Sword Sect.

Over these years, this sect suspended in midair had essentially passed its time between the sect master’s closed-door cultivation, emerging from seclusion, and then entering seclusion again. Disciples with worse luck who had newly come up the mountain likely only knew that their sect master was the number one sword dao grandmaster in the world, and nothing more.

They had never seen that Sword Sect’s Sect Master, and could only hear their martial uncles speak of that supreme figure in the sword dao under heaven.

There was a young sword cultivator, only seven or eight years old, who had just been taken in as a disciple by an aged sword cultivator of the Sword Sect. That old sword cultivator had been devoted to the sword dao his entire life. His aptitude was not bad, yet for some reason, despite burying himself in sword cultivation all his life, he remained stuck before Nepenthe, never earning from the world the title of sword immortal. One sixty-year cycle ago, that old sword cultivator still believed he had a chance, so he entered seclusion for another sixty years. But when that period ended, he finally gave up completely, knowing that in this life, he no longer had any hope.

Taking advantage of the few remaining years he still had to live, the old sword cultivator, who had entrusted the great path of sword dao to the next generation, finally went down the mountain. He traveled, stopping and going, and after two years, finally found a child with good innate talent in Wei Prefecture. That child was born into a farming household. When he was found, he was playing in the mud with other children in the fields. The first thing he said upon seeing the old sword cultivator left the old man speechless. Only after much persuasion did the old sword cultivator finally coax the boy into leaving home and coming to the Sword Sect. Yet the boy made a fuss every day, clamoring to see the Sword Sect’s Sect Master that the master he got for free kept talking about.

He wanted to see what the strongest sword cultivator under heaven actually looked like.

This gave the old sword cultivator a massive headache. Not to mention that the sect master was already in seclusion, even if he were not, he was not someone you could see just because you wanted to. Because of this, the old sword cultivator’s still-living fellow disciples could not help but tease him whenever they saw him.

And so, after practicing the sword for only half a day, the boy started clamoring to see the Sword Sect’s Sect Master again. The old sword cultivator was so worried that a few more strands of hair had turned white. Coming before his final disciple, he forced a smile and said, “A’Xun, as long as you train your sword properly on the mountain, sooner or later you will get to see the sect master. Why be in such a hurry? Listen to your master, when your cultivation realm is a bit higher and you meet the sect master, he will definitely remember you at a glance. Just think about it: when the sect master looks around like that, he suddenly spots you in the crowd and thinks, whose disciple is this? Such good aptitude, wouldn’t he remember you immediately?”

As the old sword cultivator spoke, he carefully observed his disciple’s expression. All these years, he had not achieved much in sword cultivation, and he was not good at dealing with people either.

These words had already drained all of his brain juices to come up with.

The boy named Song Xun was different from ordinary farm boys, he was extremely clever. After making a fuss for a while, seeing his master like this, he softened a little and probed, “Master, tell me the truth, have you actually never even seen that sect master yourself? Were all those things you said before just to trick me into coming up the mountain?”

The old sword cultivator looked helpless. Though his cultivation realm among his peers was nothing to boast about, to say he had never seen the sect master would be complete nonsense.

“Alright, Master, stop racking your brain trying to comfort me. I get it, if I rely on you to meet the sect master, then it’s probably hopeless in this lifetime.”

Song Xun sighed, a bit resentful at his master’s failure to live up to expectations. But more than that, he felt a bit of heartache for him.

How was it that at such an age, no one even listened to him when he spoke?

The old sword cultivator was not annoyed. He plopped down on the ground and said with a grin, “That sect master might not be someone you can meet, but if that fellow surnamed Yu returns to the mountain one day, Master will definitely have him teach you a move or two. You should know, back when that kid was about your age, Master gave him quite a bit of guidance. By now, he ought to repay the favor.”

