Leisurely White Clouds

Legend had it that there was a sword technique that strode across the heavens: the Seven Heaven-Walking Swords!

When this sword technique first burst into the world, Old Master You Tu, the strongest Sword Immortal of the age, beheaded the previous master of the Holy Spirit Hall with seven swords. Afterward, he vanished into the human world, leaving behind a tale for the ages.

Later generations studied the "Seven Heaven-Walking Swords" and created the "White Cloud Sword Technique."

Of course, its grade had dropped by dozens of tiers.

It was merely an ordinary Houtian spiritual technique!

The "White Cloud Sword Technique" was kept in the Spirit Treasury Pavilion of Tiansang Spirit Palace and contained thirteen swords in total.

Back when Xu Xiaoshou's aptitude had still been mediocre, he had exhausted all he knew and finally learned the first sword within three years: Leisurely White Clouds!

This had been the first spiritual technique he mastered in his life, as well as the only one...

Well, to be precise, it was one-thirteenth of a move!

When darkness swallowed his mind and he felt heaven and earth shudder violently, Xu Xiaoshou saw Hidden Pain carry him with a whoosh into the clouds.

He slashed out with his sword, and the white clouds drifted apart before leisurely gathering again.

No beginning, no end; undying and indestructible.

In an instant, endless sword forms flooded into his mind, and countless realizations came crashing in like waves.

He recalled every moment he had jolted awake in the night and practiced bitterly with his sword in the courtyard.

Thrust, sweep, lift, cut...

Those were the most basic fundamentals. They were blood and sweat; every move and every form that had become instinct seemed to melt together and become one at this moment.

Xu Xiaoshou looked at the white clouds before him and sheathed his sword.

At that instant, slowly advancing sword light appeared at the horizon. It crisscrossed through the air, seeming to drift over leisurely, yet arriving in the blink of an eye.

The white clouds shattered into fragments, and the sky crumbled into dust.

"Ha!"

Xu Xiaoshou abruptly woke up, gasping for breath. As he moved, his clothes turned into scraps and fell before him like the white clouds in the illusion.

He lowered his head. Hidden Pain was in his hand, seemingly leaping with joy as it gave off a clear sword cry.

So...

"What the hell was going on?"

Xu Xiaoshou was dumbfounded. He had merely inserted the Passive Key. The key vanished, and he entered that White Cloud Illusion filled with lingering sword intent, which had even drawn out the most painful memory buried in his heart.

He had trained for three years and only learned one-thirteenth of the White Cloud Sword Technique...

This was a Houtian sword technique! How terrible did one's aptitude have to be to achieve something this difficult? How could it not be painful? Xu Xiaoshou calmed down, buried those memories deep within himself, and hurriedly looked toward the information panel. This definitely had something to do with the Passive Key.

A new line had indeed appeared: "Obtained mastery-type passive skill: Sword Mastery!"

Mastery-type?

Sword Mastery? Xu Xiaoshou was stunned. This was what One More Key had given him?

Did I really pull a passive skill that might be one of the most badass kinds? One that even came with entrance effects?

"Holy shit!"

Xu Xiaoshou finally could not hold back his profanity. Had luck itself truly possessed him?

"Sword Mastery..."

Just hearing that name made it sound utterly awesome. It was several grades above things like "Sturdiness" and "Sharpness."

With the Passive System's naming being so monotonous, the fact that it had produced a passive skill beyond ordinary daily nouns showed just how terrifying this "Sword Mastery" was.

What was more...

Thinking of that White Cloud Illusion, Xu Xiaoshou trembled with excitement.

Could it be that I've already mastered the sword moves and knowledge from that illusion? Because it was a passive skill, each time it appeared, it did so soundlessly and subtly. If Xu Xiaoshou had not deliberately examined it, he would basically never have noticed his own Transformation.

He looked at Hidden Pain in his hand as it hummed and trembled.

It was excited!

Xu Xiaoshou could distinctly and intensely sense that Hidden Pain, an object that should have been dead, was incredibly excited at this moment—one could even say exhilarated!

Should I try it? This thought flashed through Xu Xiaoshou's mind, so he closed his eyes and recalled the sword technique from the illusion that had shattered even the white clouds.

His breathing gradually settled, and he felt himself growing light as a feather, rising into the air.

Ethereal, translucent, clear and tranquil...

What a wondrous feeling.

The next moment, Xu Xiaoshou felt himself become a cloud—leisurely white clouds, vast as a painting.

