Another Divine Art and the Famous Sword Rankings

Fang Ling had barely left his portly master's side when his master, Flower Thief, pulled him aside.

With a sleazy grin, he looked Fang Ling carefully up and down.

"Is something wrong?" Fang Ling muttered, growing uncomfortable under his scrutiny.

"You really are a worthy disciple of mine!" Flower Thief grinned suggestively.

"You've only been down the mountain a short while, and your yang energy is already depleted. Young men need to practice moderation!"

"Ah! You really don't listen. I told you to stay away from women, and look what happened..."

He had once been known as the world's greatest flower thief, so he was especially sensitive to yin and yang energies.

Fang Ling's battle with Abbess Purple Bamboo had actually lasted quite a long time, with no fewer than a hundred exchanges.

After indulging so freely in such a short span, his yang energy was naturally depleted.

Fang Ling could not help feeling embarrassed. "It was all an accident..." he muttered.

"Our little Fang Ling has grown up. There's nothing wrong with that sort of thing, but there's one thing you must remember!" His expression suddenly darkened, and his voice grew solemn.

"Never let your heart get involved... lest you hurt yourself."

"I'll remember, Master." Fang Ling nodded.

"Now that you've had your first taste of meat, you won't be able to avoid it in the future," Flower Thief continued. "Since that's the case, I'll teach you another divine art."

"This is the Nine Extremes Yin-Yang Art, a dual cultivation method."

"Not only can it rapidly improve your cultivation, it also lets you accumulate wondrous yin and yang energies within your body."

"If you use those energies to unleash the Great Yin-Yang Palm that accompanies this art, its power will be no less than the Galaxy Boundless Fist your master Manzi taught you!"

"If your yin and yang energies are abundant enough, the Great Yin-Yang Palm can even surpass the Swastika Mantra your First Master passed on to you!"

"The Nine Extremes Yin-Yang Art is that powerful?" Fang Ling was quite astonished.

He had always thought Flower Thief was the weakest fighter among his five masters.

But now, that seemed far from certain.

"Dual cultivation struggles to enter the halls of respectability. Besides, I never wanted you getting close to women, so I didn't teach it to you," Flower Thief sighed.

"Only now, with this divine art passed on to you, have you truly inherited my mantle."

"But once you leave the mountain, don't run wild..."

"Your master is a notorious flower thief, but I don't want my disciple to become one too."

"I'll heed your teachings, Master!" Fang Ling replied.

Although Flower Thief was the liveliest of his five masters, for some reason, Fang Ling always sensed a deep sadness about him.

"Now that the serious business is done, let's talk about something else." Flower Thief suddenly hooked an arm around Fang Ling's shoulders, grinning.

"I'll teach you a few precious bedroom tricks. Guaranteed to make you, heh heh..."

Fang Ling could barely handle him, but he still listened patiently to his master's rambling.

"Enough! You really are asking for a beating. What is this rubbish you're teaching him?" Sword Demon's cold snort suddenly sounded beside their ears.

"What do you mean, rubbish? If I hadn't taught little Fang Ling the Scent-Stealing Finger, he might never have made it back!" Flower Thief shouted.

Under his persistent questioning, Fang Ling had just given him a rough account of what had happened.

After hearing it, Flower Thief's vanity had been thoroughly satisfied, and he decided he was the most capable of the five men in the temple.

The two began bickering. Not wanting to get caught in the crossfire, Fang Ling immediately fled into the main hall.

White-Browed Old Monk and Zhao Manzi were both sitting before the Buddha statue, chanting scriptures. Fang Ling quietly sat on a prayer cushion and joined them.

Before long, the other two had more or less finished arguing. Only then did he rise and leave to join Sword Demon.

"What is your sword soul called?" Sword Demon asked.

Although Fang Ling had not manifested his Blood Sword in front of him, he had still sensed the sword soul's presence.

"The sword soul is called Tongyuan," Fang Ling replied.

"Tongyuan?" Sword Demon raised an eyebrow. "You really are fortunate."

"Tongyuan is an ancient famous sword, ranked seventh in the Ancient Famous Sword Rankings!"

"Every one of its past wielders was a master of the sword."

"But with your current cultivation, you can't come close to unleashing the Tongyuan sword soul's true power."

"Its greatest value to you now lies in the sword paths of its past wielders, preserved within the sword soul."

"Study them carefully, and given time, you too will surely become a master of the sword."

"The Ancient Famous Sword Rankings? Where does your Thousand Jun sword soul rank, Sword Master?" Fang Ling asked curiously.

"Thousand Jun isn't an ancient sword, so it can't be compared that way," Sword Demon said evenly.

"But from what I can sense, Thousand Jun is no match for Tongyuan."

"Although Tongyuan only ranks seventh in the Ancient Famous Sword Rankings, it is renowned for slaughter."

