Hearing Dugu Bo's voice, Chen Ci froze for a moment.
It seemed Dugu Bo was not unwilling to see him, but unsure in exactly what capacity Chen Ci had come to meet him.
If he came as a Soul Master who had received investment from the eldest prince, Qian Renxue...
Once word of this got out, it would send a political signal.
It would be tantamount to telling the Heaven Dou Imperial Family that Dugu Bo was inclined to side with the eldest prince.
For Dugu Bo, who served only as a guest elder of the Heaven Dou Empire, that was not a good thing.
Once he understood, Chen Ci gave a self-mocking smile.
He had been idle for a while, with nothing to do, and had grown a little eager to find something to occupy himself.
Normally, he should not have come looking for Dugu Bo at this juncture.
He should come back after some time had passed. In the meantime, he could consider approaching Dugu Yan.
Having understood Dugu Bo's concerns, Chen Ci had no intention of remaining at Dugu Manor.
"Senior Dugu, I remain the disciple of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's Sword Douluo, and have nothing to do with the Heaven Dou Empire Imperial Family.
"As for why the eldest prince, Xue Qinghe, has invested resources in Rongrong and me...
"It is merely to keep us from getting involved in the imperial family's power struggles.
"But I understand that you still have some reservations, Senior Dugu. I will take my leave and trouble you no further."
Having said that, Chen Ci looked at Ning Rongrong and said,
"Rongrong, let's go back to the academy."
Ning Rongrong was rather baffled. She had not expected Chen Ci to make a special trip out, only to return so hastily.
Still, she did not mind. Wherever Chen Ci went, she would go.
Chen Ci and Ning Rongrong rose and left, returning to Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
Rather than returning to their dormitories, the two went to Heaven Dou Royal Academy's training grounds.
Chen Ci had not practiced his sword techniques for many days. Since classes had not officially started yet and he had some free time, he would run through them a few times.
Chen Ci found an open area on the training grounds and began practicing the Seven Kill Sword Technique.
Meanwhile, Ning Rongrong sat on a chair at the edge of the training grounds, watching Chen Ci practice his swordplay.
Seven Kill Sword Technique, first form: Break Kill.
Seven Kill Sword Technique, second form: Pursuit Kill.
Seven Kill Sword Technique, third form: Slaying Kill.
Chen Ci held only a wooden practice sword, yet in his hands, that ordinary, standard-issue wooden sword seemed as though it had been born for him.
As Ning Rongrong watched Chen Ci's gracefully dancing figure, her blue-green, glazed eyes shone with one brilliant gleam after another.
That's my Brother Chen Ci. So amazing, so handsome.
Suddenly, Chen Ci's sword-dancing figure came to a halt.
Then he closed his eyes. The sword moves in his hands no longer followed fixed forms, becoming disordered, yet they seemed to conform secretly to some special pattern.
Ning Rongrong stared closely at Chen Ci's every move, trying to find that elusive, mysterious pattern, but she could not discern it.
She was not cut out for the path of the sword.
Then, Ning Rongrong suddenly felt an inexplicable sadness, followed by some anger, then happiness...
It was a very peculiar sensation.
At the same time, what Chen Ci's sword moves contained slowly revealed itself before her eyes.
Yet she still could not tell exactly what it was.
Suddenly, a gentle male voice reached Ning Rongrong's ears. It was very calm, but that calm sounded deliberate, because Ning Rongrong could catch a distinctly obvious trace of shock within it.
"Student Ning Rongrong, Student Chen Ci's swordsmanship is formidable. It can stir the emotions of those present.
"His swordsmanship has already approached the nascent form of intent."
Hearing an unfamiliar voice beside her, Ning Rongrong instinctively looked over and found a refined man who probably meant no harm.
The man had kept his voice very low, just loud enough to reach Ning Rongrong's ears clearly without disturbing Chen Ci's sword practice.
Ning Rongrong asked the refined man,
"May I ask who you are?"
"I am Qin Ming, a Heaven Dou Grade teacher at Heaven Dou Royal Academy."
As Qin Ming answered Ning Rongrong's question, he watched Chen Ci's sword-dancing figure, the shock in his eyes no longer concealable.
He could feel his emotions being stirred to an even greater degree.
Chen Ci was about to succeed.
Hearing Qin Ming's answer, Ning Rongrong was somewhat surprised.
"You're Teacher Qin Ming?"
"Oh? You know me?"
Qin Ming was somewhat surprised. He had not expected this gifted girl from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to know his name.
Ning Rongrong shook her head and said,
"No, but I've heard Teacher Song Zhinan mention you. She considers you the most outstanding Heaven Dou Grade teacher at Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
"She told Brother Chen Ci and me to choose you as our mentor if possible."
Hearing Song Zhinan's name, Qin Ming could not help recalling that alluring, beautiful young married woman, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
That woman still hasn't given up on me.
Just as the two were about to continue talking, a far fiercer surge of emotion swept over them.
It had reached the point where Ning Rongrong had to devote all her effort to steadying her mind. She could no longer spare a thought for anything else.
Qin Ming looked toward Chen Ci at the center of the training grounds and saw that he had already tossed the standard-issue wooden sword onto the ground.
It had been replaced by an ornate sword.
Three purple Thousand-Year Soul Rings also circled his body.
So this is Chen Ci's Martial Soul? How terrifying.
Three Thousand-Year Soul Rings. No wonder His Eminence the Sword Douluo took him as a disciple.
Holding his sword, Chen Ci followed that elusive flash of inspiration and began his sword dance once more.
Ten times, a hundred times, a thousand times...
Again and again, Chen Ci practiced that unknown sword technique, engraving that elusive inspiration upon his heart and soul over and over.
He was stupid. Only through such a clumsy method could he hold fast to this hard-won inspiration.
So when Sword Douluo Chen Xin, Bone Douluo Gu Rong, and Ning Fengzhi praised his utterly monstrous talent for the sword...
Chen Ci disagreed, because he knew that his sword cultivation had always been clumsy.
Had other sword cultivators known what Chen Ci was thinking, they would only have said that some died of drought while others drowned in floods.
These geniuses loved saying that their aptitude was poor.
The next instant, Chen Ci completed the final repetition of the sword technique, grasping that elusive inspiration in its entirety.
He gazed entranced at the Passionate Sword in his hand and laughed.
"Twelve years. I finally have a sword technique of my own!
"Haha, wonderful!"
In that instant, Chen Ci's thoughts flowed with unparalleled clarity. He had fully created his own sword technique, and the nascent form of passionate sword intent came into being.
A fierce surge of emotion instantly spread throughout the training grounds.
The lofty divine seat of the God of Emotion was also stirred at that moment.
Above Heaven Dou City, a golden light that seemed to come from beyond the nine heavens circled for a long time once more, seemingly hesitating over whether to choose Chen Ci.
In the end, this golden light descended onto Heaven Dou Royal Academy's training grounds, invisible to ordinary people, and slowly merged into Chen Ci's body.
Upon sensing Chen Ci's nascent passionate sword intent, Qin Ming released all his Soul Power, enveloping the entire training grounds.
He did his best to contain the effects brought about by the formation of Chen Ci's nascent passionate sword intent, preventing them from spreading.
What Qin Ming did not know, however, was that Chen Ci's attainments in the sword had already surpassed the nascent sword intent stage.
He had ascended to the realm of sword intent.
He had reached a realm that countless grandmasters of the sword struggled to attain.