"What would the Peerless Realm be like?!"
As he watched the might Qian Daoliu displayed on the Heavenly Screen, Sword Douluo, standing on the mountain behind the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, showed a look of longing.
His grandfather and father had both challenged Qian Daoliu, but both had been defeated and killed by him.
His father, Chen Jianjun, in particular, had cultivated to the Titled Douluo level at sixty-eight;
after that, he had taken ten years to break through to level ninety-five, then another ten to reach level ninety-six.
Only at the age of one hundred and eight had he barely managed to break through to level ninety-seven.
That same year, his father had met the last opponent of his life.
And that man was Qian Daoliu.
In his father's words, he had narrowly lost.
Before he died, his father had told him about the gaps between the levels above level ninety-five for Titled Douluo.
Back then, his own Soul Power Level had only been ninety-two.
Eighteen years had passed since then, and his Soul Power Level had finally reached ninety-six, where it had stagnated for years.
That was precisely why Chen Xin could understand even more clearly just how vast the gap his father had told him about was between those below and above level ninety-five.
I'm afraid I'll never set foot in the Peerless Realm at level ninety-nine in my lifetime, let alone challenge Qian Daoliu.
At that thought, Chen Xin's gaze inevitably dimmed somewhat, and he felt regret.
It was the sorrow he felt at being unable to reach a higher realm.
As for whether he hated Qian Daoliu-
Chen Xin indeed had hated him once, but he had since let it go.
For his father, Chen Jianjun, had died with a smile on his face, fulfilled after challenging the highest peak in the mortal world.
In the year he broke through to level ninety-six, Chen Xin had also come to understand that being able to fight an opponent stronger than oneself and touch a realm one could never reach in a lifetime was the greatest blessing.
Fortunately, perhaps my disciple can go in my place and see the highest peak in the mortal world.
Just then, Sword Douluo Chen Xin turned his gaze to the youth swinging a sword not far away.
That youth was Ji Juechen, the successor he had taken under his wing several years ago.
He still remembered how, three years earlier, he had happened to meet the boy while tending his father's grave at the foot of Giant Sword Mountain.
After asking about the boy's origins, Chen Xin had been even more astonished.
The boy's name was Ji Juechen, and he came from the West Li Stone Kingdom beyond the continent.
What a marvelous twist of fate.
The last place his father had visited on his travels before heading to Giant Sword Mountain for his final battle with Qian Daoliu had been none other than the West Li Stone Kingdom.
The West Li Stone Kingdom was called a kingdom, but in truth, it was merely a small tribe.
Its population was extremely sparse, and it was quite primitive, with its people accustomed to making a living with stone tools.
Yet everyone there wore a sword, and every one of them was highly skilled in swordsmanship, which was truly rare.
On the Douluo Continent, they would all have been considered top experts, but regrettably, they showed no edge at all.
To them, swords were merely tools for building houses and getting through daily life.
Chen Jianjun had first come to the West Li Stone Kingdom seeking to fight the Soul Master known as the "Sword Immortal," and had traveled far and wide before finding the place.
After living in the West Li Stone Kingdom for a long time and earning the name of the West Li Sword Hero, Chen Jianjun had gradually realized that the sword path he sought was not there.
Before leaving, he had learned from the people of the West Li Kingdom that a Soul Master who called himself the Angel Sword had once lived there for many years.
That man had also happened to help the people of the West Li Kingdom wipe out the forces the so-called Angel Sword Sect had sent to destroy the entire West Li Stone Kingdom.
It was also that year that Chen Xin's father, Chen Jianjun, advanced to level ninety-seven.
"For as long as I cannot cross swords with those two, I shall never find joy."
"This is my fate!"
To this day, Chen Xin still held deep in his heart the words his father had spoken before they parted that day.
After that day, Chen Xin had set out from the West Li Stone Kingdom, returned to the Douluo Continent, and rejoined the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Later still, his dying father had come to him and told him about the chasm beyond level ninety-five, knowledge he had gained at the cost of his life.
He, meanwhile, had secluded himself in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to cultivate, no longer venturing across the continent to gain experience.
After all those years, at the foot of Giant Sword Mountain,
Chen Xin had actually met someone from the West Li Stone Kingdom.
It truly was a bond of fate beyond words.
"Why did you come here?" Chen Xin had asked the youth with considerable interest at the time.
"To practice swordsmanship." As Ji Juechen answered, the sword in his hand had not stopped swinging for an instant.
And so it had gone, one asking and the other answering.
After their conversation, Chen Xin had become convinced that this was the successor fate had meant for him.
Ji Juechen came from the West Li Stone Kingdom.
His Martial Soul was a sword, merely an ordinary iron sword with nothing special about it.
His Innate Soul Power was only level three, barely enough to continue cultivating.
Unlike ordinary people of the West Li Stone Kingdom, who regarded swords as tools for daily life,
Ji Juechen was genuinely obsessed with swords. In his eyes, there was nothing apart from the sword.
Every day, he released his Martial Soul and trained with grueling effort.
Later, after reading the insights into the sword path left by his father, Chen Jianjun, the eight-year-old boy had conceived the idea of leaving the West Li Stone Kingdom for the Douluo Continent.
Alone and with nothing to his name, he had spent a full four years reaching the Douluo Continent.
By a chance turn of events, he had eventually come to stay in the area around Giant Sword Mountain.
At eight, he had reached level ten and hunted a Hundred-Year Soul Beast on his own to obtain a Soul Ring.
Now, the twelve-year-old Ji Juechen had actually reached level twenty-five not long ago.
It had to be remembered that Ji Juechen's Innate Soul Power was only level three.
If the speed of his Soul Power's advancement became known, there was no telling how many Soul Masters who considered themselves geniuses would be mortified.
Even though Ji Juechen had given up Soul Skills to make up for his Soul Power, choosing only Soul Rings whose Soul Skill effects increased Soul Power,
this was already enough to prove his extraordinary talent.
His obsessive love of the sword, his talent for the sword path, his unyielding will...
These exceptional qualities Ji Juechen displayed convinced Chen Xin that the youth before him was the successor he had waited so many years for!
"I wonder if I am qualified to be your teacher?"
Chen Xin had set aside the dignity of a Titled Douluo and spoken frankly, showing just how stirred he was.
"My name is Chen Xin. I am a level ninety-six Power Attack System Titled Douluo. My Martial Soul is the Seven Kill Sword, and my title is 'Sword.'
The stone slabs inscribed with insights into the sword path that you saw in the West Li Stone Kingdom were left there by my late father."
As he spoke, nine Soul Rings in total-two yellow, two purple, and five black-rose behind Chen Xin, while the Seven Kill Sword circled at his side.
"All right." Ji Juechen's reply was extremely brief, accepting his place as Chen Xin's successor.
The sword in Ji Juechen's hand had not paused in the slightest.
After returning to the sect, Chen Xin had told Ning Fengzhi about Ji Juechen's background, leaving out some of the matters concerning his father.
At the time, Ning Fengzhi had been unable to help exclaiming, "I can see another rising star, a future Titled Douluo of the sword path, slowly ascending."
Ning Fengzhi's words had not been empty praise.
The talent and diligence Ji Juechen displayed far surpassed those of ordinary Soul Masters; he was bound to achieve greatness in the future.
So what if his Innate Soul Power was level three?
Wasn't this child breaking through the world's preconceptions and pressing onward along a higher path?
Besides, their Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had more than enough resources to support the boy's continued cultivation.
Perhaps, in the future, Ji Juechen and Gu He would recreate the glory of today's Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, with two Douluo in a single sect!