Chapter 431: Natal Sword Art
After writing down the sword art in the designated place, the previous swordsman appeared.
This time, Yu Nianzhen defeated him easily and an exit appeared.
However, Yu Nianzhen was more interested in the floor clearance reward than the exit.
’It’s not a strand of pure sword qi.’ He thought, feeling a little disappointed.
In the past thirty years, Yu Nianzhen had gotten used to receiving a strand of sword qi as a reward.
When he suddenly didn’t receive it, he couldn’t help but feel a little discouraged.
However, his disappointment was only momentary.
After suppressing his discomfort, he used his consciousness to check his body.
Soon after, his heart skipped a beat and an involuntary smile appeared on his lips.
"Sword essence." He muttered happily.
From an early age, he knew that every sword art contained sword essence.
Knowing this, he often practised different sword arts because he wanted to comprehend their sword essence and sword intent.
After many years of doing this, Yu Nianzhen had comprehended a lot of sword essence and his sword intent had become extremely terrifying.
However, Yu Nianzhen was never satisfied!
When he was in the Sea Cloud sect, he once read an ancient sword arts manual.
From the manual, he learned that those with a sword origin could create a natal sword art.
However, creating a natal sword art required one to condense sword essence in their dantian.
For many years, Yu Nianzhen tried to do this but his efforts were always met with failure.
Unexpectedly, the sword tower helped him realise his long-held desire.
"What a great opportunity." He said and immediately rushed to the one hundredth and tenth floor.
As soon as he entered, the door disappeared and a voice resounded.
"Add one sword move to your self-created sword art. Use the new sword art to defeat your opponent." The voice said.
This time, Yu Nianzhen didn’t rush.
He sat cross-legged and carefully thought about the sword art he created on the previous floor.
’I used the essence of two basic sword moves to create the sword art. One of the moves emphasises sharpness and the other is based on speed.’ He thought.
’This time, I should consider weight.’
After figuring it out, Yu Nianzhen considered the one hundred and six basic sword moves he hadn’t already used and made a choice.
Ten hours later, he finally wrote down the sword art and a swordsman appeared.
Since he was more careful in formulating the sword art, Yu Nianzhen passed in one go.
He quickly defeated the opponent and a strand of sword essence entered his body.
The new sword essence combined with the old and gained a complexity that was previously absent.
In this way, one hundred years passed and Yu Nianzhen finally cleared the two hundredth and fifteenth floor.
"Finally!" He said with a happy smile on his lips.
It took thirty years to polish his foundation, two years to break through to the late stage of the nascent soul realm, and one hundred years to create his natal sword art.
"My natal sword art will be called the Heaven Dominating sword art." He said.
The Heaven Dominating sword art was born from the sword essence of all one hundred and eight basic sword moves.
As its name suggested, it was extremely powerful and domineering.
However, Yu Nianzhen knew he couldn’t bring out its true potential with his current cultivation.
"It will become more terrifying as my cultivation advances." He said and a trace of expectation flashed in his eyes.
After saying that, he walked towards the next floor but his mind was preoccupied.
’It’s been one hundred and thirty-two years since I saw XiaoYue. I wonder how he is doing.’ He couldn’t help but wonder.
In the past one hundred and thirty-two years, there were many times he wanted to leave the sword tower to find Jiang Yue.
However, he always managed to stop himself.
Although he desperately missed his husband, he understood there was a time for everything.
At this time, he and Jiang Yue had to take advantage of the opportunities in front of them to become stronger.
With a nostalgic sigh, Yu Nianzhen continued walking and soon arrived on the two hundredth and sixteenth floor.
As usual, the door disappeared and a voice resounded in the room.
"Comprehend a sword intent and use it to defeat your opponent." The voice said.
Hearing this, Yu Nianzhen was confused but before he could think more, a stone slab appeared in the middle of the room.
The stone slab was two metres tall and two metres wide.
In the middle of the stone slab, there was a deep cut and Yu Nianzhen immediately recognised it as a sword cut.
"Should I comprehend a sword intent from the sword cut?" He muttered and carefully looked at the sword cut.
As he looked, Yu Nianzhen felt like he was suddenly standing in the middle of a blizzard.
The blizzard was full of sharp winds and the winds cut through his defences, directly sinking into his bones.
In the blink of an eye, Yu Nianzhen was covered in wounds and he couldn’t help but struggle to escape the blizzard
When he came to, Yu Nianzhen was panting and a line of blood was flowing from his mouth.
"What a powerful sword intent." He muttered with a lingering fear in his eyes.
For a moment, he truly believed he was in a blizzard.
If he didn’t suddenly wake up, Yu Nianzhen had no doubt he would have died.
’I can’t be careless.’ He thought as he swallowed a pill to heal his internal injuries.
Three days later, his injuries healed and Yu Nianzhen spent another two days adjusting his mental state.
When he was ready, he once again looked at the sword cut.
This time, he controlled his consciousness and didn’t allow himself to be drawn into the sword intent.
Instead, he became an observer and only comprehended the sword intent without getting involved.
After a month of study, Yu Nianzhen knew the sword mark on the stone slab was made by a sword art called the infinite blizzard sword art.
The basis of the sword art was speed, sharpness, and flexibility.
From this, he comprehended a preliminary sword intent based on speed.
"I will try it first." He said.
Soon after, he wielded his wooden sword and swung towards the stone slab.
Simultaneously, a silver sword intent cantered from the sword and hit the stone slab.
Unfortunately, it landed like a trickle and didn’t leave a mark.
Seeing this, Yu Nianzhen sighed but wasn’t too disappointed.
Although he comprehended a preliminary sword intent, he knew it wasn’t powerful enough to pass the level.
If he wanted to pass the level, the sword intent he comprehended had to have the three aspects of speed, sharpness, and flexibility.
More importantly, his opponent would only appear if the comprehended sword intent could leave a mark on the stone slab.
"I have to work harder." He said and sat cross-legged.
In this way, ten years passed.
Using the preliminary sword intent as a foundation, Yu Nianzhen finally comprehended an extremely powerful sword intent.
Although the sword intent wasn’t as powerful as that of the Infinite Blizzard sword art, it was enough to leave a mark on the stone slab.
Soon after, the stone slab disappeared and a swordsman appeared in its place.
"I finally waited for an opponent." Yu Nianzhen said and held his sword tightly.
A moment later, the fight began and the two swordsmen collided in the middle of the room.
With his derivation of the infinite blizzard sword intent, Yu Nianzhen managed to fight for six hours.
Unfortunately, his sword intent was fundamentally inferior to his opponent and he eventually lost.
However, Yu Nianzhen was not discouraged.
In fact, his loss made him more excited and motivated.
When the stone slab reappeared, he continued to comprehend the sword intent and didn’t stop until three years later.
After three years, Yu Nianzhen’s sword intent matured a lot and he finally defeated his opponent.
"I wonder what my reward is." He couldn’t help but look forward to it.
In the first stage, he received pure sword qi and sword essence in the second stage.
Now that he had cleared the first floor of the third stage, he couldn’t help but think about it.
As Yu Nianzhen was thinking about it, he felt something enter his body.
Feeling the familiar feeling, a smile bloomed on his lips and a burst of anticipation consumed his heart.
With some excitement, he sat cross-legged and his consciousness sank into his dantian.
A moment later, his features creased in confusion and his consciousness searched more carefully.
"Where is the reward?" He muttered.
"I clearly felt something enter my body." He said and began another search.
However, his third search did not yield any results and Yu Nianzhen couldn’t help but be confused.
Just as he was beginning to doubt himself, his body froze and his mind went blank.
