Chapter One Fainted

  Last night's skill inheritance took longer than expected, and Xiao Zhan didn't wake up until noon. However, thinking of the astonishing sword power in "Ba Jian Dao", a happy smile appeared on his face. When night fell, he was determined to take a look at the ring and see what kind of expectations this sword manual would bring him.

  Huh? Wait!

  Why must you wait until nightfall to enter?

  Can I go in anytime and anywhere, or has sneaking around become a habit?

  Xiao Zhan stroked his chin, his eyes rolling around in thought. He had a cheap master, who just happened to have given him a ring. If anyone asked, he could shift all the blame onto him. Who made him so irresponsible, patting his butt and leaving, making his apprentice rack his brains.

  He thought of a way to deal with it, Xiao Zhan's face suddenly lit up. He quickly found Shi Ya and had her prepare some food, after filling his stomach, he returned to the bedroom, softly chanting the opening spell, a green light flashed and he disappeared inside the house.

  When his vision recovered, Xiao Zhan was already standing inside the hall. He picked up the floating sword dao card and hastily entered the corresponding secret room. Looking at the lonely ancient book on the bookshelf, he had an excited face.

  He picked up the secret book, and when he turned to the first page, Xiao Zhan left a heart. He called out Xiao Mi and asked: "Xiao Mi, the corresponding card has been activated. Can I read this secret book now?"

  "It's natural."

  Xiao Mi's voice is still as cheerful as ever.

  Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhan's eyebrows opened and he smiled, eagerly turning to the first page of the secret book. In an instant, sword intent surged towards the sky, and the overbearing font entered his eyes.

  "I have spent my life pursuing the ultimate sword path, establishing the dominant sword path. However, when I reached the pinnacle of the dominant sword, I suddenly realized that this was only a minor path of the sword. Under the sky, there are countless sword paths, what is the true sword path?"

  "I searched the world for the great way, only to find that there is no sword way. The countless sword ways in the world are all derived from various great ways, such as yin and yang, five elements, wind, rain, thunder and lightning, destruction, tyranny, life and death cycle, time and space... etc., can be integrated into the sword, thereby forming a corresponding sword way."

  "What is true swordsmanship then?"

  "The Way of the Sword should be a general term for all rules and principles of swordsmanship. All sword ways in the world exist based on this highest rule and principle. For example, understanding the Five Elements Sword Way is just understanding one branch of the sword way, which is only a part of this system, belonging to the minor way of the sword."

  "The true way of the sword is the way that encompasses all ways of the sword."

  "I divide the sword path into nine categories. The Hegemonic Sword Path that rules everything; the Slaughter Sword Path born for slaughter; the strongest offensive and defensive sword path in the material world; the Good and Evil Sword Path that encompasses all good and evil in the world; the mysterious and unpredictable Mysterious Sword Path; the Destructive Sword Path that exists solely for destruction; the Cycle of Life and Death Sword Path where one lives and dies with each sword strike; the Time-Space Sword Path from which nothing can escape once it has existed; and the Destiny Sword Path that disregards all defenses."

  "Only when the nine returns to one can the supreme sword path be achieved. Unfortunately, when I wanted to cultivate other sword paths again, I found that the tyrant sword in my body could no longer accommodate any other alien sword paths."

  Xiao Zhan sat cross-legged on the ground, studying the "Ba Jian Dao" in his hand.

  This ancient book was made of special materials, water and fire could not invade it, and swords and knives could hardly hurt it. After reading the preface, Xiao Zhan finally had a general understanding of swordsmanship. He took a deep breath and slowly turned to the next page of the ancient book.

  As the pages turned, each character was like a sword out of its scabbard, shining brightly and soaring into the sky. When they gathered into sentences and paragraphs, an incredible scene unfolded!

  Xiao Zhan suddenly discovered that every font had come to life, jumping out of the paper and dancing in unison. Suddenly, they merged into one, transforming into a sword saint with white clothes like snow and silver hair and eyes. He saw that his gaze was like a sword, staring at Xiao Zhan, his eyes cold and emotionless.

