In her past life, if someone were to tell her that one day she would be able to put her head where her ankle was – quite literally – she would just scoff it off. Although as Mia Simmons, she used to practice yoga for general well-being and deemed herself to be quite acceptable in her stretching ability, she was nowhere near as flexible as the Olympic gymnasts. Those gymnasts could do flying splits and tangle their limbs, just like a possessed girl would in an Exorcist movie.
However, who would have known, as Ji YuLan – and a pure yin maiden to boot – she would be able to do all those, and more.
Ping sect's martial art teaching was almost akin to a cultural dance performance. Well, if a dance could hurt or kill an opponent... .
She went through a few somersaults, high kicks, nimble twists of her waist and arms to get away from her opponents' reaching blades. After a few runs of complicated moves that would have sent her former yoga teacher bowing in complete reverence before her, Ji YuLan emerged victorious on her first day of the Enlightened preliminary fights.
She also had to contribute it to her current physique of pure yin countenance. It seemed to give her an enormous advantage in practicing sword art. Although she and Xiao Zi practiced the same moves, she could execute them nimbler and sharper than her friend could. She dared to think that compared to Cao Lu, her own moves looked even more aesthetically pleasing to the eyes, and more importantly, more acute and precise to fight an opponent.
During her training days in Ping sect, Sage Zhu Hong always berated her that her moves were too light. However her teacher finally could no longer be picky as everyone could see that YuLan always managed to finish her fights quickly, despite the outwardly soft-looking flurries of artful-looking martial arts she performed.
She would never have known how awesome it felt to be able to do these things. Especially when she always managed to maintain her perfect poise and with no fly-away hairs after each fight!
By the end of the sixth day, along with three other Enlighteneds and four Martial-Artists who had come out to be the highest ranking of their groups, she seemed to have gathered a few fans. Being one of the four Martial-Artists who had passed onto the next round, Xiao Zi also gained a few fan boys – some of whom she had even defeated in her previous fights.
"Zi-er." One of the young men who seemed to be in his early twenties, ingratiatingly called Xiao Zi's name in an affectionate manner,
"Let's get something to eat tomorrow before we move to the main arena?"
The young man was quite handsome, if not for the light red streak across his forehead – a souvenir from his fight with Xiao Zi. Despite being defeated by Xiao Zi and his place snatched by her to represent the last group of Martial-Artists to proceed to the semi-finals, he did not seem to feel aggrieved at all. Although his sect was less well known than Wu Shan or Hui Lin, with his grey tidy robe and his excellent physique, he looked elegant and dignified.
"Master... ummm," Xiao Zi exasperatedly tried recall his name,
"TianShan. Long TianShan. You can always call me TianShan-shiong." The young man patiently repeated his name, for the umpteenth time that day.
YuLan, who had been listening offhandedly to their exchanges, almost burst out laughing. What a wonderful name for a man. Long for 'Dragon', TianShan for 'Heavenly Mountain'. How more pretentious and haughty could a name be, more than this Long TianShan? His parent must have exhausted their brains to name their prodigal son, not willing to let go of any world-shattering meaning word to name a male.
"Right," Xiao Zi did not forget to roll her eyes towards YuLan, who sniggered behind her sleeves,
"Master Long, we are not that close that I could be bold to address you as a 'shiong'. And I know you have been telling me that you are... uh...," she paused and frowned, "'mesmerized' by Chun Ping Gu sect's sword art, and that you want to obtain a few pointers."
"But YuLan here," Xiao Zi stepped slightly to the side to let YuLan be in full view of the Dragon's Heavenly Mountain, "She is our pure yin maiden. And to merely compare sword arts, she is the best Enlightened in our sect that you could possibly obtain pointers from. What do you say if you ask to learn from YuLan instead?"
Xiao Zi obviously wanted to pass this hot potato, or at least share her burden, with YuLan. Nevertheless, YuLan, who was initially aggrieved for having been sold by her own friend, brightened at Xiao Zi's slight devilish smile. She understood immediately and unsheathed her 'Hui',
"Of course, fellow Daoists should help each other. I will be more than happy to exchange a few moves with Master Long... ." She then turned to face her own 'fans' who had been obstinately following her around. She casually waved her sword around, the blade causing a light whistling sound as it cut through the air,
"I will be more than happy to show everyone a few moves as well. Who would be first? Friendly matches are not forbidden outside the formal fights."
The fan boys quickly scattered. However, to YuLan and Xiao Zi's surprise, this Long TianShan truly had the bravery of a dragon and possessed character as unyielding as a mountain. Despite being a mere Martial-Artist, he did not scurry away like the others. His complexion turned a bit pale though, and he scratched his neck cautiously,
"Uh... Miss YuLan must be jesting. I – a mere Martial-Artist – do not dare waste your time in educating me." He fidgeted uncomfortably,
"And Miss YuLan is a pure yin maiden... . Everyone knows you are off-limits as you have to stay chaste for life... ."
