Mei Chao Bing furrowed his brows. At first glance, what the black warrior had just said might sound reassuring. But in the current situation, he was afraid that it was nothing like that.

He kept quiet for a moment, thinking a little longer to make sure that he wasn’t getting anything wrong before he finally posed the question that had been circling through his mind since the moment he had figured out what was likely going on with his Master’s plan. "You said 'unlikely'. That means that there is a possibility for such people to exist, isn’t there? And if there are signs that somebody would be able to develop a talent, then there might also be a way to foretell whether a person could develop two or maybe even more, right?"

The black warrior nodded. "I know what you want to say. I can’t tell you if it is true. Surely, you and your senior martial brothers were chosen by Feng Bai Xiao for a reason. While he also took in promising disciples at the open gates ceremony, he regularly went out to bring disciples back as well. And not quite coincidentally, most of the disciples that he directly taught were those disciples. Clearly, he had had his reasons for that."

"But you can’t say what reason those are."

The black warrior shook his head. "Seeing into the future doesn’t give me the answer to everything. I’ve seen you but what I’ve seen are only possibilities because the future is never set in stone.

"Whether you will develop an ability … I can’t tell you. If I’m not wrong, then so far, you haven’t. Maybe your Master was wrong or maybe there’s still something missing. I can’t say. Neither can I say what exactly he saw in you. I’m not even sure how those indications would look.

"I only know that there were signs for the four of us. Our Masters would sometimes mention it when comparing us to our martial siblings who studied under them as well. For our Teng Yong Sect, I think what was the most important was that I had a keen intuition."

The black warrior tilted his head, thinking back to the time when he himself had still been young. By now, it almost didn’t seem real anymore. But he knew that once upon a time, he had been that boy who struggled to find his way in the world. "When my Master took me in, he was ridiculed quite a bit. A blind child, could he ever become a cultivator? Nobody but him could imagine it. And yet, here I am. And while I am most well-known for my ability to foretell the future, I am a skilled fighter as well."

Saying this, he rose to his feet and took out a set of short swords that had been hidden in his sleeves. "Come here. I will show you what I mean."

Mei Chao Bing was stunned and turned to glance at Zhang Guan Yu who nodded in return. Only then did he step forward, stopping a few meters away from the black warrior.

He didn’t know what to expect. This person, he believed immediately that he was strong. Anyway, if he had been able to develop a new ability based on the sect’s teachings, then he had to have mastered these teachings to a high degree. And even though the Teng Yong Sect usually focused on spiritual cultivation, the sword arts were included as well. That was one of the reasons why they had disciples like Zhi Guan who were able to master their sect’s teachings without touching spiritual cultivation at all and only focusing on the sword.

Add onto this mastery the fact that the black warrior was of a much older generation than him, Mei Chao Bing knew that he had to be careful. He took out his own weapon and then inclined his head. He wasn’t sure if he should say something and finally just went into a defensive stance, waiting for what was to come.

For a moment, it looked as if the black warrior wouldn’t do anything. He just stood there, his weapons raised, the black robe and black hair fluttering in the wind while his eyes remained closed. Maybe he was listening for something, maybe he was feeling movement from the ground, maybe he used his spiritual sense to orient himself, or maybe it really was just as he had said: He had a keen intuition, allowing him to feel what happened around him without needing to pick up on any of those clues.

Mei Chao Bing didn’t know but he didn’t trust the peace and stayed vigilant, not wanting to miss the moment when the black warrior finally attacked.

A few heartbeats passed, and finally, the man shot forward, using a feint on Mei Chao Bing before the second weapon actually struck. The blade cut into his robe, almost drawing blood.

Mei Chao Bing barely evaded it. His eyes widened and he hastily retreated a few steps, trying to get back his bearing.

Of course, the black robe warrior wouldn’t let him. He chased after him, the weapons coming from the other side this time and making him return to where he had just come from.

Among this flurry of attacks, Mei Chao Bing had no idea what to do. He had gone on many missions in his life, he had fought against spiritual beasts, demonic cultivators, and he had also taken part in many of the tournaments the sect held whether it was among their own disciples or against those of other sects. He had never felt as threatened as he did now.

Suddenly, he understood just why this person was called the black warrior. Even though his ability was to see the future, that really wasn’t what defined him. No, as a disciple of their sect, he was exactly that: a warrior. And no matter his additional abilities, that was what he would always stay.