Chapter 16: Barbarian vs Scholar
Already, the sun was approaching the middle of the sky. It might be cooling at the top of the mountain when it was autumn and approaching winter. However, the martial artists sparring were working up a sweat.
"Oh, the new Elite Disciple of the Azure Dragon Sect and the famous Advance Disciple of the White Tiger Sect are sparring now," Zhao Wanting announced, introducing the contenders.
On the left with double sabres was Bai Dajin's oldest student, Wei Jie. Unlike other disciples of the White Tiger Sect, who graduated immediately after learning the skills they wanted and travelled as mercenaries, Wei Jie was in charge of training recruits on behalf of Bai Dajin, who did not care much about the management of his martial school. The White Tiger Sect was a unique school focused mainly on martial arts. Their students and graduates were accustomed to actual combat, and only those worthy could request a sparring session with the sect master. Unlike other murim sects and schools, Bai Dajin did not request his students to serve the sect. He encouraged them to seek battles outside of his school and experience the pugilistic life with a strict code that they must prioritise the sect's summons if they were called for duty even after graduation. However, the number of times Bai Dajin summoned his disciples since its founding could be counted on one hand. As a result, only Wei Jie, obsessed with sparring with his master, remained in the sect no matter how many times Bai Dajin tried to get rid of him.
Some would say the young warrior with barbaric clothes and fighting style was tenacious. However, in Bai Dajin's eyes, Wei Jie had no talent. He was the definition of all muscles and no brains because no matter how many martial manuals Bai Dajin threw at him, the books bounced off his skull, retaining nothing. Wei Jie could memorise an entire book but still not understand the true essence of swordsmanship. His level of enlightenment was too low, and the only way he could understand anything was to have it pummelled into his body.
Anji looked at the feral warrior with the long ponytail as he threw his sabre at his opponent while charging at him. Anji had never seen anyone fight so recklessly. Even his opponent was caught off guard as he dodged.
The elite disciple of the Azure Dragon Sect, Shao Yin, was handpicked by Zhang Mou himself. Despite being much younger than Wei Jie, the teenager possessed a slender frame and fair complexion. He sported a scholar hat shaped like a lantern and wielded a special paper fan as his primary weapon. According to Wanting, this agile young scholar was a qinggong master, his footwork akin to leaves dancing on a pond's surface. His name was Shao Yin. Zhan Mou selected him as an elite disciple due to his stealth skills and talent for gathering information.
Remembering her teacher's assignment, Anji paid close attention to Wei Jie and Shao Yin's fight. Although she did not know much about how qi could be used, she had a basic understanding of what it could do from growing up in a murim sect.
Although Wei Jie was strong, he did not solely rely on the power of his muscles. Anji could tell how different the force was in his sabre swings compared to the blocks. On the other hand, Shao Yin did not use qi to enhance his raw power. Instead, he used it to accelerate his reflexes, changing the path of his movements with fluid-like movements. His footwork was also completely different from Wei Jie's as he barely made contact with the ground's surface before he was propelled high up into the air. In her eyes, his flowy robes and flighty fight made him look like a bird.
With two drastically contrasting uses of qi, Anji observed silently as they took a seat with the other sect leaders who observed the skills of their disciples. Bai Dajin clicked his tongue in dismay when Wei Jie landed a hit on Shao Yin with the handle of his weapon. Although Shao Yin winced at the injury, his eyes did not reflect any trace of fear or hesitation. Instead, he looked very confident, as if it were a chance he had been waiting for and struck.