Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Everybody looked in the direction of Sword Mountain as if they could perceive the silence of the Sword Saint of Shadow Bearing. Many people had a strange look on their faces. What came after was shock. Did it mean even the disciples of Sword Mountain were not able to fight him?
Looking at that peerless figure, many were speechless. This peerless person, who came from nowhere, not only conquered the elites of the Nine Commanderies of the Great Li all by himself, but he also made no one in Sword Mountain dare fight.
Who else could question that he broke the rule? Perhaps now, even the powers of the uppermost rank, such as Sword Mountain, were all planning to recruit him. This time the King Li, convened practitioners of the Nine Commanderies, including so many gallant heroes. But now, it seemed all became nothing but a foil for this swordsman-in-training. He conquered everything as if the aura of the Great Li only belonged to himself.
The Sword Saint of Fierce Wind stood aside and watched the scene, slightly affected. Although he had thought that this Seventh Swordsman was something, he had not expected him to be this strong and defeat the swordsman-in-training of Sword Mountain with one strike.
As for Huan Xue, who stood beside him, she had already been stupefied. Ye Futian’s presumptuous words were still in her ears. However, were they presumptuous? Who in the Great Li could withstand his attack?
“I didn’t expect that such an outstanding swordsman-in-training could appear in the Yan Commandery of my Great Li,” King Li said, smiling. “Seventh Swordsman, since you have mastered swordsmanship of such a level, you are overqualified to cultivate in the Lower Realm of the Great Li. The Sword Mountain is the Holy Land of swordsmanship cultivation for the Kingdom of Great Li Upper and Lower Realm. How about you follow the elders of Sword Mountain to cultivate in the Upper Realm? You won the battle, but this time, the Sword Mountain didn’t bring many swordsmen-in-training to the Lower Realm. If you join the Sword Mountain, of course, you can find rivals there.” The King Li commended Ye Futian’s gift and unraveled the awkwardness of Sword Mountain at the same time.
Many people slightly nodded. Although Sword Mountain was mighty, they were in the Lower Realm, and the real masters might be all in the Upper Realm.
“Let’s call it a day,” King Li continued. Ye Futian weakened his force and landed on the ground from the hollow sky. He stopped where he should stay. He had achieved his goal; the people from both the Upper and Lower Realm had remembered the name of the Seventh Swordsman.
If he had entered the field and joined the fight in the Law Battle and taken first place all the time, he could have made the people of the Great Li remember him, too, but obviously, they would not have been so impressed. He broke the rules and skipped all the people of the Nine Commanderies to directly challenge Sword Mountain, which made him more like a swordsman-in-training who was arrogant to the extreme.
“Your Majesty, I came here just for an opportunity to find opponents. Since there is no sword for me to seek in Sword Mountain, I will not go there,” replied Ye Futian.
“Although you defeated Yuan Gang, there are stronger swordsmen-in-training in Sword Mountain, numerous classics of swordsmanship and Sword Saints who can guide you. How do you know there is no sword that you want?” the Sword Saint of Shadow Bearing said. Apparently, he cherished his talent, so even though Ye Futian had disrespected Sword Mountain, as long as he showed extraordinary talent in swordsmanship, the disrespect could be ignored.
This was what a real swordsman should be like.
He didn’t know that the reason why Ye Futian dared to push his luck like this was that he knew the Upper Realm was seeking talent from the Lower Realm. Since the imperial advisor of the Great Li had given the order in person to convene the cultivators of the Nine Commanderies and select the peerless genius to cultivate in the Upper Realm, as an unequaled person in the Lower Realm, he would not bring trouble to himself.
“If you can’t find the sword you want in Sword Mountain, then where is the place for you to seek the sword in the Great Li?” King Li also said, saving enough face for Sword Mountain.
