Naked Sword Art

"What's that?"

.

.

.

"These are the techniques we've learned since being in the Core Court," Li Lian replied.

"Even though you won't have our master's help, I bet you'll still be able to learn them fairly quickly," Xun Wei commented.

Xiao Fang smiled wearily as he began to read the scrolls, these were in no way simple techniques, as a matter of fact, he'd argue they were nearly as difficult as the [ Solid Clone ] technique he recently learned.

"You think too highly of me, Wei'er."

…

Technique name: Clone Reanimation

Type: Utility

Realm: Refinement Realm

> Restore a Clone after it's been broken.

…

Technique name: Shadow Clone

Type: Utility

Realm: Refinement Realm

> Plant a clone within someone's shadow.

…

They knew they would get in trouble for showing him these techniques, but Xiao Fang was an important person to them, so they wanted to give him something special.

"Truthfully, I haven't finished practicing the [ Shadow Clone ] technique yet, but it won't be long till I do, even without the technique scroll," Xun Wei said.

"Li Lian, Xun Wei, thank you both. However, I'm just a clone. This is something you should give to my real body, wouldn't you agree?"

"Ah that-"

Remembering that Xiao Fang was just a clone, they understand what he meant.

"We've been talking for so long I forgot." Li Lian said, "When do you think you'll be back?"

"In a few minutes, but I'm going to need a bath when I arrive. Would you mind preparing one for me? It's just in that room over there," Xiao Fang said while pointing at a door in his room.

Hearing that Xiao Fang's real body was close, Li Lian and Xun Wei started to get jittery with excitement.

"Un! I'll do it," Xun Wei volunteered.

After Xun Wei left, Li Lian crawled back up against Xiao Fang's body then whispered,

"You know, I missed you a lot, but something has been constantly on my mind."

"Yeah? What's been on your mind dear," Xiao Fang asked.

Suddenly, Li Lian's hands gripped his robes tightly as she said,

"The Elder that let us in, does she sleep in here with you? I can smell her on these sheets,"

"Aha, she sleeps in a different room, definitely a different room," Xiao Fang replied and laughed nervously.

"You!" Li Lian's body bursted in flames as she raised her hand to slap him, but stopped herself remembering that he was a clone, but it was too late. Her grip on his robes was too tight and it had already triggered the dematerialization process.

"Ah! Wait, I didn't mean to. I'm sorry," Li Lian placed her hands over the parts of him that were disappearing but it was no good.

"Make it stop, it was an accident," she said shakingly, but Xiao Fang ignored her words.

Putting a hand on her face, he gave her a kiss on the head before his body could completely fade away.

"No…"

"Li Lian~" a little girl said behind her, but it was a voice she recognized.

Turning around she saw Xiao Hei jumping into bed to hug her.

"Ah it's you Xiao Hei," she said as she wiped her watery eyes to hide the fact that she was nearly about to cry.

"What's wrong?" Xiao Hei asked.

"I accidently made Xiao Fang disappear," Li Lian replied, nearly crying as she said it.

Xiao Hei couldn't understand what she meant by that, so she stared at Li Lian blankly.

Wiping her eyes again, she walked over to the bath Xun Wei was in to tell her that Xiao Fang's clone was gone, but the moment she stepped in, she saw Xiao Fang already in there with her.

"Did you miss me?" Xiao Fang said with a handsome smile.

Unable to hold back her tears, Li Lian cried as she jumped into his arms, trying to hide her face as she hugged him.

"My poor girl. If you cry too much you'll turn this bath water salty."

"You idiot," Li Lian replied as she tried to stop crying.

Xiao Fang held her in close, put the Phoenix Jade hairpin her hair, then said,

"I love you, my lovely wife."

Li Lian looked up at him trying to smirk as she said,

"I love you too, my unfaithful husband."

…

For the next few hours, the four of them spent an intimately relaxing night together.

At some point, they tried to figure out what was so special about the hairpin Xiao Fang won from the swordsmen competition. All he knew was that it once belonged to Supreme Elder Song, and the first time he saw it while using [ Spirit Perception ] he sensed for a moment an enormous amount of Qi swirling inside, almost as if it were alive.

"Xun Wei, would you like to wear it?" Li Lian offered.

"Is it really okay if I wear it?" Xun Wei asked.

"Un, we're like sisters, why wouldn't we share things amongst ourselves. Besides, if my guess is correct, it probably has something to do with storing Qi. And I already have something like that," Li Lian said while touching the earrings she got from the Matriarch.

Li Lian put the hairpin in her hair then said,

"Wow, it looks so pretty on you."

"Do you really think so?"

"Look look," Li Lian said while holding up a mirror for Xun Wei to see.

To Xun Wei's surprise, the hairpin really did look pretty on her.

"Fang, what do you think?" Xun Wei asked as she looked up at him.

"You look stunning, it really suits you," Xiao Fang replied.

Xiao Fang didn't compliment them too often on their looks, but when he did, it always felt like the most special thing in the world to them.

"Ah, I almost forgot, if someone sees me wearing it, they'll know I came here to see you," Xun Wei suddenly said before returning the hairpin back to Xiao Fang.

Xiao Fang understood her worries, so he accepted the hairpin back and said,

"I understand. I'll hold on to it for now."

…

In the morning, Supreme Elder Song arrived at Xiao Fang's guild, expecting him to take her to JadePeak city where he had told her his real body would be. However, before she could knock, Xiao Fang's [ Solid Clone ] suddenly stepped out.

"I informed your teacher that you will be absent for the next couple of days, she knows you'll be with me. Are you ready to go?" Supreme Elder Song asked.

"Mn, let's go," Xiao Fang replied.

Taking Xiao Fang's [ Solid Clone ] outside of the sect, she had a carriage ready for them. She didn't want to risk anything happening to his clone on the way there so she felt this extra precaution was necessary.

"How long will it take to get there with this carriage?" Xiao Fang asked.

"2 days," she answered directly.

"I see." Xiao Fang could sense a tension in the air, but he could guess why.

"Did you find what you were looking for down there," Xiao Fang asked.

She looked at Xiao Fang strangely then asked,

"Who told you I was in the Ancestral Training Ground last night?"