As Wu Guang finished thinking about the matter and made all the decisions that came up during the process, he had actually found a small spot and recuperated enough as to move freely thanks to the qi that he circulated through all the aching body. Such treatment was not ideal as some damage and tiredness remained, but at the same time would permit one to continue without the need of healing via medicines or pills.
He managed to finish his observations and recuperation right in time for the next sparring and so after confirming that he could actually participate in it started moving towards where it would take place.
The place in question is one of the simple training squares made up from a big sanded plain arena meant for group exercises. And when not in use, it would be divided into a dozen or so squares not bigger than a few square feet. The size was such that if one made a few big strides, one would exit it. Thankfully there were only a few people present at the moment so Wu Guang found the one who would be his sparring partner almost instantly.
Well, it was hard to not do so as he did not only know the person in question but also the pair of training swords on the ground.
Wu Guang quickly approached and greeted, this time far less formally
"Cui An! Nice to see you"
He was answered with a brief smile and a similar greeting. They had not spoken a lot during the incident in Boundary Hill City but Wu Guang had a pretty good impression of him and especially his brother Cui Li.
Cui An was actually a 3rd step Sword-master, with the latter term being the correct form to call a 3rd level of the in this case sword weapon path. But as the spar would be done with no techniques it meant that it would depend on the non-qi fighting experience and skills. So Wu Guang expected to reap some results to deepen his own sword path.
Cui An was older and did not talk much, so Wu Guang decided to skip over the small talk that should be normal for such an encounter and directly asked the to start right away. Seemingly these were the words that his sparring opponent wanted to hear as Cui An smile grew wider and with a nod he indicated Wu Guang to pick up a training sword.
Wu Guang had studied and understood the 'Hurricane Edge' manual for the sword and even used it during the tournament. Still, after the previous experience, he decided to not rush and try to feel the 'Hurricane Edge' idea, which was described by the author as "Unexpected, Quick, Merciless".
The school entailed a lot of slashing attacks that connected to each other while sudden thrusts appeared from nowhere, almost as if they were lighting falling at an unsuspecting target.
Surprisingly as Wu Guang started to use it he found himself remembering the words about slashes that he overheard from the instructor. "A slash is nothing more than the intention to touch an opponent... Then in this case the thrust is the one that the spirit should be applied to make it real?" As the thought occurred to him, Wu Guang almost instinctively acted on it and sent a thrusting attack.
Until this moment Cui An had been only deflecting all Wu Guang's attacks and did not counterattack or even show any concern more than for the fact that he had to swat out something like an annoying fly.
But this all changed at Wu Guang's sudden thrust. The attack itself was not different from the ones before but the timing and if one could define this sensation, one could only say that it felt dangerous. It was such a sudden improvement that Cui An was forced to parry the thrust in full strength. Going so far as to use one of the most advanced techniques in 'Scorpion Tail' which was the school he was most proficient in and was currently using.
The thrust was parried and a counterattack was sent right away and it was done so naturally that the slightly dazed Wu Guang did not manage to react in time and received a heavy hit. Thankfully the distance and the battle-attire saved him from broken bones but even so the impact sent him stumbling back.
"Are you okay? I meant to hold back for the first half but your thrust was far too dangerous to be taken lightly. It seems that you felt the sword?"
"Haaa... Wait, felt the sword?" Asked Wu Guang while trying to catch his breath
"Yes, it's a sensation that most swordsmen can not really explain but would encounter when their level of understanding advances enough. Basically, it can be resumed to be something alike to the truth of an attack"
Wu Guang did not really understand the explanation but he felt that Cui An hit the nail on the head, after all, he indeed felt that the thrust he made was near the real attack he was thinking of.
In any case, he would need to catch this sensation at least once or twice more to really understand it.
Almost half of the time had of the spar had passed already and Wu Guang wanted to feel the real strength of a fully mastered school so after a brief moment of respite he assumed a guard position and indicated his readiness to continue, but this time with Cui An fighting him in earnest.
In the end, Cui An did restrain himself enough so when the sparring finished Wu Guang could at least steadily walk back to the residence.