“I appreciate your kind thoughts,” Ye Futian said, slightly bowing to him, “it’s just that I have spent 30 years to comprehend the pith of swordsmanship and have just started to cultivate in the secular world to pursue the law of the sword. The Sword Mountain is the Swordsmanship Holy Land of the first order. Still, if I entered the sect to cultivate, even though I would receive guidance from the elders and learn from important classics, I am afraid my state of mind would change, and the spirit of my sword would be constricted. I would no longer be able to wander around the world like what I am doing now, free of limitations and welcoming knowledge from the universe.
“So, if anyone of my level from Sword Mountain can defeat the sword in my hand, this can prove that the Law of Sword Mountain is better than my Law, and then I will be willing to cultivate in the Mountain. If no one can defeat me, it proves that the path I choose is a path toward the Great Law, so what’s the point to forsake the right way and make a detour,” he continued.
“I hope Your Majesty and every elder here understands the way I am pursuing.” As he finished speaking, even King Li of the Third Plane of the Divine Path was caught off guard for a second and looked at Ye Futian in surprise. As a person of the Sage Plane, this Seventh Sword was able to utter such words, which made the King even more impressed.
Many notables of the Upper Realm nodded and showed approval to him. For all the swordsmen-in-training in the world, who were not proud of joining the Sword Mountain? Everyone hoped to cultivate swordsmanship in the Great Li Swordsmanship Holy Land of the First Order.
However, this person thought that the Swordsmanship Holy Land of the First Order was also one kind of imprisonment of Swordsmanship thoughts. He challenged Sword Mountain just to verify which was better between the Law of the Sword Mountain and the Law of his own. Even some figures of the Holy Plane felt ashamed in front of his such spiritual stature.
“Good.” The Sword Saint of Shadow Bearing was not angry about what he said. The Seventh Sword was only at the Sage Plane but had such a stature of pursuing the Law. If a prestigious man like him became furious about this, that would be a shame for the Law of Sword. On the contrary, he showed more appreciation to Ye Futian. If all the swordsmen-in-training in this world could have the stature of the Seventh Sword, how much prosperity would be brought to the Swordsmanship of the Great Li?
“But even if you are reluctant to join Sword Mountain now, you can still come to cultivate in the Upper Realm. After you reach the Upper Realm, I can arrange disciples of Sword Mountain to practice swordsmanship with you, and you can decide whether to join the Sword Mountain at that time. I respect your decision about whether you agree or not.”
Countless pairs of eyes looked toward the Sword Saint of Shadow Bearing. The Sword Saint of the Shadow Bearing was much admired. This was what the conversation between two swordsmen-in-training should be like. The swordsman junior wholeheartedly pursued the Law, and the swordsman senior cherished the talent and wanted to reward him with the Law.
Of course, at this moment, Ye Futian had also provoked the envy of countless cultivators, especially the swordsmen-in-training of the Yan commanderies. Studying Swordsmanship in Sword Mountain was the dream of all cultivators. However, Ye Futian won the chance hands down but still hesitated.
It was as if the Sword Mountain begged him to join. Totally absurd…
Well done, well done!
“Thank you, sir,” Ye Futian said and saluted the Sword Saint of Shadow Bearing. He was proud, but he showed respect in front of elders.
“Today’s conversation in the palace will always be remembered,” King Li said, laughing. He was satisfied with such an ending. If the Seventh Sword had not appeared, however, everything would have just been ordinary and tedious.
How could they know that the protagonist of this conversation was actually the opponent of the Great Li, whose fame had just reached every corner of the domain of Emperor Xia because of the battle of Empty Realm? Besides, what Ye Futian was doing had nothing to do with the so-called spiritual stature. He was just a good actor.
Since he acted as the Seventh Sword, he needed to keep in mind what kind of person the Seventh Sword was; his personality, a peerless, arrogant, and paranoid swordsman who pursued nothing but swordsmanship. If he had aimed at climbing up to a high rank in the Kingdom of the Great Li, he would not have been the Seventh Sword and had flaws in his acting.
