Li Zang

A moment later, Qin Guan slowly clenched his fist. A wisp of White Qi quietly gathered around the fist wrapped in Gang Qi.

Boom!

Qin Guan punched the Light Screen before him.

The moment his fist struck the Light Screen, it shattered with a crash, almost instantly scattering into specks of starlight.

"Haha, I broke through!"

Qin Guan was overjoyed. He hurriedly looked beyond the Light Screen, only for a silver-haired old man to suddenly appear before him.

The old man looked Qin Guan up and down. "So young, yet already an Eight Realms Martial Cultivator. Quite rare, quite rare!"

"This junior pays his respects to Senior." Seeing the old man, Qin Guan grew excited and hurriedly bowed.

"No need for formalities." The old man gave a slight nod.

"May I ask if Senior is the venerable Yang Tianni?" Qin Guan's voice trembled slightly. His eyes were full of hope as he looked at the old man.

The old man shook his head slightly. "No."

No!

At the old man's answer, the hope in Qin Guan's eyes visibly dimmed. Disappointment was written all over his face.

"Yang Tianni was my Master," the old man added suddenly.

"What!"

Qin Guan jerked his head up and looked at the old man. "Senior, you're...?"

The old man stroked his beard with a smile. "This old man is called Li Zang, the third disciple of my Master. I've waited here for the one who would break the formation for over twenty thousand years. You are the one who awakened me."

Over twenty thousand years!

Qin Guan was shocked. He hurriedly asked, "Senior Li Zang, did you ascend?"

"Heh, you think far too highly of this old man. I'm a Martial Cultivator; in this life, I have no connection to the Great Dao." Li Zang sounded somewhat wistful.

A Martial Cultivator?

Qin Guan frowned in confusion. "Since you were Senior Yang's disciple, couldn't you gather Spiritual Power and cultivate the Sword Dao?"

Li Zang gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "This old man was too dull to comprehend the profound meaning of the martial arts my Master created."

Qin Guan suddenly looked eager. "Senior, I'm a down-to-earth Martial Cultivator too. I want to learn the sword. Could I give it a try?"

Li Zang nodded.

"According to the rules my Master set back then, whoever could break this formation would receive the inheritance. Since you've broken it, naturally you may."

As Li Zang finished speaking, an ancient book floated in front of Qin Guan.

"Thank you, Senior!"

Qin Guan hurriedly took the ancient book. He eagerly flipped it open, but when he saw what was inside, he frowned. "A fragment of the Huan Yuan Sword Art?"

"Back then, none of the three of us senior brothers could grasp the essence of my Master's cultivation method. To keep the art he had painstakingly created from falling into obscurity, my Master divided it into three parts and placed a seal within each of us. After our lifespans ended, our Remnant Souls would fly to different places to await fated successors in later generations."

Hearing Li Zang's words, Qin Guan hurriedly asked, "May I ask where the other two Seniors are?"

Li Zang shook his head. "None of us senior brothers have ever seen the complete Huan Yuan Sword Art."

Hearing this, Qin Guan asked in confusion, "If you haven't seen the complete art, how do you know you can't comprehend it?"

Li Zang smiled. "Each volume begins with a complete section on cultivation. Whether you can comprehend it becomes clear as soon as you try."

Qin Guan nodded and fell silent, lost in thought.

"You needn't rush. To cultivate the Huan Yuan Sword Art to Mahayana, you must open all ten gates. You still have two Battle Gates unopened." Li Zang smiled.

Qin Guan was astonished. "That's a pretty high bar. Senior Li, are you a Tenth Realm Martial Cultivator?"

"I am." Li Zang nodded.

"Senior, you're truly impressive!"

Admiration appeared on Qin Guan's face.

Opening all the way to the tenth gate, the Heavenly Gate, was no easy feat—it was practically harder than climbing to the heavens. In all his life, Li Zang was the first Martial Cultivator with all ten gates open that Qin Guan had ever met.

"No need to be so modest. When I was your age, I was only a Fourth Realm Martial Cultivator. You're far more talented than I was." Li Zang waved his hand, then continued:

"There's another important condition for cultivating the Huan Yuan Sword Art."

"What condition?" Qin Guan hurriedly asked.

"Intent of the sword. You need a sword intent, or you can't cultivate it," Li Zang said.

At that, Qin Guan opened his palm. The next moment, a golden True Dragon Sword Intent appeared in it.

"This sword intent is quite good. It seems you really are fated to encounter the Huan Yuan Sword Art!"

Li Zang clicked his tongue in amazement. Martial Cultivators couldn't gather Spiritual Energy to cultivate the Sword Dao, so they couldn't comprehend sword intent at all. Their only option was to subdue it.

But getting sword intent to submit to a Martial Cultivator was far too difficult. Back then, it had taken him a full ten years just to barely subdue one sword intent.

"Just lucky." Qin Guan grinned. He hadn't expected the True Dragon Sword Intent he'd subdued earlier to come in handy so soon.

Just then, a Storage Bag appeared in Li Zang's hand. He tipped its contents onto the ground.

There were piles of all sorts of things: cultivation methods, pills, martial arts techniques, spiritual materials, and a jumble of other odds and ends.

"Senior, what are you doing?" Qin Guan looked at Li Zang.

Li Zang smiled. "There's nothing particularly good here. I gave the good stuff to my clansmen back then. Pick whatever you like, and give the rest to the people outside."

"Very well. Then this junior won't stand on ceremony!"

Qin Guan nodded. He picked up a cultivation manual at random and found it was a mid-grade Yellow Rank leg technique. Its grade was too low, so he immediately put it down and picked up another manual.

A high-grade Yellow Rank palm technique. Still too low.

A high-grade Yellow Rank saber technique. No thanks.