***
Returning to the residence, Wu Guang quickly moved to the training area. For today he had planned to advance another one of his senses before dinner, and so time was of the essence. After calculating, he decided to work on his hearing.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
The same process as the day before was repeated for both the preparatory part and the technique itself.
The result as expected was reached quickly and after running some tests he found a twice or so improvement in distance. Qi infusion would also let him eavesdrop from a distance or center on a single sound.
As it was agreed that today's dinner would be brought by one of his guests Wu Guang did not need to do anything except waiting for them to arrive and so he did while circulating qi slowly to recuperate his bruised body.
When Kuang Jing and Wei arrived, Wu Guang was surprised by the fact that they did so in the company of Yuan Taotu, although the fact that the latter had been missing a full day was strange, Wu Guang did not find any need to ask so he greeted everyone normally.
The food that Kuang Jing had bought was similar to the packed meals from yesterday. And seemingly also came from one of the three restaurants ran by mortals that existed on the sect grounds, so there was nothing to be described or be surprised about, after all, all of the three had a similar menu.
They had agreed yesterday to discuss today the matter about their respective masteries and weapons, so after eating they spent an hour or so doing it.
As already known Kuang Jing's main weapon was the sword and he was already a 2nd step sword-master. He currently did not train any other weapons and except for the sword only had reached an intermediate level in sabers as part of his initial training.
Wei was far more well-rounded as he had reached the 1st step in the path of the hammer and the ax. Not only that, but he was also fairly proficient with cleavers, to the point of being of an advanced mortal level for their respective path, which was actually the Saber one.
Yuan Taotu had shared some information with Wu Guang before but still, the fact that he was actually on the 2nd step for both Spears and Staffs was a bit over what one could except. Especially if considering that the 2nd step meant that one had trained with the weapon to the point of being able to control it instinctively and learned at least three qi weapon techniques.
Wu Guang only told about his basic level in sabers, bow, spear, and sword.
As they discussed their levels Wu Guang grew curious and decided to ask directly, after all, this was something that would appear strange to anyone who heard about the respective levels of Kuang Jing and Wei. His question was about the fact that neither of them had used qi weapon techniques during the tournament, while their levels meant they knew how to.
"Ahh... Well, in my case it's because the Kuang family techniques I trained into and have been mastering are only usable with a special sword" Kuang Jing did not explain much but from this, Wu Guang surmised that most probably they were elemental techniques. And so with cultivation below the Soul real could be only be used with a weapon that had the respective spirit material.
"I can not use them without permission of my curator" As Wei said this and noticed that Kuang Jing wanted to ask about the matter, he motioned to wait and explained
"Did you hear that I am called a bandit? Well, it's true, I was a bandit. Also, I did not join the sect-like you all but was brought in by an elder. My techniques are dangerous for both me and the opponent, so I was forbidden of using them except if my life is in danger"
Sensing that he would not disclose more on the matter Wu Guang simply noted internally that in case of a battle, he should remain further from Wei. This was not because of anything but the fact that techniques acting like a double-edged sword were not so uncommon, and all of them shared the effect of disrupting the surrounding qi. Something that would hamper the control of qi for any cultivator nearby. Still, his interest about which techniques both used was piqued and so he added a small note more, to carefully observe them if he had the chance.
Before sending them off Wu Guang asked Kuang Jing of something he had thought already, which was if the latter had any sword school manuals from outside the sect that he could share or sell him.
"I don't own any except the ones from my family and they can not be shared, but if I am not mistaken my sister has a few common ones. Let me ask her"
"Thank you. I don't need anything rare, in truth I mostly need some more basic ones to deepen my understanding. Most schools are taught via lessons and I do not have the time currently to take them. I hoped for the Martial Library to contain some, but regretfully it has only two and from them, I have already learned one while the other is too unique to be really useful"
"Oh, you are speaking about the 'Soaring Moon'?"
"Yes. It's an interesting way of using the sword, but I really doubt it can be used in a fight if not accompanied by a set of qi techniques"
"We also discussed it with my sister as she has the goal of learning all the Sword manuals she can obtain. After failing with 'Soaring Moon' she concluded that the problem lays in the fact that a special weapon is needed"