King's Path and the War God Hall, First Arrival in East Sea (Please Follow)

Time slipped by unnoticed during cultivation. By the time the stars had shifted, daylight had already broken brightly.

"Yesterday's bloody battle drained quite a bit from me, but it also sped up my cultivation considerably. Fighting desperately really does work."

The rising dawn shone across his forehead. Feng Zaixing, having finished a night of cultivation, felt clear-headed as he muttered to himself:

"At this rate, I'll definitely become a Soul Grandmaster within a year. Breaking through to Soul Ancestor within five years won't pose a bottleneck either. By then, I may have to face quite a few people. I wonder if Teacher Mu can hold them off..."

After washing up and taking a quick shower, Feng Zaixing changed into loose white training clothes, found a three-foot azure blade, and leisurely headed for the Training Ground while pondering the circumstances of the four great factions.

Among the four top factions, Shrek was the most obsessive. Once you entered, forget about leaving. The Tang Sect was much the same.

Within the Spirit Pagoda, three members of the Qian Gu Family were Limit Douluos. Purgatory Douluo Qian Gu Qingfeng was a good man, War God Douluo Qian Gu Dieting was a fierce man, and Spirit Douluo Qian Gu Dongfeng was practically not a man.

Sky Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu struggled alone, though there was also an elderly Limit Douluo of the previous generation who had retired. Han Tianyi had received her favor and entered the Spirit Pagoda to cultivate.

In the War God Hall, Vast Sea Douluo Chen Xinjie, the Hall Master, possessed overwhelming strength. Guan Yue, the executive Deputy Hall Master, had astonishing reserves, while the other Deputy Hall Master was Yu Guanzhi, commander of the Central Legion.

Guan Yue was Yun Ming's junior brother. Chen Xinjie was usually fine, but whenever Long Yeyue blew herself up, he went mad.

"Fortunately, this bunch doesn't lack integrity when it matters. Otherwise, I'd have no choice but to head to the Southern Legion and acknowledge some relatives."

Thinking of Chen Xinjie's complicated romantic entanglements, Feng Zaixing secretly shook his head. That old hag Long Yeyue was outrageously absurd. Chen Xinjie had been the only man in her life, yet she was also the honorary wife of Heavenly Favor Douluo.

He wondered what kind of life the long-dead Heavenly Favor Douluo had lived before death, and what he had thought after dying.

In the original timeline, Chen Xinjie became Old Chen the sweeper, while Long Yeyue reverted to a young maiden. The two held hands and had an old-age romance for years, all lovey-dovey with each other. That was no small amount of stimulation...

"Hey, Junior Brother, why did you bring a longsword today? You always used shortswords before."

A Ruheng's deep, robust voice rang out. Feng Zaixing snapped back to his senses and saw that the Training Ground was already close at hand. A Ruheng waved to him, a hearty smile spread across his face.

"You know that my Martial Soul has always used a sword, Senior Brother."

Walking toward A Ruheng, Feng Zaixing said, "I'll have to use one sooner or later, so I might as well start now."

"Oh, right, I'd forgotten. The Angel Lineage never lets a sword leave its hand."

A Ruheng came to a realization. He rubbed his broad chin with a large hand and asked doubtfully:

"But I heard that the Angel Family doesn't specialize in swordsmanship. The Holy Sword is merely the weapon they use to unleash holy energy in judgment. Junior Brother, you..."

"A road untraveled by those before us doesn't mean those after them cannot walk it."

Feng Zaixing spoke calmly. With three steps, he soared like a swan goose. His white robe and longsword gave him an especially graceful air as he said:

"Every top Weapon Martial Soul expert of this era has reached the pinnacle of their own specialized field and created earth-shaking secret arts. If I don't learn, won't I fall behind?"

"Our sect's battle methods were once unmatched in the world. If I don't cultivate swordsmanship, how will the world know that our sect's battle skills are exquisitely peerless?"

