The sky was brightly lit.

Chen Ji and Zhang Xia raced side by side through the forest. While Xiao Man and the others headed southeast, they went southwest.

Along the way, the two struck tree trunks, startling birds into spiraling flight, leading the Life-catcher Generals to chase after them.

The birds in the sky circled for a while before settling back on the treetops, only to be startled again by the chasing Life-catcher Generals.

Chen Ji glanced back, always maintaining a distance of over a hundred zhang from the Life-catcher Generals, neither drawing closer nor farther away.

He turned to Zhang Xia: "How long have you been in the Innate Realm?"

Zhang Xia answered carefully: "Twenty-two days. The full script of the Cloud-Veiling Sword Qi consists of two hundred and thirty-nine sentences, totaling one thousand six hundred and seventy-three characters. Reciting it three thousand times constitutes a heavenly level, which takes approximately sixty-eight days. Barring any accidents, I can reach the Seeking Dao Realm in five hundred and ninety days, or perhaps even faster with more diligence."

Chen Ji asked again: "How much Sword Qi can you unleash within three breaths?"

Zhang Xia replied again: "At most nine swords, with three hundred and sixty breaths required to recover one sword, in a cycle of unending renewal."

Chen Ji pondered: "How much Sword Qi is possible in the Seeking Dao Realm?"

Zhang Xia ducked to avoid a tree branch blocking their path and recalled: "While Qi Zheyun was alive, storytellers praised him. In tales, he was said to have eighty-one paths of Sword Qi, moving through the Hu Ben Army of the Jing Dynasty as if in a land with no enemies, surrounded by shooting stars and radiant as a nebula. Of course, these are just folklore, and may not be true."

Curious, Chen Ji asked: "Did Qi Zheyun ever mention wanting to be the first Martial Saint of two dynasties?"

Zhang Xia nodded: "This is indeed recorded, without a doubt."

Chen Ji grew more curious: "How does one become a Martial Saint?"

Zhang Xia, uncertain of why Chen Ji was asking this at this moment, thought for a moment before answering: "No one knows how to become a Martial Saint now. If it's about power and realm, then Lu Yang, Mountain Master of the Temple of Martial Arts, is undeniably the top figure today, yet he hasn't reached the threshold of a Martial Saint. Over the millennia, countless Executive Officers have aspired to be Martial Saints but never crossed that threshold in their lifetimes. It seems that aside from power, something else is needed… or perhaps, there simply are no Martial Saints in this world."

Answering Chen Ji's questions disrupted Zhang Xia's rhythm, and her speed gradually slowed.

But Chen Ji didn't care about that and asked another question: "Is a Saint a realm above the Divine Realm?"

Zhang Xia lept over a rock blocking the path: "No. Saints transcend the mundane, forming their own worlds, outside the cultivation realms. In recorded history, there have been only two Saints, the Supreme Sage Kong Qiu and the Patriarch of Daoism Li Er. And one Semi-Saint, Ji Ke."

Casually, Chen Ji said: "Back in Guyuan, when I asked you these things, you claimed not to know. How is it that you know now? Where did you learn it?"

Suddenly, Zhang Xia's breath hitched, and her body paused.

At this moment, Chen Ji earnestly asked: "Do you really want to learn how to fight?"

Zhang Xia also answered earnestly: "Born in chaotic times, one must have some means to protect oneself. Not for anything else, but just to avoid always hiding behind others."

Just as Zhang Xia was about to adjust her breathing again, Chen Ji suddenly said: "Unleash all your Sword Qi. Let me see how fast and how far you can strike."

Zhang Xia was taken aback but did as she was told.

She raised her hand, channeling the Sword Qi from her fingertips to the open ground before her. The Sword Qi soared six zhang before dissipating.

Zhang Xia turned to Chen Ji: "And then?"

Chen Ji calmly said: "I'm teaching you the first lesson."

"What?"

Chen Ji softly uttered: "Essence, Qi, and Spirit."

Zhang Xia was puzzled: "Essence, Qi, and Spirit… what are you doing?"

She saw Chen Ji pat her shoulder, then, without another word, suddenly sped up, leaving her far behind.

Zhang Xia had just entered the Innate Realm and was far from reaching Chen Ji's realm.

She could only watch as Chen Ji ran further and further away, disappearing without a trace in a matter of ten breaths, leaving her running alone in the forest.

Zhang Xia was suddenly startled into wakefulness.

Chen Ji had been speaking to her earlier to deliberately disrupt her rhythm, gradually slowing her speed. Having her unleash her Sword Qi was also to leave her without a means of support.

...

...

Birds flapped their wings startled behind her.

Zhang Xia abruptly turned to look, shadows flickered among the trees, and the three fastest Life-catcher Generals aligned in a Vanguard Formation, drawing closer, the clatter of armor echoing.

One of the Life-catcher Generals placed the copper whistle hanging from his neck into his mouth, blowing a bird call, two tones, as if summoning all his comrades.

In the next moment, the three Life-catcher Generals exchanged glances and suddenly separated.

One pursued Zhang Xia directly from behind, while the other two galloped from left and right, tightly blocking Zhang Xia's lateral paths.

In a rare moment, Zhang Xia cursed Chen Ji under her breath.

As she passed a pine tree, she snapped off a branch, working to regulate her breathing while she stripped off the excess twigs, sharpening the broken end as much as she could.

The next moment, she heard the creaking sound of bowstrings tightening from behind and on either side.

Zhang Xia dove forward, with arrows shooting at her from three directions. The arrow from behind grazed her spine, severing her hairpin.

