Chapter 2 (1/2)
Translator: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon
Dawn.
In the training grounds of the Mirror Lake Meng Manor, Liu Qiyue was practicing her archery skills while Meng Chuan was practicing his saber arts in a corner.
Swoos.h.!.+ Swoos.h.!.+
His saber arts were ethereal, bizarre, and unpredictable.
Furthermore, he was extremely fast. This was one of the best swift saber arts that mortals could learn—Falling Leaf Saber.
When he was six, he had undergone the family’s tests and was confirmed that he was the most talented in the swift saber arts. He loved to cultivate the swift saber because… it was fast!
After practicing the basic saber arts for two years at home, his father—Meng Dajiang—sent him to one of the eight major Dao Academies in the Eastcalm Prefecture when he was eight years old. Although the dean of the Mirror Lake Dao Academy—Ge Yu—was of average moral character, he was the fastest at using the saber in the entire Eastcalm Prefecture!
Meng Chuan had honed his basic saber arts to perfection when he was nine. His foundation was solid, and he was taught a good saber art—Wind Chasing Saber.
At the age of eleven, he had cultivated the Wind Chasing Saber to perfection. The dean then personally taught him his best saber art, the Falling Leaf Saber.
At thirteen years old, he achieved the Greater Mastery stage for Falling Leaf Saber, and became one of the members of the Dao Academy’s Mountain River Pavilion. Mountain River Pavilion only accepted the most outstanding disciples out of thousands of promising disciples in the entire Mirror Lake Dao Academy. Even now, Mountain River Pavilion only had 22 disciples.
Now, he was fifteen years old.
Unfortunately, my Falling Leaf Saber is still only at the Greater Mastery stage. I haven’t perfected it yet. Meng Chuan stopped, scrutinized the saber in his hand, then frowned. How can I figure out the secret technique of the Falling Leaf Saber and reach the first major realm of saber arts—the Unity realm?
All skills, regardless of what they involved—saber, sword, spears, etc—had major realms.
The first major realm was Unity. It referred to the fusion of one’s body, heart, and skills into one that allowed one to unleash unimaginable might.
The second major realm was known as “Force,” and the world was filled with such forces! The mountains had mountainous forces and water had aqueous forces. The usage of saber arts that required one to have similar worldly, terraneous, and elemental forces, gave rise to the Saber Force. For those who used swords, there was Sword Force. All of this implied a higher realm.
Yet, Meng Chuan remained at the foundational stage after so many years. Of course, he had honed his foundation to the limit. His saber arts were only one step away from reaching the Unity realm.
But the final step… was the most difficult!
Even in all of Eastcalm Prefecture, there are very few people who can reach the Unity realm. Meng Chuan knew this very well. Only by reaching the Unity realm would one be considered a true expert. Otherwise, they will only be mediocre.
The mediocre—even if they had plenty of Quintessential Energy—were nothing more than target dummies with greater strength and speed.
They would be killed the moment they clashed with a true expert.
According to the Falling Leaf Saber’s description, it’s divided into eighty-one stances. As long as one hones the 81 stances to a state of perfection, they will naturally be able to grasp the secret technique: Third Autumn Leaf. It will also be equivalent to reaching the first major realm of the saber art—Unity. Meng Chuan was rather lost because the entire manual only described the Unity realm with a short paragraph.
There was no other description. Even the moves were unrecorded.
“Naturally be able to grasp the secret technique” was too ambiguous. His Falling Leaf Saber had achieved Greater Mastery for two years; But, despite cultivating diligently every day, why hadn’t he been able to “naturally” figure out the secret technique?
Mortal cultivation is divided into five stages: Foundation Establishment, Internal Tempering, Marrow Cleansing, Mortal Shedding, and Seamless. To reach the Seamless realm from the Mortal Shedding realm… one has to hone their saber or sword skills to the Unity realm. Only when body, mind, and technique are truly united can one integrate all the powers in the Mortal Shedding realm, allowing for a breakthrough to the Seamless realm in one fell swoop. In a large family clan, sufficient pills are provided, so reaching the Mortal Shedding realm isn’t difficult. But very few can reach the Seamless realm!
