Drawing the Sword, Seeking the Sword

Dawn broke, and a few strands of cool wind slipped into the guest room at the Imperial Academy.

Chen Xin pushed open the wooden window and took a deep breath of the fresh morning air.

He closed his eyes, his thoughts stirring slightly.

Deep between his brows, the newly formed golden Spirit Fetus immediately responded.

A faint yet exceptionally pure stream of vital energy flowed once through the meridians throughout his body, then finally settled steadily in his dantian.

It felt truly wonderful.

Without the heavy burden of those nine spirit rings from before, he now felt much lighter in body.

Although the energy inside him was pitifully scarce, not even one percent of what he once had, this vital energy belonged wholly to him, clean and clear.

Footsteps sounded outside the door.

A young eunuch in a blue official robe stopped at the entrance and knocked very politely.

"Elder Chen, His Majesty has decreed that you are to report to the Divine Strategy Battalion outside the city first thing this morning." The eunuch handed over a weighty bronze token shaped with a tiger's head in both hands.

"This is your instructor's waist token. Please keep it safe."

Chen Xin accepted the token and thanked him.

He tucked the token into his robes, washed up briefly, then strode out of the Imperial Academy.

The Divine Strategy Battalion was in the western outskirts of Yankang Capital City, beside a large mountain.

Chen Xin followed the official road at an unhurried pace.

Along the way, he was still savoring the formation diagrams and formulas he had seen on the ninth floor of the Library Pavilion the night before.

The speed of wind, the curvature of space, the angle of a sword swing.

These things were like a tangled mess, but under the guidance of his more than ninety years of pure slaughtering sword intent, they slowly began to form a clear thread.

After walking for about two hours, a vast military camp appeared ahead.

Before he even drew close, a rush of soaring blood energy and the smell of sweat hit him head-on.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Deafening battle cries echoed over the military camp, scattering even the clouds in the sky.

Chen Xin walked to the camp gate and handed over the tiger-headed bronze token.

After the gatekeeping soldiers checked it and found no issue, they led him into the garrison of Yankang Kingdom's most elite force.

Yellow dust billowed across the drill ground.

Over a thousand bare-chested, powerfully built men were training in a rain of sweat.

What they held were real blades and spears, and their movements were perfectly uniform.

Every slash sent a faint sonic boom through the air.

Chen Xin only swept a glance over them before inwardly nodding.

These soldiers' foundations were exceedingly solid.

Pick any one of them at random, and that pure physical burst of strength would be enough to rival a rank-thirty Spirit Elder of Douluo Continent.

Just then, a young general in light leather armor strode down from the command platform.

The young man looked only twenty-five or twenty-six, with sharp brows, bright eyes, and a tall, straight bearing.

A fierce aura radiated from head to toe, and five-colored light faintly shone from between his brows. He had clearly already stepped into the realm of the Five Luminaries Divine Treasury.

"You're the new swordsmanship instructor?"

The young general came up to Chen Xin, looked him up and down, and his brows instantly furrowed.

His name was Zhao Rui, deputy commander of the Divine Strategy Battalion, and also a swordsmanship genius renowned throughout the army.

Zhao Rui looked at this old man before him, with white hair and beard and a gaunt frame, and a hint of undisguised disappointment flashed through his eyes.

"Elder, a military camp is an important place. It's not like some teahouse in the city where people go to retire." Zhao Rui folded his arms across his chest, his tone carrying a trace of bluntness.

"From what I see between your brows, your Spirit Fetus has only just stabilized."

"With such meager cultivation, coming to our Divine Strategy Battalion as an instructor may make it hard to convince the men."

The surrounding soldiers who were training also stopped what they were doing.

They gathered around, looked at this shriveled old man, and began whispering among themselves.

The men of the Divine Strategy Battalion valued military merit above all and only respected the strong—those with hard fists and ruthless blade work.

Now His Majesty had suddenly sent an old grandfather who had only just begun cultivation to teach them swordsmanship. How could these proud, fierce soldiers swallow that?

Faced with Zhao Rui's questioning and the doubtful gazes all around him, Chen Xin did not get angry.

He merely smiled. On that old, wrinkled face was a calmness born of weathering countless hardships.

"General Zhao is quite right. Men of the army naturally look to real skill in one's hands."

Chen Xin stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his gaze sweeping across the training ground before finally settling on the longsword at Zhao Rui's waist.

"Since the general believes this old man's cultivation to be shallow, then this old man will shamelessly ask the general to grant me a lesson or two."

The moment those words came out, the soldiers on the training ground burst into laughter.

An old man who had only just awakened his Spirit Fetus wanted to challenge a deputy commander who had already stepped into the Five Luminaries Divine Treasury? Wasn't that just throwing an egg against a rock?

Zhao Rui was stunned as well, then his expression turned cold.

"Old sir, blades and swords have no eyes."

"This sword of mine has tasted blood."

"If you get hurt, I won't be able to answer to His Majesty."

Chen Xin shook his head and walked over to an old willow tree beside the training ground.

He stretched out those hands that had only just shed their old skin and casually snapped off a thin, soft willow switch about two feet long.