The arrow from the left aimed straight for her waist. She twisted her body mid-air, barely dodging it.

Zhang Xia landed like a swift bird, her body covered in fallen leaves, with strands of grass among her hair, in a state of utter disarray.

Behind her, the Life-catcher General drew another arrow from the arrow quiver, rapidly closing in while fitting the arrow onto the bowstring.

Just as the Life-catcher General was about to release the string, he noticed that Zhang Xia had stopped running and was instead looking up at him, with nothing but determination in her eyes.

Zhang Xia got up with both hands and feet, charging towards the Life-catcher General behind her.

Only ten steps apart, the Life-catcher General fired an arrow, but Zhang Xia seemed to have already calculated the arrow's trajectory the moment it was released.

She jerked her head to the side, narrowly avoiding the arrow as it grazed past her ear.

In the next instant, she reached the Life-catcher General, thrusting a sharp tree branch toward his chin.

A hint of mockery flashed in the Life-catcher General's eyes.

He blocked Zhang Xia's wrist with the bow in his left hand, while his right hand reached to his waist to grab the hilt of his knife.

The world knew the Life-catcher Generals excelled at archery and horseback riding, yet mistakenly believed they were skilled only in those.

The Life-catcher General had half-drawn his waist knife, blade facing outward; a single slash could disembowel Zhang Xia.

But in a flash, the Life-catcher General couldn't draw his knife further. Zhang Xia lacked refined combat skills and merely charged forward on instinct, trapping the Life-catcher General's knife-drawing arm between their bodies, rendering it immobile.

The Life-catcher General stared fixedly at Zhang Xia, while Zhang Xia fixedly stared back at him; her phoenix eyes full of resolution, never flinching for a moment.

"Smart aleck," the Life-catcher General said, using his shoulder to shove Zhang Xia back, forcing her to retreat half a step.

He twisted the knife hilt in reverse, revealing a palm-length Cow Ear Point Saber from the handle.

The Life-catcher General gripped the Cow Ear Point Saber tightly, slashing upward diagonally.

The Cow Ear Point Saber was about to slash across Zhang Xia's abdomen when she suddenly felt a lightness on her shoulder, as if something had left.

In a flash, a streak of sword light swiped across the Life-catcher General's wrist, sending his hand and the Cow Ear Point Saber plummeting to the ground.

The Life-catcher General's eyes widened, as if witnessing the unbelievable.

Taking advantage of his distraction, Zhang Xia bent to catch the falling Cow Ear Saber, imitating the memory of Chen Ji: the first stab pierced into the Life-catcher General's inner knee, the second along the armor's seams into the abdomen, and the third through the jaw into the oral cavity.

The three stabs were executed swiftly, seamlessly.

Blood spurted from the Life-catcher General's neck, splattering Zhang Xia's face with crimson stars.

Before she could catch her breath, bowstring noises sounded from her left.

Zhang Xia felt a chill, immediately turning to pull the Life-catcher General, already with a pierced throat, in front of her as a shield.

But the Life-catcher General, not completely devoid of life, mustered his last breath and strength, seizing her arm with his left hand, holding her immobile.

Turning her head, Zhang Xia saw an arrow speeding toward her, no room to evade.

But just then, she watched in awe as the arrow flew within three steps of her, only to be cleaved in half by a sudden yellow sword light.

The sword light did not lose its momentum, heading straight for the Life-catcher General's face on her left.

The Life-catcher General swung his bow to deflect the sword light, and Zhang Xia heard three consecutive bowstring sounds from the right woods.

Three arrows were upon him in an instant; the Life-catcher General deflected the first, dodged right to evade the second, but the third, seemingly aware of his next move, pinned him to the muddy ground at his landing spot.

The Life-catcher General beside Zhang Xia slumped down slowly, and she gasped for breath, looking to the right until Chan Ji, bow in hand, emerged from the shade.

Zhang Xia realized that three Life-catcher Generals had encircled her, and the woods had echoed with three bowstrings; however, she had only seen the arrows from behind and the left, as if the Life-catcher General on the right had vanished into thin air.

It turned out Chen Ji had returned long ago, hidden nearby.

Now, Chen Ji stood before Zhang Xia, "I'll allow you to curse me three times... ten times."

Zhang Xia raised her arm to wipe away the blood on her face, resolutely saying, "Can I be your student now?"

Chen Ji calmly said, "Some people are born to eat meat, others born to eat grass; dictated by character, unchangeable. If you had been too frightened to move just now, I would suggest you stay in the Imperial Capital and never put yourself at risk again."

Zhang Xia smiled broadly, "And now?"

Chen Ji picked up the fallen bow, pulled off the Life-catcher General's arrow quiver, and handed them to Zhang Xia, "Now I will teach you everything I know."

"Start with archery?"

"Start with archery."

Chen Ji looked into the distance where startled birds flew skyward and turned to strip another Life-catcher General's arrow quiver, heading south, "Let's go."

Zhang Xia followed behind, walking silently for a while, each seemingly withholding unspoken words.

After a moment, Zhang Xia jibed at Chen Ji's back, "No wonder you always keep the cultivation path secretive; it must be well hidden, or else you'd be hunted down by the greatest Executive Officer of the time."

Chen Ji paused for a moment, then continued forward.

Zhang Xia suddenly asked, "How many people know about it?"

Without looking back, Chen Ji replied, "The second, the first was my master, Doctor Yao."

Zhang Xia earnestly said, "Thank you."

Chen Ji looked back at her, puzzled, "Thank me for what?"

Zhang Xia brushed past him, "Nothing."