Only Xu Yan remained in the mountain forest.
He stood amid the woods, gazing around him. Sword marks crisscrossed everywhere, and one small hole after another had been pierced through the great trees.
The neatly severed trees lay scattered across the ground, cut into more than a dozen sections.
Faint traces of sword techniques and sword moves could still be seen.
The more Xu Yan looked, the more he seemed to gain a hazy understanding. A chaotic mass of sword moves surfaced in his mind—all of them moves his master had once performed.
He had simply forgotten them.
No!
It could not be said that he had forgotten them. Rather, he had forgotten the sequence of the sword moves, and which sword had been used on which occasion.
The chaotic sword moves in his mind and the traces around him mutually verified each other. Suddenly, one move overlapped with a sword mark on the ground.
"This sword mark was created by this move."
Xu Yan murmured inwardly.
"To achieve a Clear Sword Heart, the foremost requirement is a clear and pure sword heart, free from the shackles of sword moves and sword techniques. After that comes clarity..."
Xu Yan felt that he had gained some insight.
However, the distance to a Clear Sword Heart was still far too great.
At this moment, he seemed to have returned to the small mountain village, to the time when he had first begun cultivating martial arts. He understood nothing, yet somehow possessed a glimmer of insight.
"Forget the sword moves, forget the sword techniques, and do not be bound by their forms... The first thing I must do is purify my sword heart. For this first step, I should completely forget the sword techniques my master performed.
"No! Forgetting does not mean truly