Unity of Man and Sword!

"What did that mean?"

Zhou Lin's explanation did not put Liu Hui and Zhou Lie at ease. Instead, it made them even more wary.

Jiang Quan had died in battle when Jiang Xuan was four or five years old. Before that, the two families had been close, and Jiang Xuan and Zhou Lin had been childhood sweethearts who grew up together.

Even during the two or three years after Jiang Quan's death, the bond between the two families had not immediately been severed.

It was only in recent years, when Jiang Xuan had stubbornly refused the Su Household's recruitment while Zhou Lie's cultivation and status rose steadily, widening the gap between the two families, that their relationship had gradually grown distant.

And precisely because of that, what they feared most was that Zhou Lin might still harbor some lingering feelings between a man and a woman for Jiang Xuan.

Of them all, Liu Hui was the most anxious.

Though she had watched Jiang Xuan grow up and hoped he could find a good path ahead, she had never entertained the thought of joining the two families by marriage.

Born a maidservant, she understood better than anyone that, with the same Mystic-Grade Spiritual Root, Zhou Lin's best path was to follow in her own footsteps: marry a talented common-born cultivator recruited by the Su Household as Su Linyin's personal maid.

That way, her husband would stand a strong chance of establishing a Dao Foundation, while Zhou Lin could live her entire life in peace and dignity.

As for Jiang Xuan, it was not that Liu Hui looked down on him. It was simply that cultivating with a Mystic-Grade Spiritual Root was already difficult, and with the turbid qi in his body so hard to clear, preventing him from opening more acupoints, his chances of successfully establishing a Dao Foundation were pitifully low.

As a parent, she naturally did not want to watch her own daughter leap into a pit of fire and suffer for the rest of her life.

Fortunately, what relieved them was that Zhou Lin was "clever" and had a clear head on her shoulders.

She did not hold much affection for Jiang Xuan as a man. The reason she had been lost in thought was something else:

"Today at the academy, Jiang Xuan's cultivation method was very strange. Before every session, he solemnly purified his body, hands, and mouth. Even when he paused to catch his breath midway through cultivation, he repeated the whole ritual. Every movement he made was more particular than those young masters of Aristocratic Clans."

Hearing that, Zhou Lie instinctively sneered and commented, "The bearing and manners of Aristocratic Clan disciples have never been something that can be copied through a few gestures. Behind them lies the confidence built from mountains of Spirit Stones. Jiang Xuan is merely Dongshi imitating Xishi."

Zhou Lin nodded at first upon hearing that assessment, but then shook her head. "That was what I thought too. But afterward, I saw with my own eyes that Dong Hao of the Dong Household took the initiative to approach Jiang Xuan. He clearly meant to befriend him."

"He even gave Jiang Xuan a cultivation method for free."

"What?!"

The moment those words fell, Liu Hui and Zhou Lie both froze, their faces filled with disbelief.

They could not understand why a direct descendant of a great household would think so highly of Jiang Xuan.

"Could he be toying with him?" That was Zhou Lie's guess. He knew that not every Aristocratic Clan disciple was shrewd. Some had vicious, unruly temperaments and took pleasure in tormenting common-born disciples.

But Zhou Lin rejected that guess the instant it left his mouth.

"Doesn't seem like it. Dong Hao is definitely no wastrel. Miss Linyin has always regarded him as a rival of the same generation..."

In the end, Zhou Lie's family failed to figure out why Dong Hao had taken a liking to Jiang Xuan.

But that did not stop them from settling on their original plan—if Jiang Xuan remained stubborn and refused the Su Household's recruitment, they would distance themselves from the Jiang Clan as much as possible.

Zhou Lie explained the reason as well. "Whether Jiang Xuan truly has ability is still uncertain. But as long as Lin stays close to Miss Linyin, she will surely find a good marriage in the future. There is no need for us to gamble on that vague and illusory possibility."

"Besides, our family still needs to rely on the Su Household to maintain our current standing."

"What is more, our family's current standing ultimately comes from relying on the Su Household. Jiang Xuan is willful and does not know what is good for him. We cannot let ourselves be dragged down with him."

