Spring warms the river. It has been more than ten days since Quinn Shepherd and Serena Clearbrook shattered the ice dam. The riverbank is now shaded by green willows, filled with birdsong and the fragrance of flowers—no trace of the ice flood remains.
In the middle of the river, Quinn suddenly stopped running, yet his body didn’t sink—instead, he stood atop the water. Ripples burst out from beneath his feet, spreading in all directions, making a beautiful sight.
He was channeling Black Tortoise yuanqi to control the flow of water, allowing him to stand atop the surface without running, as if walking on solid ground.
He had already mastered the knack of using Black Tortoise yuanqi for water control, wielding it with ease.
Whoosh—
The sound of a sword cutting through the air echoed. Standing at the river’s heart, Quinn pointed and drew his sword—the Grand Guardian’s Sword—lifting, sweeping, and slashing in simple, practiced motions as his body moved with the blade.
Over this period, he’d followed the Village Chief in learning the most fundamental sword skills. Besides thrusting, he’d mastered techniques like slashing, lifting, hooking, clouding, pointing, bursting, intercepting, cutting, and sweeping.
Yet the Village Chief hadn’t taught him any actual sword forms—only had him repeat the simplest actions, day after day.
Meanwhile, on the riverbank, Grandpa Blind stood motionless, leaning on his cane like a statue.
After parting ways with Serena Clearbrook in the canyon, Quinn returned to the village and told everyone how he’d freed her, even mentioning Little Thunderclap Temple. Grandpa Mark and the others promptly forbade him from leaving Oldridge—now, even stepping outside required a villager to accompany him.
Out on the river, the wind grew louder. With every sword movement Quinn made, waves and gusts surged. The basic sword techniques taught by the Village Chief erupted with astonishing power in his hands!
As he practiced again and again, the wind and waves in the river grew fiercer and faster. When he thrust his sword, the river split open for over ten zhang, the cleft more than a zhang deep—fish and river beasts at the bottom didn’t dare come near.
With a flick of Quinn’s sword, the river water shot skyward and rained down in a torrential spray. Another upward sweep sent water dragons arcing out at a slant.
Even though these were the simplest sword techniques powered by qi, in his hands their force was truly frightening.
He’d been honing these fundamental moves for over two years, and they were second nature by now—yet the Village Chief still refused to teach him any complete sword forms.
Suddenly, Grandpa Blind’s ears twitched. He called out loudly, “Quinn, stop—there’s a boat coming.”
Quinn sheathed the Grand Guardian’s Sword in the scabbard on his back and looked up. From upstream, a multi-storied warship was drifting down—the very ship that had been mapping the Yong River.
The warship was returning from upstream, having likely finished charting the Yong River’s waterways.
He stepped aside, avoiding the channel where the warship would pass.
The warship sped swiftly downstream, soon arriving in front of him. A voice rang out from the deck: “Standing steady on the river—impressive skill, and deep yuanqi!”