Chapter 51: The One Without a Sword
As a grandmaster of formations and a cultivator in the Eighth Realm, Lu Pan’s sound-blocking magic array seemed no match for Shen Man.
After the formation was shattered, Chu Yinyin began to fuss.
Everyone wore helpless expressions as they listened to her cries. Having been fellow disciples for many years, they all knew that Shen Man doted on Chu Yinyin the most.
Finally, Sect Master Xiang Yan spoke, “Junior Sister, we are not intentionally making things difficult for you, but this matter is confidential and inaccessible to those below the Seventh Realm. This is the rule for this level of secret.”
Chu Yinyin, with her quick wit, proposed a radical solution, “Then why don’t you just lower the classification of this secret!”
The others were speechless.
Lu Pan, the Enforcement Elder, whose face was already stern, turned dark and said gravely, “Junior Sister, speak with caution. The classification of this matter was personally decided by Junior Uncle.”
The slender Daoist Nun seated on the large stone finally spoke up.
“Master.”
“I’ll say it.”
Her voice was still pleasant, her tone and pauses as peculiar as ever, and she habitually omitted sounds when she spoke.
Although everyone present addressed each other as senior and junior siblings, they did not come from the same master, but were true disciples of the same generation in the past.
Junior Uncle only had one disciple, and that was the Daoist Nun seated on the stone, her back to everyone.
Hearing Shen Man willingly accept responsibility, the others had nothing more to say.
It was unacceptable for one person to break the rules, but if everyone broke them together, that was something they had done often when they were still true disciples.
Sect Master Xiang Yan, with his rather plain appearance, found a good excuse, “Junior Sister, you could break through at any time, but you refuse to. If you were to directly ascend to the Seventh Realm, wouldn’t all these troubles disappear?”
Upon hearing this, Chu Yinyin looked down at her petite and undeveloped body, frowning, “It’s enough, it’s enough! The Sixth Realm is plenty! I’ll be bothered to death if I break through again!”
With no other recourse, they began to discuss the main issue.
Sect Master Xiang Yan, whose head resembled a glazed egg, looked up and asked, “Seventh Junior Sister, is our Divine Sense not mistaken? Are we sure it’s Clarity of Sword Heart?”
The Daoist Nun, who was economical with her words, merely nodded.
The others exchanged glances, exclaiming in wonder.
“How can a disciple in the Meridian-Opening Stage achieve Clarity of Sword Heart?”
“Indeed, Sword Cultivators with such profound understanding of the Sword Dao, excluding the Four Divine Swords, can be counted on one hand.”
“That’s not necessarily true. There are still some reclusive seniors in the Profound Yellow Realm, but at most, they would be within two hands.”
Clarity of Sword Heart signifies that one’s understanding of the Sword Dao has reached its absolute peak!
Li Chunsong recalled, “I remember Seventh Junior Sister achieving this state when she first entered the Seventh Realm, right? Even that is considered incredibly rare worldwide.”
“Yes, where did Junior Uncle find such a monstrous talent from the mountains?” Everyone collectively looked at Li Chunsong, who was responsible for picking them up from Wumeng Mountain.
The charitable gambling king immediately threw up his hands, “Don’t look at me. I only received the message and was responsible for escorting people down the mountain. I know nothing else.”
“But I completed my task perfectly, bringing everyone Junior Uncle instructed up the mountain. Shouldn’t I be rewarded with some Sect Contribution Points for this?” Li Chunsong started to beg.
“You just flew down the mountain once. How can you be so shameless?” Sect Master Xiang Yan immediately became stingy.
Elder Jiu, Nangong Yue, who possessed an accommodating nature, stood by. Her demeanor was gentle, and although she had no partner, she exuded a strong aura of wife material.
She smiled and sighed, “Even the current Sword Venerable of the Sword Sect, hailed as a once-in-a-millennium Sword Dao prodigy. The Sword Sect proclaims that he rivals the Dao Ancestor of that era, but he only achieved perfected Sword Heart upon entering the Great Cultivator realm, right?”
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately unified their front and began to mock.
“Why do people from their Sword Sect use our Dao Ancestor for comparison?”
“Exactly, they really gild the lily.”
“If they said they rivaled their First Generation Sword Venerable, it would be understandable. But to rival the Dao Ancestor? Does such a person exist?”
Chu Yinyin even shouted, “Bah, bah, bah! People from the Sword Sect are shameless!”
