Jun Luo nodded. "I only managed to cultivate sword qi today, so it’s still overflowing from me. When I arrived at Music Peak, they sensed the danger and naturally moved aside."
Gu Ningyun said, "I see. But can your sword qi even hurt seniors at high-level Qi Refining or even the Foundation Establishment stage?"
Jun Luo shook his head. "I'm only at Qi Refining level two. No matter how strong the sword qi is, it’s ultimately limited by my cultivation."
"I can't break their defense, but I can make them feel a sharp prickle. That’s enough to get them to give me a path into the plaza."
Gu Ningyun was standing very close to him but didn't feel any sword qi. He must have intentionally restrained it after entering the plaza to avoid hurting his peers.
Martial Aunt Yang said, "Cultivating sword qi in just three months... Jun Luo, with this kind of talent, you might be the top sword cultivator of this year's class."
"I remember in our year, the one with the strongest talent was your Martial Uncle Lu. Even he took a full year to cultivate sword qi. For a normal sword cultivator, it takes at least several years of honing their sword, and some never manage it even after decades."
"I've been honing my sword since I was five, so it’s been much longer than three months," Jun Luo said in a steady voice. "I am still far inferior to Martial Uncle Lu."
Gu Ningyun knew he was always humble. She had also been studying the sword for three months, so she knew exactly how difficult it was to manifest sword qi.
Feeling the icy aura of his sword qi, Gu Ningyun felt a surge of anticipation. She wondered what her own sword qi would be like.
Martial Aunt Yang didn't dwell on the pointless question of who was more talented between Martial Uncle Lu and Jun Luo. Instead, she took his peach wood sword and examined it. "A ten-thousand-year peach wood sword."
Jiang Yao exclaimed, "What? Ten thousand years?"
Seeing several nearby disciples glance over at his shout, he quickly lowered his voice.
Noticing Jiang Yao's reaction, Gu Ningyun looked at him in confusion. "I have a ten-thousand-year peach wood sword too. Is... is there something wrong with that?"
"What? You have one too!"
Jiang Yao looked at Gu Ningyun and Jun Luo as if they were monsters. "I heard from disciples in other groups that they all received hundred-year peach wood swords. Even the best ones only got thousand-year ones."
Gu Ningyun took out her own ten-thousand-year peach wood sword. Her fingertips brushed against the blade; it felt cold and hard.
She speculated, "We had our constitutions tested before the swords were assigned. Maybe it has something to do with that?"
"No,"
Martial Aunt Yang explained, "Those who passed the constitution test received a hundred-year peach wood sword. Those with excellent results received a thousand-year one."
"Only those whose sword dao talent was sensed are assigned a ten-thousand-year peach wood sword by the Sword Hall to begin their Sword Dao Heritage."
Seeing the children looking at her with eyes full of curiosity, Martial Aunt Yang chuckled and continued, "For those without sword dao talent, the Sword Hall arranges for them to practice basic sword moves first to build a foundation."
"Once they are proficient with the basic moves, the hall selects a sword technique for them based on their spirit roots and personal preferences."
"Sword techniques are not fundamentally different from spells; they simply use the sword as a medium. To them, the sword is a weapon, and sword techniques are just a way to use that weapon more effectively."
At this point, she looked at Gu Ningyun and Jun Luo. "But for those with sword dao talent like Ningyun and Jun Luo, the Sword Hall directly opens the Sword Dao Heritage for them."
"True sword dao is a completely different system from learning ordinary sword techniques."
"As far as I know, the sword dao is divided into realms such as sword qi, sword intent, and sword soul."
"What is the difference between a sword cultivator and a cultivator who simply uses a sword as a dharma treasure? I’ll give you the simplest example: at the same cultivation level, a sword cultivator who has mastered sword qi can release a strike that is several times stronger than even the most powerful and sophisticated sword technique."
Wen Xuan and Jiang Yao both looked on in awe.
Gu Ningyun hadn't expected such a distinction. Her experience in the Sword Hall had been similar to what Jun Luo described, so she had assumed everyone was learning the same thing.
At the time, the voice that assigned her the sword simply said the words "follow along" before vanishing, without explaining any of this.
Could it be they were worried that if those with sword dao talent knew the difference between ordinary techniques and the Sword Dao Heritage, they might refuse the heritage because they couldn't endure the hardship of honing the sword, thus wasting their talent?
Anyone with eyes could see how powerful the sword dao was. As long as they weren't a fool, they wouldn't refuse.
If it were her, she wouldn't hesitate for a second; she would choose the Sword Dao Heritage immediately.
As one of the Xiaoyao Ancient Precepts stated: only through one's own strength can one achieve true freedom.
Only by enduring the hardship of honing the sword could one gain great strength.
If possible, she was willing to seize every opportunity to improve her power.
Not to mention the original female lead, Gu Lianxue, who bore her ill will—the cultivation world itself was full of dangers.
She didn't want to be crushed to death by someone or a demon beast while out adventuring just because she sought shortcuts or couldn't handle a little hardship.
Otherwise, what would be the point of her cultivation? She hadn't transmigrated all this way just to be a bit player.
Wen Xuan thought for a moment, looking a bit worried. "Martial Aunt Yang, I saw that the Preaching Peak only has a Sword Hall. What if someone wants to learn other weapons?"
"I know the answer to that,"
Jiang Yao said. "Wen Xuan, you’ve clearly been too busy refining pills to check the Sword Hall platform. It says there that if you don't want to learn the sword, you can tell the Sword Hall which weapon you want to learn, and they can teach you that as well. If you don't know what you're good at, you can ask them, and they’ll provide a test for you."
"Correct." Martial Aunt Yang nodded. "And if the Sword Hall doesn't have what you're looking for, you can always go to the Book Peak library to find manuals. Xiaoyao has a legacy of one hundred and ten thousand years. Almost every weapon that exists in the cultivation world has a corresponding manual here, so don't worry."
Wen Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. I'm planning to see if there's any instruction for the mace."
Martial Aunt Yang burst out laughing. "Of course there is."
She then turned to Gu Ningyun and Jun Luo. "I don't have any sword dao talent myself. Everything I just told you was what your Martial Uncle Lu told me. If you have any questions about the sword dao in the future, you can ask him directly."
"Mhm, thank you for clarifying, Martial Aunt Yang."
Jun Luo also nodded, his tone respectful. "Thank you, Martial Aunt Yang."
Only Mu Chenze blinked mischievously at Martial Aunt Yang. "Oho~ Martial Uncle Lu said that, did he?~"
Yang Churan: "..."
Gu Ningyun finally realized what that fleeting thought from earlier was.
Martial Aunt Yang avoided Mu Chenze's strange look. "You've already learned means of attack. Once these two mandatory courses are over, remember to go to the Trial Tower to practice actual combat. If you want to take on ancient script translation missions to earn points, remember to let me know in advance. I'll have more materials prepared for you."
Martial Aunt Yang's suggestion happened to align perfectly with Gu Ningyun's plans.
She had already been thinking about visiting the Trial Tower in a few days to see if she could deepen her understanding of the sword through combat and cultivate sword qi.
Her current cultivation was too low, and her spirit energy reserves were insufficient; she only had enough for two strikes of the first form of the 《Taiqing Astral Wind Art》, so she really couldn't practice spells properly.
As they were talking, the originally noisy plaza suddenly fell silent. Gu Ningyun heard the sound of people all around her drawing in sharp breaths of surprise.
She instinctively looked up.
Rate on N.U.
