The Jade Shadows Must Die [Cultivation LitRPG]

Rix's stomach plummeted and his eyes darted around instinctively. Nobody seemed to be paying attention, but he had no idea what a high-level Martial Soul's senses were like. For all he knew, Luna's comment had just echoed in the ears of Master Zhen and anyone on the Cauldron side of the training yard.

Breath. You can't have her unsay the words now.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about." It sounded lame even to his ears, but what else could he do?

Luna seemed to read his concern, because she stepped in closer and lowered her voice. "If it's any consolation, I don't think anyone else can see you using it." Her expression darkened a little, though she did her best to hide it. "My bloodline lets me see mana directly, and the flows when someone uses it. But I've never seen anyone with…something else, like you've got."

Rix had no idea that was even possible, but he shouldn't have been surprised. Bloodlines were hugely varied, running the full gamut from combat abilities to more utility-focused skills like the one Luna apparently had. Or you could have none at all, like him. It wasn't known exactly what dictated the bloodline you received. It was said you could inherit any that existed within your genetic line, but many families or groups of people had strong predispositions towards specific effects. Most of the Thousand-Year Families had built their status on the backs of the purity and consistency of their bloodlines.

It was said bloodlines were foundational to a Martial Soul's success, defining their Path, and they could grow in power and evolve given time. Normally, the topic was a sore spot for Rix, but in that moment, he had bigger things to worry about.

His mind churned. He'd anticipated some curiosity about his sudden boost in speed, but this was something else entirely. Luna could see his qi. And judging by her choice of words, she'd been able to see it since day one. Training was just an excuse to get him to use it.

At least that explained her behaviour towards him.

He swallowed hard. He needed to nip this in the bud. The last thing he needed was this strange sect girl thinking he was special in some way.

Fortunately, she'd given him the perfect cover.

"Are you talking about my bloodline?" he asked, feigning recognition. "It converts some of my mana into a special subtype called 'physical mana'. I use the regular stuff for techniques, but physical mana I can push directly into my body to give me speed or strength."

It was relatively safe as far as lies went. A lot of bloodline effects were public record, but not all of them. And she wasn't from the city anyway. There was no easy way for her to verify that it wasn't real.

Her eyes narrowed. "That's just mana?"

Rix shrugged and nodded. "Sorry to disappoint, but yeah."

She stared at him for several seconds, looking uncertain. Now that Rix knew she was literally staring into his dantian, he felt vaguely uncomfortable. What did he look like to her?

"It feels so different, though," she said.

He shrugged again. "What's the saying? 'No two rivers flow the same, but they all reach the sea'? I don't know what else to tell you."

She weighed this up for what felt like an eternity before letting out a sigh and throwing an idle punch at the dummy. "And here I was thinking my bloodline had finally revealed something worthwhile." There was real bitterness in her voice when she said that.

"I mean, being able to see mana flows seems useful to me," he replied. In truth, any bloodline sounded amazing to him, but he couldn't exactly say that now.

Luna just shook her head. "Not exactly going to help when a fade is staring me down, now is it?"

There was more to the Martial Path than just killing fades, but Rix didn't particularly want to debate the intricacies right now. The important thing was that she'd bought his lie, at least for now. He made a note to minimise his qi use in her presence. With luck, she'd simply move on now that she had an explanation, but it made sense not to give her any more opportunities to study it than were absolutely necessary.

Luna blinked several times, then nodded to herself, seeming to shake off that little moment of melancholy. "Anyway, the important thing is that's a prime bloodline. Caught me completely off guard."

He nodded. "You're telling me. It's already saved me several times when diving."

"Well, maybe we can train together again sometime. I'd love to see what else it can do."

Apparently, his lie hadn't entirely diminished her enthusiasm. He tried to be diplomatic in his response. "Maybe. To be honest, that was kind of embarrassing for me. If not for my physical mana at the end there, I'd never have come close to hitting you. I think I need to use some of those training hours you so graciously gambled to get better first. I can't let you make me look that bad again."

In many ways, having a training partner would be great. It was rapidly becoming clear how deficient he really was in a lot of things other Martial Souls took for granted. Also, as much as he didn't like to admit it, he kind of liked Luna. She was a little strange, of course, and she'd had ulterior motives for initially approaching him, but they weren't rooted in self-interest like everybody else in the city. Instead, she was simply curious. And even now that she'd received an explanation for what she could sense in him, she still seemed to want to work together. Rix's instincts told him she was genuine and unlikely to stab him in the back.

