?Almost a week passed, and Wu Long sat with Luo Mingyu and Gong Cui on a balcony, observing Ye Ling and Wu Mengqi on a training field.

His eyes reflecting the two in the distance were focused on the fledgling sword master with a bit of puzzlement.

After some time, he stood up, and stepping forward appeared next to Ye Ling who stopped the training, feeling his approach.

“Ling’er I think we have made a lapse in judgement”

His words made Ye Ling widen her eyes, and then nod as she also noticed what he was talking about as of late.

“Eh? Lapse in judgement? Does that mean… I am not as talented as you thought?”

Wu Mengqi’s eyes widened when she saw the serious faces of the two.

She herself noticed that she encountered a wall in her practice, and recently went into a negative spiral of trying to push through with more effort and that effort bringing less and less results.

Her fears instantly surfaced as she heard his words and saw their expressions, manifesting in the expression deep within her eyes.

“It’s the opposite.

You’re talented, but sparring with Ye Ling, even as she tried not to influence your style, and lead you to discover your own sword, you started absorbing her sword into yours from the smallest habits she was not able to conceal from you”

Wu Long shook his head with a smile.

It was inevitable that having someone so formidable in front of her, Wu Mengqi subconsciously picked up the habits from the sheer awe she felt towards Ye Ling’s skill.

“…Hmm? Does that mean I am super talented?”

After a light pause, her face suddenly brightened up as she asked with a grin and he chuckled.

“You could say that.

Thus, I think it is better if you don’t spar or train with Ling’er for some time”

“Yaaa-..! Khu-khum, I mean, it is truly unfortunate”

The blue-eyed beauty almost jumped up with raised hands, but freezing mid-way under a gentle gaze from another pair of blue eyes, covered her mouth to clear her throat, shaking her head in ‘disappointment’ and ‘regret’.

“Haha, instead, I will ask Cui’er to help you”

“Eh? Sister Cui? But… she’s not good with swords…”

“She’s not, but her role will not be to spar with you, come”

He chuckled, and the whole group including the two beauties who were left on the balcony in the distance moved to a quaint courtyard within the mansion, with a square platform of carved stone and a gazebo to the side located in the middle of a pond.

This courtyard was long unused even by the previous owners of the mansion as it was quite remote, and thus moss was growing on the carved stone platform, with wild grass coming through the stone pavement around it.

“Cui’er, can you please give us a performance with the technique I gave you?”

He smiled, and the green eyes of the beauty blossomed with delight as she nodded.

“Of course, Wu Long, hehehe~ I was waiting for this!”

She took out her Zither and sat down while Wu Long turned to Wu Mengqi.

“I think I already once explained, that Music Dao practitioners are not only adept at combat, but much like Dao Cultivators, can help others grow”

He smiled, and after speaking leaned in to whisper into Wu Mengqi’s ear.

She first widened her eyes, and then a curious light appeared in them, as she nodded, and leaped out of the gazebo, gracefully landing onto the center of the carved stone platform.

“Wu Long…”

Ye Ling widened her eyes, and raised her voice with a bit of concern but he turned to her with a smile, and a look that seemed to reassure her.

“It’s fine, Ling’er. I think she will be able to”

Meanwhile Wu Mengqi closed her eyes, holding her sword in sheath in left hand.

*Zheng~*

A string was plucked by a delicate finger, and a deep long note rang out in the courtyard, flowing up and down in pitch as it instantly created a vastly different atmosphere.

A gust of wind picked up Wu Mengqi’s hair, and a smile bloomed on her face as she gently placed her hand on the sword hilt.

And then as beautiful music flowed, so did Wu Mengqi’s sword.

Her eyes opening as a glint appeared in them.

At first the sword’s movement was peaceful and gentle, something in its tranquil and delicate path resembling Ye Ling’s Heaven Transcending Lotus style even though it was fundamentally different.

But gradually, more playful and free strokes started standing out, the pattern of movement broke, losing efficiency and precision, countless flaws and imperfections became apparent even to Luo Mingyu, as she worriedly looked at Wu Long, but seeing his smile turned her purple eyes to the beauty dancing with a sword.

At one point, Ye Ling’s eyes revealed deep concern.

‘Are you certain about this?’

A sound transmission from her reached Wu Long’s ears as he smiled, seeing her use this ability of a Mortal Transcendence Realm cultivator for the first time since she advanced.

“Creation is only possible after destruction, Ling’er. She has to break out of your style first”

He spoke concealing his voice with a technique, which effectively worked like a sound transmission, but was a far more complex process and had massively inefficient Spiritual Qi consumption.

She nodded, and continued to look as the months of their training were becoming undone.

The sword Wu Mengqi demonstrated now was not suitable to fight even a starting swordsman.

However, it seemed she was not aware of it, or their conversation, or even the concern in the eyes of Ye Ling and Luo Mingyu.

It was as if she entered into a world of her own, the sword becoming her sole focus through which she sensed the world.

Gradually, the chaotic dance of her sword formed another pattern, free willed, playful and eccentric.

If Ye Ling’s sword would give someone an impression of a sacred and tranquil lotus, untouchable and sublime, Wu Mengqi’s current sword resembled a dance of green leaves that were picked up by playful wind in Summer.

There were a lot of flaws and imperfections, but gradually even wind around her seemed to move in tact with her, as some of the green leaves from nearby trees that fell onto the ground floated around her.

“This is…”

Ye Ling’s eyes shone with both astonishment and joy.

“W-what did you say to her?”

Luo Mingyu looked with wide eyes at the beautiful sword dance, while Wu Long chuckled.

“Haha, nothing much, just to go play to her heart’s content”

They could all feel the beauty of that sword, even though it was still very rough and unpolished, with a lot of flaws.

But there was something magical in it, something that drew their gazes in.

Luo Mingyu closed her eyes, seemingly attuned to the sound of Gong Cui’s Zither and digesting her impressions from seeing a miraculous transformation of the sword.

“Haa~ I really have to learn to place my trust in you more. Still, if it did not work, the consequences were just too…”

“I know. You were right in your worry, as there is not absolute guarantee to anything.

I was just willing to take that bet because I knew she could recover even if it failed”

He smiled, nodding to Ye Ling who sighed with both relief and some self-deprecation from being so worried before.

She then closed her eyes, as did Wu Long, as they all felt the magic of Gong Cui’s Zither.

And then, a halo of Purple Qi surrounded Luo Mingyu, and the world around them imperceptibly changed once more.

Every note became more profound, and the dance of the sword became more and more polished.

Wu Long’s eyes opened with astonishment as he turned to the Dao Cultivator.

‘Hah…she is not able to project her Dao Intent independently yet… but it seems it is already possible if she used Cui’er ‘s Dao Music’

A smile touched his lips as he once more realized that no matter how much he lived, there were still things that fascinated him. Such as the infinite possibilities of even mortal cultivators.

The source of this cntent is fre(w)bnovel