You know, his comprehension has always been heaven-defying

If one ignored her bizarre attitude, the journey was actually quite normal.

It was just that the two of them were clearly not on the same wavelength.

She kept asking Qin Wangchuan about his preferences.

Meanwhile, Qin Wangchuan's focus was entirely on the Li Clan Sword Seal.

"The Sword Seal is the foundation upon which the Li Clan stands."

Although she said this, it was not actually a top-secret matter that could not be disclosed.

But before that, Qin Wangchuan spoke of his own insights first.

"Although I do not know which specific characters are contained within your Li Clan's Seven Kill Sword Seal," Qin Wangchuan said, looking at the mountains looming in and out of the sea of clouds, before suddenly turning his head, "but I suspect that the characters for 'Destroy' and 'Open' must be among them."

At some point, the distance between the two, who had originally been sitting opposite each other, had closed until they could count each other's eyelashes.

At first, they were sitting across from one another.

Later, without him noticing when, she had moved to sit right beside him.

Li Qingluan's sleeve was even pressing against the hem of his robe, and the scent of a maiden mixed with the cold fragrance of winter plum blossoms lingered at the tip of his nose.

"Oh?" She suddenly leaned in, her hair brushing against the back of Qin Wangchuan's hand. "What makes you say that?"

"Sword Intent cannot lie."

Qin Wangchuan leaned back half an inch, his expression composed.

"I have seen someone wield the Sword Seal. It is not merely about destruction; it is a path of law that first destroys, then creates."

Li Qingluan just stared at Qin Wangchuan's profile.

At this distance, she could clearly see the deep, reflective light in his eyes.

And she could smell the cedar scent radiating from the young man.

When she finally snapped back to reality, her heart was filled with shock.

She had seen countless sword cultivators attempt to comprehend the Seven Kill Sword Seal; some labored for a hundred years without finding the way, while others were trapped their entire lives by the superficial forms of the character techniques.

—Yet, never had anyone, with just a single glance, pointed directly to the true essence of the Great Dao within it.

"Having only seen it once, it is impossible for you to..." Before she could finish her sentence, she froze.

What was impossible about it?

Sword cultivators valued fate and affinity above all else, and the person before her seemed to have been born for the sword.

Thinking of this, her eyes narrowed, and her natal flying sword, Qingfeng, instantly unsheathed.

"It is true that the characters Mie and Kai are present, but these two characters are not any of the seals within the Seven Kill Seal."

"The profundity of the Seven Kill Seal lies in the fact that it is actually formed by the layering of different characters."

"For example..." As she spoke, she waved the tip of her sword, and four characters slowly emerged and layered themselves together.

"Slash, Mie, Kai, Heaven! Only when the Dao Rhyme of these four characters is connected does it form the complete first seal."

"In other words, four characters make one sword."

"Of course, if others were to perform it, it might involve more than just four characters."

"One sword?" Now it was Qin Wangchuan's turn to be surprised. He pressed, "Are you saying that the Sword Seal is actually composed freely of many characters? That the Sword Seal performed by everyone is actually different?"

Li Qingluan nodded: "Exactly."

"So that's how it is..." Qin Wangchuan whispered, his gaze passing over her to the distance, as if piercing through the mountains and the Cloud Sea to see something.

He suddenly smiled, a smile as sharp and bright as a sword unsheathed: "I understand."

Li Qingluan raised an eyebrow: "Understand what?"

"This way, it all makes sense."

"No matter how perfect a cultivation technique is, it is dead; it cannot be revered as a holy object."

"Your Li Clan's Sword Seal is a 'living' sword technique."

He turned his finger into a sword and began to mimic her movements from just a moment ago.

However, Li Qingluan suddenly let out a cold snort: "Since we are discussing the Dao of the sword, how can you gesture with empty hands?"

Qin Wangchuan took the long sword, and the blade trembled slightly, emitting a clear, phoenix-like cry.

"This sword is named Guluan. It has not yet recognized a master, so I will lend it to you for now," she said, standing with her arms crossed. "Lest you say that my Li Clan's Sword Seal has profundity but no physical object to verify it."

The youth flicked his wrist, and the sword edge carved a perfect crescent arc in the air.

The cyan-gold Dao patterns on the spine of the sword suddenly came to life, flowing across the blade like swimming dragons. Every turn of the sword's momentum precisely replicated the trajectory Li Qingluan had just shown, yet it possessed an additional, indescribable rhythm.