But he couldn't be sure it would last. If they spent more time together, she'd inevitably see him use his qi often. He didn't know if his lie would hold up under constant scrutiny, or what she'd do if she found out the truth. He'd simply have to hope his newly won hours with Master Zhen would help him grow faster.

Thankfully, Luna didn't push this either. "What makes you think I won't get better just as fast as you?" she said, with a grin. "You think I'm just going to be sitting on my hands while you're out here training?"

"Then I guess I'll just have to hope the elder's wisdom truly is as valuable as he says," Rix replied. "Speaking of which, we still have some time before we dive. I might try and use my new hour right now. Shall we go and give him the good news?"

Master Zhen didn't even look away from his book as they approached. "I was expecting your footwork to be poor, boy, but watching you move is like watching someone trying to wade through honey. Uphill."

Rix grinned. "Well, somehow that didn't stop me wading into quite a few extra hours of your time."

It took a moment for his meaning to land, but when it did, Rix couldn't help but feel a rush of satisfaction. Master Zhen dropped his book and turned an indignant gaze their way. "How?" Then, to Luna. "How? He moves like a toddler. Did you trip and fall onto his fist?"

She shrugged and shot Rix a knowing glance. "He caught me fair. Must have been holding back until the end."

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The old master studied them for several seconds, his sneer seeming to deepen with every moment. For a moment, Rix thought he might elect not to honour his commitment. After all, it wasn't like Rix had any right of protest. Fundamentally, he was still a prisoner.

But eventually the man gave a dismissive wave. "Bah. Apparently even a blind chicken pecks a seed now and then." He drummed his fingers on his book. "I suppose this means postponing my detailed analysis of proper tea brewing postures. I'll just have to hope watching you fumble through more instruction continues to provide some sliver of entertainment."

"I will do my best, elder," Rix replied, trying to mask his relief.

The other man snorted. "That's what I'm afraid of. I assume you wish to begin now?"

Rix nodded. "I thought it best to begin while my deficiencies are clear in your mind." If the man was going to constantly belittle Rix, perhaps leaning into it as well might earn him a little goodwill.

"I could not soon forget a display like that, but very well."

Rix said farewell to Luna and followed the elder back to the training cell, where the man sized him up. "What makes someone effective in battle?" he asked eventually.

Rix furrowed his brow. It felt like a trick question, given that it had multiple answers. He could try and outsmart the elder, but there was obviously a point here he eventually wanted to reach. Better to simply walk through the traps.

"Strength?" Rix ventured. "Skill with a weapon?"

Master Zhen's lips curled. "A warrior with strength but no mobility is just a very dangerous tree. And I'm hopeful even you can surmise how effective those are in battle."

Rix shrugged. "Speed, then?"

"Getting warmer, though still missing the point entirely." The elder's eyes narrowed. "Combat is movement. This is true, regardless of your style, your techniques, or your weapons. Move well enough, and you will never lose a fight, regardless of any other factors."

"You're talking about dodging?"

"I'm talking about everything. Is an attack not a movement? Do your feet not take steps to position you for a blow? In battle, every element, offensive or defensive, is predicated on movement."

Rix's first instinct was again to bite back. First, the man had criticised something as basic as his ability to punch, and now he was suggesting Rix didn't know how to even move correctly either. It was galling. But Rix was already starting to feel improvements from the training, so he checked his pride and let Master Zhen continue.

"I don't know what happened that let you land a blow on your friend there, but prior to that, your efforts looked as hopeless as a stone trying to swim. Do you know why?"

Based on where the conversation was going, Rix had his suspicions, but he decided to let the man tell him. Once he was on a roll, he seemed to enjoy giving his lectures. "No, elder."

"It's because you have the subtlety of an earthquake, boy. You move with flat feet, which makes you slow, and even when you're not, your body telegraphs everything. Any competent fighter could see your attacks coming a mile away and simply get out of the way. And before you ask, that will be true whether you are using fist or staff."

Rix took this in. He bristled at the notion that he was in any way slow, but obviously it was a relative term. The thousand blows training had already given him some insight into how poorly he'd used his body in combat before, so it made sense that he'd be equally lacking once motion was added to the equation.

"How do I get better, elder?"

The man led him to the dummy. "You've taken some small steps towards more efficiently using your body while stationary, but that all falls apart the moment your feet begin to move."

He dropped into a combat stance. "First, and most critically, you need to focus on staying on the balls of your feet at all times. The more of your foot that is in contact with the ground, the slower you are to adjust and the bigger the movements you'll need to make."

He demonstrated by circling the dummy with quick, hopping steps. "At all times, your body should be primed for explosive movement; that way, when it comes, it's a surprise instead of the lengthy negotiation you seem to have with your own feet."

