A few weeks later, they began to make their way to Moonhaven City.

  It was there that Master Jian informed him that he was interested in taking on more students.

  The news had surprised Hou.

  All these years, it had been just the two of them.

  A part of him wondered if maybe he wasn’t meeting the standards that his master expected from him.

  Was he being replaced?

  Despite the inner turmoil that he felt, he didn’t dare question his master.

  Master Jian had done so much for him and had expected nothing except hard work in return.

  It wouldn’t be right to throw it all back on the sword master’s face.

  "There has been word of your skills circulating throughout the world," Master Jian said as they entered the city. "Some of the local cultivators want to test themselves against the person who defeated Thoughtshapers. It’s an opportunity to show that our way works and maybe we might find someone worthy of joining us."

  Hou nodded, although something about the city looming before them made him feel uneasy. Not really danger, but a sense that they were getting close to something important, he just didn't know what.

  The village square buzzed with excitement as they arrived, full of people eager to take a look at the famous sword master who was here looking to recruit students. While Master Jian stood at the centre of the testing area, Hou stayed on the sidelines as he prepared the equipment.

  “Sword work,” Master Jian explained to a group of young people ranging in age from early teens to early twenties, “isn’t about spiritual energy or the ability to manipulate dream qi or create energy constructs. It’s about knowing distance, timing, and leverage. It’s about using your body efficiently to move and placing your blade where it needs to be.”

  A young woman near the front of the crowd raised her hand. “Master, doesn’t spiritual enhancement make a swordsman better? Even minimal dream qi manipulation increases both speed and strength greatly.”

  “Yes, spiritual enhancement does make you faster and stronger,” Master Jian agreed, “but it can also make you complacent. When you can solve every problem by channeling more qi, you stop learning how to solve problems with technique. When you can cut through armor with spiritual energy, you stop learning the proper angles to penetrate defensive armor. Cultivating internal energy makes you strong, but it does not make you skilled.”

  Master Jian gestured toward Hou.

  “Hongyun here has no internal energy whatsoever,” Master Jian said. “No dream qi, no spiritual enhancement, no way to create energy constructs. However, he has been training with me for three years, and I assure you that he can defeat most Thoughtshaper level cultivators in single combat using only superior swordsmanship.”

  The crowd murmured in skepticism.

  This was his chance to make Master Jian proud and showcase his teaching style.

  Hou stepped forward to draw his sword. He'd grown accustomed to the feel of the familiar weight in his hand, even if his recent struggles had shaken his confidence somewhat.

  The woman who volunteered to test Hou's claims was a member of the Pine Valley Sect, and she marked herself as at least a Lucid Novice due to her cultivation pressure.

  The sparring match that ensued was almost anticlimactic.

  Regardless of his current struggle, Hou's technique was still superior to anything that could be provided by basic spiritual enhancements. Hou danced around the woman's dream-enhanced attacks, deflected what he couldn't avoid, and placed his blade against her throat with an ease that bordered on carelessness.

  "How?" she whispered.

  "You were fighting your sword," he told her softly. "You were using your spiritual power to make your sword go faster than your technique could handle. Speed with no understanding is just flailing."

  The rest of the day passed with Master Jian continuing to test various candidates for basic aptitude. As Hou watched the hopefuls, he found himself studying them with increasing interest and noting how they each approached the same basic principles differently.

  Most moved with the rigid, mechanical precision of formal training; however, occasionally someone would display the fluid motion that Master Jian seemed to prize above all else. Despite this, Hou found it strange that the sword master didn’t take anyone on as a student.

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  One candidate in particular caught Hou's eye: a young man with dark hair and intelligent-looking eyes that seemed somehow familiar, though Hou couldn't quite put his finger on why.

  When the young man picked up the practice sword, a subtle change came over him. His stance was unorthodox, but perfectly balanced, and his movements flowed with a natural elegance that could never be formally taught. Watching him go through the basic cutting exercise was akin to watching a master swordsman pretend to be a beginner.

  "Terrible," Master Jian said when the young man completed the sequence. "Your stance is unstable, your grip has no conviction, and your cuts follow inefficient trajectories. You are fencing, not fighting, and you are dancing around the edges of the strike rather than committing fully to anything decisive."

  Hou frowned, observing the young man's reaction to Master Jian's criticism.

  Although Master Jian's critique was technically correct based on the principles of traditional swordsmanship, Hou had fought long enough in real battles to recognize effectiveness regardless of orthodoxy. The candidate's technique was different, not worse. It was impossible that Master Jian didn't to notice that either...

