The Sword's Path

"Happ!" Daiyu swung down her wooden sword that she had obtained after a lot of begging from one of the guards. She had to go to great lengths to explain that the Heavenly Demon had given her permission to learn Martial Arts and an instructor was going to be assigned to her soon.

"Your posture is still far from being perfect. Straighten your back and stabilize your lower body. Plant your feet on the ground firmly but keep your upper body flexible."

Haoran had finally begun teaching her swordsmanship.

"What I am teaching you now are the twelve basic movements of the Twelve Movement Violet Equilibrium Sword Technique. These movements serve as the base for all the techniques you will learn in future. Unless and until you perfect these movements and put your soul into them, your swordsmanship will remain unstable. Building a base is much more important than learning flashy techniques. Do not even think about pursuing higher level techniques or feel disheartened about learning basics." Haoran walked around Daiyu in circles while teaching her the core of swordsmanship. He did not wish for his disciple to fall for the flashy movements or splendor.

"Yes, Master!" Daiyu replied with enthusiasm and put her back into correcting her stance.

'Oh? My disciple has a natural talent for swordsmanship huh?'

Haoran was pleased by her progress. She was advancing in her techniques rapidly which could only indicate that she had an immense innate talent for it.

"Now, let us begin from the very first movement." Haoran commanded.

"Downward slash!" Daiyu brought the sword down with forceful vigor.

"Diagonal slash!" She cut the sword diagonally with a whooshing sound. Haoran counted each of the twelve movements and Daiyu performed them with all her heart.

This continued till the sun rose high up in the sky and it was time for the training to end. By the end of it, Daiyu's arms felt numb and her back hurt. However, she could already feel herself improving.

"One can find the true meaning of a sword and gain enlightenment after understanding the meaning behind each and every movement and performing them tens of thousands of times." Haoran circled around Daiyu, who had collapsed from exhaustion.

"One can advance their swordsmanship if they practice diligently everyday. However, practicing diligently is perhaps the most difficult task in this world. A person can train with unwavering vigor for a few days but eventually, they lose motivation and end up stagnating. That is why you must remember your goal and pick up the sword everyday with the same motivation."

Haoran did not want Daiyu to fall into despair or lose her motivation for training. She was already good enough to be called a genius, and she had enough potential to even reach his level one day. He wouldn't be able to bear it if Daiyu broke down.

"I understand, master. Even though I feel like throwing up blood after every training session and my muscles burn, I am grateful to have the opportunity to carve my future. I shall never give up or break down, because my goal is to surpass my master one day."

Watching Daiyu smile with her eyes closed was enough to reassure Haoran.

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Throughout the rest of the day, Daiyu's mind kept wandering back to what Haoran had said during their training session earlier. It had been two weeks since Daiyu had begun training with Haoran but it was the first time she wondered what the sword meant to her.

She wondered what he meant by being able to understand the sword and gaining enlightenment. 'What exactly lies at the pinnacle of the Twelve Movement Violet Equilibrium Sword Technique?'

As she lay in her bed, envisioning herself performing the movements again and again, something began to change. At first glance, the sword movements were very different from each other. However, there was a faint line that connected each and every movement to each other.

Daiyu sat up and got out of bed in a rush. She grabbed her wooden sword and ran outside the Black Jade Palace barefoot in her night clothes. She had to reenact what she had imagined before it completely vanished from sight. Of course, she would have asked Haoran but he had disappeared somewhere while she was having dinner.

"Princess? Where are you going with your sword?" The guards asked her with a concerned expression but Daiyu ignored them. She stood right in front of the Black Jade Palace and took up the stance for the first movement.

Whoosh.

The sword cut through the air with more vigor than ever before. As if following that delicate line she had imagined, she transitioned to perform the second movement. Daiyu kept connecting each movement to the next one as she had seen in her head but the result was somehow not the same.

Again.

She performed the twelve movements again and it was closer to her imagination this time.

Again.

She started from the very first movement again till the twelfth movement, and the connecting lines were getting more apparent.

Again. Again. Again.

Daiyu kept repeating the movements again and again, and the guards watching the scene unfold in front of them were surprised. They were all well trained martial artists who had learned the Twelve Movement Violet Equilibrium Sword Technique, but they had never performed it as beautifully as Daiyu did. They were even more surprised to see Daiyu execute the movements perfectly.

Where did she learn that?

They had no idea how she was learning it but it was clear that Daiyu was a gifted prodigy.

After thirty attempts, Daiyu's muscles were starting to feel sore but she did not give up. And at last, she was able to see the connecting lines clearer than ever. The final execution of the twelve movements was exactly how she had envisioned. A dance that resembled strength and a will to protect. It was her will. It was the will of her sword.

After she was done, she turned her head to find the guards looking at her with awe and admiration.

"That was beautiful, Princess! You are undoubtedly the Heavenly Demon's daughter." One of them exclaimed.

Daiyu had never been given such an honest compliment before in her life. Heat rose to her face and she smiled sheepishly.

"Thank you so much."

It was at that moment when Daiyu sensed the presence of a few people hiding behind the trees at a distance. Her eyes widened and she could feel a strong energy coming from those people.

The guards had also sensed the presence and they pulled out their sword in unison.

"Get behind us, Princess!" One of them blew a whistle and a dozen more guards appeared behind them. Daiyu couldn't comprehend what was happening but she could see that something was very wrong.

"Ah well. I was planning to finish it off discreetly but what is the fun in that?" A masked man stepped out of the shadows with a sword in his hand. Even Daiyu could sense the killing intent that the man was exuding. It was strong enough to freeze her and make her knees buckle.

"Give us the Princess. There is for any unnecessary bloodshed." The man spoke in a mocking tone and around ten more masked men stepped out as well.

"You need to run, Princess!" One of the guards came rushing at her and picked Daiyu up. She had been frozen on the spot from fear and intimidation.

"Not so fast!" One of the masked men disappeared and appeared in front of the guard in a flash. He swung his sword and stabbed the guard in his chest. The guard fell immediately, taking Daiyu with him.

"What…?" Daiyu looked at her hands that had been stained with blood and then the middle aged man who had died trying to protect her.

The rest of the guards rushed at the armed men and they killed the man who had attacked Daiyu's guard first.

The men overwhelmed the guards and one by one, the guards fell after sustaining grave injuries.

"Princess!" Daiyu turned to see a barefoot Lishu running towards her.

"No!" Daiyu screamed to stop her nanny from coming. However, Lishu did not listen to Daiyu's protests.

"Who sent you?" Lishu yelled at the masked assassins while shielding Daiyu with her body.

"Hah. What a touching scene." The leader of the group mocked the two and took a step forward.

"Now, say your last prayers." The leader swung his sword and Daiyu let out a scream.

"No! Lishu!" She screamed at her nanny who was now lying in a puddle of her own blood.

A burning hatred raged through Daiyu's veins and she could feel something building up inside of her.

"You filthy cowards. How dare you!" She spoke in a cold voice but she couldn't hide the anger burning behind her eyes.

"Hah! Are those your last words, Princess?" The man laughed and raised his sword once again.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Suddenly, a dark aura burst out of Daiyu's body and her entire surroundings turned black. That was the last thing she remembered before her memories blanked out.