"These are the three things we will focus on the most, the fundamentals. Don't die on me, Yin Long, grit your teeth and persevere even if you die."