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Meixiu was waiting in front of her courtyard. Bai li yue smiled at the familiar face.

'Meixiu, you passed. When I didn't see you, I thought-'

'i failed? Well, I almost did. Fortunately i got enough points to enter the outer sect. But enough about me, sister li yue, i didn't think you'd become so famous so quickly. You've made a name for yourself. Even back in the outer sect, everyone knows of that crazy red witch.'

Bai li yue laughed nervously. It looked like the name was staying. They spent the rest of the night chatting about Meixiu's experience in the outer sect. Despite Meixiu's habit of asking nosy questions, Bai li yue found herself enjoying the company. It felt good to chat and engage in mindless gossip with someone when she was used to spending so much time alone with her thoughts. She found out from Meixiu that Shen duyi has successfully gained true insight and was now a chosen of both sects. He had gotten his wish. In the future, he would be a prominent figure and be respected by all. 

The rest of the week was spent regaining her strength. The soul restoration pill was still working albeit slowly. Meixiu, aware of Bai li yue's condition, was attentive. She rushed over to spend time with Bai li yue when she was done with her daily training. Bai li yue discovered during this time that Meixiu had a talent for cooking. Once Bai li yue finished eating, she would drift off to sleep in a warm fuzz of satisfaction and wake up in the morning feeling refreshed. It was very strange how she always fell asleep after eating. It became a running joke that Meixiu cooking was like a sleeping pill, too strong but also good for the soul. 

The end of her convalescence arrived quickly thanks to Meixiu's care. It turned out to be a cloudy day but Bai li yue was filled with excitement. This was the day she was entering the sword tower for the first. For the next foreseeable future that would be her main stomping ground. She saw meixiu off and made her way to the tower. She hadn't had much time to study her new sword but a sword was made to be used. It was bound to become familiar, the more she used it. The tower was already open for business when she arrived. She paid the ten point entrance fee that was valid for only one entry lasting ten days. With it, she could progress to other floors until her time was up. She registered and watched her name appear at the bottom of the scoreboard. Most of the names above hers stopped at the third floor. A second scoreboard showed only ten names. They were leaders at the top of the board. The student in the number one spot was on the fifteenth floor. He had 8050 points in sect points. Her new goal was to put her name on the leaderboard.

She entered one of the rooms on the first floor. The door sealed behind her. During her time in the room, nobody was allowed to enter. A semi transparent screen appeared on the blank wall in front of her. 

Level: 1

Difficulties: easy/medium /hard

Reward: 5sp

Achievements: 3/5/7

To wrack up more points, she started on easy difficulty. The screen counted down to zero as she waited, shadow sword in hand. One skeleton appeared in the room and charged at her. A wave of her sword split it in two. It lay dead at her feet. Another replaced it as it dissolved into the floor. Once again, it died in a few seconds. Ten. Twenty. Fifty. A hundred skeletons later, the screen flashed and displayed her results.

'That was easy.'

She gained 5 sect points and 3 more points. The first point was for being a sword tower initiate. The second was for beating the average time and the final point for killing all the skeletons in one hit. 

She increased the difficulty to medium and immediately noticed the difference. So far she had been using basics sword moves to slash her way through the waves of ten skeletons. She earned another five points but only four out of five points for achievements. Not knowing the achievements before going into the test was working against her. She made a mental note to ask for an achievement list on her way out. 

The third difficulty mode proved challenging, in the way the skeletons appeared. For every one of the ten she killed, another appeared instantly to take its place. Her sword flashed in a ceaseless dance as she avoided being overwhelmed. The test ended with her earning only three points in achievements. 

The second floor followed the same scheme as the first floor. It followed a similar difficulty pattern. But she finally understood why most of the names at the bottom of the scoreboard stopped at the second floor when she was surrounded by fifty phantom warriors. They were tougher and more lifelike than the one note skeletons. 

Her dancing light skill was useless against the incorporeal warriors. She had to use her movement skill to constantly flit around the room to avoid being hemmed in. She hit her stride mid battle, jumping over a warrior wielding an axe, she stabbed it in the back before it could turn around to attack. She was in front of a warrior armed with a spear. The spearmen were the ones who made her wary. Their sweeping attacks meant she had to take care when fighting them. She avoided the swinging spear and slashed viciously at the warrior, loping off its main weapon arm followed by a head. She needed a skill that could deal with numerous enemies at the same time. 

Crimson fire sword skill. 

How could she have forgotten about it? Although she had her doubts, there was no harm in trying. She executed the movement and at the last moment spun sideways directing her sword at a group of warriors. The energy exploded around them, but apart from fire clinging to their forms, she had done little damage. 

'I should have known. Incorporeals are the worst.'

She faced the remaining ten warriors and shot into the midst, slashing furiously until only she remained in the room. Her results appeared on the screen.

'All this for five points?'

So far, she'd earned points triple her entrance fee and even though she complained while regaining her energy, she acknowledged that the sword tower was more in the style of her objective than the mission building. 

She cursed out loud and immediately jumped into the air when a hundred warriors wielding swords, hammers, spears and throwing stars appeared around her. With only her sword at her side, she felt the difficulty hike as enemies rushed in from all sides whenever she landed. Her only course of action was to attack in intervals.

'I'm being too cautious by trying to fight without getting hurt. My fighting style feels wrong. I'm acting like a cowardly rogue instead of a fearless swordsman.'

In the moment of realisation, a morning star hit her in the back. She lashed out in reaction finishing the warrior. More warriors crowded around her. In her mind, she pictured a swordsman standing his ground. Compared to him, she couldn't consider herself a dam that could hold back a river. 

