Once she had caught on to the earnestness in his gaze, the Golden Witch flinched away from eye contact. Her expression turned placating.
"That first move was quite good." Her words were slow and measured. "It was quick and simple."
Bai Guo was downcast by her tenuous praise. "The three steps form a complete set... You're supposed to use them in sequence..."
The next words out of her mouth were much quicker. "Don't use the other two during the tournament."
Bai Guo sighed. "My father taught me these moves... Are they really no good? If an expert like you says so, I suppose it's true..."
"Come on, I said the first one was okay. And it's not like you need more than one."
The young man shook his head. "Surely you jest, master. If I only use one technique, won't I be too predictable?"
"Predictability has nothing to do with it." She replied. "Even if the enemy knows what's coming, your execution of the move should be proficient enough to leave them with no viable recourse. We don't have time to learn a better technique, so we'll have to make do with what we have. That first step of yours seems like it would be the easiest one to get to that point."
"Master..." Bai Guo offered an awkward smile. "While I can certainly imagine that someone of your skill can approach their battles like that, I'm... Well, I'm not like you, so I don't think it's possible for my swordsmanship to ever reach that level, let alone in just a month."
His master stood up with a heavy sigh. Bai Guo felt a tinge of nerves as he watched her gigantic figure approach. She grabbed hold of his hand and gently pried his fingers apart to take his sword.
The Golden Witch imitated the first of Bai Guo's three stances, her sword thrusting out along the water. A fierce gale picked up at the apex of her strike, threatening to put out all their lights. The still waters came to life. A great ripple had been sent across the small lake, and the waters nearly parted completely before the tyrannical might of her blow. Once the force had passed, the water rolled back into the gaps in small waves.
Bai Guo's heart beat like a drum as he observed.
"Even if you knew that was coming, what could you do about it?" The blonde woman handed him back the weapon. "The answer is nothing, right? So our first priority is to get you out of that dead end state. Even if, as you say, you can't reach that level, just getting close to it will do you more favors than wasting your time figuring out how to get around the need to get there. If you're looking for those kinds of tricks and shortcuts, sorry, I can't teach you any. And it's not that I'm greedy; I just don't know them."
The golden eyes glinted in the dim light as they observed him. "One mastered technique will serve you better than a dozen that only work as tools with which to surprise. That's why it's so necessary to ensure that your technique of choice is worth the full commitment of your time. And I'll just say it bluntly - none of your techniques are good enough. But since we have only a month to work with, we have to make the most of what we have."
Bai Guo bowed. "This disciple is in your hands, master!"
The Golden Witch waved her long sleeves. "Sheathe your sword and take a seat."
The white robed woman loomed over him, circling around him. Bai Guo felt her finger prodding into his back. She drew lines across his body, making brief stops to call out the name of a particular pressure point. She'd done it again and again, until she demonstrated 9 pathways along his back and 5 across his chest.
Bai Guo found it difficult to concentrate under her touch, but he'd done his best to memorize what he was being taught.
When her hand was gone, she spoke again. "Now, repeat after me..."
She droned out a sequence of complicated, borderline incoherent phrases. The Golden Witch had taken her time to ensure that Bai Guo memorized every last word. The young man's only saving grace was that the scripture she chanted mentioned the meridians that she had pointed out to him, and he used that to guide his memory.
"Now, take a deep breath and circulate your internal energy according to the instructions I just gave you."
The cavern had gone silent. It had taken the better part of an hour before the young man made something resembling progress, which he had only managed to recognize as such by the strange warmth suddenly coursing through the upper half of his body. Just as he felt emboldened enough to pursue that sensation, he felt his master jabbing him in the back once more, this time with far more strength than before. Bai Guo's body went limp, and he crumbled to the ground.
"Wrong!" His master chastised. "Are you trying to cripple yourself? Repeat what I told you!"
With half his face pressed against the stone floor, Bai Guo did as he was told, and repeated the entire passage. Only after he was done had the Golden Witch cured his paralysis with another poke.
"But I don't get it, master..." The young man grumbled.
"If you don't understand something, just ask!"
But as he started with his questions, the Golden Witch quickly ran out of patience and began to raise her voice. Their discussion sounded more like a one-sided debate. It had taken a considerable time before Bai Guo felt that his confusions had been dispelled enough for him to try again.
But before long, his concentration was once again crudely interrupted by the woman above him.
"You're doing it again! What sense does it make that I can feel the flow of your internal energy better than you? Repeat the passage!"
Their training continued in that fashion for a few hours more, at which point the Golden Witch decided to call it a day.
Somehow, the master seemed even more tense than the disciple. She tried to relieve some of that tension with a long sigh.
"Tomorrow, first thing in the morning, you'll continue practicing the breathing method until noon. Then you will drill your father's technique for four hours. After that, we will learn combat together 'til night."
Bai Guo was greatly worried by her words. "Master, don't you think that's a little extreme? The breathing exercises are one thing, but I can't swing a sword for four hours straight! My arms are gonna fall off! And you want me to keep going after that? And when will I even eat?"