Rix attempted to mimic him. It didn't seem particularly challenging, just something he'd need to concentrate on until he built the habit.

Master Zhen's expression remained neutral. "Congratulations, you can now move like a five-year-old novice."

The man then used his foot to draw a cross in the sand with the dummy at its centre. "Next, you need to learn to combine that with the ability to strike correctly. When you were fighting earlier, nothing you did was in harmony. You were constantly trying to return to your starting stance before striking again. Combat isn't just about fast movement; it's about economical movement, utilising the angles and momentum of the body. Observe."

He took a position at one of the four tips of the cross and unleashed a two-punch combo, a jab and a cross, before freezing as the second blow landed with his fist in the dummy's face. "Right now, my hips are open and my weight has been thrown to the right. From this position, it's difficult for me to pivot further to my right. I could do it, but it would be awkward and slow. Conversely, if I want to pivot to the left, my body is perfectly primed for that."

He demonstrated, uncoiling backwards and dancing to the next point of the cross in one fluid movement. Rix had to admit that it did look extremely natural.

"Some instructors teach hand-to-hand fighting that is nothing more than a long list of predetermined combinations, but those charlatans are simply masking predictability with volume. Your real goal is to develop an understanding of your own momentum and flexibility so you can always put yourself in an effective position."

Again, he attacked, this time leading with a hook with his back fist, before jabbing with his front hand and freezing again. "My position here is different, and if I choose this moment to move, I must take that into account."

This time he uncoiled the other way, returning to his original position on the cross. "Your turn."

They switched places and Rix did his best to copy what he'd seen. With part of his concentration focused on staying light on his feet, he stepped up and unleashed the same two-punch combo Master Zhen had used, freezing at the moment of impact. By holding that pose and focusing on where his weight was distributed, he began to get an idea what the older man was saying. Most of his weight was on his front foot, but the right side of his body had already unloaded forward so there was no easy way to drive further in that direction. The more natural thing, if he wanted to move, was to let his body snap back and allow that momentum to carry him to his left.

He let it happen, uncoiling his body and trying to let that movement carry him to the next quadrant. It wasn't nearly as flowing as Master Zhen's sequence, but it felt easy, and he landed in roughly the right spot. He grinned at the elder. "Something like that?"

Master Zhen seemed unmoved. "Congratulations, you can now move like a six-year-old novice."

Undeterred, Rix repeated the second part of the man's pattern with a similar effect. It was strange, paying attention to himself while he was theoretically fighting something else, but he had to admit his body could tell him right from wrong if he took the time to listen.

"From now on, we'll add this exercise to your training regime," Master Zhen said. "You'll do your thousand blows, followed by five hundred of these. To begin with, use only the two combinations I showed you. You can mix up their order to cover the full three hundred and sixty degrees, but don't get creative and try to improvise yet. That will come later when you have a firmer grasp of the basics."

Rix nodded. Despite the close call with Luna, he felt good about the day. He'd won a few more precious hours of instruction and they were already starting to pay off. "Sounds easy enough, elder."

Master Zhen shot him a thin smile. "Good, because that is just part one of your new training regime."

Some of Rix's enthusiasm bled away.

Over the remainder of his hour, the old master showed Rix a dizzying array of movement drills. He had Rix covering the length of the cell with those fast hopping steps both backwards and forwards while pivoting to change his leading foot over and over. Another had him starting outside attack range from the dummy and trying to land a perfect punch while moving forward. There was even one that required him to shadow box the air with his eyes closed to further hone his sense of when he was off balance.

He was also taught several basic katas, which were different patterns of choreographed martial arts movements that he could move through on his own. They felt stilted and wildly impractical. How was slowly punching the air and blocking invisible blows supposed to help him in a real fight? But Master Zhen insisted that they were necessary to help Rix's body "unlearn years of embarrassing itself." He also claimed that the movements themselves were universal to fighting, whether that was with weapons or fists. It would simply take time for them to become ingrained.

Much of this training felt rudimentary and perhaps a little silly, but any embarrassment Rix felt was rapidly diminishing. The old master was derisive and sharp-tongued, but the more they worked together, the clearer it became that his lessons were legitimate. Since his parents died, everything Rix had learned had been self-taught. To have someone genuinely help with his growth again after so many years was novel and more than a little uplifting, whatever words came with it.

"This all looks promising," his teacher said as the lesson drew to a close. "Soon, you may well be the equal of a seven-year-old novice."

"If you've got any seven-year-olds handy, I'd be happy to test that theory right now," Rix said.

Master Zhen smirked. "I make it a policy never to arrange fights where my money would be on a child."