Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“How can he tell?”

“It’s impossible. I don’t even know whether or not Yan Liren attacked. Besides, according to Yan Liren, he did not wield the sword at all but merely attacked with his will. Could the guy have perceived the constituents of the sword through the will of the sword?”

“Are you kidding me? This is too unbelievable!”

The Cultivators nearby had already been shocked by Yan Liren time and time again. Hardly had they caught their breath when they were crushed again by Li Yao’s mind-boggling theory. They found it barely possible to stand on their feet!

Yan Liren’s outstretched foot moved back, and he turned around. Staring at Li Yao, he asked, “How did you know?”

“You just ‘killed’ me with the will of the sword.” Touching his neck, Li Yao said, “My throat can still taste the wind and frost on your sword. If I could not distinguish what it was that ‘killed’ me, wouldn’t I be too hilarious?

“It is a surprise to me that, while the Purple Pole Sword Sect boasts all kinds of marvelous weapons made of the best Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures and even the ancient swords inherited from the primeval era, many of which are the tantalizing treasures for any Cultivator in the world, you disregard all those incredible blades and prefer such a short sword that is no different from a plain sword made of regular metal.”

“This is my very first sword.” Yan Liren pondered for a moment. He seemed to feel that Li Yao was a person worth explaining it to. “I received the sword when I was nine, and I have never been separated from it, not for one day. After so many years, I can’t tell how many times I’ve touched it and waved it. Not only am I familiar with the weight, form, and hardness of the sword in any part, I also know every detail about the sword, including the speed and strength of the sword when it cuts into the wind at a certain angle and the different feedback when it pierces into a shield, armor, spiritual shield, or bone!

“As you said, it has really become an extension of my limbs and part of my life!

“The three primeval swords, on the other hand, are too powerful and consume too much spiritual energy and telepathic thoughts because they were not built for me but for the primeval deities and devils. Although I have polished them for decades, it is still troublesome for me to wield them!

“I often feel that I am not manipulating the three primeval swords. Instead, they are searching and attacking on their own after absorbing my spirit and vitality!

“Wielding such swords is like a three-year-old wielding a giant saber. Damaging as they may be, how can they be called the ‘strongest sword’?”

Li Yao was greatly moved!

Yan Liren’s statement showed traces that he was beginning to break the ancient Cultivators’ fanaticism about primeval treasures and shifting to the modern principles of Cultivation!

It was quite right that, however excellent the primeval items of the Pangu Clan were, they were created specifically for the Pangu Clan instead of human beings. Worshipping them blindly and taking them over directly for one’s own use might be easier and quicker, but it was certainly a dead end in the long run!

The best magical equipment was the magical equipment that suited the user most!

The logic was very simple, and it might be very easy to understand. However, when a powerful primeval treasure was placed right in front of their eyes, how many Cultivators could refuse the temptation to be their slaves?

“You have Cultivated to such a level,” Li Yao mumbled to himself.

“I only perceived it recently.” Yan Liren smiled. “Over the past few decades, I was as awed by the power of the three primeval swords as everybody else was. I tried my best to conquer them, to polish them, and to manipulate them, almost at the cost of my life!

“In recent years, I had a match with Wang Xi every year. The last time we met, seeing that I was more anxious and delirious with every year, he couldn’t help but offer me a few words of advice. Finally, I woke up from the bottomless abyss and grew a profound understanding!

“So, the strongest sword had been next to me the whole time. Why did I look afar and neglect what lay close at hand, abandoning the sharp blade that was special to me for some garbage that someone else threw away?”

Garbage… Li Yao was deeply shocked.

Calling the super weapons of the Pangu Clan or the Colossi in the primeval era ‘garbage’ was surely something that only the ‘Sword Maniac’ was capable of!

“My Cultivation is in fact slightly lower than Qi Zhongdao’s,” Yan Liren said. “However, I have forfeited the garbage of the primeval era and found my strongest sword, while Qi Zhongdao is still clinging onto the so-called Heaven Flipping Seal without letting it go. He is so fascinated by the power of the primeval treasure that he is actually too restricted to use all of his ability!

“Perhaps, if the Heaven Flipping Seal did not exist, there would be a stronger ‘Iron Saint’ Qi Zhongdao.

“But it is a pity that, burdened by vanity, he won’t, daren’t, and can’t make such an attempt!”

Li Yao was silent.

He did not know whether or not Yan Liren was right.

However, it was true that the Heaven Flipping Seal was essentially a gravity generator and not a weapon. The operation patterns and the spiritual energy supply mode of the device were not suitable for individuals, either.

