224: Chapter 223 Learning Swordsmanship

Qiao Bo looked at her, silent for a long time.

Then he sighed, stood up, walked to the window, and turned his back to Qiao Shuwan.

"I know someone who has a stronghold deep within the Mist Forest."

"That is not a safe zone of the academy; it is a true hunting ground."

"LV5 and LV6 fierce beasts are everywhere, and LV7 ones are not rare either."

"If you go there, no one will take care of you, no one will protect you, you can only rely on yourself."

Qiao Bo turned around and looked at Qiao Shuwan. "Do you want to go?"

Qiao Shuwan did not hesitate: "I do."

Qiao Bo looked at her, then smiled: "Good. I will arrange it for you. We will set off in three days. But you must promise me one thing."

"What is it?"

"Come back alive."

Qiao Shuwan was silent for a moment, then nodded. "Okay."

Afterward, she turned and walked out of the study.

Qiao Shuwan stood in the hallway, looking at the sky outside the window.

Then she lowered her head, looked at her own hands, clenched them, and then relaxed them.

She could look down on others, but she could not let someone she once looked down upon leave her behind,

even if that person was Wang Lin, even if she now acknowledged that person's excellence.

Qiao Shuwan raised her head and continued walking forward, her pace steadier than before.

In the study, Qiao Bo stood where he was, watching the direction his daughter left in, silent for a long time.

Then he picked up his phone and dialed a number.

"Old Chen, it's me. Help me make arrangements; my daughter is going to the stronghold deep in the Mist Forest for training."

"Yes, in three days. Please take care of her, but don't coddle her too much. Let her experience it for herself."

After hearing what was said on the other end of the line, Qiao Bo nodded and hung up.

He muttered to himself: "Wang Dashan, it was your son who provoked my daughter."

"If my daughter dies, I will have to settle this score with you..."

The next day, before the sky was fully bright, Wang Lin appeared at the entrance of the Ancient Martial Arts Training Hall.

He didn't look at anyone else in the courtyard, walked straight across it, and pushed open the wooden door leading to the library.

Huo Yan happened to be walking out of the corridor. Seeing Wang Lin enter the library, he was stunned for a moment, then shook his head, not thinking much of it.

He thought Wang Lin was just coming to find books to read as usual and would come out after finishing.

But he was wrong.

One hour passed, Wang Lin did not come out.

Two hours passed, Wang Lin still did not come out.

Three hours, four hours...

The sun rose from the east to the zenith, and then fell from the zenith to the west.

Huo Yan finished practicing his punches, finished practicing his sword, went to the cafeteria for lunch, and came back to practice for an entire afternoon; Wang Lin still had not come out.

Su Wanqing held the tingtao sword, stood at the library entrance, and frowned slightly.

"How long has he been in there?"

"He went in at seven in the morning." Huo Yan glanced at the sky, "It's almost six now. It's been almost eleven hours."

Su Wanqing did not speak, but her intuition told her that Wang Lin was not reading ordinary books.

When the sky had completely darkened, the library door finally opened.

Wang Lin walked out from inside, his eyes a bit red, as if he hadn't closed them for a long time.

Wang Lin didn't look at anyone, walked straight across the courtyard, and headed toward the Martial Arts Arena.

Huo Yan and Su Wanqing exchanged a glance and followed him.

The Martial Arts Arena was large. Moonlight spilled down from the skylight on the roof, casting a sheet of silvery-white light on the ground.

Wang Lin walked to the center of the Martial Arts Arena, stopped, and turned his back to everyone.

He withdrew his right hand from his pocket, lightly brushed his finger across his space ring, and a sword appeared in his hand.

An ordinary sword, a mass-produced item from the weapon rack of the Ancient Martial Arts Training Hall.

He gripped the hilt, the tip of the sword pointing diagonally at the ground, and then he closed his eyes.

There were more and more people at the Martial Arts Arena.

Someone passing by saw him standing there, stopped to look for a moment, felt a bit curious, and then stood there without leaving.

Some people heard the news and rushed over, wanting to see what this person who had stayed in the library for a day and a night was going to do.

Crowds gathered around the Martial Arts Arena, and discussions rose and fell.

"What is this person doing? I heard he read books in the library for a day and a night; why isn't he sleeping, and what is he doing here?"

"Yeah, he's been standing here for an hour, right? What is this for? Could it be that he fell asleep standing up? I heard some extraordinary people can sleep standing up."

Someone retorted, "That's because they had no choice. Wang Lin clearly has a bed to lie on, why would he run here to sleep standing up? Is something wrong with his brain?"

Huo Yan stood at the edge of the crowd, watching Wang Lin's back, his brows furrowed tightly.

He turned to Su Wanqing, his voice lowered.

"Junior Sister, what do you think Wang Lin is doing?"

Su Wanqing held the tingtao sword, her gaze never leaving Wang Lin.

"I don't know. But it's definitely not sleeping."

Huo Yan hesitated: "Junior Sister, should we leave first? Waiting here isn't a solution."

Su Wanqing shook her head: "No. I want to know what exactly Wang Lin is going to do."

Su Wanqing's gaze fell on the hand Wang Lin was using to grip the sword hilt; that hand had not relaxed once.

"Look at him standing here, but he is gripping the sword tightly in his hand, never relaxing for a moment."

She paused, "Also, I just asked around; the books Wang Lin was reading in the library earlier were all about sword techniques."

"The problem is, Wang Lin only knew blade techniques before, not sword techniques."

Huo Yan was stunned: "What? All sword techniques?"

Su Wanqing nodded: "Senior Brother, do you remember the first time Wang Lin came to the Ancient Martial Arts Training Hall?"

"He also read through the blade techniques once, and then learned all the blade techniques in the library."

"And now, Senior Brother, do you think it might be the same for Wang Lin?"

Huo Yan was silent.

He remembered the day Wang Lin first came to the Ancient Martial Arts Training Hall.

It was the same; he read books for a day, and after coming out, he had finished practicing forty-seven types of blade techniques.

Liuyun Blade Art, Army-Breaker Blade Technique, Wind-Slicing Thirteen Styles...

Those blade techniques that he hadn't been able to practice smoothly even after years, Wang Lin learned them after one reading.

Huo Yan's throat rolled: "No way... Just learning blade techniques is enough to exhaust an ordinary person's entire life. To learn sword techniques as well..."

Su Wanqing looked at Wang Lin's back: "Senior Brother, you also said that those were ordinary people. Do you think Wang Lin is an ordinary person?"

Huo Yan opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, nothing came out.

He looked at Wang Lin in the center of the Martial Arts Arena, standing there, eyes closed, gripping the sword, unmoving, like a rooted tree.

Then, Wang Lin moved. His eyes were still closed, but his body moved.

His right hand slowly lifted, the tip of the sword rising from the ground, pointing toward the night sky.

The silvery-white moonlight fell on the sword body, reflecting a cold light.

Then his wrist turned slightly, and the blade traced an arc in the air.

The first sword — — Thrust.

A very simple sword strike.

Straight forward, fast as lightning, the tip of the sword swept through the air without making a sound.

It wasn't that there was no sound; it was that the sword was too fast, so fast that the air didn't have time to make a sound.