Zhang Xiaotian had left no room for rest these days. He made the most of every hour of his training and advanced rapidly.
With the help of the Drunken Elder, he completed the first chain of movements of his Legacy Technique in three days and finally saw what this technique really meant.
Today, he got up quite early and took advantage of the fact that the Drunken Elder would not be there in the morning to practice in his own courtyard inside the Mu House.
His sword movements, controlled and perfectly probed by his mind, struck different metal and wooden puppets. Some were split in half, and others were severely damaged.
The fire engulfed the wooden ones and turned them to ashes, while a strong wind finished them off, shaking what was left. The smoke from the wood, now reduced to splinters, dispersed in the air under this strong wind, and the metal puppets shook violently.
Despite the damage caused, he did not stop, as there were many puppets around him that allowed him to move and practice this strange but powerful attack.
It was only the day before yesterday that he truly understood what this attack was. It was not a simple fire attack; the name "Winged Fire" from level 1 revealed something of its nature.
It was fire as the main attack, with wind as a secondary reinforcement. What prevented the fire from burning on his weapon and instead sharpened it was the wind, not an attribute of the attack, much less the fire.
Now, this attack didn't have just one or two ways to activate it; it could be activated with any movement, as long as you had sufficient control over your power. The problem is that controlling fire and wind in the same technique consumes too much spiritual energy, to the point that a single attack is enough to leave you completely drained.
That's why, when the attack ended, he fell to the ground, terribly exhausted.
But he smiled.
"Seven destroyed, four severely damaged. Not bad."
He had spent the last two days trying to increase the number of accurate hits he could land, although this didn't work against the elder. Somehow, that guy always managed to land powerful blows and interrupt any move he tried.
He could only sigh and understand that the swordsmen of this world were far above him. At least those at the higher levels.
Plap!
Plap!
Plap!
The sound of applause came from the side when he finished his attacks.
"I don't know what you're doing, but it looks amazing, Tiantian. All those attacks are powerful, and it's hard to find a weakness to attack." Ruxue approached him, her face radiant with happiness, and handed him a bottle of water.
He thanked her and drank the entire bottle in an instant.
"If only that were true, I wouldn't suffer every day against the drunken elder." He sighed.
She laughed slightly. "There's nothing you can do, Tiantian. The Drunken Elder is the best swordsman in town; it's hard not to suffer when you train sword techniques with him."
Xiaotian understood, and he would understand even better if he were little Xiaotian. But, whether he regretted it or not, he wasn't that little boy. He was the proud swordsman of the modern age, Zhang Xiaotian of the East.
'Sigh. I guess I'm not anymore. I don't even live in the east.' He sighed inwardly.
"I haven't seen you in a few days," Xiaotian said, changing the subject. "Did the sect call you or something?"
"No, Tiantian. I was investigating what you asked me to," he replied.
"Did you find anything?" he then asked.
"Count Lu is in town," she replied.
Xiaotian frowned and stared at her. "Really? When did he arrive?" he asked, instinctively lowering his voice.
"They say two or three days ago in the early morning," she whispered back. "Apparently, the first mansion he visited was Zhang's."
Xiaotian nodded slowly.
"You suspect he was behind Uncle's death, right?" she asked carefully.
Xiaotian sighed, shaking his head in frustration.
"I wish my suspicions weren't what they are, but there are too many strange things about what happened at that time, and coincidentally, several of them involve Count Lu and Wei Liang, the Baron of the Lower Province, who is in the Count's service."
Ruxue nodded. She had suspected that this was why he had asked her to investigate that man. Although investigating him without her father noticing had been difficult, the things she had found pointed to Xiaotian being right.
Now, fighting a Count was easier said than done. As one of the most powerful men in the Empire serving the Emperor, touching him would mean incurring his wrath.
And incurring the Emperor's wrath meant death. No matter who you were.
"You have to be careful," she said, grabbing his hand. "Let's investigate further when we return to the sect; that way, we'll have their protection. You've grown stronger, and I'm confident you'll win that tournament, so the sect will look favorably upon you."
"I know." He caressed her cheeks.
"By the way," she interjected. "I found something interesting."
"What is it?" He was immediately interested. A few things did this woman find interesting.
"Apparently, there is a recently discovered dungeon in the Lower Province, beneath a lake, with historical records from an unknown era," she said. "Do you want to go?" She asked him, even though she knew the answer.
Did he want to go investigate something as amazing as a ruin with records of unknown eras?
Of course he did!
"When will we go?" he asked immediately.
"When we return to the sect," she suggested. "It's not far from there, and we can choose to take on the sect mission, which will surely yield good rewards."
"Very well." Xiaotian nodded. "Then I'll look forward to it."
"Hehe..." She smiled and leaned in to kiss him.
TARAN!
TARAN!
Suddenly, the sound of trumpets echoed throughout the mansion, making Ruxue feel angry.
"What the hell is he meddling in my affairs again?" She turned around angrily, but froze shortly after.
Wait...
Those trumpets.
"It's Count Lu," she said, completely sure of it, even though she hadn't seen him.
"Well, naturally, he would visit your house too..." Xiaotian frowned.
"What are you going to do?" she asked.
"Let's go see him. I'll go straight to meet with the Elder. Apparently, he did something great for me, and I haven't been able to thank him," he replied.
She smiled. "I don't know how good an idea it is to walk in front of a man as powerful as Count Lu; I'm afraid that even with a mask, he'll discover you."
"I can't run away from someone who wants my head all the time, right?" he replied. "At least I want to see who he's with so I know who to watch out for."
They both agreed on that and, in the end, decided to leave through the front door.