117:

  Xiao Feng had a feeling that taking a newborn spiritual beast that had a tendency to be overeager to a training room wasn’t amongst the sharpest of his ideas. He couldn’t even scold Nova for wanting to play around and without letting her experience his Wind Qi, it was impossible to train her as well.

  That was why he had been forced to push all his focus towards making sure that Dancing Breeze would defend him, thus retaining the essence of the Fourth Form, while making sure that it could not hurt the one his blade had been directed to.

  So, when Nova barreled towards him at an angle, aiming to pass Lianhua from the side and strike at his abdomen, Xiao Feng was nervous, but that didn’t stop him from taking a step back and reangling his wooden sword to match the direction Nova was approaching him from.

  Paw and wooden blade met and Xiao Feng was surprised to discover that despite Nova’s diminutive size, there was actually some weight behind her attack.

  Nova yipped in surprise as she was caught in a gentle gust of wind that pushed her back, no made her float backwards with irresistible momentum. She flailed around in the air and even wagged her tails in an effort to escape the stronghold the wind had over her form, but it was to no avail as she was pushed to one end of the training room and held there for a few seconds before releasing her from her hold.

  “So this is wind! It’s all floaty and fun! I like wind,” Nova declared, the exuberance of youth audible in her ecstatic tone.

  What’s up with that reaction earlier? Xiao Feng thought, having noticed that his predecessor had actually swore in his astonishment, which was something he’d never heard him doing before.

  “This is impossible,” His predecessor muttered, his tone distracted and distant as if he were talking to himself instead of Xiao Feng. “No, this is closer to a miracle. Just like my survival was a miracle— a miracle that has an absurd, hidden reason behind it. So there has to be something here, a reason…”

  Hey you’re freaking me out here.

  “Your Dancing Breeze,” His predecessor said, his tone solemn. “I have only ever seen a similar Dancing Breeze once in my life. Do you know who held the blade then?”

  Xiao Feng didn’t like where the conversation was going.

  “Elder Haoyun Liu of the Frontier Sect, a Nascent Soul Cultivator.”

  Xiao Feng’s jaw dropped open.

  But… I can’t even figure out more than one form of the Flowing Wind Art. If what you’re saying is what I’m thinking, then that doesn’t make any sense. I’m not talented at this cultivator business and you know that, Xiao Feng thought.

  “That is indeed true,” His predecessor replied without mincing words. “The miracle that allowed your soul to transfer over to this world did not extend any heavenly talent to you, so I do not see why that would change now. But if you are not what has caused this change then—”

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  “Can I go again?” Nova cut into the conversation with a telepathic message. “I think I’ll understand more about the wind if I experience it again.”

  “Lianhua, can you pull back for now?” Xiao Feng asked out loud this time, addressing the Senior Alchemist with respect.

  “Sure, but… what was that sword form you used just now?” She asked, still looking a little dazed at the absence of a sword in her hand. “It felt like even if I wasn’t caught off-guard and tried to hold onto the blade, it would still be wrenched out of my grasp. It was so powerful and yet, you’re certain it won’t hurt either me or Nova to be using it in a sparring session.”

  Xiao Feng blinked, finding himself impressed by the Senior Alchemist’s deduction.

  “It’s the same sword form I use for defense in our training sessions,” Xiao Feng replied. “This is its perfected form,” He answered, trying his best to sound like an experienced martial cultivator.

  Lianhua flinched, before hurriedly asking, “Did you gain enlightenment?”

  So she’s certain that I didn’t already know it? Xiao Feng thought. I suppose there’s no reason I’d be using two variations of the same sword form and practicing with an inferior version in our sparring session but damn, she’s sharp.

  “I think so,” Xiao Feng replied with a sheepish smile.

  “That’s incredible,” Lianhua replied and the warm smile that bloomed on her lips almost made his heart skip a beat.

  As if afraid to interrupt whatever truth Xiao Feng had just stumbled upon, she retreated backwards until she was leaning against a padded wall without offering another word.

  Are you ready, Nova?

  “Yes! I wanna float again!”

  Then come at me.

  A second charge was followed by a third. The fourth charge had Nova moving more nimbly than ever, as she factored the padded ground’s texture and adjusted accordingly.

  Xiao Feng once again caught her paw on his wooden blade, sending Nova floating away from him.

  The practice session continued for ten more charges, before a panting Nova stopped charging.

  Tired? We can call it a day here.

  “No!” Nova loudly protested through a telepathic message. “I understand it now, my human. Your wind is like you! It is gentle and floaty and even when it cuts, it does not cut, it only pushes. But it does not suit me. I am a predator and I hunt with my claw and fang, She revealed her small fangs, as if she wanted to intimidate him and Lianhua.

  You’re so cute, Xiao Feng focused the thought in Nova’s direction.

  She flinched and immediately closed her mouth before giving him a glare, “You’re being mean, my human!”

  Hey, sorry, sorry, Xiao Feng hurriedly raised his hands in a surrender gesture. So, what do you want to do now.

  “Come stand next to me. I will show you,” Nova declared.

  Curious, Xiao Feng moved over to Nova’s side, leaving her staring intently at the empty air in front of her.

  Nova raised her right forelimb, pulled her paw backwards and swiped like an angry cat would in front of the empty air before her.

  Three streaks of wind that were each shaped like crescent moons and each one incredibly dense, as if they were trying to mimic the compressed wind qi that his Dancing Breeze relied on, shot forth with such speed that there was a good chance that Xiao Feng would have failed to defend against them.

  They crashed against the padded walls of the training room and left three small tear wounds on its fabric, which when considering that the training room was built to withstand all manners of Qi-empowered attacks, was no small feat.

  “That explains a lot,” His predecessor remarked, clear awe evident in his tone. “She’s a prodigy.”

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