Chapter 15 Why is this map of the Yan Kingdom so long?
About an hour passed, and Jiang Bai’s movements had basically taken shape. Although he was still far from being "proficient," at least his form looked decent.
At this moment, a mischievous glint flashed in Qian Renxue’s eyes again.
Holding the wooden sword, she walked to the center of the clearing and beckoned with her finger at Jiang Bai, who was still repeatedly practicing his thrusts. A sweet smile appeared on her face, yet it made Jiang Bai feel an inexplicable sense of danger.
"Alright, the basic movements are about done. Come, Junior Brother Jiang Bai, face me and use the Move I just taught you to test your results."
She stood still and casually assumed a relaxed starting stance, her wooden sword pointing diagonally toward the ground.
"Let me see how much real skill you’ve actually learned in this past hour."
Jiang Bai stopped his movements, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and looked at Qian Renxue. She was beaming with smiles, but her Aura faintly exuded a sharp edge, causing alarm bells to ring in his mind.
This... is probably not a simple "test of results," right?
Has your Map of Yan State finally reached its end?
Before Jiang Bai could react, Qian Renxue tapped her foot, her figure as light as a swallow yet carrying a fierce Aura as she charged straight at him with her wooden sword!
Without pleasantries or warning, her sword followed her body in a concise and swift thrust aimed straight for Jiang Bai’s center!
Jiang Bai’s pupils constricted. In his haste, he could only rely on the basics that had just been drilled into his brain, instinctively parrying with his sword horizontally.
"Clang!"
Jiang Bai felt a shock in his wrist as a significant force was transmitted, causing him to involuntarily take half a step back.
Qian Renxue’s strike didn’t land, but her sword momentum didn’t stop for a moment. With a slight turn of her wrist, the wooden sword slid down, changing from a thrust to a slice aimed at Jiang Bai’s waist and abdomen!
The transition was smooth and natural.
Jiang Bai was scrambling, hurriedly retreating and holding his sword vertically to barely block the slice.
However, in Qian Renxue’s eyes, his hurried defense was full of openings from head to toe!
His footsteps were light, his center of gravity was unstable, and his parrying angle was also slightly stiff.
The corners of Qian Renxue’s mouth curled into a successful smile, and a light flashed in her purple eyes.
She didn’t use any Soul Power, relying purely on physical strength, speed, and technique.
At the moment Jiang Bai barely blocked the slice—when his old strength was spent and new strength had not yet arisen—her left hand shot out like lightning. It wasn’t an attack, but a gentle flick against Jiang Bai’s sword-holding wrist!
This flick seemed soft, but it skillfully diverted Jiang Bai’s sword momentum, leaving his chest wide open.
Immediately after, Qian Renxue retracted and then thrust her right-hand wooden sword, the flat of the blade imprinting firmly just below Jiang Bai’s left shoulder blade.
"Pa!"
A strike that wasn’t loud but was clear enough.
"Hiss—"
Jiang Bai gasped. It wasn’t that it hurt much; the wooden sword was blunt, and Qian Renxue had controlled her strength, not truly injuring him.
But this feeling... was just like in his past life at school when he’d get distracted or answer a question wrong and be struck on the palm or back by a stern teacher with a ruler!
She gave Jiang Bai no chance to breathe or think. The wooden sword swung again, thrusting, hacking, or picking upward. The offensive wasn’t lethal, but it was like a violent storm, specifically targeting Jiang Bai’s weak defenses and clumsy transitions.
Every time Jiang Bai revealed an opening, he was inevitably met with a precise strike from the wooden sword.
Shoulders, arms, back, outer thighs... Jiang Bai felt as if he had become a mobile human punching bag.
He could only desperately recall the few basic movements he had just learned—lifting, parrying, blocking, and dodging—as he clumsily tried to hold his ground.
Sweat poured down like rain, his breathing became ragged, his arms grew heavier, and his footsteps became more disorganized.
This kind of suppression through pure technique and basic physical fitness was even more demoralizing than a clash of Soul Power.
Jiang Bai deeply realized how clumsy and fragile he was in the face of true combat skills without the support of Spirit Abilities and Soul Power.
Fifteen minutes felt as long as a century to Jiang Bai.
Finally, after Qian Renxue struck his calf with the sword, causing him to stumble and nearly fall, Jiang Bai could no longer hold on.
He suddenly jumped back a step to open up some distance, leaned his wooden sword against the ground, panted heavily, and waved his hands repeatedly.
"No more, no more! Let me rest! I really can’t go on!"
After speaking, he collapsed backward, lying spread-eagled on the grass. His chest heaved violently, and he felt every muscle in his body protesting with aches and pains, especially the areas that had received special "care" from the wooden sword, which were stinging with heat.
Even a slight attempt to Move his arms to stretch resulted in a pained grimace.
Seeing this, Qian Renxue flicked her wrist, performing a beautiful sword flourish to end her stance. Her posture was elegant and composed, and her breathing was even, forming a sharp contrast with Jiang Bai, who was paralyzed on the ground.
She walked over to Jiang Bai with the wooden sword and looked down at his disheveled state, a bright and slightly smug smile on her face.
"Can’t take it already? Junior Brother Jiang Bai, didn’t you keep saying you wanted to get stronger quickly? This is just the beginning! This Senior Sister hasn’t even had her fill yet today!"
She deliberately shook the wooden sword in her hand.
Though she said that, she actually knew her limits.
During the sparring just now, she had controlled her strength and the impact points throughout, ensuring that it would only cause Jiang Bai pain and muscle fatigue without causing any substantive damage.
She couldn’t bear to actually break this precious Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda seedling!
