Chapter 213

Chapter 213: A Youth’s Sky-High Resolve

“Of course I remember,” Meng Yi Fei replied at once, and he understood what Lin Qing Ling meant.

Five hundred years ago, the Nanlan Continent produced a brilliant genius called the Nether Sword Lord.

When he was a child, his village was slaughtered by the Demon Clan. Of the 345 people there, only he survived by chance.

After that, he set foot on the path of cultivation.

They said his natural roots and bones were ordinary, but to avenge his village he fought the Demon Clan year after year. In battle after battle, his cultivation soared. He landed on the Demon Clan’s Kill List and was hunted without end.

Yet under their pursuit, his realm climbed higher and higher. In the end, he charged into the Demon Beast Forest, killing as he went, and he chanted: “A crane brings a letter inviting me to drink; drunk, I take the Milky Way as my sword and make it sing. Why would I need a Dao Questioning Longevity Art? I am the first immortal of the Netherworld!”

At last his sword shone like a silver ribbon, and he himself cut off the head of the previous leader of the Demon Clan.

Afterward, the Nether Sword Immortal, with one jug and one sword, vanished from the world.

With that leader’s death, the Demon Clan grew weak for a time. If the Demon King Chi Ling had not risen out of nowhere, the Nanlan Continent would likely still be caught in human infighting.

You could say the Nether Sword Lord grew up under the Demon Clan’s relentless hunt.

Without those trials, he might only have been an average cultivator.

Of course, if it had been someone else, they might not have survived the chase. That is fate.

Meng Yi Fei sighed, and his eyes softened.

Lin Qing Ling was right.

Everyone has their own path.

Even the disciple he had raised with care, Jiang Rong Yi, had acted on impulse once.

Meng Yi Fei glanced over at his disciple.

Jiang Rong Yi had been cheering with the others. Caught by Meng Yi Fei’s gaze, he stiffened, dared not look back, and hurried away.

Meng Yi Fei could not help but laugh.

This disciple was always so steady. Without seeing today for himself, he would never have believed Jiang Rong Yi had this side to him.

See how new bamboo splits old roots, and how tempered blood forges a sharp edge to cut down worn banners. Youth have sky-high resolve; they will not sigh at the wide river of time.

Young people have a world that belongs to them. As for him… perhaps he really was getting old.

There were follow-up matters to handle from the exchange meet.

But for now, Meng Yi Fei did not want to dampen the joy.

He let the children celebrate to their hearts’ content.

The Sword Sect stayed lively for a whole day.

The more noise and laughter filled the rest of the Sword Sect, the colder Ling Xu Peak felt.

On Ling Xu Peak, Immortal Ling Xu had not left the summit for a long time.

His punishment term had ended.

But he had been removed from the post of Peak Master, and he had been punished like this.

Where could he go?

To be laughed at?

Today, the Sword Sect was far too lively.

Not knowing the details, Immortal Ling Xu called several of his disciples to ask what had happened.

Sheng Yuan and the others stood neatly before him, silent.

Sheng Yuan especially kept his head lowered, unable to raise it.

Today, Li Shuang had won.

That should have been the whole Sword Sect’s honor.

But he felt no joy at all.

The disciples in the artifact forging room had already told the rest what he had done.

He had forced Li Shuang to leave seclusion. By accident he had helped guard the Sword Sect’s honor.

But everyone was not stupid.

A good result was one thing.

His bad intent was another.

Though Sheng Yuan tried to explain, no one listened.

They had already been pushed to the edges of the sect.

Now that Li Shuang had become the spiritual leader of the younger generation, their position grew even more awkward.

In the past, people simply ignored them.

Now, when people saw them, Sword Sect disciples would even scold them.

Life like this was hard to bear.

Sheng Yuan stayed silent while Shen Yue and Chang Le An briefly described what had happened.

Ling Xu Peak went quiet.

In that moment, they all thought the same thing.

If only Li Shuang had not left Ling Xu Peak.

If only she were still the First Disciple of Ling Xu Peak.

Then today’s cheers and unmatched glory would have included Ling Xu Peak’s share.

But now?

They had become rats in the street, cursed by everyone.

After a long time, Immortal Ling Xu waved his hand and said: “You may go.”

He closed his eyes and went back into quiet cultivation.

Sheng Yuan and the others answered and left, listless.

In the central square, Meng Yi Fei gave the disciples special permission to make merry.

They lit bonfires, and when someone felt inspired, they performed a sword dance before the flames. If others liked it, they clapped. If they saw room to improve, they pointed it out directly.

In the Sword Sect, this was the first time every disciple, whether Inner Sect or outer sect, whether Direct Disciple or Full Disciple, shared their sword arts without holding anything back.

Li Shuang joined in the fun for a while.

When dawn neared, people slowly drifted away.

Li Shuang did not rest. She asked to see Lin Qing Ling at once.

Lin Qing Ling chuckled and tapped Li Shuang’s shoulder, saying: “Good disciple, this time you brought honor to your master. But when the news spreads, your rank on the Demon Clan’s Kill List will jump. Be even more careful when you go out on expeditions.”

“Yes,” Li Shuang answered sweetly. Then she said: “Master, aren’t you going to ask where my Soul Method came from?”

Lin Qing Ling raised a brow and smiled: “Did you think that Bronze Eye was really part of that emperor’s collection?”

Li Shuang blinked: “Master… that Bronze Eye was…”

Lin Qing Ling smiled and said: “A Sword Sect treasure. Sect Master Meng himself slipped the Bronze Eye into the supplies for you to choose. It comes from the Central Continent. Across the whole Nanlan Continent, there are only a little over a dozen. Do you know why Yan Fan improved so quickly? He was given a Bronze Eye three years ago and succeeded in resonating with it.”

Li Shuang went blank.

So the Bronze Eye had not been a secret at all.

The sect had delivered it right to her.

“The Sword Sect has obtained two Bronze Eyes,” Lin Qing Ling went on. “One found its master eight hundred years ago. The other is yours. This thing will not resonate just because someone is talented. The higher the cultivation, the harder it gets. If you are above Divine Transformation Stage, it is almost impossible. Over the years, many disciples have tried to resonate with it, but in the end, only you succeeded.”

Li Shuang nodded.

The Bronze Eye’s requirements were strict.

You needed a Soul Golden Core.

But the Nanlan Continent lacks Soul Methods. Forming a Soul Golden Core at Divine Transformation Stage rules out most people.

Not to mention the mysterious thing called resonance.

“Master,” Li Shuang said, putting those thoughts aside and speaking earnestly: “I have a Breathing Method I would like to submit to you.”