"That is enough," Wu Huang said as he stopped Hong Jiu'er's wooden sword with a firm yet controlled movement.
After practicing for a couple of hours, he had come to a conclusion.
She doesn't seem to have a talent for the sword... he thought, bringing a hand to his chin with a pensive expression.
Not having a talent for the sword within the Heavenly Sword Sect was not something unusual. After all, the sect was no longer limited solely to the path of the sword. If it had been the Heavenly Sword Sect of thousands of years ago, it might have been different. But with the passage of time, with its expansion and the incorporation of countless branches and disciplines, the sect had diversified enormously.
Nowadays, the only thing that truly retained the original essence was the Golden Sword Peak, the main peak where the Sect Leader resided... and the name itself. Of course, the renowned Heavenly Sword Technique still existed, created by the first patriarch of the sect, the legendary Heavenly Sword Saint. However, although his successors had managed to learn the technique, none had come to master it completely. To this day, no true heir capable of taking it to its maximum level had appeared. Even the current Sect Leader, despite his immense power, remained several steps behind the founder when it came to that technique.
Wu Huang let out a slight sigh.
Let's try something else for now, he thought as he put the wooden swords away in his interspatial ring. "We have trained enough with swords. Now we will move on to unarmed combat," he explained while adopting a weaponless fighting stance.
Hong Jiu'er, somewhat confused, imitated Wu Huang's posture. He, as before, began to correct each of her errors. However, Wu Huang frowned slightly.
Her posture is firmer than it appears at first glance...
If judged in strict martial terms, it was incorrect. But if its solidity was evaluated despite those errors, it turned out to be surprisingly stable. Her center of gravity was, naturally, very poorly balanced, so an attack from someone even moderately experienced could knock her down with ease. However, leaving that aside, the rest was not bad at all.
Once he finished correcting both the small and large mistakes, he could not help but be surprised. Her posture was solid: her legs were firmly planted on the ground, difficult to move easily, and her arms were placed at an appropriate distance to attack and defend with ease.
Of course, due to the difference in strength, he could still knock her down with ease. Even so, that slight pressure transmitted by her strikes was not something he could ignore.
It seems she has some innate talent in hand-to-hand combat... he thought as he stood in front of her, adopting a stable combat stance.
"Strike me," he said immediately, calmly showing her how to throw a punch and how to coordinate body movement with the feet.
After observing him attentively, Hong Jiu'er nodded and imitated the movement, albeit with some rigidity. Wu Huang prepared to block with his hand, not giving it too much importance. But the instant he stopped the blow, he frowned slightly, a hint of surprise crossing his gaze.
His hand hurt. It wasn't an intense pain, just a brief discomfort... but it was there.
Under normal circumstances, there would be nothing special about that. However, the other party was barely in the first stage of Qi Refining, so the fact that she had caused even a slight discomfort to him was too unusual to overlook.
An innate Martial Physique? he thought, narrowing his eyes for a moment.
"Is something wrong? Did I do it very badly?" Hong Jiu'er asked, sounding somewhat insecure.
"No, quite the opposite. You did well. Let's continue," he replied naturally, hiding his doubts.
Wu Huang continued teaching her: how to move with greater fluidity, how to adjust the angle of her strikes, and how to react after attacking. But it didn't take long for him to notice something strange. Every time they exchanged movements, that sensation of weight returned.
She has an abnormally high physical strength... but if we talk about technique or natural comprehension, she is still quite mediocre.
At first, he had thought she was highly talented, but now, observing her more closely, her development seemed to be unbalanced. Her body possessed an out-of-the-ordinary strength, but her ability to comprehend and assimilate martial arts was quite ordinary, even a bit clumsy in certain details.
Fortunately, it was not a grave flaw. Technique could be polished with time and practice, whereas a monstrous physical foundation like hers was much more difficult to obtain.
I'll have to report this to the Elder, he thought as he stopped another blow and deflected it with control.
Hong Jiu'er dodged it narrowly, reacting with a bit of a delay, but she still managed to counterattack. Wu Huang felt that slight pain again in the arm he used to block. This time, he confirmed it beyond a doubt.
The training ended shortly after.
"That's enough for now. You should rest," Wu Huang said calmly, though in reality, he sought to hide the slight discomfort that had spread throughout his body.
As part of the training, he had allowed her to strike him several times so she could understand what it felt like to impact another person. However, that soon began to take its toll. Although the pain was not intense, it was constant. Little by little it had been accumulating, leaving a dull ache in different parts of his body. Nothing serious, but enough that he needed to rest... or use some minor elixir to relieve it.
"Thank you for the training," Hong Jiu'er said, bowing her head slightly with gratitude.
Wu Huang made a dismissive gesture with his hand.
"No problem. You may withdraw for now. Get some good rest."
Hong Jiu'er left, and Wu Huang returned to his room. He took out a low-quality elixir, consumed it, and sat down to stabilize his condition. After a few minutes, he took off his robe and observed his body in the reflection. He could not help but be surprised. Small bruises were distributed in different areas, clear marks of the blows received... all coming from someone who was barely in the first stage of Qi Refining.
"After all, the Children of Destiny are special monsters..." he murmured with a sigh of resignation.