Those Who Enter Not This Gate by Eighteen Are Unworthy of the Saber! Duan Chenzhou's Trial, Success Earns the Pile Stance!

Saber art trait, Ten Steps, One Kill!?

Ji Xiu's spirits surged, and he gripped the wooden saber tight.

At that moment, every secret and technique recorded within the Heaven River Saber condensed into a single point within his mind.

Then he swung!

Pshht!

A falling autumn leaf was cleanly cleaved in two!

As he struck that blow,

Ji Xiu had no distractions in his heart, his mind a complete blank.

Within his eyes,

there remained only that lone leaf. Even time seemed to freeze there, turning heaven and earth "gray."

Only when it split into two did all color return.

"People have seven emotions and six desires. This is especially true in life-and-death combat."

"Some are timid, some hesitate, some are afraid. That is only human nature, impossible to avoid. But—"

Ji Xiu panted heavily. At that moment, it felt as though something within him had swallowed every last scrap of his strength in a single gulp.

So much so that even the body he had finally built up over this period had nearly failed to endure it!

"In that very instant,"

"I cast aside my weakness, my emotions!"

"Until there was only one thought in my mind: draw the saber, strike with the saber, and cut that fallen leaf in two!"

"As they say, see one leaf and know autumn."

"If that is true of fallen leaves,"

"how much more so of people?"

Across two lifetimes,

Ji Xiu had killed only chickens.

When he had broken Fire Kiln Manager Qiao Jin's arm with his wooden saber days ago, he had felt his heart and lungs race, thudding wildly. He had nearly stopped breathing.

Had he not held himself together through sheer force of will, maintaining his expression so as not to reveal any flaw and let others glimpse the truth—combined with his saber art reaching Minor Accomplishment and being familiar at his fingertips—

there might truly have been trouble.

Even a simple exchange of blows could affect him so greatly.

If it were a fight to the death—

without ever having experienced one,

even if his saber technique reached great accomplishment, he would surely remain inferior!

This was not a matter of temperament, but of experience. It was like reading a book a hundred times until its meaning revealed itself.

But now!

Things were different.

Draw the saber, strike with the saber—with peak resolve, blood would surely be seen within ten steps!

Whose blood, he did not know.

But at the very least, fear would no longer sway his heart and nature, leaving him scrambling blindly when danger came!

Rousing himself from that immersive realization,

Ji Xiu looked up.

The sky had already darkened, so he planned to make do for the night. Tomorrow, he would rise early and head to the Duan Residence to find Duan Chenzhou, and perhaps ask Senior Brother Lu Yu about becoming a "retainer."

After all, he was out of silver.

He could not even afford food.

How was he supposed to nourish his blood and forge his tendons afterward!?

Yet the moment he turned around,

he saw half a head stealthily poking out. The instant it noticed him looking back, it vanished with a whoosh.

Ji Xiu shook his head helplessly at the sight.

"This girl."

He set down the wooden saber, tossing it into the yard, and washed up briefly.

Then he saw Ji Wei burrowed beneath the covers, her head hidden as she pretended to sleep. He did not expose her.

He slept well through the night.

At first light,

Ji Xiu set out early and arrived at Duan Chenzhou's residence.

But the moment he arrived,

he saw

that there was one more person in the courtyard.

"A guest?"

He narrowed his eyes slightly and looked through the hazy morning mist.

From behind, the man had a straight back and a tall frame concealed beneath a black outer robe, wholly different from Lu Yu's build.

Thus, the moment Ji Xiu stepped over the threshold, he had already reached a conclusion.

Only after entering the courtyard did he see the man seated across a stone table from Duan Chenzhou. Hearing the movement, both turned around.

Only then did Ji Xiu see his face.

"Is that Lord Gu, the man I saw at the yamen that day?!"

Ji Xiu's pupils contracted.

First, he saw Gu Baichuan, a faint smile at the corner of his lips as he turned and gave Ji Xiu a light nod.

Then he saw Duan Chenzhou, lips pressed together in silence, his face expressionless.

"Master Duan."

Ji Xiu gave Duan Chenzhou a slight bow.

"Lord Gu."

Only then did Ji Xiu greet Gu Baichuan.

Previously, this man had casually asked him to pass his greetings to Duan Chenzhou.

Using that as an opening, Ji Xiu had once asked Duan Chenzhou about Lord Gu's background.

Yet upon hearing the name, Duan Chenzhou had merely frowned and refused to speak of it.

Ji Xiu had wisely not pressed any further.

He had not expected to run into him again today.

"Duan Chenzhou, after coming to this Anning County within five hundred li, you have made no other moves these past few years. I thought you had changed your ways."

"Only after arriving did I discover that you were preparing to take in a disciple and cultivate a younger generation."

"What, you do not wish for your lineage to die out in your hands?"

Gu Baichuan smiled.

Duan Chenzhou sat with one arm pressing down on his leg, his black hair scattered in the wind, his back lonely and proud. He merely gave Gu Baichuan a glance before closing his eyes, his voice calm.

"I am only a man who lost an arm, served as a yamen constable for two years until my qi and blood declined, then resigned and left."

"What could I possibly have to teach? What is there in my lineage worth passing down? What does it matter whether it ends or not?"

