The light sphere vibrated violently.
The tiny crystals rotated so fast they became a blur, and the nebula within surged as if boiling.
A torrent of information flooded into his mind through his palm.
What is the essence of sword intent? It is not an understanding of the sword, but an awareness of oneself.
Why do you swing your sword? To become stronger? To protect? To kill? To see the end of the path?
Whatever the answer, that is your sword intent.
Jiang Lin saw the cultivation path of the ancient elven sword saints, from initial sword intent condensation to sword intent consummation, and from sword intent consummation to initial sword soul formation.
Every step had detailed guidance, and every bottleneck had a method for breakthrough.
Knowledge that could not be found in the Silver Moon Academy library was now etched into the depths of his soul.
He could feel himself moving toward sword intent consummation.
But this was only the beginning.
A second stream of information surged from within the light sphere.
A vast amount of knowledge regarding spatial magic.
Space is not a container or a medium; it is the skeleton of the world itself and the foundation of all existence.
To understand space is to understand half of the world.
He saw the research of ancient elven archmagi on spatial magic, from basic space perception to high-level space folding, and from the architecture of teleportation arrays to the exquisite use of spatial anchoring. It even covered how to integrate spatial attributes into swordsmanship.
Spatial cutting is not just creating a rift, but turning the concept of “severing” itself into sword intent.
Space folding is not just compressing distance, but turning the concept of “approaching” into a movement technique.
Furthermore, within this stream of information, he learned the spatial magic that would allow him to return to the East Continent.
The information flow continued.
A third stream, a fourth, a fifth...
The essence of status, the use of the power of faith, the architectural principles of the divine system, and even records concerning the Abyss of Slaughter.
It was a plane that attempted to tear rifts in many places across the void.
Its status far exceeded any known god. The ancient elves speculated it might be the remains of a primordial god.
Or perhaps some even older, more fundamental existence.
This plane seemed to be attempting to invade the current universe, and many god-level beings or civilizations were organizing resistance against it.
The sheer volume of information was suffocating.
For an ordinary person, their mental sea would have long since exploded.
But Jiang Lin’s mental sea had been tempered far beyond his rank by the countless impacts of memory infusions.
He organized, categorized, and stored the information piece by piece, letting it settle deep within his soul.
After an unknown amount of time, the light sphere’s radiance finally began to recede.
The rotation of the tiny crystals slowed, and the internal nebula gradually calmed.
The pale gold halo faded from his body, the deep blue ice soul power returned to his core, and the dark red blood energy dissipated.
Jiang Lin withdrew his hand and opened his eyes.
His golden eyes were deeper than before, with faint starlight shimmering in his pupils.
His aura had not become stronger; instead, it was more restrained, like a sheathed sword with its sharpness completely hidden.
“What did you get?”
Elune’s voice was very soft, carrying a hint of tension.
Jiang Lin remained silent for a moment, seemingly sorting through the complex information in his head.
“The path to advancing sword intent, some knowledge of spatial magic, the architectural principles of status, methods for using the power of faith, and some miscellaneous bits of knowledge.”
Elune watched him, waiting for a long time. Then she couldn’t help but ask again.
“That’s it?”
“Is that not enough?”
Elune opened her mouth, but eventually closed it without asking further.
She suddenly understood why Professor Zoe had asked, “When can you leave?” that day.
Being with Jiang Lin truly made one doubt their own talent.
The heritage seemed to be given based on each person’s strengths.
Most of them had only received one or two heritages.
Yet Jiang Lin had listed off so many, as if he were merely reciting a menu.
Fenrir didn’t think much of it. He shouldered his greatsword, walked to the edge of the hall, and looked out at the boundless starry sky through the transparent dome.
“So how do we get back? We fixed the teleportation array, but it sent us here.
“We can’t stay here forever, can we?”
Jiang Lin walked to the console and re-examined the runes.
Part of the knowledge the heritage light sphere had infused into him concerned this space ruin itself.
The ancient elven archmagi had established multiple teleportation arrays here, connecting to different coordinates.
Some led to other areas of Alderon, while others led to different observation stations in the void.