Even the slender Daoist Nun seated on the stone nodded frequently without a word.
The others sneered, showing how highly the cultivators of the Daoist Sect regarded the Dao Ancestor.
In the Eastern Continent, the Sword Sect was actually the oldest among the Four Great Sects, and it had always been the sacred land of the Sword Dao for Sword Cultivators.
It wasn’t until the emergence of the Dao Ancestor that all the Sword Cultivators of the Sword Sect of that generation were suppressed and could not hold their heads up.
Some grudges were formed from that time.
As for the grudges formed in recent years, they were mostly due to the Junior Uncle who went down the mountain.
He was once also counted among the Four Divine Swords.
Lu Pan, with a serious expression, snorted and added, “Never mind Clarity of Sword Heart. Looking at the 1500-year history of the Sword Sect, what Meridian-Opening Stage disciple has ever achieved Sword Heart? They couldn’t even get a foothold on the threshold of Sword Heart!”
The others exchanged glances. What were they waiting for?
To laugh!
“Hahahaha!”
In the Purple Bamboo Forest, a group of high-ranking members of the Daoist Sect burst into hearty laughter.
In fact, up to this point, Chu Yinyin still didn’t know which recorded disciple from the bottom of the cold pond had achieved Clarity of Sword Heart.
But she loved to join in the fun, so she also laughed along, “Hahaha!”
Due to a previous bet, Chu Huaixu had managed to win a bet against Li Chunsong, making his favor towards the latter extremely high.
He even jokingly tried to play matchmaker, “This kid will sooner or later enter the inner sect. Seventh Junior Sister, why don’t you take him as your true disciple?”
“Exactly, exactly. It’s most suitable for Seventh Junior Sister to teach Chu Huaixu,” said Sect Master Xiang Yan in his voice, which was as unpleasant as a squawking chicken.
Only then did Chu Yinyin understand in her heart, “So the one who caused such a commotion among the three at the bottom of the cold pond is called Chu Huaixu.”
She immediately became displeased, “I’m also a Sword Cultivator, and I don’t have any true disciples. Why shouldn’t he be my disciple?”
Everyone collectively gave her a sideways glance. Senior Disciple Lu Pan was the most merciless, “He has Clarity of Sword Heart. You think you’re fit to teach him?”
“You… you…” Chu Yinyin was truly unable to retort and became furious.
She, a cultivator at the peak of the Sixth Realm, was deemed not even fit to teach a low-level cultivator!
Elder Wu, Zhao Shuqi, was a person with squinting eyes. When he smiled, his eyes practically disappeared, adding insult to injury, “Junior Sister, don’t mislead the disciples.”
“Yes, we’re counting on him to humiliate the Sword Sect in the future,” Li Chunsong chimed in.
Chu Yinyin was exasperated, but she was outnumbered. Her clumsy little mouth couldn’t argue with them, so she secretly vowed to find an opportunity to meet this Chu Huaixu!
“Shen Man has inherited the Dao Ancestor’s legacy, who knows how long she’ll be in seclusion. What is she going to teach?” she muttered inwardly.
“Moreover, so what if I don’t have Clarity of Sword Heart? Clarity of Sword Heart is the limit. He has nothing more to teach in this regard. Does that matter?” Chu Yinyin was good at finding angles.
She decided that no matter what it took, she would make him call her Master!
She was determined to have this true disciple!
In the Purple Bamboo Forest, the titans of the cultivation world chatted merrily.
They couldn’t quite understand how this Clarity of Sword Heart came about either.
“Could it be that there really are people born with innate knowledge?”
“And if I remember correctly, he seems to have only a False Spiritual Embryo, right?”
“Sixth Junior Brother, when he breaks through and emerges from the Secret Realm, bring him to us to see,” said Sect Master Xiang Yan.
They wanted to study him, to capture and research him.
“Yes,” the Sixth Elder accepted the order.
“He’s truly a monster. Where did Junior Uncle pick up such a monster?” Li Chunsong continued to exclaim, unaware that he himself was the one who had picked him up.
As everyone was discussing, the slender Daoist Nun, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke, still in her characteristically concise manner:
“No sword.”
Everyone looked up, their faces filled with confusion.
But having been fellow disciples for many years, they were accustomed to Shen Man omitting sounds when she spoke and could infer her meaning.
These three words suddenly enlightened them.
It was only then that they realized that this young disciple whose comprehension of the Sword Dao had reached its peak… had not even wielded a sword until now!
***
