Defenseless

“Seventy-thirty, if I go up against her, I should have a thirty percent chance of winning.”

Tao Lingling casually spouted nonsense.
She had expected the Sword Immortal to be the first to laugh at her, but to her surprise, Jiang Yuyao actually started counting on her fingers.

Gong Ning and Jiang Yuyao exchanged a glance, both understanding the meaning in each other’s eyes.

‘Maybe, it could actually work.’

A week had passed.
Tao Lingling had officially entered the third layer of Qi Refinement.
With less than half a month until the new disciple competition, pursuing a higher cultivation level was now useless.

Gong Ning decided to temporarily set aside some of the tedious training and officially teach her disciple some sword moves.

When Tao Lingling held the wooden sword, Gong Ning actually saw some basic swordsmanship in her stance.

The moves she used on the sword training dummy were incredibly familiar to both Gong Ning and Jiang Yuyao.

[Detected Tao Lingling possessing new skills.]

Swordsmanship: “Profound Edge Hundred Solutions,” “General Principles of Sword Techniques”

When these things popped up, Gong Ning thought her disciple had stayed in the Profound Heaven Sword Sect before, because these two were the textbooks of the Sky-Sword Pavilion and the Heart-Sword Hall.

Actually, Tao Lingling was also very flustered.
When her Master asked her, she thought she had been found out and could only tell a small lie, saying that an elder in her family had once returned to secular life from the Profound Heaven Sword Sect.

These two textbooks, just one of them was enough for an ordinary person to chew on for a lifetime, yet she had been able to learn both.

‘Maybe, it could actually work.’

Gong Ning stood up from the stone bench.

“Lingling, you will spar with your Master.”

The hand under her wide sleeve gripped the hilt of the sword.
This enchanting figure, which she usually deliberately concealed, was finally revealed when she held the sword.
The full breasts that even satin could not contain became even tighter with the movement of her raised arm.

“Master, you don’t have any cultivation right now.
What if…”

Tao Lingling averted her gaze, trying her best to only stare at her Master’s eyes, because the Sword Immortal was eyeing her like a tiger.

“You still have the leisure to worry about me?”

Gong Ning smiled slightly and executed the “Fish Breaking Waves” technique, easily closing the distance to her disciple.

Although she had no cultivation, her swordsmanship and movement techniques were already thoroughly integrated.

A long time ago, she had understood that cultivation was something that mostly relied on the disciples themselves, but skills had to be taught.
So Gong Ning had started researching these things a long time ago.

Now that she had no cultivation, just relying on these was enough to be a martial arts master.

Seeing her Master instantly approach, Tao Lingling showed no surprise at all.
If it were anyone else, they would probably have been startled.

This was her Master, after all.
Could her Master possibly harm her?

In her eyes, there was only the shape of her Master’s chest surging and swaying as she executed the movement technique.

What greeted her was her wooden sword being knocked away, and at the same time, her head received a side slash.

“Ouch!”

Tao Lingling clutched her head, tears almost falling.

“Be serious.
Don’t be distracted by external things.”

Gong Ning scolded her in annoyance, then felt it was inappropriate.
She returned to her room for a moment, and when she came out again, her chest was a size smaller.

She had naturally gone back to her room to wrap two layers of chest binding.

Usually, wearing this thing was a bit short of breath and uncomfortable, so as long as she wasn’t going out, she was too lazy to bother with it.

But as long as her movements were a little bigger, it was like a fruit in autumn, on the verge of falling with a gust of wind.

“Again.
Don’t be distracted this time.”

“Oh.”

Tao Lingling picked up her sword and faced her Master.
As expected, the “Fish Breaking Waves” was executed a second time.

However, Tao Lingling had once been a she-devil.
If not a thousand, at least eight hundred people had tried to subjugate her.
What kind of movement technique had she not seen?

Her talent was not good, and she couldn’t learn these things.
If others wanted to use movement techniques to escape, she couldn’t catch up.

