You're Not Bad

The steward from Tianque Peak deliberately picked up the records and looked through everything concerning Yu Xiu again.

They knew Yu Xiu would join Dragon-Slaying Peak not because they had heard anything in advance, but because Yu Xiu had already begun cultivating the Dragon-Slaying Evil-Purging Sword, a technique unique to Dragon-Slaying Peak.

It wasn't just the steward from Tianque Peak reading the records. The stewards from Wen Dao Peak, Jinding Peak, and Powang Peak were reading them too.

"Hm?" At a glance, the steward from Tianque Peak immediately noticed something unusual.

Yu Xiu had entered the Outer Court alongside Zhu Wenjiu, Feng Zhiyuan, and Zhang Yundu, and, like them, had mastered the first of the Four Great Passes in three years.

But Yu Xiu's records were far more astonishing.

'Near the end of his third year, he was promoted from the Outer Court to the Inner Court and mastered the Qi Sea, the third pass of Ascending Dragon.'

'Two months after entering the Inner Court, he broke through the Qi Sea and Life Spring, then advanced straight to the first of the Four Great Passes?!'

'Two months to break through the third and fourth passes of Ascending Dragon?'

What kind of insane speed was that?

In an instant, all four stewards except the one from Dragon-Slaying Peak looked up almost simultaneously and exchanged glances.

'Has he awakened?'

They looked again and saw one last entry in the records.

'In Donghe Prefecture, Guiping County, at Tantan Lake, he slew three Water Demons: one at the first three minor stages of the first of the Four Great Passes, one at the middle three minor stages of the first pass, and one at the...'

'Second pass!'

At this, the four stewards couldn't help looking up again.

This time, though, they looked at Yu Xiu—not as a person, but as a measure of his strength.

'First of the Four Great Passes, second minor stage of the Five Viscera Realm!'

Could he really defeat an opponent from the second pass, the Five Elements Realm, while only at the second minor stage of the Five Viscera Realm?

How had he managed that?

Could someone from Dragon-Slaying Peak have secretly helped him?

They were astonished, but showed nothing as they turned their attention to the Bronze Mirror in front of Yu Xiu.

The mirror might not reveal his exact realm. They could only judge his cultivation roughly from his aura.

It couldn't show his full strength either, since that could only be seen in actual combat.

Fortunately, the Bronze Mirror's first test measured true energy and swordsmanship.

They wanted to see just how many demons Yu Xiu could slay at his own level.

If he really could defeat a Water Demon from the second pass of the Five Elements Realm, then when facing demons at his own level...

"This Bronze Mirror is quite interesting." Standing before it, Yu Xiu clearly felt a wisp of consciousness enter the mirror of its own accord.

His main consciousness was cut off. When he came to, he was already inside the world within the Bronze Mirror.

Before him lay mountains and rivers, and demons swarmed toward him as far as the eye could see.

'Too weak.' Yu Xiu turned the blade of the Sword-in-Hand and charged into their midst. One sword, one demon. One sword, one demon. Though the demons were numerous, they couldn't even touch him.

Still, Yu Xiu held back considerably and didn't use the second realm of Sword Heart.

Otherwise, a single strike would have killed far more than one!

"How strong!" Zhu Wenjiu, stubble sprouting along his jaw, felt his heart jolt.

Those demons were all as strong as he was, at the same level. With so many attacking at once, being able to kill even one was no small feat.

His swordsmanship was highly accomplished, yet even he could only hold out for half a quarter of an hour against the demons surrounding him. He would soon have been torn apart by the swarming horde.

"How can his swordsmanship be..." Zhang Yundu, who had still been hoping to compete with him, could hardly believe it.

"Impressive. No wonder Dragon-Slaying Peak had already claimed him!" Feng Zhiyuan exclaimed.

The others, including Meng Ruizhu, watched with hearts pounding like drums.

He was far too strong. If they went up against him, they probably wouldn't even withstand a single sword from Yu Xiu.

After all, they had only just entered the first of the Four Great Passes. How could the gap between them be so vast?

It wasn't just the disciples who were stunned. Even the stewards above them changed their expressions.

At first, the steward from Tianque Peak had sat perfectly still. But once Yu Xiu drew his sword, he couldn't help leaning forward. Before long, he had risen to his feet.

