Lin Yun sat paralyzed on the ground. The scene just now had been too terrifying.
Was that the power of a peak sword cultivator?
However, he could also feel the unwillingness in the old man's roars. Heaven and earth were indifferent. Even a sword cultivator as powerful as that old man could not, in the end, resist the erosion of time.
After a long while, Lin Yun finally came back to his senses. The bloody marks on his body, however, had still not faded. He got up and moved forward.
He walked across an arched bridge and finally arrived at the true living quarters of Lizhu Cave Heaven.
There was a deep pool here, in which he could vaguely see many meter-long Golden Scale Fish. To the left of the main cave was another corridor, also brimming with sword intent. The central living area had pots, pans, bowls, and even a roasting rack and spices.
"This senior was quite the glutton in his day," Lin Yun mumbled, searching around the cave.
Finally, on a stone bed, he saw a seated corpse. It had white hair and a youthful face and was dressed in the standard robes of a Flowing Cloud Sect elder. Even though he had been dead for a long time, his physical body had not decayed.
Next to the old man, Lin Yun found a bottle of pills, two manuals, and a compass. Besides that, there was only a single letter and nothing else.
To the one who comes after,My Daoist name is Jian Wuming, a guest elder of the Flowing Cloud Sect. After a hundred years, I failed to attain the next realm. Today, I enter my final rest here, leaving my legacy to a later generation. I hope that the one who comes will inherit my mantle, but you must not bring disaster upon the world.
Pah, so stuffy and formal, how awkward!
Further down, the style changed completely.
"I don't know which lucky brat will find this. But anyway, there are two manuals here. That 'Azure Origin Sword Art' is only half a manual, but I obtained it a hundred years ago from an immortal island overseas. It's up to you whether you practice it or not."
"The 'Great River Sword Art' isn't as good as the Azure Origin one and its upper limit is not high, but its foundation is stable. How you choose depends entirely on your own will."
"I obtained the 'Azure Origin Sword Art' too late in life. I reached perfection in sixty years but couldn't find the second half in my remaining time. I only know that the most likely place for it to appear is in the Southern Wilderness."
"As for the 'Great River Sword Art,' although it cannot lead to the pinnacle of the sword dao, with my notes to guide you, I guarantee you'll have no problem entering the Myriad Laws Realm!"
"No matter which you choose, ten years from now, please go to Kun Mountain in the north in my stead to keep an appointment. Whether it brings fortune or disaster will depend on your fate."
What should he do?
One was a stable path to the Myriad Laws Realm. The other was a gamble that could turn a bicycle into a motorcycle!
Lin Yun was momentarily stumped. Jian Wuming's notes had also said that he did not recommend practicing both sword arts at the same time. The "Azure Origin Sword Art" was too domineering, and beginners could easily mess up.
Lin Yun struggled for a long while, then grabbed both manuals.
Only children make choices. An adult wants it all!
As for the pills, they were cultivation-enhancing pills suitable for the Mystic Passage Realm. Jian Wuming probably never imagined that the kid who inherited his legacy would be a mere Nascent Yuan Realm cultivator. The compass was an unfinished formation array, which Lin Yun had no use for at the moment, so he put it away.
For the next few days, he spent two hours every day cultivating the "Primordial Chaos Sword Embryo" technique. The rest of his time was spent practicing the "Great River Sword Art" and the "Azure Origin Sword Art." When he got hungry, he would just go outside, catch a fish, and roast it.
What Lin Yun hadn't expected was that these fish were no ordinary creatures. Eating them not only filled his stomach but also strengthened his bones and muscles. Although the effect was not as good as the "Primordial Chaos Sword Embryo," it was still remarkably rare.
Four days passed just like that, and his realm reached the eighth level of Nascent Yuan. Although Lin Yun wanted to save the pills, he knew that Zhao Yulong would come looking for trouble the moment he went out, so now was the time to frantically increase his strength.
Jian Wuming probably never imagined that his successor would be popping the Mystic Passage Pills he left behind like they were candy.
