Chapter 055 - Ten-Step Scale
"What else is white...?" Zhao Xuanran grabbed the sword manual, fixing her eyes on her own signature! "S-snow white... Ah!" Realization struck, her mind exploded in an uproar. SMACK SMACK SMACK! Flushed with embarrassment and anger, she first used the sword manual to hit Yun Xiao on the head three times, then she tried to tear off the page with her name on it.
In the breeze, this beauty in a black gown blushed, biting her red lips, her eyes glaring at Yun Xiao, both infuriated to turbulent degrees and embarrassed to the point of doubting her life. The nickname under her jade finger, its meaning could never be the same again!
Thinking of she had left of such a misleading name as her legacy, she was speechless to the point of shivering down her spine.
"Don't tear it!" Yun Xiao, quick-eyed and nimble-handed, snatched the sword manual away.
"Yun Xiao, give it to me!" She bit her lip and called the young man’s full name for the first time.
"Senior Sister Zhao, this is ancestral heritage, you can’t tear it," Yun Xiao said with utmost seriousness.
"Give it here!" She glared.
"If you don't tear it, I'll give it back to you." Yun Xiao put the sword manual behind him.
"You... you’re killing me with anger!" Zhao Xuanran stared at the white-clothed young man, feeling somewhat helpless. He was so stubborn!
"Are you going to tear it...?" Yun Xiao raised an eyebrow.
"Fine fine fine, I won't tear it! Agh, you're so annoying!" Zhao Xuanran, a bit angry, swayed her jade legs and sat on the cliff. Sure enough, even her annoyed look was somewhat cute.
"Rest assured, apart from me, no one will think nonsensically." Yun Xiao sat beside her, speaking earnestly.
"Give it here," Zhao Xuanran pouted.
Yun Xiao could only give the sword manual back to her. As he handed over the book, he couldn’t help but take another glance down, uncontrollably saying, "Truly worthy of the name!"
SMACK SMACK SMACK! Zhao Xuanran took the sword manual and immediately smacked it on his head three times.
From a distance, Cai Maomao was shocked, secretly saying, "I didn't expect that even a handsome man like Junior Brother Yun would also get beaten like us! It must be because his aptitude is dull, disappointing Senior Sister Zhao!"
Fortunately, Zhao Xuanran no longer cared about the nickname matter. She immediately turned to the next page, her tone serious, beginning to introduce Yun Xiao to this First Sword of Azure Spirit.
"Be serious! Look at the manual!" Zhao Xuanran said.
"Yes!" Only then did Yun Xiao move his gaze to the sword manual. Sure enough, the First Sword of Azure Spirit, a Moon-grade sword manual, quickly captured his gaze!
Flying Sword Technique, Ten-Step Scale.
Palm Sword Technique, Azure Dragon Squall.
Sovereign Sword Technique, Azure Sky Will.
“The sword techniques of the Immortal Dao... Even the names are so elegant, transcendent!” Yun Xiao read the sword manual, mesmerized. To him at least, they sounded a lot cooler than other sword and movement techniques.
Flying Sword, Swallow Tail Flash, Ten-Step Scale.
Palm Sword, Azure Lightning Crane, Azure Dragon Squall.
Sovereign Sword, Leisurely Wander, Azure Sky Will!"
"Senior Sister Zhao, what is the Ten-Step Scale?” Yun Xiao decided to start his learning with the Flying Sword Technique first. The Flying Sword was utilized for instant death from afar!
In an attempt to erase the embarrassment from her mind, Zhao Xuanran hummed softly, beginning her explanation, “Ever skipped stones on water?”
“I have. I am unmatched at it.” Yun Xiao proclaimed.
“Ten-Step Scale is like making the Sword Soul skip on air. As the sword enters the void, each turn and resonance with the air creates a fish-scale-like glow and the sound of a sword hum. Each turn allows the Sword Soul to instantly reposition, using the air's spiritual energy to gain momentum and increase killing power,” Zhao Xuanran explained.
“One turn is one step, and ten steps mean the Flying Sword accelerates, transforms, and strengthens ten times, making it the Ten-Step Scale?” Yun Xiao asked.
“Correct!” Zhao Xuanran affirmed, “As the saying goes, ten steps of the sword and seas split and mountains crumble. It describes the Ten-Step Scale! If you can make the sword hum ten times, one sword releases like ten flying fish, each strike explodes with power, killing in a blink of an eye!”