Despite her difficulties, Bai li yue eventually finished the test. The last warrior had a sword sticking out of his neck. It fell to the ground and dissolved into nothing. Sinking to the floor in relief, she reviewed the tests. Her fighting style was mediocre at best. It didn't matter that she couldn't use the dancing lights sword skill, the basic sword moves were the foundation of all sword skills. They worked for every situation. The problem was her mentality. She was afraid of being hurt; afraid of pain and most importantly afraid of death.

'Isn't that the right attitude?'

But even she couldn't hide from the fact that fear wasn't the same thing as caution. She no longer felt like continuing the test. Her mind was in shackles; so long as she couldn't break free, there would be no progress for her.

She'd come here to start on her journey of becoming a swordmistress, but before she could begin, she had to change her way of thinking. What would it take to break the chains that bound her mind? A thought sprung to mind about facing her fears. While the saying made a lot of sense, it was easier said than done. Going forward without solving her underlying problem would be an unwise decision. She'd trip harder when she met a tougher enemy. It was time to break the foundation and build a better, stronger one. 

'What kind of swordsman do i want to be?' She asked, looking at her sword as if it would provide one. It lay in her hand, unconcerned with her plight. 

She pictured in her head Zi yu, on the combat stage and then to Huang rong practising his sword skill while others slept. 

'I want to be determined like them.'

She thought of one other person. Lu dou who chose the hell guard transformation in spite of the danger to himself.

'I want to be fearless.'

The image changed to the immortal lady in her red from her dream, standing in the air above that city. The scene still filled her with awe. The destruction she'd wrought on the city brought bile to Bai li yue's mouth, but there was no denying the power that filled the air around the woman. 

'I want to be strong like her.'

She said at last.

Five days later, Bai li yue opened her eyes. She knew what to do now. Leaving the second floor room, she returned to the reception where an elder-in-training who fanned himself constantly to ward off the heat.

'Greetings elder, I was wondering if it is possible to register again and start from level one?'

'Name?'

'Bai li yue.'

He found her name on the scoreboard and her corresponding registration form.

'This is your first time entering the sword tower and you've already reached your limit? Why don't you give it some time. Go back, train harder and return another time.'

'Is it against the rules?'

'Not at all. I can register you again right now, if you are certain that's what you wish.'

'Please register me again.'

He set the registration form in his hand ablaze with a flick of his wrist and handed her a new form to fill.

'Twenty sect points for a second registration.'

'Twenty?' That was double the price she'd paid the first time.

'Yes. You are not the first student to come for a new registration. The reverend elder of the sword tower instituted a ten point increment for every former registration to stop students from taking advantage of the tower.'

It was expensive, but it was a price she was willing to pay. She handed him her badge and the filled form and waited for him to finalise her registration. A new name appeared on the scoreboard in gleaming text. The elder-in-training chuckled at the name. There were many like her.

'Crazy red witch. Not bad!' 

He muttered. 

The new name was a statement of her new self that she was determined to construct from the ground up in the sword tower. Whenever she held her sword, she wanted to be known as the crazy red witch. 

As she'd suspected, there was a list of achievements being sold. Before leaving, she bought the list for ten more points from the elder. The list showed all the extra achievements. There were achievements that she hadn't even thought possible like completing a whole level under a given time with a particular sword skill or completing a level a number of times. However, the list stopped at the third floor. If she wanted the list for the fourth floor and above, she'd have to buy a new list. 

She returned to the first floor. She slipped into the last remaining room and shut the door behind her. The semi transparent screen appeared showing the same information from before. Now that she had the list, achievements no longer held any mystery to her. She went through the familiar motions and waited for the countdown to end. When the first skeleton appeared she rushed toward it without hesitation. This first test was a soft introduction. It wasn't wired to challenge, but to prepare. In the time of a hundred breaths, Bai li yue was down to the last skeleton. She cleaved it in two and watched her results appear on the screen. 

The second test was where the real test began for her. She had decided to fight without using her movement skill which she had used as a crutch. If she didn't have it, then she would be forced to truly fight for the first time. 

The skeletons appeared in numbers and rushed her. She met them in the centre of the room in a clash of blades. Without the movement skill, she would have to depend on her weapon only. She spun around and caught a skeleton in the spine. Its spinal cord fractured into two halves. Those behind her stabbed toward her unprotected back, but her sword arrived in time to parry the attacks, lopping off several skulls in the process. She ducked to the side and engaged another group of skeletons that left her ragged for breath at the end.

After a couple of waves of skeletons during which agitation shook her mind and body, she finally developed a rhythm that helped her to control the fight. Deprived of the movement skill, she focused on refining her attacks. Each attack of hers had to deal severe damage if it couldn't kill outright. She only aimed to strike critical points like the neck, weapon arm and the spine. Doing this required precision of a calm heart and a steady hand. 

Seven days later, on the second floor, inside Bai li yue's training room, her black sword moved with almost clinical precision. 

Swish! Thwack!

She waded through the remaining warriors who fought to the bitter end of their existence. This second test on the second floor was the toughest she'd faced so far. The first attempt had been a failure. She'd ran out of steam at the unending mass of phantom warriors. She'd panicked and used her movement skill. But two days and three attempts later, her determination had paid off. She'd finally understood that the test was one of perseverance. A lone swordsman confronting an army. Would she stand and fight or will her sword falter and her resolve crumble? 

The fight was like a millstone slowly grinding corn to flour. The millstone was heavy and lumbering, but never it never stopped until its work was done. She on the hand was coarse grain being ground, refined to snow white flour. Her moves were gradually refined under the sustained pressure. 

Bai li yue collapsed to the floor when the last of the warriors finally fell. 

'I did it.'

After a night of rest, Bai li yue was ready to continue. The screen blinked and started counting down for the last test of the level. She tightened the grip on her sword. Moments later, a heavy armoured knight stepped out of thin dragging a heavy iron sword behind him.

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