Edited by Ea and NZRose
On Little Penglai, Yan Tianhen held his sword in both hands, and his legs were firmly planted on the ground. His spiritual Qi sunk into his Dantian, waiting for the fateful blow to come.
He saw Lin Xuanzhi’s hand holding the Zhige sword scattering with pale green and dark light, flicking upwards, and cutting straight to the point toward the rusty sword.
Clang.
The sound of the sword connecting rang out. Yan Tianhen, who was holding the sword in both hands, almost let the sword out of his hand. His whole body staggered and he stepped back a few steps before finally standing still. He took a closer look at the rusty sword that was stabbed down by Zhige forcibly. There was not even a dent or a scratch on it. After only a few tremors, it returned to its original state.
Lin Xuanzhi’s eyes changed slightly. He took the rusty sword thoughtfully, and looked at it from the hilt to the tip.
Yan Tianhen was also very surprised, and asked, “How can this be? The Zhige sword is the sharpest and fastest sword I have ever seen. There’s no weapon in this world that could not be cut straight by it. Dage, don’t tell me that you held back?”
Lin Xuanzhi shook his head and said, “The Zhige sword is not invincible, but with just my strike, this sword should more or less have some traces. Since it has no effect, it seems that this sword has some background, but the material has been completely covered by blood rust, and I cannot identify anything now.”
Yan Tianhen took his sword sadly and ground it on a piece of wood. Looking at the shallow mark, he said, “But this rusty sword can’t even cut down wood.”
Lin Xuanzhi looked at Yan Tianhen. “Ah Hen, only a third-rate sword cultivator would depend on the sword; a first-class sword cultivator depends on himself. There are many levels of swordsmanship. The higher your swordsmanship attainment, the more you will find that the sword is just a tool to convey your mind. The real sword is only yourself. The so-called ‘human and sword as one’ is this truth.”
“In the art of swordsmanship, only by acquiring the heart of the sword can we really cultivate the soul of the sword. The real master of swordsmanship is capable of creating momentum that swallows mountains and rivers even with a wooden sword that is dull to the extreme.”
What Lin Xuanzhi said was not just comfort, but the truth.
Although Yan Tianhen was still a little sad, his mood was almost adjusted. He nodded and said, “Forget it, let’s leave it. I don’t believe that Xiuxiu has no merit.”
Lin Xuanzhi: “Xiuxiu?”
Yan Tianhen: “The name I gave it. It’s suitable, right?”
He got a long sword inlaid with precious gems in a sapphire blue color. This sword happened to be recorded in the record of divine weapons. It was named “Sinking Star”. It was a sword that moved the world thousands of years ago. Sinking Star hadn’t recognized a master for tens of thousands of years, and this time it was willing to follow Longyao Lingguang down the mountain. This was really shocking news and it quickly spread throughout the sect.
All of a sudden, Longyao Lingguang’s value rose, and many disciples who had an average relationship with him tried to approach him, one after another.
One should know that the potential of a swordsman has a lot to do with his own sword. Longyao Lingguang was the most brilliant swordsman in this class. Now that he got Sinking Star, he would truly become the number one in this class.
“Prince Longyao, you really are strong. I don’t know how many people have tried to take it, but they have never succeeded. As soon as you went up, you have gotten such a powerful sword. The transcendence of your talent can be seen from this.”
“Yes, Prince Longyao. I heard that even Huarong Sword Immortal had his eyes on this Sinking Star. Unfortunately, he went up the mountain many times, but he never took down a sword.”
“Not to mention anything else, let’s just mention the fact that Prince Ye, who just came down from the mountain, actually took a useless sword. I heard the disciples who were on duty in the Sword God Hall that day said that as soon as his sword was pulled out, several Sword Saints asserted that it was a useless sword. It was covered with red rust. It’s been tens of thousands of years, so it definitely can’t be removed now.”
“Is that right?” Longyao Lingguang listened to the words of the crowd. He was in a good mood. He gently stroked the Sinking Star sword in his hand and curled his lips. “The Yan’s family is originally from the alchemist path. Yan Tianhen himself is also an alchemist. Although he is quite gifted in alchemy, he just had to insist on practicing the sword — ha, what a joke.”
Yue Yang, the son of the peacock family sitting next to him, couldn’t help laughing and said, “Now Yan Tianhen has become a laughingstock of the whole sect. Originally, Sword Saint Tianshu planned to let him enter the Sword God Hall after he selected the sword, but later he didn’t mention it anymore. Yan Tianhen’s journey in the sword path has basically come to an end.”
Longyao Lingguang gloated and said, “And here I thought he was so powerful. So what even if Sword Saint Tianshu valued him? I, Longyao Lingguang, will tell him using my strength who is the dragon and who is the snake.”
Yue Yang smiled and said, “In this comparison, your status will be higher in the future, and the assessment will be in a few days. I can’t wait to see Prince Ye, who insisted on applying for the exam as a sword cultivator, be beaten like a dog.”
Longyao Lingguang’s eyes rolled slightly, and he thought about it, and said, “I have an idea. I will teach him a lesson when the time comes.”
Yan Tianhen had been in closed-door cultivation on Little Penglai for the past few days and did not want to get out.
On the one hand, he was trying to cultivate his affinity with Xiuxiu. On the other hand, Yan Tianhen was also trying to hide from the limelight.