Holding it in his hand, he gave it two idle swishes.

"No matter. General, just draw your sword."

Chen Xin gripped the willow switch and walked to the center of the training ground, where he stopped.

"This old man will not use an iron sword. I'll use this branch to experience the general's fine techniques."

The moment he said that, it was not only the soldiers of the Divine Strategy Battalion who thought the old man had gone mad.

Outside the light screen, all the viewers on Douluo Continent broke into a cold sweat as well.

In the great hall of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Ning Fengzhi stood up anxiously.

"Uncle Sword is being far too arrogant! He has no soul power right now, while that young general opposite him is an expert who has opened the second major realm."

"How could he possibly win by using a branch to block a real sword?"

On the field at Shrek Academy, Ma Hongjun was so anxious he clawed at his scalp.

"Did Senior Chen Xin get beaten silly by that Bashan Libationer yesterday? That willow switch is soft as anything. If that guy chops down with one strike, he'll cut both the man and the branch in half!"

Tang San stared fixedly at the Sky Screen without speaking, but his eyes were filled with worry too.

In the common sense of Douluo Continent, the quality of one's weapon often decided victory or defeat in battle.

How could an ordinary iron weapon possibly stand against a divine weapon that could slice through metal like mud? Let alone a fragile willow switch?

In the image on the Sky Screen, Zhao Rui looked at Chen Xin holding the willow switch and felt this was simply the greatest humiliation to him.

"Fine! Since the old sir insists, then forgive my offense!"

Zhao Rui shouted, his right hand gripping the sword hilt.

Clang!

The longsword left its sheath, like a pool of autumn water.

The Five Luminaries Divine Treasury within Zhao Rui's body instantly began to circulate, and a surge of crimson fire-element vital energy flowed through his meridians into the longsword.

In an instant, the entire sword was wrapped in a layer of scorching flame, and the surrounding air was distorted by the intense heat.

Red Flame Scorching the Plains!

Zhao Rui shifted his footing, his figure like a fierce tiger descending the mountain as he charged straight at Chen Xin with a violent heat wave.

That sword came cleaving down, dragging out a flame sword radiance over ten feet long, its momentum terrifying.

By contrast, Chen Xin stood quietly where he was.

The slender willow switch in his hand swayed slightly in the wild wind.

Facing this astonishingly powerful strike, Chen Xin did not dodge, nor did he close his eyes.

In that instant, the surrounding clamor of battle cries and the sound of the wind all vanished from his perception.

In his mind, the complex formation diagram he had seen last night on the ninth floor of the Library Pavilion flashed by at incredible speed.

The wind is veering east, wind speed at third tier.

This strike of his has its power concentrated in the front third of the blade.

His left foot used too much force, causing a slight imbalance in his lower body.

Fire-element vital energy is fierce and forceful, but when hardness reaches its peak, it breaks easily.

The place where sword energy is densest is often the weakest structural node.

Countless pieces of data and images rapidly gathered and calculated in Chen Xin's mind.

The feeling was wondrous.

In the past, when he swung a sword, he had relied on instinct, on overwhelming skill with sheer force.

But now, he felt that what he held in his hand was not a branch, but a key that could unlock the equations of heaven and earth.

The flaming sword beam was about to cleave down onto Chen Xin's head.

Chen Xin finally moved.

He turned his body slightly, his foot sliding half an arc toward the front left in a seemingly casual motion.

It was this simple half step that just happened to avoid the hottest central area of the flaming sword beam.

At the same time, Chen Xin gave his wrist a light flick.

That soft willow switch, carrying a pure killing intent tempered over more than ninety years, thrust toward the burning longsword from an extremely tricky and bizarre angle.

There was no earth-shaking collision.

Nor was there any dazzling light.

The tip of the willow switch struck an extremely inconspicuous spot on the spine of Zhao Rui's longsword with absolute precision.

Crack!

A crisp, delicate sound rang out.

Zhao Rui only felt a strange tremor come through his wrist.

The tremor was not strong, but it was like a needle, puncturing a bulging leather ball with perfect accuracy.

The layer of blazing crimson fire on his sword, the moment it touched the willow switch, actually seemed to lose the fuel supporting it, scattering with a whoosh into sparks that filled the sky.

And that was not all.

The willow switch slid all the way up along the spine of the longsword, its speed astonishingly fast.

Zhao Rui had no time to change moves.

He only felt a blur before his eyes, and then a faintly cool touch came from his neck.

The wind stopped.

The sparks scattered across the sky fell onto the yellow earth and slowly went out.

The training ground fell silent.

Over a thousand soldiers of the Divine Strategy Battalion stared open-mouthed at the two men in the center of the field, dumbstruck.

Zhao Rui remained frozen in place, still in the posture of charging forward and chopping down.

At his throat, a thin, soft willow switch with a few green leaves on it had stopped there steadily.

As long as Chen Xin pushed it forward by half an inch, the pure killing intent contained within the willow switch could instantly pierce his throat.

He had lost.

In one move.

An elite general who had opened the Five Luminaries Divine Treasury, wielding a longsword forged from hundred-refined steel.