"Slash, Mie, Kai, Heaven!"

With each character spoken, the sword's momentum grew sharper.

When the four characters were finished, the tip of the sword had condensed a pure Sword Intent that lingered in the air for a long time.

"So that's it." Qin Wangchuan sheathed the sword and stood still. "Whether it is a sword formula or anything else, these characters are merely the surface. The true core is for the sword cultivator to combine them using their own 'Dao'."

"In other words, this is a path of self-discovery."

"I believe the person who pioneered this path never intended for their descendants to be restricted by fixed moves. My body is unrestrained, and my Dao is infinite!"

Having said this, Qin Wangchuan gazed at the Guluan Sword suspended before him.

As the sword body trembled slightly, a phantom of a green phoenix flowed out from the blade, its clear, resonant chime echoing through the valley.

Wherever the sword light reached, even the howling mountain wind seemed to freeze in place.

"It is a fine sword," he said softly. As his fingertips brushed against the spine of the blade, a wisp of rosy light burst forth from the point of contact, illuminating his smiling eyes.

Come to think of it, he wasn't truly a sword cultivator, so naturally, he didn't have a sword of his own.

The only one he possessed was the wooden sword gifted to him by the Wood Ancestor.

It is time I found a sword of my own, he thought to himself.

Meanwhile, Li Qingluan stared at that pure, lingering Sword Intent, her fingers tightening unconsciously against her sleeves.

The person before her was, without a doubt, a true genius...

"If you like this sword..." she suddenly spoke, her voice a few degrees lower than usual, "...I will gift it to you."

Qin Wangchuan raised an eyebrow: "Hm?"

"A sword only reveals its sharpness when it meets a worthy master," Li Qingluan said, pausing to tuck back a stray lock of hair. "In your hands, it will shine far more than it ever could in mine."

Qin Wangchuan lightly stroked the Dao patterns on the sword's spine and suddenly smiled:

"Since that is the case, I cannot take your sword for nothing."

As he spoke, he produced a crystal-clear jade fruit, with flowing light seemingly pulsing beneath its skin.

"This is a Heaven Defying Nine Phoenix Fruit. It has the miraculous effect of enhancing one's beauty."

"If you do not accept it," he said, holding the fruit out to her, "I dare not take this sword."

Li Qingluan hesitated for a moment before accepting it.

Although she hadn't gifted the sword for this reason, the fruit was undeniably a massive temptation for any woman.

After all, who wouldn't want to be more beautiful?

"..."

In the distance, the members of the Li Clan had already turned pale with shock.

The pupils of the several elders constricted sharply, and the accompanying sword attendants were left dumbstruck; some even stumbled backward, as if they had witnessed something beyond belief.

"That Guluan Sword... isn't that the supreme treasure the Young Miss was just preparing to refine? She just gave it away like that?" someone whispered.

The others were equally perplexed.

"Since when did the Young Miss become so..."

"Hush! Do not speak recklessly."

"But this is clearly..."

The crowd's gazes shifted back and forth between the two, eventually settling into a long, meaningful sigh.

Who could have imagined that the usually cold and self-restrained Young Miss would be so uncharacteristically composed today, seemingly eager to hand over the treasures of a lifetime?

The two then proceeded to engage in a discourse regarding their predecessors.

As they debated, the conversation eventually turned toward themselves.

"Interesting." She suddenly flipped her wrist, and the Qingfeng Sword traced a half-arc of cyan rainbow in the air. The hilt pressed lightly against Qin Wangchuan's Adam's apple; from this angle, she could clearly see the fair, alluring curve of his throat. "Then, what is your 'Dao'?"

The blade reflected the sunlight, casting a brilliant glow upon both their faces.

The guards on both sides immediately tensed.

Qin Wangchuan's pupils dilated slightly, as if this question had pierced through a long-standing fog.

He looked down at the longsword in his own hand and murmured in a low voice:

"My... Dao?"

The voice was so soft it almost dissipated into the wind, sounding foreign even to Qin Wangchuan himself.

This question... I actually cannot answer it.

"Young Master."

The old servant's voice suddenly cut in, shattering the stagnant air.

The Flying Ship had suspended itself over a stretch of broken walls and ruined foundations. Decaying beams were thrust diagonally into the scorched earth, resembling a scene from hell.

"We have arrived at the Han Clan ruins."