The Spiritual Pivot of Mortal Cultivation

Bai Xuanxin had been to the medicinal pool in the backyard of the side hall for three consecutive nights.

The pool is not deep, but the medicinal properties are potent. Upon entering, one initially feels only warmth. As the qi and blood flow, the stagnation and hidden damage deep within the bones, which are usually suppressed by sheer force, gradually rise to the surface. First comes soreness, then numbness, and only later, relaxation.

This looseness is not disorganization.

It's as if someone is holding an extremely fine file, grinding away inch by inch along the places where tendons, bones, qi, and strength can't mesh together, forcibly grinding together the things that were originally going their separate ways.

In addition to the three internal alchemy pills for nourishing the body and tendons, Bai Xuanxin has not encountered any major events in the past few days, but the changes in her body are real.

The first thing to change was the way I walked.

In the past, the "Luoyan Step" was more of a "slippery" movement under his feet.

It relies on keen eyesight, exploits blind spots, and the ability to anticipate the opponent's attack direction before slipping in through that opening. While the footwork is indeed unpredictable, ultimately, it's still too unpredictable.

But things are different now.

With the medicinal pool, the pills, and the imposing "formal stance" from within the gate pressing down, Bai Xuanxin's foot rolled first, then his knees and hips sank, and finally his waist and spine thrust forward, making his entire line of force much more aligned than before. When dodging outwards, it was still light; but when cutting inwards, it was no longer just a fleeting glide like smoke, but carried a ruthless intent that seemed to be rooted to the ground.

The clearest thing is that he now dares to take a half-hit head-on.

It's not about resisting blindly.

Instead, it means being able to withstand the opponent's strongest moment by relying on your entire frame, and then using that momentum to dismantle, break, and seize.

That's different.

Previously, he was more known for his sharp eyes, ruthless hands, and the sinister aura of a quack doctor who would rip people apart when he got close.

Now, beneath that sinister aura, a supporting framework has finally begun to emerge.

Bai Xuanxin knew the truth best in her heart.

These small improvements may not seem significant, but in the real battle at Shenshou Valley, they could very well be the difference between life and death.

Mo Juren was never the kind of person who could be defeated with just a couple of underhanded tricks. If he really wanted to make that move, Han Li's side needed to be kept stable, and he himself needed to push his martial arts skills up as soon as possible.

At the very least, one must be able to truly enter the fray that night and be ready to strike, rather than merely listening to the wind from the outside.

So this progress has come at just the right time.

That night, as soon as Bai Xuanxin emerged from the medicinal pool, his clothes still carrying a faint, bitter medicinal scent, the errand boy from the side hall was already waiting for him in the corridor.

"Senior Brother Bai."

"Instructor Li sent word that you should deliver this packet of tendon-regenerating powder and a topical ointment to the old annex behind the outer sect's sword training ground. Qin Wu, who injured his shoulder and arm on the way to the medicine a few days ago, needs his second dose of medicine tonight."

Bai Xuanxin took the medicine packet, weighed it briefly, and knew it contained medicine to heal tendons and close wounds. He knew that Qin Wu had indeed been placed in the back of the training ground to recuperate after the bleeding a few days ago. He didn't see anything wrong with it, simply responded, and turned to go in that direction.

Night had fallen, and the wind blew straight in from the training ground, carrying fine sand and wood chips that rustled against the hem of my robe.

In the training ground, a few flickering lamps were about to go out. Old wooden stakes, whetstones, knife racks, and piles of scrap wood in the corners cast long, dark shadows in the lamplight, crisscrossing and covering the ground, making it look more desolate than during the day.

Bai Xuanxin approached, but slowed down.

There are people ahead of us.

The sound of the blade was extremely fast and extremely soft.

Unlike ordinary outer disciples who practice swordsmanship with a single-minded pursuit of power and sound, it was more like someone cutting paper piece by piece in the night wind, leaving only a thin line of chill where the blade passed.

Bai Xuanxin looked up and, sure enough, saw a thin figure standing next to the few old wooden stakes at the very back.

Li Feiyu.

He wore an extremely tight gray robe tonight, with the scabbard at his waist pulled low, making him appear as thin as a drawn blade. But that thinness did not make him seem weak; on the contrary, it accentuated his imposing, cold sharpness.

As soon as he sheathed his sword, Li Feiyu turned his head and glanced at Bai Xuanxin.

"Delivering medicine?"

His tone remained cold, like a layer of icy iron clinging to the edge of a scabbard.

Bai Xuanxin took two steps closer and slightly raised the medicine packet in her hand.

"It's not for you."

Li Feiyu's gaze lingered on the medicine packet for a moment before shifting towards the old side room.

"Qin Wu?"