YuLan's eyebrows raised. Now the cat was out the bag, and this Master Long had just literally told them the truth of his relentless pursuit.
Xiao Zi's face darkened instead,
"What exactly do you mean, Master Long!?"
"Miss Xiao Zi," he grinned sheepishly, stepping forward to grab Xiao Zi's hand, "My parents sent me here to not only gain experience and learn about malice. They also asked me to find suitable partner for dual Dao cultivation... ."
Before Xiao Zi and YuLan could be offended further, and to both of their surprise, a growl of a white tiger was suddenly heard clearly. Soon, the tiger stood between Long TianShan and the two Ping sect's cultivators. It bore its fangs in warning towards the young man.
"Master Long, I believe your stay here won't be for long as you have not passed the preliminary rounds," Ao Xiang calmly walked towards them,
"Miss Xiao Zi and Miss YuLan have to move to the main peak for the semi-finals and they have gained the qualification to participate in the Tian Long continent's alliance for malice extermination. Someone... with subpar qualification should not endanger their own life by persisting further." His gaze as he looked sharply at Long TianShan was devoid of mirth.
Because the representative of the host had arrived and spoken his stance, Long TianShan could not do or say anything more. He dejectedly left the trio and the tiger.
After the man was out of sight, Ao Xiang returned to his usual gentle demeanor and turned towards Xiao Zi and YuLan,
"Please do forgive the disturbance."
YuLan could only feel sorry for the 'disturbance' that possessed such a grand name. But she smiled as she saw Xiao Zi quickly sheathing her own sword and hide it behind her back, her every bit of intention of initially wanting to hack Long TianShan to pieces was suddenly curbed by her shyness towards Ao Xiang.
"A good blade," Ao Xiang remarked as he caught a glimpse of the white light before it was sheathed,
"What have you named it?"
Xiao Zi's face reddened.
"'Xiang'!" YuLan the traitor replied, "her sword is named 'Xiang'"
Xiao Zi's expression could not be any more colourful, as she widened her eyes at her friend's blatant betrayal. YuLan, the ever loyal friend, just nudged Xiao Zi's shoulder gently with amused encouragement.
Ao Xiang blinked, then laughed. To Xiao Zi's relief, or perhaps slight disappointment, the older man did not seem to notice her fluster. Instead, he unsheathed his own sword from his belt, loosely placing it on top of his two palms for the two young women to see clearly.
A wide blade with dual edges, an arm's length long, emitting bluish glint. The hilt was made of a thousand year's old tree, uniquely native to Hui Lin.
"This... is 'Xiang Ying'"
Soaring Eagle.
"The two characters... are just right... . They mean a lot to me." Ao Xiang smiled, sweeping his gaze slowly over his sword. '
For his whole life thus far, there were only three things that he felt to have resonated with his very soul.
One was the word 'Xiang.' Not only it was his chosen Dao name as he first entered Hui Lin sect, he felt the word was born from his very own existence.
The second was 'Ying'. This one was more obscure; although he did not feel any particular attachment to the character of the word, he loved eagles. More than the white tiger that was the leader of the elemental beasts, he felt closer to the Fire Phoenix. However, perhaps, that was because the Fire Phoenix took a corporeal form of a bird. He would much prefer if the fire elemental beast could be a Fire Eagle instead... .
The third one was Qing Lian. Ever since he laid eyes on her face, years ago, he had been inexplicably attracted to his shimei.
The three used to bear the same weight inside his heart. Hence, it felt right that he named his sword bearing the two words he felt worth protecting, and to protect him.
However, ever since who knows when, the third existence – Qing Lian – had grown more irrelevant.
Ao Xiang looked at the Ping sect's cultivator in front of him – Xiao Zi – who was lightly touching his sword.
He actually knew when – ever since Xiao Zi appeared in front of him, she had overtaken Qing Lian's existence in his heart.
Xiao Zi laughed and snorted at YuLan,
"See? It's a perfectly good name for a sword! Even Ao Xiang-shiong agrees!"
"Definitely," Ao Xiang smile indulgingly, "It's a good name for a sword. It's definitely not because I am too conceited to use my own name to name my sword."
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Somewhere at a different peak, a certain senior disciple from Wu Shan sect sneezed.
He was precisely one who had used his own names – from two lifetimes – to name his sword.
"Someone must be talking about me," Shen Wei flicked his sword, 'Wei Feng', casually to rid the blade of some blood.
A few feet away from him, his last opponent sprawled on the stony ground, holding his bleeding left leg. The wound was just superficial, and Shen Wei definitely took the utmost care to not cause any irreversible injury to his opponents. Nevertheless, the injury marked Shen Wei's victory for the preliminaries.
He sighed as he jumped off the stage and walked away mindlessly,
"This is pretty boring. I hope Lei-shidi is doing well... ."
