Yin Long's daily life became even more hectic now that Meiyu started properly training him, he had truly meant it when he said that Yin Long shouldn't expect too many breaks. Counting the time he got to sleep and eat, he had about six hours of free time every day, the rest was spent training.
Of course, Meiyu didn't just spend all those hours relentlessly assaulting Yin Long, he only spent about half of the training time doing so. The other half of the training time was spent on teaching Yin Long various ways to train his joints, especially their flexibility and strength. Meiyu tried teaching Yin Long the body cultivation technique he had come up with, but he swiftly learned what Yin Long had been struggling with for a while, no cultivation manual seemed to work for him.
This strange fact certainly but a slight damper on Meiyu's plans, but the two quickly figured out a way around it, normal training. Since his body seemed to reject any cultivation manual, they could only rely on the completely normal training that mankind had relied on during the first few hundred or thousand years after they were first born. It was far slower and less effective, but since Yin Long wasn't exactly in a position to pick and choose there wasn't really anything to do about it.
He contacted Lan Yun about every three days and had a short chat with Xue Qiuling when she came to visit and eat a quick lunch with him, but other than that he didn't have much interaction with people other than Meiyu. Yin Long originally thought that Meiyu would keep up this training until his body became too decrepit to handle it, but he actually halted the training after only two weeks.
"Alright, we'll stop here for now. I underestimated exactly how high your affinity for the sword is, it far exceeded what I had expected. If you continue picking up everything at this speed then you won't have the chance to test any of it out in actual combat without all the techniques and movements blending together into an unrecognizable mess. So you should prepare everything you need, I want you to head into Four-Kings Valley as soon as you can, the Demonic beasts and disciples from other sects and clans should prove to be suitable partners for you to properly test out and incorporate what you've learned so far."
Meiyu lowered his blunt metal sword and returned it to his interspatial ring, looking at Yin Long with a slightly ruminating gaze while rubbing his chin. Meiyu had seen talented people before in his travels, he had seen blessed and cursed people before, seen battles involving laws that none would believe actually existed. But Yin Long was... different, to say the least. His affinity was downright nonsensical, the only word he could think of to describe it was unnatural, it was not something that should be found on a living being.
Seeing Meiyu put away his weapon, Yin Long lowered his own weapon and put it away. This heavy metal sword was an integral part of the training he was doing for his joints so Meiyu had told him that there was no need to return it between training sessions. He was planning on taking Jin Wang out for a trip once his training was over so that Jin Wang could run free for a bit, so he was all for this break. He took out a towel from his interspatial ring, wiping the sweat from his face before giving Meiyu a quick bow.
"Understood, I'll try to return as quickly as possible."
Meiyu still had plenty to teach him before he passed, and Yin Long wanted to learn as much as he could from him in person. His way of training was different from Bai Xiang's, much more focused and in-depth, making sure that Yin Long understood everything about his own weaknesses and why he should deflect something in that particular manner. It didn't help his instincts nearly as much as Bai Xiang's ruthless and mostly silent training did, but it greatly improved his knowledge and understanding.
Meiyu simply nodded at Yin Long and then ascended the stairs to the higher floors of the pagoda, leaving Yin Long to gesture for Jin Wang to follow him. The man and beast descended the stairs and left the pagoda in silence, Yin Long still pondering over what Meiyu had told him when they started their training.
He knew of four ways that cultivators could turn decrepit faster than usual as they reached the end of their lifespan, the problem was what these four ways were. Yin Long could basically instantly disregard three of them, it was the fourth one that left him at a slight loss, uncertain what to think or feel.
"...It might really have been me... but does that mean that Big Sis Ru and Little Huo were also affected?"
Of the four mentioned ways, the one that involved something sapping the cultivators' Qi and lifeforce was the one that Yin Long counted as the most likely. He had a parasitic soul that would gladly suck up Netherworld energy as well as any Qi that got trapped by his soul, it wasn't entirely out of the question that it sapped away at his parents over the years.
But Meiyu said that this was the most noticeable way, so if that really was the case, why hadn't his parents or Bai Xiang said anything, maybe tried to help him find a way to control it? These questions continuously swirled around inside his mind, but there was no longer any around that might answer them for him, leaving him at a loss.
He reached his room without an answer, but that was already within his expectations, some questions you simply couldn't find an answer to on your own. His interspatial ring was already stuffed with everything he might need as he was always prepared to leave at a moments notice so the only thing he did after reaching his room was take a quick shower and change into a fresh white robe.
"Alright, it's still somewhat early so let's go pick up Lan Yun, she might honestly kill us if we leave without her."
Yin Long could still see the sun through one of the windows that lined the hallway of Swan Queen Hall so he guessed that they were reaching the later parts of the afternoon, meaning that they still had enough time to leave for Four-Kings Valley straight away. He used the wooden orb to contact Lan Yun, who more than happily gave him directions to her room so that he could come over.
