While Wu Ling dealt with matters in the Bamboo Silk House and worked to recover from Hall Master Bian Xing's painful lessons, Su Xiang faced her own set of challenges in the Shining Blade Hall.
"Junior Sister Su," a rich baritone voice rumbled across the training yard, pulling Su Xiang out of her focused practice. The man who called out to her towered over most of the junior disciples in the training yard, standing over two meters tall with broad powerful shoulders and a thick barrel-shaped torso. The heavy two-handed sword he carried at his waist weighed as much as a cask of wine and the thick meaty hand resting on its pommel was large enough to crush the skull of most men.
"Elder Guang wishes to speak with you, please follow me." His words were phrased politely but the powerful man's tone made it clear that he expected obedience.
"Yes Warden Niu," Su Xiang said, bowing briefly to her sparring partner before hurrying after the departing Warden. "Did Elder Guang say why he wanted to speak with me?" Su Xiang asked once she'd caught up to the towering swordsman.
"No," Warden Niu said flatly. "Be glad it's Elder Guang summoning you and not Elder Chengfa. You keep poor company lately," he scolded. "Don't think it hasn't gone unnoticed."
"Why would Elder Chengfa want to see me about how I spend my time outside the sect?" Su Xiang asked as she grew increasingly concerned about this summons. Elder Chengfa managed the Hall of Radiance in this branch of the sect and he carried responsibility for enforcing the sect's rules on its disciples. Light infractions might be punished with confinement or strikes with a lash but Elder Chengfa long had a reputation of being extra harsh on disciples the first time they were called before him. While many sects offered lenience to disciples the first time they strayed from the path, Elder Chengfa believed that a harsh punishment the first time would ensure that there was no second time.
"I've broken no rules of the sect," Su Xiang asserted. "And Brother Ling hasn't done anything that makes contact with him a crime."
"He hasn't yet," Warden Niu said. "Yet. Seeing him isn't forbidden, it's simply unwise. You should reconsider how you spend your time, Junior Sister Su," he warned sternly. "For now, Elder Guang is waiting," he said, gesturing to the heavy doors of a training hall.
Inside, the walls were lined with dull practice blades of varying lengths, weights, and styles. The stone floor of the training hall had been worn smooth by centuries of disciple's feet whether they moved steadily through structured practice or fought in unstructured practice bouts. Stone pillars at regular intervals not only held up the high vaulted ceiling of the training hall but carried intricate patterns of spirit crystals in formations that protected disciples from serious injuries and prevented any wayward energy from damaging the hall itself.
At the opposite end of the hall, a raised platform held a row of five seats, only the center one of which was currently occupied. Elder Guang De had been a fixture at this branch of the Shining Blade Hall for more than two centuries, despite which, his long dark hair held only a few traces of steely silver at his temples and in his well-trimmed mustache. Thick brows sat over warm eyes accompanied by many laugh lines and his mustache twitched as a smile blossomed on his face when he saw Su Xiang following Warden Niu.
"Disciple Su, it's good to see you," Elder Guang greeted warmly when she and Warden Niu bowed in greeting. "I'm told that the mission you undertook in the mountains was not only successful but fruitful in unlocking your progress. Is that true?"
"Yes Elder Guang," Su Xiang said humbly. "Thanks to Brother Ling's help, we were able to overcome several strong opponents and I found my way forward."
"Show me," the smiling elder said, standing from his chair and striding to the middle of the training hall. "Hold nothing back," he added, summoning a thin bamboo switch from his spacial ring and assuming a relaxed posture.
Drawing her sword, Su Xiang hesitated before making an actual move. None of the Sect Elders were easy opponents and despite his relaxed posture, there was no obvious opening for her to exploit. Power gathered in her sapphire eyes as they began to glow faintly in the dim light of the training hall. If there were no openings, she would have to create them!
The sword in her hand flashed in twin arcs unleashing her fastest Flying Crescents toward the waiting Elder. She'd all but given up on the technique as anything more than a bridging move, something to occupy her enemy's attention while she closed the gap to get into range where she could do real damage. In a flicker of light, she vanished from the spot she'd been standing on and reappeared several meters closer to Elder Guang before flickering again, and a third time to draw into range of the Elder.
As she'd expected, the flying crescents accomplished nothing. Elder Guang flicked out twice with his bamboo switch shattering each of them before Su Xiang's gleaming blade arrived, thrusting directly at his face. Despite the power and speed of her thrust, Guang De only took a small step back, floating just centimeters beyond the tip of her blade. Again and again, Su Xiang swung, faster and faster with each shining arc of her blade, but no matter how hard she pursued him, Guang De stayed just out of reach.
"Enough," he said after several minutes of allowing Su Xiang to chase him around the training hall. "Your sword has speed and precision, that's good," he praised. "Your eyes are sharp and your feet are swift, you should be proud of these things too."
"They aren't enough," she said, panting to regain her breath. "Against a strong foe, they aren't enough."
"You're right. Why aren't they?" Elder Guang asked, peering at the young woman with a sharper gaze than he'd held previously. "Why aren't you good enough?"
"Elder has mistaken my words," Su Xiang said, standing up straighter. "My sword is fast and precise. My eyes are sharp and my feet are swift. These are things you said are true," she continued, bringing her breathing back under control. "I said that it isn't enough to have these things against a strong foe. I didn't say that I'm not good enough."
"Oh? And you think you are good enough to defeat a strong foe? Could you defeat Warden Niu?" Elder Guang asked, gesturing for the burly Warden to come forward.
"Not by myself Elder Guang," Su Xiang said humbly. "Alone, against someone like Warden Niu, I should run. I shouldn't fight him without allies and a plan. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, my weaknesses would make it difficult to overcome his strengths."
"That's where you're wrong, Disciple Su," Elder Guang said with a shake of his head. "Your weakness is irrelevant in overcoming Warden Niu's strengths. The problem is that the things in which you are strong aren't sufficient to overwhelm his strengths. He has an advantage of reach but if you're fast enough, that doesn't matter. His body is as hard as the armored hide of a rhinoceros, but if your sword is precise enough, you can pierce his unarmored eyes, cut his tendons, and otherwise cripple him. You should have eyes that see the truth in my words. Is it your weakness that stops you from defeating him or is it your lack of strength?"
"Both," Su Xiang said. "My weakness limits me. Against Warden Niu, I'd have to constantly be on guard for his attacks. Anything I couldn't evade or deflect would be so devastating that I would struggle to recover. That's a consequence of my weaker body. I have to remember that weakness when I try to exploit his weaknesses, and I have to compensate for it or he'll exploit my weakness."
"So how do you intend to compensate for your weakness?" Guang De asked sharply. "By running to your allies? Will you turn to Yun Ling to do what you cannot?"
"Wu Ling is my sworn brother," Su Xiang said, instantly on guard against the direction the conversation had taken. Not only had Elder Guang's tone become much sharper, Warden Niu had shifted as well, settling into a position from which he could readily draw his blade. "When either of us needs the other, we will be there for each other. This is what it means to have a sworn sibling," she stated, her voice flat and smooth as still water even while her heart began to race like a runaway horse.
"That's a disappointing answer, Disciple Su," Elder Guang said, all traces of laughter fading from his eyes. "Perhaps this opportunity isn't for you after all."