“I understand!” Yun Xiao nodded. Ten-Step Scale, a sword technique for killing! Just this description alone told him it was more powerful than Swallow Tail Flash.
“Palm Sword Technique, Azure Dragon Squall,” Yun Xiao’s gaze moved downwards on the sword manual.
“Junior Brother Yun, what is the attribute of your Sword Soul?” Zhao Xuanran asked.
“Does it matter?” Yun Xiao questioned.
“It does. If you possess the attribute of thunder, practicing Azure Lightning Crane will be more powerful. If you have the storm attribute, Azure Dragon Squall will be stronger for you,” Zhao Xuanran explained. In other words, Azure Dragon Squall was based on the storm.
“My Sword Soul probably has some wind attribute,” Yun Xiao noted.
“Good!” Zhao Xuanran nodded, “In Azure Dragon Squall, the sword is like a storm, striking like a dragon, grandly opening and closing, embodying the energy of Azure Spirit's Sword Pavilion. It has three forms—Ask the Heart, Ask the Heaven, and Ask the Dao.”
“In the three questions of the human world, the Sword Heart is clear, bearing no grudge against the world,” Yun Xiao recited a line from the sword manual.
“Lastly, the Sovereign Sword Technique, Azure Sky Will,” Zhao Xuanran announced.
“What’s special about it?”
“The intention of a Sword Cultivator, aiming at the azure sky! You practice Leisurely Wander, playing among humans, not caring about the worldly dust. But if you practice Azure Sky Will, you inherently possess the aura to reach the heavens. A man's ambition is in all directions, aiming at the azure sky, advancing fearlessly, the sword pointing at all evil!” Zhao Xuanran's voice rose passionately.
“Alright, Azure Sky Will! Soar through the clouds, ambition in the azure sky!” Yun Xiao felt it. Ten-Step Scale! Azure Dragon Squall! Azure Sky Will! These three sword techniques perfectly matched his current state of mind. Not leisurely wandering, but aiming at the grand expanse! He now possessed these three Moon-grade sword techniques! Even Ye Tiance could not practice such sword techniques!
“Let me explain the details to you first, then lead you in sword practice.” Zhao Xuanran was quite serious as she continued to turn the pages.
“Hmm.” Yun Xiao glanced at her profile and nodded. A gentle breeze blew, bringing with it a subtle, captivating fragrance, as strands of long hair teased and enticed.
He sank deep into the path of the sword, immersing himself in the state of a genius Sword Cultivator. On the first day, he did not touch his sword. First, he listened, then he watched, slowly accumulating the rhythm of the sword within his heart as he listened, and practicing them in his mind as he watched.
Under the sun and the moonlight, before Yun Xiao’s eyes, the woman in black, Zhao Xuanran, first unleashed the Ten-Step Scale with her Flying Sword, then performed the fierce Azure Dragon Squall with her Palm Sword. The former was a deadly machine, the latter, grand and bold! With her sword's momentum soaring in a fearless advance... It was utterly delightful!
In the evening breeze, Zhao Xuanran flew through the heavens and earth on her Sovereign Sword. Yun Xiao stood on her sword, his hand holding her slender waist, listening to her explain the secrets of the Sovereign Sword. The black sword howled, shooting up to the clouds, flying beyond the cloud's edge, embracing the azure sky and the moon in absolute splendor.
As night deepened, the two descended from their swords, returning before the Grand Hall. Yun Xiao's mind was filled with shadows of swords and beautiful figures, along with the nickname in the sword manual.
"Senior Sister Zhao, thank you for your hard work." Yun Xiao bowed with a look full of respect. She indeed had worked hard, explaining and demonstrating for him the entire day.
"Not at all," Zhao Xuanran said softly, "Take the sword manual and study it more tonight."
"No need, I have already learned it all," Yun Xiao suddenly smiled.
"What?" Zhao Xuanran was stunned! "Stop with the jokes, it's boring. You haven’t even unsheathed your sword," Zhao Xuanran said.
Yun Xiao turned and pointed to a blue stone on the opposite mountain, asking, “How many steps can you reach with Ten-Step Scale?”
“I’ve only practiced for a year, so seven steps,” Zhao Xuanran said.
“Is that very powerful?” Yun Xiao asked with a smile.
“Anyway, it’s stronger than my senior brothers and sisters. My father at my age could only reach three steps,” Zhao Xuanran said, appearing quite satisfied with herself.
“Can your Flying Sword hit that blue stone?” Yun Xiao asked.
Zhao Xuanran glanced in that direction and shook her head, “No, it’s too far.”
