RaizellV

  Feiyin’s breath came out in soft puffs against the m air, his feet moving across the dirt of the training ground as he pleted his usual warm-up routine. His body had grown lean and strong over the past few months, his movements smoother, his posture more refined. Every fiber of his bei more alive, more attuo the osciltions of the world around him. He had fed his body, tempered his strength, trained his inner energy—now, he would take the step.Today, he would wield a on.Cai Feng stood a short distance away, his hands behind his back, watg his son as he finished his exercises. His sharp gaze softened, ever so slightly, as Feiyin approached, anticipation clear in his young but steady steps.“You’re ready,” Cai Feng said simply.Feiyin’s heart pounded with excitement, but he kept himself calm, taking a deep breath to steady his mind. “Yes, Dad.”Cai Feng turned, gesturing toward a set of ons id out before them. There were spears, swords, axes, polearms, and more. Feiyin had seen them before, had observed the militia train with them, but this time, the decision was his to make.His gaze swept over the sele before him, but he already knew what he wanted.He walked forward, stopping in front of a long, single-edged bde with a slight curve—a saber.The moment his fingers ed around the hilt, something in him clicked. He lifted it, feeling the weight, the bahe sharpness of its edge even without swinging it. His father’s on of choice. It felt right.Cai Feng watched him, his expression unreadable. “Why the saber?”Feiyin didn’t rush to answer. He lifted the bde, testing its weight in his palm. “It feels natural.” His firaced the hilt. “It’s fast… and precise. It cut deeply in a siroke. It doesn’t need excessive flourishes.” He gnced up at his father. “Like you.”At that, a small smirk tugged at the er of Cai Feng’s lips. “A saber is a on of decisiveness,” he said, nodding. “It is a on matism. No wasted movements. No wasted effort.”Feiyin gripped it tighter. “Then I made the right choice.”Cai Feured for him to step forward. “e. Let’s begin.”The m sun cast long shadows over the training ground as father and son faced each other. Cai Feng drew his own saber, the movement effortless, natural, as though the on was aension of his own arm. The bde gleamed uhe light, refleg its wielder’s unwavering focus.Feiyin mirrored him, gripping his own saber tightly.“Rex,” Cai Feng said. “If you grip it too tightly, you lose fluidity. If you hold it too loosely, you lose trol.” He tapped his own saber against Feiyin’s wrist lightly. “Bance.”Feiyin adjusted his grip, breathing in deeply. His father nodded in approval.“The first thing you must uand,” Cai Feng tinued, voice steady, “is the nature of drawing your bde.”He walked around Feiyin slowly, the weight of his words pressing down.“When you draw your bde, it is to kill.”Feiyin stilled, eyes flickering up to meet his father’s.Cai Feng’s expression was unreadable, but his tone was clear—absolute. “If you have to draw your on, then you must be sure that you are prepared to use it. There is y threat, no p.” His eyes darkened, something old ahered fshing behind them. “I have seen many a fool draw his bde as a show of strength, only to die a worthless death.”Feiyin swallowed, the weight of those words settling into his bones.“If you know you ot wireat,” Cai Feng tinued. “Pn. Think. A drawn bde is a known one. A sheathed bde is unknown.” He tapped his scabbard with his fingers. “And people fear what they do not know.”Feiyin listened ily, every word carving itself into his mind.Cai Feng stepped in front of him again, gripping his saber firmly. “If you choose to wield a on, then you must wield it with certainty. There is no room for hesitation. If you hesitate, you die.”Feiyin nodded, gripping his saber with newfound uanding.“Good.” Cai Feured to the training dummies nearby. “Now, let’s see if you cut.”Feiyin positioned himself before the wooden dummy, taking a steadying breath. He adjusted his stance, recalling the movements he had observed from the militia. With a sharp exhale, he swung.The bde bit into the wood with a solid thunk, but the cut was shallow—hesitant.Cai Feng sighed. “You hesitated.”Feiyin frowned, staring at the mark left on the dummy. His grip tightened.“Again.”This time, he focused. He inhaled deeply, then exhaled—i clear in his mind.The saber cut deeper.Cai Feng nodded in approval. “Better. But still ineffit. Watch.”He stepped forward and, with a single smooth motion, swung his own saber. The wooden dummy split apart in an instant, as if the bde had passed through air.Feiyin’s eyes widened.Cai Feng sheathed his saber. “It’s not about strength. It’s about precision. The er the cut, the less resistance.”Feiyin took a step back, analyzing everything—his stance, his breathing, his movements. His mind absorbed every detail. I. Precision. Execution.He positioned himself again, inhaling deeply.His father watched.Feiyin swung.This time, the cut was er, deeper, closer to what it should be.Cai Feng’s lips curled slightly. “Good.”Feiyin exhaled, chest rising with exhiration. His father’s approval, though rare, felt like an achievement in itself.But Cai Feng wasn’t finished. He lifted a finger and poi Feiyin’s chest. “I is powerful. More powerful than most realize. The stronger your i, the more it shapes the world around you.”Feiyin tilted his head. “I?”Cai Feng nodded. “At higher levels of cultivation, a strong enough i kill without even drawing a bde. It influehe mind, the body, and even Qi itself.”Feiyin absorbed the words, his fiightening around the hilt of his saber.