Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
‘Swordsmanship comes from the heart. Why limit it to just talent?’
Xiao Chengfeng breathed heavily. He kept replaying that sentence in his mind. He seemed to be out of it.
Buzz!
There was a buzzing in his ears like an alarm clock. He felt like his soul was about to ascend.
The Answer of sword cultivation. It was The Answer!
He suddenly felt like crying because he felt enlightened.
No wonder he did not improve for 7000 years. He was at the end of the road. He relied too much on talent. It was not a commentary on taking on a student. It was a commentary on himself!
The expert was trying to help him!
He thought talent was the most important thing in sword cultivation. He expected to transcend relying purely on talent. Ridiculous, it was ridiculous!
He did not have good swordsmanship. How could he improve?
At that moment, he finally understood!
His dead-end journey had a new path. The new path was wide and endless. It would be amazing for sure!
Xiao Chengfeng looked serious. He suddenly stood up and felt his cells jumping around. “Mr. Li, your quote enlightened me. I learned a lot today. Please, accept my bow.”
It was exciting to be enlightened. It could make anyone happy.
“Brother Xiao, no!” Li Nianfan quickly stopped him. “You’re an Immortal and I’m just an ordinary man. There’s no such thing as Immortals bowing to ordinary people. It’s just a casual saying. You know, the observer sees more clearly than the participant. Brother Xiao, you were just too stubborn.”
“Regardless of that, thanks, Mr. Li.”
Xiao Chengfeng was confused. Such generosity was simply shrugged off by the blesser.
‘The observer sees more clearly than the participant’.
What a simple way to put it.
It was terribly difficult to wake the participant up. How would one convince a stubborn person? He was indeed filled with wisdom. There was no one else like him!
However, the expert did not seem to care. What realm did he come from? What kind of suave attitude was that?!
He had never met a bigshot like him before!
“Mr. Li, cheers!” He did not know what else to say. Words were fleeting and meaningless. Only actions mattered!
“It’s a good thing that you realized, Brother Xiao,” said Li Nianfan. It seemed like his theoretical knowledge was elite. He had befriended another Immortal.
He suddenly realized he had another forte—saved knowledge.
For example, ‘Journey to the West’ attracted Immortals. If he put his knowledge to use in the Immortal Realm, it would be too edgy and superior. Besides ordinary people, some cultivators might find it futuristic, too.
Xiao Chengfeng was emotional. He asked, “Mr. Li, how many levels do you think there are in sword cultivation?”
Li Nianfan sipped on the alcohol and asked, “What do you think, Brother Xiao?”
“I used to think there were three levels. The first level would be using sharp swords. The second level would be using Sword Qi, and the third level is Sword Intent. However, after hearing what you said, I think there’s another level—Sword Passion!”
Xiao Chengfeng was like a student giving the teacher his opinion at that moment. He wanted to be praised by the teacher. “What do you think, Mr. Li?”
“You’re not wrong.”
Li Nianfan groaned for a moment. It was time to show off. He said, “But it’s still very surface-level.”
Xiao Chengfeng excitedly said, “Please, enlighten me, Mr. Li.”
Lin Mufeng immediately turned sideways to listen carefully. Daji and the Fire Phoenix also looked at Li Nianfan.
They could not help being excited and emotional. Whatever the expert was about to say must be awesome!
It was the first time the expert directly answered a cultivation-related question. It would be astonishing, groundbreaking!
Li Nianfan said slowly and calmly, “The first level—a sword was once the teacher of millions for a lifetime battle worth three thousand miles!
“The second level—three million sword Immortals from above must be humble when they see me!
“The third level—God wouldn’t accept the birth of Li Chungang, but my sword cultivation is still historical like the long night!”
Boom!
Everyone was blown away. It was just a few sentences but their hair stood on ends after hearing that. It was as if they were surrounded by sharp swords.
Li Nianfan did not say it loudly but everyone thought they heard thunder!
Hold on… It was not an illusion. It was actual thunder!
It was Echoes of Wisdom! Even nature was moved!
