Chapter 90
As Lu Xiaoyu got the phone, she looked as if she had just won a grand and mysterious prize. She inserted her phone card and the first thing she did was to give Lu Shu a call. She then excitedly saved her contact number on Lu Shu's phone as 'Lu Xiaoyu'.
Then she took her own phone and saved Lu Shu's number as 'Lu Xiaoshu'.
She continued playing with the two phones naively, thinking how apt and compatible the two names were.
Lu Shu was silently watching by the side. Then he realized that Lu Xiaoyu had memorized his phone number, and could recite it without even having to think.
Lu Xiaoyu made them best friends on both of their phones, then pinned both Lu Shu and her contact on the top of both their chatting messages.
Following that she held onto the phones while thinking what else there was to do… Oh yeah, the special caller ringtone! And wallpaper! And the lock screen wallpaper!
Her actions were swift and sleek as if she had thought of all these for a long time. It was as if Lu Xiaoyu had been reminding herself what she would do if she was given a phone.
When Lu Shu got his phone back, he noticed his wallpaper was filled with photos of Lu Xiaoyu… And Lu Xiaoyu's was filled with photos of Lu Shu.
Lu Xiaoyu looked worriedly at Lu Shu, afraid that he might change all of her new settings. To her surprise, Lu Shu didn't mind at all, and she returned to her playful self. She laid on the sofa and used her phone, with her legs resting on Lu Shu, pleased as ever.
Lu Shu then added his card number on Lu Xiaoyu's WeChat, "Our savings are all in there, don't use it carelessly. But if you really need it, you don't have to be too stingy."
That bank account had a portion of Lu Shu's savings. He thought, if Lu Xiaoyu went missing and did not have any cash on her, she could use her phone to pay for a taxi ride home.
Having heard that, Lu Xiaoyu nodded seriously, expressing that she wouldn't spend without thought. Lu Shu was also clear that Lu Xiaoyu's maturity was beyond her years and she definitely wouldn't make such silly mistakes.
This made Lu Xiaoyu feel good. Lu Shu never doubted her or ever held her back from anything.
It was natural for them to trust each other since they only had each other to depend on. If they can't even do this, how far could they go in life?
Lu Shu also told Lu Xiaoyu, seeing as she was about to dim out her seventh star, to inform him if she could complete it that night.
Lu Shu was extremely curious as to what will happen when Lu Xiaoyu completes her first nebula.
Seeing Lu Xiaoyu's training progress, that would probably the day after.
Lu Shu asked Li Xianyi why he had to train swordplay at 3 in the morning. He thought this was a waste of his night time which could be better used to cultivate his celestial map but this couldn't be said to Li Xianyi.
Li Xianyi's response left Lu Shu rather speechless. A long time ago, his master's chickens crowed at 3 in the morning, that's why he was used to training at 3.
What, Lu Shu still thought there was a deeper philosophical meaning in the timing. It was because of such a reason?!
Through his time with Li Xianyi, Lu Shu found out that this old man was rather nice. Despite him being extremely skilled, he was not mysterious or arrogant.
Li Xianyi told Lu Shu in the morning, "Swordplay stances can be everchanging. Draw, dip, lift, cross, strike, poke, point, slash, smash, flick, and even more. But a true master only has one move, which is to defeat his opponent. What are swordplay techniques for? To be aesthetically appealing? No, they are for killing."
Lu Shu was clear on this point. If it was just to look good, Lu Shu wouldn't be learning.
"To let you learn the foundation of swordplay is to let all this become your primary ability. Some might call muscle memory, but this is a misconception. Muscles have no memory, people do. Only when everything becomes your primary ability or reflex, the swordplay techniques can be learned effectively. Or else when you are in battle when someone makes a move, you have to think for up to a second. By the time you are done thinking, you are probably done for as well. What you ought to do now is to follow this mantle. Use your waist as an axis, and the resonation of sword and hand. You already understand using your waist as an axis. As for the latter, it means to use your sword with flair and to feel it. Improve your chemistry with your sword and naturally, you will improve."
Having listened to a big chunk of talking, Lu Shu understood that he still had many techniques to learn even after he mastered the swing.
And this morning, the old man told Lu Shu everything he had to say about vitality.
His goal was to give Lu Shu hope, to let Lu Shu understand the meaning behind all the training.
When you push a piece of rope on the table, it will only curve up on the spot.
Only when you pull it from the front will it go wherever you want it to go.
But Li Xianyi felt that his actions were slightly superfluous. When Lu Shu was training, he absolutely did not need any sort of motivation or supervision.
And Lu Shu's circ.u.mstance was entirely different from his own when he was a student. He, in the past, had difficulty even lifting up the sword, a total beginner in swordplay.
Lu Shu, on the other hand, had the strength of a metahuman and who knew how much more of a headstart Lu Shu had over him? Although it was tough to exert all his strength executing the swings, Lu Shu was determined and hardworking.
Li Xianyi also noticed Lu Shu's improvement was much greater than his when he was younger! He executed the swings for 3 months before learning the next move. As for Lu Shu, Li Xianyi estimated that he could learn a new move next week.
The current Lu Shu could execute the swings naturally, strong yet smooth. Every stroke of his was accurate and precise, and they all came from the waist through the arms to his wrist.
Li Xianyi thought for a moment, this is probably related to Lu Shu's apt.i.tude and cla.s.s. As he thought about this, Li Xianyi was even more eager to find out Lu Shu's apt.i.tude. He could not determine Lu Shu's apt.i.tude accurately just by feel.
Time pa.s.sed by quickly, and Lu Shu's lifestyle of training persisted. Training on swordplay at 3 in the morning, selling tofu after that to earn some money and distress points. Following that he would attend lessons in school and report to Daoyuan cla.s.s afterward. At night, he would get home for the lottery and cultivate his celestial map.
This sort of life was simple and dull, but Lu Shu could still derive his own joy from it.
And one day, Li Xianyi suddenly pa.s.sed two small bottles to Lu Shu, "Inside these bottles is the sodium-pota.s.sium alloy used to determine your apt.i.tude. You try using it, I want to see what exactly is your apt.i.tude."
Lu Shu was stunned for a moment and rejected him. Are you kidding, we don't even have a teacher-student relations.h.i.+p. How could I do this test in front of you?
In fact, Lu Shu did not know that Li Xianyi had already estimated him to be at A cla.s.s potential since he never mentioned this in front of Lu Shu.
Li Xianyi understood Lu Shu's train of thought and waved his hand at Lu Shu, "You test it yourself at home. Tell me what's your apt.i.tude when you're done."
Having finished his statement, Li Xianyi withdrew a small piece of paper from his sleeve. Six different shades, from silver to black, were shown on the paper, each indicating a specific apt.i.tude.