"Um."

Bai Xuanxin answered very calmly.

Li Feiyu didn't ask any more questions. He simply hung the knife back on his waist and walked with Bai Xuanxin towards the side room.

Neither of them were talkative. One was naturally cold and taciturn, while the other always knew when to keep his mouth shut. The night wind swept through the training ground, causing the sand on the ground to flow in a fine mist, and all around was so quiet that only the light sound of their footsteps could be heard.

The quieter it was, the stronger the strange feeling in Bai Xuanxin's heart became.

The first thing he smelled was sweat.

It wasn't the murky sweat of a patient huddled in the room, but fresh, suppressed sweat with a hint of earthiness and old leather. The sweat smelled faint, but it didn't belong to someone with a shoulder or arm injury, lying in bed waiting for a dressing change.

Taking two more steps forward, Bai Xuanxin saw the shadows reflected on the window paper inside the room.

only one.

That's too stable.

A person with a shoulder injury should cast a somewhat blurry shadow when they move around at night. But this figure sat too upright, as if waiting for someone to come.

Bai Xuanxin's heart sank, but she did not stop. She only slowed down slightly by half a step when she was three steps away from the door.

Li Feiyu walked alongside him, glancing at the door out of the corner of her eye, her lips curving lower in a slight smile.

He didn't speak.

But the chill he felt when facing an enemy was even deeper than when he was practicing his sword.

Just as Bai Xuanxin was about to raise her hand, "Qin Wu" inside the room called out first:

"Senior Brother Bai? Is it time to change the medicine? Quickly—"

The voice sounds similar, but the ending notes are too even.

When someone is hurt, the pain is intense at night, and their speech won't be so even.

Bai Xuanxin's eyes turned cold. Instead of advancing, she took a half-step back. Li Feiyu also stepped aside almost simultaneously.

The next moment, the door was kicked open with a bang!

A dark figure lunged out, using the momentum of the door being pushed open, a short blade in hand slicing diagonally across the doorframe, its cold light aimed straight for Bai Xuanxin's throat. At the same time, the paper window on the side of the house ripped open with a "crash," and a second figure leaped out, not carrying a weapon, but a wad of wet cloth soaked in anesthetic, which he draped over the medicine packet in Bai Xuanxin's hand and around his waist. Further back, a third person sprang up from beside the woodpile, throwing out a cloud of lime.

Fishing for people from inside the gate.

He was taken from outside the door.

Then use lime to cut the eye.

This insidious trap wasn't large, but it was extremely close and filthy. If it were an ordinary outer disciple, they probably wouldn't even have time to finish thinking about "falling into a trap" before their throat was slit open.

But Bai Xuanxin is not.

The moment the short blade came close to his face, his feet had already moved away using the "Luo Yan Step." He didn't retreat far, but rather slid diagonally down along the narrowest shadow in front of the door. That step was lower and more stable than before, as if his entire body, along with his breath, had fallen half an inch, just enough to slip through the thinnest part of the blade.

The short blade grazed his throat by half an inch.

The wind was as cold as ice.

The man with the blade missed his target and was about to flick his wrist to pursue again when Bai Xuanxin's right hand emerged from under the medicine packet, his two fingers together, slicing straight down the outside of the man's elbow.

This move is no longer just the old trick of "hitting and retreating".

After several nights of intense practice in the medicinal pools and internal alchemy within the sect, the strength in his hands had become much heavier.

As soon as the two fingers fall, what breaks first is not the pain, but the force of the opponent's entire forearm twisting outwards.

The man felt a numbness in his elbow, and the short blade immediately veered off course.

Bai Xuanxin didn't retreat at all; instead, her shoulder slumped, and she took a half-step forward, forcefully crashing in.

boom!

The impact was extremely short and the sound was not loud, but the man wielding the blade felt a sudden tightness in his chest, and half of his frame collapsed instantly.

Li Feiyu's eyes flickered.

In that instant, what flashed through his mind first was not anything else, but an extremely cold judgment—

Bai Xuanxin went in again.

The previous times he had seen this man make a move, whether in the mid-term exam or the medicine road test, although he could see that Bai Xuanxin was hiding something, he always felt that this man won because of his sharp eyes, cunning steps, and treacherous hands. But this time, the collision and grab were not something that could be done by just relying on unorthodox tricks.

This means the skeleton has come together.

If Bai Xuanxin used to only know how to dismantle people, now she can even withstand those dismantling techniques with her own body.

Li Feiyu knew best what this meant.

The sword he honed with the marrow-extracting pill was undoubtedly fast and ruthless. If it were just about seizing the initiative in the first few moves, there were very few in the sect who could truly make him feel uneasy. But the faster the sword, the weaker his foundation became; the medicinal power was being built up at the cost of his life.

