Chen Xin Listens to the Lecture, Gains Enlightenment, and Breaks Through!

However, what neither Chen Xin nor any of the Douluo people outside the light screen expected was this.

Yankang Imperial Preceptor looked at the tiger before him, ready to turn and bite at any moment, yet not only did he show no anger, a faint smile even appeared on his face, carrying a touch of tolerance and apology.

"Elder, there is no need to be nervous."

The Imperial Preceptor's voice was very soft, like a spring breeze that could soothe every agitation in a person's heart.

He did not even guard against the killing intent radiating from the long sword in Chen Xin's hand.

Right there in public, under the gazes of tens of thousands of Imperial Academy students and commoners, he slowly bent down.

The Imperial Preceptor stretched out one long, fair hand that held no weapon at all and gently rested it on Chen Xin's shoulder.

The instant his palm fell.

Chen Xin felt an immense vitality as vast as the sea, yet gentle to the extreme, flow through his shoulder and into his body like spring waters bursting through a dam, pouring in without end.

This vitality was too pure.

It carried not the slightest aggression. After entering Chen Xin's meridians, it was like an experienced old physician.

It gently wrapped around the soul power that had been darting everywhere because his Dao heart had collapsed, smoothing it out bit by bit and guiding it back into his dantian.

More than that, this vitality followed his meridians upward and poured into Chen Xin's brain.

That sword Dao heart, which had cracked after seeing the Imperial Preceptor's sword principles, actually began slowly healing under the nourishment of this gentle energy.

In less than three breaths.

The blood at the corner of Chen Xin's mouth stopped flowing, and his originally ashen face regained its ruddiness.

The tearing pain inside his body vanished completely without a trace, replaced by an unprecedented sense of ease.

"This..."

Chen Xin was utterly stunned.

He stared blankly at the Imperial Preceptor standing before him, and the Seven Kill Sword in his hand fell onto the bluestone pavement with a clang.

He had lived to such an old age, killed countless people, and been hunted by countless others.

But he had never seen someone like this.

A supreme expert standing high above all others, faced with a stranger of unknown origin who even carried hostility.

Not only did he not strike to kill, he instead spent his own vitality without the slightest stinginess to help him heal.

Such breadth of mind, such bearing, completely surpassed Chen Xin's understanding.

The Imperial Preceptor withdrew his hand and clasped both hands behind his back, his posture still as upright as a pine.

He looked at Chen Xin, and a barely perceptible trace of surprise flashed through his deep eyes.

Just now, when he had been helping Chen Xin heal.

His vitality had circulated once through Chen Xin's body.

He keenly detected the strange cultivation system inside Chen Xin.

There was no Spirit Embryo Divine Treasury, no Five Luminaries and Six Harmonies.

Instead, nine bizarre rings containing the remnant souls and resentment of wild beasts had been forcibly locked onto the meridian nodes within his body.

This was clearly a dead end that completely sealed off one's potential, a path of drinking poison to quench thirst.

But what surprised the Imperial Preceptor was that this white-haired old man had actually relied on an extreme focus toward a certain specific thing to forcibly walk down this dead end and develop a pure aura that made others take notice.

"Elder, you are not from our Yankang, are you?"

The Imperial Preceptor looked at Chen Xin and asked gently.

Chen Xin stood up.

He straightened his slightly disheveled clothes, put away the Seven Kill Sword, and bowed deeply to the Imperial Preceptor.

This was the highest respect expressed by a pure sword cultivator toward another forerunner who far surpassed him in the sword Dao and possessed a broad heart.

"I am Chen Xin, and indeed, I am not from Yankang."

Chen Xin raised his head, his eyes filled with confusion.

"There is one thing I do not understand."

"Lord Imperial Preceptor, you had clearly already seen through my background and knew that what I cultivate is not your nation's orthodox method, and that I might even be a heretic with malicious intentions."

"Why did you not kill me, and instead spend your vitality to heal me?"

This was not only Chen Xin's doubt.

It was also the greatest question in the hearts of Bibi Dong and the others outside the light screen, who had been waiting to watch a good show.

On the Douluo Continent, heretics should be burned to death. This was an iron law that had never changed for thousands of years.

Hearing this question.

Yankang Imperial Preceptor seemed to have heard something amusing, and the corner of his mouth curved into a free and easy smile.

He turned around and looked at the tens of thousands of students and commoners on the Imperial Academy square, all thirsting for knowledge.

"Heretics?"

The Imperial Preceptor shook his head, his voice drifting leisurely through the air above the square.

"How vast are heaven and earth? How boundless is the Great Dao?"

"The sea accepts a hundred rivers; greatness lies in tolerance."

The Imperial Preceptor turned his head, his gaze fixed directly on Chen Xin.

