Western Regions, Divine Official’s Mansion.
The residence and office of the Town Domain Priest.
The estate was imnse, with rows of halls stretching on for what seed like miles, covering an area of several thousand acres.
It was adorned with pavilions and towers, flying waterfalls and flowing springs, and dotted with artificial mountains.
Immortal Cranes danced in the air and divine birds spread their wings, making it seem like a paradise on earth.
In a peach garden to the north of the Divine Official’s Mansion.
The garden was in full bloom. When the wind blew, the peach blossoms filled the sky, dancing and swirling as they drifted into the distance.
Waves of their delicate fragrance were refreshing to the soul!
At this mont, two people were standing in the peach garden.
One of them, a man in his fifties or sixties, wore an embroidered long robe. He stood tall and straight, a sharp sword in hand.
The other was an eighteen-year-old in a monk’s robe, standing well over six feet tall.
Even with a shaven head, his handso features could not be concealed.
"Zen Master Wu Chen, be on your guard!"
Li Jiuyan, sword in hand, stepped forward. He moved with the grace of a startled swan, instantly closing the distance to Wang Xiao and thrusting his sword forward!
The strike was incredibly fast and exceedingly sharp!
In mid-air, it actually ford two intersecting sword shadows that slashed toward Wang Xiao!
Celestial Sword Eight!
Facing this strike, Wang Xiao’s expression remained unchanged. Inner Qi surged within him, coalescing into a Buddha Sword that he swung out fiercely!
CLANG!
The two blades collided, and the cross-shaped sword shadows vanished in an instant.
The sky full of peach blossoms was completely cut down, turning into fragnts!
Li Jiuyan raised an eyebrow slightly and attacked again.
Sword Intent raged!
Countless sword shadows flickered into existence, forming a net of swords that completely enveloped Wang Xiao!
In response to this technique, a Buddha Sword, gleaming with brilliant Buddha’s Light, once again slashed out from behind Wang Xiao.
The sword net shattered instantly, dissolving into motes of spiritual light.
The Buddha Sword slamd against Li Jiuyan’s longsword, letting out a loud CLANG!
Li Jiuyan grunted, his body flying backward until it slamd into a peach tree, shaking loose a shower of blossoms.
He waved his hand, saying with so discouragent:
"Forget it, forget it. I give up. Zen Master Wu Chen, your Sword Technique has reached a subli level. You can form an Inner Qi Sword at will. Unless I learn the last four techniques of the Celestial Sword—the Heartless Sword—I’m simply no match for you."
Wang Xiao retracted his Inner Qi, pressed his palms together, and smiled faintly.
"Amitabha. Priest, your Sword Technique is also exceedingly sharp. This humble monk only won by a narrow margin, taking advantage of my denser Inner Qi."
Over the past few years, he had often co to the Divine Official’s Mansion to discuss matters with Li Jiuyan due to the ongoing campaign to exterminate Demon Cultivators.
Naturally, the two of them couldn’t avoid sparring from ti to ti.
And over ti, they had beco quite familiar with each other.
Relying on his Talent, Analyze All Things, Wang Xiao had naturally mastered all of Li Jiuyan’s Sword Techniques.
Li Jiuyan’s Sword Technique was called the Celestial Sword!
The na was simple, and the techniques were even simpler.
It had eighteen techniques in total, from Sword One to Sword Eighteen!
The higher the number, the fiercer the Sword Technique and the more complex its variations!
However, the Celestial Sword techniques Li Jiuyan had mastered were only the first half, known as the Sentintal Sword.
The Celestial Sword also had four more techniques, from Sword Nineteen to the Twenty-Second Sword, which were known as the Heartless Sword!
Only those with peerless talent, who were qualified to inherit the Celestial Sword, could cultivate it!
Li Jiuyan, naturally, could not.
Currently, the only ones who knew the Heartless Sword were the Sword Holder of Celestial Sword Mountain and the next Sword Holder!
Li Jiuyan walked over to a nearby stone table, picked up a towel, wiped his hands, and said:
"Zen Master Wu Chen, you’re too modest. In the world today, the only ones who could claim to be certain of defeating you are probably the Demon Lord of the Wilderness and my Celestial Sword Mountain’s Sect Leader."