He had achieved minor accomplishment in both the "Azure Origin Sword Art" and the "Great River Sword Art." He wasn't sure if it was because of the "Primordial Chaos Sword Embryo" or something else, but the two sword arts did not clash as he had expected. However, his cultivation speed had indeed slowed down now.
On this day, he decided to challenge the other Sword Intent Corridor left by Jian Wuming. Jian Wuming's letter hadn't mentioned it, but Lin Yun felt that this was the real opportunity! After four days, his cultivation and swordsmanship had both improved, so he was confident he could pass through it.
The moment Lin Yun stepped inside, a sharp sword qi rushed toward him. He immediately used a move from the "Great River Sword Art" to counter it.
After that, for every inch he advanced, dozens of sword qis would assail him. Lin Yun could only constantly use moves from both the "Great River Sword Art" and the "Azure Origin Sword Art" to barely cope.
At first, it was quite stressful. Gradually, however, Lin Yun found that it wasn't as difficult as he had imagined. The sword qi released by the corridor seemed to be intentionally arranged. Some were suitable for being broken by the "Great River Sword Art," while others were meant for the "Azure Origin Sword Art."
Lin Yun, who was practicing both arts simultaneously, with the assistance of the "Primordial Chaos Sword Embryo," actually managed to pass through the corridor. Although he was lightly injured and looked a bit pathetic, it was worth it.
Currently, Lin Yun only had 5 levels of the "Azure Origin Sword Art" manual, while the "Great River Sword Art" had a total of 12 levels. But after this ordeal, Lin Yun felt that he had reached the Great Perfection stage of the second level in both arts.
Just then, Lin Yun noticed a face carved into the wall by sword qi. It was Jian Wuming's lifelike smiling face. There was also another letter.
"Good kid, you've got guts."
"I like your disobedient personality. Every sword cultivator under the heavens knows that different sword arts have different requirements for circulating yuan energy and cycling qi through the meridians. Now that you've practiced two, you should understand what I meant before."
"But since you had the courage to do it, I'll help you one last time. I have been obsessed with the sword dao my entire life and have crossed blades with countless experts. I have compiled the strengths of a hundred schools and wrote these notes. You can take a look."
"It was only on the day my dao perished that I understood that the paths past sword cultivators walked were all wrong. A true sword cultivator should gather the strengths of a hundred schools and merge the great unity of the world into one!"
"Practicing only a single path of swordsmanship is a minor dao."
"However, your path is even more treacherous. Only those with a firm will can achieve the supreme sword dao."
Lin Yun's face lit up with joy. He eagerly opened Jian Wuming's notes and began to read. However, the more he read, the more he felt that something was wrong.
Weren't these just the later contents of the "Primordial Chaos Sword Embryo" technique? Most importantly, what he had written here wasn't even half as professional as the "Primordial Chaos Sword Embryo."
Still, the fact that Jian Wuming could come up with so many insights on his own was a testament to his obsession with the sword dao. This reassured Lin Yun quite a bit.
The "Primordial Chaos Sword Embryo" technique had a total of six levels, and he had only just mastered the first. Since he could practice two sword arts now without any pressure, perhaps he could practice even more?
With that thought, Lin Yun immediately began to put it into practice. Jian Wuming's notes contained other sword arts, and Lin Yun chose another one, the "Myriad Flower Sword Art."
This time, as he practiced, he felt his yuan energy being obstructed. The feeling was like someone stabbing his internal organs with needles; the pain was excruciating. He almost fainted after practicing for just fifteen minutes.
It seemed he would have to cultivate the "Primordial Chaos Sword Embryo" to the second level before he could master more sword arts.
Lin Yun temporarily stopped practicing the "Myriad Flower Sword Art" and continued to practice the other two in the following days. Supplemented by the Golden Scale Fish and the Mystic Passage Pills, his progress was twice as fast.
Time flew by in the blink of an eye. In a flash, it was time to report to the Mission Hall.
Although Lin Yun's realm had not improved in these few days, his "Great River Sword Art" had reached the third level of Great Perfection, and his "Azure Origin Sword Art" had reached the second level of Minor Accomplishment.
Now, Lin Yun was one hundred percent confident that he could utterly crush Zhao Yulong!