Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Ning Xuandao and the Moon-Burier Sword Saint were quite confused and reluctant about Lin Yue’s insistence.
Ning Xuandao found it inappropriate to refuse Lin Yue. After all, he had expounded definitively and fully at the very beginning. If he continued declining for other reasons, it would be undignified for a master.
“Since you’re so determined, it will be good. I hope you can comprehend something useful from the wordless sword manual.”
Ning Xuandao looked at the Moon-Burier Sword Saint and nodded slightly.
“Lin Yue, follow me to the Sword Pavilion to read the wordless sword manual.”
Since the master had spoken, the Moon-Burier Sword Saint would not reprimand Lin Yue any more.
He stood up and led Zhang Ruochen out of the Tai Qing Palace without saying a word.
Meanwhile, a banquet was being held in a grand mansion in Shentai City.
This was where the monks from the Four Symbols Sect had been temporarily accommodated.
Because Shao Lin had been selected as one of the nine Heirs of Kunlun’s Field, the whole Four Symbols Sect was a scene of jubilation. They invited monks to celebrate this exhilarating event.
The banquet had lasted for a day and a night.
The Xuanyi Saint saw off all the guests, and then he got down toa one-on-one discussion with Shao Lin about the Sword Technique Conference.
“Shao Lin, have you decided to fight Lin Yue from the Yin and Yang Sect in the Sword Technique Conference?” said the Xuanyi Saint with a disagreeable frown.
Lin Yue had two identities; he was both a disciple of the Thousand-Bone Empress and a Spiritual Half-Saint. Although these two identities meant little to the Sword Technique Conference, some fuss could be created out of them.
It was possible that Lin Yue would not be allowed to participate in the Sword Technique Conference on behalf of the Yin and Yang Sect.
In this way, everything would be sure to run smoothly.
“Is the Xuanyi Saint worried that I can’t defeat Lin Yue?”
His identity as an Heir of Kunlun’s Field made Shao Lin more arrogant than normal.
Even with the Xuanyi Saint in front of him, Shao Lin was still haughty.
The Xuanyi Saint was merely a saint, while he, Shao Lin, was about to become a disciple of the Empress. How dignified his status would become!
If he was granted a position as the Empress’ disciple, even Saints would fawn on him as well.
And, equipped with his talent and his resources from being an Heir, he believed firmly that he would certainly become a Saint in the near future. Therefore, why should he always follow the Xuanyi Saint’s instructions?
The Xuanyi Saint could feel that Shao Lin’s tone was different than before.
But he did not mind it. After all, Shao Lin owned a new, different identity. He was qualified to be on equal footing with a Saint.
“I’m just worried that something unexpected will happen. The Void Sword was actually the Thousand-Bone Empress’ sabre. You can’t underestimate its mighty power,” the Xuanyi Saint said seriously.
With an arrogant sneer, Shao Lin clenched his fist and said, “Although the Void Sword is quite formidable, Lin Yue’s cultivation is just in the Eighth Change of the Fish-Dragon Realm. Even though he could reach the Ninth Change before the Sword Technique Conference, how well will he be able to use the Void Sword?
“With my current ability, I would not lose when competing with a second level Half-Saint, let alone him.
“Besides, to make extra certain, the Four Symbols Sect has brought the ‘Rosefinch Sword,’ the third best Holy Sword in our Sect. As soon as I can use it, why should I fear the Void Sword?”
The Xuanyi Saint realized clearly that Shao Lin was thinking a lot about the Rosefinch Sword.
Once he was allowed to use the Rosefinch Sword in the Sword Technique Conference, he would never return it.
Shao Lin was fully confident of his ability and added, “Lin Yue stole the limelight at the Kunlun Heir’s Banquet. To outsiders, he seems to be more powerful than us, the nine Heirs of Kunlun’s Field.
“Only when I have defeated him head-on with my absolute strength can I prove to all the monks that the nine Heirs of Kunlun’s Field are the most powerful talents in Kunlun’s Field. And this is what Saint Lady wants.”
Not long ago, Saint Lady had met him alone. She told Shao Lin to fight righteously with Lin Yue in the Sword Technique Conference and to win the battle to defend the honor of the nine Heirs of Kunlun’s Field.
Shao Lin still remembered the expectation sparkling in Saint Lady’s eyes. He would not let her down, no matter what.
If he could turn into a Saint one day, he would go all out to have Saint Lady. How could such a beauty bestowed with talent, cultivation, and wisdom belong to someone else?
And behide Saint Lady was the Confucian Sect. In other words, having her meant having the Confucian Sect’s support, which would bring limitless benefit in the realization of his great ambition.
Therefore, he could not let down Saint Lady in the battle with Lin Yue, no matter what happened.
“Since this is what Saint Lady wants, I can say nothing more.”
The Xuanyi Saint frowned slightly and wondered why Saint Lady asked Shao Lin to defeat Lin Yue in the Conference, since Lin Yue was one of Saint Lady’s followers.