But Bai Xuanxin is different.

This person was already quick to learn, and extremely cunning in both eyes and hands. Now, with the addition of the sect's medicinal pool, internal alchemy, and orthodox training methods, the growth rate is too fast.

So fast that even Li Feiyu himself had to admit it—

If the life-or-death battle were to drag on for ten or twenty moves, I would most likely no longer be his match.

This thought flashed through my mind in an instant.

But the knife in his hand moved even faster than his thoughts.

Before the second person who had jumped out of the window could even properly cover the burlap sack, Li Feiyu's knife had already slashed diagonally from the side. There were no fancy moves, nor did he target any frightening-sounding vital points; he simply sliced ​​off the wrist first.

As the blade fell, blood flew from the man's hand, and the burlap sack slipped from his grasp.

Li Feiyu didn't sheath his blade; instead, he countered with another flick, forcing his opponent to roll backward. His swordsmanship remained true to Li Feiyu's style from the original story—ruthless, cold, and decisive; once he started, he gave no one a second chance to breathe.

The third short man, who was throwing lime powder from the woodpile, had only taken half a step forward when Bai Xuanxin had already circled around to his side from the shadows beside the door.

This time, he didn't apply any acupressure points.

First, use your right hand to grab the shoulder socket, then press down on the elbow with your left hand, trip with your foot, and pull your whole body down with the momentum of the opponent rushing out.

Click.

It's not a fracture.

Instead, the frame along the shoulder and elbow line was forcibly dismantled.

The short man's arm collapsed instantly, and before he could even scream, Bai Xuanxin twisted him into a half-kneeling position, his face almost pressed into the sand.

The lights inside flickered, three figures moved about at the door, and the wind blew in through the torn window paper, making the oil lamp on the table flicker.

Amidst the chaos, the first man in black, wielding a short blade, finally caught his breath, clutching his chest as he tried to retreat inside. He wasn't some roughneck from the mountains; he could tell at a glance that Bai Xuanxin and Li Feiyu were both formidable opponents tonight. So, he didn't linger in the fight any longer and only wanted to use the narrow space inside the house to escape through the window.

But as soon as he retreated, Li Feiyu's blade arrived again.

This strike will not take a life.

It's about the face.

A blade flashed past him, forcing him to raise his hand to block. But as soon as he raised his hand, Bai Xuanxin was already pressed against him from behind.

One after the other, like two hooks that had no prior agreement but are now locked in a tight grip.

Li Feiyu's knife forced him to face forward.

Bai Xuanxin's steps cut off his escape route.

One is fast, the other is stable.

One knife, one hand.

The man in black felt the pressure of the knife in front of him making it hard to breathe, while an even heavier and colder force cut in from behind, cutting into his blind spot. As he raised his hand, Bai Xuanxin's right hand had already hooked down along his wrist, while his left hand flipped his elbow and his shoulder gently pushed forward.

This gift wasn't much.

But they dismantled his entire frame.

Li Feiyu then struck him hard with the back of his knife, hitting him right behind his ear.

The person fell to the ground immediately.

At this point, the little murder plot of the night was truly crushed at the doorstep.

After Bai Xuanxin stopped, she first glanced around the room.

The real Qin Wu was tied to the foot of the bed, his mouth stuffed with cloth, and a bruise on his forehead. Although he was unconscious, he was still breathing. Clearly, the target of tonight's scheme was not him at all, but rather to use the "medicine delivery" incident to sever Bai Xuanxin's gradually established foothold between the back mountain and the side hall.

In other words, some people are starting to get anxious.

Or rather, Bai Xuanxin has progressed too quickly these past few days, to the point that some people are feeling uneasy.

Li Feiyu had obviously thought of this as well, and the coldness in his eyes thinned out, like a layer of frost on a blade.

He despises people who use others' connections to do dirty work.

"Should this one be alive?" He looked at the man in black on the ground and asked coldly.

Bai Xuanxin nodded.

"This one needs to survive. Everything else is secondary."

Li Feiyu didn't ask why. He simply swung his knife and severed the second dagger hidden in the black man's sleeve before kicking him to the ground.

This is the most important part tonight.

If it were merely a matter of killing side by side, one could say it was due to the circumstances.

But now that things have come to this, Bai Xuanxin said "leave them alive," so Li Feiyu sheathed his sword and didn't take their lives; as Li Feiyu pressed down with his sword, Bai Xuanxin knew exactly where to approach, not too much and not too little.

This is no longer at the level of simply recording a favor.

Instead, they truly believed that the other person was someone who could walk on the edge of a knife with them.