Yin Long left Swan Queen Hall after receiving the location of her room, heading through the entrance building and entering Eagle King Hall. The appearance of the hall was quite similar to Swan Queen Hall, but the Qi hanging in the air was markedly heavier than it was in Swan Queen Hall. But that was only to be expected, Eagle King Hall focused on heavy weapons, resulting in the Qi there being tainted by the weapons used by all the cultivators residing and cultivating in the hall.
There were a few minor differences in the appearance, the main hallway of Eagle King Hall was a bit wider and held more seating areas for people to mingle, but nothing that really set the two halls apart. It was a bit boring, but it made it easier for Yin Long to find his way around so that he could easily find the dorm area where Lan Yun's room was. But just when he thought that he could pick up Lan Yun without any issues, he was stopped by three men who had been chatting in one of the seating areas.
"Sorry, but you are Junior Brother Long, right?"
Yin Long turned to glance at the three men, tapping Jin Wang on the head so that he stopped growling at them as they approached. The three men were all clad in the dark green robes of the dojo, and as one would expect from members of Eagle King Hall, they were fairly muscular and burly. Yin Long's gaze swept over the three men that blocked his path, he could already guess why they might have called out to him. But he still nodded his head in acknowledgement, the blue-eyed and brown-haired one of the three men stating what Yin Long had already expected.
"I see, you do indeed fit her description perfectly. I'll say it clearly, please distance yourself from Senior Sister Yun. She cares for you quite a bit, but you don't reciprocate her feelings, which only results in her getting hurt. Even worse, you don't even give her the chance to get over you so that she might find someone else that can move her heart. So please, distance yourself from her for at least a year or two so that she can have time to move on properly."
The man spoke surprisingly politely and softly compared to his burly looks, the two other men at his side nodding their heads in agreement. Yin Long tilted his head slightly at them, mostly due to the fact that they referred to Lan Yun as Senior Sister rather than Junior Sister. He swept his gaze over their faces for a short second before straightening his neck again, not bothering to be too polite.
"So basically, you guys were unable to move her heart and thus decided that the best way to get closer to her was to try to remove others close to her to give yourself a better chance? Sorry, but that's a pretty sad thought process, you'll never be able to move her heart if you think like that. I suggest you spend a bit of time reflecting on yourselves, maybe you'll stand a chance when you stop thinking like that. And if you don't, then I can just say that you really aren't worthy of her, and probably never will be."
Yin Long shook his head lightly and stepped past the three people, such a shallow thought process would never be able to move anyone's heart, especially not the heart of someone as stubborn as Lan Yun. He hoped that the three men would just accept his words, but he seemed to have struck a nerve as the blue-eyed man stopped Yin Long by grabbing his shoulder.
"Oy, don't just walk past us!"
His actions were a bit too aggressive so Jin Wang bared his fangs and lunged forward, sinking his teeth into the thigh of the man that grabbed Yin Long. The man let out a pained screech, the two other men quickly rushing to his aid, kicking at Jin Wang. But how could Yin Long just let them attack Jin Wang like that?
He stomped down on one of the incoming kicks, forcing the foot back down to the floor while swiping his interspatial ring and pulling out the blunt metal sword he used for training. He swept out with the sword, smashing aside the other incoming kick with such force that the man lost his balance and fell down in a sideways manner. His way of falling allowed Yin Long to flick his wrist upwards, smashing the metal sword into the side of the falling man's face.
He swept out with the sword again the moment after it smashed into the falling man's face, pointing the rounded tip at the throat of the man who Jin Wang was still biting. The weapon wasn't sharp, but the man knew that it didn't need to be sharp for Yin Long to crush his windpipe, forcing him to halt the attack he was about to unleash upon Jin Wang.
The man whose foot was currently being stomped by Yin Long tried to reach for the segmented staff that was folded up on his waist, but Yin Long's left hand shot forward before he could reach it. His law of the sword surged forward and formed a small sword in his grasp, the sharp tip poking into the throat of the man, who no longer dared to reach for his weapon.
Yin Long's sharpened gaze swept over the two people, the third one already unconscious after getting hit in the face. He glanced sideways at Jin Wang, who let go of the blue-eyed man's thigh, blood gushing forth from where his fangs had been. Yin Long poked the blunt sword against the throat of the blue-eyed man and left a small cut on the throat of the other man, serving as a small warning as he pulled back his weapons and stepped past the two.
"If that's the extent of your thought process and skills then you should just give up on her, you're so unsuited that it can't even be described as sad any longer. Refine your mind and train your skills and then try again."
The two men grumbled angrily at Yin Long's parting words but didn't dare to stop him as he entered the dorm area where Lan Yun's room was. The short exchange had already made it very clear to them that continuing to go against Yin Long might end with them losing more than a bit of their pride, his sharpened gaze made that exceedingly clear to them.
Taverius· May 10, 2020
