False teachings fill ten million volumes; true teachings take one sentence

Chen Yu looked at the child, who had been lost in thought for a long while, and asked, "Xiao'er, do you have any questions about what I just told you?"

Chen Xiaojun said, "Grandpa, I have a few thoughts and questions."

Chen Yu's lips curled slightly. "Oh? Let's hear them. I'm here to answer your questions and clear up your confusion."

Chen Xiaojun asked, "What is Sword Intent?"

Chen Yu didn't question why he had gone straight for such an advanced topic. He hesitated, wondering if it was too soon.

In the end, Chen Yu still explained, "Sword Intent is the Conception of the sword, and it is also a Swordsman's realm."

"Intent is the unity of form, spirit, emotion, and reason, and the harmony between the real and the unreal, existence and nonexistence. It is born beyond the confines of the mind, yet contained within what takes shape. It is a very high realm."

"Sword Intent is when a Swordsman's understanding of the sword reaches an unprecedented realm. This realm is called Sword Intent."

"Sword Intent is an extension of the source. This source belongs only to the sword: the sword's nobility, its icy pride, its sharpness, its true heart."

"This is tracing the sword back to its source."

"For a Swordsman, when he truly understands what a sword is, and can bring out the sword's source characteristics, act from his true heart, merge with the sword, and display his own understanding of it..."

"When you feel that your sword has come alive, that is Sword Intent."

Chen Xiaojun solemnly asked his second question. "Our Chen Clan has five inherited Secret Techniques: heart, body, eyes, intent, and technique. Can I inherit them properly?"

That question was no problem. Chen Yu smiled and said, "You have a Top-Tier Sword-Type Martial Soul, so you're suited to cultivating all five Secret Techniques."

"As for compatibility, I don't think it'll be low. Judging by the circumstances of the Branch Lines in our Chen Clan, they can all cultivate them to some degree."

"Of these five Secret Techniques, all but the Seven Kill Qi-Concealing Technique are highly compatible with different people. The higher the Martial Soul's rank, the better the results. You have a Top-Tier Martial Soul, so there's no need to worry."

"The Impartial Sword Qi Art in particular will pose no problem at all. It's basically suited to all sword-type Martial Souls. Ancestor Chen Xili, who created the Impartial Sword Qi Art, didn't have the Seven Kill Sword as his Martial Soul."

Chen Xiaojun asked, "Then what was Ancestor Xi Li's Martial Soul?"

Chen Yu said, "Ancestor Xi Li awakened a Mutated Top-Tier Martial Soul. The opposite of the Seven Kill Sword, it contained no Killing Qi. It was simple and imposing, grand and unrestrained, and had the effect of letting one see one's own heart and nature."

"Ancestor Xi Li named it the Impartial Sword. It later advanced into a Super Martial Soul, becoming even more majestic, with the splendid might of the heavens. It was called the Impartial Heavenly Might Sword."

"As I said before, before Ancestor Xi Li, people said that our Seven Kill Sword lineage was bloodthirsty and brutally murderous. That wasn't true."

"But our original Seven Kill Meditation Method could only absorb and blindly suppress Killing Qi, which made it easy for our clan members to lose control of their minds."

"It was Ancestor Xi Li who, drawing on the sword's characteristics and the ideas of earlier ancestors, created the Impartial Sword Qi Art."

"It once and for all suppressed the Seven Kill Sword's corrosive Killing Qi, greatly reducing the instances of our clan members losing control of their minds and completely changing how people saw us."

"For this achievement and his peerless Cultivation Level, Ancestor Xi Li broke the ancestral injunction left by our second-generation ancestor, Chen Qian, and entered the main hall of the Ancestral Hall. He was enshrined alongside the Founding Ancestor, earning the boundless admiration of later generations."

"Actually, the Brilliant Star Sword Eyes and Sword Shadow Form were first created by Ancestor Chen Qian."

"He himself was a Level 97 Peak Douluo. The old gentleman was being modest; he didn't dare compare himself to our founding ancestor, Chen Ling."

"That comparison shows just how high the standards for being included in the main shrine are. In nearly two thousand years, only the fifteenth-generation Ancestor Xi Li and the twenty-second-generation Ancestor Fei Yi have been included."

"After that, because the chances of inheriting the first Mutated Top-Tier Martial Soul were extremely low..."

"Ancestor Xi Li's second son reverted to the original bloodline and inherited the Seven Kill Sword. His eldest son, Chen Duanshe, inherited only most of the Impartial Sword's power—or perhaps a weakened version of it. It reached the quality of a low-grade Top-Tier Martial Soul, also known as a Seventh-Rank Martial Soul."

"According to the Clan Rules, he formed a separate Branch Line. His descendants named their Martial Soul the Xi Li Sword to honor Ancestor Xi Li."

"They changed their surname to Xi Li and became a Minor Sect of our Chen Clan: the Xi Li branch of the Chen surname. They're known to the world as the Xili Family."

"Because the Xi Li Sword was a truly impartial and balanced sword, the Seven Kill Qi-Concealing Technique was far less effective for the Xili Family."