No one in the family objected to Zhou Lie's decision, and all of them felt it was the choice best suited to their household.

Still, years of friendship lay between them, and wanting to retain a trace of old affection, Liu Hui spoke up. "Tomorrow, I'll visit the Jiang Clan again, try to persuade Yuerong, and bring them some pastries."

"Alright." Zhou Lie nodded, then took out a bottle of pills and handed it to Liu Hui. "Jiang Quan and I were fellow disciples, after all. This is a small token from me. Bring it along as well."

Naturally, Jiang Xuan had no way of knowing about this discussion in Zhou Lie's home.

After sleeping soundly through the night, he awoke the next morning feeling as though every muscle and bone in his body had stretched loose, leaving him thoroughly refreshed.

He did not linger in the comfort of his bed.

The moment he awoke, Jiang Xuan got up and swept the courtyard clean. Then he lit incense, refilled the lamp oil, wiped down the offering table...

Once the entire routine was complete, his Daoist Acolyte profession experience directly increased by 9 points.

After finishing all that, Jiang Xuan still did not rush into cultivation. Instead, he took down a bamboo sword from inside the room.

Though it was made of wood, the bamboo sword had none of wood's roughness. Its blade was emerald green throughout, lustrous and smooth as jade, exceedingly pleasing to the eye.

This sword was called Qingli. It had accompanied Jiang Xuan for nearly twelve years, yet after so long, time had not left even the slightest trace of decay upon it. That alone showed how extraordinary it was.

And indeed, it was a toy Jiang Quan had painstakingly made for Jiang Xuan when he was young.

Made from Clear-Sound Bamboo, a third-grade spiritual material, the bamboo sword not only remained green and fresh year-round, but during its first few years, it also had the effect of calming the mind and soothing the spirit.

It was simply that as the years flowed on, that mystical quality had long since been worn away by time.

"But it was forged from spiritual material, after all. It is also the finest sword in my hands right now."

With a thought, Jiang Xuan took down the bamboo sword laden with memories.

"Bzz—"

The instant his palm touched the cool blade, an odd sensation flooded his entire body.

For no reason at all, he felt as if this sword had always been one of his limbs. Only by gripping it was he truly complete.

Holding the sword in his hand made Jiang Xuan feel incomparably secure. Even without casting the Purifying Heart Incantation, he now possessed the effect of "Clarity of the Spirit Platform."

"Clear-Heart Sword Disciple, Clear-Heart Sword Disciple... Heart: Sincerity. So, with a sword in hand, am I only complete now?"

That instant flutter when the bamboo sword entered his hand gave Jiang Xuan a sudden flash of understanding.

But that understanding remained in his heart for only a moment before he temporarily suppressed it.

From the instant he gripped this bamboo sword, the affection and reassurance filling his heart, along with the sense of wholeness as if his soul had been completed, made Jiang Xuan cease to regard it as an inanimate object. Instead, he regarded it as one of his limbs, as a part of himself.

And since it was one of his limbs, he naturally had to tend to it with care. The first step in tending to it was washing away its dust and filth, restoring its true nature.

"Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure, comfort my body; disciple's soul and spirit, five viscera profound and dark..."

As a Daoist apprentice, Jiang Xuan naturally did not clean an object simply with water, nor did he fixate on the dirt visible on its surface.

As if treating a sacred implement, with a sincere heart and abundant intent, he first chanted the Mind-Cleansing Mantra to soothe the bamboo sword's "soul"—Daoists believed that all things in heaven and earth possessed spirits, and this world indeed had tales of artifact spirits, sword spirits, and spirits of magical treasures.

Of course, the bamboo sword's grade was too low, so the chance of it developing spiritual resonance was slight.

Yet the reassurance and wholeness in his heart, along with the Clear-Heart Sword Disciple's "sincere heart" toward swords, made Jiang Xuan treat the bamboo sword as a sentient limb.

The sincerity in his heart led Jiang Xuan to chant the Mind-Cleansing Mantra for the bamboo sword with all his heart.

