Chapter 104 - 83: Waiting for an Opportunity
Mu Xiaowan had spent quite some time at the Zheng Martial Arts Hall and had gradually grown familiar with the place.
The Zheng Martial Arts Hall didn’t have many Hospital Martial Artists, only about twenty or so. On the surface, its defensive strength was far inferior to the Four Great Clans of the Inner City, and it couldn’t even compare to some of the stronger Inner City Clans.
But in reality, these twenty-odd Hospital Martial Artists were all incredibly powerful. The weakest among them had reached Great Success in the Skin Grinding Realm, with Sword and Saber Skills approaching that of a Perfect Martial Artist.
Ordinary people couldn’t even get past the main gate. The inner courtyard area, within the Double Courtyard, was even more tightly guarded, and no strangers would ever appear there.
Normally, aside from Mr. Zheng, very few people visited the Great Madam’s courtyard.
So for the woman before her to arrive unannounced directly in the central courtyard where the Great Madam practiced, she must be someone extremely familiar with the Great Madam.
A moment’s thought was all it took for Mu Xiaowan to guess the newcomer’s identity: she was Mr. Zheng’s second-ranked True Disciple, that Miss Shen.
Her master, Gongsun Rou, had mentioned that this Miss Shen also cultivated Swordsmanship. At only twenty-two, she had already cultivated Sword Momentum, making her one of the top Martial Dao geniuses in Linji City.
"You must be Senior Sister Shen? Are you here to see my master?" Mu Xiaowan stepped forward and asked with a smile.
"I am Shen Qingshuang." Shen Qingshuang nodded, carefully sizing up the stunningly beautiful but slightly naive-looking young woman with a kind smile. She marveled inwardly. "You must be the Great Madam’s new disciple, Mu Xiaowan?"
Mu Xiaowan said, "Yes, Master is in the inner courtyard changing clothes. She’ll be out soon. Are you in a hurry to see her, Senior Sister Shen? Should I go call for her?"
"It’s nothing urgent. I haven’t been by in a while, so I just came to pay my respects to the Great Madam." Shen Qingshuang waved her hand, then immediately voiced the question on her mind, "How long have you been cultivating the Phantom Sword Technique?"
Her eye for skill was much sharper than Xiaoxing’s. She could see that although Mu Xiaowan’s Swordsmanship was only at the Small Success Level, every move was precise and agile. Furthermore, it possessed a kind of purity, as if she had never cultivated any other form of Swordsmanship before.
The Great Madam Gongsun Rou’s standards for accepting disciples were extremely strict. Besides demanding outstanding talent in the Martial Dao, she also placed great importance on purity.
Shen Qingshuang had previously witnessed the Great Madam perform the Phantom Sword Technique. The power of its Sword Momentum seemed to even surpass her Shen Family’s Frost Snow Sword Technique. It was also agile and swift, making it perfectly suited for female cultivators, which is what made her want to become the Great Madam’s disciple.
Unfortunately, by the time she joined the Zheng Martial Arts Hall, she had already cultivated her family’s heirloom Frost Snow Sword Technique to Great Success. Having also witnessed the Sword Momentum and Sword Intent of the Frost Snow Sword Technique at the Shen Family home, she had already developed a deep understanding of the Sword Dao.
The Great Madam had said that her understanding of the Sword Dao was no longer pure, and switching to the Phantom Sword Technique would actually make it harder for her to comprehend Sword Momentum.
Only after she cultivated Momentum with her Frost Snow Sword Technique, when she needed to further comprehend Sword Intent, would she be able to use the Phantom Sword Technique as a reference.
Previously, Shen Qingshuang had held a grudge, believing the Great Madam simply didn’t want to accept her as a disciple and that this explanation was just an excuse.
But now that Shen Qingshuang had cultivated the Frost Snow Sword Stance, she understood it deeply. It was all about concentrating the heavy weight of frost and snow to enhance her Swordsmanship’s power—the polar opposite of the agile and ethereal Sword Momentum of the Phantom Sword Technique.
If she really had switched to cultivating the Phantom Sword Technique back then, she feared she wouldn’t have cultivated Sword Momentum so quickly.
"A little over a month, I think?" Mu Xiaowan said after a moment’s thought.
In reality, she had reached Small Success in the Phantom Sword Technique after just one month of Cultivation. Saying it took "a little over a month" was clearly due to Chen Cheng’s influence, a deliberate attempt to be low-key.
"A little over a month?" Hearing this, Shen Qingshuang was secretly shocked.
Swordsmanship was divided into ordinary, Mid-level Sword Skill, and Superior Swordsmanship. The higher the grade, the more difficult it was to cultivate.
She herself had previously spent a full three months just to bring the Frost Snow Sword Technique, an Upper Grade sword technique, to Small Success.
The Phantom Sword Technique, like the Frost Snow Sword Technique, was a Superior Swordsmanship. Their cultivation difficulty was comparable. If she were to cultivate the Phantom Sword Technique, it would have taken her about the same amount of time.
And yet, Mu Xiaowan had actually managed to cultivate the Phantom Sword Technique to the Small Success Level in just a little over a month.
Such talent in the Martial Dao was far superior to her own. She couldn’t help but be amazed.
It wasn’t just Shen Qingshuang; Xiaoxing, standing to the side, was also secretly astonished. Any trace of her previous condescension was gone. After all, she had followed Shen Qingshuang in cultivating the Frost Snow Sword Technique and had spent a full six months just to barely reach the Small Success Level.
Compared to the Mu Xiaowan before them, she was inferior by more than just a little.
’Perhaps Mu Xiaowan is only cultivating so quickly because she has a renowned master like the Great Madam, and the Great Madam is famously strict.’
Seeing that Mu Xiaowan’s talent was far superior to her own, Shen Qingshuang felt unconvinced. She thought to herself for a moment, then asked, "Miss Mu, have you cultivated any other Skills before?"
Mu Xiaowan simply thought that her Second Senior Sister wanted to give her some pointers on cultivation, so she answered truthfully, "I cultivated the Wind Chasing Saber Technique before, but I wasn’t very good at it. I only reached the Small Success Level."
"The Wind Chasing Saber Technique? So that’s how it is." Shen Qingshuang’s heart was put at ease. The Wind Chasing Saber Technique was also a Skill that excelled in speed, so it didn’t conflict with the Phantom Sword Technique. In fact, having cultivated the Wind Chasing Saber Technique might even have made cultivating the Phantom Sword Technique twice as effective.
Suddenly, she furrowed her brow slightly. She recalled that Chen Cheng also cultivated the Wind Chasing Saber Technique. ’Could Mu Xiaowan have some connection to Chen Cheng?’
Just as she was about to ask, she saw the Great Madam, Gongsun Rou, emerge from the inner courtyard with two maids.
Shen Qingshuang hurried forward, bowed, and said, "Greetings, Great Madam."
"Qingshuang, you’re here." Gongsun Rou nodded slightly, then turned to Mu Xiaowan, her expression hardening. "Xiaowan, how do you have the leisure to stand here and chat? Have you finished your one hour of cultivation this morning?"
Mu Xiaowan was already used to her master’s strictness. She quickly lowered her head, secretly stuck out her tongue, and said, "Master, your disciple woke up early and has already cultivated for more than one hour."