Naked Sword Art

"But... weren't we just..."

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Yan Mei was flabbergasted.

Xiao Fang sent another secret spirit transmission to Xiao Hei, then she nodded.

"I'll see you after class," Xiao Hei said before leaving.

"We should get going too," Xiao Fang said, but Yan Mei still couldn't understand what was going on.

Xiao Fang walked her over to her 4th Divisional Classroom, then she finally said what was on her mind.

"How were we able to get here so quickly? Did you use a movement technique? It must be an incredible movement technique for us to get here so quickly," Yan Mei probed.

Xiao Fang simply smiled before saying, "Mn, it's the strongest technique I have."

Although she was curious about his technique, she could tell that he didn't want to talk about it, so she dropped the topic.

"Do you want to walk home together after class?" She asked.

"I won't be going straight home after class today," he said.

"Ah, I see..."

Xiao Fang could tell something was wrong by her reaction.

"Yan Mei..."

Yan Mei shook her head.

"It's nothing," she replied. "I got to go to class. I'll see you later tonight," she said before running off.

Xiao Fang stood still as she left. Whatever she was keeping from him, he had a feeling it wasn't simple.

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In the 5th Divisional Classroom, Bai Fan and Zhao Pan sat next to each other as they waited for class to begin.

Bai Fan was the first to speak when she saw the Nameless guild nameplate around Zhao Pan's waist.

"What's it like living with Long Wang?" Bai Fan asked.

"Normal, I guess. I didn't see him for the rest of the night, but I met some of the other girls in the guild."

"What are the others like?"

Zhao Pan paused for a moment as she tried to recall their names.

"The first one I met was a Snake-Class disciple named Rong Shi. She was pretty easy to talk to, but at some point she offered to paint my nails," Zhao Pan said before showing Bai Fan her hands.

"Wow~ they look so pretty," Bai Fan said in admiration. She was baffled by how pretty her nails looked.

Zhao Pan agrees to let Rong Shi paint her nails as long as they didn't stand out too much. What Rong Shi gave her was a fairly plain pink and white combination, that seemed simple enough, but still made the world of a difference.

Zhao Pan didn't consider herself to be a girly girl, so she was a bit embarrassed by Bai Fan's reaction. She eventually put her hands down into her lap to hide them.

"Who else was there?" Bai Fan asked.

"The next girl I met was a Tiger-Class disciple named Fei Lin. To describe her in a few words, she's super playful, but also a bit hyper," Zhao Pan didn't really know how else to describe her.

Bai Fan smiled because she actually met Fei Lin a few days ago. The last time she ran into Li Xiang, Xiao Hei was with her, so Li Xiang introduced Xiao Hei to her. They had the same child-like personality, so she could see why Li Xiang liked her so much.

"Is there anyone else?"

"There's one more, but I haven't met her yet. From what I've been told, her name is Ye Ming, and she's also in the Phoenix-Class like us."

"Long Wang already recruited someone from our class?"

"Yeah, but she's in the 4th Division."

"4th Division? How did he get someone like that?"

"Who knows," Zhao Pan shrugged.

Bai Fan thought for a moment, but then a crazy thought came to mind.

"Do you think they... you know... did it? He is Da Long after all." Bai Fan said, assuming Zhao Pan understood what she meant.

As awkward as the question was, they were both familiar with his reputation in the Outer Court. Before Zhao Pan could reply, she noticed the classroom get noticeably quiet. When Bai Fan and Zhao Pan saw who walked in, they finally realized why. Xiao Fang had walked in, and he had pulled up a seat next to Bai Fan.

"Are you talking about me?" He asked with a charming smile.

"L-Long Wang..."

Suddenly, Lai Yun approached their table and looked down at Xiao Fang as he sat down.

Even though he was blindfolded, he still slightly turned his head towards Lai Yun as if he was looking up at her. Lai Yun felt like she could feel him staring at her through his blindfold, but she still looked down at him with a neutral expression.

...

"Are they going to fight?"

"Elder Su will surely punish them if they do."

"Why is she acting so tough? Don't tell me she already forgot how badly he beat her yesterday."

"Maybe Long Wang hit her so hard she lost all her memories of the fight."

The girls whispered.

...

Despite what everyone believed, Lai Yun's next words didn't come off as arrogant or rude, she spoke in a humble tone, and she seemed sincere.

