Chapter 94: With a Sword in Hand, Who Cannot be Killed?
Ye Guan felt warm all over. He opened his eyes slowly and saw a beautiful visage.
He was staring at a silver-haired woman. It was none other than Ji Xuan.
Ye Guan was shocked. “Lady Ji?”
Ji Xuan smiled. “You’re awake?”
Ye Guan was confused. “Where am I?”
Ji Xuan smiled. “You are still in the Profound World. You fainted, so I brought you over here. Don’t worry, it’s safe here.”
Ye Guan smiled. “Many thanks for helping me, Lady Ji.”
Ji Xuan smiled. “It was nothing.”
Ye Guan was curious. “Lady Ji Xuan, why are you here?”
Ji Xuan took out a pill and placed it in front of Ye Guan’s mouth. “Take this pill first.”
Ye Guan opened his mouth, and Ji Xuan fed him the pill. Her fingers touched Ye Guan’s lips, perhaps by accident.
Ye Guan’s expression didn’t change, but Ji Xuan blushed.
A cooling sensation swept past Ye Guan the moment he swallowed the pill. He felt comfortable all over, and he felt his wounds itch as they healed.
Ye Guan breathed in deeply as the fear from earlier inundated him. He vowed to be more careful in the future. Of course, he acknowledged that sometimes—cultivators would have no choice but to risk their lives.
He had pretended like he was already displaying the limits of his power to deliver his ultimate move once the opponent had let their guard down.
He only had one chance, but it was worth it. Unfortunately, Ye Guan realized through that exchange that he was still too weak and too slow.
If Liu Bing hadn’t underestimated him, he would have been defeated. Liu Bing definitely had his own ultimate moves. I wasn’t strong enough! Ye Guan breathed in deeply. I have to work even harder.
Ji Xuan smiled at him and said, “I came here to cultivate, and I didn’t expect to stumble upon you here. I guess we truly are living in a small world.”
Ye Guan pushed away his thoughts and smiled. “Thank you so much, Lady Ji.”
Ji Xuan shook her head. “No worries, it was nothing.”
Ye Guan smiled, but he didn’t say anything anymore. He simply carved the favor on his heart.
Ji Xuan suddenly asked, “Did you just defeat a talent from the Guanxuan Universe?”
Ye Guan nodded. “I got lucky.”
Ji Xuan smiled. “You’re going to be famous.”
Ye Guan shook his head with a bitter smile. He didn’t really want to be famous. He very much wanted to remain unknown. The best-case scenario was remaining unknown until he had become invincible.
The strongest powerhouses were those who had grown secretly.
Ji Xuan smiled. “Your reputation throughout the Zhongtu Divine Continent can now be compared to Dongli Mo’s reputation. Do you know Dongli Mo? He’s from the Undying Clan.”
Ye Guan replied, “I’ve heard of him.”
Ji Xuan nodded. “He has always been training in the Main Guanxuan Academy, and he’s apparently the best talent the Undying Clan had ever produced. He’s also the crowd favorite for the upcoming Destiny Contest[1].”
Ye Guan looked at Ji Xuan. “Lady Ji, are you going to join the contest?”
Ji Xuan smiled. “Yes.”
Ye Guan smiled back. “I’m going to join as well.”
Ji Xuan blinked. “You have to show mercy to me if we end up facing each other.”
She blushed upon thinking of something.
Ye Guan smiled. “You sure know how to jest, Lady Ji. You’re so strong to the point that I think you’re the one who should show mercy to me.”
Ji Xuan chuckled before changing the topic. “Anyway, you should focus on recovering before anything else.”
Ye Guan nodded. “I will.”
Ji Xuan turned around and vanished before reappearing on a tree branch. She sat down and started reading what looked like a yellowed book. Ye Guan looked up at Ji Xuan and caught sight of the book’s title—Thirty-Six Yin Yang Techniques.
Thirty-Six Yin Yang Techniques? Ye Guan frowned. What kind of book is that? What a weird name.
