Chapter 40: Receiving the Sword
Jiang Huai stood on the platform.
The rain falling on Absolute Sword Mountain was blocked by Chu Xianning’s will, leaving his white robes immaculate. He recognized the junior brother opposite him, having heard him lecture on swordsmanship from the viewing stands before.
Jiang Huai was inherently lazy. His favorite pastime was simply watching his Fairy Master in the courtyard. He only taught sword techniques to disciples to pass down knowledge because of the Sect Master’s request. He had agreed to all of the Sect Master’s wishes, hoping he would mentor the gifted disciples of the sect.
After all, he had grown up in the sect; it was his home.
That day, he had stepped up for Zhao Shi Yi, causing a commotion on Medicine Refining Mountain by severing the tendons in most of the disciples’ hands. It wasn’t a particularly cruel act. To cultivators, such punishment was merely a lesson to remember, with a period of recovery required.
“Senior Brother Jiang Huai,” the disciple opposite him respectfully saluted, then said softly, “I wish to fight for a good ranking, so unlike Senior Brother Wugou, I will not seal my cultivation. I hope Senior Brother Jiang Huai understands.”
Jiang Huai smiled helplessly, “No matter, just draw your sword with all your might.”
Jiang Huai still held no sword, while the disciple opposite him wielded a Profound tier spirit sword. He gripped the hilt, his eyes instantly sharpening, “Then… Senior Brother Jiang Huai, be careful.”
Jiang Huai remained unarmed. He had long since mastered every move of the Heaven Profound Thirteen Swords. The moment the opponent drew his sword, he knew where the blade would finally land, so all he needed to do was evade. Each time he dodged, he would throw a punch at the disciple opposite him. This punch scattered a significant portion of the opponent’s protective spiritual energy, yet it also sent a sting of pain through Jiang Huai’s hand.
Fortunately, after the time it took for an incense stick to burn, the opponent’s protective spiritual energy was completely depleted. Jiang Huai calculated his strength and threw another punch, sending the junior brother flying off the platform. The junior brother landed below, admitted defeat with a bitter smile.
The disciples below were stunned.
If the first victory was luck, what about the second and third? It seemed as though Jiang Huai won with such ease every time.
Jiang Huai had been the champion of the Inner Sect Competition every year in the past, but most were already accustomed to it. In their hearts, Senior Brother Jiang Huai had long become an existence that no disciple could surpass. Yet, at this moment, Jiang Huai’s cultivation was crippled, and not a trace of spiritual energy could be seen on him, but he still won with such ease.
They did not have to wait long; the second match began.
This round featured Li Qiusheng. This time, he took the time it took for an incense stick to burn to win. Next was Jiang Huai. Jiang Huai faced a female disciple, and his fists were not as effective. Jiang Huai pondered that he couldn’t simply smash his fist into her soft chest like he did with male disciples; that would be too much. He had to ask for a Black Iron Sword and entangled with the female disciple for a long time. It took two incense sticks’ worth of time before the female disciple obediently conceded.
The top two of the Inner Sect Competition were thus decided. Only Jiang Huai and Li Qiusheng remained on the stage.
***
“Jiang Huai.” Li Qiusheng, dressed in black today, stood on the platform, his eyes coldly fixed on him. “I really want to know, just how tough is your Immaculate Golden Body?”
“It seems your tongue has recovered well,” Jiang Huai replied with a faint smile as he stopped.
The next moment, Li Qiusheng’s eyes flashed with anger. He raised his hand, and a spirit sword was tightly gripped in it. The spirit sword was three feet long, its blade ice-blue, adorned with crystalline ice fragments. Flecks of icy light swirled at the sword’s edge.
Jiang Huai paused for a moment, then smiled helplessly, “Are you planning to discuss swords with me using this sword?”
“If I gained the sword spirit’s recognition, it is my weapon. Am I not allowed to use it?”
“I don’t have an opinion, but I think your chances of winning are higher if you don’t use this sword,” Jiang Huai shrugged.
The sword in Li Qiusheng’s hand was Qin Wuyuan’s personal sword. It had been passed down from her mother since Qin Wuyuan began learning swordsmanship. This spirit sword had undergone countless tempering, and due to years of spiritual energy cultivation, its grade had reached the Heavenly tier.
Heavenly tier spirit swords were discerning. From a young age, Qin Wuyuan had fostered a close relationship between the sword spirit and Li Qiusheng, so much so that Li Qiusheng could now wield this Heavenly tier spirit sword.
In the entire Tian Xuan Sect, there were no more than ten Heavenly tier spirit swords. This Black Ice was one of them, ranking fourth among all spirit swords in the Tian Xuan Sect.
The sharpness of a Heavenly tier spirit sword could indeed easily pierce through his seventh-level Immaculate Golden Body.
“Whether my chances are high or low, you’ll know in a moment.”
Li Qiusheng snorted coldly. As he tightened his grip on the sword hilt, the spiritual energy stored within the blade fed back into his body, pushing his cultivation aura up another level, now infinitely close to the Nascent Soul early stage.
Jiang Huai narrowed his eyes, turned sideways, and dodged his first sword strike.
Li Qiusheng’s speed was several points faster than when Jiang Huai had observed him earlier. If he hadn’t dodged in time, the sword would have pierced through his chest. Without the protection of his spiritual veins, if his heart were shattered, there would be no recovery.
Below the viewing stands, the disciples looked at the Heavenly tier spirit sword in Li Qiusheng’s hand, whispering amongst themselves, a sense of unease growing.
***
Sect Master Li Qiusshan’s gaze fell upon Chu Xianning.
Normally, disciples in the Inner Sect Competition used their personal swords. However, most disciples’ swords did not exceed the Profound tier. With elders present to oversee the matches, injuries might occur from accidental blows, but they would not be fatal.
