Chapter 2141: Sword in Hand
Long Qianjue was the late Yushi Moli’s hero. That didn’t change when Lu Yun inherited everything from the boy.
Yushi Moli had idolized the legendary swordsman ever since reading about Long Qianjue’s feats when he was eight. He often daydreamed about being a powerhouse like Long Qianjue—able to vault into the top ranks of the continent’s heavyweights through sword skills alone!
Four years of cultivation!
The young Yushi Moli had wanted to give up more than once, but the presence of his idol stoked his fighting spirit again and again. Sadly, his previous training methods had been wrong and overtaxed his body. Even the medicinal baths hadn’t been enough and he’d died from fatigue.
Another soul took up residence in his body, becoming the new Yushi Moli. The new version of him now read about Long Qianjue’s other feats in another book.
A gold medal assassin of the Sanguine Dusk Tavern!
“So the Sanguine Dusk Tavern is an assassin organization? Just like that, out in the open?” Yushi Moli blinked dazedly. He put his current book down and walked over to the bookshelves. “Ah, found it, this one.”
He pulled out “Winds of Change in the Continent” from the shelves. Not only did it detail the rise and fall of dynasties in the continent, but it also recorded the makeup of numerous factions.
He’d paged through it earlier, but hadn’t been very interested.
“Found it, Sanguine Dusk Tavern!” Yushi Moli lit up. “The Sanguine Dusk Tavern is one of the seven unfading factions of the continent. It reigns over the empire!”
Shock bloomed in his eyes. In his understanding, Qiulan Empire was the strongest, most mysterious, and loftiest entity out there. His father, Yushi Jianchou, was the strongest of Aurora City and a peak celestial rank expert. But even he had to bow and scrape before the empire.
To Yushi Moli, celestial rank cultivators were the strongest existence there was. There were too many to be counted in the empire, but Sanguine Dusk Tavern outstripped it!
How strong must it be!
Yushi Moli’s hands shook as he continued to read about the tavern. Though its status as being one of the seven unfading factions on the continent made it incredible beyond belief in the eyes of ordinary people, it was nothing special to veteran cultivators. Neither was its existence some sort of secret.
“Sanguine Dusk Tavern is the foremost assassin organization on the continent! Its assassins are divided into bronze, silver, gold, and aureate assassins. Its origins are unknown and it has sent out only six aureate assassins throughout the course of its history. Whenever they did so, an emperor fell!
“Someone as strong as Senior Long Qianjue was only a gold medal assassin, so how strong does that make their aureate ones?” Yushi Moli grew excited the more he read. “If the senior can do it, so can I!
“Senior Long Qianjue was a qi absentia constitution, but I’m not! I cultivate the Sword Chart of Heaven and Earth and observe the sword of heaven and earth. I’ll do better than the senior!”
A fire ignited in Yushi Moli’s chest after he learned about these movers and shakers of the continent. More importantly was that he somehow felt he would surely grow stronger, and that something unexpected would happen after he broke through celestial rank.
……
The days passed, one by one, in simple monotony. Yushi Moli ate, slept, practiced, tempered his body, and studied. He occasionally took a walk around Clearsnow Estate or the nearby paths of Qingqiu Mountain.
A month passed by in the blink of an eye.
Though he’d left his childhood home, life was very enjoyable for him. His heart and mind cleared up once he was removed from the idle gossip and unwarranted eye rolls of the city lord’s residence.
His mind was strong to begin with and many things came easily to him, like they were his natural instincts. Training with his sword was easier than before. Most important of all was that the shadow in his mind continued to grow clearer.
He stopped his daily practice of one thousand pierces—it was superfluous in his current state and completely ineffective for his cultivation.
What he did everyday was practice the basic sword techniques with his weapon. They were the only sword methods that he knew.
Mornings were spent with the sword. Afternoons for tempering the body. Evenings were reserved for reading and meditation.
He slept very little as the observation method recorded in the Sword Chart of Heaven and Earth was more effective than sleeping. All an exhausted Yushi Moli needed to do was to meditate for a few hours to be revitalized again.
In the middle of autumn.
The forests of Qingqiu Mountain.
Yushi Moli practiced the basic sword methods again and again. They were flawless and seemed like they were a natural part of him when he deployed them.
Yet, he was still dissatisfied—sword in hand was a basic maneuver. He repeated the techniques time and time again.
The grass and trees had yellowed in the mountain’s forests and the autumn wind fluttered gently past them. Leaves drifted from the balding trees; Yushi Moli’s mood was suddenly affected by the atmosphere of this part of the land. He seemed to sense the aura of the seasons—the desolate bleakness of autumn.
An ambience of all life quieting, all creation declining wove through his heart. The sword in his hand began to slow down and a tenor of something different seemed to outline them. His sword shifted from fast, to slow, and fast again until it smoothed out into a gentle transition.
It was as if the sword was the autumn wind drifting through the mountain, carrying a hint of desolation and bleakness. The sword and aura of autumn seemed to blend together.
Whoosh!
Yushi Moli’s sword trembled and an intangible gust of qi burst forth.
Crack!
Five meters in front of him, a branch the width of a thigh broke upon impact, jarring Yushi Moli out of his peculiar mental state.
“That was… what was that?” He stared dumbly at the weapon in his hand. “The mid stage of sword in hand?” He breathed out incredulously.
He’d been initial stage of sword in hand before, but now he’d suddenly set foot into mid stage. That stroke had been the power commanded by an upper human rank cultivator! Incredible!
One had to know that since he lacked true qi, his body was weaker than even a lower human rank cultivator, but his sword could deploy the might of upper human rank!
“That was…” Yushi Moli frowned slightly at the Qingfeng Sword, musing over the feeling he’d just felt.
He suddenly slashed forward, delivering a move that was like the autumn wind. Bleak! Desolate!
Whoosh!
Intangible sword qi burst forth again and another small tree in front of him was severed!
This time, his breathing was rapid—a testament to how draining the move was.
“Since this move comes from the autumn wind… Let’s call it Autumn Wind!” Joy shone out of his face. He’d finally gained something after four years of cultivation!
But at the same time, he also felt that his sudden accomplishment seemed to have nothing to do with his past training.
“I must succeed, I will become a peak swordsman like Senior Long Qianjue! Father, I won’t let you down! I won’t… let any of you down,” he promised heroically, not realizing who he meant by “any of you”.