  Xiao Zhan's gaze met his eyes, and instantly the scene before him darkened. When his vision recovered, he found himself in an unfamiliar space. All he saw was a dazzling sword light that shone brightly, and within this space, the Sword Saint was practicing a set of sword moves.

  No earth-shattering power, no shocking scenes, just simple moves. A majestic, overbearing and ferocious sword intent is pressing down on Xiao Zhan, making him like a small boat in a stormy sea, swaying precariously, as if he will capsize and perish at any moment.

  Xiao Zhan's footsteps had just retreated when the Sword Saint, who was practicing his sword skills, suddenly rose up and thrust a sword at him.

  The sword light dazzles the eyes, the sword intent sweeps across the sky!

  As he looked at this sword, the thoughts of evasion and resistance in Xiao Zhan's heart were crushed to pieces. He was as if frozen in place, his eyes dull and unable to move. It seemed that his soul, his thoughts had been stripped away by this sword, leaving only an empty shell behind.

  The expected pain did not arrive, and when Xiao Zhan came to his senses, he returned to the bookshelf. However, that set of sword moves seemed to have taken root in his mind, leaving an indelible mark that was hard to forget.

  Dazed, Xiao Zhan's heart was filled with confusion. When he lowered his head to look at the secret manual in his hand, each character seemed to have lost its vitality, no longer having the sharpness of a sword, no longer having the grandeur of a sword intent, becoming ordinary and common.

  In a state of astonishment, Xiao Zhan wanted to turn to the next page and continue reading.

  "Can't bear to look at the next page!"

  Right on cue, Xiao Mi's voice rang out.

  Xiao Zhan's movements stiffened, and he hesitated: "Why?"

  "Without a corresponding epiphany about the sword, watching a higher level of swordsmanship will be utterly crushed by the consciousness left behind by the original master of the sword!"

  Thinking back to the terrifying sword of Jian Sheng just now, Xiao Zhan's hand was like being electrocuted, and he quickly withdrew it. Then, with a lingering fear, he patted his chest and couldn't help but say: "Xiao Mi, didn't the secret book say there were nine sword paths? Why didn't I see Jian Sheng store any?"

  "Naturally collected, but the master must agree to a condition before these secret recipes will appear."

  Xiao Zhan's eyes lit up, and he asked expectantly: "Tell me, what are the conditions?"

  "Fulfilling the Sword Saint's last wish, cultivating nine types of sword paths, practicing until reaching the realm of 99 returns to one."

  "It's so simple!"

  Xiao Zhan was excitedly stroking his chin, just by looking at the "Ba Jian Dao", he could infer the greatness of the other eight sword paths. If he practiced all of them, wouldn't he be invincible in the world? Such a good thing, if not accepted, would be foolish.

  Xiao Zhan had just nodded in response when Jian Sheng's voice suddenly appeared inside the house.

  "My successor, I hope you remember your promise. From now on, when learning sword techniques, I will be a bit more gentle. Haha!"

  The voice came suddenly, and only startled Xiao Zhan. After a while, he saw that the Sword Saint hadn't jumped out, and then let out a sigh of relief. However, in his heart, he was secretly scolding: "This guy isn't dead yet, why is he still lingering? In the future, I'll be gentler, this is clearly threatening him, forcing him to cultivate the nine sword paths together."

  Suddenly, Xiao Zhan was stunned, and saw that the originally empty bookshelf in the house was now filled with all kinds of swordsmanship secret books. In an instant, he threw away his previous depression, pounced on it, and flipped through them one by one.

  We're rich! We're rich! This time we've really struck it rich!

  Looking at the house full of swordsmanship secrets, Xiao Zhan laughed happily.

