The dragon roars from the sword's cold, clear pool; the sword sings a wild song from within its scabbard...
Green Lotus Sword Song.
When cultivated to great ascension, the sword emerges like a blooming green lotus, a verdant glow spanning a thousand miles. One sword births one lotus; one lotus yields ten thousand swords...
Xu Xian did not choose to take a rubbing.
Instead, he used the photographic memory granted by the Pupil of Insight to etch it directly into his sea of consciousness.
Then, he departed.
The process had taken a mere hour.
Leaving the pavilion, he returned the Pavilion Guide, inevitably exchanging a few polite pleasantries with the disciple on duty.
"Grand-Uncle, you're finished so quickly? You don't want to look a while longer?"
"No need. I'm going."
As soon as Xu Xian left, the disciple couldn't help but curiously check the information within the Pavilion Guide. When he saw that Xu Xian had chosen the Green Lotus Sword Song, he gasped.
He looked toward Xu Xian again, but the latter had already flown off on a sword with another disciple.
Scratching his head, the disciple murmured, "The Little Grand-Uncle truly is the Little Grand-Uncle. To start with such a fierce manual... can he handle it?"
Haste makes waste.
Cultivation emphasized being down-to-earth and moving step by step.
Body refining was the stepping stone.
Qi refining was the foundation.
Although the manuals in the Dao Pavilion were not for casual browsing, their names were not hidden. Any third-generation disciple in the Wendao Sect could tell you about the famous, top-tier manuals if asked.
However...
Very few disciples chose these heaven grade manuals from the start. Most began with earth grade, and a large portion even actively chose the mysterious grade.
It was a logic even a three-year-old understood: the higher the grade, the rarer and more powerful it was.
Yet.
A cultivator's greatest virtue was self-awareness.
The higher the level of the manual, the harder it was to master and the more difficult it was to comprehend its underlying laws.
If you couldn't learn it, it was like a flower in a mirror or the moon in the water—mere appearance that could be seen but not consumed.
Even if your comprehension was staggering and you truly did learn it, trying to wield a heaven grade manual while only at the qi refining or foundation establishment stage was inherently risky.
One slip-up could lead to utter ruin. Qi deviation and the destruction of one's dao seed were occurrences that happened from time to time in the cultivation world.
This was especially true in the Wendao Sect, where the heaven grade sword arts were known for their overbearing nature.
In the past.
There was no shortage of arrogant individuals who, unable to withstand the energy backlash of high-level sword arts, died from their bodies exploding or fell into madness. Such cases were common.
The disciple clearly remembered that when he entered the qi refining stage and went to the Dao Pavilion to choose a manual, his master had specifically warned him to act within his capabilities. His master said his constitution was different from others, and since he had a mixed spirit root of water and wind, his nature was relatively soft. He was advised not to practice anything above the middle-tier earth grade before core formation.
Presumably, the other disciples were much the same.
In the Wendao Sect, everyone would initially choose a suitable manual for their cultivation. Once they reached core formation or even the nascent soul stage, they would use merit points to enter the Dao Pavilion and attempt high-level manuals.
After all.
The cultivation philosophy of the Wendao Sect always emphasized that moving fast wasn't as good as moving steadily, and moving steadily wasn't as good as moving for the long haul.
Someone like Xu Xian...
In the decades he had worked here, Xu Xian was the first person he'd seen pick such a high-level manual immediately upon entering the qi refining stage.
Especially since Xu Xian had chosen the Green Lotus Sword Song, the highest-grade sword manual in the entire Dao Pavilion. It was the technique that made the Sword Ancestor famous and was one of the ten most overbearing sword manuals in Fanzhou.
Rumor had it.
From the time of the Sword Ancestor until now, no disciple of the Wendao Sect had ever mastered this sword manual. It wasn't just overbearing; it was exceptionally difficult.
If this weren't Xu Xian, the disciple would have definitely complained.
Where did this greenhorn come from? Is he here for a laugh?
But this was Xu Xian.
The sword spirit root.
The one who achieved enlightenment at the sword stele.
The one who reached the qi refining stage in three months.
