"Simple!!!"
"You little country bumpkin, how dare you boast so wildly and say the Thirteen Swords of Heavenly Annihilation are simple!"
Though this was only the simplest, first stance of the Thirteen Swords of Heavenly Annihilation, it contained hundreds of variations.
Even the prodigies of the Sword Sect wouldn't dare call this first stance simple.
"Young master, it really is simple!"
Seeing that Ye Jing didn't believe her, Qiuyue snatched the branch from his hand and demonstrated it right in front of him.
At first, Ye Jing's eyes held a trace of disdain. But as he watched, his expression gradually changed. By the time Qiuyue finished, his face had transformed completely.
His eyes filled with utter shock. Looking at Qiuyue before him, Ye Jing felt as though he hardly knew her.
Though Qiuyue's demonstration hadn't been exactly the same, it had captured seven-tenths of the sword's essence. She simply lacked cultivation, so she could grasp its form but couldn't reveal the true power of the sword art.
She had watched him demonstrate the first sword of the Thirteen Swords of Heavenly Annihilation just once, yet she'd comprehended seven-tenths of it!
This talent! For a moment, Ye Jing didn't know what to say.
Seeing Ye Jing stare at her with such a strange look, Qiuyue was bewildered. "Young master, did I demonstrate it incorrectly?"
"No, no. You demonstrated it perfectly."
After thinking for a moment, Ye Jing asked, "By the way, Qiuyue, can you remember your parents?"
Ye Jing remembered that his mother had found Qiuyue outside their door on a snowy day.
"Young master, what are you talking about? I was only three back then. How could I remember what happened?"
Qiuyue rolled her eyes at Ye Jing.
Of course Ye Jing knew Qiuyue had only been three then. But the talent she was showing now was so astonishing that he couldn't help suspecting there was something strange about her origins. He felt a little unsettled.
The Thirteen Swords of Heavenly Annihilation were a secret art of the Sword Sect, never passed on to outsiders. In three hundred years, no one had ever managed to master all thirteen swords.
That showed just how difficult the Thirteen Swords of Heavenly Annihilation were.
Only by activating Heaven-Defying Comprehension had he managed to understand all thirteen swords in a single day. But because of his cultivation, he couldn't perform the last eight.
Yet Qiuyue had watched him demonstrate the first sword just once and comprehended seven-tenths of it. She was still far behind him, of course.
But with talent like hers, even Zhu Yang, if he were resurrected from three hundred years ago, would be nowhere near her level!
Damn it, he'd only wanted Qiuyue to improve her ability to protect herself. He hadn't expected to uncover such a huge secret.
Actually, the blame lay with the original owner's carelessness. Qiuyue had been exceptionally clever since childhood, learning anything after seeing it once.
Ye Jing went over the original owner's memories once more and realized that Qiuyue really had been different from ordinary people since she was little.
Now Ye Jing found himself in a difficult position.
With such talent, failing to cultivate her would truly be wasting a fine piece of uncut jade. But he could only activate Heaven-Defying Comprehension by reading books.
Everything he had came from the system. How could he possibly teach Qiuyue to cultivate?
He copied out the Qi Refining Realm techniques from the Imperial Pole Dao Proving Scripture and gave them to Qiuyue.
After all, the Qi Refining Realm was only about gathering the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and drawing it into the body. It wasn't complicated. For the moment, Ye Jing couldn't think of a better way to handle Qiuyue's situation.
"By the way, Qiuyue, don't show anyone what I taught you today unless your life is in danger."
Though the Sword Sect was ten thousand li from the Great Wei capital, Ye Jing still reminded Qiuyue to be cautious.
After explaining a few things Qiuyue needed to keep in mind while cultivating in the Qi Refining Realm, Ye Jing left her to practice.
Late that night, he saw that the candle in Qiuyue's room had gone out. Only then did Ye Jing leave his room.
With a light leap, he cleared the eaves and vanished into the night.
He went to a barren mountain outside the city. After confirming there was no one around, Ye Jing began preparing to break through to the Grandmaster Realm.
The Grandmaster Realm was the first step into mastering a domain. As long as one comprehended a domain, one could break through to the Grandmaster Realm.
But domains varied in strength. The stronger the domain, the less heaven and earth would tolerate its existence. Some domains that defied the heavens could even bring down heavenly punishment.
Ye Jing steadied his breathing and circulated the true qi within his body, beginning to condense a domain according to the instructions in the Imperial Pole Dao Proving Scripture.
The Imperial Pole Dao Proving Scripture recorded an exceptionally heaven-defying domain: the Time Domain.
Of the three thousand Great Daos, space reigned supreme and time stood above all. Though the Sword Dao had the greatest offensive power among the three thousand Great Daos, the Great Dao of Time had held the foremost place since ancient times.
The Time Domain recorded in the Imperial Pole Dao Proving Scripture contained a trace of the Law of Time. Among the countless domains, it was an undisputed king.
By all rights, although Wei Donglai was unquestionably the greatest figure Great Wei had seen in thousands of years, the Time Domain was the most powerful of all.
Throughout history, fewer than ten people had ever comprehended it. With Wei Donglai's talent, he couldn't possibly have comprehended the Time Domain.
Ye Jing didn't understand why the Imperial Pole Dao Proving Scripture recorded the Time Domain, but he was certain the text wasn't mistaken.
Ye Jing closed his eyes and immersed himself in cultivation.
Gradually, a dazzling, multicolored curtain of light began to form around Ye Jing. In the sky above his head, a sea of dark, flashing lightning was also taking shape.
The curtain of light grew increasingly solid, while the power radiating from the sea of lightning grew ever more terrifying.
By the time the curtain of light had fully solidified, the power of the lightning sea in the sky had reached its peak.
Ye Jing slowly opened his eyes. Faintly, he could see Tribulation Dragons surging through the lightning sea.
The Time Domain was the most heaven-defying domain in the world. The moment it appeared, a lightning tribulation would descend.
The nine Tribulation Dragons roared. With a flick of their tails, they charged at Ye Jing.
Ye Jing had already mastered the Thirteen Swords of Heavenly Annihilation and the Indestructible Golden Body. Facing the nine Tribulation Dragons, he showed no fear.
A three-foot-long strand of Primordial Sword Qi appeared in Ye Jing's hand, while golden light radiated from his body.
He swung his sword. A mighty surge of sword energy slashed toward the nine Tribulation Dragons with an air of utter dominance, severing four of them in an instant.
The remaining five Tribulation Dragons roared even more fiercely and struck down at Ye Jing's head with lightning speed.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The Indestructible Golden Body had nine layers. Each time one was refined, the golden body grew one zhang taller. It was said that once the ninth layer was cultivated, even the Great Dao of Time would struggle to erode it.
Although Ye Jing had fully comprehended the Indestructible Golden Body, his cultivation limited it to a mere three zhang. Even after breaking through to the Grandmaster Realm, it was only four zhang tall.
It might have been only four zhang, but its defenses were astonishing.
Relying on the Indestructible Golden Body, Ye Jing endured the remaining five Tribulation Dragons head-on.
Once the tribulation was over, he sensed someone approaching. Not daring to linger, Ye Jing immediately headed back.
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