Xu Wandao’s words fell, plunging the scene into a dead silence.
Never mind the Three Sects and Eight Pavilions; even figures like Zhang Henshui and Zhao Wumian whipped their heads around to look at Xu Wandao, their eyes filled with shock.
For the past three hundred years, Senior Xu Yanyang was unquestionably the number one figure in Hua Country’s Martial Dao. His na was a faith held by countless people.
Xu Wandao dared to make a guarantee in the na of his ancestor, Xu Yanyang, and the countless fallen heroes of the Xu Family. This alone illustrated just how much he trusted Xu Lai.
"Why?" Mo Lian, the Sect Master of the Dao Sect, looked lost. "Why do you all believe in him so much..."
"When the Moon Clan’s one-hundred-thousand elite soldiers besieged Chang’an City, Ruan Lan, Xu Yiyi, and Qian Xiao stood their ground at the city gates with the other Martial Artists of Chang’an, not retreating a single step!
"The Sky Ranking transford into a sword, allowing us to defend Chang’an, but we suffered heavy casualties. With no Elixirs or Spirit Plants to treat the injured, they were the ones who risked imnse danger to leave the city in search of Primordial Grass."
Xu Wandao stated solemnly, "Not only did they return with Primordial Grass, but they also brought back hundreds of Elixirs."
"That’s right. Without those Elixirs, I would be dead, and Old Zhang would be dead too," Zhao Wumian said. "Su Zi would have beco a forty-year-old woman with her cultivation crippled. Yao Yuan would have been disfigured, her Boundary plumting from the peak of the Divine Gate Realm to the Ninth Grade.
"Of the over seven hundred Martial Ancestors who returned to Hua Country, at least another one to two hundred would have died. The Boundaries of all the survivors would have fallen to so degree, leaving them with irreversible Dao injuries.
"And all these Elixirs were a gift from Senior Xu Lai. If he is a mber of the Moon Clan, then I implore you all to tell , what was he after? For us of the Human Race to live longer, while the Moon Clan suffers fewer deaths?"
Zhao Wumian’s questions were like daggers stabbing into the hearts of the eleven Holy Land leaders, leaving their mouths dry and their tongues tied. They didn’t doubt the words of Zhao Wumian and the others. On a matter concerning the very survival of the Human Race, these people would not lie.
"Fine! Even if Xu Lai isn’t a traitor, why did he destroy the Penglai Sword Pavilion?" Daoist Chi Huo’s eyes were bloodshot as he said, "The Sword Pavilion lost countless disciples defending Chang’an City! He has severed the path for innurable Sword Cultivators in Hua Country!"
"The path of the Sword Cultivator has always been there." The Watchman ’Zi’, Yao Yuan, also a Sword Cultivator, carried a longsword on her back. "The Penglai Sword Pavilion is one path, practicing in a humble cottage is another, and secluded cultivation is yet another. The path of a Sword Cultivator lies within the sword."
Yao Yuan shook her head in disappointnt. "You don’t understand the sword at all."
"We don’t understand, but Xu Lai does? What right does he have to destroy—" Daoist Chi Huo demanded, but before he could finish speaking, a Sword Intent surged into the sky.
It ca not from nearby, but from a place very, very far away.
However, everyone present was at least at the Eighth Grade Boundary. They seed to sense sothing, and their gazes snapped in unison toward a certain direction: the Shushan Dragon Vein.
No. To be more precise, it was the Sword Ranking, which corresponded from afar with the Sky Ranking of the Shushan Dragon Vein.
Beneath the Sword Ranking, a seven-year-old girl with a ponytail sat cross-legged with her eyes closed. Bizarre streams of Sword Intent fluttered around her like dancing butterflies, instantly startling the ditating Sword Cultivators and the Martial Artists near the Sky Ranking, causing them all to look over.
"Who is she? Such powerful Sword Intent!"
"That’s Xu Die! She once defeated the Sword Pavilion’s genius disciple, Deng Shu. Her strength is comparable to a Seventh Grade Sword Sect, and she’s rumored to possess the legendary Innate Sword Body..."
So did not recognize the girl, but others did.
As the onlookers discussed in low voices, Xu Die suddenly opened her eyes, her calm gaze as clear and pure as a spring.
"The path is beneath one’s feet; one must walk it themself."
"The sword is in one’s hands; one must grasp it themself."
"Xu Die thanks you, Senior, for guiding the way."
