[Author's note: Due to the author’s poor health, this part is, unfortunately, shorter and hasn’t been content edited, so some areas may change later. It has been line-edited to the best of the sick author's ability.]

As we faced each other on the training grounds, I eyed Sword Master Salamander’s classic stance. It was perfect for this time period.

But it wasn’t perfect for Salamander.

With the ease of motion from hundreds of years of practice, I placed my feet in the form that he taught me. The one he’d wished he’d known about when he was younger.

He frowned. “The way you hold yourself is too loose.”

I almost snorted. “Are you sure that it’s my stance that’s too loose and not yours that’s too stiff?”

“Impossible.”

Muahahaha.

Months after we solved the plague and the crab-mission-that-we-don’t-talk-about, our schedules all finally aligned enough that I could ‘request some pointers’ from my friend.

Basically, he thought he was going to give his Little Martial Aunt some advice — instead, I was here to kick him onto the right path... with my sword.

Giving him this stance was part of that.

Unfortunately, the realizations he needed to achieve from this stance were something I couldn’t tell him. He needed to figure it out on his own before he reached Nascent Soul.

Because there was more to it than simply holding one’s limbs casually and breathing a certain way. It had to do with the truths of the universe. Whether he could decipher them or not would be up to him and his luck.

I broke my stance and rested the flat of my blade against my shoulder like a gangster. “How about we make a bet?”

He raised an eyebrow.

Then we both stepped to the side to let Little Spring fly past.

The kid’s body, which had grown a lot in the past few months, hit a massive egg-shaped boulder in the training ground. With a crack, it split in half.

However, unlike the last time I saw him crash into a rock, I knew he’d be fine.

Those recipes had actually improved our body cultivation, as well as Little Spring’s cooking skills — though part of that, I grudgingly admitted, was thanks to his new immortal chef teacher.

The kid hopped to his feet, practically uninjured, and ran back to Clear Eyes Mad Tongue.

“I wasn’t ready!” He stood back in the same stance that I’d been using earlier, a determined look on his face.

“Well, are you ready now?”

He nodded, then started exchanging blows.

Whatever. As long as they were having fun.

Salamander cleared his throat. “What do you have in mind for the bet?”

Ah, we were getting serious. “You suppress your cultivation to the peak of Qi Condensation, and we’ll spar. If you win, I’ll change my stance to match yours, but if I win, you have to practice my version for a week, or until you gain inspiration from it.”

Okay, maybe I was as subtle as that boulder Little Spring just broke, but the results were what mattered.

“Isn’t that too low of a bet?”

Oh… now he had my attention. “You want to add something more?”

He pulled out a mini pagoda spiritual tool. It was red and gold, with tall square windows and curved roofs. The whole thing looked like an adorable, tiny replica.

I couldn’t stop my eyes from focusing on it. “That is a Heaven rank defensive tool. One that could take several hits from a Nascent Soul.”

He nodded. “I am planning on using it in an emergency when I go through my tribulation. However, if I lose, then I’ll lend this to you when you face your own.”

A rechargeable tool like this could, for as long as its charge lasted, protect me from a few of the more powerful lightning strikes I’ll inevitably have to face.

Since I didn’t trust the heavenly tribulation to not fuck me over, I had to ask, “What if I break it before you can use it?”

He laughed. “How could a Qi Condensation tribulation even scratch the surface of this tool?”

Considering my luck with tribulations? I wasn’t taking any chances.

“Answer the question.”

He chuckled. “Fine, if you break it, then it will be on me for losing to you.”

“You have something in mind that you want from me.”

“I need a few pills created.”

I scowled. “You could just pay me for that, you know.”

He looked up into the sky as if there were troubles in this world that a young child like me could never know.

I wanted to pinch him.

“Sword Master Salamander, did you spend all your spirit stones and contribution points on this pagoda and supplies for your sword?”

He coughed. “Not all.”

“Then did you spend the rest on spiritual herbs to make the pills you need?”

“They were prohibitively expensive.” He blushed. “Look, Martial Great Aunt Lin, sword cultivators are known for our righteousness and—“

“Your often empty pockets.”