"You do know you have other shidis and shimei apart from ZhouLei," an amused voice trailed from his right side. Zuo JinHai was the one waved his hand to greet him, and from behind him, Ding Shun and Yu Mei followed.
"Oh, are you guys finished?" Shen Wei flashed a grin and walked towards his junior brothers and sister.
"Ah, I was actually the first Enlightened to pass my group's preliminaries." Zuo JinHai shrugged,
"DingShun is also a winner of his group's Martial-Artist's preliminaries... ."
"... But I did not pass... ," Yu Mei slumped her shoulders dejectedly.
Shen Wei paused and scratched his head for a bit, then pat her head,
"Never mind. It's just a match. But I assume you gave your last opponent a hard time winning, right, shimei?" He winked playfully at her.
Yu Mei giggled at her kind senior's effort to lift her spirits up,
"That's right. If not for my stamina slightly lacking, I would have emerged victorious!"
Zuo JinHai rolled his eyes,
"That's the spirit. I've told you before that it does not matter whether you win or lose, if you have given it your all . But you always have to be cajoled by Shen Wei DaShixiong or Lei-shidi and would not listen to anyone else."
Yu Mei stuck out her tongue.
"I met Ao Xiang when I was on my way here," Zuo JinHai suddenly remembered, "He said that he was on his way to Green Clouds peak. What the hell was he going there for? He used to hover around Qing Lian. But isn't she supposed to have her fights in Spirt Forest peak, where Lei-shidi also is?"
Shen Wei chuckled and seemed to recall that Xiao Zi was in Green Clouds peak, along with the pure yin maiden that ZhouLei had taken interest in.
"Ao Xiang has changed his target."
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Zuo JinLong was temporarily astonished. He could definitely see the resemblance.
An elder of Hui Lin sect, Guang Qu – Empress Yun Ying's former shifu – had been chosen by the sect to welcome Emperor Zuo and his small entourage.
The Zuo Dynasty's Emperor had brought along Lady Mei Gui – because he recalled that she had bore him a daughter that had been admitted to Ping sect and had also participated in the tournament. He also knew that Lady Mei Gui was one of the most tactful in his harem, never going out of her way to look for his attention, nor keeping her distance on purpose. She lived in the Palace, perfectly content with what had been granted to her, and never tried to curry favour.
Even after the Empress passed and other concubines and consorts started to brandish their claws to vie for the empty seat bearing the Phoenix crown, Lady Mei Gui kept to herself.
Zuo JinLong did not have any romantic affection towards her, having known her way before he ascended the throne. They were both martial-art practitioners after all, both having to return to the Palace to take their respective places - despite one ending up being the Emperor, the other just a stalk of flower amongst many. Nevertheless, between the two of them, a sense of cordiality still remained, and conversations could still occur somewhat pleasantly. She was one of few whose presence he could stand.
Along with her, he had also brought a couple of younger concubines to serve him, as well as a handful of maids and eunuchs.
However, it was not Sage Guang's sharp scrutinizing eyes as he looked at Zuo JinLong in a manner that could only be said as impolite. Perhaps, the old Sage was still bitter that his old succeeding disciple, Yun Ying who was extremely talented in alchemy, perished inside the Emperor's harem. It was definitely not the old Sage's somewhat indifferent – if not a bit hostile – greeting towards him, that the Emperor had his heart rippled.
Nevertheless, Zuo JinLong could not help but to be reminded of Yun Ying, as he was stricken by the appearance of the young woman that followed behind Sage Guang. There was a number of other disciples, garbed similarly in green robe of the sect, but the young woman's light smile was similar to the late Empress' own.
He recalled that Yun Ying hardly smiled, but when she did, and especially towards him, Zuo JingLong felt that he was truly the Emperor.
Noticing the Emperor's tapered gaze that Sage Guang deemed inappropriate, the old man coughed dryly,
"This way, Your Highness. My senior disciple is currently busy organizing the next bout of matches, and I could only ask some of my other disciples to see everyone to their temporary residences in our sect."
He signaled for one of his male disciples to come forward to escort the Emperor and the latter's male retinues off. Zuo JinLong bowed politely, finally breaking his eye contact off the young woman still standing docilely behind Sage Guang.
Guang Qu snorted silently in disdain. In his old heart, he still put the death of Yun Ying on Zuo JinLong's head, and his eyes certainly was not clouded yet to not realize that Qing Lian bore a slight resemblance to the late Empress.
Nevertheless, seniority wise, Qing Lian was Yun Ying's shizhi. Therefore by marriage, Qing Lian could also be said to be Zuo JinLong's shizhi. How dare that the Emperor, as a shibo, have inappropriate thoughts towards his own shizhi?
Old Guang was tactful enough to send Qing Lian to escort the ladies from the Imperial Palace and told her to stay away from the Emperor's courtyard.
QingLian nodded her understanding towards his order with a smile, her bowing posture was respectful.
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