Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

The path of the sword obviously was about cultivating the sword. The sword was naturally important. But… was it really that important? Other than impacting the strength in battle, could it really influence the level of cultivation of the user?

Currently, the sword in Su Li’s hand originated from a smithy in a small town under Mount Li. It was personally forged by the obscure blacksmith in the smithy, Luo Dagen, after spending a few silvers and half a day. It had already been with him for over twenty years. With this ordinary longsword that could not be regarded as divine weaponry no matter how it was looked at, he remained as the strongest person in the path of the sword in the world. Before the sword, those who blocked it were easily split open. Just before, it had just killed a Demon General.

Also because of his ordinary sword, the idea of returning to the simplest form for the sword was commonly practiced in the Mount Li Sword Sect. The Divine State’s Seven Laws and other young disciples admired the junior martial uncle, all trying to copy him. Qiushan Jun possessed the extremely famous Dragonscale Sword, yet when he traversed the continent, or even during that battle where he fought for the key to the Garden of Zhou against the demon experts, he was only willing to use an ordinary sword. The sword also originated from the small town beneath Mount Li, also originated from the same smithy and also was bought with a few silvers. Guan Feibai was also like that. However, it did not influence the status of Qiushan Jun and Guan Feibai amongst the experts of the younger generation. They carried ordinary steel swords, and were also a part of the Divine State’s Laws.

“Some stupid people probably won’t understand this.” Black Robe gently wiped away the snowflakes on the square plate. He looked at Su Li quietly and said, “But I understand that as long as you don’t find that sword, all swords are the same to you, no matter if it’s that Killing Autumn from Scholartree Manor or the inferior sword from that smithy.”

“Yes.” Su Li stayed quiet for a while, and then said, “I indeed lack a sword. I have always been looking for that sword.”

Many years ago, when he was brought to Mount Li by his master from his home town, he walked through a mountain path of several dozen li in length and entered the sect. He became an inner sect disciple in the Mount Li Sword Sect, and used a very short amount of time to grasp the secrets of the Mount Li Sword Style. His talent in the path of the sword was slowly revealed, and he gained the dear love of his seniors and the admiration of his juniors. However, he never had his own sword.

When they were giving out swords in the sword hall of Red Rock Peak, he did not choose. When he practiced every day and when he sparred with his seniors, he always used a wooden sword. When his seniors asked why he was unwilling to choose a sword, he said that he did not like the swords in the sword hall. Actually, in his heart, there was always a feeling that those swords also disliked him, and avoided him.

After an entire year, he completed the study of the basic sword style. He began to pry into the truths of the path of the sword, and finally gained the seniority to enter the main peak to enter his master’s dwelling. His master was the sect master of the Mount Li Sword Sect, a peerless expert in the path of the sword recognised by the entire continent. However, he did not listen to what his master was saying at all, and only looked at the sword that hung behind his master.

The sheath of the sword was pitch-black, and made of some material that he did not know. The sword was in the sheath, and he could not see its true appearance, but for some reason, he began to like the sword as he looked at it. He became happy and wanted to dance in joy, to grab it, to hug it, to sleep with it and even bathe with it. What caused him to be even happier was that the sword resonated with a soft, pleasant sound in the sheath, as if it was responding to his fondness, and also displaying its own benevolence.

Back then, Su Li naturally did not know that this was the sword of the sect master of the Mount Li Sword Sect. It was the famous Heaven Shrouding Sword that was in the top ten on the Tier of Legendary Weapons.

The sect master of the Mount Li Sword Sect felt slightly astonished. His sword was a peerless, fearful sword. It was the sharpest in the world and extremely cold, able to sever emotions and light. Why did it give off such a soft sword resonance today, and why was it so gentle to the little boy? What did it mean? Afterwards, he began to laugh. Because Su Li was his only disciple, the sword clearly had to be passed down, and looking at it then, they did not seem to dislike each other, which was very fortunate.

That day, Su Li received the promise of his master to pass the sword to him in the future. This made him extremely happy. It was also the reason why, when his master hit his bottom and made him copy out the sword manual five hundred times for him breaking the rules of the sect thirty-seven times in the entire year, he did not even talk back, which was extremely rare.

Afterwards… his master entered the Garden of Zhou. After that, there was no afterwards. His master never returned. That sword also never returned. Su Li cried for three days and three nights at the main peak, and then sat in a stupor for seven days and seven nights before returning to his senses. He threw himself into the cultivation of the path of the sword once again, but this time, his seniors discovered that there was a sword at his waist.

The sword came from a small town under Mount Li, from an unremarkable smithy. It came from an obscure blacksmith at that time, who was the grandfather of the current blacksmith Luo Dagen.

With the change of seasons, time slowly passed. Su Li reached an initial success in his path of the sword, and left Mount Li to go to the Garden of Zhou.

In the several decades following, he entered the Garden of Zhou every ten years. This naturally also meant that in those several decades, the control of the Garden of Zhou always remained in the hands of humans, so the demons could never even lay a finger on it. The reason for this was because he wanted to enter the Garden of Zhou. Who could steal the key to the Garden of Zhou under his sword?

He had two objectives for entering the Garden of Zhou. First of all, he wanted to confirm the death of Zhou Dufu. If the greatest expert under the stars was already dead, it was naturally the end of the matter. If he was still alive, Su Li wanted to know just exactly how great of a difference there was between him and Zhou Dufu, and how much more time he needed to defeat him, given that Su Li was at the upper level of Ethereal Opening at that time.

