I called for one of the maidens to summon a disciple from the Xuan clan — someone at the second stage of Qi Gathering. A few minutes later, a man filled the doorway: tall, broad-shouldered, medium hair styled backwards like one of the actors of my world named Johnny Depp - and heavy with muscle, Luo Cheng. He was 6 feet and 2 inches tall, 96 kilos, and when he bowed there was a steadiness to him that made the courtyard feel smaller. I returned his bow with a curt nod and set my jaw. Time to see how naïve I really was.
We began without ceremony. He took a calm stance; I moved. I opened with a straight slash down the center — simple, honest. He answered with a horizontal block, blade flat horizontally to strike my slash, and when our blades clashed, the shock of metal collision bit into my forearms. He followed with a quick step-in and a diagonal cut aimed to cut me from my left. I applied pressure on my left leg and twisted towards the right side, using the momentum I used my left leg which was in the air to kick him in the stomach but due to not having enough momentum, it didn't carry that much force and only made him grunt a little, but nonetheless, he still backed down by two steps to balance himself. Then, he lunged at me with the sword aimed at my throat. Seeing him aim for my throat, in a surge of panic, I used it.
Lunar Slash.
I jumped back while using Lunar Slash to surprise attack him. While my body sagged, I poured what remained of my breath and focus into the blade and let Lunar Slash go. The slash wasn't just a movement — it was a crescent of silver that cut the air with a sound like a bell being struck. The power behind it made Luo Cheng widen his eyes in fear as he was close to me and in the air, due to which neither he was able to react nor dodge it. Just as I thought the attack would land in, his one foot, which was on the ground, bent, and he fell on the ground directly face-first....yup, to avoid the strike, which he couldn't normally do in that position, he just made his body go off-balance.
This caused the slash to strike the courtyard wall causing it to get only a light scratch. I thought for a moment whether the wall was strong or my attacks were weak but quickly shook my head as I was panting too hard due to exhausting myself. For an instant both of us lay there, chests heaving. My vision blurred at the edges; my stamina felt like it had been poured out of me. One strike had bled nearly half my reserves — the concentration, the violent release of Qi, the effort of holding form while falling. I recognized the magnitude of what I'd just used: not a fully mastered technique, but a glimpse of something equivalent to an attack he couldn't take head-on with his body directly. Yes, my attack was almost on the level of a 3rd stage of Qi Gathering Disciple. Luo Cheng's breathing was ragged, his eyes were wide with something between awe and alarm. He felt it; the attack had the power of a beginner 3rd-stage Qi Gathering Realm Cultivator. If he hadn't dodged it and tried to block with his body, God knows how many months he would be in bed or how many grade zero pills he would need to recover.
He spat out a curse, half incredulous, half frightened. "You used— that power… which was at the 3rd level of Qi gathering? How? You're insane!" His voice shook. He pushed himself up and met my gaze with new wariness. He could estimate the output; he could feel how close that slash came to the strength of an initial 3rd stage. I had barely reached the first realm. I had overstepped.
A cold clarity hit me: this was survival, not showmanship. Opportunity and danger existed in the same heartbeat. He was down. I was panting. I leaped before either of us could think too long — this was the moment to finish or be finished. My sword arced for his neck, a clean, blunt intent to end it and stop him from getting up. The courtyard fell away into a narrow line of focus. And his eyes, which were wide with fear, which I didn't notice while attacking, so just as my blade was about to reach his neck..
A hand clamped around my blade.
It was the same man from the night before. Calm, deliberate, a presence that cut through the chaos. He didn't shout; he didn't move with drama. He simply held my sword steady with his fingers. "Sparring with real swords is not child's play," he said, quiet but firm. "Learn when to stop."
Shock and shame collided in me. I let go of the hilt, the sword clattered to the stone and I dropped to my knees. "I… I'm sorry," I said, my voice small and raw. Luo Cheng scrambled back up and bowed quickly. I realised that instead of sparring, I was acting like it was a do-or-die situation. Luo Cheng didn't say anything when he saw me scrambling and my pale face, he knew I didn't do it on purpose and didn't have sparring experience. So, he forgave me.
