Tang Yin chartered the boat with the others. Madame was walking in front, settling everything, while Uncle Jian and she were in the back following along. Yin was only barely containing herself, as she just wanted to sprint onto the deck and look around. The boat was rge—a three-mast sailing boat carrying goods and passengers rocking gently and was among the rgest at the harbor.

  As they were from a high css cn, they received first-css cabins and were personally assigned younger crew members to lead them to their quarters, a young boy with curious gaze showed Tang Yin her private loging. It was small, but to be expected on a boat, but still quite luxurious. Her feet moved over carpeted floor, and she noted she could see outside from a small window beside her bed.

  After putting away her small backpack, where she had packed almost everything she’d need immediately—but nothing that would be a loss if mispced—she headed outside. Her two wooden training swords were attached to her hips as she walked onto the deck, looked over the railing, and stood on her tiptoes to gaze outside.

  A familiar presence behind her made her turn around. Uncle Jian nodded as the two turned to stare at the sea. The crew readied the boat, and a few other passengers joined them in watching. Tang Yin eyed the ropes at the side, musing if she should climb up. She was certain it wasn’t allowed—but maybe if she asked? And the bird’s nest as well? That would be pretty cool, and perhaps she could draw a few ndscapes from up there. They’d surely look amazing.

  “Whatever mischief you’re thinking up again, don’t forget we need to continue our sparring training,” a voice whispered into her ear. She felt the hairs on her neck rise as she turned around, having completely forgotten Uncle Jian was still there, and looked at him grumpily.

  “Seriously?” she asked him, and he nodded.

  “One day of scking takes a week to catch up.” He raised his own wooden stick. “Now come. Enough enjoying the view.”

  “Urgh,” she muttered. Uncle Jian quickly talked with the captain, who nodded and pointed them to a corner of the deck. The two headed over, and Tang Yin drew her swords—one in each hand—and readied herself. Focusing on Chen Xin, she clicked her tongue before she started moving.

  Keeping low, she angled her sword upwards as he blocked and thundered her stick away with a force that would have knocked someone less trained off bance. Though used to the force, Tang Yin twisted with it and then smmed her other bde toward the other side. His wooden sword moved at lightning speed as the two weapons cshed audibly and loudly.

  Reinforcing spirit energy onto them was probably the only reason they didn’t break. She retreated and started an assault—from all sides—with keen and precise attacks, circling and jumping around. Chen Xin deflected most of them effortlessly, but he did need to work to keep up with her speed, blocking and attacking in turn as they almost danced.

  Around them, a small group gathered, focused on watching the fight. Their bodies were fast and nimble, making an odd pair: a man whose age couldn’t be told, with silver hair, and a young girl who looked ten or eleven.

  “You’re relying too much on your speed, and it’s not working,” Uncle Jian said, and Tang Yin snorted.

  “Well, it’s obviously working,” she gritted her teeth, frustrated that she hadn’t nded a single decent hit yet—only scratched his clothing—while her own body was, once again, surely going to walk away a few bruises richer. He had hit her once or twice already. “Otherwise, I’d be dead, not just bruised.” she argued.

  “Undeniable but I am used to it and if anyone else get's used to it they will not be quite that mercyful. But remember—always assume your opponent is stronger than you,” he emphasized, and she groaned. Yeah, right—there was that.

  “I know.” She gritted her teeth and attacked again, only to find herself sailing through the air and doing a less-than-graceful flip in an attempt to nd on her feet, relying on ghostly trace steps to avoid Uncle Jian’s next move as he switched to the offensive.

  His wooden sword pierced the air next to her cheek as she used Purple Demon Eye to track his movements and attacks.

  “Now tell me—what do you know about sea spirit beasts while we’re at it?” he asked as she blocked one of his attacks.

  “Is this really the time to be asking that?” she asked, and he huffed.

  “Now is a time like no other.”

  She deflected the attack, angling her sword to the side, letting his slide down the edge of hers smoothly, all while stepping further into his space and using her other hand to unch a strike.

  He sidestepped and angled his sword at her side, and she ducked.“Well, in that case—not much is known about them. I read the encyclopedia from the Grandmaster,” she said, avoiding another attack and thinking about a counter.

  “I see,” he said. “I assume then you know enough to survive.”

  “It was the GRANDMASTER who was my theory teacher. My brother is his formal disciple… I was literally dragged into knowing more about spirit master theory than most other masters will learn in their entire lives.” She rolled her eyes. “The Grandmaster is a Spartan when it comes to training. I still wonder how my brother is putting up with it.”

  “I see. Your brother is really his formal student—why aren’t you?”

  “I declined.” She avoided another blow and raised both hands, asking for a break. Uncle Jian stopped as she panted and grabbed something to drink. “I didn’t know if he was a good guy back then. So I declined—just in case he abused my brother or misused his trust, I would be able to kick his ass legally. If I had been his formal student, I wouldn’t have been able to due to master-disciple rules. Later on, the issue never came up again...” She shrugged. “Which raises an entirely different question. Is there food and snacks around?”

  Yin made puppy eyes at Madame, who smiled and handed her a small packed lunch. She hurried over and snagged it from her hands with a beaming smile, then made her way to the furthest point on the boat from Uncle Jian while still staying in his line of sight to eat.

  The other passengers gathered as onlookers, cast curious gazes at her.“Don’t forget your swings and your rounds!” Uncle Jian shouted after her. “We will continue to spar ter today.”

  “Alright,” she shouted back, then sat on the railing and ate her food, enjoying the cool breeze and boat rocking. She noted, thankfully, that she hadn’t experienced any seasickness so far—a huge plus. That would’ve been awful.

  The rest of the day passed as usual. She ran her weight rounds on the deck, did her swings, and practiced extra mobility and flexibility exercises under Uncle Jian’s watchful eye. He occasionally gave commentary on how she could improve or what she was doing well.

  Soon, they didn’t even draw much attention anymore. The captain, however, did invite them to dinner with him.