When Bai Luan arrived at the The training place, the afternoon sun was casting mottled shadows through the exquisite leaves. Before long, he found Yanqing.
After reaching the spot, he didn't rush forward. Instead, he found a quiet corner at the turn of the corridor and began to observe with great interest.
March 7th had already changed into Xianzhou attire and received her twin swords. Now, her eyes were clear—one could even say clear to the point of being somewhat dazed—as she listened to Yanqing explain basic sword forms.
Beside Yanqing, Yunli stood with her arms crossed, occasionally interjecting with a cold remark.
"Lower your wrist by another three points."
Just as Yanqing finished speaking, Yunli opened her mouth.
"Two points is enough. Too low makes it difficult to change moves."
Yanqing turned his head, his tone serious.
"If you teach her that way, she will definitely be stiff when connecting to the next form."
"Miss Yunli, what I am teaching is the standard form."
"Standards are dead, but people are alive."
The two of them went back and forth like this, exchanging brief barbs before turning their heads away, neither willing to yield.
But when March 7th truly made a mistake, both would call out corrections almost simultaneously. Then they would glance at each other, the atmosphere becoming subtle.
After analyzing the key points, it was time for tedious, repetitive practice.
As a complete novice, March 7th had so many flaws that Yanqing had to call a halt almost every three breaths.
"Don't raise your elbows... relax your shoulders... your footsteps! Your footsteps are wrong; it's left foot forward, right foot back. Don't move the same hand and foot together..."
March 7th was in a flurry, fine beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She kept muttering "left front, right back" and "keep the wrist steady," but she still made mistakes.
This reminded Bai Luan of the university military training videos he had seen.
Yanqing, however, was extremely patient and not at all dismissive. Besides his naturally responsible nature, Bai Luan could see a subtle sense of competition in the way his eyes occasionally flicked toward Yunli—he clearly didn't want to lose when it came to teaching a disciple.
Watching the show from the sidelines was quite interesting.
After watching for about fifteen minutes, Yanqing stepped back a few paces and signaled for Yunli to take over.
He breathed a sigh of relief, his gaze sweeping across the courtyard, and finally spotted Bai Luan leisurely watching from under the corridor.
"Mr. Bai Luan?"
Yanqing walked over quickly, an apologetic look on his face.
"I was so focused on correcting Miss March's movements that I didn't realize you had arrived. How rude of me."
"It's fine."
Bai Luan smiled.
"A strict teacher produces a fine student. I think you're teaching quite well."
Yanqing scratched the back of his head, looking a bit embarrassed.
"It's also Yanqing's first time being a teacher. I only hope to live up to Miss March's seriousness..."
He stopped mid-sentence, his gaze lingering on Bai Luan for a moment.
"Sir, these clothes... they seem different from usual?"
"Oh? This?"
Bai Luan raised his hand, looked at his clothes, and explained casually.
"I changed into them for work purposes."
"Is it to film the promotional video for the Luofu?"
"Uh... besides that factor, there's also the requirements of my work as an assistant... Cough, anyway, let's not mention that. I just changed clothes for a bit of a fresh look."
"It certainly feels quite different from before..."
"Alright, let's stop talking about clothes. Yanqing, I have something else to discuss with you."
He explained his purpose, asking if there were any young talents on the Luofu who were of similar age to Yanqing and possessed excellent sword skills to spar with him.
Yanqing thought seriously for a moment, his brow gradually furrowing, before finally giving a bitter smile.
"It's not that Yanqing is arrogant... but among my peers on the Luofu, there really is no such person."
Bai Luan stared at Yanqing for a while, then smiled and couldn't help teasing.
"You say no one among your peers on the Luofu can match you, yet you were worried before about whether you could handle the responsibility of defending the stage."
Hearing this, Yanqing smiled sheepishly.
"Mr. Bai Luan praises me too much. Yanqing is far from being as excellent as you say."
Since even Yanqing couldn't think of a suitable candidate, it seemed there really wasn't anyone appropriate on the Luofu.
This also indirectly reflected how much pressure JingYuan was carrying on his own.
If there were a few more disciples like Yanqing, life would at least have more to look forward to.
So... how should he solve the problem of his promotional video?
Change his approach?
Or find a way to get some powerful outside help?
Bai Luan reviewed his social circle, trying to pick out a few people he knew who were similar in age to Yanqing and had a comparable level of strength.
