Fate: God-Communicating

Mianzhu Mountain, Qingwei Sword Sect, Outer Court.

Inside the Bamboo Cottage.

Yu Xiu looked up at the sunlight filtering through the gaps between the bamboo slats, dazed as if in a dream.

Once the shackles were broken, I finally knew today that I was myself!

He wore a pale-green robe. His build was tall and well-proportioned, his thick black hair tied up with a green bamboo pin, and his features handsome and extraordinary (just a fraction short of the distinguished readers in front of their screens).

Something stirred in Yu Xiu's heart, and he inexplicably thought of these words, which seemed especially apt.

He had been reincarnated into this world for sixteen years. Today, as the tide surged in on the Qiantang River, memories of his past life suddenly awakened, and it seemed that everything was different now.

Just then, outside the Bamboo Cottage, two youths in similarly pale-green robes passed by.

One of them, a young and honest-looking boy, hurriedly lowered his head and clasped his fists. "Greetings, Senior Brother."

The slightly older boy beside him forced Yu Xiu a smile, then pulled the younger boy along and quickened his pace.

"You just joined the sect, so let me do you a favor: don't get involved with that Yu Xiu from earlier, or you might get caught up in the fallout!" the older boy warned.

"Why?" the young, honest-looking boy asked, confused.

"About a year ago, Senior Brother Yu Xiu ran into a fellow disciple, Fang Jibai, using the Sacrificial Evil Art to break through. The victims were eight girls, all eight years old. Supposedly, their fates complemented his. Fortunately, Yu Xiu acted in time and saved them.

"An Outer Court enforcement senior brother found out, too. He crippled Fang Jibai's cultivation and threw him into the Earth Fire Prison, where he died after three years of torment from fire poison."

The older boy sighed. "It should have been a good deed, but the trouble was that Fang Jibai had a powerful elder brother in the Inner Court. Because of what happened to Fang Jibai, he was implicated too and lost his chance to advance to the Main Sect."

The young, honest-looking boy was shocked. "So Senior Brother Yu Xiu ruined Fang Jibai's brother's Dao Path, and now he's holding a grudge?"

The older boy shook his head. "For the past year, Fang Jibai's brother in the Inner Court hasn't made a move against Yu Xiu, but everyone knows this isn't over. Who knows when Yu Xiu might end up dead?

"How could his close friends avoid being dragged into the mess by Fang Jibai's brother?"

The young, honest-looking boy said indignantly, "Can't the court do anything about Fang Jibai's brother? Senior Brother Yu Xiu saved eight lives and reported a fellow disciple for using an evil art. Won't the court do anything?"

The older boy sighed helplessly. "Fang Jibai's brother hasn't made a move all year. The court can't go after him for no reason, especially since he's already suffered consequences.

"Besides, Yu Xiu has been in the Outer Court for almost three years. He is still stuck at the first of the Four Ascending Dragon Passes, unable to enter the second. Clearly, his potential is lacking. According to the court rules, if he fails to break through within three years, he has to go out and temper his Sword Heart through trials.

"He's safe enough in the Outer Court; no one dares to tamper with things easily. But once he leaves, if he dies, you might not even know how he died!"

With that, he sighed and gradually walked away.

In front of the Bamboo Cottage, Yu Xiu had heard every word clearly.

Fang Jibai's elder brother!

Fang Jiming!

The first Ascending Dragon Pass, still unbroken!

Sent out on trials!

Yu Xiu suddenly let out a soft laugh.

Dangerous?

Everything was different now.

Yu Xiu silently opened the mental panel that had awakened along with his memories of his past life.

[Fate: God-Communicating (Permanently increases comprehension and lifespan whenever any martial art, cultivation method, secret art, and so on is cultivated to perfection. No limit)]

[Comprehension: 9]

[Lifespan: 16/84]

[Realm: First Ascending Dragon Pass, Flawless, late stage (481/500)]

[Flawless Realm Cultivation Methods: Tide-Rising Sword Art, ten sections (section one, great mastery (295/300); section two, great mastery (293/300); section three, great mastery (293/300); section four...); Indeterminate Sword Art, ten sections (section one, great mastery (296/300); section two (296/300); section three...)]

