Swordless One

At this moment, Demon Sect Outer Mountain.

Ji Li propped her cheek up with one hand, squeezing a crease into her slightly chubby little face.

She was a little distracted, counting the days in her heart.

—This was the Nth day she had not seen Lu Xun.

Obviously, when they had parted ways on the Back Mountain last time, Lu Xun had politely said that he would come see her, and she had truly taken it to heart.

When she came down the mountain that day, the breeze had felt gentle, the sunlight bright, the flowers fragrant... even her toes had unconsciously lifted slightly off the ground.

Yet day after day passed. Aside from catching a distant glimpse of him at the ceremony that day, Lu Xun had not come at all.

What saddened her most was that, upon careful thought, she seemed not even to have the right to sulk.

Lu Xun was now her Little Martial Grand-Aunt, one of the Demon Sect's most esteemed figures. His status was right there, creating a distance between them.

And she, for the time being, was merely a tiny Outer Sect Disciple.

But girls' thoughts were complicated after all. Even if reason told her, That's right, you have nothing to be upset about, her emotions chose—I don't want to hear it!

Hmph! Another day of being puffed up with anger!

But interestingly, despite sulking for so long, her Affection Points had not dropped even a bit...

Called Little Pear, but really a soft persimmon. Perhaps Ji Li had simply been born to be bullied.

Just as she sat there blankly lost in thought, she vaguely saw a translucent ripple spread outward.

Was I seeing things? she wondered.

However, in the next moment, the Wedding Dress Sword beside her suddenly trembled!

Though the vibration of the blade vanished in an instant, Ji Li still caught it.

"What was that?" Little Pear, whose juice was so abundant it had apparently flooded her brain too, began to feel muddled.

What she did not know was that neither the phenomenon of heaven and earth nor the swords' trembling had stopped!

One of the Demon Sect Main Peaks, Water Cloud Peak.

A fat, burly figure was practicing swordsmanship.

Murong Yan held her Hong Mao sword as she practiced Water Cloud Peak's signature sword art.

Though she was round as a ball, she excelled at movement techniques. Her whole body danced gracefully, much like a butterfly circling through the air... uh, a balloon with butterfly stickers on it.

Simply put, she was a nimble fat girl.

After finishing an entire set of sword forms, Murong Yan held her longsword and spun a flourish in midair.

Compared to before she had returned to the sect, her cultivation had improved again.

A few days ago, the sect had awarded her a spiritual pill as a reward for accompanying Mao Nanbei on her travels down the mountain.

After all, Shen Yan and several Peak Lords knew perfectly well that Mao Nanbei was no easy customer.

They did not expect her to be obedient and sensible. It would already be good enough if she caused fewer problems.

Thus, accompanying her down the mountain was considered a difficult assignment and deserved some reward.

Just as Murong Yan was preparing to rest for a while, she too saw the translucent ripples spreading through the air.

The Hong Mao sword in her right hand gave a faint tremble.

Compared to the Wedding Dress Sword, the Hong Mao sword's reaction was much slighter.

Yet Murong Yan still noticed it keenly.

She raised her guileless, plump face toward the sky, her expression full of confusion.

Back Mountain, Bamboo Forest.

Second Senior Sister Gu Xiaoman sat high atop that enormous boulder.

She nodded slightly, seeming quite satisfied.

The translucent ripple reached this place as well. The only difference was...

—the Wooden Hairpin tucked into her hair did not move at all.

The phenomenon of heaven and earth spread across dozens of miles, and most of the Demon Sect's Magic Swords began to tremble!

Yes, the swords that responded were limited to Magic Tool-grade swords, namely Yellow Weapons.

Any longsword above the Magic Tool grade gave no reaction whatsoever.

However, Magic Tool-grade longswords were the standard equipment of the disciples.

This phenomenon of heaven and earth had actually provoked a response from hundreds, even thousands, of Magic Swords!

Many Demon Sect Disciples had the same questions in their hearts:

Where had that translucent ripple just come from?

Why had my Magic Sword been unable to stop itself from trembling?

Outer Sect Disciples knew little, as they were still far too distant from that realm. But most Inner Sect Disciples understood what had happened.

This was... someone condensing a Sword Heart!?

It was said that those with Sword Heart Clarity could travel faster and farther on the path of the sword. Yet not every sword cultivator could possess a Sword Heart. To nurture one meant that a person was undoubtedly exceptionally gifted in the Sword Dao!

This had nothing to do with Cultivation Aptitude. It depended only on one's understanding of the Sword Dao—only on the sword itself!

Among the Demon Sect's many Inner Sect Disciples, very few had nurtured a Sword Heart. Murong Yan had cultivated bitterly for years, yet she was still just short of the final spark.

Many people guessed that some Inner Sect Senior Brother or Senior Sister had suddenly gained enlightenment.

All right, no one thought of Lu Xun at all.

Little Martial Grand-Aunt had been cultivating for too short a time. No matter how high his talent for the Sword Dao was, he should not have developed a Sword Heart while still practicing the Qi Devouring Art.

Even Shen Yan was surprised. Someone with such shallow cultivation would gain nothing even if they studied the half-strand of sword qi within Reception Peak from beginning to end.

It was like tossing a calculus textbook to someone who had just learned multiplication and division and telling them to teach themselves. As if they could understand it!

But Lu Xun had a game template.

Others possessed extraordinary Sword Dao Aptitude, then gained enlightenment and formed a Sword Heart.

Lu Xun, on the other hand, had been born with zero Sword Dao Aptitude. He had to cheat his way into forming a Sword Heart, then use that Sword Heart to forcibly raise his aptitude.

That was why he seemed especially unusual, beyond anyone's understanding.

But there were simply too many things on the path of cultivation that could not be understood.

Perhaps Little Martial Uncle truly was the legendary Innate Sword Embryo that appeared only once in a thousand years!

The Sect Master Shen Yan and the various Peak Lords only needed to consider one thing now:

At such low cultivation, had anyone from One Sword Mountain ever managed to nurture a Sword Heart?

No!

Then had anyone from Ten Thousand Swords Mountain ever managed to nurture a Sword Heart?

Also no!

Then what were they waiting for?

Laugh!

"Hahahahahahaha!"

Peals of hearty laughter rang out from high in the sky. Sect Master Shen Yan and the Peak Lords all burst into laughter, and with deliberate intent, their voices spread throughout the entire Demon Sect!

—"Hahahaha! Congratulations to Little Martial Uncle on awakening his Sword Heart!"

Such an achievement ought to be known by the entire sect, so that all disciples could take pride in it and work even harder!

Shen Yan's screeching-chicken-like voice spread throughout the Demon Sect, jolting the hearts of everyone who heard it!

That phenomenon of heaven and earth had actually been caused by Little Martial Grand-Aunt!?

Lu Xun's Reputation Points... began soaring once more!

In the blink of an eye, they broke through the two-thousand-point mark! The Prestige Value Task had been completed by such a fortunate coincidence.

Lu Xun, who had already opened his eyes, looked at the completed task displayed before him, and a delighted smile appeared on his face.

Seeing Shen Yan and the others laughing so happily, he followed their lead and laughed along with them.

But as Shen Yan and the others laughed, they suddenly thought of something.

Their Little Martial Uncle, who had condensed a Sword Heart after merely glancing once at the sword qi, seemed to have, since entering the sect...

—not even owned a sword!

(PS: I got knocked out of first place on the signing rankings. Please support me with recommendation votes so I can fight my way back!)