Hmm... where am I going to find another sword genius for an exhibition match... Forget it, I took on this job, so I'll finish it even if I have to grit my teeth.
Isn't it just an exhibition match?
Leave it there!
Let me do it!
Bai Luan looked at Yanqing and proposed.
"Yanqing, how about I go up and have a match with you, how about it?"
"Mr. Bai Luan...?"
Yanqing looked Bai Luan up and down, puzzled.
"Does Mr. Bai Luan also know the sword?"
In response to Yanqing's confusion, Bai Luan shook his head and pointed at March 7th, who was receiving guidance from Yunli behind Yanqing.
"In this regard, I'm about the same as March. But it doesn't matter; I can learn. It's just an exhibition match, not a real competition."
Bai Luan smiled.
"The audience watches for the spectacle, not the technicalities. I only need to learn enough in a short time to have a match with you that looks exciting—that shouldn't be difficult."
And so, Bai Luan also joined the ranks of those learning the sword.
However, his goal wasn't to step onto the stage for a competition, but to hone his sword skills as quickly as possible to a level where he could perform an exhibition match that both experts and laymen could enjoy.
After all, the audience going to watch the Martial Arts Ceremony wouldn't all be experts; most would be there for the spectacle.
Similarly, the audience watching the Martial Arts Ceremony promotional video would be the same.
The core purpose of the promotional video was to pique interest and get more people to watch the matches, not to showcase the full strength of both sides as much as possible.
To put it simply, for the actual competition, fighting well is far more important than looking good, but for a promotional video, looking good is far more important than fighting well.
Therefore, he didn't really need to raise his sword skills to be on par with Yanqing; as long as it looked passable, it would be fine.
With the Little Black Room,
this wouldn't take much time.
The only thing to worry about was not putting too much pressure on March 7th, who was practicing nearby.
Bai Luan decided to only show his true learning progress to Yanqing and not display too much in front of March 7th.
It wouldn't be good if he accidentally shattered March 7th's heart.
Yanqing explained to Yunli why Bai Luan was joining.
Yunli looked at Bai Luan with a scrutinizing gaze.
She wasn't like Yanqing, who would teach just anyone. If Bai Luan wasn't worth teaching, she would...
Bai Luan noticed Yunli's gaze and pulled out some candied haws.
The scrutinizing gaze vanished.
Bai Luan looked at Yunli, who was eating the candied haws with a satisfied expression.
Even if she could swing that old iron heavy sword, she was still just a child who could swing an old iron heavy sword.
Although Bai Luan didn't officially become a disciple, Yanqing still gave him a sword, just as he had for March 7th.
"Yanqing remembers that when Mr. Bai Luan first came to the Xianzhou, you were very interested in sword, so Yanqing chose to give you this one."
Bai Luan took it. The color scheme of this sword matched his current attire, primarily black with gold accents; it looked excellent.
"What is this sword called?"
"It was forged in a hurry and hasn't been named yet."
"Since the color is mostly black, then let's call it—"
He's not going to call it Little Black, is he?
Seeing Bai Luan's casual manner, and with an example right beside him who called her beloved sword "Old Mettle," this thought uncontrollably popped into Yanqing's head.
"Not White."
The pitch-black one shall be called Not White.
"...It really is a name that fits the sword."
Bai Luan casually swung Not White in his hand, feeling the compatibility. Finding it quite good, he nodded with satisfaction.
"Thank you, Yanqing."
"It's nothing. Consider it a small return for Mr. Bai Luan curing the General."
Bai Luan smiled. He knew Yanqing was referring to him extracting the Mara-Struck from Jing Yuan's body.
It was just a small favor.
Immediately after, Bai Luan looked at Not White in his hand, and a flash of curiosity suddenly crossed his mind.
Although Xianzhou weapons still looked like cold steel on the outside, they were actually full of high-tech secret ingredients.
He suddenly really wanted to see the internal structure.
Bai Luan raised the sword in his hand,
and began to analyze it.
The Not White sword in Bai Luan's hand suddenly began to tremble, then abruptly disassembled into a pile of components.
Yanqing: ?
However, the second after Not White had disassembled into components, all the parts began to return to their places, reassembling into Not White.
Yanqing: ¿
Everything happened so fast that Yanqing thought it was an illusion.
Bai Luan looked at Not White in his hand and nodded in understanding.
So that's how it's constructed.