Qin Wu was quickly awakened by Li Feiyu splashing water on him. Terrified, he trembled so much he could barely speak. Bai Xuanxin gave him a quick check, confirming the wound hadn't reopened, and then left it at that. The side hall would clean up this mess later.

The room finally quieted down.

The lamplight shone obliquely, casting distorted shadows of two subdued men kneeling on the ground. The wind outside the training ground grew stronger, and the old wooden stakes and sword racks gently tapped against each other, producing a soft, hollow sound.

Li Feiyu stood by the door, his sword sheathed, but he did not leave immediately.

He looked at Bai Xuanxin with a deep and cold gaze, not one of gratitude, but rather as if he were reassessing the weight of a knife.

After a long silence, he finally spoke softly:

"You've made good progress these past few days."

He still spoke in that indifferent tone, as if he were talking about something trivial that had nothing to do with him.

Bai Xuanxin patted the dust off her sleeves, her voice flat:

"The sect has provided medicine and opened a pool. If you still can't walk, then these past few days have been wasted."

Li Feiyu listened but did not respond.

But the judgment in my heart has become increasingly clear.

Bai Xuanxin's martial arts skills are probably now superior to his own.

It's not that he could suppress himself with a single blow.

In terms of speed and the explosive force of the strike, Li Feiyu was still confident that he was no less capable than anyone else. However, at their level of martial arts, the true measure of superiority lay not only in the initial strike.

We still need to see:

Whose regalia is more neat?

Who has the longest breath?

After ten or twenty moves, will anyone still be able to keep their hands steady and their steps firm?

In these areas, Bai Xuanxin has clearly begun to surpass him by half a level.

This half-line isn't very big.

But in the face of life and death, one can already distinguish who is superior.

Li Feiyu knew her own situation best, so she understood the significance of this half-line better than anyone else.

But he would never say such a thing out loud.

So he just looked at Bai Xuanxin and said coldly and indifferently:

"You were holding it in a while ago."

Upon hearing this, Bai Xuanxin looked up at him.

The night reflected on Li Feiyu's rather cold face, revealing an indescribable sharpness and frankness.

Bai Xuanxin's heart skipped a beat, and he knew that this person had already seen through him.

He didn't try to hide it, and simply nodded slightly.

Footsteps approached outside, likely the people from the side hall who had heard the commotion arriving. Both men understood that it was time to call it a night. What they would extract from the man in black, and who else would be implicated, was no longer their concern.

Bai Xuanxin picked up the packet of tendon-regenerating powder and turned to leave.

Li Feiyu suddenly called out to him.

"Bai Xuanxin".

Bai Xuanxin stopped and turned around.

Li Feiyu stood inside the doorway, half her face in the light, half in the shadows. Her brows remained cold, and her lips were still pressed together. Yet, the aloofness that had always stood between them had softened slightly compared to before.

Tonight's battle was originally aimed at Bai Xuanxin. But when the blade was truly drawn, he didn't retreat; nor did Bai Xuanxin consider him someone who could only deliver the finishing blow from the sidelines. The two of them crushed these dark figures at the doorway, and the battle wasn't about who saved whom, but about neither of them faltering in that crucial moment.

After a long silence, Li Feiyu finally spoke. His voice was still cold, lacking warmth, but it was less sharp than usual.

"Your moves tonight didn't make my knife strike in vain."

Bai Xuanxin looked at him, and a faint smile finally flickered in her eyes.

"each other."

These two words are enough.

In the world of martial arts, trust is never built on a few warm words.

When you take a step forward, I know you won't back down.

When I cut off his escape route, you know I wasn't showing off.

Li Feiyu was silent for a moment, then suddenly said:

"I'll come to you in three days to change your dressing."

Bai Xuanxin, carrying the medicine bag, took half a step outside, but stopped upon hearing this. Without turning around, she simply replied:

"If you don't come in three days, I'll go check on the training ground."

The room fell silent for a moment.

This statement still doesn't fully explain the situation.

But there's no need to explain further here.

Not a close friend.

But it is something even rarer.

If you were truly caught in the crossfire, I might very well draw my sword and charge forward;

If I were truly pushed to the brink, you probably wouldn't just stand by and watch.

The night was deep, and the old wooden stakes in the training ground swayed slightly in the wind, casting long shadows that stretched across the ground like a row of silent old soldiers.

Bai Xuanxin did not turn back.

But he already knew in his heart that from tonight onwards, he would finally have another weapon to lend on the path of mortal life.

It wasn't because of how Li Feiyu and Han Li would get along in the future.

It's not because of what kind of person he would become in the original work.

Rather, it's because he has personally witnessed and experienced what tonight's event has been like—

This knife is cold enough.

Fast enough.

Moreover, it's worth taking another bet in the bigger picture later on.