Immortal Soaring Blade

Seeing his teacher leave, Zhao Jiuge, who wasn’t sure how to start cultivating the sword art, suddenly asked, “Teacher, where are you going now? I have taken over your place to cultivate, so where are you going to cultivate?” 

Jian Wuxian stared at Zhao Jiuge and sternly said, “Cultivate well. If you can’t get a good grasp of the second layer, then don’t even think about stepping outside the Mysterious Heaven Temple. When your comprehension of the sword intent is to my satisfaction, you can cultivate with the other inner sect disciples and condense your spirit core. As for where I go, why does it matter to you? Are you the teacher or am I the teacher? In three days, I’ll test you on how well you have comprehended the sword art.” Afterward, Jian Wuxian ignored Zhao Jiuge’s reaction and walked out of the temple.

Zhao Jiuge was left alone inside the inner temple. He stuck out his tongue and then looked around the room. He inhaled the calming fragrance from the incense furnace and closed his eyes. He was going to analyze the second layer of the word art.

Sword intent was just comprehension, like how the first layer was focused on the word “Elucidation.” Zhao Jiuge’s current understanding of Elucidation was that the sword energy was vast, making one feel like they were a lone boat facing the vast, stormy ocean, isolated and alone.

Zhao Jiuge began to bitterly ponder the very short second layer of the sword art. His teacher hadn’t even told him the name. Clearly, Jian Wuxian wanted him to figure it out himself. Normally, Zhao Jiuge wouldn’t be so anxious. If he didn’t understand, he would just slowly figure it out. However, it was different this time—Jian Wuxian had only given him three days to figure something out.

That was why Zhao Jiuge was so anxious, and the more anxious he got, the more lost he felt. He thought about how talented his fellow senior brothers and sisters were. Not only was their understanding of the sword art profound, their cultivation was much higher as well. Even Sha Sha had reached the Nascent Soul Realm. It was precisely because Zhao Jiuge knew that his own talent was lacking that he wanted to prove himself to Jian Wuxian. Even if his talent wasn’t as good, he shouldn’t be terrible either.

Perhaps because the Calming Incense Furnace had begun to play its role, Zhao Jiuge’s anxious mood gradually settled. He focused and began pondering the sword intent of the second layer of the sword art.

Beginning of spring, Coming to an end; West Wind, Oppressive Shine; Delicate and Deliberate; Big Dipper; Stopping the Autumn Wind; Slating Wind, Fine Rain; Rain Clears, Wind Stops; Desolate Night Rain.

Zhao Jiuge continued to ponder these words. Suddenly, he noticed from the literal meaning of the words that the intent of the second layer might be focused on the wind and rain.

If the first layer focused on vastness, then could the second layer focus on desolation?

Thinking about this, Zhao Jiuge continued to analyze it while cross referencing the sword art itself. He was deep in thought.

Time passed particularly fast when one was cultivating. Zhao Jiuge had repeatedly tested his theories in his head, and by the time he opened his eyes, it was already late night the next day. He remained patient and didn’t immediately go out to practice the sword art in the square. Instead, he activated his cultivation method and began accumulating spirit force.

However, it was very strange that Zhao Jiuge could clearly feel his spirit force rapidly increasing now, unlike how slow it was progressing before. Zhao Jiuge just figured that the environment here was special because his teacher cultivated here. What he didn’t know was that after entering the temple, the Pi Xue Jade Token on his waist had hidden itself. It didn’t dare to absorb spirit force from Zhao Jiuge like before.

The spirit force inside his dantian was completely golden and had formed a thick layer of golden fog inside, but it showed no signs of turning into liquid. Once the spirit force inside his dantian turned into liquid, that meant he was ready to begin condensing his spirit force. Right now, he was looking forward to what rank spirit core he could condense.

After one night of cultivation, when dawn arrived, Zhao Jiuge rushed to the square outside and tested the power of the second layer of the sword art. He wanted to see if the sword intent he had comprehended was correct.

He rushed out, walked down the jade steps, and arrived at the square that was covered in white clouds. Zhao Jiuge could barely see the furnaces that were further away, because they were hidden by the clouds.

Zhao Jiuge was suddenly attracted by the sea of clouds. This was the first time he had stayed at the Mysterious Heaven Temple overnight, and perhaps this was something he could only see early in the morning. He didn’t see his teacher, but Zhao Jiuge didn’t mind much. After all, his teacher was the Head Teacher, so he was probably very busy. Not to mention he only had one day left before his teacher would come to test him on his comprehension.

There was a flash of light before his chest, and he tightly held the Big-Dipper Sword in his hand. Although he had three precious treasure-grade swords now, he undoubtedly liked this one the most.