Ye Guan didn’t think too much about it and slowly closed his eyes. He started absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy to convert them into profound energy that would speed up his recovery and replenish his reservoir.
Meanwhile, Ji Xuan was still reading the yellowed book on a tree branch, and she would occasionally blush while smiling to herself.
An hour later, Ye Guan sat up. He had more or less recovered. Ye Guan stood up and looked up at Ji Xuan. Ji Xuan hurriedly hid the book that she was reading and smiled at him. “Have you recovered, Young Master Ye?”
Ye Guan nodded and smiled. “Yes.”
He hesitated for a few moments before taking out a storage ring and extended it over to Ji Xuan.
“Lady Ji, please take this,” he said.
Ji Xuan’s curiosity was piqued. She accepted the storage ring and found two intact dragon carcasses inside of it.
Ji Xuan froze and said, “Young Master Ye, what is this for?”
Ye Guan smiled. “Dragon meat. It strengthens your physique and improves your cultivation, so you should eat it whenever you have time.”
Ji Xuan thought about it for a moment before smiling. “Thank you.”
She put away the storage ring and asked, “Young Master Ye, are you interested in visiting a ruin?”
Ye Guan was curious. “A ruin?”
Ji Xuan nodded. “The ruin is a stone stele in front of a lake somewhere south of the Profound World. The stone stele?is emblazoned with words that a swordsman had left behind.”
Ye Guan asked, “Words that a swordsman had left behind?”
Ji Xuan nodded slightly. “It’s a popular place for swordsmen, and since you’re a swordsman. I thought that you might be interested in visiting it. The words on the stele?could prove useful to you.”
Ye Guan was indeed interested. “What does the stone stele?say?”
“It’ll be no fun if I just tell you,” said Ji Xuan. “We should go there so you can take a look at it for yourself.”
Ye Guan nodded. “All right.”
With that, the two soared into the sky and disappeared into the horizon.
It didn’t take them that long to arrive in front of a lake. There were quite a few people near the lake, and Ye Guan saw a few swordsmen among them.
Swordsmen!?This was Ye Guan’s first time seeing another swordsman. He truly wanted to exchange blows with another swordsman, but he wasn’t so rude as to just approach them and ask for a fight.
In addition, Ye Guan didn’t really want to make an enemy of a swordsman.
Ji Xuan smiled. “Let’s go take a look.”
Ye Guan nodded, and the two of them walked to the lake. A stone stele stood in the distance, and the following phrase was emblazoned on it: the world is vast, and those who wield the sword are free. A meter-long sword in hand, who cannot be killed?
Ye Guan froze. How arrogant!
However, Ye Guan clenched his fists.
Swordsmen had to cultivate both their heart and prowess.
A meter-long sword in hand, who cannot be killed? Can I do that as well? He obviously couldn’t do the same. Ye Guan closed his eyes, and the words emblazoned on the stone stele?echoed in his mind.
Moments later, Ye Guan walked up to the stone stele?and touched it lightly.
“With a sword in hand, who cannot be killed? How arrogant.” He paused and inwardly asked, “Master Pagoda, why can I also sense loneliness from these words?”
Little Pagoda asked, “Loneliness?”
“Yes,” Ye Guan said, “I think the swordsman who wrote these words had already become invincible. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have dared to do such a thing. Those at the summit are often lonely, so this swordsman must have been lonely as well, right?”
Little Pagoda was about to speak, but the stone stele?in front of Ye Guan trembled and let out a resonant hum.
Hum!
The onlookers were shocked.
Ye Guan’s expression changed, and he hurriedly pulled his hand away.
The words emblazoned on the stone stele?transformed into a sword that slashed toward Ye Guan.
Ye Guan’s pupils constricted.
The world slowed down. Ye Guan could feel his heart beating loudly against his chest, and the sword had slowed down as well.