He started establis.h.i.+ng his foundation when he was six.
He stepped into the Internal Tempering realm at the age of nine, and Marrow Cleansing at twelve. According to his estimates, he should be able to reach the perfected Marrow Cleansing realm around June. This sort of speed was considered average among the core disciples of a G.o.dfiend family clan. A lazy person like Yun Qingping had also reached the Marrow Cleansing stage at the age of fifteen thanks to her plentiful consumption of valuable pills. Her progress was considered rather slow.
Mortal cultivation had five main realms: Foundation Establishment, Internal Tempering, Marrow Cleansing, Mortal Shedding, and Seamless.
Further up was the G.o.dfiend realm.
The gap between the G.o.dfiend realm and the Seamless realm was like a chasm!
Becoming a G.o.dfiend was extremely difficult. In the past century, only a few people in Eastcalm Prefecture became G.o.dfiends.
I swore before my mother’s grave that I must become a G.o.dfiend in this life. I shall slay demons and avenge my mother. He stopped practicing and looked at the saber in his hand. He had been ignorant as a child, but he now knew the difficulty of becoming a G.o.dfiend. However, he refused to give up no matter how difficult it was. I have to master the Saber Unity realm as quickly as possible. In the future, I will need to master the second realm, Force. Only then will I have some hope of becoming a G.o.dfiend.
Suddenly—
“Chuan’er.” A rotund figure walked into the training grounds.
Meng Chuan turned around. “Dad.”
The middle-aged man in front of him had a smile on his face. This was his father, Meng Dajiang. He ran a restaurant—the biggest restaurant in Eastcalm Prefecture. He was also destined to be the next clan leader of the Meng family.
Meng Dajiang was extremely powerful. He was one of the small handful of people who were considered the strongest under the G.o.dfiend realm, and he also cultivated saber arts. Furthermore, he was a Seamless realm expert that attained Saber Force. But as a forty-seven-year-old, his chances of becoming a G.o.dfiend grew increasingly slim!
“Uncle Meng.” Liu Qiyue also walked over.
“The 3rd of March is Jadesun Palace’s Demon-Slaying Meet, right? Qiyue is a sharpshooter, so Blazing Sun Dao Academy will definitely reserve a spot for you.” As Meng Dajiang spoke, Liu Qiyue nodded happily. Meng Dajiang looked at his son and asked, “Chuan’er, what about you? There are only three spots for Mirror Lake Dao Academy’s Marrow Cleansing disciples. Are you confident about obtaining one?”
“I’m not confident.” Meng Chuan knew himself. He said, “There isn’t much difference between the top ten disciples of the Dao Academy at the Marrow Cleansing stage. I have some hope to vie for it, but the chances of failing aren’t zero. If I can figure out the secret technique of Falling Leaf Saber, I’ll definitely have the confidence. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to figure it out. Dad, do you have any special tricks to cultivate the secret technique?”
“Haha, your dean is the best swift saber expert in Eastcalm Prefecture. He will teach you what’s necessary,” said Meng Dajiang with a laugh. “As for the secret technique, I think it’s just about having more practice. More practice might lead to you figuring it out.”
Meng Chuan felt helpless.
There was no trick.
“Don’t harp on it. Among your generation in Eastcalm Prefecture, n.o.body in the Marrow Cleansing realm has figured out the secret technique.” Meng Dajiang laughed. “In the Meng family, I’m the most outstanding member of my generation; yet, it took me until I was nineteen before I figured out the secret technique.”
“However, according to legend, Patriarch Zhang grasped the secret technique at the age of thirteen, allowing his sword art to reach the Unity realm.” Meng Chuan sighed.