"Long Wang, I said some mean things to you the other day, so I came here to apologize."

Xiao Fang didn't understand why everyone in this sect liked to apologized so much, it was such a meaningless gesture, but perhaps he only felt that way because of the way he was raised. Divine Swordsmen never apologized for anything, nor did they ever accept an apology. Beefs were only squashed through duals and nothing else, the only exception was if the difference in strength was too high.

Xiao Fang and Lai Yun fought it out yesterday, so not only did he forgive her, but he also gained a bit of respect for her too.

Xiao Fang stopped her before she could say anything.

"I'm not angry at you, and I don't need an apology."

"Ah, I see... Well, there's another thing I wanted to speak to you about."

Xiao Fang was a bit interested in what she wanted to say, but it wasn't only him, the other girls were also curious.

Lai Yun opened her mouth as if she was about to speak, but before any words could be said, someone suddenly opened the doors to the classroom. It was Su Lingxi.

"I'll tell you after class," Lai Yun said before quickly returning back to her seat.

Xiao Fang could smell her perfume as she rushed away. It was probably the most alluring smell he had ever smelled, but it was too faint, so he wished he could smell more. He made a mental note to go ask her about it after class.

"What does she want to talk to you about?" Zhao Pan asked Xiao Fang.

"My guess is as good as yours," he shrugged.

"Don't let her take you anywhere private. It might be a trap," Bai Fan cautioned him.

"Mn, I'll be careful," he replied.

He didn't think Lai Yun wanted to get back at him, but he didn't trust her either. Xiao Fang tried to eavesdrop on Lai Yun and her friends, but it seemed like they were just as ignorant as him.

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Su Lingxi started the class by going over the [ 100 Step Clone Maneuver ] technique.

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Name: [ 100 Step Clone Maneuver ]

Type: Movement

Realm: Core realm

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1st level: [ 10 Step Clone Maneuver ]

> Prerequisites: Spirit Foundation realm

> A tricky maneuver with 2 clones to confuse an opponent.

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2nd level: [ 50 Step Clone Maneuver ]

> Prerequisites: Spirit Refinement realm

> A tricky maneuver with 3-4 clones to confuse an opponent.

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3rd level: [ 100 Step Clone Maneuver ]

> Prerequisites: Spirit Core realm

> A tricky maneuver with 5-6 clones to confuse an opponent.

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Since no one in the class had mastered the 2nd level yet, she didn't bother going over the 3rd level with them.

After answering a few of their questions, Su Lingxi took the class over to the Training room, leaving Xiao Fang, Zhao Pan, and Bai Fan alone in the classroom with her clone.

Once everyone was gone, Su Lingxi approached them.

"Shall we continue from where we left off?" Su Lingxi said with a smile.

Zhao Pan and Bai Fan looked at each other thinking the same thing.

"Elder Su, we have a confession to make?" Bai Fan said.

"A confession? What is there to confess about?"

Bai Fan and Zhao Pan both started to release their Illusory Qi, molding them into different shapes and forms.

"That's..."

Su Lingxi watched in disbelief.

...

For every technique scroll, there was a practice method that taught cultivators how to learn the technique through a series of steps. The difficulty for every technique was often determined by the number of steps it took to learn the technique.

To put it into perspective, the [ Illusory Clone ] technique had 9 steps, while the [ Solid Clone ] technique had 18.

1 - 4 steps = Basic level technique

5 - 10 steps = Intermediate level technique

11 - 20 steps = Advanced level technique

21 - 30 steps = Master Level technique

Although more steps didn't always mean the technique was stronger, Master-level techniques were still sought after because they were usually extremely powerful and learned by few.

...

Su Lingxi watched in shock as they performed 7 of the 9 steps to learn the [ Illusory Clone ] technique.

"We only went over the first 3 steps yesterday, how did you learn the next 4 steps so quickly?" Su Lingxi asked in shock.

"We didn't do it on our own. It was thanks to Long Wang that we were able to learn it so quickly," Zhao Pan said.

Su Lingxi looked at Long Wang, not knowing what to think.

"Is this true?"

Xiao Fang nodded. He didn't think there was any way to get out of the situation. Unexpectedly, Su Lingxi smiled at him.

"It seems you have a real talent for teaching, Long Wang."