With a thought, she stored the wooden sword back into her storage spirit tool and then took out an exquisite silver water flask, tossing it casually to Jiang Bai’s side.
"Drink some water. You’ll need to practice your physical fitness and these basic techniques more in the future. Even as a support, having some self-defense skills is never a bad thing."
Jiang Bai rolled onto his side, picked up the flask, unscrewed it, and took several large gulps.
The cool, sweet liquid slid down his throat, slightly relieving his thirst and the heat in his body.
He let out a long breath, feeling a bit of his strength return.
At that moment, Qian Renxue asked seemingly casually.
"By the way, do you have anything else to do later?"
Without thinking, Jiang Bai instinctively replied, "Yes..."
"I mean besides things related to your Cultivate!"
Qian Renxue immediately interrupted him, her beautiful eyes glaring as she anticipated his answer.
She knew this guy’s nature all too well; besides his Cultivate, did he have anything else in his eyes?
Jiang Bai was choked up for a moment and blinked.
"...No," he admitted honestly.
Qian Renxue nodded in satisfaction. With her hands behind her back, she leaned forward slightly and said in a tone that allowed no refusal, "Mm, then go shopping with me later!"
Shopping? Go shopping with Qian Renxue?
Upon hearing this, Jiang Bai didn’t agree immediately. Instead, his eyes darted around as he thought quickly.
Accompanying this Young Miss shopping definitely wouldn’t be simple "accompaniment." There might be trouble, or she might just be bored and looking for someone to order around.
He had just been "ravaged" and was sore all over, yet he had to go be a lackey?
This was a losing bargain.
So, under Qian Renxue’s expectant gaze, Jiang Bai slowly sat up, then extended his right hand, overlapping his thumb and index finger and rubbing them together a few times toward her.
"?"
Looking at this strange gesture, Qian Renxue’s beautiful eyebrows furrowed, her purple eyes full of confusion. "What does that mean?"
Jiang Bai spoke clearly, as if it were a matter of course, "Pay up!"
"???"
Qian Renxue froze, and then her purple eyes slowly widened, filled with disbelief.
"You... you want me to give you money?"
She pointed at her own nose, her voice rising slightly.
"And only then will you go shopping with me?"
Wasn’t there something wrong with this logic?
Shouldn’t it be that when a Senior Sister of her noble status and peerless beauty invites him, he should be grateful and eagerly follow along?
How did he still dare to ask for money?!
"That’s right, Senior Sister."
Jiang Bai was perfectly composed, even putting on an expression as if he were the one getting the short end of the stick.
"Look, I was just... uh, guided by you, and my whole body hurts and I’m exhausted. Later, I’ll have to run back and forth for you as a lackey... Isn’t this an extra effort that goes beyond classmate friendship? It’s quite reasonable to give a little hardship fee or labor fee, right?"
As he spoke, he even tried to look pitiful, though his acting wasn’t quite there, making him look more like a shrewd merchant haggling over a price.
Qian Renxue was momentarily speechless by his twisted logic, her chest heaving slightly, clearly out of anger.
But strangely, she didn’t immediately flare up or turn away. Instead, she felt... it was a bit novel?
Jiang Bai was definitely the first person who dared to talk about money with her so brazenly and without concealment, treating her like an employer who needed to pay a reward.
This straightforwardness, bordering on being rude and mercenary, actually gave her a sense of reality that was different from the norm.
She stared at Jiang Bai for several seconds, then suddenly raised an eyebrow and said, "Fine!"
"As long as you can satisfy me, naturally, there will be plenty of benefits for you!"
What kind of suggestive words are these?!
Jiang Bai suddenly felt his scalp tingle.
Was this future Angel God so... bold when she was young? Or did she simply not understand the ambiguity of those words?
Jiang Bai steadied his mind, forced himself to ignore the sentence that was easy to misinterpret, and pushed his luck further.
"Senior Sister, can you help me get a spirit ring of excellent quality and with as high an age as possible?"
Upon hearing this, a hint of surprise flashed in Qian Renxue’s eyes.
She didn’t expect Jiang Bai to make this request.
Obtaining a spirit ring wasn’t a difficult task for students of Spirit Hall Academy, as the academy had its own arrangements.
But the requirements of excellent quality, being the most suitable, and having as high an age as possible were not ordinary.
For her, however, this wasn’t too difficult to manage.
"I can do that." Qian Renxue agreed readily without much hesitation.
To her, this kind of interaction seemed... more interesting and more real.
Jiang Bai didn’t expect her to agree so simply. He was stunned for a moment, and then a sincere smile blossomed on his face.
He scrambled up from the ground, ignoring his body’s aches, put his hands together, and gave an exaggerated bow.
"Senior Sister is so generous! It’s a deal!"
Looking at his money-grubbing appearance, Qian Renxue couldn’t help but burst into laughter. The slight unpleasantness from the sparring and haggling just now seemed to vanish into thin air.
"Alright, stop being poor. Clean yourself up, and we’ll head out."
...
After the two of them changed their clothes, they took a carriage to Spirit City.
After arriving, Qian Renxue took Jiang Bai to have a wonderful, large feast.
Then they began an aimless shopping trip.
Qian Renxue didn’t really buy anything, she just walked and looked around, which left Jiang Bai quite puzzled.
During this time, Jiang Bai saw a Medicine Hall and, under the strange looks of Qian Renxue and the shop assistant, bought a piece of Hundred-year Whale Glue for 89 gold coins.
Feeling a bit uneasy under Qian Renxue’s gaze, Jiang Bai explained.
"Uh... when I went back to the dormitory to change, my roommate saw I was coming out and asked me to get it for him..."
"Who?"
"Yan..."