Chapter 69

Chapter 69: Sparring Swordplay, Strange Matters Stir

Because she had only recently entered the Sword Radiance Realm, Zhao Chun held on for more than a hundred exchanges before she finally lost.

Jiang Yun spun his sword in a clean flourish and sheathed it. His praise was frank. “I thought that since you just stepped into the second realm, you’d have obvious flaws. I didn’t expect your swordplay to be so smooth, your moves linked so cleanly. Your foundation in the sword Dao is exceptionally solid.”

“Fellow Daoist, you flatter me,” Zhao Chun said, sheathing her own weapon. “This exchange helped me find my gaps. I gained a great deal—thank you for the guidance.”

Jiang Yun shook his head. “You and I are both in the Sword Radiance Realm. Don’t keep calling me senior and yourself junior. Just call me Fellow Daoist.”

“I watched your sword. Wind follows it, but there’s no explosive roar. In terms of speed, you’re ahead of most people in this realm. Sword cultivators each have their strengths. We spar to explore the path and improve ourselves. Your sword teaches me as much as mine teaches you. We both gain.”

His Sword Heart was clear and steady, and he loved battle to the point of obsession. That, more than anything, was why he had broken into Sword Dao Second Realm.

Zhao Chun’s sword carried a ruthless edge. Its core was the word “slash,” already hinting at the shape of one sword breaking ten thousand techniques. It differed from Jiang Yun’s heavier path, yet there were places where their Dao aligned, and those intersections were enough for both to learn.

They had met by the sword, and they left as something between teacher and friend.

After that, Jiang Yun became a regular visitor to Zhao Chun’s residence. Time and again he came with sword in hand to exchange techniques, and with each bout Zhao Chun’s footing in the second realm grew steadier.

When the tournament ended, Zhao Chun received many visiting cards. She refused them all. She had taken too much from battle and needed a stretch of quiet cultivation.

Her sword arts were tightly bound to her movement technique. After two months of insight and practice, Serpent-Form Step finally reached mastery.

When she emerged, Cui Cui hurried to report that Master Li Shu had summoned her.

Zhao Chun did not delay. She rose and went at once to Su Hong Hall.

This time, Li Shu was not in his bamboo grove. He sat high upon the dais within the hall. Only after Zhao Chun saluted did he speak.

“At the Inner Sect tournament, you made quite a splash,” he said. “But fame is the thing most likely to disturb the Dao heart. In the future, do not slacken.”

Zhao Chun listened to his admonitions with a calm face and a quiet heart.

“In Heng Yun,” Li Shu continued, “there are many sword cultivators, but few who truly gain the Dao. For you to enter the second realm at the sixth layer of the Qi Refining Stage is not easy. I will take you as an inner-chamber disciple. After you reach the Foundation Establishment Stage, you may become my personal disciple.”

Under Li Shu, human warmth was scarce, but cultivation resources were never lacking.

Zhao Chun had no family backing, no faction to lean on. If she wanted to climb, she needed a support strong enough to bear her.

She understood that clearly. She bowed deeply. “Thank you for Master’s favor. This disciple is deeply grateful.”

Li Shu regarded her for a moment, then gave a slight nod, as if drawing a line and placing her on his side. He took out a small, dark token and tossed it to her.

“I see you still lack techniques,” he said. “With this token, you may go to the Myriad Vault Tower and select one top-grade technique. Go on your own.”

To accept a disciple was to invest. Reward built loyalty, and loyalty became strength.

Zhao Chun understood the exchange, and she showed nothing of it. She accepted the token with restrained delight, then withdrew when Li Shu waved her away.

Swift-Stride Sword Method was only low-grade Mortal Rank. Even mastered, it was still far from perfect. With or without today’s token, Zhao Chun would have needed to visit the Myriad Vault Tower sooner or later to acquire something new.

Now she would save herself a significant expense.

She already possessed body-refining techniques, and her movement was more than adequate. Since entering the Entry Realm, the Sword Light Realm allowed her to strike beyond close range. The Single-Line Flying Knife she had chosen earlier no longer suited her.

If she had chosen the sword path, then she had to continue along it. A top-grade Mortal Rank sword method was the obvious next step.

In the Myriad Vault Tower, the very top floors held Yellow-grade techniques meant for the Foundation Establishment Stage and Essence Condensation Stage. After Zhao Chun broke through to the Foundation Establishment Stage, even her foundational cultivation method, Scripture of True Sensory Insight, would need to be replaced with a specialized technique suited to her attributes. The gap between cultivators would only widen from there.

She could not reach the top today, but the shelves holding top-grade Mortal Rank techniques were already high up. Zhao Chun presented her token. The duty disciple recognized it as elder-approved, envy flickering across his face, and hurried to usher her in.

Techniques were organized by category. Zhao Chun went straight to the sword methods.

Compared to mid- and low-grade techniques, even high-grade ones were scarce. Top-grade was rarer still.

There were only three.

Zhao Chun studied each in turn, and her decision settled.

Cloud-Sweeping Thunder Sword Method began with movements like drifting clouds—soft and hard woven together. In its latter half, the blade tore through cloud layers, drawing thunder in its wake.

Zhao Chun knew the danger of becoming too rigid. The cloud portion could temper her edge, and the later portion—gathering countless forces into a single decisive strike—fit perfectly with her sword Dao.

It felt as though the method had been written for her.

She chose it.

But the deeper the technique, the harder it was to cultivate.

Zhao Chun trained day after day, rain or shine, and yet after more than ten days she still could not truly step into it.

Then, during a routine spar with Jiang Yun, inspiration struck like lightning.

“I’ve been chasing lightness,” she realized, “trying to make my sword like clouds. But a light blade can only slip through cloud layers—it cannot sweep them aside.”

In that instant, she changed. Power flowed into her sword, and the blade trembled with controlled force. The imagined mist around her seemed to scatter, parting before her intent.

She had finally entered the method.

“Congratulations,” Jiang Yun said, genuine pleasure in his voice. Then his brow tightened. “For quite some time, I won’t be coming to spar at your door.”

“Is something happening?” Zhao Chun asked.

Jiang Yun nodded. “Recently, disciples have been dying outside the sect with unusual frequency. We suspect enemy-sect cultivators are causing trouble. After Elder Qiu left seclusion, she intends to lead us Foundation Establishment Stage disciples to patrol within a hundred li of the sect.”

“So I won’t have much free time. If you can help it, Fellow Daoist, stay within the sect.”

Disciples dying on missions was hardly rare. It should not have required such a mobilization. But Jiang Yun explained that within the past year, Outer Sect disciple deaths had been several times higher than before. Last month, several disciples under elders vanished outright, finally alarming the upper ranks.

Back when the Ling Zhen Sect still stood at Song Mountain, it had fought countless battles and accumulated countless grudges. Many enemies bore resentment—but the deepest hatred belonged to the Ren Yang Sect.

After leaving seclusion and advancing to late Essence Condensation Stage, Elder Qiu Silhouette had volunteered to lead the patrol herself, guarding the sect’s perimeter.

It was hard not to suspect the Ren Yang Sect had returned to settle old scores.