A Normal Day

"Seven-hundred… Seven-hundred and one… Seven-hundred and two…"

"Boy, open your eyes for a moment, that's some quality backside right there, I never saw that one before, must be a new outer disciple!"

'Master Chengzhe… Please do not distract me whilst I am practising my sword strikes, actually, shouldn't you be imparting some sort of great sword style or skill instead of staring at the asses of female disciples? Aren't you like… A thousand years old or something too?' Xiao felt beads of sweat travel all across his body, currently, he was training in a field near his dormitory, all by himself, it must be the protagonist's aura at work, as there was currently no one else around, he could probably do something idiotic like speak to the emerald ghost aloud, and no one would be none the wiser.

Though, such stupid actions did not come naturally to him, thankfully, the main character halo was not that potent.

"Come on now… I am not that great at handling a sword, personally, I wielded a spear! Much better in my opinion, more reach, much easier to get a good grasp of how to use too… And anyways, I was an energy cultivator first and foremost! I cast spells whilst making hand movements and shouting random names I made up on the spot- Aah, the good old days when shouting something impressive would make my enemies recoil in fright, even though I was actually just chucking a fireball…" the spectral elder stroked his beard in wonder before chuckling to himself.

"And anyways, I am helping, in fact… Knowing how to swing and building up stamina is one thing, but one needs to be able to look past the distractions when fighting, if one gets flustered easily, or gets focused on what someone is saying instead of focusing on the blade that's going to disembowel them, they'll die even if they can cleave a boulder in half!" as outstandingly lecherous and odd the old ghost was, he really knew how to make anything he said sound deep and profound, moreover, he was not incorrect at all.

The spectre moved closer to the youth.

"And on that front, you are doing quite well, at your age, I definitely would have checked it out if someone mentioned a nice behind, well, I always checked them out no matter my age, that's how I got injured and ended up in that emerald pendant by the way, I was strong, but that dragon lady was just too gorgeous, I lost focus for at least one whole second!"

Xiao sighed as he reached the one thousandth sword strike, the elder had spoken far more about women than cultivation ever since he had discovered that emerald pendant, it was surprising that he had not gone insane from being unable to even speak to a woman, but perhaps just looking at them was enough to satisfy him.

'Wait… Can he interact with other ghosts or spectral beings? It wouldn't be surprising if he was flirting with souls of the damned… Hell, that old guy would go for a banshee without a second thought…'

"Oi, you are thinking of something rude, aren't you? Thinking without sharing it with me like that…"

'Not at all, Master! I was simply wondering if it was possible for you to interact with other incorporeal beings, or if you were invisible even to them!' the best way to lie was by not actually lying.

"Heh… I don't know, never met any so far…" the old ghost scratched his cheek, before his translucent eyes locked onto something in the distance, something Xiao had not yet noticed, but the moment he actually followed his master's gaze, it was hard not to notice.

"Hello, Edrick" by now, Xiao had gotten familiar with the noble scion.

"Greetings to you too, Xiao- The small sect tournament is in just a month, have you progressed well in your cultivation? I hear that you've been practising a sword cultivation technique- Can you summon sword intent?" Xiao formed a wry smile at that, the tournament was indeed coming very soon, by then, the outer disciples who had joined during the big batch last time would have had ample time to find a proper technique and should have cultivated it to an acceptable level, it was then that those who had been less fortunate than others and had not received the attention of an elder would be able to show off their prowesses.

The elders had a keen sight for talent, but obviously, they could have very well miss some or underestimated a few people, that tournament was precisely meant to sweep through the outer disciples and see which ones were a notch above the rest.

Naturally, such an event was perfect for the protagonist of a typical cultivation story to show off how much better he was compared to others on the same level, though, Xiao found it a bit weird, since the story he had read did not have the typical levels or realms most stories have, and instead left things in the wind.

'Wait… There are cultivation realms, but only some other cultivators use them, if I remember correctly… God, why is this story so convoluted for no reason?'

"Thanks for your concerns, Edrick, I have indeed made good progress in cultivation and swordsmanship alike, but the technique I practise does not cover the summoning of sword intent…" the truth was that since Weapon Encyclopedia was so great, manifesting any sort of weapon intent before learning the ancestral technique of his clan would do more harm than good, so Chen had settled on a simple technique that he would be able to quickly master thanks to the help of his special talent and constitution, it would also not interfere with his learning of Weapon Encyclopedia later on.

Things would have been even smoother if he still had the sword artefact in his possession, but certainly, even if Xiao were to lose the upcoming duel, he would find a way to somehow retrieve it.

Eventually, at least…

Without it, progressing through the storyline like intended and gaining some stuff would be far more arduous.

"Oh, you know the rising star of the outer ring, Edrick?" unexpectedly, someone actually walked into view, having been hidden behind Edrick's broad body the entire time, or perhaps they had just walked up right now, it was hard to tell.

More surprising however, that person was actually Yin, the love interest Xiao had all but forgotten about.

'Holy… She's taller than I thought…' she was nearly a whole ten centimeters taller than him, the emerald ghost stroked his beard for a moment.

"Do you like tomboys?"

'Master, not now please- And yes, of course, what is there not to like?'

"Greetings, Senior Yin!"

"No need for the formalities…"

"To answer your question, Xiao and I have known each other from a little while back, to be frank, we have a little competition going on for the upcoming tournament… But let's set that aside, I was wondering if Xiao would grant us the honour of coming with us to the woods? We are planning on facing off against some beasts to sharpen our skills"

Before Xiao could say anything, Edrick added something else.

"No need to worry about the murderous sasquatch, during our last bout, I managed to nearly sever one of its legs, that thing was barely holding on by just a slink of flesh, even though it managed to escape, it had certainly gone in hiding by now, so there is no risk of encountering it"

"That is reassuring, but I fear that I have an appointment with Elder Gang in thirty minutes, so…"

"Understandable, then see you at a later date, Xiao"

Just a little while later, Edrick and Yin arrived before the forest.

Edrick had hoped to get to see Xiao's skills firsthand, but alas, the main character always had a good reason to slither away.

But on the bright side, that left him alone with Yin.

"I'll give you more details on those particular beasts along the way…"