To unleash the unbelievable power of the Heaven Flipping Seal all by himself, Qi Zhongdao must have paid unimaginable prices, too.

Were the prices worthwhile, though?

Their dialogue cast all the Cultivators into deep thought, especially Qi Zhongdao, who was standing below the Grand Mystery Sect’s banner. His slender face, which was like black coal, was turning purple. The breath of the Cultivator at the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage was suddenly unsteady.

“I get it now.” Taking a long breath, Li Yao said, convinced, “It’s indeed a nice sword!”

Yan Liren did not deny it. Touching the grip of the sword gently, he replied, “In my hand, it is a nice sword.”

“But it is a pity that the nice sword has been ‘heavily wounded’.” Li Yao suddenly changed the topic. “Although it is a marvelous weapon that has melded with you over the years, it is made of lousy materials such as the Purple Martial Copper and the Cold Mountain Steel after all. The foundation of the sword is not good.

“As you advance, your speed and power become higher and higher, and the damage to the sword accumulates, too. After such a long time, tiny cracks are everywhere inside the sword!

“What is more critical is that the sword once suffered a heavy blow at 14.43 centimeters below the tip of the sword. It is a dent the size of a grain on the left side.

“Although it seems to be an insignificant dent, in fact, a serious crack has already spread through the entire body of the sword. One moment of carelessness, and the tip of the sword will be broken with the dent as the start point!

“Based on my perception, I can tell that you have tried to maintain or even re-forge the sword. But your attempts did not work out, and you merely imposed a few spiritual stripes on the surface of the sword to keep it as it is. Am I right?”

Through their interaction, there had never been any noteworthy expression on Yan Liren’s bread-like face. He seemed to be interested in nothing except for his sword.

But after hearing Li Yao’s words, the supreme swordsman finally put on a dumbfounded expression that was the same as an ordinary person’s!

Even a few Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and experienced sword forgers who were spectating far away stood up from their seats, looking at each other in bewilderment and disbelief!

“How—how did you know?” Yan Liren was stammering!

With a smile, Li Yao said casually, “I also know why you are unwilling to reforge the sword.

“It’s because you have lived together with the sword your entire life. You know the shape, weight, barycenter, and feeling of the sword at your fingertips. All your skills, arts, spells, and techniques have been practiced based on the shape and weight of the sword right now. You have reached the perfect state!

“If the sword is re-forged, and the gaps and dents are mended with Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures that are more precious, it is inevitable that there will be a slight difference in the length, thickness, and weight of the sword.

“For a great swordsman like yourself, even if the renewed sword is only one hair longer or heavier than before, it will still be something that is absolutely intolerable because it will break the ‘perfection’ that you have achieved after training for your whole life!

“Oh, I was wrong about something.

“This sword of yours is not only made of common materials but also crudely made. The weight on the two sides of the ridge of the sword is not equal. The left side is a tad heavier than the right side!

“This isn’t a perfect sword.

“But you have adapted to the imperfection. You have adjusted your body into an equally imperfect distribution in order to better cooperate with the sword!

“If the sword is re-forged, and the imbalance is ‘rectified’, the result will be the opposite of what you want. There will be an ‘error’ in the flawless relationship between you and your sword!

“That’s why you are unwilling to repair or renew your sword when you know clearly that it has a lot of internal damage. Am I right?”

The situation had been entirely reversed!

Just now, Yan Liren had been suppressing Li Yao and leading the pace of their conversation. However hard Li Yao struggled, he had still been like a fish in a water tank!

However, when the topic in question was the flaws of the sword, their roles had reversed. Li Yao had counterattacked and made Yan Liren completely fall into his control!

Of course, for the spectators who were not clear what was going on, the two of them were almost telling a story. The sword was not even drawn, yet he could tell so much about the sword after merely tasting the ‘will of the sword’ with his neck?

Who would buy that?

Besides, was this Master Spiritual Vulture not a barbarian Cultivator, the likes of which were best known for their pests and their poisons? Where did he learn so many things about flying swords?

Yan Liren, however, did not deny it. He stepped forward and exclaimed. “Exactly. So what?”

“So, nothing,” Li Yao replied hurriedly. “If I say that I can help you re-forge the sword and build it up with the finest, hardiest materials in the world while perfectly keeping the length, weight, shape, barycenter of the sword, and even the unique rough feeling caused by the flaws during the original forgery, Fellow Cultivator Yan, would you believe me?”