We took a short break. A soft chime echoed in my head. I checked it -
[Lunar Slash - Level 1 - (5%)]
I realised that one swing just gave me 5% progress, but I also knew that I used that move in utmost focus and sparring, not regular training, and I was going for the kill like a real fight, so it grew by 5% in just one move, well, not bad progress from a spar, I guess. I closed the status window and glanced at my body. Sweat dried slowly on my skin; the courtyard smelled of oil and iron and old stone. Luo Cheng sat a little away, catching his breath, and I finally spoke.
"Where are you from?" I asked.
He wiped his face with the back of his hand, eyes steady. "One of the branch families. I served their young master until someone noticed my talent. They made me a disciple. After that, I provided for my mother with the spirit stones I earned. My father works the fields—grows grade‑zero spirit herbs. It's not much, but it keeps us fed."
We talked quietly, trading scraps of our lives until I felt something like kinship. He told me about the tightness of money and how three spirit stones each month changed things for his family. I told him I had no mother, only a father who'd done his best, and how I wasn't some natural prodigy — just a kid trying to buy survival.
A silence fell, then I asked bluntly, "Do you want to travel with me? Move with me and reach the top? My goal is survival. To survive I need absolute strength and allies."
Luo Cheng considered me, jaw working. After a long beat, he said, "If your determination never changes, then I will do everything to be with you. Not behind your sword — I won't be some follower. I'll be in front of you when needed. I'll try to surpass you, and even if I'm above or below you, I'll still be with you. So yes — I will follow."
His words landed heavy, steady. I nodded. "Then we should prepare together."
I leaned in, voice low but steady. "In three months, we have to go to the Xiantian Sect. My father said the recruitment this month is two months earlier than usual." I watched his face shift. Awe, then worry. "Three months? But… wasn't it supposed to be five? How is it early? That's barely enough time." He clenched his fist, thinking of money and training and the impossibility folded into possibility.
"So… are you coming with me?" I asked.
"Yes," he said after a breath. "I'll do everything to reach that point. But you —" He fixed me with a hard look. "You need experience. Even if you grow stronger than me, learn control. You rushed in just now, swinging blindly. That's not courage. It's recklessness. One mistake here ends everything."
I smiled, bitter and honest. He was right. I'd felt the edge of power and the bottom of my limits both. I also realised I need skills to increase my arsenal for fighting. One ultimate move was good for a surprise attack, but not good for a continuous fight, especially when it chips away 50% of my Qi reserves in one strike. This wasn't a story where I could get away with impulsive violence. Survival demanded restraint as much as strength.
I sat on the courtyard's stone bench and rested my sword across my knees, the metal cool and real. Luo Cheng sat opposite, breathing slower now, a silent promise between us. We would train. We would spend what we had to spend. We would go to Xiantian together — or we would die trying.
It was at this moment that I knew I had gained a real ally. That thought steadied me more than any victory.
In the patriarch's courtyard, a man in black robes stood silently beside him. If Xuan Yuan had been here, he would have instantly recognized him—the same man who had intervened in the market alley yesterday, saving me from those thieves. Now, he reported diligently to the patriarch, detailing the activities of the other four clans over the past week.
When he finished, the patriarch gave a subtle nod and instructed him to intervene in certain matters and keep watch over others. Rising from his chair by the lake, the patriarch began walking toward his house. The man in black hesitated for a moment, then spoke, his voice calm but firm, "Master, the young master has begun training seriously, sparring with others. But he is still reckless—he cannot control himself fully."
The patriarch paused mid-step, absorbing the words, then nodded once and continued into his house. As the door closed behind him, the man in black remained standing for a heartbeat, then slowly began to fade into the air.
"Heh," he thought to himself, "perhaps it's for the best that I didn't tell the patriarch about what happened with the market thieves and the young master's confrontation. If he had known… those thieves' families might not have survived."9