Zheng Fei: "Do I seriously have to do this? Just a warning, I'm not one to care about history, even if it is of my own sect."

Fen Xuan: "It's fine, it's fine~~ Just note down everything you know, it's better than nothing. I don't have much expectation anyway."

Zheng Fei: "..."

Zheng Fei: "Anyway, our great Heaven Gazer Sect was established around 120 years ago..."

Zheng Fei: "On second thought, it might have been 150 years ago? I'm not really sure."

Fen Xuan: "Why does it sound so half-ass?"

Zheng Fei: "I told you, I don't care about these things. Tch, if I knew this day would come, I wouldn't have skipped so many history classes to hang out with the ladies in town..."

Fen Xuan: "Oh? So that's what you were doing instead of studying huh? Lech..."

Zheng Fei: "Hey, you want my help or not?"

Fen Xuan: "My apology, please continue."

Zheng Fei: "It is said that our founder Liu Xing Shi was once an astronomer. After devoting 50 years of his life observing the movement of the stars, he achieved some kind of enlightenment. His old wrinkled body was then revitalized and became filled with vigor. It was as if he had returned back to his youth."

Fen Xuan: "Hm... Doesn't that sound like something out of a myth rather than history?"

Zheng Fei: "Are you really saying that when your mission is to find a 3000 years old immortal yaoguai?"

Fen Xuan: "That's fair. I suppose the world is a big place after all, strange unexplainable phenomena exist everywhere."

Zheng Fei: "Anyway, where was I? Oh right... One day, a group of bandits raided the village he was in. The whole town was set on fire and people were getting massacred. When it looked like all hope was lost, he appeared. Despite having never been in a fight once in his life, Liu Xing Shi was effortlessly dodging all of the bandits' attacks and incapacitated them with a just single touch. Among the people he saved was a high ranking magistrate and his daughter who were staying there for a visit. The man was so moved by Xing Shi's bravery that he offered his daughter's hand in marriage, to which my ancestor accepted. Liu Xing Shi later went on to establish the Heaven Gazer Sect. After his passing, it was then inherited by us, his descendants."

Fen Xuan: "I see... How fascinating. By the way, I have a question."

Zheng Fei: "What is it? If it's more history questions then I can't help you there. What I just told you was the mandatory knowledge that we learned at our sect. For something more in-depth, you have better luck asking Xiao Mei.

Fen Xuan: "It's not about that. Wait, who's... Xiao Mei?"

Zheng Fei: "Xiao Mei was one of my servants, a woman of discipline and headstrong resolve. She's well-educated in all subjects ranging from martial art to science as well as etiquette. In other word, a proper lady, unlike someone I know...."

Fen Xuan: "Hmph! Excuse me for not being a proper lady. Also that's rich coming from someone who ditched class to fool around with girls."

Zheng Fei: "He... Hey!! What I did is none of your business. Just ask your question already."

Fen Xuan: "Back in Língzhi, you were effortlessly dodging attacks from both the Black Dog Sect's members and the Jade Knight by a hair. So I'm just curious about your sect's martial art and how exactly does it work."

Zheng Fei: "It isn't that much different from other sect's martial art I'm afraid. Let me ask you this. What do you think is the basic of all martial arts?"

Fen Xuan: "Hmm... Breathing?"

Zheng Fei: "Correct. No matter what kind of martial art one uses, chi remains the most important factor. To circulate chi, one needs to breathe. Our sect however takes it to the next level. We train day in and day out to control our breathing to be able to breathe while shivering from the mountain snow, while surrounded by smoke and flame, while submerged under freezing cold water. That's the sort of training we at the Heaven Gazer Sect go through."

Fen Xuan: "That sounds really tough. I'm surprised that you were able to commit to such rigorous training routine. I guess I misjudged you for a lazy bum, sorry~~~."

Zheng Fei: "... Somehow I only feel more ticked off by your apology. I have to fulfil my duty as the next sect leader, so of course I can't slack off when it comes to martial art training."

Fen Xuan: "But that still didn't answer my question. How does breathing better let you predict and react to your opponents' movements like that?"

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Zheng Fei: "Controlling your own breathing is just the first step. Do you remember the phrase I always mumble before going into battle?"

Fen Xuan: "Píngjìng dì hūxī?"

Zheng Fei: "Yes, it's a... mantra of sort for us disciples of the Heaven Gazer Sect. Its purpose is for calming down our breathing and synchronize it with the rest of the world. Everything contains chi in one way or another, the rock, the tree, the cricket... And of course, the one we're fighting against."

Fen Xuan: "So you synchronize your breathing with that of the opponent? That's how you were able to predict their attacks before they even came out?"

Zheng Fei: "Exactly... But it isn't without fault. For example, If the opponent's breathing was to become erratic or if they moved and attacked faster than I could react. The technique would fail in those cases.

Fen Xuan: "Amazing!! I've suspected that you are stronger than you look ever since our face off against the Jade Knight. Guess this just confirmed it."

Zheng Fei: "We... well!! Flattery won't get you anywhere..."

Fen Xuan: "Oh? Why is your face as red as a tomato then hmm? Hehe..."

Zheng Fei: "A... Anyway, moving on. Are there any other questions?"

Fen Xuan: "Actually... There're two left. First, those moves you did where you used one or two fingers to send people flying, how do they work exactly?"

