This Great Yi Imperial Saber Was Just So-So

"Number One Saber Saint Under Heaven?"

Jing Pu found the title rather intriguing and couldn't help murmuring it aloud.

Ling Ju, standing beside him, nodded earnestly.

"That's right. He's the Number One Saber Saint Under Heaven—not in the Northern Province, or anywhere else in particular. He's the Number One Saber Saint Under Heaven: Yu Xiu."

As she spoke, Ling Ju suddenly turned to Jing Pu, batting her beautiful eyes.

"Senior, you don't know him?"

Jing Pu shook his head. How could he? He'd only been here for seven days.

Ling Ju paused, then nodded as if she understood.

"I see... I'd heard before that Senior cultivates the Sword Dao. It's no wonder you don't know him..."

That was what Ling Ju said, but she had begun to piece together Jing Pu's identity. Yu Xiu, the Number One Saber Saint Under Heaven, had reached the peak of Mahayana a thousand years ago, and was only one step away from ascending to the Upper Realm.

That single step had held Yu Xiu back for a thousand years. But it also meant that the Hall Master Yu had already been a dominant force across the continent a thousand years ago. Since Senior didn't know him, that meant he must have ascended a thousand years ago and naturally wouldn't know anything about the lower realm.

As expected... Senior wasn't merely some great immortal from the Upper Realm. Judging by everything he'd done, he had to be a renowned figure even there...

Jing Pu had no idea what Ling Ju was thinking. But she was wrong about one thing: he didn't only practice swordsmanship. He practiced both the Sword Dao and Saber Intent, and had mastered them to the pinnacle. In fact, Saber Intent was the first thing he'd cultivated.

Yu Shen's sudden intrusion had left Ling Jing, who had been filling in the hole, dumbfounded. He... he'd kicked down Senior's door?

Lie Chun swallowed hard, then looked in horror toward Jing Pu in the pavilion.

Jing Pu showed little reaction. He simply watched Yu Shen with some curiosity.

Yu Shen had no idea what was going on. He lifted his head slightly and, catching the fragrance of tea in the air, exclaimed in wonder, "What kind of place is this? Just breathing in the air makes the True Qi and Spiritual Power in my body surge. Cultivating here must be almost as effective as in the secret grounds of our Sacred Saber Hall. I've never heard of such a blessed place in this godforsaken backwater!"

After his astonishment, Yu Shen turned to Ling Jing, who was holding a shovel, and sneered.

"What's with the getup? Given up practicing the saber and taken to digging graves instead?"

At Yu Shen's attitude, Lie Chun was the first to frown and snap, "Who let you in?!"

Yu Shen hadn't even glanced at Lie Chun before. Now he raised an eyebrow and looked at the young man beside Ling Jing. Seeing the robes Lie Chun wore, Yu Shen's lips curled.

"Since when did someone from a minor sect dare speak to me, Yu Shen, like that? Ling Jing, haven't you taught this brat any manners?"

In the next instant, Yu Shen vanished from where he stood, as suddenly as a ghost.

Lie Chun reacted with lightning speed and disappeared almost in the blink of an eye.

A sharp metallic clash rang out. The two reappeared a hundred meters away: Lie Chun held a golden longsword, while Yu Shen gripped a slender black saber.

They were both the sort who let their actions speak for them. Without warning, they launched into battle.

Ling Ju, standing beside Jing Pu, froze for a moment. Then she clenched her teeth and prepared to rush forward to stop them. She absolutely couldn't let Yu Shen disturb Senior's cultivation.

But before Ling Ju could move, Jing Pu suddenly looked at her with curiosity.

"Is that Yu Xiu very powerful?"

Ling Ju paused, then turned back to Jing Pu and hurriedly explained, "He's extremely powerful... Hall Master Yu Xiu had already reached the peak of Mahayana a thousand years ago. He's only one supreme stroke of fortune away from ascending to the Upper Realm. In the lower realm, the only one who can match him is the master of Carefree Pavilion in the Eastern Province, the Pavilion Master Ling Xiao, known as the Sword Immortal."

Jing Pu nodded repeatedly, looking surprised. "So Yu Xiu is one of the strongest people in the world?"

Ling Ju gave a small nod. Seeing that Jing Pu was interested, she didn't seem bothered that Yu Shen had kicked in the door and intruded. Instead, she explained in detail.

"You could say that. And because Hall Master Yu Xiu is in the Northern Province, it hasn't suffered a single Devil Race incursion in over a thousand years. Even my father, the Emperor, has to show Hall Master Yu Xiu the utmost respect."

