The Rise of the Divine Oracle

Chapter 31 - Rhythm

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Wangji planned to leave in two weeks with Wuxian and his disciples. Normally Wangji wouldn't travel with that many people but he wanted to test the new students that are supposed to protect his soul-bond. He will expect nothing but excellence from these young men.

He was passing by the training grounds to watch the new recruits practicing swords when he noticed that most of the people present were crowded together, watching something. He got close to see what all the commotion was about and was surprised to see Wuxian in the middle.

One of the disciples sees Wangji approaching and steps close to explain what happened: "Your Excellency, Treasure Wei challenged his disciples to attempt to grab the ribbon attached to his belt without using weapons. They've been at it for an hour and a half and have yet to succeed in getting even close." Wangji nods and stands closer to watch.

Wuxian was using talismans and spells to avert all attempts at subduing him. His moves were graceful, fast and flexible. He was trained outside of Cloud Recesses so no one could predict his reactions.

Wuxian is currently sitting on a bound Bhao, taunting an exhausted Kaoji and eyeing the three remaining students: "Do you admit defeat?"

Sizhui shares a nod with the other two as they all attack at the same time. Wuxian runs towards the closest, Jingyi, and uses the momentum to aim a strike with his foot at the junction between his neck and shoulder to incapacitate him. This allowed him to jump and land on Taiho who tried to block the attack with his arms and failed, falling to the ground with a groan.

Sizhui uses that moment to grab his father's robes but ends up aiding his turn and receiving a tiny human figure talisman that weighs him down to the ground.

Wuxain turns around and dusts his robes: "Well.. that was fun. Anyone else wants to try?"

He turns to see if anyone wants to take him on and sees Wangji and smiles: "Lan Zhan, want to show these weaklings how it's done?"

Wangji smiles and hands over Bichen to one of his disciples. He approaches Wuxian: "What are the terms of this exercise?"

Wuxian: "Try to take this red ribbon from me without using weapons."

Wangji smirks and then runs towards Wuxian without hesitation.

It was like watching two people dance to a magical rhythm. Totally in sync and well aware of each other's skills. After an hour of this, Wuxian started to show signs of exhaustion.

Wangji, who was careful with his attacks, noticed Wuxian almost slipping, and stopped the duel. He bows his surrender and walks over to Wuxian: "You win."

Wuxian was not happy: "Why are we stopping?" Wangji doesn't give him a chance to continue and takes his hand to kiss it: "I haven't had a good duel in a while. Thank you."

Wuxian sighs when he notices his hand shaking in Wangji's. To silently thank him for not prolonging the fight, he took the ribbon and gave it to Wangji with a smile: "Thank you for making my day more challenging."

Wangji embraces him for a few seconds and walks away to tend to his duties. Wuxian, still blushing from the public display of affection, turns to face his disciples as the crowd around them disperses. They're staring at him with blank faces: "What?"

Jingyi, still rubbing his hurt neck, comments: "We've never seen anyone match Hanguang Jun before."

Wuxian scoffs: "You should've seen our sword fights when I still possessed my golden core. It was epic!"