Song Xun gave an “oh,” not particularly interested in that so-called great sword immortal Yu Xiyi. But that was normal, having only just begun practicing the sword, the little fellow could only see the highest mountain in his eyes. As for any other mountains, they simply did not exist in his view.

Not just him, even Yu Xiyi back then had been pretty much the same.

The old sword cultivator rubbed his disciple’s head, thinking that he had more or less passed down everything he had in this lifetime. His disciple was also a genius, after such a short time, he had basically learned everything, only his cultivation realm was still low. What remained was just the slow grind.

“A’Xun, you train your sword properly. In the future, maybe you won’t even need to say a bunch of admiring words to the sect master. When the time comes, just go straight up to him and say, ‘Your Father, Song Xun, have come to challenge you in the sword!’ Isn’t that much more imposing? When that time comes, I, as your master, will have face too.”

Song Xun gave an “oh,” still not very interested.

But the old sword cultivator felt quite gratified. But now he began thinking about something else, since his sword dao had a successor, he did not really want to just die of old age like this. Perhaps he could go to the Northern Frontier, kill a few demons, and make the trip through this mortal world worthwhile.

Just as the old sword cultivator was thinking, a tall figure had already arrived before the master and disciple. Song Xun suddenly opened his eyes, looked up at that figure, froze for a moment, and quickly tugged at his master’s sleeve.

"Master..."

Song Xun spoke softly.

The old sword cultivator came back to his senses with some dissatisfaction. Just as he was about to say something, he saw the man before him.

"Sect Master!"

At the first glance, Song Xun had already recognized the man with long hair streaked with black and white. The first thing he had done upon coming up the mountain was to go to the great hall where portraits of past patriarchs were hung and kowtow. Among them, the central portrait of the Sword Sect’s Sect Master was the one he remembered most clearly.

But though he had been shouting all along that he wanted to see the sect master, now that he truly saw him, he was so frightened that he could not say a single word.

“Qingshan, this disciple of yours has better aptitude than you.”

The Sword Sect’s Sect Master stood with hands behind his back, looked at Song Xun, and gave a rare praise.

The old sword cultivator chuckled, glanced at his disciple, only to find that the boy had already hidden behind him. The old sword cultivator sighed, what a useless brat.

“Sect Master, my disciple is called Song Xun. In the future, he will definitely be a sword immortal!”

The Sword Sect’s Sect Master stood with hands behind his back and smiled. “Not enough.”

Hearing these two words, the old sword cultivator felt as if struck by lightning. Not enough? Even becoming a sword immortal was not enough? Could it be that his disciple was truly some great talent?

The Sword Sect’s Sect Master said calmly, “Just by looking at his eyes, you can tell he is made for the sword. Given time, he has a chance to reach the realm of a great sword immortal. But in sword cultivation, one must not slack off, preserving one’s original heart is what matters.”

After saying this, the Sword Sect’s Sect Master vanished in a flash, leaving the master and disciple staring at each other.

The boy rubbed his cheeks somewhat in disbelief, then pinched himself hard - it hurt!

Only after doing this did Song Xun carefully ask, “Master, that really was the sect master?”

The old sword cultivator stroked his beard and smiled. “Of course, silly boy. Who else could it be besides the sect master?”

“Ah, Master, didn’t you say the sect master was in seclusion? Why did he come out of seclusion now?”

Song Xun looked confused.

The old sword cultivator stopped what he was doing, looked toward where the Sword Sect’s Sect Master had disappeared, and sighed, “I’d like to know too.”

......

......

In front of the Sword Sect, the Sword Sect’s Sect Master hovered in midair, looking at the uninvited guest who had arrived without notice.

“Lord Warden Commander, what brings you to my Sword Sect?”

Looking at that young martial artist, even the Sword Sect’s Sect Master was momentarily dazed. How long had it been? Though the person before him looked weak at the moment, he had clearly taken another step forward.

Cultivation was difficult, yet some people seemed to be just like this, walking along this Great Dao as if on level ground.