Zhao Jiuge started to wave his sword and flashes of silver light appeared. He moved according to the sword art, and the chant of the second layer echoed in his mind.

Then different sceneries began to appear inside his head. At the start, it was spring, and it was filled with green vegetation. Then the wind blew and the sun began to rise and set.

The scenery in his mind changed to a desert covered in yellow sand. It was an inexplicably desolate scene. The autumn wind blew by, causing the yellow sand to fly into the air, then a small dizzle started falling.

The scenery changed once more. The drizzle was still there, but it was more somber. The night wind whistled and the dizzle brought about a haze. The only thing that didn’t change was the sense of desolation.

Thinking about this, Zhao Jiuge’s eyes shined and were filled with determination! Now was the right moment!

His spirit force surged into the sword inside his hand. The sword intent that one could only seek and not be taught echoed in Zhao Jiuge’s mind.

Boom!

At this moment, a rumble echoed across the square. It wasn’t very loud, but the vibration shocked the square slightly.

A flash of silver light appeared at the tip of the Big-Dipper Sword. Zhao Jiuge was filled with a burst of excitement, as he knew that the silver light was sword energy!

This meant that he had a preliminary understanding of the sword intent of the second layer. Although it wasn’t very profound, it was still a good start. Over time, he believed that his sword art would reach another level.

His wrist flicked and a ray of sword energy shot out like a dragon splitting the clouds apart. The clouds split open, revealing the surface of the square.

Accompanying the silver light, there was a harsh sound. Zhao Jiuge knew that this was the sound of the sword energy grinding against the surface of the square. Sword energy was very sharp, so not to mention stone, even normal treasures would be cut in half. There were only two possible explanations for this sound.

That his understanding of the sword intent was very superficial and he couldn’t display the true power of the sword art. Or that the square, pillars, and furnaces were all made of a very sturdy material.

However, Zhao Jiuge was not discouraged and instead smiled. A good start meant success. Even though the power was very poor, he believed that he would improve with time. Soon, he would have a profound understanding of the second layer’s sword intent.

At this moment, Zhao Jiuge vaguely knew what the name of the second layer was. He continued to practice the sword art, and rays of sword energy flew everywhere. Jian Wuxian had said that the current him was not strong enough to damage this place, so he could practice without worry.

As rays of sword energy formed one by one, Zhao Jiuge’s understanding of the sword intent became more profound. When he was almost out of spirit force, Zhao Jiuge put the sword away. He turned to the temple and began to cultivate and ponder the sword intent.

He found out why he needed powerful cultivation to support his understanding of the sword intent. His late stage Foundation Realm spirit force had been used up very quickly. Zhao Jiuge didn’t know if he was lacking spirit force, or if sword energy simply consumed a lot of spirit force. It was difficult to imagine how much spirit force the sword art would consume in the later layers. Zhao Jiuge was shocked by this.

……

Inner temple.

Zhao Jiuge was sitting on the grey mat. When he activated his cultivation method, he found that he was absorbing spirit force particularly fast. This was because he had exhausted all his spirit force, and cultivating when your pool of spirit force was empty only took half the effort. While he cultivated, his mind was focused on the sword art.

He suddenly felt that this kind of life was very fulfilling. He decided that he was going to cultivate like this from now on.

He closed his eyes and unknowingly entered a state of cultivation. After an unknown amount of time, he felt that his spirit force had recovered to its peak, so he opened his eyes. He suddenly saw a figure before him, and this startled Zhao Jiuge.

After getting a good look, it turned out to be Jian Wuxian. Zhao Jiuge didn’t know when his teacher had returned, and he couldn’t feel Jian Wuxian’s aura at all.

Jian Wuxian glanced at Zhao Jiuge and faintly asked, “Awake?”

Zhao Jiuge respectfully nodded. He didn’t know if it was an illusion or not, but he felt like his teacher had a faint smile on his face.

Jian Wuxian then said, “It has been three days. You should have some understanding of the second layer of the sword art. Come and tell me what you have comprehended.”

“Disciple is foolish and thinks that the name of the second layer is Autumn Wind. I don’t know if it's correct.” Zhao Jiuge was not very confident. He knew that his teacher was testing him, so he was nervous.

“Good, continue.” There was no expression on Jian Wuxian’s expression. Since he had told Zhao Jiuge to continue, then Zhao Jiuge must have gotten the name right.

“At first, I thought the key to the sword intent was the wind and the rain. Later, when I practiced the sword on the square, I realized that it was wrong and that I had to choose one. Wind comes first, since without wind, there can’t be rain. That’s why I think this layer of the sword art is called Autumn Wind.”

After Zhao Jiuge finished speaking, he secretly glanced at his teacher. When he saw that there was nothing special about Jian Wuxian’s expression, he relaxed slightly and dared to continue.