Among this generation's Seven Monsters, Yue Zhengyu's Martial Soul ranked among the top three, yet both his cultivation and combat strength fell short of Ye Xinglan, who specialized in swordsmanship. Feng Zaixing took this deeply as a warning.

In this era, aside from bloodlines that stood above all else, the definitive answer was unique God Rank profundities. Sabers, spears, staves, and swords each had their own advantages.

"Good! You've got ambition! As expected of our sect's supreme genius!"

Mu Ye appeared high in the air, clapping his hands with a sigh. His booming voice was full of expectation:

"Well said, Zaixing. A prodigy of our Primal Body Lineage should not fall behind others!"

Feng Zaixing held his sword horizontally in salute and said solemnly, "Please teach me the path to comprehending Sword Intent, Teacher—or rather, the path of artistic conception."

The first sentence in Ji Juechen's Sword Dao Insights was: "My path cannot be followed to the end by anyone who is not utterly devoted to the sword. Others may only use it as reference."

Feng Zaixing knew he could not devote himself utterly to the sword. He had too many things to cultivate. He wanted to walk a path where mastering one method led to mastery of all methods, and sword dao was the catalyst he had chosen.

Mu Ye's expression turned grave at those words. After pondering for a moment, he slowly said:

"I do not specialize in swordsmanship, but I know that there have been two paths to the Sword God since ancient times. One is the King's Path, cultivating the King's Sword. The other is the Sword of Persistence, a resolute sword forged by casting aside life and death."

"The path of artistic conception follows much the same principle. One is the King's Dao, and the other is the Path of Perseverance."

Mu Ye asked, "What about you? Which path do you wish to take?"

"Naturally, the King's Dao."

Feng Zaixing's spirit shone brilliantly, his gaze blazing like torches. "Back then, the Angel God used the Holy Sword to suppress every evil across the continent and ascended to godhood. That perfectly accords with the King's Path."

Judging by the paths of sword dao, Ji Juechen had undoubtedly taken the Path of Perseverance, and the most extreme Path of Perseverance at that. Feng Zaixing could not walk that road. To assimilate it, he first needed to comprehend his own King's Sword Intent.

"Not bad."

Mu Ye looked at him with great expectation and said, "The person with the highest sword dao attainments in this era is Ruthless Douluo of the Tang Sect. He has long comprehended Sword God Profundity, though I do not know whether he walks the King's Sword or the Sword of Choice. Passionate Douluo follows an unusual path and is not a proper Sword Soul Master."

"Below those two, the greatest master of swordsmanship is Emperor Sword Douluo Long Tianwu, the Second War God of the War God Hall. He walks the King's Sword. If you wish to cultivate the sword, you can seek him out and test yourself against him."

"Teacher, I already wanted to visit the War God Hall and meet him," Feng Zaixing said.

Over the past few months, he had been conducting background checks on the Eighteen War Gods and Reserve War Gods of the War God Hall. His current contact target was this Second War God. Part of the reason he had chosen Ji Juechen's Sword Dao True Meaning last night was related to this as well.

"Good. By your parents' connections, you are a direct-line inheritor of the War God Hall. Perhaps you might even become a Hall Master or Deputy Hall Master someday."

Mu Ye was not at all surprised by Feng Zaixing's choice. He even approved of it quite strongly.

War God Hall experts only needed to answer summons when necessary. There was no issue of being unable to come or go. Joining the War God Hall would not change the fact that he belonged to the Primal Body Sect.

"Since you want to learn the sword, Zaixing, your teacher will spar with you. Little Red." Mu Ye rose into the air, called out behind him, and made a grasping motion with his right hand.

The Next Second, a red streak of light seemed to tear through the sky as it abruptly appeared beside Mu Ye. It was a Red Mecha standing roughly six meters tall.

The mecha rapidly transformed into an enormous blood-red Greatsword, then shrank to three feet in length and fell into Mu Ye's palm.

"Impressive."

Feng Zaixing and A Ruheng exchanged a glance. Perhaps it was not so hard to understand why their teacher was so obsessed with mechas.

