Walking through the sect with Attie in her arms, her appearance caused a small commotion since they knew that Nan Tian was the one who brought her back to the sect.
Making her way past the training grounds, she could see Li Jian sitting on a mat with his legs crossed. He was currently wearing some baggy clothing that didn’t give him the air that most would associate with sect masters.
“Yo young miss. Seems like you’ve recovered enough to walk around now huh?” Li Jian waved towards her with a smile.
“Mn, thank you for your help. Honestly, if not for Nan Tian calling healers for me a few times, I would be dead for good.” Shiro smiled as she walked towards him.
“Hou… No wonder I saw him call out our healers before. I will have to say though, there is only so much healing can do for you. If you exhaust your life energy then not even the best healer can save you.” Li Jian chuckled before raising a cup of tea to his lips.
“I understand. They were just unfortunate situations that I found myself in. The logical ending should be my cold dead corpse but here we are.” Shiro replied.
“Indeed. It just means that your fate does not end there. Care to join me in spectating their training? If you’re not too hurried for time of course. I can’t just ask you to accompany this old man to watch people train.” Li Jian laughed.
“I don’t mind. Plus, it’s not like my injuries will go away anytime soon. I may need to rest for another 2 weeks or so to return to my peak.” Shiro shrugged before sitting next to him with Attie.
“So how is Nan Tian doing? I know that he’s gone to further his understanding of his newly upgraded element.” She asked.
“He’s still in seclusion but I’ll be honest with you, the aura I can feel in his room is reaching impressive levels. If he increases his levels, he’ll surpass me easily.” Li Jian smiled and looked down at his cup of tea.
“You seem a bit sad.” Shiro raised her eyebrow.
“Well… You can think of it as a parent’s concern. I’ve looked after him since he was a kid and I see him as my own son. With him surpassing me in strength, it means that I can no longer watch over him and protect him should the need arise. A bird has to leave his nest someday I suppose.” Li Jian chuckled softly before taking another sip.
“So how should I address you? I know your identity as Kuromi Asakura but you now go by the name of Shiro.” He asked while glancing towards her.
“Just call me Shiro. There was a bit of time where I lost my memories so I’ve gotten used to being called this new name.” Shiro smiled as Li Jian nodded his head.
“If you don’t mind me asking, what do you think of the youths we have here right now? What do you think about their potential from their current performance?” Li Jian asked.
“Don’t worry about being harsh. Sometimes you need to be harsh to receive proper feedback.” He reassured as Shiro nodded.
“So which one do you want me to feedback first them?” Shiro asked, gesturing to the 10 youths that were training in the sparring grounds.
“Anyone you want.”
“Mn, in that case then I’ll go from left to right. The first person is earnest. You can see from his aura and concentration in his eyes that training is a top priority for him. He takes his time to study the moves meticulously and tries his best to read his opponents moves. However, he is a bit too analytical which isn’t a bad thing but in a high tension situation during a fight, it may be harder to try to read your opponents. Sometimes you need to entrust your body to instincts as well. Otherwise, he is indeed quite promising in terms of potential.” Shiro said as she pointed towards the first youth.
Hearing her response, Li Jian nodded his head with a small smile.
As Shiro continued to give him her feedback on each of the youths, their good points and bad points in her eyes, Li Jian’s smile grew wider.
“Seems like you’re quite experienced with combat to be able to pick up all of this.” Li Jian said while placing his cup down.
“Well after fighting high level opponents and almost dying quite a few times, you would pick up a thing or two.” Shiro chuckled.
“Indeed. Honestly, I’m surprised by your analysis of these youngsters since you have a more magical background. You were the one who taught my boy how to use magic first after all.”
“You know?” Shiro raised her eyebrow in surprise.
“Of course I do. He told me about how you saved his life. When I first rescued him from the Black Monarchy, he didn’t have much that he treasured. However, there was one thing that he refused to hand over to anyone. His coat that you gave him during winter.” Li Jian said while placing his cup down.
“Anyways, I think your parents would be quite happy to know that you have lots of insight on physical combat as much as you do magical. In the meantime, care to go for a light spar with one of the younger youths?” Li Jian offered as Shiro’s smile twitched.
“I am still injured you know?”
“Yes. I’m not telling you to fight anyone to the death but rather just a quick exchange of moves.” Li Jian nodded.
Thinking about it for a moment, Shiro nodded her head.
“Sure I suppose. I need some exercise after being stuck in that room for a good week or so.” She said while standing up.
“Is there anywhere I can put my son down so that he can watch?”
“Oh I can look after him for you while you fight.” Li Jian smiled.
“Are you sure?” Shiro asked as she didn’t want to trouble Li Jian too much.
“Yes, don’t worry about it. It’s not like he would bite now would he?” Li Jian laughed.
Nodding her head, Shiro passed Attie over to him before stepping down towards the sparring grounds.
“Ying Yu!” Li Jian called out.
Turning her head towards the sect master, the young girl bowed.
“Would you mind having a simple spar with Miss Shiro over here? Nothing too serious as her body is still injured.”
“Of course sect master.” Ying Yu nodded her head as people cleared the stage a little before presenting both of them with wooden weapons.
Looking at them, she eventually decided to go with a wooden long sword while Ying Yu picked two wooden daggers.
“Rules are simple, no magic, no skills, martial arts only. Win conditions are first contact scores a point and whoever gets 10 points wins.” Li Jian shouted out as both participants readied their weapons.
Adjusting her grip on the wooden sword, Shiro moved her arm a few times to find the most optimal position. After all, her power was restricted right now due to her injuries so she couldn’t move as aggressively as she did before. However, even with this problem, her overall physical strength was still equal to an average level 100’s.
Taking a deep breath, she looked at her opponent with serious eyes.
“Begin!”
Just as Li Jian shouted out begin, Shiro’s body dashed forward in an instant.
Pivoting on her foot, she slashed her wooden sword towards Ying Yu.
Raising her hand, Ying Yu was about to block the blade when she felt a chill down her spine. Raising her spare dagger behind her, she barely managed to block Shiro’s attack as her initial figure was gone.
“Nice instincts.” Shiro praised as she was using a slightly watered down version of her phantom path in order to compensate for her current physical condition.
Pushing her arm up, she forced Ying Yu’s arm into an uncomfortable position before poking her back with the wooden sword.
“First point Shiro!”
“Thank you for your praise.” Ying Yu smiled as she readied herself once more.
Raising her eyebrow, Shiro was surprised at how well she took her loss.
‘Nice girl.’ She thought to herself before making some distance between them once more.
While Shiro was sparring against Ying Yu, Li Jian slowly inched himself closer to Attie.
“Your name is Attie huh? Are you able to speak?” He asked as Attie shook his head.
“Ah is that so? A shame then. Do you want to sit on grandpa’s lap and watch the fight?” Li Jian asked again as Attie furrowed his brows.
“How about I carry you on my shoulders then? Grandpa has a large body frame so you can watch your mum better from this height.” He tried to persuade as Attie eventually nodded since it was to see his mum better.
Climbing on Li Jian’s body without his help, Attie made his way up to the shoulder as if climbing a mountain.
Plopping himself down in a comfortable position, the two watched the fight.
Surprised at how fast it was going, Li Jian couldn’t help but frown slightly.
‘I should have set the maximum points to be 20.’ He thought to himself since he wanted to spend time with his would be grandchild. After all, he had always wanted to experience the feeling of being a grandpa.