It couldn’t be helped. Who lets him be such a popular figure in the sect? Ever since he obtained Xiuxiu, somehow everyone knew that he took down a useless sword. No matter where he went, he could hear someone deliberately or secretly discussing him.
Even though Yan Tianchen was thick-skinned, he still couldn’t quite bear this.
Next, with Longyao Lingguang taking down Sinking Star, it was such a sharp contrast. Yan Tianhen was almost trampled into a piece of excrement.
Yan Tianhen could not help but feel aggrieved and indignant, and secretly made up his mind to take this rusty sword and beat his opponent down thoroughly in the examination to wash away his humiliation. The sword technique of 《Decline and Prosperity》 was old but not old, new but not new.
When he first practiced the sword, he spent a whole year in the soul plate. Yan Tianhen’s daily work was to observe the flowers on the mountain blooming and withering, the vegetation withering and flourishing, the moon rising and falling, the wind blowing and stopping.
In all living things, where there is decline, there is also glory, and when there is death, there is also life. Yan Tianhen did not feel much when he first observed the changes in those lives. However, later, as his sword skills became more proficient, he could feel more heavily the weight of a single word–
Reincarnation.
Everything bears Yin and embraces Yang, rushing into harmony.
To restrain oneself and endure calmly is Yin, and to be grand, bold, and majestic is Yang.
Everything was in a fixed reincarnation cycle, and everything was contained in the changes of Yin and Yang. When wielding a sword, one must consider the duality in all things — between movement and stillness; haste and delay; illusion and reality. Sometimes his sword was fast and other times slow, and sometimes he showed off his abilities while other times, he contained them.
When Yan Tianhen comprehended this truth, his《Decline and Prosperity》was halfway completed. The rest of the time was to keep practicing the unique sword moves with the matching mental techniques.
Time flew so fast. A few days later, the time of drawing lots to select examiners came as scheduled. Yan Tianhen came out of Little Penglai, and his entire person’s temperament changed slightly. In the past few days, his cultivation had broken through a small stage, and now he had reached the peak of Profound Realm’s Separated Spirit Stage. He was merely a step away from Profound Realm’s Unified Spirit Stage.
Yan Tianhen walked briskly towards the martial arts venue where the lottery was drawn. There were a lot of people in the martial arts training ground. It was very lively. It seems that there were many elder martial brothers, who were in closed-door cultivation but came out ahead of time in order to join in the fun.
Every year in the assessment of new students, a few disciples were either killed or injured. To put it euphemistically, it was an assessment, but to put it bluntly, the old students were teaching the new ones a lesson. After all, even if the new students had come to the sect for more than a year, they still weren’t as good as the old students in their cultivation time and cultivation realm, so it was easy for them to suffer losses.
However, of course, there were also dark horses in the new disciples who could fight back with the old disciples. It was said that not everyone is treated equally when seeking the Dao. Some geniuses had already begun to cultivate in their mother’s womb, and they could already breathe Qi before they could even walk. Naturally, they were extremely powerful. In the world of immortal cultivation, especially within the Nine Lands, what it didn’t lack the most were geniuses, and dark horses counterattacking were common. It was like Yan Huanyu of the previous generation. When he was evaluated back then, he had decimated an older martial brother from a higher year, and that martial brother almost lost his Heart of Dao and suffered a Qi deviation. It was Sword Saint Tianshu who helped him into a stable state, coupled with the following years of recuperation, and he finally returned to normal. But now, when he saw Yan Huanyu, he had to walk around him, and the two seldom met each other.
Speaking of greatness, of course, one couldn’t forget about Lin Xuanzhi.
Lin Xuanzhi did not formally participate in the assessment that year. Instead, Sword Saint Tianshu personally fought against him. According to the recollections of the disciples who saw the two of them in person, they also had a complex expression of fear, yearning, admiration, and other emotions, saying, “That day, the sky was dark, there was no light from the sun and the moon, and the two figures, one white and one teal, seemed to be the only ones left in the world. After watching this duel, many Sword Division disciples immediately broke the bottleneck of their cultivation realm. Even Sword Saint Yaoguang comprehended something new. After returning, he went into secluded cultivation for three full years, and when he came out again, he had already achieved major attainment in Earth Realm’s Major Perfection Stage…”
The disciples who had never seen that competition all sighed and wished they were born ten years earlier.
The arrival of Yan Tianhen had caused a lot of discussions.
“Look quickly, Prince Ye is here.”
“Ah, I haven’t seen him in the past few days. I thought he wouldn’t be here.”
“He probably found a place to hide and cry secretly. If I were him, I would want to hang my neck. His companion sword is actually useless. This is too cruel for a swordsman.”
“Go, go, go. What are you spouting rumors for?” Qi Feiqing glared at the gossiping disciples and squeezed over to Yan Tianhen’s side. He looked at Yan Tianhen and said worriedly, “Ah Hen, are you okay?”
Yan Tianhen’s mental state had already been adjusted, and he casually answered, “What can be wrong with me? Is it about time to draw lots?”
Qi Feiqing nodded and said, “The North Courtyard will be drawn first. This time, the four courtyards are staggered. We happen to have drawn the North Courtyard. It’s a bit unlucky.”