Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
âThis woman definitely didnât create this sword skill. If she had, she wouldnât be using it so angrily and allowing me to notice the unifying thread.â Han Sen was happy to learn this. That being said, he noticed it was only one branch of the greater trunk of the skill.
This thread, the particular moveset he was tracking, was like the starting point of a ball of twine. From this, Han Sen could unravel it all, bit by bit, and get to the core of what lay under the hood of the skill.
But it wasnât easy, and the fight between sword and umbrella had cost Han Sen a lot of blood. Although the fight was going much better for the woman than it was for him, that didnât quell the fire of excitement that burned in his heart.
And now, as the fight continued to rage, the secrets of her techniques unraveled. His understanding was increasing as they fought. It was very lucky for Han Sen to discover a skill that suited him so well, with his mastery of the Dongxuan Sutra and Heavenly Go.
The Dongxuan Sutra and Heavenly Go werenât lethal attacks. They applied to the userâs versatility and movement. Han Sen had always wanted to find a hyper geno art that went well with these two techniques.
Now, seeing this womanâs skills, he giddily concluded that his desire was about to be fulfilled. Once he learned the skill, it would only require small modifications. After that, itâd fit his usage of the Dongxuan Sutra and Heavenly Go like a glove.
It was like cooking, he thought. The Dongxuan Sutra and Heavenly Go were like cooking techniques that allowed for the preparation of delicious food.
But to formulate a feast, you needed ingredients. You couldnât have a feast with just rice on offer.
The womanâs sword skill was a bounty of different ingredients, all of the highest quality. With the cooking skills of the Dongxuan Sutra and Heavenly Go, whatever he produced was sure to be momentous.
Although the woman fought hard, he suspected there was a note of restraint in her movements. It didnât seem as if she wanted to kill him.
If she explicitly wanted to kill him, he wouldnât have lasted against her with his unfinished Heart Sword.
And if the woman had truly wanted Han Sen dead, he wouldnât have stuck to making use of Heart Sword, either. His Double Fly was not as complicated as her skill, but its simplicity meant he could fight and challenge her almost as an equal.
The woman noticed Han Senâs simmering excitement as they fought, despite the injuries he had incurred. She was surprised, and his unexpected reaction made her anger subside a little.
And then, all of a sudden, she noticed the sword skills Han Sen was employing had changed. The skills he was now using were similar to the ones she employed herself.
The woman was shocked. âHe is practically making use of Ghost Sword! Ghost Sword Priest was the very first swordmaster of the Elysium. He spent a thousand years crafting the basis of this technique, and he spent many more years modifying it further. When Ghost Sword Priest taught me, it took me an entire year just to get a handle on it. How is this human learning it so swiftly?â
The woman could not allow herself to believe Han Sen was actually using Ghost Sword, but after some time passed, the expression on her face become more and more complicated.
She couldnât let herself believe that he was using Ghost Sword, but his moves had echoed her own for so long, it was unmistakably similar.
Han Sen was replicating the womanâs precise techniques shortly after she used them.
To make things worse, she realized that Han Sen was not only copying her, but performing the very same skill to an even better degree.
It wasnât that Han Sen had changed the core skill; it was just that when Han Sen used Ghost Sword, his timings were far more precise and his accuracy and precision were flawless.
Han Sen had been losing, but when he started making use of her skill, he fared much better. They were locked in a stalemate, as far as she could tell.
The woman was in absolute shock. She finally accepted that Han Sen was indeed using Ghost Sword and that this was something he had learned directly from her.
âDid you learn a sword skill such as this before our encounter?â the woman asked Han Sen, leaping away from the fight.
âKind of.â Han Sen nodded.
Han Sen had never actually learned Ghost Sword, of course, but he could replicate the primal essence of the skill. Through his proficiency with Heavenly Go and the Dongxuan Sutra, he was able to learn Ghost Sword with relative ease. He just had to get to grips with the underlying rule and thread that connected it all.
If Han Sen hadnât learned those two, he would never have been able to start casting Ghost Sword in the manner he just had. This wasnât a skill you could just pick up, remember, and use. The complicated movements the skill required were just one of the many bases you had to cover.
The woman looked at Han Sen with a confused expression. She opened her umbrella and spun it.
Han Sen then felt as if something was sucking him. It lasted a while, and when the suction was gone, he found himself standing before the rock. The woman was where she always had been, standing solemnly on a bridge.
âDonât tell Gu Qingcheng you entered the Avoid Worldstone.â The womanâs voice rang out from the stone.
âWho is Gu Qingcheng? Are you referring to that woman?â Han Sen snapped out of his daze and looked straight at the green-clothed woman.
Han Sen knew she wasnât the mystic woman, despite their appearance being nearly identical. They were very different people on the inside.
âDidnât she tell you?â The stone continued to sound with the green-clothed womanâs voice.
âNo. This is the first time Iâve heard her name.â Han Sen stared at the woman in the painting, and after a bit, he asked her, âWho are you, then? Gu Qingchengâs twin sister?â
There was no response. It didnât seem as if she was prepared to answer him.
âThe mystic woman is called Gu Qingcheng? Itâs a name that certainly sounds human. Iâve never heard of a spirit or creature possessing the name Gu. Dark Spirit uses the name Ling and Elysium folk use Ghost, so I donât think Gu is something that would be used by spirits or creatures,â Han Sen reckoned to himself.
âWho is the green-clothed woman, then? Is she a sister or a straight-up doppelganger of Gu Qingcheng? Or is she just a spirit inside a painting? And why wonât she let me tell Gu Qingcheng I entered the painting?â Han Senâs mind was filled with a number of questions. He continued to look at the green-clothed woman, but she was still facing away from him.