The Road Ahead

"Brother Zhou, you came all this way. Qingyuan should have welcomed you properly, and I'm truly sorry for not doing so, but I really can't get up right now."

"It was indeed rather discourteous of me. I hope you won't laugh at me, Brother Zhou."

Seated cross-legged atop a huge boulder, Yang Qingyun opened his eyes when he heard Zhou Weilong's voice. Seeing Zhou Weilong sprawled on the ground not far away,

he wore a wry smile and looked at him with eyes full of apology.

This had not been his intention.

Over the past three days, he had spent most of his time comprehending the Blade Path will preserved within the fragment.

Again and again, he had gathered the blade force in his heart and challenged the blade intent remaining in the fragment, only to be defeated and ground to dust time after time.

Throughout this process,

his comprehension of the Blade Path had advanced by leaps and bounds!

After suffering thousands upon thousands of failures, he—who had already had one foot over the threshold of blade force—had finally and completely mastered this level of power!

Even during that repeated cycle of failure and challenge, he had touched the edge of the unyielding Blade Path will!

Blade Path will—

this was an extremely profound realm of comprehension within the Blade Path!

Among Innate Realm experts,

anyone capable of comprehending something akin to Sword Path or Blade Path will was an expert famous throughout the land, an existence whose prestige was not even inferior to that of a grandmaster!

As far as Yang Qingyun knew,

experts who had comprehended Martial Path Will were already grandmaster seeds. So long as no major mishap occurred, eighty to ninety percent of them would ultimately step into the Grandmaster Realm in the future!

However,

Yang Qingyun had merely touched the edge of it,

and was still a hundred thousand miles from truly touching and comprehending it.

Yet with cultivation only at the Late Entering the Realm stage, being able to touch such power was something that, if spread, would surely send shock waves throughout the martial world of Chu Kingdom and even across the lands of the Seven Nations martial world!

"This is certainly an unexpected joy!"

"But I finally understand now. What truly prevented me from comprehending the next step in my Previous Life wasn't a lack of that unrelenting courage in my heart."

"What I truly lacked was confidence—belief!"

"Belief in the blade in my hand, belief that it could sever everything, belief that it could climb to even higher peaks!"

"Only when man and blade trust one another and the mind and spirit become one can one reach the deeper realms of the Blade Path!"

Yang Qingyun suddenly understood.

Only when he mastered blade force did he truly understand the road ahead for the Blade Path.

His former self,

because the road ahead had been severed, had subconsciously never believed that his blade could reach a higher level.

Thus, even though his blade techniques had reached their peak back then, it was precisely because of that subconscious disbelief that his blade had never given birth to a "soul."

That grandmaster had probably seen through this as well, which was why he had felt such regret.

The other party understood perfectly:

if he could not resolve the problem of his road ahead being severed, his blade would never be able to advance another step.

That was why he had shown such profound regret.

"Reborn into this life, I have already severed the tragic fate of my Previous Life. Not only will my road ahead no longer be cut off because my potential has been squeezed dry, I have instead laid a foundation so profound that I once would never even have dared to imagine it."

"Now I possess limitless possibilities for the future. Deep down, I believe in myself, I believe in the blade in my hand, and I believe that in this lifetime, I will never stop here again!"

"And so, the blade techniques that had already reached their peak in my Previous Life have, at this moment, knocked open the gate to the next step of the Blade Path!"

"Unstoppable and invincible blade force is merely the outward appearance."

"The true root lies in the confidence deep within the heart!"

Yang Qingyun sighed inwardly.

His previous understanding had gone astray.

If the only path was that of an unstoppable, hegemonic blade,

then how could the Blade Path

be such an inconvenient thing?

It was precisely because his comprehension of blade force had brought his strength into an entirely new realm, while he was still unable to fully control this newfound power,

that the blade force he had gathered was spreading recklessly throughout the courtyard.

Zhou Weilong had walked in without the slightest preparation. He collided head-on with the blade force radiating from Yang Qingyun and immediately triggered an attack from the scattered force.

In that instant,

a blade light that seemed capable of cleaving all things descended,

giving Zhou Weilong the sensation of facing death itself!

And that was how the scene before them had come about.

"Brother Yang, what is this..."

Ignoring his disheveled state, Zhou Weilong propped himself up with one hand and stared at Yang Qingyun in terror, asking in shock.

How could he not be horrified?

The scene before him had utterly surpassed his imagination!

At that moment,

Yang Qingyun was merely sitting there, yet Zhou Weilong felt as though he were facing a blade, its razor-sharp tip already pressed against his eyes, with another knife laid across his neck!

That intense pressure made every hair on his body stand on end!

That violent sense of danger

sent a chill down his spine!

Zhou Weilong drew in a shallow breath.

He truly found it difficult to imagine

how anyone could withstand such terrifying pressure of aura and might if they became Yang Qingyun's enemy.

He feared that at the very first instant of their clash,

his mind and aura would be cowed by the other party, after which he would be slain with a single stroke!

"What kind of power is this? Could it be the legendary force within the blade?"

Zhou Weilong muttered aloud, seemingly still unable to recover from the shock, as though he were talking to himself.

He was not some rustic martial artist who had grown up in the countryside and never seen the outside world.

As Zhou Weilong was born into Sifang Society, the dominant power of Bao'an County City, he had clearly seen more of the world than the local magnates and tyrants of certain rural villages and towns.

There were rumors in the martial world

that some extraordinarily gifted people could comprehend a power called "force" within the Martial Path, possessing an awe-inspiring divine might!

With a single strike, the grand momentum would descend, leaving others with nowhere to resist!

Sometimes, they did not even need to act. Merely standing there could make people feel a terrifying sensation, as though they were facing the heavens and earth themselves!

But Zhou Weilong had only heard of martial artists like that and had never seen one!

And those who had mastered Martial Path force

were all renowned, eminent experts!

Across the more than twenty towns of Bao'an County, no such expert had ever appeared!

But now,

a martial artist who existed only in legend had appeared before him just like this!

For a time, Zhou Weilong's mind and spirit were sent into tumult by the impact!

"These past few days, I happened to encounter an opportunity and was fortunate enough to make some progress."

Yang Qingyun smiled,

neither admitting nor denying it.

He shifted his body,

focused his mind, and with some difficulty suppressed the blade force within him. At the very least, he stopped it from continuing to run wild, reining it in somewhat.

"Brother Zhou, please, have a seat."

Yang Qingyun gestured invitingly toward the seat beside the stone platform ahead, calling for him to sit.

The slightly restrained aura made Zhou Weilong feel somewhat better, but that sense of danger from facing a sharp, icy blade remained.

Zhou Weilong paused briefly, took several deep breaths, and tidied his clothes a little before sitting across from Yang Qingyun at the stone table.

At that moment, he had many questions in his heart,

but Yang Qingyun did not seem inclined to speak, so he could only suppress all his words and doubts.

Even he had not noticed that, by then, he had faintly placed Yang Qingyun among the senior experts in his heart, lowering his own position accordingly.

"Brother Zhou, how have things been lately? I heard that you clashed with the Black Tiger Gang. Nothing happened, did it?"

Yang Qingyun waved his hand, letting Wang Xiaoshi pour a cup of green tea beside him, then chatted with him in a normal voice.

"Nothing serious."

Zhou Weilong picked up the teacup and moistened his throat, steadying his mind somewhat.

The two of them soon began chatting idly.

As they conversed, Yang Qingyun gradually tried to learn how to control his own blade force, causing that sharp, dazzling edge to weaken by several more degrees.

This naturally made Zhou Weilong feel more relaxed.

The atmosphere eased as well.