“Even now, when you train,” Cai Feng tinued, “if your i is clear in your mind and strong in your heart, you will find trolling your body and irength much easier.”Feiyin looked at his saber, then at the training dummy. He closed his eyes briefly, fog.He visualized the strike.When he opened his eyes, he exhaled—and swung.The saber cut through the dummy smoother than before, the motion more fluid, more decisive.Cai Feng smirked. “Now, that’s progress.”Feiyin grinned, feeling the exhiration of improvement thrumming in his veins. He wao do more, to push further. But he knew better than to rush.Cai Feed a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve taken your first step. But this is only the beginning.”Feiyin nodded, determination burning in his amethyst-flecked eyes.He wouldn’t waste a single lesson.Cai Feng observed him for a moment longer before stepping forward, his own saber in hand. The weight of his presence alone dematention, and Feiyin instinctively straightened his posture, awaiting the lesson.“The purpose of a saber,” Cai Feng began, voice steady aain, “is to cut. To ssh and divide. It is not a on of brute foror is it one for needless embellishments. Every movement must be made with i, and that i must be reflected in the flow of your body.”Feiyin listened ily, gripping his saber tightly.“Internal strength must follow the nature of the saber itself,” his father tinued. “It is not about overp your oppo with sheer force. It is about efficy, precision, and fluidity.”Cai Feng lifted his saber and, in one smooth motion, demonstrated a single ssh. It wasn’t fast, nor was it overly forceful, yet Feiyin could feel the flow of power behind it, a seamless transition from start to finish. His father’s feet remaieady, yet his whole body moved in perfect synization, from his hips to his shoulders, from his elbows down to his wrist, ending in the final snap of the bde.“To truly wield a saber,” Cai Feng said, l his on, “you must uand the motion of your body and how it ects to your bde. Strength does not start in the arm—it begins from the ground up.”Feiyin furrowed his brows, gripping his saber more thoughtfully now. He had never sidered his movements in such a plete manner before.Cai Feng walked behind him and pced a firm hand on his lower back. “Your foundation must be stable. Power starts from your feet, rooting yourself into the earth.”Feiyin adjusted his stance, feeling the e between himself and the ground.“From there, the force rises up, flowing into your hips. Your waist is where the first true movement begins. A weak stance means ower.”Cai Feng tapped his lower back lightly, signaling for Feiyin to adjust. He did so, tightening his core.“Your core and back trol the transmission of force, direg it where it o go. If your core is weak, your strike will have behind it.”Feiyin exhaled, straightening as he felt his irength settle into a mrounded position.“Then, the power tinues into the shoulder,” Cai Feng instructed. “This is where trol is maintained. If the movement is stiff, the strike loses efficy.”Feiyin took in the information, rolling his shoulders slightly to release any unnecessary tension.“From your shoulder, the energy flows into your elbow,” his father tinued. “This is where your strike truly takes shape. A rigid elbow will slow you down, but a weak elbow will make you sloppy.”Finally, Cai Feng poi his wrist. “This is where you direct your cut. The final trol lies here. A strong wrist ensures precision, but it must be flexible enough to adjust in the middle of an attack.”Feiyin stared at his saber, thinking through every stage of moveme.Hips.Core.Shoulders.Elbow.Wrist.Bde.Eae a link in the , ensuring that irength flowed smoothly, without obstru.Cai Feng took a step back. “Now, try again.”Feiyin inhaled deeply, l himself into a proper stahis time, instead of just swinging his saber from his arm, he focused on building the motion from his foundation.His feet pressed firmly against the ground.The force coiled in his hips.His core tightened, eling the momentum.His shoulders and elbows directed the motion.And finally, his wrist she bde forward.The saber sshed through the air, cutting into the wooden dummy ly. Not perfectly, but far better than before.Feiyin could feel the difference immediately.Cai Feng gave a small nod. “Better.”Feiyin exhaled, his heart pounding—not from exhaustion, but from realization.This was what it meant to truly wield a on.It wasn’t about strength alo was about uanding the movement of one’s body, guiding the flow of irength, and cutting with the io kill.A deep grin spread across his face.He was just getting started.

  That night, as Feiyin y in bed, he stared at the ceiling, his firag the feeling of the saber’s hilt even though it wasn’t in his grasp.He thought about his father’s words.A drawn bde is a known one. A sheathed bde is unknown. People fear what they don’t know.He let those words settle deep in his boonight, he would rest.Tomorrow, he would sharpen both his bde and his mind.