There was only one thing she had learned in her past life, and it was something anyone could learn through practice.

Combat instinct.

Tao Lingling held the hilt of the sword with one hand and blocked the tip of the sword with her palm, holding the wooden sword horizontally in front of her chest, accurately blocking the tip of Gong Ning’s thrust.
This move made even the Sword Immortal raise an eyebrow slightly.

‘So that’s how it is. Not only has she learned the common sword techniques of both factions, but she also has her own unique insights?’

Gong Ning was also surprised, but she didn’t hesitate, immediately raising her sword to slash at her disciple’s neck.

Actually, the best offensive move right now was to press down, break the sword’s defense, and then attack.
But Gong Ning knew that she had no cultivation at this moment, and her strength was simply not enough to press down.
It was better to attack again.

According to instinct, the “Guide to Practical Combat,” the “Manual of Performance,” and the experience gained through the blood of countless people, the safest way to attack in this situation was to dodge sideways, parry the sword move, and then take further action.

But to Gong Ning’s surprise, her disciple’s movements were faster than hers.
The wooden sword, which had been in a defensive posture, quickly changed its move, and before Gong Ning could get close, it was already at her neck.

This move came from the “Profound Edge Hundred Solutions” of the Sky-Sword Pavilion, the “Intercepting the Moon and Returning Snow,” but this move was not for people, but for demonic beasts.

If used against a person, it would inevitably result in trading injuries for injuries, and both sides would be defeated.

“Good sword.”

Gong Ning was not annoyed at being bested.
This sword strike had truly amazed her.

It also made her understand just how dire her disciple’s situation had been before, to have honed her swordsmanship to this extent.

Textbooks were always rigid.
Any technique would have different effects in the hands of different people.
Tao Lingling already had her own sword rhyme.

“Then, again.
This time, it’s your turn to attack.”

Gong Ning pulled back, waiting for her disciple’s attack.

Tao Lingling didn’t know any movement techniques, but her spiritual energy coursed through her body.
In three steps, she closed the distance, a single sword strike aimed straight for the heart.
Her sharp and unhesitating posture was astounding.

As the Hall Master of the Heart-Sword Hall, Jiang Yuyao was all too familiar with this move.

It came from the first form of the “General Principles of Sword Techniques,” “Swift Step Piercing the Heart.”

It was the first form, and also the last.
There was no flamboyance, only decisiveness.

Unlike before, Gong Ning already understood her disciple’s sword rhyme.
She quickly executed a movement technique to dodge sideways, at the same time blocking her neck with her sword.
As expected, her disciple’s next sword strike was aimed at her neck.

She stared intently at her disciple’s movements, successfully neutralizing several consecutive sword strikes.

This move’s main purpose was to continuously attack a person’s vital points.
If one failed to defend, it would be fatal.

“A very standard Thousand-Edged Piercing of the Apertures.
I think, in terms of swordsmanship, I have nothing more to teach you.”

Gong Ning put down her wooden sword.

The proficiency of these few moves had already greatly shocked her.
At this rate, her chances of winning were no longer just thirty percent.

“Of course not, hehe…”

Tao Lingling scratched her head.
Hearing her Master praise her, she couldn’t help but grin foolishly.

“Did you learn all of this in battle?”

Hearing her Master’s question, Tao Lingling couldn’t help but recall the past, “Yes… disciple’s talent is actually not that good.
When I learned these, I only learned the standard moves.
But after using them a lot, I got the hang of it.”

Gong Ning sighed and ruffled her head.
Seeing her foolish grin, she couldn’t help but hug her again.

She didn’t understand why she did this either.

“…But!”

Gong Ning’s tone suddenly took a turn.

“You focus too much on offense and have no defense at all, and I don’t see any movement techniques from you.
From now on, I will teach you how to protect yourself.”

“With your Master here, you don’t have to be like this anymore.”