I wouldn’t have to sleep for another few days and I wouldn’t dare to sleep with the Heart Demon watching me all the time.

Because of it, I and the Heart Demon were able to have a nice, friendly and quiet conversation between the two of us deep into the night and strengthen our bonds and develop a deep sense of comradeship.

“We will always be together from now on”

“Go away. You are not real”

“Do I need to be real? As long as you are willing to believe-”

“Go. Away.”

“Why do you look so hurt? I know you want me to be here. Why do you reject me?”

“You aren’t real. You are just a worm in my head”

“But at least I love you. Unlike-”

“Get. Out.”

…

The Sun was unusually dazzling in the morning. Its light brought life to everything in the world and woke it from slumber. Watching it rise, I thought that life was a beautiful thing as banged my head against the wall in order to distract myself.

“What are you doing, Oalus?”, Tessa’s voice cut through the air. It was a voice that didn’t belong to me or the Heart Demon and, even though it was a mere mortal’s voice that didn’t deserve any compliments due to how ordinary it sounded, it felt like an angel’s song.

“I wonder~ What are you doing here? It’s so early in the morning”

“I woke up to go and train outside but I heard the banging so I came in to check… Pardon me if it was too meddlesome of me, I just felt a bit worried”

“No, no. It’s alright. Do you always train in the morning?”

“Yes… I believe that one should make the most of their time and… Yeah, one should make most of their time”, oho? Do I smell a story here? Well, no matter.

“Is that so? It’s certainly a good mindset! Young people should always do their best!”, I gave her a thumbs up as she looked at me with a perplexed expression. Well, it was a slip of the toongue to mention my age relative to this child but I was too drained to care, “Do you want me to help?”

I can swear, I would kill if only it gave me a moment of distraction and I hadn’t killed in centuries.

Tessa’s face brightened like a flower, “Can you?”

“Yes, I am feeling a bit bored and seeing you make most of your time while I bang my head against the wall out of boredom is making me feel sad”

Tessa ignored my comment and, with a face so bright it could blind a bat, began speaking: “Then shall we go?”

“Let’s go. Oh, where are you going to train?”

“In the backyard”

“Oh”

…

Tessa was doing some kinds of routines with her sword on the arena. It wasn’t anything fancy, in my eyes at least. But I was my Master’s disciple and Tessa was a mortal martial artist, so maybe it was some kind of forbidden life-saving technique for her.

“How is it?”

“It’s… okay? It’s hard to judge. How about you try attacking me and I’ll tell you”

“Are you sure, Oalus?”, there were some hints of disappointment in the intents I caught from her with my psychic abilities, probably because she thought that I was trying to politely tell her “It’s bad”

“I am sure. Come at me”

“Okay. Do I go now?”

“Yes”, Tessa sighed and charged at me. Her form wasn’t bad. It left no openings and it aimed at the weakest places that I showed.

*Ding*

“It was okay. Well, it was good. You should’ve moved your wrist faster I think. Try again”

“How… did you?”, Tessa was confused, probably because she didn’t notice me move but having her sword hit the ground.

“Just a trick. I’ll show you how to do it later maybe. For now, do again”

“Okay. Here goes-”

*clang*

“-nothing. How?”, she looked at her sword that, once again hit the ground instead of me.

“I think I get it. Can I borrow the sword for a bit? I think I can see the intent the creator of this strike had in mind”

Tessa handed the sword without thinking, still too perplexed about what happened.

I pointed the sword ahead of me as I took the stance.

“Look, Tessa. See the tip of the sword?”

“Yes”

“Follow it with your eyes. Look carefully”, I executed what I thought was the original intent of the technique.

*Whoosh*

Gentle winds blew from all directions as the blade gracefully followed its trajectory in the air. It looked like an elaborate dance that spoke of budding nature, and flowers in the spring.

“Did you see that?”

Tessa looked at the sword, frozen. Sigh, that’s why mortal are-

“Did you see that?”

“Eh… Can… Urgh… Can you do it again?”

“Okay, follow carefully, I’ll do it slower this time”, Hil- A certain person I really respected once told me that I had no affinity for teaching. I don’t think that is true.

“Sigh, you still have no teaching skills”, a gentle breeze blew, making the leaves and the grass make pleasant rustling sounds.

I make the strike again, but slower. The sword I showed spoke a tale of blossoming trees and flowers, it was a dance, a celebration of nature’s grace.

As the sword leisurely traveled its path, Tessa’s eyes were so tense that I could see- well, it wouldn’t really say anything, they were so tense that a mortal could see the veins on them.

*Whoosh*

“How about now? Did you understand?”

“I think I got... something...”

“Here”, I handed her the sword, she took it and, tensely, took a stance.

*Phew*

The sword quickly drew a parabola-like shape in the air as Tessa smashed it against the air.

“Well-”

“I know. I got this”, she did it again.

*Phew*

And again

“Phew”

And again

“Pheew”

“No, you should-”

“You can’t teach to save your life”, the wind once again blew the warm air in my face, interrupting my speech

“-not hold the hilt like this-”

“Let me try”, What a terribly windy morning it was

“But like this”, I took the sword from Tessa and held it it my hand, “See this?”, I pointed at my index finger, “if you hold it like this, your wrist will be able to rotate more freely, giving you a small boost”

*Whoosh*

“And if you hold it like you did”, I changed my grip, “It will not yield the same result, not to mention, it will be hard for you to immediately go for the next attack”

*Zooom*

“See?”