“The Seventh Sword, how about you stay in the Palace and later head toward the Upper Realm of the Kingdom of the Great Li together with the elders of the Upper Realm?” the King Li asked the Seventh Sword.
“Sure,” Ye Futian said, nodding. Seeing that all elders of Sword Mountain and the King Li showed so much appreciation to the Seventh Sword, everybody understood that if nothing unexpected happened, the Seventh Sword would most likely become a top swordsman-in-training in the Upper Realm.
After the feast, the people of the Great Li departed in succession, but many people were still not satisfied. The long-lasting battle of Law let numerous cultivators of the Great Li witness the elite rivalries under the Holy Plane of the Great Li, especially the Seventh Sword, who appeared out of nowhere. He was hard to forget.
The King of the Commandery Yan was also preparing to lead his swordsmen-in-training to leave. They bowed to King Li. Behind the King of the Commandery Yan, Yan Qingyi, Yan Ziyi, Kai Huang, Huan Xue, Nie Yun, and others all looked at Ye Futian. The shock brought by Ye Futian to them was so strong that maybe it would stay in their mind for a long time.
“The Seventh Sword, I know you concentrate on the Law of Swordsmanship, but after you reach the Upper World, you should keep a low profile sometimes, especially when facing the notables of the Upper Realm. Avoid attracting too much attention,” the voice of the Sword Saint of Fierce Wind whispered into Ye Futian’s ears.
He had the impression that the Seventh Sword’s talent in swordsmanship was peerless. Still, because he only concentrated on pursuing swordsmanship, he couldn’t get along with people, and his personality was flawed. Still, perhaps that was the reason why he could use all his energy on swordsmanship and achieve his aim.
But before leaving, he didn’t forget to remind Ye Futian that the situation of the Upper Realm was complicated, and there were many more experts. Not every notable would cherish talents, and if he offended someone, even though he had extraordinary talent, he would risk ending up with a murderous outcome.
“Thank you, sir,” Ye Futian whispered back to him. The Sword Saint of Fierce Wind fixed a gaze on him and said, “I hope one day you can achieve your Law of the Sword, and I can hear your name in the Commandery Yan again.” And then, he turned around and left together with the swordsmen-in-training of the Commandery Yan. The Sword Saint of Fierce Wind would not expect what the situation would be like the next time he heard about Ye Futian.
Ye Futian didn’t turn his head, neither did he see him off. He didn’t want to talk to anyone.
One after another, the people of the Nine Commanderies left. In the palace, there were only some cultivators of the Upper World, King Li, and the chosen one. At this time, one gaze fell upon the Seventh Sword. Ye Futian raised his head and noticed a smiling person looking at him. The person raised his glass and introduced himself, “Lü Chuan, the Great Li.”
Ye Futian had already known Lü Chuan’s identity. Still, it was not until now that he actually looked up and down at Lü Chuan, the legendary figure in the Battle of the Empty Realm ten years ago, the disciple directly taught by the imperial advisor of the Great Li. This leading figure, who had vanquished more than half of the army of Emperor Xia’s City, didn’t even have a slight aura of violence around him. All Ye Futian could see was a Confucian-sage-like figure with extraordinary composure and elegance.
Ye Futian couldn’t help but become alert. This Lü Chuan must be an uncommon figure, he thought to himself.
“The Seventh Sword, a swordsman-in-training,” Ye Futian said. He nodded to Lü Chuan and didn’t let his gaze linger on him for too long. These two decisive figures of the Battle of Empty Realm greeted and toasted each other in such a mild way after ten years.
“Mr. Lü and the Seventh Sword will become the mainstay of our Dynasty of the Great Li. I will toast to both of you,” Princess Li Youqian said, with a slight smile and no pretension at all.
“I would be honored,” replied Ye Futian. The cultivators of the Great Li were not inferior to the ones in Emperor Xia’s domain!