Li Jiuyan couldn’t help but feel emotional.
’Eighteen years old, already a Half-Step Celestial Being and peerless in his realm.’
’This kind of talent is simply unprecedented!’
’He’s even more of a monster than that girl destined to inherit the Celestial Sword!’
’It’s a sha he missed the inheritance; he’s fated never to wield the Celestial Sword!’
’Every Sword Holder is chosen in infancy.’
’Over the past sixty years, Celestial Sword Mountain has brought back countless infants.’
’Only that girl received the Celestial Sword’s acknowledgnt and gained the right to inherit it!’
’And a seal of inheritance was ford between them that can no longer be changed.’
’Otherwise, this Zen Master Wu Chen before would probably be more qualified to inherit the Celestial Sword than she is.’
Wang Xiao spoke up, "It’s a pity Sect Leader Nangong never spars with anyone."
The Sect Leader of Celestial Sword Mountain and the current Sword Holder, Nangong Shuang, had beco completely Emotionless ever since inheriting the Celestial Sword.
She rarely interacted with the outside world, let alone sparred!
Li Jiuyan said, "Heh, if you want to experience the power of the Heartless Sword, you could go find the next Sword Holder. However, she has only grasped its form, not its soul. To comprehend the Heartless Sword, one must beco heartless themselves!"
"To be honest with you, Zen Master Wu Chen, this war between the righteous and demonic factions is actually a trial to hone the next Sword Holder’s heartless nature. If her heart doesn’t beco heartless, she won’t be able to inherit the Celestial Sword!"
"Only by truly mastering the Heartless Sword can one control the Celestial Sword and break through to the Celestial Human Realm!"
This wasn’t exactly a secret.
So, Li Jiuyan spoke of it openly.
Wang Xiao’s eyes flickered. "I wonder where this next Sword Holder is now?"
’I really do want to witness the power of the Heartless Sword for myself. With my Talent, Analyze All Things, perhaps I can take my Sword Technique to the next level.’
Li Jiuyan countered with a question, "In the world today, where do you think is the best place to temper one’s heart?"
"The Wilderness?!"
Wang Xiao blurted out.
Right now, after three years of purges, very few Demon Cultivators were left within the Central State.
The battlefield had naturally shifted to the Wilderness!
Under the command of Celestial Sword Mountain, nearly all the Sects from the four regions of the Central State were rushing to the Wilderness!
That place would soon beco a giant at grinder!
Major battles could break out at any ti, anywhere!
Battles of life and death were, naturally, the best way to temper one’s heart.
Once you’ve seen enough death, you beco numb!
Even the most sentintal person would gradually beco heartless!
It could be said that the once-a-century war between the righteous and demonic factions was, in fact, paving the way for the next Sword Holder.
It was to help her comprehend the true aning of the Heartless Sword more quickly so she could inherit the Celestial Sword and achieve the Celestial Human Realm!
Li Jiuyan said, "I cannot reveal the identity or appearance of the next Sword Holder to you. Whether you et her or not will depend on fate. If you don’t, there’s nothing I can do."
In truth, he was quite curious to see what kind of sparks would fly if this Zen Master Wu Chen were to et that girl. ’After all, her talent is also sothing rarely seen in ages, and she has also reached the Half-Step Celestial Human Realm!’
However, due to the sect’s rules, he naturally couldn’t reveal the next Sword Holder’s whereabouts.
Wang Xiao nodded slightly and said, "Thank you for the information, Priest. This humble monk happens to be heading to the Wilderness anyway. I hope I can et the next Sword Holder."
Over the past three years, he had hunted down many Demon Cultivators, from the realm of Refining the Five Viscera all the way to the Refining Acupoints Human Immortal Realm.
Naturally, he had obtained quite a few Life Source Crystals from them.
Using his Analyze All Things Talent, he had also obtained a great deal of information.
However, this information was still not enough for him to create a complete Spiritual Cultivation Technique.
He needed to hunt Demon Cultivators of even higher Realms!
However, the powerful Demon Cultivators with profound cultivation were now mostly within the Wilderness.
Therefore, whether it was to find the next Sword Holder or to obtain more Life Source Crystals, Wang Xiao had to make a trip to the Wilderness!
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