6 Dragon Proudsky? No, just a little loser.

The next morning, Cui Huai shoved that "Guide to Swordsmanship" under the leg of her table. The rickety table finally stopped wobbling; the book had finally found a useful purpose.

She headed down the mountain to buy a set of well-fitting, comfortable clothes. Upon returning, she admired the lush canopy tree once more and reached the same conclusion: the surrounding weeds were an eyesore and needed to be cleared away at the first opportunity.

Glancing at the sun, she saw it was nearly mid-morning—the time for that lazybones Jiang Xuan to practice his swordsmanship. Cui Huai waited on the small dirt slope, enduring the wind and grit for only a quarter-hour before Jiang Xuan appeared.

He walked with the same unsteady, lackadaisical sway as the table that lacked the "Guide to Swordsmanship" for support.

She returned the manuals she had borrowed earlier. "Thank you, Senior Brother. I have finished reading them all. You were right that day outside my door—mastery of the sword requires constant practice. I wonder if you and I might spar a little today?"

Cui Huai wanted to spar with Jiang Xuan to see exactly what the "male lead" touted by the System was really made of.

Yes, although this fact had shocked Cui Huai for an entire night, Jiang Xuan was indeed the male lead the System had tasked her with "capturing." The System had once told her that she was the female lead of a different story, and her own strength was beyond doubt; surely, as the male lead, Jiang Xuan must have had some extraordinary qualities.

It was time to put him to the test and see what he was truly worth.

Cui Huai offered a few slight flattery, and Jiang Xuan puffed out his chest, smiling as he agreed, "Alright! However, I am already at the fifth level of Qi Refining, and you haven't even entered the Dao yet. To be fair, I won't use any spiritual energy."

In Jiang Xuan's eyes, this wasn't a test to determine his worth; he simply wanted to show off his prowess as the Senior Brother in front of his Junior Sister, and incidentally, display his own handsomeness and charisma without appearing to try too hard.

*For the first strike, I'll use eighty percent of my strength,* he thought. *Give the Junior Sister a bit of face.*

And then, Jiang Xuan was sent flying by a single strike from Cui Huai.

He landed face-first in the dirt, his wrist throbbing where he held the sword. Jiang Xuan couldn't even process what had happened—how had he fallen so inexplicably? His sword had merely touched hers, and then—*whoosh*—it had taken flight.

Cui Huai was equally shocked. She had merely flicked her wrist, intending to trade a few harmless blows to gauge his depth. How could he have been sent flying by such a trivial effort?

Cui Huai stared at her hand in confusion. She possessed no spiritual energy, only her seven-colored spiritual roots. And wasn't Jiang Xuan supposed to be the male lead? Was this it?

Jiang Xuan scrambled up from the ground, dusting himself off, and explained, "Junior Sister, your swordsmanship is formidable! I wasn't prepared, and I didn't use my full strength. Please, excuse me—this time, I'm serious! Receive my strike!"

He tapped his left foot, leaped into the air, gripped the hilt with both hands, and brought the sword down in a straight, powerful chop. Master had once said that when using a sword, the practitioner becomes the sword itself; Jiang Xuan felt as though he had become one with the hilt, descending with the full weight of the blade.

Only after committing to the strike did he realize his mistake. His swordsmanship had only just begun to improve, and he had inadvertently stirred up the surrounding spiritual energy. But his Junior Sister was just a mortal—how could she possibly withstand such a blow?

*Should I force a reversal of my cultivation to pull back the strike? I can't hurt her.*

In that fleeting moment, Jiang Xuan’s mind raced, but Cui Huai’s reaction was beyond any of his scenarios. She simply crouched slightly, held her sword horizontally in front of her, and intercepted his vertical strike head-on. The two identical blades collided with a crisp ring and immediately parted.

The next second, just like before, Jiang Xuan was sent flying. The only difference was that this time he was sent even further away.

Hitting the ground hard, Jiang Xuan felt pain throughout his entire body. At the moment the swords clashed, he felt his bones and his very soul vibrating along with the blades. He lay sprawled on the ground, a bloody scratch on his cheek, yet his expression was not one of frustration, but of intense joy and excitement.

He had seen it clearly just now: it wasn't the sword that had cut his cheek, but the sand.

*So, there was a reason Master made me practice in this place.*

"Your sword lacks spirit, form, and edge," his Master had told him. "Find a place where you can see clearly; from now on, go to the Yellow Sand Slope behind the mountain."

At the time, he hadn't understood. "That place is so windy and full of dirt. How much do I have to improve before I can return to the training grounds?"

His Master had only left him with cryptic words: "I don't know. When you understand, you will be able to go elsewhere."

But he had never understood. He practiced in the yellow sand every day, eating mouthfuls of grit, still none the wiser. He had simply started cutting his practice hours short; since his Master didn't care and he wasn't making progress, he figured he might as well be casual about it.

But the strike from his Junior Sister just now had made him understand.

The Junior Sister's sword aura had stirred the wind and sand. Guided by the blade, the chaotic yellow dust had become docile, coalescing into blades of grit that followed the sword’s path. Her strike had been held back, never touching him; it was merely the sand caught in the wake of her sword energy that had brushed his face, leaving the scratch.

With no spiritual energy, to achieve such a feat—his Junior Sister was truly incredible!

Cui Huai, the "incredible" Junior Sister, felt she had been scammed.

This book’s male lead, Jiang Xuan, was neither a mule nor a horse—he was a donkey! He wasn't just lazy; his swordsmanship was remarkably mediocre. At his age, it might have been passable, but compared to Cui Huai in her prime, he was miles behind.

Was this the male lead she was supposed to "capture" according to the System? She suddenly felt that the "Guide to Swordsmanship" under the table was worth another look, even if she had to grit her teeth to read it.

Jiang Xuan, oblivious to Cui Huai’s look of despair, continued excitedly, "Junior Sister, you are so strong! Your swordsmanship is far superior to mine. I was worried about hurting you just now, but I must thank you for holding back. Although you only have seven-colored spiritual roots, I believe you will surely advance far in the way of the sword! Do you have any secrets to your practice?"

Hearing "seven-colored spiritual roots," Cui Huai’s face darkened further. She forced a smile and lied, "It’s all thanks to the manuals you gave me, Senior Brother. I studied them diligently for those five days and gained some insight. I had an epiphany, which is why I wanted to spar with you."

Jiang Xuan was stunned. The manuals he had given away were actually that powerful?

As they were speaking, Fu Qin arrived silently, his striking appearance making the sand-filled air look like a painting. He had watched the entire process of his Senior Brother's defeat. With the outcome decided, he asked, "Junior Sister, would you be free to spar with me sometime?"

But Cui Huai had no heart for it right now. She brushed him off, saying, "Next time."

She had to go back and figure out if there was any way to keep this stupid System in check!

***

That night, Jiang Xuan read by the light of a lamp, poring over the books, reading every word and every line over and over again.

He couldn't manage to lock himself away for five days of bitter study, but he would read every night from now on. His comprehension might not be as strong as his Junior Sister's, but he would just have to be persistent and never give up!