“There is a way back.” He retracted his gaze. “The teleportation array’s coordinate anchors are still there. By adjusting the energy distribution, I can send us back to the Starfall Corridor.”
“How long will it take?” Fenrir asked.
“Half an hour.”
Jiang Lin walked back to the array disk, knelt down, and began adjusting the embedded crystals.
His space perception permeated the interior of every crystal, feeling their energy pulses and fine-tuning their angles and depths.
Fenrir couldn’t understand it. After standing there for a while, he felt bored and turned to study the carvings on the walls.
Cedric and his two teammates also gathered around, discussing in low voices as they looked.
Alicia sat cross-legged in the center of the hall, eyes closed, digesting the knowledge of sword intent advancement she had gained from the light sphere.
Her brow relaxed and furrowed alternately, clearly attempting to grasp concepts far beyond her current realm.
Elune did not leave.
She stood by Jiang Lin’s side, watching him focus on adjusting the crystals. His golden eyes were exceptionally bright under the silver-white light of the array disk. A few strands of golden hair fell over his forehead, swaying slightly as he moved, and his long eyelashes cast small, fan-shaped shadows beneath his eyes.
“What are you looking at?”
Jiang Lin didn’t look up, his fingertips steadily pressing a newly adjusted crystal into a slot.
“N-nothing.” Elune quickly looked away. “I... I was seeing if you needed help.”
“Then help me hold this.”
Jiang Lin took out the mostly used spatial star core fragment from his spatial ring and handed it to her.
Elune took it, holding it with both hands as she squatted obediently by his side.
Jiang Lin continued to adjust the remaining crystals.
He used spatial cutting to grind several magic crystal fragments into the proper size, embedding them into the slots with insufficient energy. Then, using the knowledge from the heritage, he recalibrated the rune nodes of the array core.
Half an hour later, the light of the teleportation array finally stabilized.
A silver-white light curtain rose from the center of the array disk like a standing mirror, its surface flowing with pale silver ripples.
Jiang Lin stood up and flexed his stiff fingers. “Let’s go.”
He was the first to step into the light curtain.
The familiar weightlessness returned, but this time it was much smoother than the trip there.
The energy flow within the tunnel was clearly captured by his space perception; every node and every circuit was under his control.
There was no need to worry about being swept away to some other strange place.
This time, he felt confident.
When their vision cleared, they were standing on the silver-white plaza in the middle level of the Starfall Corridor.
The stone tablet was still behind them, but the silver-white arch on its surface had vanished. The cracks on the tablet were also gone, making it as smooth as it had been originally.
It was as if nothing had happened.
Fenrir let out a long breath and patted the dust off his clothes.
“It feels good to have my feet on solid ground. Floating in the void always made me feel uneasy.”
“Professor Matthew, which way do we go next?”
“It’s about time we head back,” Jiang Lin replied.
When the group returned to the gathering point, Dean Alderon was standing by the teleportation array, his pale silver eyes scanning each returning student.
When he saw Jiang Lin and the others, his gaze paused for a moment. He nodded slightly but didn’t ask much.
The teleportation array lit up, enveloping everyone.
When their vision cleared again, they were standing on the main plaza of Silver Moon Academy.
The morning mist had dispersed, and the scent of moonlight roses drifted through the air, making the seven days they had spent in the secret realm feel like a long dream.
Jiang Lin didn’t linger, walking straight toward Elune’s small building.
Behind him, Fenrir shouldered his greatsword and shouted about going for a big meal. Alicia hurried toward the library after a polite farewell, while Cedric and his two teammates staggered toward the dormitory area, their faces full of exhaustion.
“What are your plans now?”
Elune followed behind him, a trace of subtle tension in her pale purple eyes.
“I’ll digest what I learned these past few days first.”
Jiang Lin sat on the sofa, took out Zoe’s advanced notes and the knowledge from the heritage light sphere from his spatial ring, and began to sort through them.
For the next few days, Jiang Lin shut himself in his room and barely went out.
Every morning, he went to the Seventh Training Ground as usual to teach Fenrir and Alicia swordsmanship, but the teaching time was shortened from three hours to one.
