And so, the journey continued—sailing on, training nonstop.
Princess Flower Shifter’s arrival was a huge win for Jack Young—finally, he had someone he could spar with for real. Every day, the two of them dove into the sea of sand, duking it out with wild moves and flying fists. The folks sitting on the sand skiff would just see two blurs vanish behind a dune, then—boom!—they’d leap right over everyone’s heads and land on the other side, like birds swooping across the blue sky.
Blind Elder kept sighing, mumbling about how, if he’d worked a bit harder back in the day, maybe he’d be flying around like that too. Fiona Fang and Rachel Luo just watched with stars in their eyes, wishing one day they could do the same.
There’s nothing like using your own skills to soar through the sky or dash across the earth—way better than riding some vehicle. Jack Young was falling in love with the feeling. To him, out of all the martial arts and internal energy techniques in the whole wuxia world, Lightness Skill was the real treasure.
Lightness Skill isn’t just about jumping high with raw muscle—it’s got this indescribable sense of freedom. When you activate it and take off, you actually start to hang in the air, almost gliding. Every extra second you glide, that feeling of freedom doubles—makes your heart feel so light you might just float away.
Princess Flower Shifter’s Lightness Skill was next level. Sure, she didn’t have the scary, black-mirror speed of the Black Masked Assassin, but her aerial moves were something else. She moved like a butterfly—one twist, a flap of her wings, and she’d shift sideways in midair, drawing all sorts of arcs and changing direction up to four times. If you’ve ever played Devil May Cry and tried those air dashes and double jumps, you know how wild that is. She said she was held back by her current power, though—if she could get back to Innate Fourth Realm, she could change direction five or six times in one leap.
“There’s all kinds of Lightness Skills—some are super fast, some are all about sharp turns, some are perfect for close-up dodging. Your footwork is honestly genius; when it comes to dodging, I’ve got nothing to teach you. But I can give you a few tips on speed and turning.” Princess Flower Shifter saw how into Lightness Skill Jack Young was, so she generously shared her secrets. An Innate master’s perspective is totally different from a Postnatal one, and compared to those Postnatal experts like North Boy and Li San, it was a whole new world. Jack Young just kept nodding along.
“Lightness Skill basically has these levels: tree-leaping, grass-skimming, and water-gliding. Tree-leaping is entry level—if you’ve got solid footing and good balance, you’re in. Grass-skimming means you can use weeds and thorns as springboards in a single stride, but you need some serious power for that. Water-gliding? That’s stepping on water without sinking, keeping your socks dry—takes crazy skill to pull off.”
“Above those, there’s two more: Snow-Stepping, and White Crane Spreads Its Wings. Folks like me can shift direction in midair, borrowing force from the void to accelerate—that’s White Crane Spreads Its Wings.” Princess Flower Shifter explained while demonstrating. “But these two levels need Innate True Qi to back them up. Without that thick, pure, totally obedient True Qi, you can’t pull off White Crane Spreads Its Wings. But you—” She tapped her chin, thinking. “You might just break all the rules, so do whatever works for you!”
Turns out, Princess Flower Shifter was right. Two days later, before they reached the next oasis, Jack Young actually managed to change direction in midair! Okay, it wasn’t as snappy as her moves—more like a slow-motion S-curve. He had to jump with all his might, rocket into the sky, and only then could he just barely pull it off.