“I think, I think I do”, she nodded and tried again

*Whew*

“Now, it’s better”, I tried to smile and failed, “but not enough. You put too much force behind the thrust, you have to go gentler”, I took the sword from her again and took the stance.

This time I made the attack slowly, very slowly, so no wind blew nor were there any sound effects.

“Try it”, I gave the sword

“Uh”, she nodded and tried again.

*Zooooom*

“Gentler”

“Zoooooooom*

“I said gentler”

*Zooooooooom*

“You’re on the right track”

*Tok*

“Good. Now you’re not moving your wrist and you’re moving your elbow wrong”

I took the sword and did the move again

*Whoosh*

“Move your elbow when you strike”

*Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh*

“Hey, don’t cut at me”

“Move your wrist when you cut”

*Whoosh* *Whoosh*

“It’s very rude you know?”

“Try it”

“O-okay”, she gripped her wrist in self-encouragement and tried it several times

*Tok* *Tok*

“No, that’s not it”, she adjusted her grip a little bit

*Whoosh*

Her eyes opened so wide I was afraid if they would fall out. Then she smiled.

*Whoosh*

*Whoosh*

“Hehe”

*Whoosh*

“Now, go faster”

“A-ah, yes”

*Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh*

“Is it me, or is this girl’s talent for the sword about twenty times greater than yours, Oalus?”, The wind was warm and the it caressed my hair. And this girl’s talent for the sword was definitely not twenty times greater than mine.

“ ‘And this girl’s talent for the sword was definitely not twenty times greater than mine.’, is probably what you just said to yourself right now? Do you dare to say that it’s at least not ten times greater than yours?”, The winds were so relentless in the morning. So odd. And Tessa was indeed good with the sword. A pity she was a mortal. Master would really like to take her in.

“You did good. Now, come at me”

“Okay”

*Whoosh*

The sword was gently floating towards me. Despite that, it was very difficult to avoid and somebody of Tessa’s level would already be in pieces under it. Too bad it was me.

*Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh*

Have I ever told you that when I was young, around Tessa’s age, I used to create movement techniques when I was in a poetic mood? Other people composed songs and poems, I wrote complex calculations that allowed one to move in strange patterns with minimal effort.

*Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh*

I always believed that as one traveled, as one saw new sights, one opened new territories in their heart, little by little, grain by grain. I believed that if I walked according to my mood, I would be able to understand myself better. Walking one’s mood was very similar to singing a song.

You could forget yourself in the ethereal emotions and

Well, now you know. While evading the sword would be easy with my body’s speed alone, I didn’t feel like it. I was in a somewhat sad mood due to the Heart Demon and my old habit kicked in, so I began composing a new song.

*Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh*

I called it “A spring alone”.

*Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh*

Tessa waved her sword as I weaved my song around the trajectory of her strikes. She was beginning to tire, so I decided to finish it.

*Boom*

As her sword met the ground, a small indentation appeared there. Well, not that small, it would be able to fit a human toddler inside.

Tessa, didn’t care, she just looked at me with her mouth so wide open it could fit a dinosaur egg inside and tried to say something but couldn’t quite form the words.

“I’ve been subtly telling you to go and move your legs more but I guess I have to be direct”

“I- I- How? This? How?”, this is what happens when you try to speak several sentences at the same time.

“Go rest, you are tired”

“I? What? How?”, despite trying to speak in riddles, she obediently followed my advice and began walking in circles while trying to fix her breathing.

…

“I know it’s presumptuous, but can you teach me your footwork?”, It is indeed considered presumptuous to learn techniques of others, even in the Cultivation World. In fact, often times, knowledge is guarded very strictly and never gets out of a small circle of people.

Some might think it would stall the progress of the Cultivation civilization but at one point sharing knowledge just becomes inconvenient as Dao can’t be put into words and one must understand it on their own.

And at one point, sharing it becomes simply impossible. If I tried to express my understanding of the Way from my times at the Celestial Tribulation realm, it wouldn’t be possible. Though I guess my spirit would explode if I tried thinking of that knowledge the way I am right now.

Anyway, where was I?

“You are still the same. You always go off on a tangent in your head. Cute”

Ah, right. Sharing footwork.

“No problem. The footwork I did just now isn’t suitable for you but I can give you another one. That one is not much worse actually”

Tessa’s eyes began shining. Even though she’s a mortal, she’s actually capable of doing something with the sword so I might as well give her some knowledge out of curiosity of what she’ll do with it.

Oh, that’s also a bad habit of mine. I have ruined many good people by giving them knowledge they were better off without in the previous timeline.

Which footwork should I give her? Hm… This one would go well with her swordplay.

“The footwork I’ll teach you is called ‘’Wondering ‘Round Willy-Nilly’. What, don’t look at me like this, it’s actually good. Come at me again, I’ll show you”

…

Ten minutes later, Tessa was crawling around exhausted. Who told her to keep hacking away at me when she couldn’t touch me? Hmph, she’s 10 million years too young to dare to compete with this lord. What do you mean, I’m only a thousand years old? I said it will take her 10 million years to catch up to me and I mean it- Ah, you said that I am a thousand years old, why am I bullying a kid? Well, life is harsh, all kinds of things happen and Fate doesn’t differentiate between the young and the old. I am only following the Way.

“Alright. Rest and then I can start teaching you”