I May Yet Become Invincible

On the first day after entering the academy, dawn clouds filled the sky, and the weather was mild and bright.

Looking down from the mountainside, yellow leaves drifted through the air as autumn deepened. The faint morning light spilled across the white marble path, making it glitter brilliantly.

By then, the newly admitted disciples had risen early and gathered at the Dao Comprehension Ground.

Legend had it that, in an age of darkness and ignorance, the Heavenly Dao bestowed a heavenly book upon the first sages of humankind to resolve the doubts of all living beings. The sages then established the Celestial Academy, and one became the first Celestial Academy Sect Master.

Students comprehended the Dao at the Dao Comprehension Ground. If their aptitude was exceptionally high, they could forge a connection with the heavenly book.

And once they connected with the heavenly book, they were connected to the Heavenly Dao itself, allowing their cultivation to achieve twice the result with half the effort.

There were also rumors that although students who had not reached Perfection of the Lower Three Realms could not sense the Heavenly Dao, they still had a chance of sensing the heavenly book.

This would allow them to learn its mysteries in advance, bringing endless benefits.

For thousands of years, no one had seen where the heavenly book was, nor did anyone know whether it was truly a book. Yet students would indeed suddenly be covered in spiritual radiance, then wake and cry out in wild delight that they had seen the heavenly book. Clearly, it was no empty rumor.

Thus, from dawn until afternoon, disciples led by Chu He and Lu Qingqiu devoted themselves to comprehending the Dao and sensing the heavenly book.

The only one absent was this year's third disciple to reach Perfection of the Lower Three Realms, Ji You.

Although the Outer Court disciples all said Ji You was a rural independent cultivator who lacked immortal herbs and spiritual medicines to break through, and might not enter the Upper Five Realms within a year,

he had still cultivated to Perfection of the Lower Three Realms all on his own. Naturally, people paid special attention to his whereabouts.

"Where did that Ji You go?"

"Haven't seen him. Just now, I was wondering whether he had gone with the other students to the White Jade Platform to study the Grand Principle of the Origin of the Dao."

"He has already reached Perfection of the Lower Three Realms, and his foundation is solid to begin with. That sort of thing would be useless to him. Why would he go there?"

"Ah, I did hear that someone saw him leave at the hour of the dragon. After breakfast, he went to the Sword Testing Forest."

At these words, Chu He and Lu Qingqiu both opened their eyes slightly, their expressions indifferent.

When the others heard that Ji You had not come to the Dao Comprehension Ground on his first day and had instead gone straight to the Sword Testing Forest, they all looked astonished. This included Fang Ruoyao, who was striving to sense her True Spirit.

"He intends to cultivate both martial arts and the Dao?"

"He probably does intend to cultivate both martial arts and the Dao."

Chu He parted his lips slightly. "Even devoting oneself wholeheartedly to cultivating the Dao leaves one feeling there is never enough time, yet he wastes his time on martial arts."

Lu Qingqiu also opened her eyes and turned to Fang Ruoyao beside her. "Ruoyao, has your fiancé always behaved so erratically?"

Fang Ruoyao froze slightly at that, then nodded, looking somewhat uncomfortable.

Yes, she had personally told others that Ji You was her fiancé.

Back in Yuyang County, Miss Fang had been the county magistrate's daughter, a disciple chosen by the Celestial Academy, a crane among clouds whom everyone needed to look up to.

But only after coming to the Celestial Academy did she realize that her family background could not compare with those before her, nor could her status. All at once, she had become the most ordinary of disciples, and the gap in her heart was immense.

Especially after returning to the women's dormitory last night, she had seen the girls in her room chatting and laughing merrily, getting along splendidly, yet she had not dared to join in.

Until she said that she was Ji You's fiancée.

A rural independent cultivator who had reached Perfection of the Lower Three Realms before coming of age was already the main topic of conversation on the academy's first night. In that instant, everyone turned their eyes toward her.

Then she suddenly realized that the identity she had once despised beyond measure had now become the only thing she could use to show off...

"Cultivating both martial arts and the Dao..."

"All the academy's students are doing their utmost to comprehend the Dao and break through. What is the point of cultivating martial arts? Does he plan to fight others to the death in the future?"

Meanwhile, in the Sword Testing Forest behind the mountain.

The sea of bamboo remained lush and green, untouched by autumn's arrival. It swayed in the wind, every tree rustling softly.