"What kind of sword technique is this?" The steward from Tianque Peak looked grave.

The steward from Wen Dao Peak stood and stepped forward. "Every one of his strikes is different. In his first strike alone, I saw traces of at least eight sword techniques!"

The steward from Jinding Peak's eyes flashed. "He's fused countless sword techniques together and mastered them all to perfection. He's reached a level of mastery beyond the ordinary!"

The steward from Powang Peak praised him again and again. "Remarkable. Truly remarkable!"

Even the steward from Dragon-Slaying Peak watched with dazzling eyes. "Yu Xiu. What a Yu Xiu!"

He was delighted. He'd heard Yu Xiu was impressive, but he hadn't expected him to be this impressive.

Yu Xiu wasn't merely a freak on par with the Ten True Seeds. He might even be able to compete for a place among the Ten True Disciples!

"Now, do you believe that my junior brother Yu Xiu can slay that Water Demon from the second pass of the Four Great Passes?" The steward from Dragon-Slaying Peak's lips curled, though he feigned composure.

The other four stewards came to their senses and exchanged a glance without drawing attention to themselves.

The steward from Tianque Peak cleared his throat. "We should see a little more."

The steward from Wen Dao Peak chimed in. "Let's watch a bit longer."

The stewards from Jinding Peak and Powang Peak immediately followed suit. "No rush. No rush."

The steward from Dragon-Slaying Peak felt a sudden unease. 'What are these fellows scheming?'

A quarter of an hour later, Yu Xiu felt his consciousness return to his body. When he looked again, words had appeared on the Bronze Mirror.

'Slayed nine hundred demons at the Five Viscera Realm'

'True energy (A+)'

'Swordsmanship (A+)'

'Sword intent (A+)'

When Zhu Wenjiu, Feng Zhiyuan, and Zhang Yundu saw the mirror's evaluation, their hearts all leaped.

"He's already comprehended sword intent?!" Zhang Yundu cried out.

"And it's A+!" Feng Zhiyuan exclaimed.

"He's already close to forming a Sword Heart!" Zhu Wenjiu murmured.

"What kind of fierce dragon came out of nowhere? Why have we never heard of him before?"

"He's much stronger than Zhu Wenjiu and the other two. Much, much stronger!"

"A+ in every category. He's maxed them all out!"

"Judging by Senior Brother Yu's composure, he still has strength to spare!"

"A+ is just the Bronze Mirror's highest rating. It might not even be Senior Brother Yu's limit!"

The Inner Court disciples were even more shaken. The crowd was already buzzing.

Before the Bronze Mirror, Yu Xiu felt his consciousness separate once more, and he reentered the mirror world.

But this time, a strange boulder appeared before him.

'The Sword-Worshiping Stone!' As he looked at the enormous rock, he seemed to glimpse a plain-looking middle-aged man with a gentle bearing, seated before a boulder. The man held a wooden sword and carved at the stone as if absentmindedly.

Though it was only a wooden sword, and the man seemed to use no force at all, stone chips flew with every stroke.

Each cut followed no discernible pattern. It seemed like idle work, done at random, turning one irregular boulder into another, even more irregular one.

An ordinary person would have thought only that the middle-aged man was extraordinarily powerful, since he could carve a boulder with a wooden sword.

But in Yu Xiu's eyes, every stroke seemed to contain the principles of swordsmanship, with countless possibilities for becoming a sword technique.

'So this is the swordsmanship Zhu Wenjiu and the others comprehended?' Yu Xiu watched closely as flashes of inspiration kept appearing in his mind and colliding with one another.

In just a short while, he had already worked out four or five complete sword techniques in his mind, each more profound than any he had ever learned.

The longer he watched, the more inspiration flooded his mind, and the faster he devised sword techniques.

But just then, a gentle voice suddenly rang out in Yu Xiu's mind. "Young man, you can see me?"

'Hm?' The surging inspiration in Yu Xiu's mind abruptly stilled. He looked up in surprise and saw the gentle middle-aged man, who had been carving the stone with his wooden sword, looking calmly back at him.

'I've seen you twice before.' The gentle middle-aged man moved the wooden sword in his hand and said, 'You're not bad!'

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