  As the young man started to walk away, obviously dismissed, Hou found himself stepping in front of him. There was something about the whole situation that didn't feel right. He was watching a master craftsman be told he had no talent even though that couldn’t be further from the truth.

  "You okay there?" Hou asked the candidate who seemed lost in thought.

  The young man turned back to Hou, and he experienced a jolt of recognition, not memories per se, but rather a sense that he was staring at someone important, someone whose path was destined to cross with his own in meaningful ways.

  "Just trying to figure out Master Jian’s assessment," the young man replied. "He said I have no talent, but..."

  "But it didn't feel that way when you were moving," Hou finished.

  The candidate, whom Hou had heard was called Tian, stared at him in shock.

  "How did you know?"

  "Because I watched you during the test," Hou replied nonchalantly. "Master Jian is a great teacher, and his method is effective for almost all students. But he is teaching a particular type of swordsmanship, one that emphasizes power and directness, and using superior technique to overwhelm one's opponent.”

  Hou studied Tian's face, noting the sharpness of his bright blue eyes and the quiet dignity he carried despite the rejection he'd suffered recently. There was something about Tian that spoke directly to Hou's deeper instincts, a connection that transcended rational analysis.

  "And...?"

  “And that isn’t the way your body was trying to move,” Hou continued. “You were moving as though you had been trained in a completely different system of swordsmanship. One that emphasized subtlety, evasiveness, and redirecting the flow of battle. One that was less concerned with establishing one’s dominance over an opponent and more concerned about trying to survive.”

  "You were able to tell all of that from watching only one test?"

  "I've been studying sword work for three years and watching humans for a lot longer," Hou shrugged. "I don’t agree with Master Jian. I think you have talent, just not the talent that he recognizes."

  In reality, Hou actually didn’t know what Master Jian’s plan was.

  Maybe brutally rejecting Tian was the old man’s way of building character.

  That wouldn’t surprise Hou, it fit what he knew of his master.

  Regardless of the reason, Hou couldn’t let talent like what he had seen walk away.

  So, the two young men spent the next few minutes talking as Hou explained his theory regarding the existence of multiple martial traditions and strange dreams. He watched as Tian's expression transitioned from confusion to understanding to hope. Here was someone who shared his experiences, someone with knowledge they couldn't understand, struggling with abilities that didn't fit into the established norms.

  “Would you like to find where those instincts are coming from?” Hou asked finally.

  "What do you mean?"

  “Master Jian is preparing to leave Moonhaven City tomorrow morning. We travel all the time, visiting different cities and regions to teach and learn. If you’re interested, I can convince him to let you join us as a servant. It won’t be formal swordsmanship training, he’s already decided that you’re not suited for his methods, but you’ll have the chance to watch and train independently, and maybe eventually you’ll discover what your purpose is.”

  As he laid out the offer, Hou felt like this was the right thing to do.

  This Tian belonged with them, even if he didn't know why.

  “Why would you do that for me?” Tian asked. “You barely know me.”

  "Because I recognize something in the way you move," Hou answered the question honestly. “Something that suggests you might have more to offer than what appears on the surface. And because traveling with Master Jian alone gets lonely after a while.”

  It was true.

  At first, Hou thought he would feel uncomfortable if another student joined them.

  But something about Tian was different.

  It was almost like the group had been incomplete all this time and he didn’t realise it.

  As for the practical considerations, they were easy to resolve. Tian could read and write so he could assist with correspondence and record-keeping. His true value would be many times higher than those simple tasks, but those would be reasons that would appeal to Master Jian's practical side.

  "I need to talk to my parents first," Tian said slowly. "I can't go without their blessing."

  Hou couldn't help but smile at that.

  A man who respected the wishes of his parents was someone that Hou himself respected.

  "Of course," Hou replied. “We’re not leaving until dawn tomorrow, so you’ll have enough time to talk to your family and decide. I’ll speak with Master Jian tonight about adding another servant to our group in case you do accept.”

  Tian and Hou bowed to each other, and Hou felt a strange sense of completion.

  It was as if a piece of himself that had been missing was finally falling into place.

  Whatever mystery surrounded Tian's history, whatever secrets lay buried within his impossible instincts, Hou was convinced that discovering the answers would ultimately benefit them both.

  As Tian walked away towards his family, Hou stood at the edge of the village square, watching the young man's confident stride, and sensing the stirrings of possibilities that he couldn't yet articulate.

  The future suddenly seemed much more interesting.

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