Chapter 119: A Sword and Honor
(This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation)
“Make it more complex…”
“Let your thoughts run wild…”
The formidable [Return and Come] descended with unstoppable force. Ji You’s sword intent, intricate and chaotic, exploded into ferocious sword qi, surging forward to meet the strike head-on.
In that moment, the iron sword clashed against the terrifying blow, sparks scattering wildly. The one wielding it, Ji You, was sent flying through the air by the overwhelming force. Yet as soon as he hit the ground, Ji You rose again, sword in hand, prepared to face the next wave of [Return and Come].
“Not complex enough. It needs to be even more complicated,” he murmured to himself. “Stubborn mind, think faster.”
The second stroke of [Return and Come] was sharper, faster, and deadlier, cutting through the air like lightning tearing the heavens asunder, offering no chance for respite.
This was the hallmark of the Spirit Sword Mountain Sect’s Third Sword of the Forest, a technique honed by Elder Qi, renowned for its blinding speed—a pure manifestation of ultimate quickness within the Sword Dao.
Ji You soared into the air, his sword brimming with chaotic and convoluted energy, striking back against the incoming wave. At this moment, his Sword Heart resembled an overgrown forest, tangled and wild. Yet despite his best efforts, he was struck down again by the merciless blade, crashing into the forest below. Undeterred, he grasped his sword and rose once more.
“It’s complex enough…”
“Now, simplicity. The heart must become clear. To see what must remain and what must be discarded.”
“See it all, and see only that.”
“If I wield only one sword, then it must be the straightest blade.”
With a roaring surge, sword waves burst forth, their qi piercing through the forest in a relentless tempest. The fury of the unleashed energy transformed the once-serene woods into a tumult of crashing waves and raging winds.
Watching from a distance, Yan Ye and Yan Qing Chi grew increasingly alarmed. The overwhelming power of Ji You’s strikes, though diminishing, grew fiercer with each motion. Their hearts trembled as they observed, while Gong Shu Chou involuntarily retreated further into the shadows.
Only Yan Shu Jing, having already surpassed the Third Sword Forest, remained at the forefront. Her gaze was steady and focused, analyzing Ji You’s movements with unwavering intensity.
Her own sword, a renowned treasure of Ling Prefecture, trembled faintly within its scabbard, as though stirred by Ji You’s overwhelming aura.
With a hum, the sword qi scattered in all directions, its waves cascading like layers of rippling tides. As the onlookers stared, the sword intent shifted—it was now simpler, stripped of all excess and gleaming with clarity.
“That’s [Little Overlapping Mountain],” Yan Ye muttered, his brow furrowing.
Yan Qing Chi shook his head slightly. “No, it isn’t [Little Overlapping Mountain], but… it bears a resemblance. About forty percent similar.”
“Forty percent of [Little Overlapping Mountain]?”
“Indeed. I wouldn’t mistake Senior Brother Qi’s swordsmanship,” Yan Qing Chi replied firmly.
Yan Ye’s expression wavered as he stared at Ji You. His gaze flickered, shifting with each passing moment.
The Sword Dao, like the Immortal Way, was vast, profound, and boundless. The Spirit Sword Mountain Sect had spent centuries refining their understanding, yet they had barely scratched the surface.
To comprehend the Dao through swordplay was an exceptional feat—even among the sect, such individuals were as rare as phoenix feathers. Thus, even achieving forty percent of [Little Overlapping Mountain] was a monumental accomplishment that left both Yan Ye and Yan Qing Chi deeply shaken.
The oft-repeated saying among the disciples, “A clear Sword Heart,” was usually a phrase of praise. Yet as elders, they knew it was more than mere words. There truly existed those born with such clarity, a gift as rare as it was awe-inspiring.
Their sect master was one such individual, and Yan Shu Jing, present among them, was another.
Yan Ye now understood why Ji You had needed sixteen strikes to pass [Little Overlapping Mountain].
Others had simply endured its strikes, but Ji You had used those sixteen blows to learn forty percent of its technique.
This… This was the clarity of a Sword Heart—a talent that nearly rivaled that of Yan Shu Jing herself.
Unable to contain himself, Gong Shu Chou turned, glancing toward Yan Ye and Yan Qing Chi, confusion and disbelief etched across his face.
Though his Dao Fusion Stage cultivation allowed him to understand what they meant by the “Fourfold Little Overlapping Mountain,” something felt off to him. The thing was, he couldn’t see the “Little Overlapping Mountain” itself.
“This isn’t the Little Overlapping Mountain.”
“?”
