Chapter 703: Chapter 702: 1001
"Sword Emperor?"
Shi Xiaole looked up towards the sky.
The legend of the Sword Emperor has existed since ancient times.
The history of the Martial World today can be traced back to a thousand years ago, but records of even more distant periods are sporadic and disjointed, leaving the people of today unable to fully understand them.
But among the scant clues that have been passed down, there are several terms that are particularly awe-inspiring.
For instance, Sword Emperor!
That was the title countless swordsmen of the world revered as the most powerful swordsman, what is an emperor? An emperor rules over everything, his decrees are unflinching and no one dares disobey.
Only a true emperor among swordsmen, whose spirit, will, prowess, and sword technique all surpass that of common mortals, a peerless swordsman who is unparalleled in the world, is qualified to be called the Sword Emperor.
It was the supreme honor that can only belong to one person!
In the distant past of the Martial World, a Sword Emperor may have existed, but in recent millennia, there has not been one.
The so-called Martial Emperor, according to some people, his title was modeled after the Sword Emperor, but his strength was only undefeated in the past thousand years, and may not be a match for the legendary Sword Emperor.
Shi Xiaole said, "My dream is indeed to ascend to the pinnacle of the martial arts, but what is even more precious is the scenery and experiences along the way. The so-called Sword Emperor is just an empty title after all."
The Golden Sword King turned his head abruptly, seemingly unable to believe that someone of such a young age would say such words. After a pause, he said, "I can’t figure you out, but you will understand in the future, the Sword Emperor is far from just an empty title!"
"It is a symbol, a realm that no one can touch. Only when you experience that spirit can you truly understand its mystery."
The more the Golden Sword King spoke, the more excited he became. His aged face flushed red, his excitement reaching its peak, then it transitioned into deep regret and loneliness, "I cannot experience that spirit!"
Although Shi Xiaole understood the profundity of the process, his young blood was stirred by the Golden Sword King’s passion, and he couldn’t help but imagine what the realm of the Sword Emperor would be like.
"Youngster, remember, strong heart, strong sword, strong person, this is the Heart Sword!"
The Golden Sword King suddenly sat cross-legged, and all the golden Sword Qi around him bowed in subordination, all pointing towards him, as if he were the center here, as if thousands comply with his command.
That unique and even more potent aura of the sword suppressed Shi Xiaole that allowed him to understand the intent of the Golden Sword King. Gratefully, he hastened to sit cross-legged on the spot and began to calm himself and start comprehending.
Heart Sword, it sounds extraordinarily similar to Sword Heart, but the two are as different as day and night.
The so-called Sword Heart refers to having a sword in one’s heart and transforming heart thoughts into sword technique.
While with the Heart Sword, the heart and sword are inseparable, the heart is the sword, and the sword is the heart. The stronger the heart, the stronger the sword technique.
If the Heavenly Sword realm transforms everything one’s body comes into contact with into Sword Qi to attack the opponent, then once you reach the Heart Sword, it is no longer necessary to be deliberate. A raise of an eyebrow, a single breath is enough to become an incredibly strong Sword Qi.
The Golden Sword King said, the number of swordsmen in the Flying Horse Dynasty who have fully comprehended the Heart Sword does not exceed two hands’ worth, and it’s not an exaggeration. In fact, according to the Divine Strategy Academy, even those who have comprehended the Heart Sword, the number does not exceed one hundred!
You must know, this is not simply referring to the Divine Barrier Realm, but includes the entire Martial World.
The Martial World is much larger than what Shi Xiaole can currently fathom.
The top-tier powers only expose the tip of the iceberg of their strong players, let alone those profound Void Origin Realm powerhouses who scheme and hold their position in the rear, even those peak Earth Immortals who have an outstanding reputation and hundreds of years of cultivation, their capabilities are immeasurable.
The Divine Strategy Academy itself is one of the top-tier powers, although it has established a ranking of Earth Immortals, who in the world would expose their trump cards?
That is to say, the Earth Immortal rankings do encompass most of the Earth Immortals of the Martial World, but it’s very likely there are some hidden ones as well.
Even leaving aside these, there are those weirdos who are hidden in the mountains and countryside, their names aren’t widely known, but that makes them more terrifying. Perhaps one day, the fisherman that brushes past you, or the woodcutter living in the mountains, is an earth-shattering, peerless expert.
Under this broad context, the number of swordsmen who have understood the Heart Sword is only around one hundred, which goes to show how difficult and terrifying this state is!
Of course, this figure is only the Divine Strategy Academy’s estimate, but even if there is discrepancy, it should not be too off the mark.
In fact, from a long time ago, Shi Xiaole has been trying to understand the Heart Sword.
However, this state is more difficult than creating a breakthrough technique, completely unfathomable, directionless, even though Shi Xiaole had an early start, he found it hard to take the first step.
Now that the Golden Sword King was willing to lead the way, how could Shi Xiaole miss this opportunity?
An old and a young person sat opposite each other, an invisible yet mysterious aura circulated between them, causing the Golden Sword Way to emit uniform rumbling sounds.
"Old Gold is really going all out for this kid,"
The Thousand-Handed Poison King and the Shadow Illusion King looked at each other, they couldn’t have imagined that the Golden Sword King would go this far.
One day.
Two days.
Even though the Golden Sword King intended to lead the way, Shi Xiaole still felt like he was in a state of chaos, exhausting his mind yet unable to see the way forward.
It wasn’t until the third day that a faint glint seemed to shine in the chaos, without any direction or thread, it vanished as soon as it appeared, yet the chaos shivered.
The Sword Qi around him dissipated, and a weary voice came, "How is it?" These two short words seemed to exhaust all his strength.
Shi Xiaole opened his eyes, a intense tremor in his heart.
