Within a courtyard, noises like the wind being cut and panting could be heard. A girl with a loose fitting sky blue robe was swinging her sword around in a continuous pattern.
It has been a few days since Shen Zhengqiu has came from that hidden room. Within these few days she had shown a great liking and fondness for this Rippling Snow Sword of hers, it almost feels like a fifth limb to her. Before when using her training sword to practice the Sword Arts within the {Foundational Lotus Arts] she felt uncomfortable with it and her progress in the sword was merely okay. But when she uses the Rippling Snow Sword instead it felt like she was born with this sword and very quickly she started to remove the flaws that she previously had. If a famous genius in the cultivation of the Sword saw her, even they would be stood in awe at the progress of this girl. Although the technique is only at a very low level, but progression at this speed at her cultivation is unfathomable.
In fact she had begun to deviate from the traditional [Foundational Lotus Arts] and the originally simple and straightforward sword movements started to become profound and strange. It sometimes moved like a snake, multiplied in numbers or sometimes it even completely disappeared. Shen Zhengqiu naturally started to notice this after a while as she has had great awareness since young. She stopped her movements and memorised them, but she needed to name them right? Thinking of a name she eventually muttered one under her breath and felt satisfied.
[3 Movements of the Water Lotus] is what she eventually named the sword technique. Although it was an incomplete technique for now, but she still decided to name it. She has a noticeable obsession towards cultivation and martial arts which increased even further when she realised how small she felt, thus she treasures her arts like her own children so they definitely needed a name.
The past few days she has been getting a greater sense of unease and this coincidentally aligns with the time Grandmaster Zhen is supposed to arrive back at the Bandit Mountain. She is not entirely sure why she feels this way as she tried to lock it away previously but it had resurfaced and is bothering her very much. The nights were quite sleepless for her, and she couldn't cultivate under a disturbed mind either. She very quickly found a solution though, much to the delight of Lu Chunhua.
Feeling the warmth on her sister-like friends body, Shen Zhengqiu was able to feel the unease gradually go away when she did that. Thus she had started sleeping with Lu Chunhua, cuddling till they both fell asleep.
-
A few days later a small commotion broke out in front of the Bandit Mountain, and that is because Grandmaster Zhen returned albeit looking slightly pale. His long gray hair was slightly frazzled and he had no way to tie it up, his robes were slightly burned at the edges and his face was a bit dusty in dirt.
The bandits rushed over seeing their Grandmaster like this, the Bandit Leader Lu naturally called out as he wanted to curry some favour, "What's wrong Grandmaster? Can I help" he looked at his dishevelled appearance and then paused slightly at the expression on Grandmaster Zhen's old face. Rather than being upset or angry at his own state, Grandmaster Zhen was actually beaming with excitement he hasn't felt for a long time.
Being exploring for this amount of time naturally took its toll on himself. He had been searching far and wide for information of the Red Devil fruit so he could make that magical pill in order to reach the realm of the Sage! After a few years of searching he finally found the information that provides the location of a Red Devil fruit, and when he arrived there he spotted 2 ripe fruits hanging on a rather dead looking tree that should not be able to produce fruits. However he also noticed a Blazing Poison Snake that was at the Grandmaster level.
The result was him winning and taking the fruits along with the materials on the snake. However it was quite a bitter battle and he only won as the Blazing Poison Snake seemed determined to protect the fruits and he used that to his advantage, eventually bleeding the Blazing Poison Snake out. He suffered some injuries that weren't too severe but still should be treated as soon as possible, but he didn't have the mind for that at that moment. He wanted to make the [Sage Awakening Pill] as soon as possible and bathe in the power and strength.
-
The next day, Shen Zhengqiu woke up and she naturally did her own usual things. Practicing the flute and the [9 Mystic Scores of the Flute] other than cultivating she found it soothing and relaxing one minute and then the next she felt her blood pumping and it felt hotter than before. She didn't know what this was but she quite like the feeling. Lu Chunhua quite likes the sounds coming from the flute but she gets a bit agitated at certain parts of the scores. After playing the flute she practiced her sword and her new technique, [3 Movements of the Water Lotus] until she worked up a sweat.
After that she went into the hot springs and had been bathing for quite a while until she was interrupted by a knocking on the door and the entering of a maid.
"Miss Zhengqiu, Grandmaster Zhen would like to see you in his personal quarters, please come and see him quickly as to not keep him waiting"
Hearing what the maid had to say, Shen Zhengqiu felt quite agitated but she nonetheless obeyed as she doesn't have the strength not to.
Arriving at his room she knocked on the door and waited until she heard a soft 'mm' sound and the opened it. What greeted her eyes was an old man with long gray hair who was busy stirring a pot using some strange technique that gave off colourful fumes. When he saw her he immediately stopped what he was doing and looked at her with even more excitement in his eyes.
Standing up abruptly before Shen Zhengqiu could even react, he forcefully knocked her out. Looking at the pretty young girl in his arms he sighed. He began taking off her clothes and was very attracted by what he saw but it only made him sigh further. She was starting to develop into a young woman very nicely, she had fair supple skin and had started to grow hair in certain places. He only looked at her for a little bit before bringing her to his pot, or rather his Alchemical Furnace.
Putting her into the bubbling furnace he couldn't help but have a regretful thought. 'Sigh.. if it weren't because of me needing you for this pill, I would have certainly taken you as my little wife...'