Having gained so enlightennt, Xu Die stood up and bowed respectfully. With that bow, the terrifying Sword Intent that all of Hua Country’s high-ranking Martial Ancestors could sense receded in an instant.
「At the foot of Mount Haitang.」
The Watchman ’Zi’, Yao Yuan’s pupils contracted sharply. If Xu Die was previously a blade always revealing its sharp edge, she had now concealed all her sharpness within its sheath. Her sword could now wound without being drawn. If it was drawn, it would kill.
Xu Die straightened up, her gaze fixed on the Sword Ranking. Suddenly, an illusion appeared in her eyes. It was a young man standing amidst the Vast Universe. His figure was lonely and desolate. Compared to any single star, he was as insignificant as an ant, let alone standing in the boundless cosmos.
But at the sa ti, he was imnse, as if towering between heaven and earth. Amidst the countless dazzling stars, Xu Die’s gaze first fell upon that very ordinary-looking young man, and then she found she could not look away.
As if sensing her gaze, the young man turned around, sized up Xu Die, and smiled amiably. "Your talent isn’t low."
"But it isn’t high, either." An indescribable sense of affinity welled up in Xu Die’s heart, causing her to break into a sweet smile as well.
This figure was, of course, Xu Lai. Or rather, it was a manifestation of a wisp of Qingfeng Sword Intent he had left behind. It was a pity it wasn’t the complete Sword Intent.
"I will say this only once, and I will perform only one strike."
Standing in the Vast Universe, Xu Lai brought two fingers together like a sword and slashed forward. Not a single star exploded. There was no ripple of Spiritual Energy, nor was there any leakage of Sword Intent. It was as if he were just playing around.
Yet, it was this utterly ordinary strike that left the girl with the Innate Sword Body completely spellbound.
She was profoundly shocked.
What kind of sword strike was that?
It was as calm as flowing water and as gentle as a soft breeze. This simple strike, impossible to describe with words, had opened the door to another world for Xu Die. Her eyes were srized as she constantly savored the form and intent of the strike she had just witnessed.
After an unknown amount of ti passed in this ’world’ constructed from Qingfeng Sword Intent, Xu Die’s eyes gradually cleared.
Xu Lai tilted his head and asked, "How much did you understand?"
"One part form, one part intent." Though her tone was regretful, Xu Die’s eyes shone with brilliance.
She possessed the Innate Sword Body. Her talent for the sword was hundreds, even thousands of tis greater than that of an ordinary Sword Cultivator. She naturally understood just how powerful the Sword Intent she had just seen, learned, and comprehended truly was.
"Your talent really isn’t low," Xu Lai praised.
The Qingfeng Sword Intent had nine forms in total. Xu Lai had taken a tiny wisp of Sword Intent from a single one of those forms to forge the Sword Ranking, which in turn divided that wisp into ten portions. Xu Die had only comprehended one of those ten portions, and had only grasped one part of its form and one part of its intent. Yet, in Xu Lai’s eyes, this was already a remarkable talent. In the Immortal Domain, many of heaven’s chosen couldn’t even imitate the ’form’ in such a short ti, let alone comprehend the ’intent’.
"But it also isn’t high."
Xu Die shook her head, and the world of Sword Intent dissipated. She found herself standing before the Sword Ranking, right where she had been all along. Everything that had just happened felt like a dream.
But Xu Die knew it was no dream.
She was only seven years old, just 1.2 ters tall. As she soared into the air, her small stature appeared extrely frail, yet a terrifying aura slowly began to emanate from her body.
Xu Die’s gaze fell upon the Sword Ranking. She unleashed the strike she had just comprehended, sparking a single, strange thought in the minds of the nearby Martial Artists.
She is going to inscribe her na on the Sword Ranking!
A sense of disbelief arose in the crowd. Even the Divine Gate Realm Sword Cultivator from the Penglai Sword Pavilion had failed to leave the slightest mark on the Sword Ranking.
How could she possibly succeed?
Under the doubtful gazes of nearly everyone, two new characters appeared beneath the flamboyant character for ’Xu’—
Xu Die!
Dozens of auspicious clouds materialized in the sky, and the faint sound of the Great Dao echoed—a heavenly phenonon.
「April 14th.」
With a single strike, Xu Die entered the Divine Gate.
She not only left the first na on the Sword Ranking but also took a sword from it.
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