Zheng Fei: "It's called the Kang Xiu* Reversal"

Fen Xuan: "Kang Xiu? As in the constellation?"

Zheng Fei: "Yes, our founder Liu Xing Shi was an astronomer after all. I don't know all the details, but apparently he developed all the technique of our sect by mimicking the movements of the stars."

Fen Xuan: "That sounds insane."

Zheng Fei: "I honestly don't believe it either. But the founder did attain enlightenment, so there must be some truths in that. How the technique work is rather... complicated."

Fen Xuan: "As in the execution is hard to perform?"

Zheng Fei: "Kind of, the principal is very simple. When you get down to it, the Kang Xiu Reversal is just a counter."

Fen Xuan: "Hm? Why is it complicated then?"

Zheng Fei: "Here's the thing, it's not just any regular counter-attack, it's a formless counter."

Fen Xuan: "Formless counter?"

Zheng Fei: "Yes, it means that it can, in theory, redirect any attack thrown at you, no matter what form it has. A stab, an arrow, a sword strike, it doesn't matter"

Fen Xuan: "Huh? Does such wonderful technique really exist? What's the catch then?"

Zheng Fei: "The catch is that... you have to take the attack head on."

Fen Xuan: "..."

Zheng Fei: "I guess I should go into more details. What I meant is that, the moment you get hit by an attack, you have but a split-second to redirect all of the force received back to the attacker using your own body as a medium. For example, you recall the Black Dog Sect girl? What was her name again?"

Fen Xuan: "Yin Liao?"

Zheng Fei: "Right, do you remember that moment when she ambushed me during our duel using the Moon Shadow Step technique?"

Fen Xuan: "I do, the knife was second away from piercing your heart."

Zheng Fei: "It did touch the skin of my chest for a fraction of a second. At that moment, I immediately received all the chi emitted from the attack and hold it in my body, then quickly sidestepped the assault and directed all of it together with my own chi toward my fingertips, amplifying the damage several fold and sent her flying."

Fen Xuan: "So let me guess, the risk is that if the force of the attack is several time stronger than what you can realistically endure, your body won't be able to redirect them completely and take damage?"

Zheng Fei: "You're right on the money. And there are other problems. This technique was developed for battlefield combat, where there are multiple opponents on all sides. Redirecting an attack toward a different direction than where it came from is easy and doesn't put much stress on the body, since the energy will only linger for short time..."

Fen Xuan: "... However, when there's only one opponent, you have no choice but to redirect it back the direction it came from, putting your body at higher risk. Did I get it right?"

Zheng Fei: "That's correct. What was that second question you wanted to ask again?"

Fen Xuan: "Oh? Right, I was just curious about the thing on your back. Since it doesn't feel like it fits with the combat style of your sect, which is all about evading and redirecting attack."

Zheng Fei: "This thing is called a Yìnbáng, It was actually only adopted later on into our sect's arsenal by the founder's son. You remember the magistrate and his daughter earlier? Our sect's rapid rise to power was no small part through playing the political game. We've always taken up requests from the king of Zhao, be it dealing with insurrection, retrieving rare sacred relics from dangerous places or fighting against the Huǐmiè yǐnqíng every time it woke up."

Fen Xuan: "Huǐmiè yǐnqíng? I'm starting to understand now."

Zheng Fei: "As you could probably guess, It's a little hard to redirect an attack when it's coming from a Zhàn mó swinging sword the size of a small house. In such case when redirecting attack is seemly not possible, our martial art is rendered useless. After racking his brain long and hard, the founder's son came up with a solution, the Yìnbáng."

Fen Xuan: "I suppose few things can beat the raw firepower of a musket."

Zheng Fei: "Not just that, he designed the Yìnbáng so that it can also function as a staff, the weapon best suited for parrying attack. He also supplemented the firepower even more by using bullets made out of spirit stones."

Fen Xuan: "Aren't spirit stones pretty expensive. That's akin to shooting gold ingots."

Zheng Fei: "Our sect is rich so that usually isn't an issue. Moreover, it's not like every disciple is allowed to use high grade spirit stones, it's something only reserved for high ranking members. For the rest, they just use low grade spirit stones or normal bullets."

Fen Xuan: "I see."

Zheng Fei: "In our sect, one should strive to be proficient with both the Yìnbáng as well as the sect's martial art. Unfortunately, it's hard to master one, let alone both. Xiao Mei for example is exceptional with handling the Yìnbáng, she could hit a man right between his forehead from a Li** away. Her martial art however is rather lacking. Her younger brother, Xiao Ling, is a prodigy when it comes to utilizing our sect's martial art. His mastery is so great that he started to develop new parrying techniques using cape. Although, his proficiency with the Yìnbáng is... questionable. One time he came close to blowing off his senior brother's head by forgetting to remove his finger from the trigger."

Fen Xuan: "Pfffttt... Sorry, I couldn't hold back my laugh. Still, you sound like you had a lot of fun back at your sect huh?"

Zheng Fei: "All the more reasons for me to exact my revenge as soon as possible and reclaim my life."

Fen Xuan: "My apology for bringing up the bad memories..."

Zheng Fei: "It's fine. Do you have any other questions?"

Fen Xuan: "Nope, that's all for now. I guess this concludes our first report for the Fen Xuan's note then."

Zheng Fei: "You meant FenFen's note... pffffttt."

Fen Xuan: "Why... you!!!!"