The Origin Returning Sword Manual! Xiao Yan Practiced His Swordsmanship at Midnight!

"Now that you have a sword, it's time to teach you how to use it."

Bodhi raised a finger and lightly touched Xiao Yan between the brows. A scripture unfolded in his mind.

At its very beginning, four large characters appeared clearly.

[Origin Returning Sword Manual]

Then a figure stood with a sword in hand and slowly stepped out from among the words.

He raised his hand and thrust out his sword. His movements were not fast, yet Xiao Yan suddenly felt as though a towering mountain had appeared before him, spanning heaven and earth.

The sword light fell, splitting the mountain down the middle.

The figure turned again, and a vast ocean lay beneath his feet.

Another stroke of the sword.

Towering waves rolled back to either side, revealing a long path along the seabed that stretched into the distance.

Xiao Yan's breath caught. Before he could see clearly, the figure raised his sword toward the sky. Five-colored lightning gathered along its edge and thundered into the clouds. The dark clouds filling the sky scattered in an instant. That single stroke had cleaved the gloomy world into radiant clarity!

The vision faded there.

Xiao Yan slowly opened his eyes. His grip on the sword had tightened without his realizing it, and he murmured to himself:

"Moving mountains and overturning seas."

"Shaking heaven and earth."

He had always thought those phrases merely described how powerful someone was. Only now did he realize a single stroke of the sword could truly accomplish them.

"This sword manual teaches you how to wield a sword and concentrate your strength along its edge," Bodhi continued once he saw Xiao Yan regain his senses.

"To begin with, you'll practice how to strike. Later, you can incorporate the transformations of the five elements and the Heavenly Dipper Divine Powers into your sword moves, one by one. At the highest levels, moving mountains, overturning seas, and reversing yin and yang will all lie within a single stroke."

Xiao Yan understood. In the terms of the Dou Qi Continent, this was a swordsmanship Dou Technique, but the power it could accommodate far exceeded that of ordinary Dou Techniques. He could use Dou Qi, the five elements—even the Heavenly Dipper Divine Powers and Eight-Nine Arcane Arts could be unleashed through this sword.

"Sword moves are the path you begin on. The principles of heaven and earth are what you must study afterward."

Bodhi looked at him, his voice calm.

"How wind turns, how water flows, how lightning falls—all can be incorporated into your sword. Once you truly understand them, you need no longer be confined to the individual moves in the manual."

Xiao Yan lowered his gaze to the sword in his hand, his heart already blazing with excitement. The Eight-Nine Arcane Arts cultivated his body, the Taiji Liangyi Sword slew his enemies, and now he had a sword manual capable of channeling the divine powers of both the Heavenly Dipper and the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts...

With all this, even Hun Tiandi would have to kneel and sing "Conquest" when we fought!!!

"Master, which move can your disciple learn now?"

Seeing Xiao Yan's impatient expression, Bodhi pointed a finger. The rest of the scripture faded for the moment, leaving only a figure who raised his sword level and thrust it forward.

"Learn this move first: Origin-Returning Sword. Gather your strength, keeping it from scattering or falling into disorder. Deliver it to the sword tip, then release it in the direction you wish to strike."

Following the movements in his mind, Xiao Yan lifted his wrist and raised the sword. A wisp of Dou Qi flowed from his palm into the blade. His previously scattered power really did follow the patterns within the sword, gathering toward its tip.

Delighted, he instinctively moved to thrust forward, but a hand pressed down on his wrist first.

Xiao Yan looked up to see Bodhi glance at him, then at the door directly in front of his sword tip.

"Are you planning to demolish your own room first? Or have your father come see what treasure you've hidden in here?"

Xiao Yan froze, then rose with his sword in his arms and promptly pushed open the door.

"Master, let's practice out on the mountain!"

Only after leaving the courtyard did Xiao Yan remember that his sword did not even have a sheath. He found a piece of soft cloth, wrapped it around the blade, and hurried toward the path up the mountain behind the clan grounds with the sword held against his chest.

The night breeze blew into his face, carrying the fresh scent of grass and trees.

Bodhi walked beside him with his hands behind his back, his pace unhurried. Sweat had already beaded on Xiao Yan's forehead, yet the old man remained half a step away from him, even the hem of his robe barely stirring.

"Master, we're almost there."

Xiao Yan pointed to a clearing on the slope.

It was where he usually cultivated in secret. The ground was flat, with a few rocks scattered around it. People occasionally came during the day, but at this hour, only the chirping of insects remained.

He entered the clearing and unwrapped the soft cloth from his sword, his eyes already searching for a target.

Bodhi sat down on a flat rock.

"That one will do."

Following his Grandmaster's pointing finger, Xiao Yan saw a blue-gray stone standing a little over ten feet away. It was half as tall as a person, with a thin coating of moss on its surface. He hefted the Taiji Liangyi Sword in his hand and said:

"Isn't it a little far away?"

"Back in your room, weren't you planning to try it on the door from across the table?"

"..."

Xiao Yan obediently shut his mouth and gripped the hilt with both hands. The figure raising his sword level and thrusting forward appeared in his mind once more.

Next, he gathered his strength and delivered it to the sword tip. Then he circulated the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts, drawing a wisp of Dou Qi from his Dantian through his meridians and into his palm.

At once, the clear and black hues along the sword's spine brightened slightly. His previously scattered Dou Qi followed the patterns within the blade toward its front, and a tiny point of clear light gradually appeared at its tip.

Xiao Yan's gaze sharpened, and he shouted:

"Origin-Returning Sword!"