[Basic Cultivation Method: Basic Sword Technique, sixteen sections (section one, great mastery (99/100); section two, great mastery (99/100)...)]

[Flawless Martial Arts: Three Winters Sword, great mastery (294/300); Wild Goose Returning Sword, great mastery (288/300); Drifting Wind Sword, great mastery (298/300)]

Yu Xiu tried to suppress the corners of his mouth as they slowly curled upward, but in the end, he couldn't quite manage it.

There was no need to explain the proficiency panel. Once proven, always proven. He could never forget a martial art he had learned, and he would never regress.

And that wasn't even the most outrageous part. The most outrageous part was his fate: God-Communicating.

It could permanently increase his comprehension and lifespan, without limit.

Nine points of comprehension, and you say I lack potential. I won't hold it against you.

But when I have ten thousand points of comprehension, what should you call me then?

And there was his lifespan, naturally.

Could you withstand this sword, backed by a hundred thousand years of power?

So, now that he had a cheat, how should he use it?

Kick down the nursing home on South Mountain?

Punch his way through the kindergarten by the North Sea?

Spend the rest of his life showing off, slapping faces, and climbing to the peak of life?

None of the above.

There were only two words in Yu Xiu's mind.

Grow, grow, and grow some damn more!

A late-game cheat called for late-game tactics.

Stay steady. Don't get reckless!

Stack comprehension, stack lifespan. In the late game, I would be invincible!

He had practiced so many cultivation methods and sword arts—thirty-nine in total.

Thirty-six cultivation methods and three sword arts.

And every one of them was at great mastery, close to perfection. All of them could be converted into comprehension, all of them could be converted into lifespan.

If he brought them all to perfection and his comprehension soared, who else would take off if not him?

But through the panel, Yu Xiu had also gained a clear view of his own shortcomings for the first time.

No wonder I'd been cultivating for nearly three years, yet still couldn't break through into the second Ascending Dragon Pass!

The problem was right here.

He had practiced many cultivation methods and sword arts, but not one had reached perfection.

Broad in skill, but not in mastery.

It wasn't that Yu Xiu had bitten off more than he could chew. The problem was that martial cultivation had never been transparent.

He had brought all those basic cultivation methods and sword arts, the ten sections of the Tide-Rising Sword Art, the ten sections of the Indeterminate Sword Art, and so on, to great mastery, just short of perfection.

So, in Yu Xiu's mind, he had already reached perfection.

The trouble was, he thought he had perfected them, but in reality, he was still just a little short. Just a little.

But on the path of cultivation, that little bit was far more than just a little.

To be unaware that one's cultivation was incomplete—one could imagine how fatal that was.

This wasn't just Yu Xiu's problem. Countless cultivators faced the same issue.

But with the panel, things were different. He could tell at a glance whether something was perfect, and he could see at a glance just how far it fell short.

No joke—even without the fate God-Communicating, just having this panel would save Yu Xiu at least half the effort on his path of cultivation, and let him go much farther.

And with the fate God-Communicating...

His future was boundless.

One more thing worth mentioning: the reason Yu Xiu had practiced so many cultivation methods and sword arts wasn't that he was greedy for too much.

It was because that was simply how the sect worked.

The Qingwei Sword Sect was divided into two branches.

One branch practiced the Sword-in-Hand, which was the branch Yu Xiu belonged to.

This branch's cultivation method involved fusing cultivation methods into sword arts. The faster one practiced sword arts, the faster one's cultivation and progress improved.

As one gradually merged with the sword in hand, one would eventually cultivate supreme sword intent, making all things into swords.

The other branch practiced the Sword-in-Chest. This branch placed greater importance on Root Bone and talent, and had extremely strict requirements for accepting disciples.

They cultivated a breath of Sword Qi in their chests. At the highest levels, they could transform their bodies into swords. A single breath could become supreme Sword Qi, cleaving mountains and parting seas.

Even a single strand of hair carried a sharp edge, able to cut through metal and iron.

Realms: Four Ascending Dragon Passes (Flawless, Qi Circulation, Qi Sea, Life Spring), Four Great Passes (Five Viscera, Five Elements, Five Spirits, Divine Heart)