Twelve Palaces of the Heavenly Mansion!

"Senior Sister Zhang, lend me your sword!"

Li Yun opened his eyes and spoke calmly.

Zhang Ruohan's eyes lit up. Without another word, she swept up the treasured sword that had been lying on the ground and flung it toward Li Yun.

Li Yun caught the longsword in his right hand, while his left rested behind his back.

The sword tip angled toward the ground.

With his tall, straight frame and handsome features, he actually possessed something of the bearing of a youthful, elegant swordsman. That air about him was beyond reproach; words could no longer find the slightest flaw in it.

"Senior Sister Zhang, watch carefully!"

"I call this swordplay Sorrowful Wind!"

His hand moved, and the sword rose with his voice.

A swift sword shadow stretched out at once, transforming into a curtain of sword light. This opening stroke alone made Zhang Ruohan's eyes shine brightly.

She could sense it. This swordplay truly seemed rather interesting.

So she fixed her gaze and watched closely.

Then the sword shadows flowed without end, carrying the faint feeling of wind beginning to rise. As the sword force spread out and the shadows swayed, a thin, faint sword hum emerged, like a muffled sob.

The sound entered her ears and subtly stirred her emotions, inexplicably filling her with a sense of sorrow.

Zhang Ruohan was instantly shocked.

Unbelievable!

She was a genuine Innate Master. Her will might not have been as immovable as a rock, but it was certainly not something a Martial Dao novice in the Body Tempering Realm like Li Yun could shake.

Yet he had solidly affected her with a swordplay he had only just comprehended.

What did that mean?

It meant that if this swordplay were truly cultivated to a higher realm—perhaps even perfection, perhaps even to the point of comprehending its True Intent—then a single sword strike might shatter her will and trap her in an inescapable illusion.

The outcome spoke for itself!

"What formidable swordplay..."

"Li Yun... is even more formidable!"

Before long.

Li Yun finished performing Sorrowful Wind Swordplay, yet he still felt unsatisfied.

Only after truly executing this swordplay did he come to appreciate even more deeply how profound its artistic conception was. It was absolutely beyond the combined reach of martial arts like Thunderclap Fist, even if they rode a horse to catch up.

The Initiation Realm had merely touched upon a little of its outer skin.

To fully unleash this swordplay's power, it still required an Innate Master with Innate True Qi.

He also dearly wished to know what kind of power this swordplay would display in the hands of a true Innate Master.

Thus—

Over the next few days, Li Yun earnestly taught Sorrowful Wind Swordplay to Zhang Ruohan.

Zhang Ruohan truly deserved to be called an Innate Master. With Li Yun's instruction, she quickly gained insight. After entering the Initiation Realm, experiencing it a few times and practicing it a few times, she easily surpassed Li Yun's level.

The three minor stages of initiation, initial success, and proficiency were achieved almost in one breath.

Only upon reaching the Minor Accomplishment Realm did her rate of improvement begin to slow.

At this moment—

Zhang Ruohan held her sword in hand, its three-foot azure blade tearing through the Void.

A fierce sword force erupted, blanketing the entire valley. The once-silent valley was suddenly swept by violent winds.

Flying sand and rolling stones, sword marks filling the sky!

A sorrowful cry that shook one's liver and gall emerged as the curtain of sword light unfurled.

After hearing only one note.

Li Yun felt a fierce grief surge into his heart, as though his liver and intestines were being torn apart.

Then.

His entire being went blank, completely controlled by that extreme sorrow, unable to free himself.

Watching, learning—he could no longer spare a thought for any of it.

His mind was utterly empty.

His thoughts seemed to have frozen solid.

All things abruptly vanished.

There was only sorrow! Sorrow! Sorrow!

He did not know how long it had been.

Before he finally awoke to Zhang Ruohan calling him.

Looking into Zhang Ruohan's concerned eyes, Li Yun nearly burst into tears.

He forced out a smile uglier than crying.

"Senior Sister Zhang... could you please act like a human being?"

"What kind of person are you? You only cared about practicing your sword and didn't care whether I lived or died, did you? Do you know how awful it was for a tiny shrimp at the Body Tempering Fourth Layer like me when your overwhelming sword force came crashing down?"

"Do you know, in that moment, I truly thought the whole world had abandoned me? I was left alone, crying to the heavens and calling to the earth, but heaven would not answer and earth would not respond..."

"It was so despairing!"

Pfft!

Zhang Ruohan could not help laughing aloud, then, in a rare display, softly comforted Li Yun.

"Alright, alright, alright... I'll be more careful next time!"

"I just couldn't hold myself back for a moment... But that's your fault too, isn't it? Who told you to comprehend such a powerful Sorrowful Wind Swordplay?"

"And somehow that's my fault?"

"Uh, no, blame me... I was wrong. How about this? To thank you for teaching me so selflessly, aside from the martial art I promised to exchange with you, I'll tell you another secret as well. What do you think?"

"What secret?"

"A secret about Basic Stance Cultivation!"

Hearing that, Li Yun jolted upright.

His eyes gleamed.

"Basic Stance Cultivation really has a secret?"

At the mention of this, Li Yun was no longer the least bit sorrowful.

Zhang Ruohan rolled her eyes at him.

"It seems you already know something. Zhang Chu told you? Fine, it doesn't matter... You would have learned sooner or later anyway."

"Have you heard of the Twelve Palaces of the Heavenly Mansion?"

Li Yun: "..."

"I say, Senior Sister Zhang, do you really take me for an old disciple who's been initiated for years? What Twelve Palaces of the Heavenly Mansion? How would I know about that?"

"Alright, fair enough."

"The legend of the Twelve Palaces of the Heavenly Mansion has existed for a long time, but not everyone has heard of it. I'll briefly explain it to you."

"The Twelve Palaces of the Heavenly Mansion was once the strongest ancient sect in our Eastern Cloud Prefecture. At its peak, the entire Eastern Cloud Prefecture lay beneath its rule."

"When the Twelve Palaces of the Heavenly Mansion existed, Eastern Cloud Prefecture was practically a small kingdom!"

"But unfortunately, it was destroyed two thousand years ago."

"It was not until roughly seven hundred years ago that the ruins of the Twelve Palaces of the Heavenly Mansion reappeared. Those ruins lie within Mount Tianfu at the center of Eastern Cloud Prefecture, jointly guarded by the Four Great Sects of Eastern Cloud Prefecture."

"Though they possess those ruins, one cannot enter them freely. To enter the ruins of the Twelve Palaces of the Heavenly Mansion, one must meet a condition: comprehend the True Intent of the Twelve Basic Stances!"

"And the more, the better!"

"Legend says that if one can fully comprehend all Twelve True Meanings of the Twelve Basic Stances before turning eighteen, one may obtain the most important core inheritance of the Twelve Palaces of the Heavenly Mansion."

"That inheritance is something the Four Great Sects crave beyond measure."

"Yet even after seven hundred years, although the Four Great Sects have all deliberately made Basic Stance Cultivation a foundational martial art compulsory for beginners, no one has been able to comprehend all Twelve True Meanings before the age of eighteen!"

"But you... are different!"

Zhang Ruohan's eyes sparkled. "You have only been initiated for a short time, yet your comprehension of Basic Stance Cultivation is already astonishing. You have even comprehended the True Intent of the first stance. If you work harder, you will have every chance of obtaining that core inheritance of the Twelve Palaces of the Heavenly Mansion!"