Naked Sword Art

[ Black Paradise sect ]

In the Core Court of the Divine Sword Sect, Chu Piao was seated outside of Xiao Jing's house as he patiently waited for her to come out for training. However, Xiao Jing had other plans in mind. 

Since Xiao Fang returned to the sect, she had only gotten to see him briefly before he disappeared. Although she couldn't feel his cultivator's aura when she saw him, his bloodlust was stronger than anything she's ever encountered before, so she knew he couldn't be weak.

She wanted to go see him, she wanted to know more, but no one wanted to tell her where he was.

Dressing up in all black robes, Xiao Jing peeked out her window to see if Chu Piao was still there. Seeing that he was, she snuck out the back, in hopes of evading him, but not long after exiting, she suddenly heard his voice.

"Going somewhere?" he said.

Xiao Jing jumped up like a startled cat.

"You!... How could you sneak up on a little girl like that," Xiao Jing said as she dusted herself off. She then gave Chu Piao a cold stare then said, "And where I'm going is none of your business. So you can piss off," she replied angrily.

Chu Piao smiled bitterly from her words.

"Oh, is that so? Well if you're planning on blowing off practice today, you'll leave me no choice but to report it to your father. Your father, Patriarch Jianhong, is a very busy man. I can't imagine how displeased he'd be to hear about this."

Xiao Jing simply rolled her eyes then turned to leave, but before she could, Chu Piao continued speaking, saying,

"I can't imagine that you're mother would be happy to hear about this either."

Xiao Jing had to admit that Xiao Jianhong was an incredibly intimidating individual, but he was always very kind and lenient towards her. Her mother, on the other hand, was not.

Still, Xiao Jing was too much of a stubborn girl to be blackmailed like that, so after a brief pause she started leaving. However, again, Chu Piao made her stop with his next words.

"You're looking for him, aren't you? What if I told you I knew where he was?"

"Where is he?" Xiao Jing asked.

"I can take you to him, but first..."

In the next moment, Chu Piao picked up a stick then made a circle on the ground around him with a radius of 2 meters.

Xiao Jing frowned when she realized what he was doing.

"You're in the Profound realm. You can't possibly expect me to win," Xiao Jing said realizing the game he wanted her to play.

But the next thing he did surprised her. She watched in confusion as he took out a piece of cloth and wrapped it around his head as a blindfold.

"Attack me any way you like. If you can cut me, or make me step out of this circle within one incense stick of time, I'll take you to where he is. However, if you lose, you'll have to get through today's training without complaining," he said.

Xiao Jing was hesitant to agree.

'Profound realm or not, how can he avoid my attacks if he can't see it coming? He probably has some trick up his sleeve,' she thought.

Staring at Chu Piao when he was wearing a blindfold just made her curious about Xiao Fang. 

"What do you say, do accept my challenge?" Chu Piao asked while holding up the stick he used to draw the circle around him.

Xiao Jing wanted to see how he planned to defend himself blindfolded, so she didn't give it much thought. 

"Sure," she said before taking out her sword out and dashing towards him.

Not even a second later, she was already in front of him lunging her sword into Chu Piao's stomach. However, with his hands still behind his back, Chu Piao brought one of his foot back behind the other to turn his body.

Xiao Jing's eyes widened when she realized he evaded it, but before she could even think about it, Chu Piao whipped her arm with the stick he was holding, making Xiao Jing tumble over when she landed.

"You're wielding a sword, not a spear. Don't leave yourself too open after a strike or you'll be dead," Chu Piao lectured her, but that wasn't what she wanted to hear.

'Was it luck?' she thought.

Getting back up, she planned to take it more seriously. Xiao Jing readjusted her grip on her sword, then made the proper stance before giving it another go, but just like before, Chu Piao evaded her first strike, but she wasn't finished.

She continued to attack him but he blocked and evaded every single one with minimal movements. However, she wasn't annoyed as much as she was fascinated. 

'If Chu Piao could avoid my attacks blindfolded, then surely my brother...'

Distracted by her thoughts, she made another mistake, so Chu Piao whipped her with the stick making her retreat. However, after she did, she didn't continue attacking him like he expected her to.

"We've only just begun, don't tell me that you're already giving up," Chu Piao said.

"How are you doing it? You're avoiding all my attacks as if you can see. I want to know how you're doing it," Xiao Jing asked.

"Of course, I'm simply relying on my swordsman's instincts to dodge your strikes," he replied.

"Swordsman's instincts... what's that?" she asked.

Chu Piao was a bit surprised to hear that she didn't know what it was, so he tried his best to explain it as simply as he could.

"The Swordsman's Instincts is a technique we learn in this sect to detect dangerous attacks coming from our blind spots. The technique is only meant for simple detection, but if you learn the technique to a high enough level, you'll be able to do more than just detect," Chu Piao said before turning his head to her.

Xiao Jing felt goosebumps when she saw his head now facing her. It was as if the blindfold wasn't obstructing his sight at all, if anything it was enhancing his awareness.

"Then... my brother. Can he also see without seeing?" she asked.

"Maybe you should ask him yourself," Chu Piao smirked while raising the stick in his hand in a battle ready way.

With a serious look on her face, Xiao Jing continued attacking him, but he didn't make it easy on her at all. 

Each time she made a mistake he would whip her with a stick as if to tell her to correct her form. However, it just pissed her off more and more.

Eventually, her eyes began to glow red and her power output grew.