But now, Li Qiusheng was wielding a Heavenly tier spirit sword. The Sect Master naturally understood the power of Black Ice. His glance towards Chu Xianning was to inquire if she wanted to stop the match.
Chu Xianning’s eyes, however, were incredibly calm. Noticing the Sect Master’s gaze, she shook her head slightly, signaling him not to say anything.
She understood Jiang Huai too well. Since childhood, the thing that made him the least troublesome was that he never sought trouble. Even when he did get into trouble, he would immediately seek help or admit defeat. He would never fight for the sake of momentary passion or pride.
Jiang Huai’s own Night Chilling was also a Heavenly tier spirit sword. He had never used it in previous sword discussions, fearing he might injure his junior brothers and sisters. Now that he had lent his sword to the woman from the mountain, Chu Xianning was curious what method he had to win if he wasn’t going to concede.
Accustomed to Jiang Huai’s calm demeanor against any opponent, she was rather looking forward to seeing him flustered for a moment. Yet, on the Sword Discussion Platform, Jiang Huai dodged and weaved like a slippery loach, with Li Qiusheng’s sword failing to touch him at all, while Li Qiusheng himself expended a considerable amount of energy.
However, Li Qiusheng had vast spiritual energy to support him, while Jiang Huai’s Immaculate Golden Body consumed physical strength. There was always an end to one’s stamina.
Chu Xianning had also started practicing swordsmanship since she was young. She had practiced her sword for six hundred years.
She was known as the number one Sword Immortal of the Eastern Region, her swordsmanship unsurpassed by anyone to this day. Everyone believed she had the greatest Sword Dao talent in the Eastern Region, yet no one knew how astonished she was when she taught Jiang Huai swordsmanship that year.
When Jiang Huai first picked up a sword at the age of six, he emulated Chu Xianning’s movements, wielding the Heaven Profound Thirteen Swords. In a single night, he mastered all the sword moves of the Heaven Profound Thirteen Swords. Within a week, he had deconstructed the entire Heaven Profound Thirteen Swords, even improving upon it, finding more suitable ways to exert force and spiritual energy flow, elevating the Heaven Profound Thirteen Swords from a Heavenly tier low-grade sword technique to the threshold of Absolute Level.
A month later, Chu Xianning personally taught him Silver Ray. He practiced all three forms of Silver Ray in a single night. The next morning, Chu Xianning woke up to find dewdrops condensed on his brow. She had wanted to gently remind Jiang Huai not to train so hard, but Jiang Huai merely blinked at her, “Master, I’ve learned it all. Is there anything new?”
She had comprehended Silver Ray for a hundred years, pouring all her understanding of the Sword Dao into these three moves, yet Jiang Huai had truly mastered her Silver Ray in just one night.
The world knew Jiang Huai possessed the Innate Dao Body. The peculiarity of the Innate Dao Body was merely faster cultivation speed and no bottlenecks. However, they were unaware that his true talent was not the Innate Dao Body, but his terrifying, inhuman comprehension.
Chu Xianning remembered looking at Jiang Huai indifferently then, saying he had much to learn in the Sword Dao and that there were many sword cultivators with higher talent than him, so he must not become arrogant. Jiang Huai had foolishly believed her then, practicing diligently in the courtyard every day. It wasn’t until he began participating in the Inner Sect Competition at fourteen that he suddenly realized… Damn it, Master was lying. The sword moves they used seemed like child’s play in his eyes.
Later, he participated in the Eastern Region Grand Competition, and Jiang Huai remained timid and fearful, thinking there were always stronger people and that he must not be arrogant or underestimate his opponents. Only later did he gradually realize that among the young disciples of his generation, few could withstand more than ten moves from him.
Apart from Chu Xianning, no one knew the terrifying extent of Jiang Huai’s comprehension. It was precisely for this reason that Chu Xianning was so exasperated by his crippled cultivation.
He was meant to be the Sword Emperor who would one day rule the Eastern Region.
***
On the Sword Discussion Platform.
Li Qiusheng let out a cold laugh, “How long are you going to keep dodging?!”
“I’m finding your flaws,” Jiang Huai calmly replied as he dodged Li Qiusheng’s sword strike. “Every person’s sword moves have flaws. There are no perfect sword moves in this world. I have found your flaw.”
“So what if you found it? With your seventh-level Immaculate Golden Body, can you break through my spiritual energy barrier?”
“That’s why I said your chances of winning would be higher if you didn’t use this sword,” Jiang Huai took a step back, patiently continuing to explain to Li Qiusheng, “I don’t know how you got your information that my Night Chilling has been lent out, but there are many things you don’t know, such as… there is no Heavenly tier spirit sword in this world that I cannot use.”
As Jiang Huai finished speaking, he suddenly shouted towards the stands, “Master, he’s bullying me… using a Heavenly tier spirit sword to attack me.”
Chu Xianning’s eyes twitched slightly.
She had thought Jiang Huai had actually come up with some method.
Chu Xianning cast a cold glance at him. To others present, she, the Flower-Plucking Fairy Chu Xianning, appeared cold and serious. Thus, she merely moved her crimson lips and said indifferently, “Receive the sword.”
In an instant, a white jade-colored long sword appeared before Chu Xianning. The moment the sword materialized, a vast sword energy permeated nearly the entire Absolute Sword Mountain.
Flower-Plucking Fairy Chu Xianning’s personal sword, Suoxue, ranked first in the Tian Xuan Sect. The Flower-Plucking Fairy had traveled to the Tian Xuan Sect’s Sword Tomb and spent a century to finally gain the recognition of this Suoxue Sword, bringing it out of the tomb to become her personal sword.
The world knew that other than Chu Xianning, no one could touch this sword.