Then, he dipped his fingers in clear water and flicked it toward the bamboo sword while chanting the Mouth-Purification Divine Incantation and the Body-Purification Divine Incantation, using the power of the incantations to cleanse the sword inside and out of worldly filth.

Under the effects of the divine incantations, even the grime that had seeped into the bamboo sword over the years was swept clean.

When all three divine incantations had been cast, Qingli's blade was utterly purified.

A layer of emerald light even rippled across its surface, and the mystical ability that had vanished with the passage of time revived at that moment.

Jiang Xuan raised an eyebrow at this, but he was not overly surprised.

Daoists had always possessed the ability to consecrate implements, and the Eight Great Divine Incantations were authorities in this field.

"If I learned all Eight Great Divine Incantations and chanted them daily in offering, Qingli Sword might not be unable to nurture a true sword spirit."

Of course, that was a matter for the future. At present, what Jiang Xuan wanted more was for Qingli to assist his cultivation.

"Swish..."

After taking the newly cleansed Qingli into his hand again, Jiang Xuan still did not begin cultivating. One hand held the hilt while the other gently stroked the blade, his fingertips tracing every inch of its lustrous bamboo surface with the tenderness one might show the most precious treasure in the world.

This was sensing, and it was also attunement. He was sensing Qingli's condition, its "breathing," its spiritual resonance.

Though the [Heart: Sincerity] ability made any sword in his hand feel like an extension of his limbs.

Jiang Xuan, who wanted to do everything to perfection, still wished to attune himself to Qingli Sword according to his own rhythm.

This was his respect for the sword, and also his devotion to the Dao.

"Breathe in, breathe out..."

Whether because Qingli had accompanied him for over ten years and they already understood one another's hearts, or because the Clear-Heart Sword Disciple's profession passive was operating at full force, communication between Jiang Xuan and the sword went more smoothly than he could have imagined.

The first ability to take effect was [Clear-Heart Mirror]. Originally, it could only reflect his own state. But ever since he had regarded Qingli as a part of himself, the instant his fingertips brushed across the blade, Qingli's slender figure appeared within the Clearheart Mirror in his sea of consciousness, a mirror like a full moon and a tranquil lake.

With the sword resting in his heart, he naturally sensed its spiritual resonance and its breath with perfect clarity.

Naturally, Jiang Xuan's breathing and the blade's tremors reached flawless synchronization.

"Breathe in... breathe out..."

As their breaths synchronized and man and sword became one, something else Jiang Xuan had never anticipated occurred.

His consciousness actually followed the bond connecting man and sword, allowing him to glimpse the surrounding world through Qingli's perspective.

Previously, whenever Jiang Xuan sensed the world during cultivation, he used his own divine soul.

But his divine soul was weak, and it also had to pass through the restraints of flesh, blood, and qi. The range he could sense was no more than a handspan, and the images were blurry besides.

Yet now, under Unity of Man and Sword, his soul spread outward through Qingli.

Though Qingli could not be considered a famed sword in the end, nor was it even a magical artifact, and the range it allowed him to observe remained limited, Jiang Quan had truly put his heart into forging this sword for his young son.

Moreover, with the Su Household's support back then, his resources had been fairly ample. Though Jiang Xuan had been too young for him to place attack restrictions into the sword, the Clear-Sound Bamboo he used was genuine third-grade spiritual material.

Clear-Sound Bamboo itself was not particularly hard, but when wind passed through a bamboo grove, it made the grove produce a special, clear melody. This melody could not only calm the mind, settle the spirit, and ease the exhaustion of the divine soul, but could also travel an immense distance.

And now, as man and sword became one and Jiang Xuan observed the world through his sword, the unique melody of Clear-Sound Bamboo quietly drifted outward along with the blade's faint trembling.

"Ring!"

As Qingli Sword trembled lightly, clear soundwaves washed through the surroundings like ripples across water.

The sword was him, and he was the sword. As Qingli Sword's soundwaves spread, Jiang Xuan's spiritual sense also extended in all directions with those waves.

Though the world perceived through soundwaves was still blurry, the range of its spread far exceeded what his own divine soul could sense.

What made Jiang Xuan's heart tremble even more was that, as a third-grade spiritual material, Clear-Sound Bamboo had an attraction toward certain types of spiritual qi.

