Chapter 540: Comprehending the Dao
After working hard continuously for four years, Xiao Chen finally caught up to those peak geniuses that had surpassed him by a lot in the past.
Now, Xiao Chen was a match for these people, whether from the Ancient Desolate Land, the five great nations, even the strongest Great Jin Nation, and the Boundless Sea.
He already opened his sea of consciousness. Now that he was a half-step Martial Monarch, he no longer feared any genius cultivator under Martial Monarch.
“However, this is just the starting point. The person who reaches Martial Monarch first will be the person who snatches the initiative, the one who will become the main character of this era.”
Xiao Chen slowly landed on the ground. He quickly calmed himself before saying, “There is another nine months to the Five Nation Youth Competition. I still have to return to the Heavenly Saber Pavilion and Mohe City to settle some things.
“I should take advantage of this opportunity to further comprehend the Four Season Saber Technique. Now, that my cultivation has strengthened, my Martial Techniques need to match it as well.”
The spiritual fog that covered the island slowly faded at this moment. Xiao Chen stared blankly for a moment. Unexpectedly, ten Iron Crocodiles had arrived at the shore of the desolate island at some point in time.
The Iron Crocodile was a Rank 8 Spirit Beast from the bottom of the sea. They were about two meters tall and a hundred meters long. Their four limbs were very strong and they could walk on land for a short period of time.
These Iron Crocodiles were probably attracted by the spiritual fog.
Xiao Chen smiled faintly and said, “Good timing. I just advanced to half-step Martial Monarch. Rank 8 Spirit Beasts should be enough of a challenge for me to test my strength.”
“Spring Thunder Chop!”
Xiao Chen circulated his energies in the circulation method of the Four Season Saber Technique. Soon, snow appeared in the air, creating a scene of late winter.
As a clap of spring thunder resounded, a boundless natural law poured out from the saber’s edge. Winter ended and spring arrived, the cycle of seasons could not be stopped!
The winds of spring that the saber Qi transformed into blew across the island. Gentle sounds could be heard as the ten Iron Crocodiles were instantly chopped in half.
Xiao Chen sheathed his saber in satisfaction. He said softly, “The spring thunder is only a primer. The true killing move is hidden in the warm winds of spring. This move can become one of my trump cards.”
The spring winds blow, concealing great danger. Summer is blazing. I will use fire as the primer. When the sun sits high in the sky, the land is burned until it is desolate.
Inspiration flashed in Xiao Chen’s mind. He immediately thought of the state of the Four Season Saber Technique’s second move—Summer. The more he thought about it, the more he found it fitting. So, he quickly tried it out.
When the winds of spring end, the blazing sun sits high in the sky.
The pitch-black Lunar Shadow Saber suddenly released a resplendent light that looked like the blazing sun burning continuously.
“Burning to Desolation!”
Xiao Chen roared ferociously as he hacked at a small mountain with a resplendent saber light. The saber light turned into a ball of fire and shot out like a meteor, landing on the mountain.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
The fireball landed on the middle of the mountain and the small mountain shattered. A fierce fire spread all over and the remaining bottom half of the mountain burned continuously.
“Good! Good! Good! I shall call this move Burning to Desolation. He he! Indeed, inspiration is needed to come up with moves. With inspiration, I was able to succeed in one go,” Xiao Chen exclaimed, his face filled with excitement as he looked at the sea of flames covering the mountain.
“What should I use for Autumn? Bai Shuihe used the wind of autumn: Rustling Autumn Winds, Sweeping Up Fallen Leaves. He drew inspiration from the autumn wind sweeping the fallen leaves, creating an attack that sweeps away all obstacles.
“However, I used wind in Spring already and should not repeat it. What should I use, then? Aside from wind, what else can bring out autumn the best?”
Things like inspiration were too elusive. This time, no inspiration dawned on Xiao Chen. So he could only think very hard.
The sun rose and set, clouds gathered and scattered. The days went by one by one on the desolate island.
Soon, one month went by. In the past few days, Xiao Chen had been immersed in the comprehension of the Four Season Saber Technique.
After practicing the Spring Thunder Chop and the Burning to Desolation for thousands of times over many days and nights, Xiao Chen had already become very familiar with them. He could execute them immediately with just a thought.
However, Xiao Chen did not make any headway on the comprehension of the third move—Autumn; he was still very much at sea.
Bai Shuihe’s Rustling Autumn Winds, Sweeping Up Fallen Leaves had made a very deep impression on Xiao Chen. It had already left a mark in Xiao Chen’s mind and it was hard for him to deviate from it. He had difficulty thinking of something else, aside from wind, to represent autumn.
“Rustling Autumn Winds…Rustling Autumn Winds…why do the autumn winds rustle?”
Xiao Chen casually swung his saber and circulated the Four Season Saber Technique. His saber hummed and an autumn wind started blowing.
The huge rocks shattered everywhere the autumn wind passed. When the wind blew at them, they turned into dust; the huge rocks vanished.
“No, this is not something I comprehended by myself. No matter how strong it is, I’ll have a hard time improving it.”
Xiao Chen shook his head. Then, he sheathed his saber and frowned.
He placed the saber beside him and lay on the ground. He stared at the clouds in the sky and entered deep thought again.
Rustling Autumn Winds…why must the autumn winds rustle?
“Rumble…!”
At some point in time, the white clouds in the sky slowly scattered. Churning dark clouds covered the sky and rumbles of thunder resounded.
