Ku Lo exited his tent, in which he left a happy Huang Gingge to refine. Both hands fixing his robes while walking out, he saw Feng Niu and her friends chat under the shade of a nearby oak tree. 

“What’s up-” He changed his plans and strolled towards them. “Is everything fine?” 

The three of them turned in unison, Feng Niu’s friends staying a step behind her as she responded, “We’re fine, there’s no need for you to be concerned about us.” 

“I do feel responsible for your wellbeing.” Also, Feng Niu’s eyes moving back and forth between him and the spot they sat on before told him to stay. 

“No-no, we shouldn’t be bothering you. Us three are just some second-tier talents compared to you, Ku Lo.” 

He chuckled. “Second-tier talents? Not to me, you are.” 

“Isn’t this rather clear?” She tilted her head, “Our sect values those who can attract a large number of partners. So seeing as you are partnering with three women within a week, I would say no one in our year can match you in terms of cultivation speed.” 

“Feng Niu, you are saying this as if there wasn’t anyone lying in your bed.” He realised the contents of his line only after he shut his mouth. Guess my adapting to Terre’s culture wasn’t hindered by those flashbacks, good. 

“As bad as it sounds, no. There’s no one like that waiting for my return.” 

“Really now?” One of his eyebrows lifted a tad. “How about your friends?” 

“They have these guys, but neither of them has decided to settle yet.” 

“...” He saw the two girls’ downcast appearances.

“I know right!” Feng Niu continued. “Such noble girls, yet those guys dare to play choosy and even ask out other girls from outside class.” 

Before he settled on a sensible response, someone spoke up from the side. “Didn’t you two break off with your partners the day before leaving?” 

““W-what?”” Both girls zapped. 

Huang Qingling stepped up to stand beside Ku Lo. “Gossip spreads like wildfire in our year when it scratches my partner’s name.” 

Oh, right! To outsiders, Huang Qingling is my partner. This would be the first time she bothers about appearances, though… 

“Must’ve been two different girls.” Feng Niu’s face twitched. 

“Are you sure? I think it was about two girls who were leaving for a mission.”

“Weren’t there other girls in class four who also left at the same time?” 

The snappy arguments and dodgy defences piled from here on; moreover, the chat continued to escalate at a speed that made him confused since to him this was all girl chatter, and he was a poor soul lost in the middle of it.

... Huang Qingling should be right, as her interest lies in… Nope, her interest makes her wants obvious. 

“Ku Lo, let’s go train,” Qingling snapped him back to reality. “We have little time, and you don’t even know how to grab a sword the correct way.” 

“We can talk more later.” Before following her, his head glanced at the three girls. Her arguments hadn’t been convincing enough for him to distance himself from these girls who showed interest in him. Yet, to secure what he already had, he didn’t anger Qingling, who’d said she would help him to help her sister. 

Oh, they’re still going at it. The scene of the Bandit Captain’s continuing torture caught his interest. 

Somehow, the transformation hadn’t turned his whole being into a monster. The meat bag of a hand was straight out of a horror film, but everything else retained human features, and the man could talk, and so serve as a source of information. 

One of the two remaining Inner Court Disciples glanced at him while the other poked a nail into the Bandit Captain’s sole. 

Anyway, the glance made him turn his gaze away from torture. I can get the information from Fen’er so there’s no need to pry… 

“Here’s good enough-” Qingling turned around. “First, show me your Sword of the Swordless.”  

Not asking why he focussed his Qi’s into his hand. 

Not long after, a great sword, black in its entirety, protruded from his empty sword grip.

“Couldn’t make it any bigger couldn’t you.” 

“I should be able.” 

“Don’t,” she sighed, roaming around him who tried to keep the sword in existence. “If you can swing this once, it’ll be great. 

He twisted his head to look at her, who stopped behind him. “Is that a dare?” 

“Sure.” 

Returning to a normal position, he closed his eyes. This way he could shift more focus onto keeping the Qis within the great sword stable. 

He raised it and got ready to swing downwards.

It didn’t continue far from there, however. The moment he applied serious force, it snapped in half. Then to uncountable fragments of Qi which vanished into every direction. 

“Can you make it any smaller? Like mine, if you remember.” 

“I do remember!” How could he forget? “So a smaller sword has fewer complications?” 

“If you only were as wise with emotions.” 

Her words… hurt; however, Qingling wasn’t wrong and so he decided not to snap back at her, although he had the ammunition for it. “I’ll try to create a smaller sword.” 

But it seemed the gods backed her in the effort to be disappointed in him. 

“We have a problem…” Qingling pinched her forehead.

“This time I’ll make it smaller.” 

“No, you can’t make it, but try to make it bigger.”

That Ku Lo achieved with no effort. 

“What have I done?” she asked the clouds instead of Ku Lo, who wielded a sword larger than his own body. “Was my previous carnation unfilial?” 

If not lying, Ku Lo felt a bit ashamed of his showing so far. Qingling had wanted him to create a smaller version of the Sword of the Swordless for convenience’s sake. However, he didn’t make it any smaller while enlarging the already comically oversized great sword came as second nature. 

“Huang Qingling… if you wish for Gingge’s best, shouldn’t you teach me instead of lament?” he said with a soft, almost pillowy tone. “The cards are laid on the table and you can’t change them.” 

“Right,” she let out a deep breath as her head returned to him. “At least it’ll be great against gigantic monsters... I guess.”

She took a bit more time to think. 

“Against beasts which are taller than buildings and at some spots have meters of meat, a ‘sword’ of the size can be devastating.”

What kind of monsters?! Pictures of such monsters which were giant bosses in video games flashed in his mind. 

“But that’s enough of that.” While saying so, she came back from aloof to serious. “Now, brandish your sword. There’s no need to think about the abstracts of the future if you die tomorrow because you couldn’t swing a sword.” 

Agreeing with her verdict, Ku Lo unsheathed his sword. One hand clutched the grip the way he thought as correct. 

Right after doing so, Qingling stormed towards him, her brown hair flying behind. “You haven’t even cooked anything ever and yet you still hold on to a sword like it was a panhandle.” Both hands rushing for his grip. 

Yet to say a word to defend himself, Qingling used hers to move his fingers around the grip. 

“There-” Her hands withdrew. “Now you should sense that you have more control over the blade.” 

Ku Lo tilted the one-handed sword, just enough to feel his muscles tense up and work more precisely. “Hmm, I see.” 

“Try it.”

An actual swing of the sword later, he looked at her. “Thanks.” 

She nodded, though showed nothing else. “Next step for you is to hit me.” 

About to ask if she was sure of this idea, he stopped to think, As if I could hurt her. And with the thought complete, he swung.

The earlier thought was on the mark as with a simple yet also effective movement. Qingling had never faced no danger. 

“Again.” 

…

“Your sister is pretty good with swords,” Ku Lo said, collapsing next to Gingge on their shared bedroll. 

‘Pretty good’ being a heavy understatement for the disparity between the two he could just comprehend at the end of the three-hour training session was a wee bit wide.

“They did not bestow her the rank of a Swordmaiden before leaving the Sword Sect for nothing.” 

But why didn’t she seem much stronger than me back in the courtyard?