"A lord of the Northern Garrison Envoys travels north and south. What have you not seen?"

"Do not be so small-minded."

Gu Baichuan could not help clapping his hands as he rose, laughing heartily.

"Are you truly certain?"

He turned back and studied Ji Xiu carefully, especially Ji Xiu's eyes and the faint aura emerging around him. He clicked his tongue in amazement.

"Open your eyes and look."

"At the first realm of the Strength Threshold, he has only just entered Entering Force. His Nourishing Blood and forging of willow tendons are not yet complete."

"Yet he has already trained a saber technique containing a thread of 'momentum' to great accomplishment, and he has even—"

He narrowed his eyes, clasped his hands behind his back, and circled Ji Xiu once.

"Entered the gate of the saber wielder."

"The Saber Dao Ancestral Temple, which was directly scattered apart during the Saber Sword Conflict, once had a teaching: those who do not enter the saber gate by eighteen will never be accepted."

"This boy meets even that sect's most basic requirement for entry. Yet you are still unwilling to teach him a few more moves?"

"If you will not take him, then I will give him some guidance."

Gu Baichuan laughed, patting Ji Xiu on the shoulder.

"Boy, once your Sinew Tempering reaches great accomplishment and you begin Bone Tempering, reaching the second step of the Strength Threshold, come find me at the yamen."

"I will point you toward a path."

"A path that will keep you from rotting away in this Anning County within five hundred li, like your 'teacher of the arts.'"

With that,

he walked past Ji Xiu, hands behind his back, intending to leave.

Before departing, he suddenly turned to look at Duan Chenzhou.

"Duan Martial Warrior."

"You were hard your entire life, yet you softened before the 'final threshold.'"

"If your master knew—"

"Forget merely vanishing without a trace."

"Even if your master truly died in the Disbandment Grave, falling at that final step—"

"if he saw you like this, he would likely find it hard to rest in peace."

His words fell, and he was already striding away.

Only Ji Xiu remained, sensing the air grow somewhat stagnant.

He swallowed.

Yet before he could dwell on it,

at that moment—

Whoosh!

A flying war saber came hurtling over, and before he could react, it landed with a clang, slanting into the blue stone paving before him.

With a sweep of his lone sleeve, Duan Chenzhou had knocked a war saber from the weapon rack. His gaze was complicated beyond words.

"You comprehended Ten Steps, One Kill from the Heaven River Saber?"

"Come, pick up that saber."

"Strike at me."

His hair hung loose as he sat broad and steady, then patted his knee.

"This..."

Ji Xiu hesitated.

Once Ten Steps, One Kill was activated, he could not hold it back!

What if—

"Boy, how much do you weigh? Do you think you can hurt me?"

"If you can hurt me, then that will be true 'great accomplishment'!"

"You are still far from it."

"Just use it. If there is truly something to it—"

"I, Duan Chenzhou, will take no silver and freely teach you a superior Pile Stance that tempers your tendons with blood and solidifies your foundation!"

Seeming to see through Ji Xiu's thoughts, Duan Chenzhou gave a derisive laugh.

Then he drew a deep breath and let out a fierce shout, as though venting all the previous heaviness at once. Like a great bell and mighty chime, it shook one to the core.

"Why have you not struck yet!?"

In an instant, Ji Xiu felt as though his mind had been seized. Without realizing it, he swung his saber!

Ten Steps, One Kill!

Where it appeared—

blood fell!

As Duan Chenzhou watched with his own eyes, Ji Xiu's gaze gradually changed from hesitant to cold and aloof, as though he had lost all emotion.

Then it became utterly focused, until the only thing in his eyes was that war saber—

his expression suddenly became a tangled mixture of emotions.

Minor Accomplishment and great accomplishment

were merely processes of practice making perfect. So long as one put in the effort, one day one would reach them. It was only a matter of time, sooner or later.

But

entering the saber gate and becoming a saber wielder

was not something achieved simply by cultivating a saber technique to great accomplishment.

Some practiced the saber their entire lives, yet were never devout. They could not swing their blades to sever their own "inferior roots." In the first instant of facing an enemy, cowardice would always arise first before they suppressed it.

Yet they did not know that they had already lost the initiative.

If they remained like this for their entire lives,

then they could never be considered true wielders of the saber.

But some people,

while still muddled and unaware,

had already stepped through this threshold.

Whoosh!

In an instant, a streak of bright blade light tore through the air, leaving only an afterimage where he had stood!

In the blink of an eye,

Ten paces away.

Duan Chenzhou raised two fingers and pressed them against either side of the blade's tip.

His gaze was calm as he looked at the blade before him, only an inch from his throat.

Only after a long while

Did he speak:

"Fine blade."

Click!

Just then, someone suddenly pushed the door open and entered, calling out loudly:

"Master Duan, did Ji Xiu come to practice his blade today?"

"After several days of effort, this old man finally relented and allowed him into Lu Manor. I came specifically to find him today."

Lu Yu stepped through the doorway.

By sheer coincidence,

He saw Ji Xiu just a hair's breadth away from cutting off Duan Chenzhou's head.

His words caught in his throat, and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets:

"Junior brother, are you trying to murder your master!?"