  Who is the Sword Saint? He's an existence that views billions of troops as nothing, so how can the sword manuals he collects be simple? Just thinking about the Sword Saint's Overlord Sword Dao makes one realize the ferocity of these sword manuals. As long as you casually master a few sets of sword techniques, the day when you'll be invincible in the world isn't far off. Thinking to this point, Xiao War became completely frenzied, he seemed to have already seen his own peerless and unmatched appearance in the world.

  "You're laughing quite lewdly, sir."

  Xiao Zhan's laughter stopped abruptly, and he rolled his eyes, saying: "Little honey, now that we have the secret manual, how do we cultivate the sword technique?"

  "Of course, I'll cultivate all nine sword paths at the same time!"

  "Why cultivate together, can't we cultivate separately?"

  "The sword path is divided into nine parts, each with nine different sword intents, and each intent is further divided into nine layers. Therefore, a single sword path ultimately has eighty-one swords. Nine nines return to one, the nine intents of each layer can be combined, naturally the nine swords can also be combined, until finally merged into one sword, this sword path is practiced to perfection. As for why they need to cultivate together, it's because there is a repulsion between different sword paths, and the higher the level, the greater the repulsion, so only by cultivating together from the beginning will do."

  "Can I start practicing the first level of swordsmanship now?"

  "No!"

  Xiao Zhan lost his voice and asked: "Why?"

  Xiao Mi explained: "To cultivate the first level of swordsmanship, one must grasp the heart of the sword."

  Xiao Zhan looked puzzled and said: "Sword heart? What is that?"

  "The way of the sword is divided into eight realms: heart, soul, will, spirit, domain, god, fasting, and sage."

  "The heart is also called the sword heart, and the sword heart is formed by condensing the essence of countless sword paths. The sword heart is the foundation and root of the sword path, it's the soul of the sword, equivalent to a person's heart, and the nine sword paths must have nine different sword hearts."

  "Po is also called Jian Po, it is used to store the heart of the sword, equivalent to the body of the sword. Divine soldiers and sharp swords can be used as the po of the sword, or the sword energy can be condensed into a sword po. The sword po exists in the human body, if the human body is stronger, then the sword po can also be stronger, the realm of the sword po is also called the refining body realm."

  "It is also called sword intent, a kind of sublimation of the sword, and the will of the sword. It's like a person's character, with strong subjective consciousness. When one grasps the sword intent, the sword energy will produce self-consciousness, and then attack the enemy."

  Xiao Zhan listened with relish and saw Xiao Mi stop, so he couldn't help but ask: "What about the realm behind?"

  "The next few realms are still far away from the master, knowing them now is meaningless, let's talk about it later."

  "What should I do to cultivate my sword heart then?"

  "The refinement of Jianxin is simple, it's just practicing swordsmanship to perfection and then using the essence of swordsmanship to refine the heart."

  Xiao Zhan Xi said: "Then I just need to practice nine sets of swordsmanship."

  "Nine sets are too few, although they can also condense the sword heart, but the power is too small. If the master wants to condense the sword heart, Xiaomi suggests that you use at least 1,000 sets of sword law essence to condense each type of sword heart, so that the condensed sword heart will have greater power. As long as the master practices all the sword laws in this house to perfection, it's almost possible to condense nine sword hearts."

  Xiao Zhan turned his head to look at the bookshelves that filled the room, and counted in his heart. There were probably over ten thousand books. He couldn't help but swallow his saliva and say, "So many secret recipes, won't it be a bit too much?"

  "The master should gather nine sword hearts, each with at least a thousand sets of small honey, it's still too little, better to use tens of thousands of sets of sword law essence to condense and practice, then the small honey guarantees that the master's sword law will be invincible in the world."

  Xiao Zhan widened his eyes and said: "Each type has tens of thousands of sets, isn't that equivalent to cultivating 90,000 sets of sword techniques? Do you think I'm Superman?"

  "Ah! Master, isn't it true that you've been cultivating the 'Dream' technique? With a time ratio of 10:1, if you spend a few more years, Master will almost be able to grasp the Sword Heart."

