Chapter 22: Exchanging knowledge
In the end, Ruan Yanxi succumbed to White's badgering. He ordered to stay aside while he tried to remember the movements of his sword. White agreed and sat with his legs crossed under a nearby tree. Ruan Yanxi ignored White's stare and swung his swords. At first, it was a random move but slowly his body recalled the practiced moves. He closed his eyes and let his muscle memories guide him. His ears no longer picked up any noise besides the swinging of the sword. With each swing, his mind sunk deeper and deeper. A tingling familiarity brushed him.
A flash of memory.
Peach blossom petals.
Ruins of the past.
"The core of our sword …"
Ruan Yanxi opened his eyes as he completed his sword movements. He tried to cling to that familiar scene. That day-
Clap! Clap!
"Marvelous," White said, clapping.
Ruan Yanxi glared at White. "I remembered something."
"This quick?"
"Yes but your interruption scattered it away."
"My bad."
Ruan Yanxi huffed. "Come here, let's see how bad you are."
"That's not the right attitude, master." White stood up and rested the sword on his right shoulder. "You should give positive encouragements."
"You don't need it."
As Ruan Yanxi expected White was abysmal at using a sword. He didn't have a solid stance and he couldn't even hold the sword properly. Ruan Yanxi sighed. "We need to start from the basics." And so Ruan Yanxi spent the entire morning trying and failing to teach sword basics to White. White kept making the same mistakes and Ruan Yanxi kept fixing him.
Ruan Yanxi narrowed his eyes. "Are you taking this seriously or not?"
"I'm trying," White whined. "I'm sorry that I'm not a genius like you."
"Let's take a break, the two of us won't make any more progress today." Ruan Yanxi returned their swords to their place. Not long after, Xiao Kanque and Nea finished their class and visited them.
"Let's go to the canteen," Xiao Kanque said. "Nothing is better than a full meal after a tiring workout."
The canteen was even more crowded than yesterday. It was as if they entered an ant nest. They had to push past and slipped through countless bodies. Worse, almost all of the disciples were covered in sweat. They could only order a small meal before they had to escape. There were no empty tables so they found a cozy place under a tree where the wind blew.
"You know I don't get why your sect is so welcoming," Nea said as she chewed on her meat bun. "Teaching your sect sword technique to an outsider like me."
Xiao Kanque said, "It's mainly because you're the sect leader's daughter. Uh, this is supposed to be a secret but like many secrets, everyone ends up knowing this."
"That's good then," Nea said. "Do you know where my other companions go? I haven't seen them since yesterday."
"I heard from my father that they already left the clan."
Nea clicked her tongue. "Bastard."
"Are we going to have sword class again after this?" White asked.
"We're going to have array class after this," Xiao Kanque replied. "Qing Yang Sect believe that every disciple should at least grasp the basics of every path. Though most of our time will be focused on the martial path."
White smiled at Ruan Yanxi. "Great, this time I'll be the one to teach you."
Ruan Yanxi merely drank his tea.
The sealing class was held at a hall near the library. It was an open hall, surrounded by a lotus pond. Fishes swam in the clear water. The guiding elder, an old man with a long white beard, greeted them. "Does any of you understand the array art?"
"I can," White said.
"Not me," Nea said.
Ruan Yanxi shook his head.
"Don't worry about this guy." White nudged Ruan Yanxi with his elbow. "I'll be the one to help him."
"You can take the tools there." The elder pointed to the shelves where the array-making tools were stored and put his attention to Nea.
White wasn't bothered by the dismissive attitude of the elder. Allowing their stay at the sect and giving them free roam was already a massive favor. Let them pay attention to Nea, this way he would have more freedom. White took the necessary tools and dragged Ruan Yanxi to an empty desk.
"You never done this before, yes?" White asked.
"It doesn't seem familiar like the sword."
"Here." White gave him the brush and the exercise paper.
"Where's the ink?" Ruan Yanxi asked.
"You don't need them, silly. Let me show you." White drew a simple array into the exercise paper. Inky stroke appeared as he dragged his brush across the blank paper. "You channel your energy into the brush and it will mark it into the paper. Be careful not to use too much."
Ruan Yanxi attempted to make a stroke but nothing came out.
"Too little energy," White said.
Ruan Yanxi tried once again. This time a huge blot of ink appeared the moment his brush touched the paper.
"It's not easy, right?" White smiled.
Ruan Yanxi glanced at White's perfect strokes and then at the horrible mess on his paper.
"Chin up. Many people underestimate the difficulties in array and sealing. It requires precision and control. Most people especially those of martial path tend to use an explosive blast of energy. It is not rare for many to never grasp the basics. Besides using the correct amount of energy, you also need to make perfect strokes and then be able to recreate the complex design in the correct order. But I'm sure a genius like you can do it."
Ruan Yanxi tightened his grip on the brush and made another stroke. It was a wobbly short line.
"Very good," White said. "Be careful not to strain yourself. It may seem that you don't use a lot of energy but it can add up rather quickly."
"Did Saint Yulan taught you this?" Ruan Yanxi asked.
"I never left her side for a long time, I was there when she made many of her works. Later when I could materialize, she forced me to learn this."
"My condolences to her."
"I beg your pardon, I'm a great student."
"Her patience must have been endless."
"She could be a slave-driver. Ugh, one time she put a seal around me so I couldn't escape until I drew 1000 seals. If I hadn't been a divine weapon, I would've died." White sighed and slumped on the desk. "But I can't deny that she's even harder on herself. Very headstrong and idealistic. Never bow down even until the end."
Ruan Yanxi stopped his poor attempts at calligraphy to look at White who was staring off to space. The constant youthful look was gone, replaced with deep-seated sorrow. His bright eyes were shadowed by an untold past. Ruan Yanxi's hand twitched, wanting to comfort yet unsure how.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone