267: Wrong Technique (Bai Ye's Memory)

Wrong Technique (Bai Ye's Memory)

The sword spirit's frailness seemed to have finally reminded her of the importance of connecting with Twin Stars. She no longer complained about the practices, and when Bai Ye showed her the binding techniques, she put all her effort into it like she never had before.0

The effect was palpable. Her health recovered swiftly, and Bai Ye was finally eased by the return of her feisty spirits. But what he hadn't expected was that at the same time, her spiritual power took an even more tremendous advancement, bringing her already flawless sword art to a new level of perfection. It wasn't long before Bai Ye started spending every day in awe, unable to take his eyes off of her whenever she held Twin Stars in her hands. He marveled at the mastery of skills that he never imagined possible before, and he wondered how he got so lucky to have the privilege of beholding such a sight.

Every opportunity to cross blades with her became enlightenment to him, a new obsession that quickly occupied longer and longer hours of his days. Their first year together passed before he knew it. Then another. Then another. Three years went by in the blink of an eye, and somehow, the time he spent with her never grew old.

"You lost." Those words came from the sword spirit more frequently than Bai Ye wished, but he embraced it every time, finding a strange thrill at the thought of finally meeting his rival. And that was the same way he felt at this moment when he heard these words again, with Twin Stars crossed over his neck, declaring his defeat.

"I've got nothing to say," he sighed and dropped his sword in surrender. Having just returned from a retreat, he thought the breakthrough would've given him a better chance at taking down his opponent, but he was obviously wrong. "Looks like you'll be out of my league in no time."

The girl drew back her blades and tilted her head. "That would be unfair," she protested. "Who would practice with me then? No one else at Mount Hua is nearly as good as you are."

Three years ago, Bai Ye wouldn't have expected such a statement. The last thing she wanted then was to have someone to practice swords with. But now, perhaps thanks to the influence of Twin Stars, she became more and more interested in sword art, to the point that she would sometimes spend hours discussing a new technique with him. It was a welcoming change that Bai Ye couldn't be more excited to see.

"You should have expected such a consequence," Bai Ye chuckled. "You are the spirit of a sword. Did you really think a cultivator would be able to reach the level of swordsmanship you can achieve?"

"But you were able to before," the girl argued. "If it wasn't for me binding with Twin Stars—"

She looked down at the swords in her grip, the look on her face turning pensive. "You've been cultivating using Twin Stars for decades. You are the one that should've benefited the most from its power. In fact, you are the one that should've bound with it in the first place. All my advancements should've been yours …"

Bai Ye raised an eyebrow. He had never thought of it that way. "Twin Stars is a part of you," he said. "If anyone has the right to the full extent of its power, it would be you."

The girl bit her lips. "But you are my master," she mumbled. "It's not fair to sacrifice your cultivation progress just because of my existence."

That rare, serious expression was on her face again, catching Bai Ye off guard. "Is this troubling you?" he asked in surprise, because he certainly didn't think the slowing of his cultivation progress was a sacrifice.

The sword spirit nodded though. "I've been thinking about this for a while, actually … I want both of us to be able to benefit from the power of the swords. Isn't it better if we can be on par every time when we practice in the future? My bond with Twin Stars has become quite strong these days, and I think I have enough of it to share."

Bai Ye was even more surprised by those words. "Share?" he repeated. "A demonic sword can only bind with one user in its lifetime. There is no way for you to share that connection with anyone else."

"Not in that way …" The girl bit her lips again. "I've been going through some old scrolls in your library, and I found a type of technique that can allow me to share my spiritual power with you. That technique won't let you cultivate directly with Twin Stars, but it'll give you just as much access to its power. Do you think it might be worth a try?"

It took Bai Ye a while to process what she was saying. He felt his heart stop for a moment. She wasn't referring to what he was thinking, was she? What kind of books had she been reading in the library?

"I don't think such a technique exists," he said flatly. It wasn't the truth, but for some reason, that excuse was the first thing he thought of saying.

"But I saw it!" The girl's eyes lit up, excited to explain the discovery to him. "I'm quite positive I read it right. It's not a very popular type of technique, but it's been well practiced by small groups of cultivators. It's called dual—"

"Enough!" Bai Ye snapped. He heard the sudden change of his tone, and he felt a slight tremble in his hands. Was he angry? Why? He didn't know why he was reacting like this, but he knew he didn't want to hear the rest of her words. The thought of her doing something like that with him … was wrong. Too wrong. He had to clear it out of his mind.

"It is not a suitable technique for you," he managed to say at last.

The sword spirit, taken aback by his sudden outburst, stared at him. "Why?" she asked. "Why isn't it? And … Did I say something wrong? Why do you look so upset?"

Bai Ye couldn't think of how to reply. He felt strange. Troubled. Confused. So he simply picked up his sword in silence, and he made his way out of the garden without looking back.

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