This is exactly what I'm worried about. Bai Jiutian sent him our way. He knows where we all are. There are decent odds he would "arrive too late" to supposedly help us out or warn us and conveniently happen to have spied on our martial arts. This seems very much like something he would do, and I don't want BJ knowing we have this skill.
Well, Bai Jiutian does have a history of spying on us to get a better understanding of us:
“No need for vulgarities here, Man Tiger Pig,” says Bai Jiutian calmly. “True, as an upstanding orthodox pugilist I should capture the evil fire witch and have her do penance for the crimes she has committed – that is what my master would want, but…”
“But?”
“Well, I do not need to explain myself to you of all people – I do believe we are not that close.” His smile is gracious and kind, but it feels false and bitter to you. “Now that I have seen what I came here to see, it is time for me to move on to the next item on my agenda.”
That being said, he could be spinning the narrative over at Qingcheng rather than spying on us here. I'm leaning towards that being more likely, because as Huashan's representative, he should probably remain at the wedding and maintain his public persona there.
I thought we'd stopped with trying to hide our techniques at the end of the tournament?
This isn't just any technique:
“Xu Jing, be careful about this. These manuals are not something to take lightly. People have died for them, entire families exterminated down to the last child and dog,” warns Miecao. “The last time they were sought, a hundred years ago, the entire jianghu was consumed in a bloodbath.”
If people know that we have this technique, it will put us in a world of shit. They'll do anything to get it, up to and including mercilessly killing everybody close to us.
How recognizeable is it really when the point of the technique at this atage is to copy the moves of someone else, though?
treave can confirm, but I suppose someone with a good understanding of inner strength might be able to sense the change in our qi. Zhang Manxing won't in a situation like B1, because he is an idiot, but I see other problems down the road in that particular choice. If I'm Bai Jiutian and Manxing tells me that Xu Jing somehow could withstand blows with the Shaolin Jinzhongzhao technique, while simultaneously somehow being able to counter with a Huashan sword technique and another Taiji Sword one, I'd definitely realize that something is up. Either Xu Jing has spies in all Eight Sects - unlikely, because we're broke - or he possesses a legendary technique.
"Hey everyone! Man Tiger Pig kicked my ass in the nearby forest! He had some super tech that allowed him to copy my moves! I'm equal to Bai Jituan. Lol did I mention Man Tiger Pig kicked my ass?"
Somehow I don't see this happening.
Well, he'll boast and lie to everybody else and make up a story, but Bai Jiutian engineered his arrival here, so he'll probably press him for the real story. The fact that we somehow knew all of these Eight Sects techniques despite being neck-deep in the unorthodox world and having virtually no contacts there would be a big clue.