Who was the person in front of him? A face that was originally rosy had become pale, the skin slack and wrinkled. The whole person was like a skin-wrapped skeleton, only a pair of eyes flickering with a hint of brightness proved that he was still alive.
"Senior..."
"Don’t think too much, I was bound to die soon anyway."
It was said that the Sword Heart, when engaged with the Heavenly Dao, should never be imparted to outsiders, otherwise one would be struck by heavenly punishment. Could this legend actually be true?
Even the naive Shi Xiaole knew how greatly the Golden Sword King had favored him. Standing up from the ground, he fell to his knees: "Master, please accept a bow from Shi Xiaole!" and he bowed deeply.
"Master?"
There was a hint of moisture in Golden Sword King’s eyes. The ordinary title called forth long-sealed memories. Back then, there was someone who also showed him such respect, but in the end, met death at his own hands.
Golden Sword King had sworn not to accept any more disciples, yet hearing this just before his death, he felt a kind of unspeakable satisfaction.
"Child, what did you comprehend?"
Golden Sword King’s voice contained a rare softness.
"I’m dull with no achievements... I’ve only seen a beam of light."
Upon hearing the first part, Golden Sword King was not particularly disappointed, as that was the outcome he expected.
But at the latter part, he was first stunned, then his pupils contracted sharply. His deeply wrinkled face twitched continually, his chest rose and fell, and in the end, he broke into hearty laugh: "Good!"
Sword Heart was unable to be imparted and was hindered by the Heavenly Dao. But Shi Xiaole, who became his disciple right before his own death, saw a glimpse of the Sword Heart’s power, exceeding his original expectations.
Maybe, he had a one in ten chance, to contend for the legendary position of Sword Emperor.
That’s enough, that’s enough.
His head slumped to the side, the laughter abruptly stopped.
The Golden Sword King, known for being cold-hearted and ruthless, passed away forever.
Two waves of energy resonated in the space, and Shi Xiaole saw that two more strange elders appeared next to Golden Sword King, their faces smiling but their eyes slightly moist.
"Old Jin, the three of us promised to live and die together, so why are you so eager? Afraid that getting a good disciple would make us settle accounts with you? Haha, you can’t escape this," said the Thousand-Handed Poison King. He looked at the dazed Shi Xiaole and said, "Nephew, bury us three here and don’t let anyone see Old Jin in his present state."
After saying that, he threw a book at Shi Xiaole, and then the Shadow Illusion King and Poison King sat down together, severing their own hearts’ veins and committing suicide.
Shi Xiaole reached out, his hand hanging in the air.
Shi Xiaole had no right to stop them. He was slightly sad at the scene, but he was relieved that the Tri-Pole Strongmans could be together even in death.
Martial artists practice all their lives, and even the mighty Tri-Pole Strongmans who were regarded as the top hundred Earth Immortals, in the end, turned into a handful of yellow soil. So what was the meaning of cultivation? Would he end up like them in the end?
After burying the three, Shi Xiaole suddenly thought of Shi Xuanzhong, who seemed to be looking for immortals overseas. Could it be that he was also worried about this day?
After battling with various emotions for a while, Shi Xiaole opened the book. It recorded the two top-class martial arts practiced by the Golden Sword King, along with his lifetime insights. If this book made its way to the Martial World, it would definitely cause a frantic scramble.
’Golden Slaughter Nineteen Skills, Cease Killing Technique?’
Both of the top-notch martial art techniques required the motivation of the murder aura to display power and had to be combined with Golden Sword King’s Golden Slaughter Sword. But unfortunately, the top-rated sword had been lost when his disciple had betrayed him.
Moreover, they were not compatible with Shi Xiaole’s sword way. After some thought, Shi Xiaole decided to exchange these two martial arts for award points.
The reason why he did not directly exchange the martial arts was the fear that the martial arts he would get might not be suitable for him, and it would be a wasted opportunity. It’s better instead to buy directly with award points.
After all, to buy top-level martial arts, a four-star task had to be completed. The price was astronomical, and there was currently no hope.
Previously, when Shi Xiaole was at the Ghost Lethal Sect – Left Sect, he had already accumulated thirty-nine thousand nine hundred award points. Now, he had an astonishing forty-nine thousand and three hundred points.
"Divine Wind Movement and Effortless Seeking Technique have reached perfection, Xuanyin Twelve Swords and Dragon Gate Divine Skill have reached mastery, it’s time to practice other martial arts."
After perceiving his surroundings, Shi Xiaole didn’t feel the Sword Heart’s light that he had glimpsed earlier, so he had no choice but to give up. But the thought of the new martial art that he would be practicing to enhance his power soon made his minor disappointment vanish.
Without much hesitation, Shi Xiaole set his sights on a target in the Martial God Hall.
Ding!
’Congratulations to the host for acquiring the top-rated sword and blade techniques, Wei Sanqing’s Thousand One Ultimate Moves.’
As the founder of the most mysterious sect in the Martial World, Easiness Sect, there was no doubt about Wei Sanqing’s talent. In his era, he was an invincible existence, a deity in the martial arts world. Even his disciples were all martial arts masters in the Martial World.
Thousand One was Wei Sanqing’s ultimate move, combining one thousand and one forms of the Slaughter Scripture Hall’s specialties, the Wind Blade and Frost Sword. This technique was a perfect combination of "Wind Blade" and "Frost Sword", capable of bursting out with powerful momentum, high destructive power and absolute obliteration at an instance.
Once unleashed, it was akin to a barrage of bullets, unstoppable regardless of the terrain or the situation, capable of blasting all individuals across all directions into oblivion.
What satisfied Shi Xiaole most was that Thousand One could be used with either a blade or a sword. Combined with the dao of wind and frost, which is partially compatible with his Wind Sword Way, it was sure to elevate his swordsmanship!