Very few sword cultivators picked up additional skills, like alchemy or formation mastery. This meant that the sole way for them to make money was by using their sword.

This was fine, except that it limited their spirit-stone-making opportunities to things that put themselves in danger.

Well, his pocket wouldn’t stay empty for long. But he probably didn’t have enough money to hire an alchemist to make the pills for him. Even me.

I’d give him the friend and mentor discount, but I wasn’t working for free unless I benefited in some way.

“Alright. I agree to these terms.”

Then I ducked as Little Spring flew over my head, landed on his feet, and ran back.

“Gonna say that you weren’t ready, again?!” Clear Eyes taunted.

“Shut up!” The kid sent a slash of sword Qi towards the teen.

“Maybe we should move?” I gestured to an open space that had just cleared up.

He nodded.

We relocated ourselves to an open area. Several sword cultivators must have overheard us because they called over several friends and started seriously studying us.

Even Little Spring and Clear Eyes figured something was up, stopped their spar, and ran over.

Well, if they were just going to do that in the first place, why the hell did we need to move? Whatever.

I once again stood across from Salamander in a loose stance, with the pointy end of my sword aimed at him.

He stood in the old way, his eyes on mine.

We both went through the mental gymnastics of what we could do next while trying to hide our intentions in stillness.

“What are they doing?” Little Spring whispered to Clear Eyes.

“I’ve been told that masters will sometimes have a psychological battle before fighting for real. Right now, they’re playing out an intense fight inside their minds.”

“Are you sure they aren’t just waiting for someone to say go?”

Someone in the crowd coughed.

Salamander and I both moved at the same time, sending a blade of sword Qi out. This was a test, and something he often did at the beginning of friendly spars.

Our Qi crashed together and canceled each other out perfectly.

His eyebrows raised. Then, instead of resorting to a powerful single strike or one that sent many blades out like Ten Cuts, he swerved his blade.

A snake-like sword Qi slithered toward me. Tricky. Using something like the Snake Blade technique to gauge my limits.

But I was ready for it… and for the actual attack that was concealed within.

I sent out a Snake Blade of my own and a hidden stabbing-type attack. Then I stepped back as Salamander jumped over our colliding energy and stabbed at me with his physical sword.

Our blades crashed together. He was older and a man, which meant that he had more mass and better reach, but I had body cultivation nearing the peak of Qi Condensation.

As I caught his sword with mine and deflected it, I grinned.

We exchanged several more blows that I canceled out.

When he physically stabbed toward me, I stepped to the side and placed my sword at his neck a half second before he placed his own at the back of mine.

“I believe this is my win, Sword Master.”

“Are you sure about that, Great Martial Aunt?”

“You think I got lucky when I canceled out your attacks?”

“Maybe, but this doesn’t prove that your stance is better than my current one.”

You’re the one that created it in my last life, you weirdo. “And that is why you have to practice it yourself to see if it works better for you. Sword Masters should never forget their fundamentals since, more than any other cultivation method, it’s the one that relies on them the most.”

He blinked. “Are you sure I’m the one teaching you?”

Ah, Salamander was always too smart for his own good. I coughed.

With a smile, he said, “I concede. Now, show me what’s so special about this stance of yours, Little Senior Lin.”

I waved Little Spring and Clear Eyes over and started my lecture. A few of the smarter disciples also stayed behind and listened in.

“Qi cultivators are different from sword cultivators, however, we practice the sword the same way you do.” At least in this Xianxia universe. “We use sword Qi, though it’s handled differently in our bodies. That said, there is enough overlap that it’s easy to…” I noticed a few eyes had glazed over, including the brat’s.

Whatever. My intended audience was listening, and that was what mattered. While I doubted that he'd have an epiphany from this lecture, it should improve his chances to have one later.

Notes:

Ranks- Mortal, Earth, Sky, Heaven, Transcendence, Immortal, Golden, Black, Unparalleled Perfection

Quality - Low, Medium, High, Pinnacle, Perfection