Actually, he wanted to find the sword that was forgotten in the Garden of Zhou. Perhaps the stars never betrayed the hopes of people, or perhaps the Heaven Shrouding Sword could feel his longing: last time he entered the Garden of Zhou, Su Li actually found it by the stream in the forest. At the same time, the sword became the first and only sword that had been brought out by someone from the Garden of Zhou.

However, the sword intent of the sword had completely disappeared, only leaving behind the sword body. Although the materials that made the sword were rare and valuable treasures, it was no longer the sword from years ago.

The renowned sword was the same as before, but it was no longer outstanding.

Only after staying silent by the stream for a very long time did Su Li finally accept this matter.

The sword was still there, but the sword intent was not. As it turned out, his master… truly was not there anymore.

Carrying the sword that had already lost its spirit, Su Li left the Garden of Zhou and travelled to the Tang Clan in Wenshui City to look for the Old Master of the Tang Clan who was still willing to forge once in a while. He wished that the Old Master could think of a method to revive the sword. Just what status did the Old Master have? Why would he have paid any attention to the almost idiotic request of a second generation disciple of the Mount Li Sword Sect? He did not pay any attention to him at all. Su Li only did one thing. He stood in a stone embankment of the Wenshui Tang Clan hidden deep within the mountains, and used a night to undergo several breakthroughs from the upper level of the Ethereal Opening Realm, arriving at the peak level of the Star Condensation Realm.

As the richest person on the continent, the thing that the Old Master of the Tang Clan was most skilled at was judging value. He knew that Su Li was displaying his value to him, and admitted that Su Li definitely did have that value. As a result, he changed his mind without any hesitation at all, beginning to collect and buy valuable materials from all over the place, attempting to do as Su Li had requested: to revive the renowned sword.

Unfortunately, even the Wenshui Tang Clan was unable to completely satisfy Su Li’s request.

The memory stopped there. This was because what happened afterwards made even him, who was the most unrestrained and uninhibited, or in other words, the most thick-skinned, to feel slightly awkward.

He looked at the patch of shadow in the night sky, and could feel the Demon Lord’s unfathomable will. He thought with some ridicule that if that sword was able to be revived and was in his hand at the current moment, even the Demon Lord would be unlikely to warrant his attention.

The shadow in the sky drooped lower and lower, as if it was going to come in contact with the grassland far away.

Chen Changsheng held onto the Yellow Paper Umbrella and looked at this scene. He did not know exactly why the gazes of the terrifying monsters in the monster tide held coldness and a deathly stillness.

He did not know that the shadow in the sky was the shadow of a great peng. He did not know that this great peng, which already had half a step into the realm of Saints, was the mount of Zhou Dufu years ago. Crucially, he did not know that when the sword intent returned to the Yellow Paper Umbrella, it meant that the Sword Pool could appear at any time. Towards that terrifying great peng, he did not know how great of a provocation it was.

Nanke’s black hair was scattered on her shoulders. It was wet due to the rain, and seemed extremely messy. Her small face was pale, and the indifference in her eyes was already long replaced by rage. Before, when they clashed, even though they were separated by a distance of over one hundred zhang, the swift and fierce sword intent had still injured her. She did not understand why the sword intent would actually become so terrifying after entering the Yellow Paper Umbrella.

“No matter how strong the sword intent is, so what? You don’t know the sword style, so just how long can you last just by relying on sword intent?”

Hearing the voice of the small demon girl, Chen Changsheng originally wanted to say something, but in the end, he did not say it. Even if he were able to use the sword intent without limit, he would still be unable to solve the problem of the monster tide that was like an ocean around the mausoleum.

With an angry and clear whoosh, the cold wind on the divine path began blowing again. With the ruffling of her heavy dress in the wind and the slight movement of rainwater, Nanke raised her sword to swing again.

Two sword rays erupted from the edge of the Southern Cross Sword. Like two streaks of starlight they chopped towards Chen Changsheng along the straight divine path.

Chen Changsheng raised the Yellow Paper Umbrella to receive it. Hundreds of tiny wind blades burst out from the surface of the umbrella, and with closely-packed cutting sounds, the unbelievably swift and fierce sword intent directly cut through the two streaks of starlight, before shattering them into countless pieces. The stone platform in front of the main entrance of the mausoleum was covered with specks of starlight, floating like a sea of fireflies.

Just at this moment, there was the sound of a zither.

The ground below the divine path had long been wet due to the torrential rain. The old man sat cross-legged in the rain with the zither on his knees. He lowered his head and played a tune with concentration.

The old man was an elder of the Candle Shadow Shamans, and specialised most in mental attacks. It was unknown how much danger was hidden in the sound of the zither that was like the noise of water. The rain that fell from the sky struck the zither string at the same time as his finger. Afterwards, it was shaken into mist by the trembling of the zither string, and with the metallic or breezy sound of the zither, the mist vaguely appeared to be substance.

This was not a thing that truly did exist, but a great spiritual sense. It was like a mountain ghost, like a shaman tiger, and suddenly left the zither on the old man’s knees. Like a hurricane, it arrived on the stone platform. It did not blow away the specks of starlight that was like a sea of fireflies, but instead avoided the Yellow Paper Umbrella surreptitiously. It transformed into several strands of cold wind, landing on Chen Changsheng’s face.