God Emperor

Elder Xuanji noticed Zhang Rouchen’s distress and assumed he had demoralized him too much. He was about to console him.

But Zhang Ruochen, looking very solemn, instead gave a sigh. “Sword One is very difficult to understand. Your disciple is too dull-witted; I could only comprehend three-tenths of it.”

Elder Xuanji was stunned.

What?

He had looked through it once, and was able to understand three-tenths of the contents?

Elder Xuanji himself had not even understood one-tenth of it when he first read through Sword One.

He called himself dull-witted, after comprehending three-tenths of the book? This boy deserved a thrashing!

Elder Xuanji sized Zhang Ruochen up carefully and asked in disbelief, “You’re certain you understand almost a third of it?”

Zhang Ruochen said, “I understood only three-tenths of its contents. Why are you so surprised?”

Elder Xuanji knew Zhang Ruochen would not lie. He could only sigh inwardly to himself. This youngest disciple had such astoundingly high endowments in sword skill.

Elder Xuanji stroked his white beard and smiled. “If you could understand three-tenths of Sword One, your level of understanding surpasses that of many Half-Saints.”

“But it only means you are highly qualified to practice the Tao of the sword. It doesn’t mean you will necessarily master Sword One.”

“Understanding is just the first step. Only by mastering Sword One can you achieve the Beginner level of a sword practitioner.

Only now did Zhang Ruochen realize his achievement. It must be quite some feat for him to have understood three-tenths of Sword One.

But what Master said was reasonable. To understand the manual completely was not a big deal. The true achievement was to master it.

Zhang Ruochen said, “You said that many Half-Saints can’t understand Sword One. Does this mean that only someone in the Half-Saint realm can successfully master Sword One?”

“Not really,” Elder Xuanji replied. “If you are talented enough, you can master Sword One even in the Fish-dragon Realm. Then by the time you attain the Half-Saint realm, you could start practicing Sword Two.”

Zhang Ruochen asked curiously, “There’s a Sword Two?”

“Of course.”

Elder Xuanji nodded. “Sword One represents ‘oneself’, while Sword Two represents the ‘Yin and the Yang’. After that come Sword Three, Sword Four… After mastering each sword manual, a Monk’s understanding of the Tao of the sword rises to a whole new level.”

Zhang Ruochen continued asking questions like a schoolboy. “What do you mean by ‘oneself’? What do you mean by ‘the Yin and the Yang’?”

Elder Xuanji shook his head. “I can’t teach such interpretations. You can only comprehend them yourself. All I can tell you is that unless you master Sword One, you can’t be considered a true sword practitioner.”

“Your Fifth Senior Sister is highly gifted in the Tao of the sword too. But she has practiced for several decades and has barely reached the Beginner level of Sword Two. Don’t yearn for higher manuals at this level. Master Sword One first; that will help augment your actual strength.”

Zhang Ruochen recalled the sword skill mantra Fifth Senior Sister had recited when she defeated the Ember Kylin in the Xuanwu Primitive World. He repeated it now. “The two Qis of Yin-Yang divide the heaven and the earth; the natural Tao of the sword is the destination of all practices.”

This was the verbal formula that Fifth Senior sister apprentice had recited.

Elder Xuanji said, “Yes, that’s a formula used in Sword Two.”

Zhang Ruochen could not help gripping Sword One tighter in his hands. “I will surely master Sword One in the Fish-dragon Realm.”

Elder Xuanji said with a laugh, “You must know that in the past thousand years, only 34 people have mastered Sword One in the Fish-dragon Realm.”

Zhang Ruochen asked, “Are you one of them?”

“Yes.”

Elder Xuanji looked rather proud of himself. After all, to have mastered Sword One at the Fish-dragon Realm was no mean feat.

“In addition,” he continued. “Among the 34, there were two who also mastered Sword Two in the Fish-dragon Realm.”

Zhang Ruochen had seen the contents of Sword One. He knew how profound and abstruse it was.

One could deduce that Sword Two would be even more extraordinary.

To master Sword One was already exceedingly difficult. To think that people had managed to master Sword Two in the Fish-dragon Realm!

Could it be… him?

Someone from 800 years ago materialized in Zhang Ruochen’s mind.

He was one of the Nine Emperors.

And Elder Xuanji’s words indeed confirmed Zhang Ruochen’s guess.

Elder Xuanji said, “The two people were the Sword Emperor and Empress Chi Yao.”

“I don’t expect you to match them. I would be most content if you could master Sword One in the Fish-dragon Realm.”

The name Sword Emperor reverberated in Zhang Rouchen’s ears like thunder.

Xue Hongchen, the true Sword Emperor, was the son of Fragrance City’s governor. Matchless in talent and sword technique, he was also a most debonair figure. At the age of 36, he had surpassed his father, the city governor of Fragrance City and become the world renowned Sword Saint Hongchen.

He later attained higher and higher achievements in the Tao of the sword, finally hitting an unsurpassable realm. He became the Sword Emperor of his era.

And Xue Hongchen was the youngest of the Nine Emperors.

The reason Emperor Ming had given his son the name “Zhang Ruochen”, was because he had wanted him to emulate Sword Emperor Xue Hongchen’s outstanding achievements.

A saying had circulated in Kunlun’s Field during that time: “Just as Sword Saint Hongchen mocks the Red Dust [1], one’s own son ought to be like Xue Hongchen.”

Although Zhang Ruochen had not met the Sword Emperor, the latter had been his role model since boyhood.

