Cultivation Retirement Plan (BL)

25. Practical Experience

Nan Wuyue stepped back as Mo Yixuan's aura flared into brilliance around him. Enlightenment was a spontaneous thing, sometimes resulting from diligent cultivation, other times from flashes of insight absorbed from daily life. Whatever Mo Yixuan had gone through had made him more susceptible to the latter. This was his third case of insight in the past few weeks. Although the qi around him quickly calmed down, he was lost in thought for a long while.

Nan Wuyue didn't bother him during those times. Not only would Mo Yixuan ignore him, it was also detrimental to his advancement. Sudden sparks of enlightenment like these had to be grasped at the first opportunity and absorbed as knowledge to fortify one's Dao heart; losing the predestined chance made it unclear whether a second opportunity would arise again.

When Mo Yixuan finally looked up with a frown, his tea was cold and Nan Wuyue had almost gone lightheaded from holding his breath. He saw his master's blue irises had lightened to a brilliant, icy-hue tinged with smoky gray, a strange but dazzling sight. Still, they soon faded to their usual deep shade.

"I need to find my sword..." Mo Yixuan muttered to himself.

"Does shizun need a weapon?" Nan Wuyue asked quickly as he unhooked his own blade. "If it isn't too humble, shizun can take this disciple's sword."

Mo Yixuan glanced at the standard blade issued to all disciples past Foundation Establishment stage within Star Pavilion Sect. Hilariously enough, the original Mo Yixuan had restricted Nan Wuyue to using a wooden one, citing his "unstable" cultivation state. He had quickly fixed that and other particular "exceptions" for this boy after taking him on as a student in earnest. Mo Yixuan's first reaction now was to refuse the offer, but his fingers itched to wield a weapon and was already moving to take the blade of their own accord.

"...thank you," he said at last.

Nan Wuyue smiled guilelessly. Combined with his neatly tied hair and white (mourning) training robes, he looked every inch a young and proper core disciple developing healthily under the tutelage of his master.

To think we were at each others' throats just recently... Mo Yixuan didn't smile back, but cleanly unsheathed the sword and took to the skies. Nan Wuyue caught the scabbard and watched with undivided attention as his master began to fight an invisible foe.

Steps of the Black Tortoise was the second set in the 28 Lunar Mansions of the Celestial Sublime Sword Style. Unlike the graceful majesty in Dance of the Azure Dragon, its style was precise and grand with a focus on defense. The movements were circular, the motions magnanimous. At its apex, the sword flew to hang above Mo Yixuan's head. As Nan Wuyue watched, Mo Yixuan summoned 28 separate shadow sword selves to surround him with the tips pointing outwards, spinning faster and faster to form a shell of qi that became an impenetrable shield.

Attack without affront, defense without relent. These are characteristics of the 13th mansion Encampment and the 14th mansion Wall, Nan Wuyue silently identified the forms as he committed his master's movements to memory. Mo Yixuan's usual fighting skills lacked his past self's finesse, but this spate of enlightened sword skills was truly exquisite to behold. A part of him sighed in admiration at Ye Xinglin's sheer talent. He truly was a sword master that had died too young too soon.

When Mo Yixuan finally released his shield, the 28 swords flew outwards as they exploded into sparks and rained down like a shower of silvery stars. Nan Wuyue was still blinking away their twinkling lights when a small object landed on the ground in front of him. He looked down to see the familiar flower hairstick that Mo Yixuan liked to wear in his hair these days.

Impulsively, Nan Wuyue bent to pick it up. The wood was cool and pleasant to the touch, the flowers on the end almost alive as if frozen in time. Today their petals were white, but he had seen them shift to transparent on dewy mornings. Within the wood hummed a soothing thread of energy that he couldn't quite place which slipped from his senses the more he tried to grasp it.