"In our Yankang Kingdom, we promote reform, and what we value is this: the daily use of the common people is the Dao."

"As long as it is knowledge that can benefit all living beings and help people understand the ultimate principles of heaven and earth, who cares whether it comes from the Great Ruins or from an alien race beyond the Nine Heavens?"

"We of Yankang welcome it all."

The Imperial Preceptor took a step forward, his loose blue robe snapping in the wind, carrying a heroic spirit that seemed able to swallow mountains and rivers.

"Old sir, that cultivation method inside your body is crude, and it has locked away your potential."

"But within you, I sensed an extremely pure sword intent."

"It is a pure will that has cast aside all complicated variations and exists only for slaughter."

A gleam of delight at finding worthy prey lit up in the Imperial Preceptor's eyes.

"Such pure intent amazes even me."

"Since you, old sir, also enjoy cultivating the sword..."

The Imperial Preceptor took two steps back and made an inviting gesture toward Chen Xin.

"Why not use the strongest sword strike of your life and try attacking me?"

"Let me see what is truly unique about the sword of your world."

The moment those words were spoken, not only did the crowd in the Imperial Academy square cry out in surprise.

Outside the light screen on Douluo Continent, Ning Fengzhi and Bone Douluo's eyes also went wide in an instant.

"Is he... going to guide Uncle Sword?" Ning Fengzhi's voice was trembling, a sign of excitement pushed to the extreme.

Within the Sky Screen, Chen Xin heard the Imperial Preceptor's invitation and also drew in a deep breath.

The sword heart that had originally been crushed actually blazed up again at this moment with a raging fire.

This was a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity for a sword cultivator!

"Since Lord Imperial Preceptor is willing to instruct me..."

Chen Xin's gaze instantly became incomparably sharp, and his entire body seemed to transform into an peerless divine sword unsheathed.

"Then this old man shall offend you!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Chen Xin suddenly exerted strength through his feet, and nine soul rings around him rose with a boom.

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black!

Although in this world, the soul ring system appeared extremely strange, even regarded as trash.

When the ninth black ten-thousand-year soul ring shone with dazzling light...

The aura around Chen Xin still climbed to the most peak state of his entire life.

"Ninth Soul Skill!"

Chen Xin gripped the hilt of the Seven Kill Sword tightly with both hands and raised it high.

All the vital qi in the surrounding air seemed to be drained dry at that moment.

An utterly terrifying aura of slaughter shook the bluestone slabs around the lecture platform until fine cracks spread across them.

"God and Demon Slash!"

Accompanied by Chen Xin's thunderous roar...

He and his sword transformed into an earth-shaking sword ray dozens of zhang long, as if it could split the sky in two, and with unstoppable resolve, it cleaved down fiercely toward Yankang Imperial Preceptor.

This strike had no flashy variations whatsoever.

Only killing taken to the extreme!

Facing this stunning peak sword strike...

Yankang Imperial Preceptor stood where he was, not even shifting his feet.

That sky-splitting, earth-covering sword ray was reflected in his eyes, and the admiration on his face grew stronger and stronger.

"What pure killing intent!"

"He has abandoned every path of retreat and condensed all his essence, qi, and spirit into this one strike."

"With such resolute will, if he were placed in my Yankang army, he would absolutely be an unmatched fierce general charging through enemy lines!"

Just as that enormous sword ray was about to fall three feet above the Imperial Preceptor's head...

The Imperial Preceptor finally moved.

He did not draw his sword, nor did he summon any heaven-toppling surge of vital energy.

He merely raised his right hand slowly.

He extended his index and middle fingers, joining them into a sword.

He looked at the seemingly flawless sword radiance in midair, countless complex mathematical trajectories flashing through his eyes.

Then his fingers tapped lightly.

They landed on an extremely inconspicuous node in that heaven-shaking sword radiance.

"Buzz!"

A strange tremor rang out. Chen Xin's ninth soul skill, into which he had poured a lifetime of cultivation, was undone by the Imperial Preceptor's two fingers with one gentle tap.

Like a snake whose bones had been pulled out, it instantly fell apart.

That terrifying sword radiance, dozens of zhang long, turned directly into a breeze that stirred the Imperial Preceptor's blue-green robe hem, then completely dispersed into the air.

Chen Xin gripped the Seven Kill Sword, still holding the posture of a downward slash, and landed steadily in front of the Imperial Preceptor.

He was not injured.

But those old eyes of his were filled with unprecedented shock and sudden enlightenment.

The Imperial Preceptor withdrew his fingers, looked at Chen Xin standing there in a daze, and spoke gently.

"Old sir, your killing intent is very pure, and your power is also highly concentrated."

"But your sword is too rigid."

The Imperial Preceptor drew a circle in midair with his hand.

