A beam of light pierced the heavens, and sword intent surged across the square. In the instant everyone else was sent flying...
Xu Xian’s vision was suddenly filled with a blinding white glare that forced his eyes shut.
Then, the world went black.
Afterward, the world brightened once more.
It all happened in a flash, like a light in a room being flicked on, off, and then on again. As his vision adjusted, the world before him had changed yet again.
'Again?'
Everything had been turned upside down. It felt as if he had entered another dream.
Before him lay a celestial realm of clouds. White clouds drifted lazily through an intensely blue sky, surrounded by shimmering, multicolored auroras...
A hidden grotto-heaven?
A blessed land?
The legendary Fuchun small world?
Or... was this still an illusion?
A multitude of guesses flooded his mind, but Xu Xian’s attention was quickly captured by a tall white tower standing before him.
The tower rose from the sea of clouds, piercing the firmament. Built entirely of white jade, it radiated a mysterious and sacred aura.
Its surface was etched with patterns, diagrams, calligraphy, and symbols...
Counting from the bottom up, the tower had twelve stories, its doors and windows all tightly shut.
Five large characters were inscribed upon the tower’s gatehouse in a magnificent, sweeping style.
At first glance, it was like peering through the gates of heaven; at the second, the subtle rhythm of the Dao emerged; upon closer inspection, it was a tempest of sword intent.
Xu Xian lowered his brows and thought to himself, 'What does that say?'
At that moment, a long sigh echoed from above the clouds, followed by the deep, ancient resonance of a dying whale’s cry.
Amidst the sound, a human voice began to chant:
'In the heavens lies the White Jade Capital, with twelve towers and five cities...'
'The immortal strokes my head, bestowing upon me the gift of eternal life...'
"The Heavenly White Jade Capital..."
Hearing the voice, Xu Xian looked up toward the sky. He saw neither person nor object, only the intense sunlight that made his eyes sting. He felt a breeze rise before him, soft as a silk veil brushing against his cheek...
When he regained his focus, a book had appeared out of thin air, suspended between the tower and the clouds.
The book had no writing on its pages, yet a gentle wind flipped through them.
With a rustling sound, the twelve-story sword tower suddenly dissolved into a sky full of sword intent, scrambling to pour into the small book...
One sword became a horizontal stroke, another a vertical line, a third transformed into a left-falling stroke, and a fourth became a right-falling one.
Horizontal turns, hooks, rising strokes, and dots—every sword was a stroke, ten thousand swords became ten thousand characters, all entering the book and drenching the white paper in black ink.
The howling swords.
The biting wind.
The vast white clouds.
The sword tower had become a book.
The youth witnessed the entire process, struck with awe. His mind was like a turbulent ocean, unable to find peace for a long time.
He watched until the tower vanished.
He watched until the sword aura dissipated.
He watched until the thick book was filled with writing, and the gentle wind faded, no longer wishing to turn the pages.
The book closed.
It was as if an immortal had appeared in the void to lift a brush, writing five grand characters on the black cover.
Finally, a profound silence fell over the world. The sea of clouds was hushed, the scene frozen in time, leaving only the thumping of Xu Xian’s heart...
In his shock, Xu Xian raised his hand and reached out, grasping the book.
The moment it touched his palm, his consciousness expanded into a sea. His entire body shuddered, and he fell into a trance.
A glimmer of light flashed in the depths of his eyes as he parted his lips to whisper.
"The Sword Tower, White Jade Capital."
The boy did not know the words, but the book knew the boy.
It told Xu Xian its name.
It was called the Heavenly White Jade Capital.
It was a sword tower, a supreme divine weapon.
It was a sword manual, a supreme divine technique.
Xu Xian flipped through one page, then another, and another... In that moment, the world around him went silent. The characters in the book seemed to transform back into countless strands of sword intent, flooding into his mind.
Myriad images and information flashed through his brain.
He suddenly knew how to read.
He understood things for no apparent reason.
He simply stood there.
It felt as though a hundred years, a thousand years, ten thousand years had passed in the blink of an eye...
The stars.
Sword intent.
The nine heavens and ten earths.
A dream of a thousand years.
Snapping back to reality, Xu Xian closed the book in his hands and exhaled a long breath of turbid air. "Phew~ As expected of a cultivation world. Truly miraculous."
He suddenly knew many things.
For instance, the classification of cultivation realms.
For instance, the grades of cultivation techniques...
And for instance... that this was the spirit sea world within the sword stele. He wasn't physically here; rather, it was his intent—or one could say his soul—that had appeared here.
The world also called this 'enlightenment.'
He knew this book was called the Heavenly White Jade Capital. It could be a weapon or a secret manual, but in Xu Xian’s eyes, it looked more like an architectural blueprint.
Xu Xian could form a contract with it and awaken the book spirit.
The book spirit would help him rebuild the Heavenly White Jade Capital.
In short, this was a monumental opportunity. Xu Xian’s luck was extraordinarily good.
Xu Xian calmed his thoughts and followed the process in his mind to form the contract.
He had said it before: cultivation was fine, but suffering was not. Clearly, this book would save him a lot of trouble, both now and in the future.
No sooner said than done.
After an unknown amount of time spent working through the process...
Xu Xian, sitting cross-legged atop the clouds, slapped his thigh.
"It’s done!"
The book resting on his knees glowed with golden light. It slowly floated upward and spread open...
A magical scene unfolded.
The characters in the book wove together to form a cocoon of light. A small creature tore through the radiance and emerged from the cocoon.
Xu Xian widened his eyes to get a better look.
It was a tiny person, no bigger than a palm, looking like a porcelain doll—small, cute, with short limbs and skin as white as frost. Even its hair was white.
It was dressed like a little page boy, wearing a small hat that looked like a book. On its back was a tiny book chest, which held several miniature swords.
However, upon closer inspection, those swords were merely ornaments.
The tiny figure was bathed in divine light, its small eyes shimmering with five-colored starlight.
It deliberately descended a bit, bowed slightly, and spoke in a gentle voice, "I heard your call and have traveled ten thousand miles to come here. From this day forward, you are my new master."
It was terrifyingly polite.
The moment it spoke, Xu Xian understood the phrase 'a heart full of poetry and books naturally radiates elegance.'
This was exactly that.
Upbringing was something that truly shone from the inside out.
"Who are you?" Xu Xian asked.
It replied, "I am the little book spirit from the sword stele. My name is Shuer."
Xu Xian rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Shuer... Sounds like a name for a scholar."
He then introduced himself. "My name is Xu Xian. You can call me... Brother Xian."
Shuer said respectfully, "Understood, Master."
Xu Xian didn't mind. In his mind, this little book spirit was more like a computer program.
An emotionless one. It could call him whatever it liked; it didn't really matter.
Getting straight to the point, he asked, "Do you know why I brought you out?"
"I do. To help you rebuild the Heavenly White Jade Capital."
Xu Xian was quite satisfied. Squinting his eyes, he said, "Mm, good. Then tell me, how am I supposed to build this tower?"
The tiny book spirit also squinted its eyes and replied, "Slowly."
The youth frowned.
"How slowly?"
The little book spirit answered, "Just like cultivation. A hundred rivers flow into the sea; one must accumulate small steps to reach a thousand miles."
After a brief moment of reflection, the youth asked his most pressing concern.
"Then... will it be very bitter?"
The little book spirit was stunned. After a short silence, it said seriously, "I don't know. I've never tasted bitterness before."
Xu Xian fell silent.
He felt like they weren't even talking about the same thing.
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