With that, Bai Susu’s demeanor suddenly changed. His air of femininity faded as the sword in his hand morphed into a cold burst of light, causing the students in the classroom to shiver involuntarily.
Watching the swordplay on the podium, Zu An couldn’t help but recall a poem.
Once there was a fair lady by the name of Gongsun, a great commotion she would stir when she danced with her swords.
Mountains are shamed by the crowds she draws, even heaven and earth would sway with her grace.
Her blade glimmers as bright as the nine suns Hou Yi downed, her moves swift like the dragon chariots of the heavenly gods.
With thunderous fury she commences her dance, but with the tranquility of the reflected moon in the sea it concludes.
…
Haaa, what a pity that he’s a guy. What a waste of his beautiful appearance, or else it would be a truly marvelous sight.
The Thirteen Forms were soon fully demonstrated. Seeing the awed looks of the students around, Bai Susu asked with a smile, “Isn’t it formidable?”
“Amazing!”
“The Elementary Swordplay actually wields such great prowess!”
“I think it looks suave too. Girls will surely fall for me if I can master this!”
“That’s because Teacher Bai has a beautiful appearance. Just look at your own face… Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
…
Bai Susu took out a little mirror to check if his hair was disheveled, then continued on with the lecture. “All right, I’ve shared with you the strengths of this technique, so naturally, I should also talk about its weaknesses, lest the lot of you attempt to do something rash with it.
“My swordplay might have looked formidable, but that’s because my cultivation is higher than yours. Strength and speed are necessary to bring out the prowess of this swordplay to its maximum potential. If your cultivation is not at a high level, executing this swordplay will reveal all sorts of openings. This technique has powerful offensive prowess, but its defense is fragile in comparison.
“However, you need not worry. It’s unlikely that you’ll clash with powerful cultivators in the future. You should find this swordplay sufficient to deal with common thieves and bandits.”
“Tsk~”
The excitement in the room dimmed significantly as the weaknesses of the style were laid bare. Most of the students lost their initial enthusiasm. I should have known. Any combat skills that are imparted to our Yellow class are bound to be nothing special.
However, Zu An was intrigued by Bai Susu’s description of the swordplay. Since he did not lack strength or speed, its weakness didn’t apply to him. In fact, if he could synergize Grandgale’s instantaneous movement together with this swordplay, he would be able to exert an incredible amount of force.
He thought about the Bixie Swordplay in The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, a wuxia drama series he had watched in his previous life. That technique was also straightforward, and focused mainly on offense. In the eyes of true experts, it was filled with openings. However, if it was used in unison with a powerful movement technique, the swordsman would become nigh impossible to deal with.
As long as you’re fast enough, openings are not openings anymore. You’d be able to release your prowess to the greatest degree.
The more Zu An thought about it, the more excited he was. However, he soon realized something. He lowered his gaze to look at ‘little Zu An’, and tears welled up in his eyes.
Is it destiny?[1]
1. Bixie Swordplay is infamous in the Wuxia community as a skill that requires one to castrate himself in order to learn, which is similar to Zu An’s current plight.