It was only normal for the Sword Ancestor's young disciple to be a bit abnormal.
As he muttered to himself, the disciple cleared the imprint on the Pavilion Guide to recycle it for use. When he looked up, a beautiful figure appeared before him.
The disciple was slightly stunned.
"Um, Martial Aunt Wen?"
Wen Qingxue's face was expressionless as she asked, "What manual did the Little Grand-Uncle just choose?"
The disciple hesitated. "This... it's the Grand-Uncle's private business. It's not right to say, is it?"
Wen Qingxue's brow furrowed, and she said in a heavy voice, "The Sect Master told me to look after the Little Grand-Uncle. If I ask, you answer. It doesn't break the rules."
The disciple swallowed hard and his eyes darted around. "The Green Lotus Sword Song."
Wen Qingxue was visibly startled, her eyes flickering. "Truly?"
"Absolutely certain. If you don't believe me, you can go ask the Grand-Uncle himself."
"Thank you," Wen Qingxue said before departing. She walked with her head down, looking worried.
The answer 'Green Lotus Sword Song' was unexpected.
She had clearly explained the pros and cons to him, so why didn't he listen? It was one thing to choose a high-level manual, but he just had to pick the Green Lotus Sword Song.
She thought about trying to persuade Xu Xian again, but then she remembered the Sect Master's instructions when she was summoned a few days ago. She immediately abandoned the idea.
'Fine, he won't be able to learn it anyway. It's time for the Little Grand-Uncle to be tempered a bit.'
Shortly after Wen Qingxue left.
Another person arrived before the Dao Pavilion.
The disciple had just started to doze off when a dark shadow blocked his light. He opened his eyes blearily and, upon seeing the visitor, scrambled to his feet in terror.
"Greetings, Peak Master Li."
In the Wendao Sect.
There were thirteen halls.
And seven peaks.
Excluding the main peak, there were a total of six Peak Masters and thirteen Hall Masters.
The person before him...
Was the Peak Master of Zhijian Peak, the Hall Master of the Zhijian Hall, the Sect Master's only direct disciple, and the youngest Pavilion Elder of the Sword Pavilion.
He was a man covered in glory.
A legendary figure of the Wendao Sect who rarely showed his face in public.
However.
Everyone knew of him.
"I have a question for you."
"Please give your orders, Peak Master."
"Which manual did Xu Xian choose?"
The disciple blinked, and without the slightest hesitation, he blurted out, "The Green Lotus Sword Song..."
Unlike the previous visitor.
Li Qingshan did not question the disciple's words. Having received his answer, he strode away.
He understood Xu Xian.
To this kid, doing what normal people did was out of the question. Only the abnormal was normal for him...
After Li Qingshan left, the disciple rubbed his chest and let out a long breath. "Whew... what's going on? So many big shots visiting so early in the morning."
Later.
Li Qingshan, still uneasy about Xu Xian, made a special trip to Wen Qingxue's courtyard and secretly observed Xu Xian for a day and a night.
That was the only immortal grade sword manual in the Wendao Sect.
One of the ten great immortal sword arts of Fanzhou.
He wasn't afraid that Xu Xian wouldn't learn it; he was afraid that Xu Xian would learn it and end up killing himself in the process.
Fortunately.
The day and night passed peacefully. Only then did he feel relieved enough to leave. He shook his head and gave a self-deprecating laugh. "What am I worried for? Even if he is a genius, it's impossible for him to learn the Green Lotus Sword Song during the qi refining stage. Haha..."
Inside the room.
After a day and a night, Xu Xian looked utterly dejected. Holding the sword manual, he looked up at the ceiling and let out a tragic, life-weary cry.
"Cultivating is so damn hard!"
A day and a night.
Zero progress.
He was going crazy.
Body refining was too bitter.
Qi refining was too difficult.
This immortal cultivation business was truly suffocating...
"I refuse to believe it. I'm a fine youth from the twenty-first century, a well-rounded product of modern education. I could master screwing bolts on an assembly line in no time, and yet I can't even learn this puny Green Lotus Sword Song?"
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