They thought of a vision—a man with a sword on a mountain full of dead bodies looking over a bloody ocean. The sky was dim. Only the man stood still!
Then, the vision turned into a transcended Immortal with millions of swords. Every sword cultivator looked up to him!
The third vision was a little blurry. They could somewhat see a wasteland that was covered by a gigantic sword!
They almost choked from being shocked. They were also mesmerized by that state of mind.
Suddenly, everything was silent.
Then, they jumped as if they were all suddenly woken up from a dream.
However, they were drenched in cold sweat.
It was a very complex feeling to discover such Wisdom.
“This…”
Xiao Chengfeng kept gulping. He wanted to say something astonishing, too, but he could not say anything. He lacked the vocabulary for it.
How could he talk about something he never learned or experienced?
Finally, he sighed. He sincerely complimented, “Mr. Li, you’re wonderful. Respect.”
He smiled awkwardly. His four levels of sword cultivation were trash compared to Li Nianfan. Shallow! He did not realize how shallow he was until he met Li Nianfan.
“You’re too courteous, Brother Xiao,” said Li Nianfan. It felt good to impress everyone with astounding words, especially when these people were not of the ordinary crowd.
Truthfully, the real three levels he described were the Ordinary level, the Immortal level, and the Godly level. It was not that much better than what Xiao Chengfeng said.
However, he said it with ancient grammar so it sounded much cooler—highly effective, highly impressive.
That was the difference between a cultured person and an uncultured person.
Xiao Chengfeng self-deprecatingly said, “I thought I was at the highest level of sword cultivation. Now, it seems like I’m still far from the second level!”
He looked away. He resonated deeply with the third level Li Nianfan described.
He mumbled, “God wouldn’t accept the birth of Xiao Chengfeng, but my sword cultivation is still historical…”
He went silent. He realized he could not say it even if he sneakily tried to.
It was too cool. He was not able to handle it.
Only two types of people could say something like that—someone who was extremely powerful in sword cultivation and could understand everything, or someone who was extremely weak and shallow in sword cultivation.
Xiao Chengfeng did not have the confidence to say it because he could not accept that.
“If I can confidently say that in front of everyone, my life would have…no regrets!” His eyes glinted. He looked determined.
Meanwhile, the raft reached the shore.
Li Nianfan saluted and said, “I should go back.”
Lin Mufeng instantly said, “Mr. Li, let me fly you all back.”
Li Nianfan smiled and rejected his offer. “No need. Daji and I are going to look at the view on the way back. It’s nice to walk around.”
“Mr. Li, your words are like lanterns on a dark path,” Xiao Chengfeng said seriously. “Thanks a lot!”
“As long as it’s useful. You’re welcome. Goodbye,” waved Li Nianfan. He slowly walked away with Daji.
Lin Mufeng and Xiao Chengfeng watched Li Nianfan leave with complex gazes. They felt like he was oddly cool. They wanted to worship him on the spot.
Truly an expert.
Xiao Chengfeng thanked Lin Mufeng, “Cultivator Lin, it’s a lucky thing I got to know the expert because of you. Thanks a lot!”
Lin Mufeng hurriedly said, “You’re too courteous, Immortal. Since the expert took me to the Immortal Relic to retrieve your Immortal Stone, I suspect he must’ve already planned this.”
“No matter what plans he had, I’m willing to be his sharpest sword!” Xiao Chengfeng was determined. Then, he curiously asked, “Oh, yeah. I didn’t dare to ask the expert. Do you know who Li Chungang is?”
Lin Mufeng shook his head. “No. But since the expert said his name, he must be an amazing elite!”
Xiao Chengfeng respectfully said, “Sigh, who knew such a sword cultivator exists. I wish I could witness his glory.”
“Might be a bigshot from the same era as the expert.” Lin Mufeng was also respectful. He guessed, “He has the same surname as the expert, Li. They might be related.”
Xiao Chengfeng looked like he realized something. He said, “The relatives of the expert. No wonder.”
