Chapter 307: Thunder...
Jin LiJuan stood in a small clearing, her legs spread apart and knees bent. Her sword flashed. Sunlight reflected off the shiny blade, temporarily blinding the goliath frog, and she struck. Her weapon slid into its chest, finding its heart.
“Nice job,” her mentor, Pan Jiang, said. “You’re improving.”
True. She was.
In the two weeks since the expedition began, Her sword strokes had become surer and more efficient. She balanced in her stance in a way that Senior Brother Pan Jiang, deemed “acceptable.” Best of all, rank three beasts barely challenged her any longer.
The problem was that she was a Foundation Establishment realm cultivator. She should be fighting rank four beasts, and those were still too tough for her to handle without Ganzou’s help.
“Even if we stay out here another month, I won’t be ready for the tournament, and you know it,” she said. “I’m getting better but too slowly.”
Pan Jiang shrugged. “You will or you won’t qualify. The important thing is that you’re improving.”
Jin LiJuan sighed. He was right in a way. It was just that she wanted so badly to contribute by bringing honor to the sect. She really had no right to complain, though. Her path to advancement was so much easier than any of her peers.
“You know that your rate of learning techniques isn’t your fault, right? Considering how destroyed your channels are, what you’ve accomplished is amazing. You should be proud of yourself.”
And she was to a degree. She’d worked hard. Her bond with Ganzou grew stronger by the day, and she no longer hated him. Not even disliked him, really. In fact, if he were to no longer be in her life, she was sure she’d … regret him not being there.
The problem was that all her techniques required moving qi around inside her body, and her internal pathways were barely functional. Where the twins had stone-paved paths wide enough for caravans to ride side by side, hers was a small, winding game trail with overgrown brush crowding it from all directions.
She sighed again.