Sword Heart Enlightenment

The Great Dao had fifty; heaven's evolution had forty-nine, with one escaping.

Great Expansion Sword Register!

It evolved the myriad Great Daos into a single sword, condensing them into a register!

A stream of information flooded into his mind, leaving Li Mu deeply shaken.

As he focused, his consciousness sank into a world that seemed to embody the Sword Dao.

The backdrop was an endless starry sky, with flickering sword shadows all around him.

Before him stood a wall, a black iron table, and a boulder like fallen meteorite iron.

Golden talismanic characters resembling tadpoles floated up from the ground, dancing across the sky in a dreamlike spectacle.

An image like a heavenly eye was carved into the wall, beneath which his information appeared.

[Register Master: Li Mu]

[Blood and Qi: 4.5]

[Spirit: 10.0]

[Sword Dao Talent: 10.0 (White)]

[Evolution One: Clear Sword Eyes]

"This wall displays my own information. It represents the changes of Evolution One."

"Then that black iron table and meteorite boulder must be Evolution Two and Evolution Three?"

"Still, I haven't been able to activate their transformations yet."

After pondering it carefully and sensing the information within, Li Mu understood.

[Evolution One: Clear Sword Eyes]

[With a clear sword heart, perceive the talent thresholds required to begin any swordsmanship. Once the talent requirement is met, one may discern the essentials of entry at a glance; once understood, never forgotten.]

When Li Mu focused his thoughts on "Evolution One," he immediately understood its function.

"Evolution One is a prerequisite aid for unlocking what comes next."

"As long as I begin learning a sword technique, I can unlock Evolution Two..."

"With my current talent, I should look for sword manuals with a talent requirement of ten or below."

A sword manual? Didn't he have one in his hands already?

At that thought, Li Mu suddenly felt heat rising in his chest.

His consciousness was pulled back into reality. He took the sword manual from his robes and saw that it was emitting a faint white glow.

That had never happened before.

"This?" Li Mu understood. This was the response of Clear Sword Eyes.

With a thought, a line of information appeared on the sword manual.

[Dripping Water Swordsmanship, Talent Required for Entry: 10 (White)]

[Talent requirement met. Read to discern the essentials of entry.]

Li Mu suddenly understood. White represented both the talent tier and the quality of the sword manual.

Dripping Water Swordsmanship was merely a basic sword technique of Hidden Sword Manor, so its white glow was perfectly reasonable.

"Though this sword technique is crude and shallow, I spent seven days studying this manual without gaining any insight."

"But now..."

Li Mu opened to the first page. A speck of white light immediately flew from the page into his mind.

It was as if lightning had pierced through his thoughts.

In an instant, he grasped the key points of the first move, "Dripping Water Pierces Stone," and felt the joy of clouds parting to reveal the sun.

"So that's how it is. It was actually this simple?"

Li Mu kept turning the pages, completely absorbed.

Specks of white light continuously flew from the sword manual into his forehead, transforming into insights on swordsmanship and the essentials of entry.

Only when he reached the final page was every trace of white light on the manual completely absorbed by Li Mu.

He raised his head with a smile on his face.

Absorbing the white light while reading the manual had left him somewhat mentally fatigued, but it could not conceal the joy in his heart.

Eighteen sword moves, thirty-six forms, and all the countless essentials of entry were now crystal clear in his mind!

[Dripping Water Swordsmanship: 0/100, Not Yet Initiated]

A line of information appeared.

It was as though a tiny figure in his mind was practicing swordsmanship, breaking down every move and stance. The key points were so clear that Li Mu's hands itched unbearably.

He wanted nothing more than to rush straight to the training ground.

But he suppressed that impulse.

"Many people still haven't grasped it. If I perform too well, people will definitely grow suspicious."

"A man is punished for possessing a treasure. I absolutely cannot let anyone discover the Great Expansion Sword Register."

"I should keep a low profile. Even if I appear slower on the surface, as long as I can pass the assessment..."

Having thought it through, Li Mu quietly went about his work and endured until the afternoon.

The little figure in his mind kept practicing swordsmanship, nearly driving him mad with restraint.

..."Begin training!"

The blazing sun hung high overhead, and heat rolled through the air.

Sword racks, stone locks, wooden dummies, and other training equipment were scattered throughout the vast training ground.

With a shout from the white-clad instructor, more than a hundred sword-wiping servants each took an ordinary iron sword and began practicing.

These iron swords were of average weight and unsharpened, making them suitable for beginners.

"It has been eight days. Many of them still can't even master the two forms of the first move."

The white-clad instructor strolled about casually as he observed them, shaking his head repeatedly.

There were very few promising seedlings among this batch of sword-wiping servants.

Only a handful showed some semblance of skill.

Yet even they had unsteady footwork and disconnected movements.

As he happened to pass Li Mu, the white-clad instructor frowned and gave him a glance.

Though every movement was on point, they were clumsy and halting. Not much good.

"With comprehension like that, there's no need to give him guidance."

After making a round of inspection, the white-clad instructor lost interest.

He paused briefly before a few people, offering them a couple of pointers, then left.

The sun was scorching. Naturally, he had no intention of staying here to supervise their practice.

The instructor had left, but no one dared wander off.

The times and areas in which servants could move were fixed. Breaking the rules meant punishment.

For serious offenses, they could be expelled from the manor or even beaten to death on the spot.

The sword-wiping servants could only lower their heads and continue practicing.

Watching the white-clad instructor disappear, Li Mu let out a slight breath of relief.

Hiding his abilities was truly exhausting.

Now that the instructor was gone, no expert in the manor would be bored enough to spy on a group of servants practicing beginner sword techniques.

So Li Mu relaxed the clumsy stiffness in his movements, gradually making them smoother.

