Chapter 86 - Competition
Zhou Weizong had witnessed how weak Xie Qiao was, whereby she would faint easily. He could even imagine this lady’s pitiful face from passing out directly when she saw the shiny sword.
Zhou Weizong could not help but feel heartbroken.
He lifted his eyes slightly to look at his master. He saw him looking calm as if everything was fine. His acceptance level was stunning.
“Who is the doctor on duty at the academy today? Get him ready…” Zhao Xuanjing paused to think to himself. “Go to the imperial palace to get some good medicine. Get those that nourish the heart and qi, as well as those that treat external injuries…”
Xie Qiao only learned about the afternoon classes she had an hour later.
She frowned and looked serious.
Swordsmanship…
Could she not do it!?
However… It should be similar to the Taoist swordsmanship she used to evict monsters and demons, right?
She had a Taoist sword that she carried with her as well. However, the sword her master had given her was rather heavy. She had left it at the Water Moon Temple instead of bringing it along. She only had a few peach wood swords of various sizes in her bamboo box.
The meaning of the sword was rather unique. Therefore, the Taoist robe that she used to wear had two sword-shaped ribbons on it. It was called the Sword of Wisdom and was meant to cut off troubles, lust, and greed.
When it came to the comprehension of sword practice, Xie Qiao thought she was pretty good at it. It was better than horseback archery. She really could not do that.
If she really got onto a horse with her weak body, her soul might leave her body.
Unfortunately, she had to attend both classes, and each of them lasted for an hour.
Xie Qiao felt rather troubled and sighed softly.
A couple of students in Orchid Courtyard noticed she looked troubled and gloated.
‘A mountain bandit who knows nothing. Even if she had learned martial arts, she must be using a kitchen knife, right?’ Someone secretly laughed.
There was an exclusive training field in the academy. It was massive, and there were many men over there as it was shared. However, they stayed away from each other, and they had zero communication.
Xie Qiao followed the rest to the training field. She was nervous before, but she immediately felt relieved when she saw the swords on the weapon rack. The edge was blunt, and there were even tassels on it. One could tell that it was a practice sword, not the kind used to fight and kill.
Each of them picked a sword. Xie Qiao also held one in her hand. She took a good look at it and discovered that not only was the edge not sharpened but there was even a layer of wax on it. Clearly, they were worried that the young ladies might hurt themselves.
The swordsmanship master was a lady.
Physical contact was inevitable during martial arts practice, so it would be much more troublesome if the master was a man.
“We’ll have a competition today.” The teacher said something shocking as soon as she appeared. “We’ll compete on the Moon Dance that I taught you guys a few days back. Stand out if you want to participate, sit down to watch if you don’t. The reward for the first prize is handsome. All the best, everyone.”
She got someone to bring out the reward.
Xie Qiao looked over.
The reward was a small bowl of silver beans and a set of hair accessories.
Xie Qiao had no interest in hair accessories. However, she had a burning desire in her eyes when she saw the silver beans. There should be at least 50 silver beans in that small bowl if there were not 80?
Unfortunately, she was completely clueless about Moon Dance.
She stood still where she was.
“Teacher, you’ve been teaching us the Moon Dance for a few days. We haven’t mastered it yet…”
“That’s right. You should test us on the Zixia Dance we learned last month. We’re much more familiar with that. We guarantee that we’ll make no mistake!”
The young ladies were panicking a little.
“I’ve given you guys a few days of time. If you still don’t know it, it proves you didn’t practice it at home. We’ll compete on this today. Oh, I heard that His Highness might patrol the training field later. Lift your spirit, all of you. If you guys perform horribly, you’ll humiliate the academy,” added the teacher.
The young ladies’ eyes lit up when they heard that.