"All things in heaven and earth are in a state of change."

"If you only know how to chop straight forward, and do not know to factor in the changes of space and the movement of the stars,"

"then your sword will forever only be able to split the trees before your eyes, but never cleave open the firmament above your head."

"Try spreading out your killing intent. Feel the flow of the vital energy around you. Let your sword become the key that unlocks the shackles of heaven and earth."

These few words from the Imperial Preceptor sounded plain.

But in Chen Xin's ears, they were like great bells and mighty chimes, deafening and enlightening.

Chen Xin closed his eyes.

The Seven Kill Sword in his hand gave off faint tremors.

In his mind, the Imperial Preceptor's finger strike that had broken his ninth soul skill replayed again and again.

Calculation, space, laws, the flow of vital energy.

These things he had never considered before now poured into his heart like a tide.

"So that's how it is..."

"This is the true way of the sword..."

Chen Xin murmured to himself.

All of a sudden, an extremely strange fluctuation erupted from his body.

It was not an increase in soul power, but a sublimation of realm.

The level ninety-six bottleneck that had troubled him for a full ten years gave a crisp crack at that moment.

Level ninety-seven!

Under just a few casual pointers from the Imperial Preceptor, Chen Xin had actually crossed that peak Douluo threshold, as insurmountable as a heavenly chasm, right in front of tens of thousands of people, gaining enlightenment and breaking through on the spot!

This near-miraculous scene made everyone from Spirit Hall outside the light screen so furious they nearly coughed blood.

Bibi Dong in particular had her incomparably beautiful face twisted beyond recognition.

Inside the main hall of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, however, a deafening cheer erupted.

In the Sky Screen, Chen Xin slowly opened his eyes.

He put away the Seven Kill Sword.

Then this Titled Douluo, who regarded face as dearly as life itself, did something no one could have expected.

He straightened his robes, then his knees went weak.

Before the Yankang Imperial Preceptor, who was who knew how many years younger than him, he dropped solidly to his knees.

"The accomplished are teachers."

Chen Xin pressed both hands to the ground, his voice trembling slightly with emotion.

"Thank you, Imperial Preceptor, for the grace of remaking me!"

"Please accept this old man's bow!"

Looking at Chen Xin kneeling before him.

Yankang Imperial Preceptor did not dodge.

He accepted the bow calmly, then reached out and helped Chen Xin up.

"Please rise, elder."

The Imperial Preceptor held Chen Xin's hand, and a bright, heartfelt smile appeared on his face.

"When three people walk together, one of them is bound to be my teacher."

"There is no need for such great courtesy, elder. Your killing sword intent, pure to the absolute extreme, has also given me great inspiration."

The Imperial Preceptor raised his head and looked at the distant sky, his gaze becoming incomparably deep.

"The reforms of my Yankang need precisely this kind of resolve—to press forward without turning back and cut through all the old rules."

"If you do not mind, elder."

"From now on, let us address each other as fellow Daoists."

"I will incorporate this pure sword intent of yours into my own sword techniques, discard the dross and keep the essence. Perhaps it will allow my Sword Dao to climb another step higher."

The Imperial Preceptor's words carried the peerless bearing of a true grandmaster.

He did not look down on the weak, nor was he satisfied with where he stood.

He was like a vast ocean, greedily absorbing all knowledge and principles that could be useful to his reforms.

Looking at the middle-aged man in green robes within the image, gentle and refined as jade—

The entire Douluo Continent—

Whether they hated him or felt grateful to him—

At this moment, they all had no choice but to admit it from the bottom of their hearts.

The number one beneath the gods.

He was fully worthy of that title.

As Yankang Imperial Preceptor's words fell, the entire Imperial Academy plaza was silent as the grave.

Everyone had been won over by the breadth of spirit and bearing of this number one beneath the gods.

He did not look down on the crude techniques of a visitor from another world. Instead, he was willing to draw out their useful parts, even lowering himself to treat an outsider as an equal.

This immense capacity to tolerate others was the true foundation that allowed Yankang's reforms to be carried throughout the land.

But outside the light screen, Douluo Continent had already erupted completely.

Inside the great hall of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Ning Fengzhi's hands were clamped tightly around the armrests of the sect master's throne, the veins on the backs of his hands bulging.

His usual gentle, refined manner had long since been thrown to the clouds. He was so excited that he paced back and forth through the great hall.

"Rank ninety-seven! Uncle Sword broke through to rank ninety-seven!"

Ning Fengzhi's voice trembled slightly, and tears even shimmered in his eyes.

Outsiders simply did not understand how difficult it was for a Title Douluo to advance each rank after reaching rank ninety-five, but Ning Fengzhi knew these circumstances inside and out!

That required ten years, even several decades, of bitter cultivation and sudden enlightenment.