So when he heard Elder Xuanji’s second mention of the Sword Emperor, Zhang Ruochen could not resist asking, “Master, what realm did the Sword Emperor attain during his time?”

Elder Xuanji looked to the distance. A hitherto unknown but yearning look appeared in his eyes. “The Sword Emperor hasn’t appeared in Kunlun’s Field for many years. No one knows what heights he has attained. But I’ve heard that he mastered Sword Ten 800 years ago. Others say that he has cultivated Sword Eleven. There are many rumors, yet no knows what realm he has truly reached.”

Zhang Ruochen asked again, “So which realm do you need to reach before one would regard you as a sword saint?”

“You must master at least Sword Seven. Only then could you be considered a sword saint.”

Zhang Ruochen was somewhat astonished. “You mean only three people have managed to master Sword Seven in the entire Eastern Region?”

“Yes.”

Elder Xuanji sighed and remarked, “So don’t feel disappointed even if you fail to master Sword One in the Fish-dragon Realm. It’s just a hope of mine.”

Zhang Ruochen and Elder Xuanji continued discussing the Wordless Sword Manual.

It wasn’t until nightfall that Zhang Ruochen left the Linghe Pear Garden with the Sword One manual. He walked out of the Saint Academy towards the Avenue of Kings.

The Half-Saint mansion Kong Lanyou had given him was situated on the Avenue of Kings.

Zhang Ruochen walked along the middle of the main street, rife with busy traffic. His mind was still trying to unravel Sword One. He had reached a stage of crazy obsession.

His eyes fixed blankly ahead, and all sorts of thoughts crept into his brain.

Before he knew it, he had arrived in front of his mansion. He pushed the door open and walked in.

“SWISH!”

He had barely entered through the door when the noise of a sword resounded.

A piercing sword Qi broke through the air. A white streak of sword radiance, two fingers wide, could be seen above Zhang Ruochen’s eyes.

The sword radiance was dazzling. Zhang Ruochen could not help but shut his eyes.

“CLANG!”

Sensing danger, the Ancient Abyss Sword flew out of the sword scabbard by itself.

Zhang Ruochen reacted almost instinctively, his finger pointing forward. The Ancient Abyss Sword arced its way towards the foot of a grove shade to the left of the gate.

“BOOM!” A loud noise resounded.

The Ancient Abyss Sword fell down. The other person’s sword had broken into two, with a clang.

Zhang Ruochen opened his eyes and was about to thrust his sword forward when he suddenly discovered the assailant was a little girl of just five or six.

It was Han Xue.

She stood under the tree holding a broken sword in her hands. Her small, tender and fair hands were dripping with blood. Holding back her pain, she stepped back swiftly.

In a flash, Zhang Ruochen recovered himself. He quickly controlled the Heart of the Sword and recalled the Ancient Abyss Sword back into its scabbard.

“Han Xue, what are you doing here?”

He dashed forward to examine her injury.

Although it had only been a random thrust, his sword strike contained remarkable power.

Han Xue was too young to withstand the power of Zhang Ruochen’s strike.

Fortunately, the Ancient Abyss Sword had only slashed her sword into two. The purlicue on her right hand had ruptured from the blow, but it was nothing serious.

She was not crying either. She pursed her lips and said in a pitiful voice, “Master, what were you thinking? You exerted so much force you could have killed me.”

“Sorry, I was so deep in my swordplay comprehension that I didn’t realize it was you. By the way, why did you ambush me?”

Zhang Ruochen stretched out his hand and pressed it on her wrist. He injected a flow of Genuine Qi into her hand Meridians, trying to aid her recovery.

But he realized that even before his Genuine Qi had injected into her Meridians, the wound on her wrist had begun to close by itself.

“Eh?!”

How did that happen?

Even Zhang Ruochen with the Dragon Pearl in his body could not heal himself as well as she did.

In a moment, her wound had healed. There wasn’t even a scar.

More to his astonishment, Zhang Ruochen’s sword strike had only severed her sword. The shattering force had not made her drop her sword.

Her hands were still gripping onto the broken sword tightly.

One ought to remember that she was not even six. Her level of cultivation was shockingly outrageous.

“How powerful her Thousand-bones Physical Quality is! Truly remarkable!” Zhang Ruochen reflected.

Han Xue revealed her gleaming white teeth and her eyes fluttered. “Sister Yanchen visited Master’s mansion and told me that you have returned to the East Region Saint City. I wanted to show you my recent practice achievements. That’s why I ambushed you on purpose. But my cultivation is too low! I can’t match yours level at all. Do you think I’m a good-for-nothing, Master?”

With these words Han Xue bowed her head, looking very distraught.

Zhang Ruochen shook his head, smiling. He extended an arm and caressed her head, saying, “If you are considered useless, there aren’t any useful people in the world! And oh, why did your Sister Yanchen call?”

Han Xue addressed Zhang Ruochen as “Master,” but Huang Yanchen as “Elder Sister.” It was really quite odd.

But Zhang Ruochen did not ask her why.

He was more curious about the purpose of Huang Yanchen’s visit.

Han Xue shook her little head and bent her fingers. “I don’t know. I saw Sister Yanchen with a middle-aged uncle. When I was with them, they kept mentioning things like ‘bridal gifts’… ‘guests’… and ‘marriage pledge’…. Anyway, I didn’t quite get it.”

Zhang Ruochen’s expression turned solemn. He understood the probable intention of Huang Yanchen’s visit. He walked into the courtyard, holding on to Han Xue’s small hand.