However, Ye Guan could still feel the immense power that the sword contained, and it seemed entirely capable of splitting the world into two. It was an unrivaled sword move!
Ye Guan had already seen an unrivaled sword move, and it was Plain-Skirt Sister’s sword move. He could still vividly remember the terror he felt while he was staring at that sword move. Back then, he was still weak. He couldn’t feel anything else but fear.
However, he had already become a swordsman, and he could finally see how laughable his sword moves were compared to the sword moves of those who were at the summit of the Sword Dao.
So a sword can actually be so powerful? Is it because of the wielder’s sheer physical prowess? No! There’s also a strange energy…. what?energy? A Sword Spirit! A swordsman must have their own Sword Spirit!
And a swordsman also needed conviction. How is conviction born? Through faith! What is my conviction? Where does my faith lie? Wait, do I even have one? No!
Ye Guan had always treated his sword as a murder weapon. It turned out that he had been a frog in the well all this while. He suddenly recalled his fight against An Mu. It was an unfair fight. Little Jia lost her fleshly?body and became a sleeping soul.
Ye Guan recalled how the True Dragon Clan had almost annihilated the Ye Clan. If it hadn’t been for Master Pagoda, the Ye Clan would have been annihilated, and he would have perished back then.
He recalled how he had to go ask the clans of the Zhongtu Divine Continent for help and a safe place to stay. He recalled how he had almost died fighting Yun Chen for the very first time.
Ye Guan reviewed all the hardships he had experienced so far, and he came to one conclusion. He had to become invincible and reach the summit of the Sword Dao, or he and his loved ones would perish from the bloody path he had been walking on.
What if he relied on Master Pagoda? No, Master Pagoda is unreliable. I have to rely on myself. I’ve decided to become a swordsman, so I have to become invincible. If I do not pursue the summit of the Sword Dao, why did I even become a swordsman?
Ye Guan’s pupils constricted. He stared at the sword that was still flying toward him and declared with conviction and determination. “I want to be invincible! My goal is to become invincible, and I have faith that I’ll become invincible!”
The sword finally pierced Ye Guan’s forehead.
It went in smoothly and noiselessly, but….
Boom!
A terrifying burst of power exploded from him, sending everyone staggering backward and forcing them to retreat.
Hum!
The Path Sword in him trembled, and it let out a resonant hum.
The onlookers were stupefied.
“Complete Sword Dao! Half-step Sword Sovereign!”
“I knew he was talented, but I couldn’t have expected that he would discover his own Sword Dao so easily. Even Master and Young Master took quite a while to decide on their goals and establish their faith. I also didn’t think that he would be so ambitious.
“Invincibility… the Invincible Sword Dao! Goodness!” Little Pagoda’s voice was trembling. The Invincible Sword Dao. This world had only given birth to two people who had successfully established the Invincible Sword Dao.
The first one was Plain Skirt Destiny, while the second one was Freedom Swordsman. They had embarked on the Invincible Sword Dao, so they were invincible, but they led lonely lives.
Yang Ye’s sword dao was the Sword Dao of Emotion. He ended up becoming invincible at the end of his journey, but he experienced many hardships on his journey to the summit.
The Sword Master’s journey was similar to Yang Ye's journey because his sword dao was the World Sword Dao.
Plain Skirt Destiny and Freedom Swordsman were the only ones who had been invincible throughout their journey to the summit.
Ye Guan had seen the words that Freedom Swordsman had carved on a stone stele, and he didn’t hesitate to choose the same path as the latter.
Ye Guan had no idea that he was about to embark on an arduous journey with terrifying consequences. The Invincible Sword Dao demanded invincibility, as it was a Great Dao that loomed over more than three thousand sword daos.
Even a single failure was enough to shatter the Invincible Sword Dao. In other words, a swordsman who had established the Invincible Sword Dao had to be invincible among their peers and go even further beyond while remaining invincible throughout.
1. Great Dao Destiny Contest. Just shortened it 👈
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