Mystic Cloud Peak, the Inner Sect disciples' quarters.
Today was Chen Xian's third day at the Xuanyun Sword Sect. Those three days had put his old bones through the wringer.
Lei Qingyun had been unexpectedly warm toward him.
Over the past few days, he had dragged Chen Xian around to meet every peak master and elder. He had even made a point of introducing him before all the sect's disciples at the general assembly.
It was then that Chen Xian learned that sixty-five years ago, the Xuanyun Sword Sect's predecessor, the Mystic Cloud Sword Sect, had fought a battle for its very survival.
During the fighting, Sword Suppression Peak had been razed to the ground. The Sword Suppression lineage had been wiped out or gone missing.
As luck would have it, among them really had been an Inner Sect disciple surnamed Chen, who possessed a Sword Bone.
And so, his identity had been thoroughly confirmed.
He was now the sole surviving member of the Sword Suppression Peak lineage. Apart from the old fogeys in Hidden Dragon Valley, he was unmistakably the sect's most senior grand-uncle by generation.
But as grand-uncle, he only outranked everyone in seniority. His cultivation, on the other hand, was a complete mess.
He had practically become the Xuanyun Sword Sect's mascot.
Everyone tacitly accepted that he would coast along until he died of old age, but Chen Xian couldn't accept simply waiting for death.
Eighty was the perfect age to strive for greatness!
He sat cross-legged on the cushion in his room, munching on an unknown spirit fruit as he watched the changes to the panel in his mind.
[ding! Refinement Points -1, refinement successful!] [Sword Dao Affinity (Yellow +9)] [Congratulations! Trait upgrade successful! "Sword Dao Affinity (Yellow +9)" has upgraded to "Sword Genius (Mysterious)!"]
"Heh, another Mysterious Grade trait."
As the yellow trait on the panel turned light blue, Chen Xian smiled faintly.
"View attributes!"
[Sword Genius (Mysterious): You are a heaven-blessed prodigy of the Sword Path. Your comprehension speed for Sword Path techniques has increased by 500%. When cultivating Sword Path manuals, you have a 10% chance of comprehending an original sword move.]
"Not bad. So now my comprehension speed for Sword Path techniques is 1x2, 2x5—that's ten times faster than an ordinary cultivator!"
He contentedly stroked his beard.
Now that he had fully integrated into the Xuanyun Sword Sect, with his Root Bone sorted out and his talent maxed, it was time to begin cultivating.
At the thought, he pulled a Cyan Jade Tablet from his robes. Five small gilded characters were engraved vertically on it: Mystic Cloud Dao-Guiding Art.
The Mystic Cloud Dao-Guiding Art was the introductory technique issued to every disciple of the Xuanyun Sword Sect. It was also the foundational technique for beginning cultivation.
It was similar to the Qi-Guiding Arts and Qi-Refining Methods in the cultivation novels he had read.
But this world had no such concepts as spiritual energy or magical power. All weapons and spells were powered by an energy known as "Dao Qi" or "Dao Power."
Countless different races existed throughout the world. Their cultivation methods varied, but their ultimate goal was the same: to comprehend the Great Dao and become a Saint.
So the ancient Great Saints had unified their understanding by collectively naming all these forms of qi and power Dao Qi and Dao Power.
In other words, spiritual energy and magical power were both parts of Dao Qi and Dao Power.
"I wonder how powerful a Great Saint is, to have unified the 'units of measurement' for the cultivation of all races."
A trace of longing surfaced in Chen Xian's cloudy eyes.
He'd set himself a modest goal: first, cultivate to the Saint Realm!
Even with a cheat, he didn't quite dare dream of reaching Great Saint. Cultivating to the Saint Realm would make him a Saint, but a Great Saint was a Saint among Saints, an existence of supreme eminence.
Suppressing the restlessness in his heart, Chen Xian recalled how Shangguan Hongyue looked when she cultivated.
He sat upright, cross-legged, and placed his palms in front of his dantian, facing upward as he held the Cyan Jade Tablet.
After completing the posture, he got stuck on the next step.
The Cyan Jade Tablet required Dao Consciousness to use.
"Dao Consciousness... What is that supposed to be? Something like mental power?"
That girl Hong Yue had said everyone was born with Dao Consciousness; it only differed in strength.
