Naked Sword Art

Chapter 170 - Misdirection

"Good, I can’t wait to meet him."

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Meanwhile in the inner court.

Xiao Fang was still following Li Yahui. When they reached their destination, Xiao Fang was shocked.

"Why is Li Xiang’s house so big?" Xiao Fang asked.

Li Yahui nearly laughed.

"It’s our Li Family’s guild house," she said with a smile.

"Ah... that makes sense."

"Common, Li Xiang should be inside."

Li Yahui took him in and the first thing he noticed was the elevated levels of natural qi.

’Amazing. The qi here is even denser than what I felt in the hot bathhouse,’ Xiao Fang thought.

"Are all guild houses built on cultivation hotspots?"

"Mh hm, it’s even stronger than this if you were to go to a Major guild house" she replied.

When Li Yahui turned around to see how Xiao Fang was doing, she became amazed. He didn’t seem to be struggling from the pressure at all. What she didn’t know was that Xiao Fang’s cultivation was much higher than the average inner court disciples’, so it wasn’t a big deal to him.

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Extra info:

The increased levels of environmental qi would make a cultivator’s spirit body feel much heavier. This would increase one’s cultivation if they were to meditate in it, and help cultivators learn techniques more quickly too.

What most disciples forget is that the whole sect is located on a giant cultivation hotspot. The closer you get to the center of it (the core court) the heavier the pressure becomes. However, there were certain patches around the inner court that release more qi than they should be. It’s a common natural phenomenon that no one knows how to explain, but it’s what Xiao Fang referred to as a ’cultivation hotspot’.

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As Li Yahui took Xiao Fang deeper into the minor guild house, he could see a few girls cross legged, eyes closed, and cultivating the illusory qi out of their spirit pendants.

There was a girl in nearly every room he walked passed, some were meditating while others were practicing their cultivation techniques. Each room was different, but as the girls saw Xiao Fang walking down the hallway, they immediately stopped what they were doing to go see him.

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"Hey, isn’t he the one Li Xiang wanted us to find?" One Li family clansman whispered to another.

"I think he is... why is Li Xiang asking us to bring an outsider into our guild house? Isn’t that against the Li Family Guild’s rules?"

"Yeah, but who’s going to stop her?"

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Xiao Fang could hear the girls whispering about him. They referred to him as an outsider as if he was trespassing into their territory, so it made him feel unwanted.

’It seems they aren’t too welcoming to guests,’ Xiao Fang thought.

Li Yahui finally stopped next to a door.

"This is Li Xiang’s room. She should be inside," she said with a sweet voice.

"Thank you, Li Yahui. Maybe next time we can talk over some springberry tea," he said, knowing which brew she liked.

"Un, I would like that," she smiled.

Even though he didn’t get to speak to her for long, he knew that she was an innocent and kind hearted girl. She was no longer shy when she spoke to him, and she had a beautiful smile. In the end she left a good impression on him, so he didn’t mind meeting her again in the future.

Xiao Fang faced the door then pushed it open. As soon as he stepped in he immediately sensed Li Xiang inside.

"Long Wang, you’re here," LI Xiang’s face lit up as her sweat trickled down her beautiful skin.

"It seems I interrupted your training session. I could come back at a better time," Xiao Fang said.

"No, it’s okay. Come in. I was just about to take a break anyways."

Xiao Fang closed the door behind him.

"Would you like a drink? It’s a fruit mix with qi infused into it. It’s pretty sweet."

"Thanks for the offer, but I’ll pass," Xiao Fang said as he took his shoes off.

Feeling the hard wooden floor beneath his feet gave him a nostalgic feeling. It reminded him of when he used to train in the Divine Sword sect’s main training hall.

"It seems you really worked up a sweat. What technique were you practicing?" Xiao Fang asked.

"It’s a movement technique called [ Misdirection ]."

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[ Misdirection ]:

The ability to perfectly time when to make an illusory image the moment you change directions. Once this technique is practiced to a high level, even cultivators a realm or two above you would have a hard time catching you.

The Li Family clan bought all the scrolls for this technique, so it became the Li family Clan’s signature move in the inner court for decades.

The idea of monopolizing a technique wasn’t just something the Li Family Guild did, most guilds had at least one signature technique that became exclusively for their guild members.

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"It’s a pretty strong technique. I just started learning it, but not even Fei Lin was able to catch me."

Hearing that shocked Xiao Fang. If what she was saying was true then this was definitely a heaven defying technique.

"Aren’t you curious? I could show you if you want," she said.

Xiao Fang became interested when she said that not even Fei Lin was able to catch her.

’Just how fast did the technique make her?’ he wondered.

Before Xiao Fang could respond, Li Xiang put her cup down then began to run circles around him.

"Alright, come try to catch me," she said happily.

Suddenly, Li Xiang’s eyes widened. She didn’t know how, but Xiao Fang was suddenly gone. Not even a fraction of a second later, she saw him standing only a few meters in front of her. There was no time to be surprised, she immediately used her illusory technique.

[ Misdirection ]

Suddenly, she changed direction.

A smirk appeared on her face as she successfully executed the technique. However, the unexpected happened.

"Ahh!"

Li Xiang ran straight into Xiao Fang’s body.

Xiao Fang was surprised, was this really the extent of her technique? He could’ve stopped her from running into him, but he wouldn’t have been a dual cultivator if he did.

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