Jing Pu listened and nodded.

Far away, Yu Shen stared in shock. From the very first exchange, he had felt the immense True Qi in Lie Chun's body. Early Golden Core—that put him at the same level as Yu Shen himself!

Yu Shen had only meant to teach Lie Chun a lesson. Now he stared in surprise at the cold-faced young man before him and licked his lips.

"Interesting."

Ling Jing, who had finally recovered from his shock, dropped the shovel and drew a slender, straight golden saber. Then he dashed into the fight.

Under normal circumstances, Ling Jing would have relished a proper contest with Yu Shen. But not now!

This was Senior's quiet retreat. He couldn't let this man carry on causing trouble. If he really angered Senior, Yu Shen getting killed would be the least of it. If Ling Jing himself ended up falling out of Senior's favor, he'd be finished!

Ling Jing's sudden entry into the fight caught Yu Shen off guard. After blocking Ling Jing's surprise attack, Yu Shen turned toward him and snapped angrily, "Have you lost your mind? What are you—"

But before Yu Shen could finish, astonishment appeared on his face. Ling Jing... was already at mid-stage Golden Core?!

Once he'd recovered from his shock, Yu Shen looked at Ling Jing and snorted.

"Looks like you got some incredible opportunity this past year. But don't think that means you can beat me!"

In the small pavilion, Jing Pu and Ling Ju stood side by side, watching the battle in the distance. Ling Ju continued explaining.

"There are hundreds of billions of people across the lower-realm continent, and only eight have reached the peak of Mahayana. Hall Master Yu Xiu is unquestionably one of the strongest because of the saber technique he cultivates: the Great Yi Imperial Saber!"

The Great Yi Imperial Saber?

Jing Pu paused. This was the first time he'd heard of it.

Seeing that Jing Pu still looked intrigued, Ling Ju grew curious. Had Senior never heard of it either?

She nodded slightly. "That's right. Ten thousand years ago, the founder of the Sacred Saber Hall comprehended it upon ascending to the Upper Realm. Over the past ten thousand years, several Hall Masters of the Sacred Saber Hall have added their insights to it. It's incredibly powerful—even in the Upper Realm, it's considered a formidable technique..."

Before Ling Ju could finish explaining, she suddenly looked toward the battle and exclaimed, "Senior, look! That's the Great Yi Imperial Saber!"

Jing Pu looked over. Golden mist drifted around Yu Shen, and the slender black saber in his hand had turned gold. Yu Shen's figure seemed to grow even more illusory and ethereal!

Yu Shen had been at a disadvantage against the two of them after Ling Jing joined the fight. But the moment he used the Great Yi Imperial Saber, he reversed the tide, turning defense into offense!

He drove Ling Jing and Lie Chun back again and again.

Watching the scene, Ling Ju parted her red lips in surprise.

"Yu Shen is... astonishingly powerful. He's already reached the third level of the Great Yi Imperial Saber... while Ling Jing has only reached the first..."

Jing Pu looked curious. "Ling Jing knows it too?"

Ling Ju nodded repeatedly.

"Of course. Hall Master Yu Xiu is very fond of Ling Jing and taught him the Great Yi Imperial Saber in advance. If nothing unexpected happens, Ling Jing will enter the Sacred Saber Hall to cultivate after this year's Myriad Sect Grand Ceremony..."

Of course... that had been the plan before. Now, Ling Jing probably wouldn't go to the Sacred Saber Hall. At the very least, he wouldn't leave before Senior Jing Pu had made it clear he wouldn't teach him.

Besides, from what Ling Ju had heard Ling Jing say earlier, it seemed he wasn't planning to practice the saber anymore.

The three of them fought in a dazzling flurry, flashing from one place to another. Before long, they had reached the small pavilion, battling right in front of it.

That gave Jing Pu a chance to observe the so-called Great Yi Imperial Saber up close.

After studying it carefully for a while, Jing Pu suddenly furrowed his brow and muttered, "This Great Yi Imperial Saber... seems pretty average to me..."

As soon as Jing Pu said that, the courtyard fell silent. The three men, who had been fighting fiercely, suddenly stopped and turned to look at him in unison.

Ling Ju, beside him, also looked at Jing Pu in surprise.

Jing Pu immediately sensed the change in the courtyard's atmosphere. Oh no. He'd made an offhand comment... and they'd heard him...