The Dao

Ming Yue was then led up to the third floor where she entered a large room. Inside was a large work bench with brushes, knives and a large glass lens on top. These were most likely tools to inspect items for authenticity and identification.

"Please sit while we send someone in", the worker instructed before closing the door and leaving.

She sat down on front of the workbench and quietly waited. It was not long before an old man entered the room.

"Ah, I'm sorry for the wait. What would you like to sell?" he asked, pushing the tools to one side and clearing up the table.

Ming Yue activated her spatial ring and several piles of items flew out from the small trinket. Of course, she kept any that had value to her, mostly wind-attributed herbs. The appraiser looked surprised at the numerous items.

"This will take some time to sort through, miss", he said, "I would recommend perusing our goods at the first floor while waiting. We will inform you of the total value of everything."

"I'm fine waiting here", Ming Yue replied, she had no need to check out the store. She has a divine ranked weapon after all. Furthermore there was no need to change her clothes as well, the self-repair feature was handy.

The appraiser did not expect her to respond like this, "Do as you wish then."

Several hours passed as he worked nonstop, examining and noting any uncommon items. There were some expressions of surprise and other times even shock. Ming Yue waited quietly, watching him work. It was definitely boring but she passed the time playing with Hei Yue and Xiao Yin. After finishing the last of the piles, he calculated the amount before presenting her with the number.

"For everything here, Gold Honor is willing is pay five hundred gold", he stated.

She didn't think much of it and accepted the offer before promptly leaving, having almost a thousand gold on her. Before she left, she asked one of the workers for a good hotel to stay in.

"I would suggest the Jing Ping Inn, you can find it just several streets to the left", they answered.

Following their directions, she reached the inn, asking for a room with a courtyard. She was going to spend at least a year in the city and paid in advance. With all of her errands done, she could cultivate in peace, contemplating on the dao of wind.

Many people may believe that the most important thing about cultivation was power, however that is not the case. In fact, it isn't even the second most important thing. When cultivating one must pay attention to their foundation making sure that it is firm and without flaw so that it will not impede your future progress. The second is compatibility, why is it so? That is because compatibility impacts your progression speed.

Like a fish out of the water, you will only have drawbacks from practicing something you are unfit for. Choosing a path that is unsuitable for you can stunt your growth and ruin your future. Furthermore, changing would require your to destroy your cultivation and return to the bottom. Hence, Ming Yue needed to think carefully of what aspect she wanted to embody in her martial arts.

Destructiveness did not fit her, nor does extreme speed or even gentleness, none of her strikes truly embodied these aspects and this issue had stumped her. She spent the next several weeks thinking, scouring the few manuals she had to form some sort of idea. Every now and then she would leave and visit a multitude of shops, skimming through the many manuals of wind techniques. However, they all spoke about the same three things. It was only a week before the tournament started and she still had no idea. In the end, she gave up and began practicing her sword, experimenting with the wind element. She was merely using wind but did not fully understand the concept.

Ming Yue practiced in the open courtyard, she thought about her swordsmanship. What made her swordsmanship unique? Certainly they were powerful strikes and fast as well but anyone could do that. The she realized something, her attack style was fluid, ever changing just like wind. She could change the angle of the strike, the speed even the technique. It was unpredictable and this was something she found easier to understand.

The inconstant state of wind. The Dao of Everchanging Winds.

This was her path. A strike that cannot be foreseen is one that cannot be stopped. Even the strongest attack could be dealt with and the fastest can be dodged. Solving this predicament made her ecstatic and she began to apply this concept to her swordsmanship. If she was only coating her sword with wind before, she began to control it this time. In turn with her control, she practiced her sword while simultaneously using her the wind energy to improve her fluidity. However it was difficult for her, to do both at the same time was mentally taxing and she could only keep a perfect balance of both for mere seconds.

If Elder Yin were to know what she had chosen, she would look at Ming Yue with both shock and doubt. Focusing on changeable nature of wind was a path that very few took, hence Ming Yue never saw a manual for it. The reason was very simple, it was too difficult to understand. If something was ever changing, there would be an infinite number of states to think of. With wind, there were too many variables to think of, a path of no progression. Not one person can claim to have mastered the element of wind, yet, Ming Yue chose to do this. Elder Yin could only see it as fate that this was her path.

Ming Yue had only days to comprehend this state but so long as she could utilize even an ounce of it, she would be content.

On the first day of the tournament, the commotion was even louder, but there were no one in the streets. It was empty but the sounds of excitement filled them. Where was this noise coming from and where did everyone go? The answer lies within the arena which stood at the center of Five Element City in front of the emperor's palace. Titled the "Thunder Colosseum", it was a massive arena with enough space to seat several million people. The stage itself was enormous, a large formation encapsulated it, most likely to reinforce it for destructive battles.

Almost every citizen of the capital city was here within these walls, sitting and waiting for the tournament to start. While they occupied ordinary seats, there were many booths and private seating areas set closer to the stage. These spaces were reserved for sect leaders and nobles, mainly those whose disciples were part of the tournament.

Among them were the Five Families, this competition was important to them. After all, it served to prove their superiority to the others. Essentially, it was bragging rights, despite it being a friendly competition between the five of them.

Everyone conversed with each other, predicting on who would win this battle.

"I bet the Yu Family will come out on top again."

"But I heard that the ones that have entered aren't from the main family but a branch family. I bet it will be the Gong or even the Bing this year."

"Don't forget about the others, we still have the geniuses from the likes of the Storm God Sect and the Heaven String Sect. Also, if I remember correctly, even the Sky Dragon Clan has sent someone for this tournament."

"Pfft, you are all forgetting that just because they are from famous groups doesn't mean there are others better than them. I bet you that none of them are going to win first. More than likely, there will be some dark horses this time."

With such lively conversations, even the nobles and sect higher ups began conversing with each other.