“It’s not the Little Overlapping Mountain at all,” Yan Shu Jing suddenly stepped back, her brows furrowing as she turned and walked out of the forest. Passing by Yan Ye and Yan Qing Chi, she couldn’t help but mutter something under her breath.
The two paused in surprise. They hadn’t fully grasped what the direct disciple of Mystic Sword Peak meant, but a sense of confusion already began rising in their hearts.
They knew Yan Shu Jing was obsessed with the sword. She had entered the Sword Forest to hone her blade, yet here she was, walking out of the third layer instead of proceeding to the fourth. Why?
Yan Shu Jing offered no explanation. Her expression blank, she left the third layer entirely and returned to the second, moving without hesitation back to the first layer. It was there she finally stopped, her spiritual sense stirring as she reactivated the Little Overlapping Mountain.
At that moment, Ding Yao and Huang Hui were waiting outside the first layer. Beside them were Wen Zheng Xin and Pei Ru Yi. Wen Zheng Xin and Pei Ru Yi had come looking for Ji You, using the corridor bridge to avoid drawing attention. This had delayed them enough that Ding Yao and Huang Hui arrived first.
Still debating whether to venture into the first layer to find their junior brother, they suddenly saw Yan Shu Jing approach and face the Little Overlapping Mountain once more. The four of them were utterly baffled.
Why would a direct disciple of Mystic Sword Peak, who had already conquered this sword technique once, turn back to face it again?
“It’s not the Little Overlapping Mountain,” Yan Shu Jing murmured to herself. “Nor is it the New Willow Color.”
It wasn’t just Yan Ye and Yan Qing Chi speaking back in the forest; Gong Shu Chou had also muttered under his breath. While the two elders spoke of the Little Overlapping Mountain, Gong Shu Chou spoke of the New Willow Color.
[Different hearts of the sword see different truths of the sword.]
Yan Shu Jing had heard of this phenomenon before. Some people’s eyes are different. They perceive the same colors, the same fragments of a pattern, yet interpret them entirely differently. With disjointed pieces pieced together, each sees a distinct image.
Yan Ye and Gong Shu Chou had witnessed different aspects of a single sword strike. But in that moment of observing the blade, Yan Shu Jing suddenly understood.
It wasn’t just the Little Overlapping Mountain, or the New Willow Color, or the Return and Come, or even the Thought Without Evil. It was Little Overlapping Mountain overlapped with New Willow Color; Return and Come infused with Thought Without Evil.
That swordsman was indeed learning the Sword Dao, but for every step forward in mastery, he discarded another part of his technique. One New Willow Color was severed, and half a Return and Come took its place. One Little Overlapping Mountain was set aside, and half a New Willow Color grew in its wake.
Thus, as he traversed the layers of the forest, his blade was no longer fully what he had learned from Elder Qi. A fragment of his own Sword Dao had been mixed into it.
This was why different hearts of the sword saw his sword differently.
Yan Shu Jing had passed through the first three layers with her immense cultivation and extraordinary swordsmanship. However, upon reaching the fourth layer, she had been trapped for sixteen whole days. At one point, she had narrowly avoided losing an arm.
Looking back now, it became clear that the first three strikes had been deliberately tempered by Elder Qi. Most disciples could brute-force their way through those layers with enough cultivation. But the fourth sword was different. It could not be conquered through sheer strength alone. Attempting to do so would only result in death by the final strike.
Thus, Yan Shu Jing chose to retrace her path from the first layer onward, cutting her way back to the third.
At this moment, Ji You was in the third layer, swinging his sword for the seventeenth time against the Return and Come. His entire being radiated overwhelming Sword Intent.
Old Cao often spoke a saying back at the Heavenly Script Academy: “The Great Dao is boundless; it can only be comprehended, not taught.”
The phrase indicates that the Dao is formless, meaning each person experiences it uniquely, and this personal understanding is difficult to communicate accurately to others.
But Ji You could see it clearly.
From Yuyang County to the Heavenly Script Academy, and then to Spirit Sword Mountain, he had always been able to perceive it. The sword path of Elder Qi was vivid in his eyes, unerringly distinct.
At the same time, Yan Ye, Yan Qing Chi, and Gong Shu Chou stood frozen where they were. The trio gazed at the intricate swordsmanship, witnessing its transformation into simplicity—a purity that carried profound mysteries—and fell into deep thought. A sword path that shifted from complexity to simplicity, then back to complexity, and finally returned to purity.
Their minds lingered on the words Yan Shu Jing had left behind moments ago. Now, the true meaning behind those words began to surface in their reflections.
