Chapter 19: The Remarkable Zhou Yan

Throughout the entire morning, Zhou Yan stood quietly in the corner of the martial training hall.

His right hand gripped the sword, facing the Flow Cube, steadily executing the proper moves as each set of four numbers lit up on its surface.

He did not strive for speed; instead, he focused on precision and solidity, performing every movement at the correct angle, strictly following the forms of the Southern Bright Sword.

It was not for lack of desire for swiftness—when he first started, he had scrambled to keep up, swinging in whatever way felt natural simply to go faster.

Those improvised strikes were enough to pass the machine’s assessment.

But he soon realized—practicing this way did almost nothing to improve his Southern Bright Sword skills.

Even if it was the same diagonal slash, if he used his own instinctive posture and power, the technique and details were entirely different from the prescribed forms of the Southern Bright Sword.

Not only would this fail to enhance his swordsmanship, it would foster habits difficult to correct.

Having grasped this, Zhou Yan ceased chasing speed.

His movements grew slower and more deliberate. After every strike, he silently returned to the Owl-Standing stance before earnestly executing the next move.

A set of four sword techniques took him more than ten seconds.

The more he practiced this way, the more convinced he became that he was on the right path.

His enthusiasm grew with each repetition.

As he gradually became more familiar, the techniques seeped into his muscle memory, and his speed naturally began to increase.

Meanwhile, Luo Xuan supervised her younger sister’s morning exercises while keeping an eye on Zhou Yan’s progress.

When she saw him independently grasping the correct way to train, she nodded silently in approval.

Time slipped by.

By nine o’clock, all the students of the sword hall had arrived.

The Luo sisters’ sword school had fewer than ten students—a stark contrast to other Southern Bright Sword schools, which often boasted dozens or even hundreds. Their establishment seemed almost desolate by comparison.

Most of the students were teenagers in junior or senior high school.

These boys and girls had likely been sent to train during the summer by their families, hoping to develop some special skill.

This was a nation that valued martial prowess; parents were eager to send their children to martial schools to try their luck, to see if they had any talent in this field.

If a child’s aptitude was discovered, families would gladly invest in letting them focus on martial training.

Such “martial students,” given equal academic performance, often received preferential admission to major universities.

Even those who did not pursue academics but dedicated themselves entirely to the martial path found themselves in high demand—as instructors at martial schools, in the military, or in the security industry.

Those with good looks were even sought after in the entertainment industry.

Those who achieved true mastery, and won honors in official hand-to-hand or weapon competitions, could attain a status rivaling that of celebrities.

Back to the students at the sword school.

Seven were high schoolers; only two were adult men.

There had been three, but just a few days ago one had dropped out.

Zhou Yan happened to be present and overheard the reason—the departing student thought the school’s head, Luo Xuan, was just a young girl, and only of the “Fierce” rank.

Other Southern Bright Sword school heads were, for the most part, “Skillful” masters and seemed much more reliable than the Luo family’s school.

Even though the Luo school charged significantly less, he still chose to leave.

It was hard to blame him.

As an adult, his goals were different from those of the teenagers, who had plenty of time to make mistakes and try new things.

For adults, time and opportunity were far more precious than money; naturally, they hoped to learn under the best possible guidance.

Everyone wanted to seize their last chance to reach the threshold of “True Martial” before their bodies fully matured.

*

The students soon noticed Zhou Yan diligently practicing with the Flow Cube.

Most of them exchanged surprised glances.

They all remembered Zhou Yan, who had joined two weeks earlier—his disability was obvious and hard to ignore.

None of them expected that, in just a few days, this handsome but disabled young man would have already reached the level of using the Flow Cube.

And, it seemed… he was doing quite well.

Among the students, the two adult men silently watched Zhou Yan’s increasingly fluid movements with some amazement.

Although both had advanced to the point of sparring in protective gear, they still practiced with the Flow Cube daily.

But if they were honest with themselves, neither could claim to do much better than Zhou Yan—perhaps only a bit smoother in execution.

One of them nudged the other. “Yan Yong, look— isn’t that Zhou Yan? When did he start training? He’s pretty good!”

Yan Yong glanced over and nodded. “He is rather decent, but still a bit lacking.”

The other young man chuckled. “Sure, he’s not quite there yet, but I saw him working on basic short weapons yesterday. Now he’s already using the Flow Cube for Southern Bright Sword forms. Looks like the head instructor is giving him special attention…”

His tone was laden with implication, and he glanced at Yan Yong with a faint hint of schadenfreude.

The two of them were the top students at the school—the “elites.”

Yan Yong, however, was a cut above, and had been working hard to earn Luo Xuan’s approval to study the “Southern Bright Secret Sword.”

Though he fell short of Yan Yong’s level, as a potential rival he naturally didn’t want to see Yan Yong become the “core student” ahead of him.

With this subtle rivalry in mind, seeing Zhou Yan apparently receiving extra attention from the instructor, he couldn’t resist stirring the pot.

Yan Yong replied coolly, “Luo Zhiming, mind your own business.”

He shot another glance at Zhou Yan, lowering his voice, “Even if he does have a connection with the instructor, so what? Southern Bright Sword may be mostly a single-handed art, but nearly a quarter of its forms gain added power when used with both hands. He lacks a left hand…”

The rest of his words went unsaid, but the implication was clear.

Luo Zhiming just shrugged and smiled, saying nothing more.

On the other side, Luo Xuan clapped her hands solemnly, signaling everyone to gather.

Zhou Yan quietly set his wooden sword aside and joined the others at the back of the group.

A few teenagers familiar with him greeted him, expressing surprise that he actually knew swordsmanship.

He responded to each with gentle politeness.

At the front, Luo Xuan called for silence and briefly announced Zhou Yan’s status as a full student.

Then, the day’s instruction began.

First came basic physical training, then static stance practice—Owl-Standing—followed by dynamic stances—Crane-Dance—and then drills for the Southern Bright Sword forms.

All of these were done as a group.

Afterward, training was divided by skill level.

Those still unfamiliar with the forms practiced them on their own.

Those who had mastered the basics trained dynamic moves with the Flow Cube.

The top students, Yan Yong and Luo Zhiming, donned protective gear and sparred under Luo Xuan’s supervision.

This routine continued for three days.