Legend of The Young Master

Chapter 113: Would you like to spar?

By the time Qian had set up his target stand and prepared it for use, the remaining nine stands were already in place.

Forty archers, positioned a hundred steps away, were inspecting their spare bowstrings and muttering complaints about the dampness in the air. Wuyi had insisted that his initiates become proficient with two types of weapons: one for ranged attacks and another for melee combat, aiming to mold them into his elite forces.

With practiced ease, Qinujian fitted his bowstring and loosened the tie securing the arrows in his quiver. "Shall we start?" he proposed, fitting an arrow to the bowstring and letting it fly.

A short distance to his right, Yuei, who prided himself on his unmatched archery skills, also loosed his arrow shortly after, his torso twisting to accommodate the draw of his powerful bow.

Wanxie raised his horn to his lips and blew. "Hold!" he bellowed, turning to Qinujian. "Qian is still in the firing zone!" he yelled.

Qinujian smirked. "I'm well aware of his location," he replied. "So is Yuei."

The two chuckled as Qian emerged from behind the central target, sprinting as fast as his tired legs would allow. The archers burst into laughter.

Fuming with both anger and fear, Qian yelled at Qinujian, "Are you all reckless fools?" Even though Qinujian was senior to him, Qian did not care; he served the young master, not these idiots.

"I warned you to speed up," Qinujian responded calmly.

"I'll report this to the Young Master!" Qian retorted.

Wanxie nodded. "Go ahead," he gestured dismissively, causing Qian to blanch. Behind Wanxie, the other archers took their positions and began to shoot.

Wuyi arrived late to the training session, having just unlocked a new statue. He needed to transfer some energy from the other statues to this new one. It was unexpected that a statue would be unlocked by a disciple, especially when Wuyi himself had spent years attempting to unlock another statue without success.

The Statue of Knowledge provided the only plausible explanation: the girl possessed a unique and pure bloodline, and her touch resonated with the energy of the statue Wuyi had unlocked, activating it.

Fatigued and craving sleep, Wuyi nevertheless felt obligated to oversee the warriors' practice as per his command; he couldn't rest while they toiled. Like his warriors, Wuyi had also been on the move. Although his warriors took occasional breaks, Wuyi had been relentlessly active for the past month.

As a Qi master, he could theoretically go months without food or sleep, but his exhaustion was palpable. He moved sluggishly, leaning against the tall stone wall that surrounded the sheep pen, which Anzhi, one of his adepts, had repurposed as a training ground, and watched the warriors.

Despite the evident fatigue and the weight of his Qi armor, one of his warriors, Qingyu Ni, demonstrated remarkable agility, seamlessly transitioning between stances. His sparring partner, the polished Xuanli Ye, exhibited a meticulously crafted fighting technique that sharply contrasted with his armament.

Qingyu Ni moved around Xuanli Ye with the agility of a nimble leopard, his spear shifting from one stance to the next—initially low, spear blade forward, right leg leading in the 'Boar's Tusk' stance, then swinging upward in a broad arc to rest on his right shoulder, mimicking a lumberjack, in the 'Maiden's Guard' stance.

Wuyi had personally selected these warriors, filtered through the Statue of Harmony for their loyalty and skill. Watching their progress lessened his fatigue somewhat. Turning his gaze to another corner of the training ground, he saw Xueqin Yang, a stout and cautious veteran, square off against Lianzhi Zhu, another experienced warrior.

Their cautious circling made the match seem so dull that Wuyi considered dozing off.

While Wuyi was engrossed in watching his warriors train, Baijian appeared, standing behind him and leaning against the same wall. Baijian's towering presence over Wuyi was akin to an elephant looming behind a house cat.

"Would you like to spar?" Baijian suddenly asked, grinning.

Sparing with Baijian was not a popular choice; he had a tendency to injure his opponents. Wuyi was aware that despite the protective cloak and other safety measures, training matches could result in injuries, sometimes severe. Tempers could flare, turning a practice session into a full-blown duel. Yet, there was no better way to prepare for actual combat, a lesson Wuyi had learned.

He looked at Baijian, this giant irritated him. Lately, Baijian had managed to achieve draws in spars with Meiying, though he was more often defeated.. How did the brute get an idea that he could spar with Wuyi himself?

Baijian knew Wuyi was stronger than him in the past, but now that Baijian was a Qi Master and he had battled Meiying to a draw a few times. He wanted to spar with Wuyi to check Wuyi's strength.

Wuyi had publicly reprimanded him just a day earlier; now this brute came again, and Wuyi was irked by Baijian's audacity to challenge him despite being his subordinate. Wuyi decided it was time to teach him a lesson.

"What weapon do you plan to use, brother Baijian?" he inquired in a very gentle tone. This sent a shiver down Baijian's back, but he controlled himself.

"Longsword," Baijian replied. With a swift motion, he vaulted over the wall, landing gracefully and unsheathing his sword. The blade was a masterpiece, nearly four and a half feet of heavy metal with intricate patterns. Rumor had it that the sword was enchanted.

Wuyi did not move, but he looked towards the edge of the field. A massive red warrior covered in Qi armor from head to toe, with his face masked, walked towards the training ground. Seeing this, Baijian frowned. In Wuyi's subordinates, only three people bothered Baijian: first was Demoness Meiying, second was calm Yun Ming who rarely talked, and third was this red warrior.

This warrior was too menacing, even more than the demoness.

Baijian rarely saw or knew anything about this warrior in red, but it seemed this guy only reported to the Young Master.

In the training area, everyone stopped what they were doing as the massive warrior attracted everyone's attention. This warrior rarely made his presence known. The only thing people knew about him was that he was a high-level cultivator and a Dao protector of the young master. This was what Yun Ming had told them all when they asked who exactly this warrior was.