Fenrir’s basic swordsmanship was becoming more solid, and he could occasionally last twenty moves against Jiang Lin.
Alicia’s sword intent was also growing steadily. The resonance between her and her slender elven longsword was deepening, requiring almost no conscious guidance.
In the afternoons, he went to Zoe’s research lab to practice the spatial magic knowledge from the heritage using the spatial rift stability sample.
Zoe had completely given up on guiding him, only offering brief answers when he asked questions.
Most of the time, she sat behind her workbench, quill in hand, buried in her writing. Occasionally, she would look up at Jiang Lin’s figure by the crystal container, a complex expression flashing in her eyes.
At night, he returned to the building to look through the ancient texts he had brought back from the ruins, deducing high-level applications of spatial magic.
Elune still stayed by his side, sitting quietly at the other end of the sofa with a book on astral power mechanics she had borrowed from the library.
This was the knowledge she had gained from the heritage—how to use astral power to temper the soul and how to integrate it into magic and swordsmanship.
She studied very seriously, her brow furrowing and relaxing. Occasionally, she would look up at Jiang Lin before returning to her book.
Seven days later, Jiang Lin closed the final book.
He stood up, walked to the window, and pushed it open. The cool morning breeze rushed in, carrying the elegant scent of moonlight roses.
In the distance, the massive moonlight stone at the top of the Moonlight Tower glowed with a pale blue light in the dawn, the runes on the tower flowing slowly.
“Are you leaving?”
Elune stood at the door, the morning light from outside reflected in her pale purple eyes.
She was wearing a pale blue dress today, her silver-purple hair braided into a loose side braid that hung over her chest, with a fresh moonlight rose tied to the end.
“Yes.” Jiang Lin turned around, his golden eyes looking at her calmly. “It’s time to go back.”
“Is there someone very important waiting for you in the East Continent?”
“Yes, my master is waiting. And some friends.”
Elune lowered her head, her fingers unconsciously fiddling with the edge of her clothes.
She remained silent for a long time, until the first bird song sounded outside the window, before she finally looked up.
A faint smile played in her pale purple eyes, but it couldn’t hide the ripple of emotion deep within.
“I want to go with you.”
Jiang Lin’s movements paused.
“What did you say?”
“I want to go to the East Continent with you.” Elune’s voice was soft but exceptionally firm. “The things I gained from that heritage aren’t something Silver Moon Academy can teach me. I need to go to a wider world to understand that knowledge. And...”
She paused, her voice softening even further.
“I also want to see what the other side of the sea looks like.”
Jiang Lin looked at her.
In those pale purple eyes, the morning light and his own reflection were mirrored.
“Will your family agree?”
“I’ve already spoken with my father.” The corners of Elune’s mouth curled up slightly. “He said that if I could break through to the 4th-rank within half a month, he would allow me to travel for a few years.”
“And did you break through?”
Elune raised her right hand, palm upward.
A wisp of silver-white magic essence condensed in her palm. The magic was solid and pure, radiating stable fluctuations.
“I broke through last night.” There was a hint of irrepressible pride in her voice. “The astral power tempering method from the heritage was more useful than I imagined.”
Jiang Lin was silent for a moment, then he nodded.
“Then let’s go together.”
Elune’s eyes suddenly lit up.
“I’ll go pack my things!” She turned and ran, her silver-purple braid drawing a cheerful arc in the air. “One hour! No, half an hour!”
The sound of her footsteps receded rapidly down the corridor, crisp and hurried, matching her current mood.
Jiang Lin walked to the window, looking out at the garden turned golden by the morning sun.
The moonlight roses shimmered with a faint silver halo in the sunlight, and a butterfly danced among the flowers.
Half an hour later, Elune appeared on time at the door.
She had changed into a light gray-green travel outfit and carried a small pack, with the elven longsword that had followed her for years hanging at her waist.
Her silver-purple hair was braided into a neat single braid behind her, with a silver bell tied to the end that chimed crisply with her movements.
“Let’s go.”
The two walked out of the Silver Moon Academy gates side by side.
The moonlight roses swayed gently in the morning breeze, as if seeing them off on their long journey.
...
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