"...Because in the future, you'll be praying to me after I've conquered everything under and above Heaven! You - the stone whet---? Where did it go?"
Ling Yun was lying on the floor in front of him, yet Feng Tian couldn't see him. Why? Well, besides dropping the sword the moment it had been stopped by Qian Mei's finger, Ling Yun had also copied the method with which Qian Mei used to appear unseen.
It involved slowing one's breath such that it integrates into the still air of their surrounding. Furthermore, one had to incorporate their surrounding image into their movement, allowing them to flow with the pictures that painted the environment.
At least that was how Ling Yun saw the method after asking Qian Mei in an arduous journey that involved countless deaths since she only told him snippets of what the method entailed while he lied on death's door. The only reason why she told him something new after each death was because he always tried improving the camouflage method of hers, and she couldn't help but critique his weaknesses.
After memorising her body posture, and enough trial and error, he had finally copied her ability to remain invisible so long as I stayed perfectly still since he wasn't good enough yet to appear unnoticed while moving like she could.
'I'm not hiding. I'm just choosing not to engage in this fruitless endeavour. Why waste my time dying when I could be living?'
Feng Tian pupils sharpened to a point as he picked up the sword and slashed the air in front of him. In Ling Yun's eyes it looked like a grey blur that would've decimated his torso if he was still standing up.
A moment past, before Feng Tian growled, "Am I of such little repute that even a stone whet dares to scurry off when I'm having a conversation." He punctuated the end of his sentence by skewering another man with his sword before sprinting off with an uncanny grace in an effort to find Ling Yun.
Out of sight, out of mind. That situation was finally resolved, but next comes a new trouble. Qian Mei - unlike Feng Tian - was staring directly at Ling Yun. There was no way he could hide from her when it was a move she herself was experienced with. Furthermore, she was a 5 Star Pugilist which meant she could mould the internal energy, also known as qi, that all martial artists above 2 Star used to enhance their attacks and strengthen their body, into her eyes allowing her to pinpoint and see through most illusionary techniques.
The difference between a 3 Star, 4 Star and 5 Star Pugilist is how well they can channel their qi. The denser and finer, the more efficient, faster and stronger the qi flows into their body. This gives them a superhuman boost to their abilities and is what separates the talented from the hard-workers.
"You." With a forceful tone, Qian Mei asked. "How did you learn the Turtle Breathing Meditation Method?"
Ling Yun remained still. To the bystanders, Qian Mei looked like she was talking to herself. Ling Yun didn't want to shatter that illusion lest someone revealed his position. She seemed to realise why he did not move and sighed before yanking him by the collar of his robe and walking slowly through the crowd.
No one seemed to have noticed the extra person being dragged across the ground, and soon enough, anyone else watching lost sight of her as well. Ling Yun was brought outside a small pond in a tranquil area bereft of people. There were a few large tree's shielding them from the heat and several fishes roaming around in the pond.
"Get up and speak."
He complied and stood up whilst patting the dirt off his back. "I copied it from you."
It was an honest answer and one that she didn't expect. That was because Ling Yun had lied three times before, and this was his seventh attempt at speaking to her.
"Oh." Was her reply. She then picked up a fallen twig on the ground and then proceeded to perform a series of actions that involved a thousand tiny steps, and a million more near-imperceptible shifts of the hips, waist, arms and chest. She seemed to attack every single empty space around her yet Ling Yun only saw her move one arm with one twig.
It was like a dance. A sword dance. Ling Yun felt his heart plummet as a gloomy expression weighed down on his mind. He had seen this dance four times already, but only now had he realised that he could only see what she wanted him to see. The whole dance revolved around deceiving with a complex simplicity. To distract opponents with the all too many potential ways their movements can result in a blow.
He didn't consider himself a martial genius as he believed that everything he learnt was due to the fact that he received no repercussions from dying to whoever he stole the move from, yet this rate of learning was simply too slow even for him!
At this point, Qian Mei seemed to have reached a crescendo before pausing all movements and handing Ling Yun the stick. "Show me what you learned."
This was the test that resulted in his last few deaths. He couldn't showcase any of her movements, and even now he couldn't do so. Thus, resigned with another failure, Ling Yun simply answered with the only thing he had learned. "I can't. You didn't show me the actual strike, just what could be the strike."
A puff of air exhaled sharply through her nose as Qian Mei raised the stick. Ling Yun did not look away as he awaited the death blow. However, instead of killing him like she did the previous attempts when he had actually tried to perform one of her movements, she dropped it.
"Your name?"
Ling Yun was startled. She had never asked his name in the previous attempts. "Ling Yun."
"You." She leaned forward and cupped his chin. Pointing his face this and that way, she observed his appearance before saying, "You are mine, Ling Yun."