When the summer wind rose, the white clouds shattered! Xu Xiaoshou felt that he needed to draw his sword.

So he drew it. An unconscious slash swept out, incomparably obscure, yet in a single stroke it traversed both beginning and end.

One sword drifted leisurely; the desolate evening wind blew away all fallen leaves.

Sshh, sshh, sshh! The scene from the illusion appeared once more. Countless streaks of sword light drifted over, yet instantly filled the entire room.

He had clearly slashed at an extremely slow speed, yet the sword light vanished beyond the horizon at an incomparably swift speed.

Xu Xiaoshou opened his eyes.

Boom! The house built from redheart wood broke into fragments and rained down.

Bang, bang, bang! He looked up, only for a skyful of redheart wood fragments to crash down upon him, piling into a wooden grave that buried him beneath it.

"Holy shit!"

"What was going on?"

Inside a narrow, cramped room sat a round wooden table and three men.

Xiao Qixiu sat upright, though the sword on his back had been placed across his knees. He shook his head seriously. "I don't drink!"

"You know that true sword cultivators do not get drunk on wine; they only get drunk on swords. Drinking will only muddle my mind. If this goes on, my sword will lose its accuracy."

Qiao Qianzhi snorted and sprayed his wine all over the old man opposite him, immediately becoming awkward. "Uh, that wasn't intentional."

He turned to Xiao Qixiu and struggled to hold back his laughter. "You make it sound like your swordsmanship will improve greatly just because you don't drink?"

Xiao Qixiu smiled faintly. "I have indeed improved."

He turned toward the old man who was wiping his face. "Elder Sang, are you planning to stay for a long time after returning this time?"

A few blades of grass still remained on the old man's head. He glared at Qiao Qianzhi, raised his wine cup, and drained it in one gulp.

"I'll stay a while longer for now!"

Looking at the empty cup, he suddenly said, "You can be drunk on both wine and swords!"

Xiao Qixiu was about to refute him when the old man added, "Unfortunately, you can't do it. Otherwise, the Eighth Sword Immortal would have been you..."

Qiao Qianzhi could no longer hold it in and burst out laughing. "Hee-haw, hee-haw, hee..."

Xiao Qixiu: "..."

Just then, the sword beside his knees hummed and began vibrating violently.

The three exchanged glances, each seeing surprise in the others' eyes.

Xiao Qixiu grabbed the humming sword and listened closely. Instantly, images of everything nearby appeared in his mind.

Tiansang Spirit Palace, outer courtyard.

The evening breeze blew gently as a disciple walked with a sword in his arms, contemplating life.

Suddenly, the sword in his embrace grew restless and tried to break free.

He was greatly alarmed and hurriedly held his sword down, only to discover that everyone around him who cultivated the sword was experiencing the same thing.

Clang—

Sword cries rose from all directions, harmonizing into one and echoing through half the outer courtyard.

"What was going on?"

All the disciples were dumbstruck.

"Sword cries for one li—Houtian Sword Intent?" the old man said calmly.

"Mm!"

Xiao Qixiu nodded and immediately rose to his feet, exclaiming in amazement:

"I didn't expect another disciple in the outer courtyard to cultivate Acquired Sword Intent. Along with the two Innate Spirit Refiners and one Innate Body Refiner we discovered earlier, the quality of this year's outer courtyard disciples is truly exceptionally good."

"Innate Body Refiner?"

The old man was surprised. He even set down his wine cup, as though pondering something.

Then he changed the subject. "I recall that the last person to manifest sword intent was that little girl Su Qianqian, wasn't it?"

"Mm, Innate Sword Intent," he added.

Xiao Qixiu looked impatient to leave, but he still answered, "Su Qianqian cannot be compared to them. She is a true genius, and she possesses one of the continent's twenty-one Famous Swords. Even I covet it deeply."

"Stop pretending and go take a look!" Elder Qiao at the side also stood up. "You clearly can't hold yourself back anymore, yet you insist on standing here."

Xiao Qixiu awkwardly scratched his head.

The old man smiled. "Go on!"

The two rushed out the door.

"Tsk, tsk..."

The old man still looked utterly unhurried, as if Acquired Sword Intent was not enough to stir his interest at all.

He drained the remaining wine in the jug, picked up the Straw Hat behind him and put it on, then took a cane from behind the door and slowly departed.

After a long while, he returned, closed the door behind him, and left again.