Thinking of how he had summoned the System Panel in his mind, Chen Xian focused his thoughts and tried to direct that intangible attention toward the Cyan Jade Tablet in his palms.
The instant he touched it, his consciousness spun wildly. By the time he recovered, he had appeared in a dark space.
It wasn't entirely dark. It was like the night sky in summer, with specks of starlight scattered all around him.
His consciousness felt weightless, but he wasn't falling. It was as if he were floating among the stars.
He reached out to grasp the starry specks, only to find that though they seemed close, they were beyond his reach.
At the same time, a vast, ancient voice rang out through the space.
"The Mystic Cloud Dao-Guiding Art is a cultivation method revised by the great experts of the Xuanyun Sword Sect from the traditional Dao-Guiding Art."
"Of the 108,000 Paths cultivated by the myriad races, our sect has chosen only six: Sword, Alchemy, Artifacts, Formations, Talismans, and Beasts. The Sword Path is primary, the others secondary. You may choose one to cultivate."
As the voice fell, Chen Xian felt the stars shift before his eyes. All the specks vanished, leaving just six bright points of light floating before him.
This time, he saw what they really were.
There was a suspended sword, a furnace, an anvil and hammer...
These must be the so-called Six Paths.
Of the six points of light, the one representing the Sword Path shone brightest, nearly outshining all the other five combined.
With one large and five small points of light right before him, he was just about to reach out and casually pick one.
Unexpectedly, the Sword Path's starlight flared brilliantly. A wave of light burst from it, scattering the other five before it plunged straight into his consciousness.
"Before you have even made your choice, the Sword Path has chosen you. This shows that you share a deep affinity with it, and that you may travel far along this Path!"
The vast voice rang out once more.
"Now that you have chosen your Path, you may draw the first strand of Origin Dao Power into your body. Proceed with caution..."
As the voice fell again, Chen Xian felt the world spin around him once more.
This time, he was no longer surrounded by darkness. Instead, he seemed to have appeared on a battlefield.
"Woo—" A horn sounded, followed by a heaven-shaking roar of battle cries.
"Kill!!!"
"Where are the spear, saber, and sword cultivators who follow the Great Dao of slaughter? Come with me, this Saint, and break through the formation to slay the enemy!"
People surrounded him on all sides. Before Chen Xian could react, someone hauled him into the sky.
"What are you standing there for? Do you want to die?" The man barked, jolting Chen Xian to his senses.
Then a sword was shoved into his hand. "Take it! Keep up! The Saint is breaking through the formation. We're going to help!"
Chen Xian hadn't even seen the man's face before he turned into a streak of light and flew away.
Chen Xian looked in the direction he had gone and saw a Faceless Dharma Image, a thousand zhang tall, pounding a multicolored barrier.
Beneath the barrier stood a crowd of humanoid monsters with pig heads, tusks, and axes in their hands.
Boom! With a muffled crash, the Dharma Image smashed the barrier to pieces, and the monsters hiding beneath it scattered in every direction.
The Saint's Dharma Image swept one enormous hand through the air, bursting them into a cloud of blood mist.
Then countless spear, saber, and sword cultivators flew into the battlefield, clashing with the pig-headed monsters.
Swords, spears, blades, axes, and flashes of spell light flew everywhere.
The dead fell from the sky like rain. Many cultivators died within ten breaths of entering the battlefield. Human lives were worth less than ants here.
Even so, countless streaks of light continued to flash past Chen Xian.
Then, just a few breaths later, they burst into bloody fireworks.
How was this any different from throwing their lives away?
Chen Xian lost his nerve.
He dropped from the sky, instinctively trying to flee this battlefield, a meat grinder of carnage.
"Do not retreat! We cannot retreat!"
"We, the sword cultivators of our generation, are willing to open up new lands for the billions upon billions of our people!"
A sword cultivator shouted as he pounced on a pig-headed monster. His sword flashed, and two heads of different races flew into the sky. They had both died together.
Hearing those words, Chen Xian stiffened.
He saw it.
Behind him stood countless human figures, gathered atop the mountains and kneeling between the fields and valleys.
They were praying—for the Saint, for him, and for the human race to fight its way to a place of its own among the myriad races of the Boundless Continent!