The shout Li Yao heard was naturally a sound transmission.
The Sect Master, seeing her lost in thought, gave her a warning as she was about to be hurt.
The moment she heard the voice, Li Yao instantly focused; She saw the blade headed her way and the dreadfully sharp Sword Qi wrapped around it.
If this attack were to strike true, she would undoubtedly be defeated and heavily injured at best. At worst, this attack could take her life in an instant.
This is why it was so dreadful to face Sword Qi; It could only be countered by another form of Sword Qi and cut through all other obstacles, be they weapons, techniques or bodies.
Li Yao's body turned tense and she flashed to the side, narrowly avoiding Zhang Baichi's attack.
She was lucky, as the Sect Master's shout roused her early enough.
Not missing a beat, Zhang Baichi turned on the spot, smoothly transitioning from one attack to another in a never-ending stream.
Li Yao didn't have time to rest as the attacks gave her no chance but to continuously dodge.
Her eyes were filled with shock and disbelief, as Zhang Baichi was utilizing Sword Qi even more freely than she was. His every attack contained incredible power and he seemed to never tire.
For her, and everyone else who cultivated a Sword Technique that focused on integrating man and sword into one through physical training, utilizing Sword Qi was incredibly difficult.
Yet, for Zhang Baichi, who was cultivating an Intent-focused Sword Technique, Sword Qi was just a necessity, something that came naturally with every movement as long as his comprehension was deep enough.
It was a fundamental difference, that couldn't be overcome when two people had similar levels of strength.
Zhang Baichi finally felt this difference for the first time and was secretly delighted that he chose to train the Fractured Star Sword Technique; The superiority over other techniques that solely trained the body was crystal clear!
For a short while, Zhang Baichi chased Li Yao across the training field, the trail of stardust created by the lingering Sword Qi trailing behind the two of them the whole time.
Bit by bit, the whole training area was filled with Sword Qi and by now Zhang Baichi's every move caused the two old men more and more shock.
While chasing Li Yao, he seemed to paint a picture of the endless starry sky with Sword Qi, beautiful yet dreadful and terrifying.
They could not comprehend how Zhang Baichi could wield Sword Qi so freely, how he could paint with it like a brush, nor how his Technique could be so profound and ever-changing.
A few moves later, Zhang Baichi stopped his pursuit and came to a slow halt. He looked at Li Yao, whose eyes flashed.
She was out of breath, but the opportunity she was waiting for had finally come.
However, before she could make a move, the Sect Master's voice sounded out from behind her. "That's enough."
"Huh?", Li Yao stumbled and looked at the Sect Master with a blank expression; She didn't understand why he was stopping her.
He looked at the training field with a blazing passion in his eyes, then looked at Li Yao with an apologetic expression and shook his head. "Look around."
Confused, Li Yao followed his orders and turned around. The beautiful white mist that surrounded Zhang Baichi's sword was lingering all around the training grounds, painting a picturesque landscape.
For a moment, Li Yao was once again mesmerized, but her face soon turned ghostly pale.
Every single one of those beautiful lights was made of Sword Qi and every bit of it was sharp enough to cut the air around it.
She was completely trapped in the field of Sword Qi and, not matter where she moved now, she would only suffer injuries.
This beautiful landscape was a nefarious deathtrap, yet there was not an ounce of danger to be felt from it.
Her head snapped around, facing Zhang Baichi in shock. If the boy had wanted to defeat her- no, even if he had wanted to kill her, she wouldn't have had the time to react.
A shudder run down her spine and cold sweat formed on her face.
Zhang Baichi stood a few steps away from her, Sword Qi lingering around him, his sword and the area, while the Black Heaven Qi blazed around his body, giving him a devilish appearance.
His current haggard look coupled with the black Qi surrounding him painted a stark contrast. Coupled with his indifferent eyes, he looked evil and malicious.
"I- I admit- admit defeat.", Li Yao stammered, her whole body shaking now.