“Plop…plop…”
Drops of rain fell on Xiao Chen’s nose. He felt a slight chill right away, startling him.
Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in Xiao Chen’s head. Why must the autumn wind rustle? It is merely the perception of people.
The tree withers and the autumn wind blows at it. With the force from the wind, all the dead leaves are blown away. It is cold and tyrannical, without a shred of compassion.
This was Bai Shuihe’s comprehension. However, autumn was also cooling. The extreme heat of summer was unbearable. When autumn arrived, how could one not look forward to it? Why would they think of rustling?
“Rumble…!”
The rain, which had been brewing in the dark clouds above, fell from the sky. Xiao Chen’s clothes were soon drenched. However, he did not feel cold at all; he only felt refreshed.
“Autumn rain…autumn rain…this is my Dao, my saber. Bai Shuihe, you are a Martial Emperor of the saber. Since you comprehended the rustling autumn winds sweeping the dead leaves down, then I, Xiao Chen, will use the autumn rain as a primer to compete with you.”
Although Xiao Chen was completely drenched by the rain, he had an extremely carefree expression on his face. He started to laugh loudly as he finally figured it out.
Then, he quickly circulated his energies for the Four Season Saber Technique. He moved his saber as he willed, slowly brandishing it in the rain.
As the saber moved, it pulled over the surrounding rain, forming a thin screen of water before the blade.
When Xiao Chen felt the energy of the rain on his saber, he rejoiced. The energies in his body gathered on the saber before erupting.
A saber intent emerged from the saber’s edge. Under the influence of the saber intent, the rain that filled the sky, several ten thousand drops of it, quickly converged.
Unexpectedly, the saber drew all the rain in the sky. Eventually, the rain turned into a rippling wave, then a chilling saber Qi.
The saber Qi quickly flew out and cut across the surface of the sea. The vast sea immediately parted.
The state contained in the saber was gentle and quiet; it made one feel very comfortable. It was like meeting a gentle and refined fairy; all the frustrations in one’s heart would be gone forever.
However, the might of the saber could even split the sea. It was no weaker than Bai Shuihe’s Rustling Autumn Winds.
“I succeeded. This is a gentle saber. Let’s call this Fated Person in Autumn Waters.”
Xiao Chen smiled and sheathed his saber. The rain that stopped earlier poured down once again.
Time slowly went by and another month passed peacefully.
Xiao Chen continued to familiarize himself with the three moves that he already comprehended—the Spring Wind Chop, the Burning to Desolation, and the Fated Person in Autumn Waters.
Every move used a different state; they were unique. Xiao Chen used his own understanding and comprehension to give birth to this Four Season Saber Technique, but it was stronger than the Four Season Saber Technique of others.
There were still two more moves remaining for the Four Season Saber Technique. They were Winter and Cycle of Seasons. They both also required Xiao Chen to gain his own comprehensions.
If Xiao Chen followed the path Bai Shuihe took, Xiao Chen could complete the Four Season Saber Technique. However, it would be meaningless to just follow what others did.
“Never mind, I will not think about it for now. It is already not easy for me to comprehend three moves. This Four Season Saber Technique places too much focus on comprehension and opportunity.”
In the past one month, Xiao Chen had been thinking about the final two moves. However, he did not make any progress. He had already wasted two months and did not have much time left.
Dealing with the matters of the Heavenly Saber Pavilion and the Xiao Chen in Mohe City would require a lot of time. There was only half a year to the Five Nation Youth Competition. So he could not afford to spend any more time thinking.
——
On this particular day, the weather was clear and pleasant; the sun shone bright in the sky.
Xiao Chen did a simple execution of the first three moves of the Four Seasons Saber Technique while on the desolate island. Then, he sheathed his saber and started his journey.
He quickly advanced through the clouds. The wind howled loudly in his ears, and his clothes and hair fluttered nonstop.
Now that he was a half-step Martial Monarch, he could fly continuously in the sky.
Moving at Mach 4 allowed him to cover great distances quickly. As he traveled, he passed many white clouds.
Seven days later, the entry to the Tianwu Continent—Thunder Emperor Valley—appeared before Xiao Chen. Then, he stopped and entered deep thought.
Xiao Chen originally intended to fly over. However, when he saw the inextinguishable and immortal will of thunder in the air, he changed his mind.
By relying on the scarlet throne, Xiao Chen had grasped the state of massacre to the limit. He could no longer improve it by killing and would have to depend on his own comprehension.
However, Xiao Chen’s state of thunder was still stuck at Great Perfection; he was still far from the limits. The immortal will of thunder in the Thunder Emperor Valley might be a great opportunity for him.
After Xiao Chen made his decision, he descended from the clouds. Then, he headed for the top of the valley.
Normally, the Thunder Emperor Valley would have many people trying to comprehend the state of thunder. Furthermore, they were all experts at the half-step Martial Monarch realm. When they saw Xiao Chen appear, they frowned.
Every time the immortal will of thunder appeared, it would follow a certain route as it moved about in the air.
All the good spots along this route had been claimed by others long ago.
Furthermore, one would require a quiet environment to comprehend the state. The fewer people around, the better the effects. If there were too many people, then their comprehensions would be affected.
Thus, the Thunder Emperor Valley was not a good place to stay. The people who were already there did not welcome newcomers. They could even be said to hate them.
Xiao Chen carefully observed the boundaries of the valley. He also discovered the direction of the immortal will of thunder’s movement in the churning dark clouds.