Ji You was currently holding a wooden sword and practicing fundamental sword forms with Wang Xinan, an instructor at the academy who cultivated both martial arts and the Dao.

Chop, thrust, point, lift, crash, intercept; wipe, pierce, pick, raise, twist, sweep.

Set after set, Instructor Wang taught them without pause.

At Perfection of the Lower Three Realms, one could already project spiritual energy outward and control objects with energy. As such, most sword arts in the Qingyun World were not flashy.

The simplest sword was the most direct killing move.

Ji You moved through the forest, repeating those twelve motions again and again—one sword, another sword, then yet another—constantly training himself until his hand was steady and his heart swift whenever he drew his sword.

In Instructor Wang's words, when meeting an enemy with a sword, one must first break their momentum. But if one's sword strike was unstable, all the force within the blade would be dissipated in the first collision.

Thus, Ji You kept seeking that feeling, then let every muscle in his body carve the movements into itself through that feeling, allowing them to cross the barrier of thought and become instinctive actions.

"Hah..."

"This is pretty tiring."

Ji You found that repeating certain movements too many times easily brought fatigue, but if he endured past that exhausted period, the motions gradually began to flow like drifting clouds and running water.

Wang Xinan, standing to one side and watching this newly admitted disciple at Perfection of the Lower Three Realms, wore a rather strange expression.

Over the years, every disciple he had seen had rushed to the Dao Comprehension Ground on the first day to try sensing the heavenly book. He had never seen anyone come directly to the Sword Testing Forest.

He had thought Ji You was merely chasing a momentary novelty, but he had not expected him to work so hard.

Wang Xinan came back to himself. "Open your hands. Let me see."

Ji You opened his hands. There was no deep redness, nor was there much sweat pooled in his palms.

"Good. You haven't put yourself to death with effort. Remember that instant burst of strength. Keep going!"

"Remember, when you strike with the sword, you must pay attention to your breathing. Do not let it become an obstacle to your sword strike. Once your rhythm is thrown into chaos, you'll be finished in an instant!"

"Once you are proficient in the fundamental sword forms, you will slowly develop your own habits of wielding a sword. As for cultivators, every person's habits in controlling energy differ as well."

"The combination of your energy-control habits and sword-wielding habits will ultimately create sword techniques that change ten thousand times in a thousand forms—moving as your heart moves, striking as your hand strikes!"

Upon hearing the words "moving as your heart moves," the peerless fierce bandit furrowed his brow and linked several movements into a flourish of sword flowers. Then he let the sword fly from his hand, where it spun around his body like lightning three times before returning to his hand, followed swiftly by another flourish.

Just as Wang Xinan was staring blankly, he saw spiritual energy suddenly surge beneath Ji You's feet. His body spun in place like lightning, the wooden sword circling with him before driving forward viciously, and bamboo leaves rained wildly through the forest.

After exhausting the combination, Ji You leaned on his sword and wiped away his sweat. When he looked up again, he saw Instructor Wang's face filled with astonishment.

He seemed utterly stunned by Ji the Fierce Bandit's combination just now and could not recover for a long time.

"Have you ever seen an expert wield a sword?"

Ji You wiped his sweat and said, "Yes. As a child, I was indeed fortunate enough to witness it with my own eyes."

Wang Xinan narrowed his eyes. "Which expert?"

"Meng Xinghun."

"?"

Once cultivators could project spiritual energy outward, many moves that seemed unimaginable could be used.

A flying sword could link together different sword techniques, transforming one sequence into hundreds of moves. Even the Meteor Butterfly Sword could be replicated. This was what delighted Ji You.

Then he looked at the other instructional wooden sword in Wang Xinan's hand, and an odd idea suddenly came to him. "Instructor, can a cultivator control only one sword?"

"Not necessarily. With the spiritual energy of your Perfection of the Lower Three Realms, even ten swords would be no problem."

"What about ten thousand?"

Wang Xinan laughed at that. "Naturally, you could, but there would be no meaning to it. You must understand that controlling energy requires concentrated spiritual energy to be strongest. Spread it out, and it naturally becomes weaker. Unless your spiritual source can supply you with an unending stream of spiritual energy, making every sword brimming with it, it would only be a fancy display."

Ji You pondered for a moment. "Perhaps I may become invincible..."

"Ji You, this instructor wishes to ask: where might Meng Xinghun be found?"

"Yanliu Island, Stalactite Cave, A Thread of Sky, Jinhua City..."

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