He thrust the sword forward, its edge tilting slightly with the motion.

Hiss!

A faint sound swept past his ears. The point of clear light abruptly left the sword tip, becoming a long, slender streak of sword energy that struck the blue-gray stone head-on.

There was none of the explosive shattering he had imagined. Only a thin line appeared on the stone.

Xiao Yan held his striking pose and waited a moment. Unable to help blinking, he said with some disappointment:

"That's it?"

The words had barely left his mouth.

Crack!

The upper half of the stone slowly shifted, sliding down along the slanting cut and crashing to the ground in a cloud of dust. The exposed surface was as smooth as though someone had carefully polished it.

Xiao Yan's eyes instantly widened. He ran over in a few strides, looked down at the broken stone, then at the sword in his hand, and reached out to touch the cut surface.

Cold and hard.

He had sliced the top half off a waist-high boulder from a distance!

"I really did that with my sword?"

Bodhi lifted a teacup that had appeared in his hand at some unknown point and asked in return, "Is there anyone else here holding a sword?"

Xiao Yan broke into a grin, unable to suppress his delight. Back in his room, he had been awed by the figure in the scripture cleaving mountains and parting seas, but it had still felt far beyond his reach.

Yet he had cut this stone himself. He crouched down and tried to lift the severed half, but even when he strained both arms, the stone merely rocked.

Xiao Yan looked down at his arms in surprise. Clearly, he had never expected to slice through something he could barely lift with a single stroke.

The smile on the boy's face grew wider.

"Master, can I try again?"

Bodhi lifted his chin and said:

"There's a protrusion on the right side of that stone."

Xiao Yan looked where he indicated.

The protrusion was only the size of a fist and joined to the rest of the boulder.

"Take care not to damage the flowers and grass beside it."

"All right!"

Xiao Yan answered readily, returned to his previous position, then circulated his energy and raised his sword.

A moment later, a second streak of sword energy shot out.

Stone chips flew. The protrusion did fall off, but a large chunk of the stone beside it was sliced away as well.

The Xiao Clan.

Xun'er stood beside the covered walkway, glanced toward the mountain behind the clan grounds, and gently pressed her lips together.

"During dinner, Brother Xiao Yan was clearly in a hurry to return to his room, as though he couldn't bear to sit there a moment longer. Yet hardly any time has passed, and he's already run off to the mountain."

"He always worked hard at his cultivation, but he rarely acted like this."

What concerned her even more were the expressions that occasionally crossed Xiao Yan's face as he spoke. Sometimes he stared absentmindedly at his father; sometimes he smiled to himself.

At the dinner table today, he had only seemed to notice someone was sitting beside him after she called his name.

At that thought, Xun'er lowered her eyes, gently twisting the edge of her sleeve between her fingertips. It was not that she insisted Xiao Yan accompany her shopping. But when someone she had known since childhood suddenly had so many things going on that she knew nothing about, she could not help worrying.

A moment later, the girl returned to her own courtyard and closed her door.

"Elder Ling."

As her soft voice fell, a shadow beside the wall stirred faintly. An elderly figure quietly emerged and bowed to her.

"Young miss."

Xun'er turned around. After a brief hesitation, she spoke:

"Brother Xiao Yan has been a little different lately."

Ling Ying looked at her.

"What do you mean, young miss?"

Xun'er said:

"Ever since he broke through to Dou Zhe, he's been somewhat distracted, and much more impatient about cultivating than before."

The girl paused.

"He just went to the mountain behind the clan grounds. Would you go and take a look for me?"

At her words, Ling Ying's expression relaxed.

It was hardly unusual for a boy who had just become a Dou Zhe to be curious about his newfound strength. Still, since the young miss was worried, he naturally would not refuse.

"I'll go at once."

Xun'er called him back.

"Just watch from a distance. Don't disturb his practice."

She thought for a moment, then added:

"And don't let him know I sent you. I only want to know whether he's run into any trouble."

Ling Ying nodded.

"Rest assured, young miss."

With those words, his figure merged back into the shadows, leaving not the slightest sound in the courtyard.

Xun'er stood there a little longer before walking to the window.

The mountain lay hidden in the silent night.

A wisp of black shadow swept over the treetops.

Ling Ying landed beside the mountain path. A slender branch bent slightly beneath his feet without disturbing so much as a leaf. He did not hurry closer, but first looked through a gap in the woods toward the clearing.

Under the moonlight, Xiao Yan stood alone before a boulder, a long sword in his hand. He raised it, paused for a moment, then slowly thrust it forward again.

His movements were somewhat awkward; clearly, he had only recently begun practicing.

Ling Ying carefully sensed his surroundings. There was no trace of anyone else, nor any unusual fluctuations of Dou Qi. Slightly surprised, he turned his gaze back to Xiao Yan.

"This boy came all the way up here so late just to practice swordsmanship?"

"Still, his One-Star Dou Zhe aura is steady. At least nothing seems to have gone wrong with his cultivation."

Ling Ying settled on the branch, preparing to watch a little longer. Meanwhile, on the rock that appeared empty to his eyes, Bodhi leisurely brushed aside the tea leaves in his cup and glanced in his direction.

Xiao Yan had just sliced off a third corner of stone. Though his sword hand was growing sore, excitement still burned in his heart.

He turned, about to ask how his last stroke had been, but his Grandmaster's voice reached his ears first.

"Don't look this way yet."

Xiao Yan paused, confusion appearing on his face.

Bodhi lowered his head to sip his tea and said casually:

"Someone has come to watch you practice."