Yun Bei Fen was naturally eager to get to work. Song Mu hadn't said how many days they would have but even just a single day of focusing on practicing his new skills would likely be able to let him see great progress. Thus, he couldn't wait to start and pulled Mei Chao Bing with him to watch.
He started with practicing his flying skills. By now, he was actually able to make a sword hover in the air without quivering too much so he would likely be able to stand on it soon and fly on his own.
Seeing that result, Mei Chao Bing nodded with satisfaction. "It seems that you've managed to master the basics. With this, you can start practicing to actually fly. I'm sure that you won't have too much trouble doing that."
Yun Bei Fen nodded and then stared at his sword, not quite sure what to do next. He looked back up at Mei Chao Bing and slightly drew his brows together. "Mei Chao Bing …"
Mei Chao Bing laughed and then reached out, ruffling his hair. "Just lower it toward the ground for now, and then step on it with one foot. Try to find a balance that way first and make sure to continue keeping the sword stable.
"When you are still close to the ground, it isn't much of a problem but high up in the air, you can't allow yourself to fall down. If you did, you might break a few bones at best and die at worst. It is not something that can be taken lightly."
Yun Bei Fen nodded and then did as Mei Chao Bing had told him. As it turned out … This wasn't easy at all. With the added weight, the sword immediately started to sway much more violently than before and finally fell to the ground with a clang.
Yun Bei Fen looked up, his eyes worried. Had he really made any progress?
Mei Chao Bing once again ruffled his hair and shook his head. "Don't worry about it. It's naturally easier to keep it upright if there isn't any added weight. Just give it a few more tries and you'll be able to do it without trouble. I'm sure of it. Just remember: Since you have to keep something in the air that is heavier now, you will also need to expend more spiritual energy. So just increasing your output bit by bit until you have the right amount should be enough to solve the problem."
Yun Bei Fen's expression lit up and he tried again, finally succeeding after a few tries. "I did it!" Yun Bei Fen immediately jumped at Mei Chao Bing, hugging him tightly. Ah, it was all just thanks to senior martial brother Mei. If not because he was teaching him so well, he never would have been able to learn all these things.
Mei Chao Bing laughed and hugged him back, looking at the sword that had once again fallen to the ground as if Yun Bei Fen had just forgotten about it. "You did really well. I knew that my little bunny was the smartest." He kissed his temple and then just held him in his arms, not feeling like continuing the practice immediately.
Ah, it was really nice having a moment just to themselves. It would be even better if they weren't currently in the Jian Chu Sect's camp or in the border region in general but somewhere else where they could just leisurely spend some time together.
In fact, right now, he also would've liked it if they were back at home in the Teng Yong Sect. They could have just spent every day like this together, not having to worry about anything. That definitely would have been nice.
But, alas, they were currently on a mission. They only had a short moment for themselves before they needed to get back to solve the issue at hand. He also didn't know how long they would need for that. But, well, it was already quite good to be able to take a short break.
Cheering himself up, Mei Chao Bing rubbed the back of Yun Bei Fen's head and then motioned back at the sword. "Alright, try it a few more times to make sure that you are able to do that consistently. When you are outside later and really need to use the skill, then you will have to be able to jump onto your flying sword at a moment's notice. So it is important that you can accurately judge the spiritual energy that you will need for it."
Yun Bei Fen nodded and let go of Mei Chao Bing, using his spiritual energy to pick up the sword and trying a few times more. Soon enough, he had gotten the hang of it and the sword stopped wavering.
Mei Chao Bing nodded with satisfaction. Just as he had thought, after learning the basics for quite some time, Yun Bei Fen didn't have trouble going further. It really was a matter of not having a very good understanding and thus needing to practice a lot at the beginning. But after he got past the original confusion, it really wasn't that hard for him to advance. Most likely, after he had learned some basic skills, it also wouldn't be too difficult for him to learn some intermediate ones.
Realizing that made Mei Chao Bing heave a sigh of relief. He had been constantly worried when he realized that Yun Bei Fen's practical skills equaled exactly zero. And he had wondered a bit just why Elder Baili let it come to that.
But now, he realized that teaching Yun Bei Fen probably wasn't that easy. And maybe Elder Baili just didn't have a good way to explain to him. Also, with Yun Bei Fen never really leaving the Teng Yong Sect, there probably hadn't been a reason to hurry it up and he had wanted to wait until his disciple was a bit older in the hope of making him understand better.
That actually seemed to have proven to be right. Now, that Yun Bei Fen had a high-enough level to learn quite a few skills and after learning the basics, he might not even need much time. Yes, if things continued like this, then maybe he would be able to have Yun Bei Fen leave the border region with quite a few skills in the end. It certainly would be for the best.