“I can!” Yun Xiao said.
“You?” Zhao Xuanran looked at him, “At this distance, unless you can do ten steps, you won’t reach it. I know you have high talent, start practicing tomorrow, and perhaps in ten days, you can master it.” Ten days! She herself dared not even think of it.
“What if I can?” Yun Xiao asked.
“Impossible!” Zhao Xuanran stated confidently.
“I’m a man, having a little more range is normal,” Yun Xiao said with a light laugh.
Zhao Xuanran was struck speechless. If it had been a greasy man saying this in front of her, it would certainly be disgusting. But this boy had a divine appearance, so even his crude words seemed ethereal and otherworldly. Astonishing!
“If you can shatter that blue stone, tonight I will...” Zhao Xuanran gritted her teeth.
“What will you do tonight?” Yun Xiao looked at her pretty face under the moonlight.
“What do you think?” Zhao Xuanran lowered her head, her cute face flushed, her gaze blurred.
There was a chance! Yun Xiao was energized.
“But what if you fail?” Before Yun Xiao could think more, Zhao Xuanran looked up at him, a bit cunning in her eyes.
“You decide the punishment!” Yun Xiao said.
“320,000 Spirit Stones, all returned to me!” Zhao Xuanran said, sticking out her tongue.
This time it was Yun Xiao's turn to be struck speechless. He did not expect her to still remember this money!
“Greedy woman!” Yun Xiao despised in his heart. “If Blue Star and Red Moon had bowels, these Spirit Stones would've already become feces...”
Despite this, he still smiled and said, “Okay, the bet is set.”
“Pinky promise!” Zhao Xuanran stretched out her hand.
“Okay!”
"Breaking promises is for curs!" Zhao Xuanran warned.
“You said it.” Yun Xiao reached out, Heaven Burial appeared in his hand, held between his fingers as his twenty-two layer Sword Aura surged.
“Quick, look!” A few Sword Pavilion disciples were also drawn over.
They were thrilled. But if they knew the content of the bet between Yun Xiao and Zhao Xuanran, they’d probably be even more excited.
“Watch closely!” Yun Xiao's demeanor fell heavy. As his eyes fixed on that blue stone, his gaze turned cold. In his view, the blue stone transformed into a ghostly figure, and an intent to kill actually sprouted in his eyes! This sudden murderous air made everyone blink! Killing intent was present! So was the force of the sword!
His straightforward intention to kill even a stone highlighted Yun Xiao’s heavy murderous aura. He suddenly closed his eyes! “Ten-Step Scale?”
Skipping stones, sword spin, shimmering fish scales, sword hum, sword trajectory... Vivid images scrolled in his mind. It was true that Yun Xiao had never taken out his sword this whole time. But by listening to the mysterious laws behind the technique and watching Zhao Xuanran practice, he had already executed it thousands of times in his mind.
“Perhaps, this is what they call talent!” Yun Xiao muttered. This was true talent! Not a Dao Seed Talent, nor the quality of someone's Sword Soul. But something innately within his spirit. Although he closed his eyes, the blue stone did not disappear but became the only thing in his world!
Himself, his sword, and the blue stone! In the world, only these three things remained!
Ten-Step Scale!
His sword intent locked onto the blue stone in an instant! The Flying Sword in his hand shot out instantaneously.
Pop, pop, pop! The azure Flying Sword sped through the air, continuously exploding, each time splashing out a shimmer of fish scales, as if several water flowers bloomed in the air! It was incredibly fast! In just a moment, ten hums of the sword rang out!
BANG! The blue stone on the mountain instantly exploded! BANG BANG BANG! Beyond the blue stone, several large trees at a farther distance fell down in response!
“Return!” Yun Xiao elegantly withdrew his hand, a blue light flashed back instantly, turning into a cerulean lotus Sword Soul, spinning in his hand like a ferocious beast made out of azure light.
The crowd gathered in the Sword Pavilion fell dead silent.
“Ten sounds! Is that the Ten-Step Scale?!” Cai Maomao, with wide eyes, sat down on the ground. His mind felt as cooked as a roasted chicken. During the day, he had thought Yun Xiao was too stupid and got beaten for it!
“Didn't Junior Brother Yun only start looking at the sword manual today?” Qin Tong was dumbfounded.
"Is he still even human...?" The gazes of the crowd first fell on Yun Xiao, then unanimously turned to Zhao Xuanran! The person in question herself was rigid, her eyes wide open, as if she had been frozen in place.
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