“That was originally Elder Qi’s sword, but now it is his.”
“A disciple of Spirit Sword Mountain by nature…” Yan Ye murmured under his breath, his tone heavy. “Why was he born in Feng Prefecture and taken by the Heavenly Script Academy instead?”
As he spoke, a sharp sword chant pierced the sky, and Ji You was suddenly sent flying by a vicious strike from the Return and Come technique. He crashed heavily to the ground. After this seventeenth sword, the youth no longer lifted his blade but instead slumped to the ground, his body trembling as his blood and qi churned, sweat pouring from him as though he were steaming.
Seeing this, Yan Ye and Yan Qing Chi both exhaled deeply, their expressions visibly more relaxed. Just as Yan Shu Jing had suggested, even if one’s Sword Heart wasn’t utterly clear, a disciple of Spirit Sword Mountain could still brute-force their way through with sheer cultivation, though they would inevitably fail to overcome the final layer.
The inverse was also true—without sufficient cultivation or strength, even innate talent would only carry one so far.
Ji You was extraordinary, enduring the fearsome Return and Come technique at the Mystic Enlightenment Stage, a feat that would trouble even a Dao Fusion Stage cultivator. This accomplishment spoke volumes about his abilities. But this was his limit. It wasn’t his fault; the circumstances of his birth and timing were against him. If he had been born a few years earlier, in the Ling Prefecture, and started cultivating sooner…
[Why does destiny toy with people so?] Yan Ye sighed inwardly, unaware that someone in the Heavenly Script Academy had once expressed the same sentiment about Ji You. It had been none other than Instructor Wang, who lamented similarly when betting on Chu He’s potential to enter the Inner Court. He, too, had said Ji You was born in the wrong era.
“What a pity. Time is not on his side.”
“This is as far as I can go…” Ji You muttered softly. Then, furrowing his brow, he noticed four people standing around him, their gazes fixed in a daze. “Elder Yan, it’s been a while.”
Yan Ye looked at him with a complicated expression. “Leave now.”
“Huh?”
“You’ve reached your limit, haven’t you? And your direct senior brother is about to lose. Your Heavenly Script Academy, after flaunting itself under the Divine Sect of Great Xia’s banner all these years, should finally face some setbacks.”
Ji You raised his gaze. “I understand why Spirit Sword Mountain won’t apologize, but the reasoning doesn’t add up.”
Yan Ye sneered coldly at the remark. “What reasoning could there be? Entering the relic site is about seeking immortal opportunities. Do you expect everyone to hold back?”
“But my senior sister wasn’t there to seize immortal opportunities. Spirit Sword Mountain and the Dao Seeking Sect ambushed her not for that, but for the spiritual stones she carried.”
“That’s no longer relevant. Your Heavenly Script Academy’s reputation is already in tatters.”
Ji You sat cross-legged and closed his eyes. “Not yet…”
Yan Ye let out a sharp laugh. “Do you think You Bu Yu still stands a chance of winning?”
“No. I’ve known all along that You Bu Yu would lose. That’s why I calculated the timing last night. While my sword observation ends here, I haven’t tried brute-forcing through. The remaining strikes—perhaps they can salvage a shred of dignity.”
“What?”
Those present froze, bewildered by Ji You’s words. Before they could process them, the forest’s spiritual energy suddenly surged, rushing toward Ji You in a torrent. The boundless spiritual energy poured into his body, merging with the fragments of his shattered spiritual essence and spreading through his limbs.
Suddenly, the bamboo forest hummed with resonance. Ji You’s spiritual energy ignited, and an overwhelming aura radiated from his body. Those standing nearby felt a potent force ripple through the air, accompanied by a rhythmic pounding sound.
Ji You opened his eyes, his physical form rejuvenated to its peak. Heat radiated from his body in waves, a force almost explosive in its intensity. He reached into the Green Jade Gourd and withdrew a series of medicine bottles, swiftly uncorking and downing their contents.
As the pills entered his system, the spiritual energy surrounding him condensed into a milky aura that thickened rapidly. These pills, originally meant as contingencies, were now proving invaluable.
Indeed, the Sword Forest allowed both enlightenment and brute force as paths forward.
The four onlookers remained stunned. Even Yan Shu Jing’s lips parted in surprise, her eyes widening as she watched his aura surge skyward.
With a low hum, a shimmering mystical light enveloped Ji You. Rising to his feet, he extended his powerful arms, drawing forth seven sharp swords that roared into existence before him. They hovered in the air, emanating surging spiritual light.
Witnessing this, Gong Shu Chou’s heart sank. “As expected…”