Naked Sword Art

In the middle of the night, Xun Wei and her master were cultivating peacefully in an open field. 

When Xun Wei was done, her natural aura underwent a transformational change. She could now clearly feel a new power rushing through her meridians. She was so happy she nearly jumped up with excitement, but when she saw her master's expression her excitement immediately died.

Her master had a solemn expression on her face with immense disappointment in her eyes. 

"What's wrong?", Xun Wei asked.

"You. I didn't know that you cultivated the Dual Cultivation method", she said in a shallow tone.

Xun Wei began to breakout into cold sweat.

"Was it Xiao Fang's mother's doing? Hmph, of course it was, and now I made you my disciple. I bet she's getting a good laugh out of this".

"Master...".

"You mustn't cultivate the Dual Cultivation method anymore. It's a taboo cultivation method".

Xun Wei didn't respond. She wanted to cultivate with Xiao Fang, there was nothing she cared about more.

As if she could read her mind, her master sighed. 

"I'm not telling you to stop sleeping with him, I'm just telling you to stop cultivating the dual cultivation method".

Xun Wei remained silent, she trusted Xiao Fang more than anyone. So she was a bit reluctant to agree to something like that.

Seeing her silence, Xiao Fang's grandmother knew she would have to go to extreme measures to convince her to stop using it, so she told her a secret.

"Did Xiao Fang ever tell you about how he became blind?".

As if she had sparked her interests, Xun Wei finally raised her head.

"Wasn't he born blind?".

Her master shook her head,

"Have you ever heard of a cultivator that was blind since birth? Despite what he might tell you, that simply isn't true"

She looked up at the stars as she began to recollect her memories. It seemed the next thing she wanted to say would be something that brought her great shame.

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It all started nearly 30 years ago...

Xiao Fang's parents were childhood sweet hearts, but Xiao Fang's mother was from the Dual Cultivation sect and she was being forced into an arranged marriage. Little did the Dual Cultivation sect know at the time, the Divine Sword sect was planning a war against them.

Xiao Fang's grandmother knew how much they loved each other, so after her son begged her to save her life, she did. 

The day the Divine Sword sect attacked the Dual Cultivation sect, Xiao Fang's grandmother found Xiao Fang's mother and sneaked her into the Divine Sword sect.

She was in Xiao Fang's father's old private house when she learned that her sect had been wiped out. This terrified her. Her sect had been destroyed by the very sect she was currently residing in. Her family and friends were all killed. She was surrounded by her enemies so her reaction was completely understandable, but at the time Xiao Fang's father couldn't understand her at all, he assumed she would've been grateful that they saved her life. 

She was kept under close supervision but still attempted suicide and even attempted at taking Xiao Fang's father's life.

Several years passed, but her hate for the sect didn't lessen. The only people that knew she was in the sect were Xiao Fang's father and grandmother, so they kept her origins hidden from the sect as best as they could.

One day, Xiao Fang's grandfather arranged his son's marriage, once Xiao Fang's mother learned about this it seemed to have change her. However, it was already too late, she learned about the marriage a few days after it had already happened.

She wanted to see him, so he came to her in the dead of night and that was the night Xiao Fang was conceived. 

Xiao Fang's father thought she was starting to love him again so he began to see her more often. She eventually gave birth to Xiao Fang and was starting a secret second life with his childhood sweet heart, he was so happy. 

A few years later, Xiao Fang's father's wife got curious about where he was going for most of the day, but she was unable to follow him, so she went to the Patriarch at the time and told him that she suspected that his son was seeing someone behind her back.

If she were an ordinary woman he wouldn't have cared about such things, polygamy was a common thing in the cultivation world, but she was the daughter of a powerful patriarch in a different province, so this would be a great insult to him. 

So one night he followed his son to his old private residence and that's when he discovered Xiao Fang's mother. 

He knew who she was as soon as he saw her, so he immediate wanted to kill her, but Xiao Fang's father fought with his life to protect her. 

When the Patriarch saw how much his son loved Xiao Fang and his mother, he agreed to spare their lives, but under the condition that they were to stay hidden in the sect and secluded in their homes for the rest of their lives, but Xiao Fang's mother wasn't too happy about that. 

Xiao Fang was just an innocent boy, he shouldn't be punished for a crime he didn't commit, of course Xiao Fang's father didn't want his son to be kept in this house forever, so he pleaded for his father to let him out, to which he eventually agreed, but under a new condition.

"If you want your son to leave these walls, you must give me his eyes".

Xiao Fang's grandfather knew a dual cultivator's true frightening strength lied in their eyes. If Xiao Fang grew up to be a Dual Cultivator like his mother, then he'd feel safe that no one would know of this secret.

What Xiao Fang's grandmother didn't understand was why he'd go to such lengths. They could easily just watch him cultivate or just seperate him from his mother, but it seemed like Xiao Fang's grandfather had other plans in mind.

Xiao Fang's grandmother didn't understand why her husband was doing this, but she knew she wouldn't be able to persuade him once she saw the stern look on his face.

She knew Xiao Fang's parents certainly wouldn't do it, so Xiao Fang's grandmother took action first and gouged Xiao Fang's eyes out. 

He was only 4 at the time, there wasn't a single day that passes that she didn't hear the boy's screams. At the time she believed she was doing the right thing, but it's been her biggest regret ever since.

Since that day Xiao Fang had never forgiven her for what she did, it was just too traumatizing for someone his age. 

His blindness had been his biggest insecurity. He hated when people called him a cripple the most and it was all because of her. 

It was his earliest memory and the last thing he saw. Of course, she assumed hatred for her would always linger in his heart. That wasn't something anyone could forget very easily no matter how much time passed.

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Xun Wei's master explained it to her as best as she could.

Although the memory of it pained her, she knew if she had to do it again, she would. To her, Dual Cultivators had no place in this world, and to have one as a disciple would bring her endless troubles.

"If you choose to pursue this path, then you will give me no choice but to take your eyes as well, so I suggest you focus on your body cultivation from now on".

Though her voice and tone was almost nonchalant, it scares her even more because she knew she could do it with relative ease, and she didn't think she was joking considering how she gouged out the eyes of her own grandson.

She couldn't help but wonder what she'd do if she learned that Xiao Fang had regained his sight. The thought of which brought her goosebumps. Her master saw her reaction, but didn't connect it to Xiao Fang having  eyes again.

"I understand", Xun Wei said obediently. 

"Good, good. With that out of the way let's start your training", she finally said happily.

Seeing her sudden change of attitude, Xun Wei could only smiled bitterly to her words.