The instant Mu Ye gripped the hilt, a bloody crimson radiance burst from the blade. His entire aura changed, and he seemed like a veteran of the battlefield tempered through endless clashes of steel and cavalry.

"A God-Tier Mecha has plenty for you to learn. I devoted more than half my life's energy to it."

Mu Ye looked proudly at the mecha battle sword in his hand. Strands of sharpness flashed from his eyes as he deliberately controlled his strength and pressed down on his two disciples.

"All right, come and try."

The resistance in the air increased severalfold. Feng Zaixing frowned, his expression solemn. He gripped the hilt tightly and slowly but firmly raised his sword toward Mu Ye, his voice ringing with force. "Please instruct me, Teacher!"

"Come."

Mu Ye smiled encouragingly, his eyes blazing as he watched his disciple stand with sword raised in a forward thrust. The corners of his mouth curved upward.

With a simple block, Mu Ye neutralized the attack. He flicked his wrist and unleashed nine consecutive strikes in the span of three breaths, stabbing toward Feng Zaixing's vital points as he instructed:

"Sword Intent is your understanding of the sword. Before you can comprehend it, you must first become familiar with it. Use it as naturally as your own arm and fingers, so it can carry your will."

Mu Ye excelled at using weapons transformed from his God-Tier Mecha, and the Greatsword was his strongest form. Although he had not cultivated a Sword Soul, his Sword Intent had already reached the peak. Combined with his many years of experience, every casual movement flowed like drifting clouds and running water, without the slightest flaw to be found.

Feng Zaixing struggled to cope, left and right. His brow and chest stung several times as he focused on pondering the subtleties of Mu Ye's nine strikes. He asked, "Teacher, does using it like an extension of one's limbs refer to spatial awareness? Holding a sword extends a person's reach beyond that of someone bare-handed. That added length is space."

Mu Ye looked at Feng Zaixing approvingly and acknowledged:

"That's right. Spatial awareness is extremely important. If a beginner swordsman cannot achieve something in spatial awareness, then Sword Intent is like a fierce beast trapped in a cage, unable to roam free."

"I understand."

His guess had been correct. Feng Zaixing activated his Body Martial Soul, and his skin immediately took on a dark golden hue. Beginning with the basic sword forms, he practiced them one by one, and a trace of order gradually emerged from his chaotic movements.

Amid flashing light and shadows, master and disciple exchanged moves for a quarter of an hour. A Ruheng then took Feng Zaixing's place and battled Mu Ye for another quarter of an hour, after which the two martial brothers attacked Mu Ye together for yet another quarter of an hour.

After morning training ended, the master and two disciples dined with Zhen Hua. Naturally, they had another nourishing meal of Millennium Heavenly Materials, and before long, the exhausted martial brothers had fully recovered.

Feng Zaixing had always felt that the Primal Body Sect's methods of training one's blood and vitality were sometimes inhuman, but at other times, remarkably humane.

Time passed swiftly. Three days vanished in the blink of an eye, and two masters and one disciple set out for East Sea.

The long winds of East Sea refreshed the spirit, while Mu Chen's family welcomed them with exceptional warmth.

"Hehe, you're Martial Uncle's disciple, and I learned forging from Dad. That also counts as us coming from the same school. How about calling me Senior Sister? Senior Sister will show you Dad's forging techniques."

Mu Xi was four years older than Feng Zaixing and had the self-proclaimed air of a big sister. Smiling, she patted her junior martial brother on the shoulder, eager to be called big sister for once, completely failing to notice the dark lines creeping across Mu Chen's face beside her.

Feng Zaixing twitched his mouth and called, "Senior Sister." Then he said, "There's no need to steal Junior Martial Uncle's forging techniques, but Senior Sister, I'm quite interested in East Sea. Can you show me around?"

This was the starting point of Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Xu Xiaoyan, as well as an important place where the Silver Dragon King appeared. It was necessary to take a look around.