Therefore, Zhou Jinyun told Chen Yan that she needed to think it over.
Chen Yan readily agreed to Zhou Jinyun's words, and then he proposed a second condition:
Thinking it over was fine.
But on the premise that, during the period of consideration, you must serve as a sparring partner for Little Su. Otherwise, no deal.
Having no other choice, Zhou Jinyun agreed to Chen Yan's request for her to serve as Su Hongzhen's sparring partner.
After all, she was the one asking for a favor.
It was just that having Zhou Jinyun, the chief disciple of Weaving Dreams Tower, recommend Su Hongzhen really did carry a certain risk of damaging both her own reputation and that of Mirage Palace.
So she had to be even more cautious.
Thus, the situation had developed into what it was today.
After training ended, Chen Yan walked into the courtyard.
Only Zhou Jinyun was there alone, sitting beneath a tree.
Seeing Chen Yan emerge from the house, Zhou Jinyun quickly stood up.
"Senior."
The chief disciple of Weaving Dreams Tower bowed respectfully and looked around:
"Where is Little Su?"
"To answer Senior, he is currently practicing his sword in the back courtyard."
Zhou Jinyun replied.
Although Chen Yan's spiritual sense could now completely cover the entire Jiangdu Prefecture, allowing him to perceive every subtle change within the city,
Any cultivator in the upper three realms would choose to retract their spiritual sense most of the time.
The feeling of having everything completely under one's control was certainly enjoyable.
But even cultivators in the upper three realms would eventually feel exhausted.
"How do you think his progress is?"
Chen Yan asked.
"Very fast progress."
Zhou Jinyun replied, but her expression looked as though she wanted to say something but held back.
This was no polite remark.
During the days she had been sparring with Su Hongzhen, Zhou Jinyun could clearly feel his improvement in swordsmanship.
But... it was a strange kind of improvement.
Among the Five Great Sects, the disciples of Lingxiao Temple were the most skilled with the sword.
Next were the disciples of Yibai Peak from Kongshan Sect.
But that didn't mean Mirage Palace lacked skilled swordsman disciples with profound cultivation.
Looking across the Western Region of Chenping Continent, besides Mirage Palace, there were several other top immortal cultivation sects.
The long-established Xuan Sheng Sect was one of them.
And Xuan Sheng Sect was world-famous for its Sword Pavilion.
The Xuan Sheng Sword Pavilion was, to some extent, synonymous with swordsmanship in the Western Region of Chenping Continent.
Yet in the past hundred years, many immortal cultivation sects in the Western Region of Chenping Continent had held numerous Dao discussion conferences.
At those Dao discussion conferences, the Sword Pavilion disciples of Xuan Sheng Sect would frequently spar with swordsman cultivators from Mirage Palace.
Xuan Sheng Sect had not achieved a single victory.
Zhou Jinyun had encountered quite a few swordsman cultivators within Mirage Palace.
Although she was only fourteen this year, as the chief disciple of Weaving Dreams Tower, she had also sparred with those swordsman cultivators.
Without using illusion techniques, she still had more wins than losses.
She knew very well how sharp those swordsman cultivators' swords were.
But Su Hongzhen was different.
When Su Hongzhen first swung his sword at her, Zhou Jinyun knew he was a complete novice.
His sword swings had no technique whatsoever; he didn't even know how to exert force.
Zhou Jinyun could easily handle Su Hongzhen's full-force attacks at the early Qi Circulation Realm without using her own true qi.
But recently, she increasingly felt something was off.
Although she could still defeat Su Hongzhen without using true qi,
It was indeed becoming more and more strenuous.
But when she tried to analyze where exactly Su Hongzhen had improved, she began to focus, only to discover that Su Hongzhen hadn't made any progress at all.
His sword swings were still without technique, and his force exertion was still awkward.
But he was indeed getting stronger, gradually beginning to cause her trouble.
Zhou Jinyun simply couldn't understand why.
"Then when do you think he can defeat you?"
Chen Yan asked.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Jinyun was silent for a moment, then shook her head:
"This junior is the chief disciple of Weaving Dreams Tower at Mirage Palace."
The implication of these words was that Senior had underestimated her too much; after all, she was the chief disciple of one of the Five Great Sects.
And moreover, the chief disciple of Weaving Dreams Tower.
The significance and importance of Weaving Dreams Tower to Mirage Palace was a well-known fact.
The underlying meaning was that Su Hongzhen would never defeat her in this lifetime.
"Is that so?"
Chen Yan laughed:
"What do you think of Little Su's movement technique?"
"Very exquisite. Whether in speed, dodging, or changing direction, it far surpasses ninety percent of Qi Circulation Realm cultivators in this world."
Zhou Jinyun said:
"May I ask, Senior, did you personally teach Su Hongzhen that movement technique?"
"No."
Chen Yan shook his head:
"He created that movement technique himself a few days ago."
"Senior must be joking..."
Zhou Jinyun said, then suddenly paused.
No.
Come to think of it, Su Hongzhen's movement technique did indeed have its peculiarities.
Recalling the movement technique he used today when he swung his sword at her and approached, and the technique he used at the very beginning,
And then connecting them all...
Su Hongzhen's movement technique hadn't become more practiced.
Rather, the technique itself was evolving!
Zhou Jinyun hadn't even noticed this at all before.
If that were really the case, Su Hongzhen was currently just a thirteen-year-old child, and his cultivation level was only at the middle Qi Circulation Realm.
If there was any great power in history that could be connected to Su Hongzhen,
Then it could only be that True Person Kongmiao, Yan Yunhe, who had created his own techniques while cultivating and stepped into the Immortal Ascension Realm within two hundred years.
"If there's nothing else, go back and rest early today."
Chen Yan slowly turned and began to walk away.
"Senior."
Zhou Jinyun from behind called out to the departing Chen Yan.
"What is it?"
Chen Yan said without turning his head.
"I am willing, in my capacity as the chief disciple of Weaving Dreams Tower at Mirage Palace, to recommend Su Hongzhen to participate in the Heavenly Summit Mountain Dao Inquiry five years from now."
...
Moxu Mountain, Wushi Town.
This town, located in the central basin of Moxu Mountain, was jointly established by the immortal cultivation sects and rogue cultivators surrounding Moxu Mountain.
Traveling cultivators would trade magical artifacts, spiritual herbs, demonic cores, elixirs, various talismans, and hand-copied technique manuals here.
Occasionally, auctions were also held.
Therefore, Wushi Town often attracted cultivators from beyond the Moxu Mountain region to come here.
So now, Wushi Town was becoming increasingly prosperous.
In the center of Wushi Town stood a tea house, also the tallest building in the town.
The streets were bustling with noise, and everyone passing by wore daoist robes.
In the tea house, a young cultivator in plain daoist robes sat by the window, leisurely sipping tea while watching the cultivators coming and going in the town.
At his waist hung a nameless token of Mirage Palace.
Suddenly, the hand holding his teacup paused. He then set down the cup, raised his slender fingers, and began to calculate for a moment—
"Oh?"
The young cultivator in plain daoist robes narrowed his eyes and murmured softly.