It had been several days since that incident, essentially cutting off Qin Shaoqing's only source of income.
Before Sushang became his disciple, he could roam around during the day, looking for someone to swindle, but now that Sushang took up most of his time, he had to find a job that was available at night.
Qin Shaoqing also wondered why Sushang had so much free time and asked her about it once.
"Well, most junior Cloud Knights aren't allowed to fight. At most, we can only patrol and keep order. The reason I was called in that one time was because most of the senior Cloud Knights in that department were busy," Sushang recalled. That one time she had been called in was when she met Qin Shaoqing.
Guinaifen, who was the cause of this incident, felt apologetic and invited Qin Shaoqing to perform with her, promising to split the pay evenly. However, street performing wasn't Qin Shaoqing's thing, so he politely declined.
Now, watching Sushang focus on mastering his technique, Qin Shaoqing felt bored once more.
After a couple of days, Sushang could now seamlessly switch between the three stances and was currently mastering the fast style's first set of moves.
"Swing your wrist to increase your swing speed. What you should be aiming for is speed, not power." Qin Shaoqing instantly noticed a flaw in her performance and quickly reprimanded her.
"Yes, Teacher!" Sushang replied and redid the set of movements. She remembered to move her wrist at certain points, but once she reached the end, Qin Shaoqing spoke again.
"Wrong! The ending position of your sword is too low!"
Qin Shaoqing, the creator of this technique, emphasized how imperative it was that each movement started and ended at the correct position, as those positions were where each stance could transition into another.
Each stance, though completely different in style, had been reformed so that switching between them was possible.
For example, if he performed a heavy-style downward slash, the moment his blade finished its arc, he could transition into several other moves that began from that exact position.
If his opponent chose to dodge, he could follow up with a fast-style thrust. If the opponent chose to retaliate, he could raise his sword sideways to parry the attack.
Each movement was tailored to interconnect with others, and if Sushang became proficient enough, she could seamlessly switch between them even when such connections weren't explicitly written in the book. What Qin Shaoqing had written was only the tip of a massive iceberg.
'Like an ever-changing tide, unpredictability is its greatest strength.'
Of course, Qin Shaoqing himself couldn't perform such moves. His Absolute Sword Sense only worked on others. If he tried to swing a sword according to the movements in his mind, he would fail miserably.
If Sushang was talented enough, she would eventually realize just how intricate this technique truly was—but that was something only time could answer.
Looking at Sushang now, fully focused on practicing his technique, Qin Shaoqing couldn't help but feel proud.
Yet—
"Ow!" A stone suddenly landed beside her. Sushang looked at her teacher in confusion.
"Sigh, we need to work on your reaction speed." Qin Shaoqing remembered that this technique also required rapid thinking to properly respond to an enemy's actions.
To be honest, what she truly needed was a sparring partner to refine her technique more efficiently. Real combat experience was far richer than swinging at empty air.
But the problem was that he knew no one who could truly face her—and he himself couldn't fight her directly. If only he could clone himself to observe and train her…
'Ghost-like movements, huh. Well, technically the ghost isn't "myself," only a projection of my imagination. Hmm…'
Activating the ability, he summoned a ghostly figure resembling himself.
Imagining the ghost holding a sword, a long blade similar to Sushang's appeared in its hand.
'Now for the moment of truth.'
Commanding the ghost, it moved into an open space and assumed a stance.
'Yes!'
Seeing the perfect stance, Qin Shaoqing continued, guiding the ghost through the first part of the fast-style form exactly as he had envisioned.
Sushang, who witnessed the entire scene, couldn't help but take a deep breath.
Beautiful.
That single word came to mind. Was this truly the same technique? The gap between her movements and the ghost's felt like leagues apart.
After completing the first portion of the fast-style form, Qin Shaoqing turned to her.
"Well, Little Sushang, how about you spar with the ghost?"
"W-What!? I can't fight that!" Sushang, having clearly seen the difference in skill, felt like she would be defeated before she could even react.
"It's only a ghost; it can't really hurt you." Qin Shaoqing punched the ghost as a demonstration. Upon contact, it instantly dissipated into smoke. "See?"
Seeing this, Sushang quickly regained her fighting spirit and agreed to spar.
Facing each other, Qin Shaoqing laid down a few rules to keep the fight as realistic as possible.
First, if either Sushang or the ghost landed a hit, Qin Shaoqing would announce it, and both would reset.
Second, no clashing or parrying—the ghost was incorporeal and would disappear upon any contact.
With those two rules established, both sides prepared to begin.
"Now, start!"
The moment Qin Shaoqing announced it, the ghost moved first, stabbing Sushang in the chest before vanishing.
"Hit to Sushang!"
"What!? Master, that's not fair!" Sushang protested, having been struck before she could even react.
"Little Sushang, your opponent won't hand you their sword just because you're weaker."
After that loss, Sushang immediately requested a rematch—only to lose again.
This cycle continued for the rest of the day, until Sushang's arms finally gave out.