And yet he had actually been subdued in one move by an old man who had just opened the Spirit Fetus, using a branch casually snapped from the roadside!

Beyond the screen of light.

At that instant, Douluo Continent seemed as if someone had pressed pause.

Everyone's breathing stopped.

In Heaven Dou Imperial City.

The fan in Ning Fengzhi's hand fell straight to the ground. He rubbed his eyes hard, his face full of shock.

"How... how is this possible?"

Bone Douluo's mouth hung open, and for a long while, he could not say a single word.

On the training field of Shrek Academy.

Tang San's back was already completely soaked with cold sweat.

He stared fixedly at the willow switch stopped at Zhao Rui's neck, his mind churning with stormy waves.

"He calculated it."

Tang San swallowed dryly, his voice trembling.

"That step Senior Chen Xin took just now, that strike... he calculated the wind resistance, the nodes in his opponent's sword energy, even the softness of the soil beneath his feet."

"He used the smallest amount of force to break the most massive attack."

"Is... is this what the National Preceptor called bringing arithmetic into the sword?"

Yu Xiaogang had already dropped to his knees.

He held that little notebook filled with notes in both hands, looked at Chen Xin in the screen of light, and tears flowed uncontrollably down his face.

"We were wrong... The rules Douluo Continent has followed for tens of thousands of years were all wrong."

Yu Xiaogang's voice carried a sob, yet also held the fanaticism of someone who had glimpsed the truth.

"There's no need for any ten-thousand-year spirit rings, and no need for any heaven-defying spirit skills."

"As long as you grasp the laws of heaven and earth and weave arithmetic into your attacks, even a single tree branch can defeat everything!"

This scene was even more shocking than seeing those Divine Treasury realms yesterday.

Because it had shown, clearly and unmistakably, how wisdom and technique could cross the gulf of power and achieve a dimensional strike.

Inside Spirit City.

Bibi Dong sat upon the papal throne, the color drained from her peerlessly beautiful face.

The twin martial souls she took such pride in, those tremendously powerful hundred-thousand-year spirit skills of hers—

Before this old man holding a tree branch, they suddenly seemed so clumsy and laughable.

"If every soldier in Yankang Kingdom's army understands this way of fighting..."

Bibi Dong closed her eyes, not daring to think any further.

Within the Sky Screen.

Chen Xin slowly withdrew the willow twig.

He looked at Zhao Rui, who was drenched in sweat and whose eyes were filled with disbelief, and gave a gentle smile.

"General Zhao, thank you for going easy on me."

Zhao Rui took a deep breath, and the longsword in his hand fell to the ground with a clang.

He was not resentful, nor was he angry.

He took a step back and bowed deeply to Chen Xin.

"Instructor, your swordsmanship is superb. This humble general admits defeat wholeheartedly."

Men of the army were like that. If they lost, they admitted it.

Chen Xin's near-divine display of skill had already thoroughly won over everyone present.

The surrounding soldiers of the Divine Strategy Battalion came back to their senses, and thunderous cheers immediately erupted.

The way everyone looked at Chen Xin had turned into fervent worship.

Just then—

From a high platform beside the drill ground came a burst of hearty laughter.

"Hahaha! Good! Clean and decisive, not the slightest bit muddled!"

Everyone turned to look.

Emperor Yanfeng and Bashan Libationer had, at some point, appeared on the high platform.

Emperor Yanfeng was dressed in casual clothes today, holding a folding fan, his face full of approval.

Bashan Libationer carried a wine gourd and gave Chen Xin a thumbs-up.

"Old man, your mind works fast enough."

"You only read the book last night, and today you can already use it in actual combat. You've really got a bit of my style back in the day!"

Emperor Yanfeng walked down the steps, and the soldiers all dropped to one knee in salute.

Emperor Yanfeng waved his hand, indicating for everyone to rise, then walked straight up to Chen Xin.

"Instructor Chen's swordsmanship infused with arithmetic truly was exquisite."

Emperor Yanfeng nodded, his eyes filled with satisfaction.

"However, when a general takes the field to kill the enemy, a tree branch alone won't do."

Emperor Yanfeng turned his head and looked at Bashan Libationer.

"Bashan, over at Heavenly Craft Hall—are the things ready?"

Bashan took a fierce gulp of wine and grinned.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I gave the order last night."

"Those blacksmithing madmen stayed up all night. They're probably quenching it right about now."

Emperor Yanfeng turned back around and patted Chen Xin on the shoulder.

"Come. Today, I'll take you somewhere good."

"Although your Seven Kill Sword shattered, in our Yankang Kingdom, the one thing we lack least is good blacksmiths."

"I'll take you to Heavenly Craft Hall and ask them to forge you a truly fine sword!"

Seeking a sword at Heavenly Craft Hall.

The moment those words appeared, everyone from Douluo outside the light screen felt an itch in their hearts.

Yesterday in the Sky Screen, they had only seen Mute casually hammering a piece of iron stock and causing golden sparks to burst from it.

Now, Emperor Yanfeng was actually going to personally take Chen Xin to that mysterious place to seek a sword.

Just what would a weapon forged by Yankang Kingdom look like?