  Xiao Zhan rolled his eyes fiercely, to say nothing of 900,000 sets, even if it were 9,000 sets, it would cost him his life. Helpless, he let out a sigh and randomly pulled out a swordsmanship manual from the bookshelf, sat cross-legged on the ground, and carefully read through it.

  For a moment, the house fell silent. After a while, Xiaomi said: "Master, do you feel lonely and bored when cultivating alone? Do you need someone to come and comfort you?"

  Xiao Zhan didn't react at all, and Xiao Mi continued: "Master, do you need a beautiful woman to provide you with the best service by your side?"

  "What a lovely lady?"

  Xiao Zhan raised his head, looked around and couldn't help but smile: "Not bad! This idea is really not bad! Next time you come in, bring Snow Dance and Snow Stare, this beautiful and moving pair of twins, let them serve left and right, wouldn't that be great!"

  "Master, Xiao Mi said it wasn't them."

  Xiao Zhan exclaimed: "Not them, are you referring to Shi Ya and Wei Mei?"

  "Master," said Xiao Mi with a pout, "the person I'm talking about is myself!"

  Xiao Zhan disbelievingly said: "You? Could it be a beauty?"

  Xiao Mi's voice was excited as she said: "Ever since Master's dream realm was fully formed and his spiritual power increased by a factor of two, Xiao Mi suddenly gained the ability to transform into human form. Oh heavens! Xiao Mi has been waiting for this day for a long time!"

  Xiao Zhan said in a puzzled tone: "Then why don't you transform into a human and come out? Every time you speak, it's so airy and light, making people feel very uncomfortable."

  "According to the Intimate Honey Guard Rules, only with the master's consent can I transform into a human form. The master has been busy lately, when would I have had time to ask?"

  Xiao Zhan Xi said: "Then hurry up and come out, every time I can only hear the voice, but don't know what Xiao Mi looks like?"

  "Please wait for a moment, sir."

  Before long, a girl of about fourteen years old, wearing a black cheongsam, appeared in the house. She was absolutely beautiful, with a slender figure and a charming smile that seemed to suggest the blossoming of a jade flower and the shining of bright eyes.

  Xiao Mi smiled happily and spun around before saying cheerfully, "Master, am I pretty? This is all created based on the image in Master's memories!"

  Xiao Zhan nodded unconsciously, no wonder he was wearing a cheongsam, it turned out to be created based on his memory image. Hmm? Wait! His memories! Doesn't this mean that all his secrets were known by this little girl?!

  If the other party was still a ghost, knowing would be knowing. But now it has become a coquettish little girl, and her own secrets have been made known to her, just thinking about Xiao Zhan makes her feel hairy in her heart.

  "Xiao Mi, peeking at other people's memories is unethical. Remember! Don't ever sneak a peek again."

  Xiao Mi stuck out her fragrant tongue and said coquettishly, "Got it, Master. Anyway, Xiao Mi has seen everything she should see, and also seen everything she shouldn't see, so now there's nothing left for the Master to hide."

  Xiao Zhan rolled his eyes and changed the subject: "Little Honey, why do you have to become a little girl?"

  Xiao Mi tilted her head, giggling and saying: "Does the master not like Xiao Mi's current appearance? But it doesn't matter, no matter what type the master likes, Xiao Mi can transform into that type, just like a loli, an onee-san, a mature woman, or..."

  Looking at Xiao Mi's excited face, which became more and more absurd as she spoke, Xiao Zhan felt a sense of guilt in his heart. What a good little girl, yet he had...

  Suddenly, Xiao Mi stopped her self-recommendation and looked at Xiao Zhan's gloomy face, chuckling: "Master, it's getting late, you should go out and take a look, or someone will be very sad."

  Has anyone found out he's gone?

  Xiao Mi nodded, and Xiao Zhan quickly disappeared, returning to reality as well.