At last, he successfully completed an entire set of sword moves.

[Dripping Water Swordsmanship: 1/100, Not Yet Initiated]

[Blood and Qi: 4.5 ↑]

"My... my body?"

Because he had devoted himself to practicing the sword, every muscle and bone in Li Mu's body had been engaged.

He could clearly feel a warm current of blood and qi washing through his entire frail body.

He had never experienced such a feeling before.

Once the essentials of entry became clear, completing the full sequence brought about a qualitative change.

The feeling of being rewarded for one's efforts was wonderful.

Thanks to the enhancement from Clear Sword Eyes, the essentials of entry gained from reading the sword manual were deeply etched into his mind. Without anyone else's guidance, he already understood the most correct method of cultivation.

A clear sword heart—that was all there was to it.

The suppression, pain, and restless anxiety of the past several days were swept away completely.

Li Mu gripped the sword hilt tightly, a smile appearing on his face.

"Practice. Keep practicing! There are too many people around right now, so I'll go slower. Once night falls, I'll find a secluded place and continue."

"I need to enter the path sooner. Let's see what surprises Evolution Two can bring me."

Completing an entire set of sword moves took quite some time.

His body was frail to begin with, and he had deliberately slowed himself down. In half an hour, he only managed four repetitions.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

After three tolls of the bell, sighs of relief rose across the training ground. The exhausted youths, unable to bear the stifling heat any longer, hurried toward Myriad Swords Tower.

Li Mu still wanted to continue, but his muscles were aching from his weak constitution.

He had also sweated heavily and needed water, so it was not suitable to keep practicing.

"Woodhead, this little monk thinks I've found the trick. It feels like I'm just missing something. How about you?"

The little monk Hui Zhen came over to talk.

"I'm close too." Li Mu was telling the truth, in a sense.

The two returned their iron swords to the rack and joined the crowd.

"We're still too slow... Look at Wang Que and Cao A-Man. They're already getting the hang of it, and the instructor has gone over to guide them several times. They probably won't be far from entering the path."

Wang Que, Cao A-Man?

Following Hui Zhen's gaze, Li Mu saw two figures, one tall and one short.

The tall one was built like a bull, with an honest-looking smile.

The shorter one had a face full of freckles.

They had been among the few people who had looked delighted on the first day. Since they were easy to recognize, Li Mu remembered them.

Li Mu had once asked them for guidance.

Wang Que ignored him entirely. Cao A-Man had said a few words, but they had offered no real insight.

The two walked together, gesturing with their hands as if discussing sword moves.

Li Mu suddenly grew curious. Just how high were these people's talents?

With a thought, two lines of information appeared.

[Wang Que, Blood and Qi: 6.6, Spirit: 4.8, Sword Dao Talent: 35.0 (White)]

[Cao A-Man, Blood and Qi: 9.0, Spirit: 4.5, Sword Dao Talent: 37.9 (White)]

"Hm? Their talents are actually three times mine? No wonder."

He then looked at Hui Zhen: Blood and Qi 6.0, Spirit 5.0, Sword Dao Talent 10.0 (White).

Well, fellow sufferers. But this little monk's physique wasn't bad, was it?

"My blood and qi and talent are practically at the bottom."

Li Mu swept his gaze around, including the servants dressed in white short robes, silently reviewing their information and gaining a rough understanding.

For someone his age who had never practiced martial arts, blood and qi generally ranged from 5.0 to 9.0.

Cao A-Man possessed innate divine strength. Among the more than one hundred sword-wiping servants, he was the only one to reach 9.0.

After practicing martial arts, one's blood and qi would increase greatly. Those servants, for instance, had already reached between 15.0 and 20.0.

As for Sword Dao Talent, he occasionally saw figures of 45.0. Though they were still white-grade, they stood head and shoulders above the rest.

"But my spirit is twice that of ordinary people. What does that mean?"

An ordinary person's spirit was generally around 5.0.

Aside from himself, Li Mu had not found anyone above 5.0.

Li Mu thought it might be because he had lived two lives and had transmigrated here with his soul.

This also indirectly proved something.

Practicing martial arts could not increase one's spirit. Otherwise, those servants would definitely have higher values than him.

Li Mu guessed that the Great Qian World probably possessed methods such as immortal cultivation and spirit refinement, but those were far too distant for him.

His advantage in spirit was useless at this stage.

He should honestly focus on entering the path of Dripping Water Swordsmanship first.

...Night fell, and moonlight quietly spilled down.

Inside the five-story wooden building that housed over a hundred sword-wiping servants of Myriad Swords Tower, each small compartment was dark and unlit.

In the room at the far end of the fifth floor.

Li Mu lay with his eyes wide open, staring at the mold stains on the ceiling that faintly formed a pattern, estimating that the time was about right.

He climbed off the hard wooden bed, put on his straw sandals, quietly left his tiny sleeping compartment, and slowly went downstairs.

The servants assigned to night watch had already gone back to rest. Only a distant patrol lantern glowed faintly.

He quickly circled around to the back of the wooden building.

On an open patch of land some hundred paces behind it, a small garden had been built around a century-old banyan tree. Many trees were scattered nearby, surrounding long flower beds filled with waist-high shrubs and flowers.

Li Mu had observed this place for a long time. It was a neglected corner garden built with spare funds, and almost no one came here after nightfall.

He hid within the several-zhang-wide shadow cast by the banyan's canopy.

Breaking off a branch, Li Mu raised it and immediately performed the first move, "Dripping Water Pierces Stone."

Then came the thirty-six forms...

His movements were incomparably fluid, without the slightest trace of awkwardness!

If the white-clad instructor saw this, he would surely cry out, "What a promising seedling!"