When Jiang Xuan's consciousness spread along with Clear-Sound Bamboo's melody and gave off a desire to become whole, the emerald spiritual qi drifting through the air actually gathered toward Qingli Sword in his hand of its own accord, like swallows and sparrows returning to their nests.

Part of that spiritual qi was absorbed by Qingli's blade, nourishing the spiritual material's innate resonance that had lain dormant for years. The rest flowed in thread by thread through the bond of Unity of Man and Sword, entering Jiang Xuan's body.

"Breathe in, breathe out..."

The warm, pure spiritual qi flowed through his limbs and bones, making Jiang Xuan feel as though every pore in his body had opened wide. It was so comfortable that he nearly sighed aloud in contentment.

"Jiang Xuan, it's time for morning lessons."

Before he could continue immersing himself in that wondrous state, his mother's soft call came from beyond the door.

Hearing her voice, Jiang Xuan could only open his eyes helplessly.

Yet he did not feel interrupted.

"Unity of Man and Sword is not some fleeting encounter for me, like an epiphyllum blooming for a single instant. It is my normal state. From now on, I can enter this realm anytime, anywhere!"

At that thought, Jiang Xuan could not help tightening his grip on Qingli Sword, his heart overflowing with excitement.

"Choosing the Clear-Heart Sword Disciple profession truly was the most correct decision! This profession is far too powerful!"

In truth, Jiang Xuan's current gains contained an element of luck. Without the Clear-Sound Bamboo sword Jiang Quan had left behind, and without the original owner preserving the bamboo sword because of its commemorative value, Jiang Xuan's beginning would not have gone so smoothly.

Then, without the consecration of the Daoist Acolyte profession's three great incantations, Qingli would not have regained its vitality.

Only after that had the Clear-Heart Sword Disciple's abilities passively taken effect.

"But this was also inevitable. Even without Qingli, I would merely have started more slowly. Once I found a sword that suited my heart in the future, I could still attune with it, achieve Unity of Man and Sword, and cultivate with the sword's power."

"Of course, the current situation is the best. With Qingli helping me cultivate, earning an excellent rating in three days will no longer be a distant dream."

His affection for Qingli led Jiang Xuan to carry her even while eating afterward.

And because the hope of an excellent rating was now within reach, he had gained the qualification to stand on the same stage as Aristocratic Clan disciples and common-born prodigies. The heaviness around him faded somewhat, and his entire body exuded the ease and high spirits of someone who had cast off shackles.

Naturally, his mother, who had always worried about him, noticed this entirely different state.

Seeing him relaxed, the sorrow between Shen Yuerong's brows eased considerably as well.

"Here. These are pastries your Aunt Liu brought for you. Eat them on the way, and save the rest for lunch."

"I understand, Mother."

Jiang Xuan did not stand on ceremony. As things stood, he truly needed to race against every second.

Taking the pastries, a water flask, and Qingli Sword, which never left his side, Jiang Xuan headed for the training grounds of Star Daoist Academy.

Just like yesterday, after reaching the mountainside, Jiang Xuan found a secluded spot.

Only this time, he went even farther from the crowd, nearly reaching the edge of the square and pressing close to the woods beside it.

Qingli was forged from Clear-Sound Bamboo and belonged to wood. Its efficiency in absorbing wood-attributed spiritual qi was unrivaled among materials of the same grade. Since Jiang Xuan wanted to cultivate by borrowing Qingli's power, he naturally needed to be closer to these woods brimming with spiritual qi.

He sat in a secluded place, but because of what had happened yesterday, many people still noticed him and secretly glanced in his direction.

Dong Hao was naturally among them.

Though raised under his household's teachings, he did not care about temporary gains and losses. He did not even particularly care whether Jiang Xuan could repay him.

Still, this was ultimately an investment. As the investor, with Jiang Xuan not far from him, Dong Hao naturally cast a few more looks Jiang Xuan's way.

And at that glance, his eyes abruptly widened, while his hands hidden in his sleeves clenched tightly.

"Is this... Unity of Man and Sword?!"