"However, because their Martial Soul was grand and unrestrained, impartial and balanced, and suited to chopping, it proved surprisingly effective for their business of building houses. And their clan members were honest and decent, so they thrived."

Chen Xiaojun thought to himself, So that's how the Xili Family came about. As expected, history is shrouded in mist.

He pressed on. "Then what's our relationship with them like now?"

Chen Yu smiled faintly. "Very good. What, did you think our Main Lineage had some grudge against them?"

"You're underestimating the wisdom of our ancestors. The Chen Clan has been passed down for nearly two thousand years. Some Mutated Martial Souls were bound to be inherited, and we have a mature system for dealing with them."

"Although there are only about thirty people in our Chen Clan's Main Lineage, we have plenty of Branch Lines. Because of the lessons we learned from past exterminations, they moved elsewhere and spread out to reduce the risks. They don't become major clans or sects that attract resentment, but form their own reclusive families."

"Major clans and sects not only inherit powerful Martial Souls and have large numbers, they also occupy vast territories and seize resources. They have obvious ties, entanglements, and conflicts with all sides, wielding unparalleled influence in certain fields-but they're also where the world's whirlpools converge."

"The highest institution of the Chen surname clans is the Elder Council, made up of us and the heads of the various Branch Lines. It coordinates our relations, makes us advance and retreat together, and shares both honor and disgrace."

"Xiaojun, remember this: never underestimate a family that has been passed down for a thousand years. None of them are simple!"

Chen Xiaojun heard this, raised his head, and exclaimed admiringly, "I understand, Grandpa."

Chen Yu nodded, stood with his hands behind his back, and continued asking, "Do you have any other questions?"

Chen Xiaojun thought for a moment, then recalled something. "What is the sword-shaped phantom that appears behind someone when they use Sword Shadow Form?"

Chen Yu was very pleased that his quick-witted grandson had asked such profound questions. He explained, "The Phantom Soul. The Phantom Soul is usually hidden deep within the Sea of Consciousness, making it difficult to find and reveal."

"Beginning with our second-generation ancestor Chen Qian, our ancestors displayed great wisdom. After more than ten generations of effort, they compared it to the principles behind using an Awakening Stone to activate a Physical Martial Soul and created Sword Shadow Form, allowing us to use the Phantom Soul ahead of time."

"Because we can become familiar with using the Phantom Soul decades earlier than other people, and it grows alongside us, we have an advantage when opening the Upper Soul Nest and taking the step of Phantom-Physical Fusion."

"That's why every generation of our Chen Clan has quite a few Soul Saints and Soul Douluos, and Titled Douluos generation after generation."

Chen Xiaojun asked what he had wanted to ask for a long time. "Grandpa, as Clan Chief, you're a Titled Douluo, right? Master Hong is too, right?"

Chen Yu stood with his hands behind his back, and a feeling of towering like a mountain came over Chen Xiaojun. "Your grandpa is eighty-two this year, a Level 95 Titled Douluo, and inherited our clan's title: Sword Hero!"

"Old Hong is ninety-two, ten years older than me. He's a Level 94 Titled Douluo, the oldest of my generation. His title is Sword Might!"

Chen Xiaojun raised his hand and shouted, "Grandpa is mighty and domineering, and not bald!"

Chen Yu: "..."

Chen Xiaojun asked, "Grandpa and Master Hong have seats in Spirit Hall's Douluo Hall, right?"

Chen Yu curled his lip, seeming rather unimpressed. "Why go there? What's there to be ennobled for? We're a reclusive family. We just need to keep our heads down."

Chen Xiaojun exclaimed, "...Our Chen Clan is so powerful!"

Grandpa said calmly, "Our top-tier strength is decent, but we only have a few people and no real influence. We're just a small reclusive family. We simply have some friendly families band together for warmth and borrow a little influence."

"Xiaojun, remember this: true great clans and families don't go to Spirit Hall to be ennobled."

Chen Xiaojun suddenly thought his grandpa was really asking to be beaten. He had two Titled Douluos! But he naturally didn't want to provoke him, so he changed the subject. "Then what is the Domain Secret Method?"

Chen Yu said proudly, "Ha ha, first you have to understand how a domain works."

"The essence of a so-called domain is intervening in reality on the spiritual level. Mental Power condenses and combines with some of the Rules governing matter, allowing it to interfere with Soul Power, energy, and matter in the real world."

"Then it must have a focal point, a foundation that supports the domain. This foundation is the Phantom Soul in the Sea of Consciousness."

"So, Mental Power honed through the Impartial Sword Qi Art, the Seven Kill Qi-Concealing Technique, and the Brilliant Star Sword Eyes takes Intent as its core and the Phantom Soul as its foundation. Inserting, guiding, and applying the Heaven and Earth Rules-that is the domain of our Seven Kill Sword."

"Therefore, the Domain Secret Method isn't a single Secret Technique. It's simply the natural result of cultivating several inherited Secret Techniques to a profound level."

Chen Yu explained the point very clearly.

Chen Xiaojun sighed with feeling. "False teachings fill ten million volumes; true teachings take one sentence."

Chen Yu said, "I've just explained our Chen Clan's Cultivation General Outline to you. Now I'll pass on the formal Cultivation Method..."