This was terrifying to her! She had the feeling that she could die at any moment. Zhang Baichi was truly to terrifying!
Hearing her words, Zhang Baichi let out a long breath and the Qi surrounding him retracted back into his body.
With his intent to fight gone, the Sword Qi around his sword vanished as well and the Sword Qi lingering in the area lightly fell to the ground like dust before vanishing like snow melting in the sun.
It only took moments for the phenomenon created by the Fractured Star Sword Technique to cease like it had never existed to begin with.
Yet, as swordsmen, the two old man and Li Yao couldn't forget what they had seen.
The Sect Master was deep in thought. A Sword Technique like Zhang Baichi's had never before been seen in the Fleeting Storm Sword Sect and was definitely not one that could be found in the Outer Sect.
'It must have come from the outside, which is a bit problematic.', the man looked at Zhang Baichi, still deep in thought.
Still, remembering what Jian Fu had told him, this might very well be the inheritance of the elusive Martial Emperor…
"Kid.", he addressed Zhang Baichi in a neutral tone. "Can you tell me what the Sword Technique is called?"
Zhang Baichi heaved a sigh of relief. Just asking for the name was no problem. If the Sect Master wanted the Technique, he could have just told Zhang Baichi to hand it over.
'Telling him the name shouldn't be a problem…', Zhang Baichi thought for a second, then nodded his head. "It's called the Fractured Star Sword Technique.'
"Fractured Star Sword Technique…", the Sect Master muttered. "Moving the stars to follow the sword and hiding unfathomable strength within the beauty of the starry skies… A good name for a truly powerful Sword Technique."
'This is just the entry level of the most basic foundational technique, though…', Zhang Baichi thought, not daring to voice his thoughts, of course.
He turned around, to the old man, Jian Fu, who was staring at him with a blazing passion in his eyes. Zhang Baichi's eyes shook, but he still decided to change the topic.
"Senior, can you tell me about what's going to on now?", he spoke in a flat tone, already holding a grudge against the old man, as he had a feeling that he was being tricked.
The old man smiled embarrassedly, while the Sect Master replied with a passive expression. "He didn't trick you, kid."
Zhang Baichi turned to him, and the Sect Master continued. "I don't have an heir. And my only disciple is Li Yao. So there's no successor to my line. My brother said that he'd find a suitable successor and I gave him three chances after he pestered me for a long time."
"That's what you meant when you said that this is the third time?", Zhang Baichi pieced the puzzle together in his head.
"Yes. It was the third and last time. I told him that he had to find someone who can defeat Li Yao if he wants me to take that person serious.", the Sect Master spoke with hidden pride in his voice.
"Quite devious… To find a disciple in the sect that could beat the Sect Master's personal disciple is… challenging, to say the least.", Zhang Baichi spoke.
The Sect master shrugged. "It was necessary to make those old men of the Lu and Ji families shut up. They tried to pull little Yao into the line of succession. Since she's my only disciple, the one to marry her would naturally become the Sect Master in the future."
Zhang Baichi glanced at the young girl and smiled wryly. "Is that why you said I'd have to wash up and dress nicely if I wanted to marry you?"
Li Yao, still shocked about her battle with Zhang Baichi and somewhat scared of him, nodded her head with a red face, not even daring to meet his gaze.
"This is messed up… She's 12.", Zhang Baichi shook his head and looked at the Sect master again, demanding an explanation.
"Of course, no one would marry her off. It would be an agreement to marry her once she's of age.", the Sect Master smiled, giving Zhang Baichi a strange impression.
"And now you want me to sign that agreement?", he questioned.
The Sect Master's smile widened, and he shrugged. "Having the descendant of the Martial Emperor marry my disciple would indeed be not bad, but… how about you become my disciple instead?"
Zhang Baichi stared at him, lost ion thought. This was what Jian Fu had told him, but… why did it still feel like he was walking into the lion's mouth?