Did she merely hope to defend the honor of the Nine Kunlun Heirs? Or was she displeased because Lin Yue did not compete for a spot as Heir?
The Xuanyi Saint could not figure out why she would encourage Shao Lin.
The Moon-Burier Sword Saint led Zhang Ruochen to the Sword Pavilion. As he stepped forward, he said, “The Sword Pavilion is a time-and-space treasure. It has been here since the founding of the Taiji Sect. And the wordless sword manual is stored in the seventh level of the Sword Pavilion.”
At Zhang Ruochen’s level of appreciation of Tao of the sword and his current ability, he could only enter the second level of the Sword Pavilion.
To get to the seven level, the Moon-Burier Sword Saint would have to guide him personally.
The Sword Pavilion’s internal space would magnify several times as the level increased. And its seven level was considerably vast, with no end in sight. It looked like a Primitive World, complete with green mountains, clear streams, singing birds, and fragrant flowers.
“The seventh level of the Sword Pavilion is a small world. It is about 1,850 kilometers in vertical and horizontal diameter.”
The Moon-Burier Sword Saint cast a glance at Lin Yue and noticed that he appeared rather calm. His eyes sized up the surrounding area deeply.
Other monks would be shocked if they learned that an enormous world existed inside a tower. Seldom did monks remain as calm as Lin Yue.
The Moon-Burier Sword Saint nodded his head to show his appreciation of Lin Yue’s mood. He started to believe that Lin Yue, with his cultivation in the Fish-Dragon Realm, would be able to learn something about the Tao of the sword from the wordless sword manual.
There was abundant Spiritual Qi in this level. And it had a large amount of rare Spiritual Doses, each of great value. Some of them gave off a strong, exotic fragrance.
Not far away, a seven-color spiritual flower sent forth powerful Holy Qi, and it transformed into a human shape, an old woman with gray hair.
Dressed in a red robe, the old woman was a gaunt, stooping figure. Her skin was creased like withered bark, as if she had already had one foot in the grave.
“Transform the Spiritual Dose.”
Zhang Ruochen stared at the old woman in red, a little shocked.
When a savage beast attained the Half-Saint realm, it could transform into human-beast shape. And only by reaching the Saint realm could it transform into human shape completely.
Unlike the generations of remote antiquity and mythical beasts, common savage beasts practiced very slowly. After practicing for hundreds of years, they still might not be able to reach the Half-Saint realm, not to mention transforming into a human shape. It was extremely arduous for them.
Compared to common savage beasts, it was even more difficult for a Spiritual Dose to gain a human shape.
Generally speaking, the Spiritual Dose had to develop for 10,000 years before it could begin evolving consciousness. Unless it received correct guidance and approaches to practice, it could never evolve into a human shape and it could not attack, even if it was highly intelligent.
And if a Spiritual Dose was taught to how to practice, it still took a long time to practice, let alone to take on human shape. It might take tens of thousands of years.
But Spiritual Doses could live a very long time, one hundred thousand years or even more. This was incomparable to mankind and savage beasts. Therefore, they did not worry that their lifetime would be consumed.
Among the long-established sects, the oldest was not the senior Saints. It was the Holy Beasts and holy medicines that safeguarded the Suzerain.
A savage beast’s life expectancy was usually longer than a human being’s.
The heavenly way was always fair; it bestowed human beings with powerful fertility and practicing speed that could outpace other species, but it did not provide them with an overly long life.
The old woman in red was a kind of holy medicine, named Seven-Colored Begonia.
She was responsible for the Sword Pavilion, not the Yin and Yang Sect. If the Sword Pavilion was captured by the Four Symbols Sect, she would follow the Sword Pavilion into the Four Symbols Sect.
No one knew how long the Seven-Colored Begonia had lived. Based on the earliest records, she had been in the Sword Pavilion since the remote Middle Ages, and she had never left.
In all of Kunlun’s Field, she was one of the holy medicines having the longest life expectancy.
The Moon-Burier Sword Saint bowed to the old woman and said respectfully, “My respects, Grandma Begonia.”
With a displeased look, the old woman threw an indifferent glance at the Moon-Burier Sword Saint. She asked hoarsely, “Moon-Burier, how could you bring a human in the Fish-Dragon Realm to the seventh level of the Sword Pavilion? Haven’t you broken the Pavilion’s rules?”
The Moon-Burier Sword Saint answered, “It was the Master who asked him to come here. He has allowed him to read the wordless sword manual, as well as study the Tao of the sword. I will pick him up within half a year. Grandma Begonia, would you make an exception for him?”
“To read the wordless sword manual? I’m afraid a monk in the Fish-Dragon Realm won’t be able see the words on it. It wouldn’t make sense.”
The old woman in red fixed her deep eyes on Zhang Ruochen, and suddenly she let out a murmur with her eyes gleaming strangely.
Recently, Zhang Ruochen had practiced the Change of 36 Forms to a more ingenious level. But, he felt that the old woman had seen him through, leaving him nowhere to hide.