"Its sword soul contains the law of slaughter. You can neither sense nor wield the power of laws yet, so you don't understand how formidable it is."

"Only when your cultivation realm rises in the future will you truly understand how terrifying the Tongyuan sword soul is."

"My Thousand Jun sword soul carries the law of gravity. In sheer force, your Tongyuan probably can't compare to it."

"But overall, Tongyuan is an ancient sword. Its accumulated foundation is far beyond Thousand Jun's, and the gap between them remains immense."

"All right. Now let me test the fruits of your cultivation during this trip down the mountain," Sword Demon continued.

"Show me those three sword moves."

At his words, Fang Ling immediately manifested his Life-Bound Blood Sword, then demonstrated Dragon-Slaying, Heaven-Questioning, and Prison-Subduing before Sword Demon in succession.

After watching, Sword Demon nodded in satisfaction and praised him without reservation. "Much stronger than before."

"In that case, I'll teach you another sword move."

"Do you have a move even stronger than those three, Master?" Fang Ling asked, puzzled.

"The reason I didn't teach you this move before was that your attainment was insufficient. You couldn't learn it yet," Sword Demon said.

"This final sword move is Human-Sword Unity!"

"Once unleashed, it either kills the enemy or leaves you gravely wounded, perhaps even dead from the backlash."

"So unless you find yourself in a desperate situation, you must not use it lightly."

As he spoke, Sword Demon summoned his own Life-Bound Blood Sword.

Then his entire body merged with the sword. He was the sword, and the sword was him!

Human-Sword Unity carried the momentum to shatter anything in its path.

Even though Sword Demon restrained it to the utmost, Fang Ling could barely withstand it. Sword cuts appeared across his body, exposing bone.

Only then did he understand why Sword Master had not taught him sooner. It truly had been impossible before.

Human-Sword Unity was the pursuit of every sword cultivator, and Sword Demon passed its secrets on to Fang Ling.

But even he could not master it immediately. He would need time to slowly hone it.

That night, Fang Ling came to the main hall.

White-Browed Old Monk was the only person there.

He had been like this for years, sitting motionless before the Buddha statue, reciting sutras and praising the Buddha.

The other four masters still maintained their cultivation habits, but he alone seemed to have stopped cultivating long ago.

"First Master, I have a cultivation method inscribed in Sanskrit. Please help me take a look."

Fang Ling sat beside him and took out the half stone tablet containing the Heavenly Net Church's inheritance.

White-Browed Old Monk abruptly opened his eyes. He took the tablet and examined it carefully, then began to laugh.

"Why are you laughing, First Master?" Fang Ling asked.

"Because the workings of fate truly are too wondrous for words!" he said, stroking his white eyebrows.

"After all its twists and turns, it has found its way back to me!"

"This Heavenly Net Divine Art was created by Zhi Tian, the foremost evil monk of ancient times."

"I once obtained his inheritance, and this Heavenly Net Divine Art was part of it."

"What? You cultivated it too, First Master?" Fang Ling was utterly astonished. This was far too much of a coincidence.

Old Monk nodded. "I cultivated it once, but later abolished it myself."

"It was this Asura Divine Art that led me down many wrong paths and caused me to commit countless acts of slaughter..."

"Part of the reason I insisted that so many living beings take refuge in me back then was that I wanted them to cultivate the divine art's auxiliary scripture."

"I don't see anything wrong with this divine art. Why did you abolish it, First Master?" Fang Ling asked, somewhat puzzled.

"There's nothing wrong with the art. I simply attained a sudden understanding of a higher realm and no longer needed it," he replied.

"With your boundless vitality and powerful body, this divine art suits you perfectly."

"I'll fill in the missing portion of the tablet for you..." He raised his hand and pointed at Fang Ling.

Previously, Fang Ling had guessed that the tablet's missing portion contained a method to resolve the divine art's drawbacks.

But that was not the case. The remaining portion was the true essence of the Heavenly Net Divine Art.

It contained a secret technique, one that allowed countless people to combine their attacks!

The technique was called Heavenly Net Annihilation, and only someone who cultivated the main scripture could initiate it.

Once it was unleashed, everyone cultivating the auxiliary scripture could sense it, wherever they were, and channel their power into the combined attack.

"If enough people cultivate the auxiliary art, and they are strong enough, the power of Heavenly Net Annihilation will be terrifying beyond measure," Old Monk said.

"That foremost evil monk of ancient times was invincible precisely because he possessed this trump card."

Fang Ling was deeply tempted by what he heard and resolved to develop the Heavenly Net Church properly.

From First Master's tone, it was clear that once sufficiently developed, Heavenly Net Annihilation would absolutely surpass the Swastika Mantra.

Even the Great Yin-Yang Palm Flower Thief had just taught him would most likely be unable to rival it.