"Establishing a separate school?" I had been secretly surprised too. After all, when I heard the explanation, it had indeed been hard to make sense of. The Ancestor of the Di family and his relatives should have had a fairly good relationship. Now, his children and grandchildren filled the household, with several generations living together.
"That is right. In order to break through my own framework, I established a separate school. I cast aside the Di family's original sword techniques and framework, then derived new sword techniques from scratch. I ask that you give me some pointers, Young Friend Xia." Di Juncheng smiled as he spoke. Then he stopped aging, though he was already a man in his seventies. His hair was completely white, and his face was lined with many more wrinkles.
It seemed that in his youth, his sword techniques had followed the Di family's traditions. Only in his later years had he seen through the framework and forged a style uniquely his own. His appearance and age were like a watershed, making that fact plain at a glance.
Perhaps this was also a warning to me that I had to be careful now. Otherwise, I might not even know when I had lost.
Naturally, I no longer dared face the elderly Di Juncheng with the relaxed attitude I had shown earlier. More often than not, a person was most terrifying at this stage—whether in experience or sword technique. Perhaps this was his true peak, his prime of life!
"The Solitary Mountain's Cool Courtyard sees few visitors. Frost flowers and a cold realm, cranes for neighbors; to this day, I shake off the years of the sword, leaving only the dust beneath the stranger's eaves! The Sword Gate Beneath the Stranger's Eaves! The Swordsman Beneath the Stranger's Eaves!"