Her brows creased in annoyance, but she did ponder some of his words. "Right, you do need to eat... Well, don't worry about that. I'll bring you your meals."
"...And everything else?"
"By hook or by crook, even if your arms really do fall off, you'll just have to get it done. We'll be following this schedule every day until the tournament." She turned away, a hand brushing through her long hair. "You seriously stand no chance if you can't even put up with this much. Don't get complacent - just because you're as old as the tournament rules allow doesn't mean that you'll be at an advantage. In this tournament, I wouldn't be surprised to discover kids younger than you yet far stronger."
Bai Guo, feeling his own frustrations mounting, exhaled sharply and left it at that. The exercise that amounted to little more than sitting around had left him surprisingly exhausted. He welcomed the warm embrace of his soft bed and fell into a deep sleep in the blink of an eye.
...And his blissful rest, too, lasted for what felt like no more than a moment. He wasn't sure when exactly he had noticed his master's yellow eyed figure peering down on him, because he couldn't recall her saying a single word to wake him up. Though it was early, well before first light, they set about their plan for the day.
Bai Guo was allowed to cultivate for hardly more than a few minutes at a time before his master would unceremoniously stop him by sealing one of his meridians. And every time it happened, the Golden Witch showered him with verbal abuse.
Ever since yesterday, the aloof and mysterious master he had gotten so used to over the course of their travels had undergone a sudden transformation into a cruel taskmaster. He wondered what prompted such a change in character, but was too afraid to ask, and instead focused on the training.
After the breathing exercises concluded, the Golden Witch had briefly taken her leave. She returned with a large tray of meats and dumplings.
"They don't serve that at the inn we're staying at..." Bai Guo suspiciously noted even as he was practically drooling. "And there's so much... Where did you get these? How much did it cost?"
"You should perhaps consider using that mouth of yours to eat instead."
The disciple hadn't had it in him to argue; the training blessed him with a ferocious appetite. Even though the tray had been carried through the cold winter air, the food retained its heat. He wolfed it down faster than he expected. He then ran back to the registration office and received a round wooden token upon which were written the words "Kunlun Preliminaries," as well as an identification document to prove his successful application.
Then came the allotted hours for practicing the first of the Fifteen Heroic Sword Steps. Predictably, by the end, Bai Guo felt like his arms were made of lead.
"I'm surprised I managed to last to the end at all." The young man thought to himself. "Must be because of all the exercises that master forced me to go through on our way to the Five Venoms Devil."
The Golden Witch armed herself with a stick roughly the length of Bai Guo's sword. "Now we'll put what you've been drilling into practice. I'll let you go first."
"...What exactly are we doing, master?"
She pointed at him with the stick. "Free sparring. Attack me."
"How exactly should I go about that, master...?"
The Golden Witch only smiled at him strangely.
Bai Guo felt compelled to keep talking. "I can perform the First Step, but that's not really the same thing as actually fighting for real, right? I'm just not very experienced with combat, master... I don't really know how to attack or defend properly, so shouldn't you teach me first?"
"You foolish disciple," She teased. "There's nothing I can teach you. You have to learn on your own and develop your own style."
"Okay... okay..." Bai Guo nervously glanced around. "Did you get me a stick, master?"
"Just use your sword."
"I'm not coming at you with live steel!" Bai Guo exclaimed. "What if you get hurt?"
The Golden Witch sputtered for a moment before erupting into laughter so fierce that she began clutching at her stomach.
Bai Guo had never seen his master laugh so fervently, so closely bordering on outright hysterics. His face burned with shame and twisted with anger.
"If that happens," The Golden Witch managed to force out through her wheezing. "If that happens, then I'll become your disciple, how about that?"
Finally reaching his limit, the young man suddenly rushed at her, sword in hand. He began a swing, intending to just give her a scare. But unexpectedly, Bai Guo's vision filled with wood. He ran full speed into the end of her stick, which turned out to be as sturdy as a post, and nearly fell to the ground from the unexpected impact.
Bai Guo heard her voice as he struggled to regain his wits. "You'd get to order me around..."
Seething with frustration, he struck at her improvised weapon. To his surprise, the keen edge of his father's sword couldn't cut through it, like he had just pressed a blunt knife against a great oak.
"...And make me wash your dirty laundry..." As she kept narrating, their weapons pressed against each other. The clash had ended in an instant when the Golden Witch rallied her strength and pushed him back with a slight flex of the arm, very nearly sending her disciple tumbling over.
"...And do all the camp chores..." By some miracle the young man maintained his footing. Bai Guo's next strike was made in earnest. The white robed figure of his master flickered like a pale shadow, and his sword passed cleanly through her as if she was a mirage.
"Yeah, right! Keep dreaming!" Her voice came directly beside him. She swung her hip into his side. Bai Guo felt like he'd been struck by a battering ram. All the air fled from his lungs, and, to his continued humiliation, this was the attack that finally sent him crashing to the floor.
"Okay, you made your point!" Bai Guo yelled as he made his way back to his feet. But the woman kept grinning ear to ear, and he found her smug expression utterly unbearable. So overwhelmed was he by the urge to be taken seriously that he had nearly forgotten the pain wracking his arms.