Scheming for Swordplay

"The fourth realm: Wooden Sword Unmatched.

"If Heavy Sword Without Edge belongs to the stage of Wielding the Heavy with Ease, overpowering others through internal energy, physical strength, and the force of a heavy sword, then the fourth realm is Wielding the Light as Heavy-overwhelming others with momentum.

"A weightless wooden sword in your hands can unleash enough power to topple mountains and overturn seas. Every movement can draw upon the momentum of heaven and earth to overwhelm your opponent.

"By my reckoning, anyone who cultivates their Sword Dao to this realm would essentially be a martial Grandmaster, regarding armies of thousands as nothing."

"As for the fifth realm, the No-Sword Realm.

"This realm is only my conjecture.

"At this stage, the heart no longer clings to whether there is a sword in the hand, nor to sword moves or swordplay. Instead, one takes nature as one's teacher, with everything residing in the heart.

"Simply put, a single sword strike can draw upon the power of heaven and earth, beyond anything human strength can withstand.

"I don't know whether a Great Grandmaster can reach this level, but one thing is certain: someone at this realm could rightfully be called an Earthly Immortal."

Song Xuan had arrived at these five realms by combining his own cultivation experience and insights with the Black Robe Guard's records on martial cultivation and Dugu Qiubai's lifelong journey through the Sword Dao in Jin Yong's novels.

Song Qian listened, dumbfounded. "Brother, did you really figure all this out yourself?"

"More or less. I haven't even reached Xiantian yet, so these are just ideas I've felt my way toward. Whether they're actually correct will have to wait until my cultivation improves and I can keep refining and correcting them.

"Just take what I've said as food for thought. Whether it's right is something you'll have to explore for yourself later.

"The further you travel along the martial path, the more you can only rely on yourself. Other people's experiences and insights might not be of any use to you."

Song Qian marveled, "But it still sounds incredible."

"At most, I've been studying how to break through to the Xiantian Realm, then thinking about how to improve my cultivation after that.

"Meanwhile, you've already mapped out the path of the Sword Dao all the way to the martial Great Grandmaster level!

"Brother, I'm getting more and more confident that you'll become the greatest under heaven.

"Oh, right. Of the five sword realms, which one are you at now?"

Song Xuan thought for a moment. "The second realm, at most. This realm pursues techniques, and even more importantly, the ultimate variations of those techniques. Right now, I lack a powerful sword art."

"A powerful sword art..." Song Qian frowned. "That really is difficult to get. Neither of us is far from breaking through to the Xiantian Realm. Ordinary sword arts are already useless to us, while most powerful sword arts in the martial world already have owners.

"They're mostly in the hands of the imperial court and the major martial sects. None of them are easy to obtain."

Her fingers tapped unconsciously against the table, as though she were considering which soft persimmons they could squeeze.

Eventually, Song Qian said helplessly, "After thinking it over, the easiest target actually turns out to be the Evil-Repelling Swordplay of Lin Pingzhi's family.

"Unfortunately, I watched Little Lin practice his swordplay a few days ago. That sword art doesn't live up to its name. Its reputation in the martial world has really been exaggerated."

Song Xuan shook his head. "It might not be exaggerated. It's more likely that something went wrong with the way the Lin Household's descendants practice it."

As a sword art capable of going head-to-head with Dugu Nine Swords, Evil-Repelling Swordplay had practically reached the pinnacle in skill and variations. There was no way it was weak.

Over these past days, Song Xuan had also made a particular study of how to obtain a top-tier sword art.

Of the options before him, the two easiest sword arts to acquire were Evil-Repelling Swordplay and Dugu Nine Swords.

Evil-Repelling Swordplay was straightforward. He only needed to make a trip to the Lin Household's old residence.

But practicing this sword art required taking a blade to oneself and becoming a eunuch. Otherwise, heat would continually build within the body, producing lustful thoughts and wicked fire that could easily lead to cultivation deviation.

That truly gave Song Xuan pause. He had no idea whether his Pure Yang Limitless Child Skill could suppress that heat and wicked fire if he practiced it without castrating himself.

Dugu Nine Swords would be slightly harder to acquire. He would need to travel to Shangan Prefecture in Mingzhou and lie in wait for Linghu Chong, the Mount Hua Sect's eldest disciple.

He did not know whether Linghu Chong had already learned Dugu Nine Swords from Feng Qingyang, the Mount Hua Sect's hidden boss. If he had, things would be a little easier to arrange.

With Linghu Chong's roving disposition, he certainly could not stay put in the mountains. Whenever an opportunity arose, he would head down to roam.

With proper planning, Song Xuan could find a suitable opportunity to kidnap Linghu Chong and try to force the formulas for Dugu Nine Swords out of him.

Whether he could actually get them out of him, however, was difficult to say.

Although Linghu Chong had little sense of responsibility toward the Mount Hua Sect and was too wild and unrestrained to tolerate restrictions, he could sometimes be extremely stubborn about keeping his promises.

The fellow had promised Feng Qingyang not to reveal Dugu Nine Swords. Song Xuan reckoned that even if he kidnapped him, even if he beat him to death, it would still be difficult to pry the sword formulas from his mouth.

For now, Song Xuan could only prepare for both possibilities.

If he could practice the Lin Household's Evil-Repelling Swordplay, that would naturally be best. If not, he would have to resort to some underhanded methods, look for an opening through Linghu Chong, and try to scheme his way into obtaining Dugu Nine Swords.

The siblings discussed their insights into the Sword Dao for a while. Only at midnight did Song Qian leave, still wishing they could talk longer.

Song Xuan sat cross-legged on his bed. For once, he did not cultivate, instead closing his eyes to consider how he should walk the road ahead.

Three days later, the seagoing ship finally reached Jiangzhe Prefecture, slowly entering the harbor of Yangzhou Commandery.

They had been lucky on this voyage, encountering neither pirates nor river bandits. The escort guards aboard, Lin Pingzhi included, all breathed sighs of relief.

As soon as the ship docked, Lin Pingzhi began directing the escort guards to unload the cargo onto the shore.

Song Xuan stood on deck and surveyed their surroundings. Finding no sign of danger, he led Song Qian and Lin Daiyu over to bid farewell to his young friend Lin Pingzhi.

At the harbor docks, Song Xuan hired a carriage. The three boarded it and left the docks to the driver's repeated cries of "Hyah!"

It was early morning, and a light mist still lingered over the road, but plenty of commoners who had risen early for work could already be seen outside Yangzhou Commandery's city walls.

"Young master, where shall we go first?"

After they left the docks, the carriage driver asked the question softly and respectfully.

Song Xuan glanced at Lin Daiyu, who looked nervous and expectant. "To the Jiangzhe Prefecture Salt Commission Office first."

The Jiangzhe Prefecture Salt Commission Office was the highest authority over salt affairs in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang Region. Its highest-ranking official was known as the Salt Commissioner.

Jiangzhe Prefecture in Mingzhou had always been a major source of tax revenue for the imperial court, and salt affairs were a matter successive emperors took seriously. Every Salt Commissioner appointed to the Jiangsu-Zhejiang Region was a minister who enjoyed the emperor's utmost trust.

His younger cousin Lin Daiyu's father, Lin Ruhai, was just such a minister, valued and trusted by the current emperor. As the serving Salt Commissioner of Jiangzhe Prefecture, an official of the Principal Third Rank, he was unquestionably a high-ranking regional official.