After sharing a mutual glance with Wu Daozi, Sun Daobai looked back at Xu Wenchuan and said, "Wenchuan, it seems that Yaoting boasts outstanding innate talent as well as a sharp perception. It is highly likely he turns out to be a marvel of martial arts!"
"Humph. He can hardly count! I am gonna laugh my head off on that," Sun Xiaoya said, twitching her mouth dismissively as usual.
"Xiaoya, come to think of it. He is indeed usually talented," Hardly had Wandong intended to rebut Sun Xiaoya's criticism, when Tang Xinyi praised Wandong out of the blue. He appeared rather serious.
"Sister Tang, what are you talking about? This brat has only reached the initial level of cultivation. Could that be considered as what a martial arts marvel should be like?" Sun Xiaoya asked in a bewildered tone. By no stretch of the imagination could she ever picture Tang Xinyi supporting Wandong.
Shaking her head, Tang Xinyi cast an admiring glance at Xu Yaoting and responded, "He picked up the Cloud-Penetrating Silver Sparkle swordsmanship by observing my training on it. To my surprise, he even managed to discard the dross and keep the finer part — amplifying the power of the swordsmanship by several times. Doesn't that suffice to make him a martial arts marvel?"
"What? I was from you that Yaoting learned the swordsmanship which he used to combat Wu Qiujun?" Wu Daozi couldn't help but let out a cry out of astonishment.
The Cloud-Penetrating Silver Sparkle swordsmanship Wandong performed was almost flawless and exquisite — it, undoubtedly, had what it takes to be ranked as a first-rate swordsmanship in the world. Wu Daozi had assumed it was passed down from Xu Wenchuan. Not until Tang Xinyi spilled the beans did he know where it came from. And, compounded with the jaw-dropping fact that Wandong got the hang of it by peeping, it manifested that Wandong was an out-and-out chosen one by God. Having met people of all kinds, Wu Daozi still admitted that he had never seen anyone as excellent as Wandong.
Noticing all present being in stupefaction, Wandong hastened to explain away their amazement, "It hardly went to the extent of your imagination. The Cloud-Penetrating Silver Sparkle swordsmanship was just about average, otherwise, I wouldn't have been defeated in the second round."
Wu Daozi couldn't help but utter a wry smile. Wu Qiujun indeed conquered Wandong in the second round of the duel — by means of his ninth-level cultivation of spiritual energy rather than his techniques. If Wandong had been Wu Qiujun's equal in cultivation, or he had reached the eighth level only, he would have defeated Wu Qiujun within three moves.
"Is...is that all true?" Sun Xiaoya asked. She was utterly baffled.
"Yaoting, do you still remember the three moves Wu Qiujun had with you today?" Xu Wenchuan asked loudly after a short moment of silence. He rose suddenly, greatly excited with his eyes fixed on Wandong.
Wandong nodded in agreement and said, "Yes!"
"Do it again for us! Right here, right now!" Xu Wenchuan pressed Wandong to reproduce the duel in agitation. He dragged Wandong out of the hall, followed by others.
"The Wind Riding Pithy Formula and The Cloud-Penetrating Strategy share the same base and supplement each other. Wu Qiujun had his heart set on The Wind Riding Pithy Formula in a bid to align it with The Cloud-Penetrating Strategy — to help him reach the tenth level of the cultivation of spiritual energy. Though he only performed three moves, which were exactly the quintessence of The Wind Riding Pithy Formula. If I can get the hang of it and combine it with The Cloud-Penetrating Strategy, the alignment may help me break through the bottleneck and reach the ninth level of cultivation!" Xu Wenchuan said in ecstasy in the courtyard.
"If so, that will be fabulous! But I'm afraid Yaoting only managed to remember the physical moves rather than the essence of them. Even if he could guarantee a ninety percent similarity between his reproduction and the original moves, there wouldn't be any point in making him do that again," Sun Daobai said in a somewhat worried tone.
Xu Wenchuan shook his head and said, "Now that we got an opportunity, we may as well seize it. Yaoting, nevermind, please start it!"