God Emperor

“From today onward, you may stay secluded at the Sword Pavilion to cultivate and refine your Sword Two skills to reach the Yin-Yang Chaos realm, hopefully before the ninth day of the ninth month,” said the Moon-burier Sword Saint. “Please feel free to consult the nine Sword Holders or myself, if you come across anything you don’t understand.”

Zhang Ruochen immediately stood up and bowed to him, saying, “Sword saint, I will agree to represent the Yin and Yang Sect in the Sword Technique Conference on one condition.”

“Please,” said Moon-burier Sword Saint.

Zhang Ruochen said, “I do not wish to practice at the Sword Pavilion.”

Gai Tianjiao looked puzzled. She stood up, about to inquire further.

Many would be stunned to hear Zhang Ruochen reject the Moon-burier Sword Saint’s offer for him to become his disciple, but the majority of people could still accept this.

However, he had just rejected the Moon-burier Sword Saint yet again. This time on his offer for Zhang Ruochen to practice in the Sword Pavilion. Did he not know that many were dying to have the opportunity to practice in the Sword Pavilion, even just once? Yet they were not given the opportunity.

The Moon-burier Sword Saint immediately gestured for Gai Tianjiao to sit down, then turned to Zhang Ruochen with a puzzled look, saying, “But why? You have to be aware that there are various sword manuals and bountiful resources in the Sword Pavilion, moreover you can consult with the nine Sword Holders here.”

“One more thing you may not be aware of is that the time you spend practicing in the first level of the Sword Pavilion is double compared to the outside world. By extension, the second level of the Sword Pavilion will provide you with triple the time compared to the external world. Based on the realm you have reached in the Tao of sword now, you may practice in the second level of the Sword Pavilion.”

“By practicing in the Sword Pavilion, you might still stand a chance of reaching the ‘Yin-Yang Chaos’ realm of Sword Two by the ninth day of the ninth month. However, if you don’t practice here, there’s no way you will reach it.”

Zhang Ruochen had a determined look in his eyes. “My heart is not here.” This statement made the Moon-burier Sword Saint want to laugh and cry at the same time.

“Are you thinking that we are trying to lock you up here by letting you practice in the Sword Pavilion?” The Moon-burier Sword Saint let out a bellowing laugh.

Zhang Ruochen replied, “If a sword practitioner’s heart is bound, the speed of his practice and cultivation will be impeded regardless of how bountiful the external resources are. Don’t you think the state of mind of the sword practitioner is of utmost importance, sword saint?”

Although the Moon-burier Sword Saint thought Zhang Ruochen’s reasoning was somewhat stretched, he had no idea how to respond.

Zhang Ruochen had rightly pointed out that the state of mind was of utmost importance. All other external resources were complimentary.

The higher a person’s level of cultivation, the better he was able to comprehend this.

However, the same words proceeding from the mouth of a youth was somehow much less unconvincing.

Could such a young sword practitioner have reached such a realm?

Seeing that Zhang Ruochen had already attained such a level of comprehension, the Moon-burier Sword Saint thought it wise not to press him further. After a moment of pondering, he tossed a palm-sized token to Zhang Ruochen. “If that is the case, please take this sword token. With this token, you can enter and leave the Ancient Gods Mountain freely. You are welcome to practice in the Sword Pavilion anytime.”

Zhang Ruochen caught the token in his hand. As he looked at it, he realized that the word ‘sword’ was protruding on the surface of the token.

The token seemed to contain a forceful Saint Power. It was as if there was a river within it.

“With the sword token, you may enter and leave the Ancient Gods Mountain as you wish.” This rule clearly implied that the sword token was of great significance.

Zhang Ruochen kept the sword token, took a bow and said, “Thank you sword saint for granting my wishes.”

The Moon-burier Sword Saint smiled and said, “You set your condition, I will too. Every month from today onwards, you must come into the Sword Pavilion for cultivation for at least nine days. This is not too much ask, is it?”

“Not at all,” answered Zhang Ruochen.

“On the first level of the Sword Pavilion, there are a number of scrolls. They are notes left behind by deceased sages who attained Sword Two. You may borrow them to have a look. I believe they will be very helpful to you.”

Once he had finished instructing them, the Moon-burier Sword Saint sent Zhang Ruochen and Gai Tianjiao on their way.

After they exited Qing Room 18, Gai Tianjiao brought Zhang Ruochen to collect the Sword Two notes. She turned to look at him several times, as if she had something to say to him.

“Do you have something to say?” asked Zhang Ruochen.

Gai Tianjiao smiled. “Don’t you regret throwing away the opportunity to become a sword saint disciple?”

“I won’t regret it once I actually become a sword saint,” putting his arms behind him, Zhang Ruochen walked past Gai Tianjiao toward the book shelves ahead of them.

Gai Tianjiao stared at Zhang Ruochen in surprise. He might have looked mild and gentle, but inside, he was actually driven and ambitious.

There were thick scrolls of handwritten notes left behind by the sword practitioners on what they had learnt from their study of the Tao of Sword.

Every scroll was deemed as precious as a priceless treasure.

As Zhang Ruochen stood at the foot of the shelves, he scanned over the sea of scrolls, each labelled with the words ‘Sword Two’. However, the names of the inscriber differed from one another.

“Saint Mingsu.”

“Half-Saint Yaolong.”

“Moon-burier Sword Saint.”

…

Zhang Ruochen took the scroll inscribed by the Moon-burier Sword Saint from the shelf and started to read it.

According to the Moon-burier Sword Saint’s explanatory notes, Sword two was “Yin and Yang”.

One Yin and one Yang constituted an entire heaven and earth.

The Moon-burier Sword Saint had divided Sword Two into five realms, namely:

Yin-Yang Alternation.

Yin-Yang Chaos.

Seperation of Yin and Yang.

Blend of Yin and Yang.

Yin-Yang Infinitude.

One would be deemed to have reached the great completion of Sword Two only when he had attained Yin and Yang Infinitude.

The notes the Moon-burier Sword Saint had made were rather obscure, so much so that it took Zhang Ruochen four hours in all to finish going through “Sword Two”. Moreover, he only understood twenty percent of its content.

Apparently, Sword Two was many times more profound than Sword One. A common practitioner would not be able to grasp it even with the help of the sword saints’ notes.

Zhang Ruochen closed the scroll and held it by his side. He continued to search for notes by other sword practitioners.

“Xue Hongchen, the Sword Emperor.”

Zhang Ruochen began to read the notes the Sword Emperor had written.

The Sword Emperor’s understanding of Sword Two was rather similar to that of the Moon-burier Sword Saint. However, he viewed Sword Two as “Male and Female”.

Yin and Yang represented the nature of heaven and earth, which could be abstract and impractical. It was often extremely tedious to practice it.

Male and Female, however, was the manifestation of Yin and Yang, as well as being human. The union of a man and a woman produced new life. This way, it ingested life into the sword technique. At the same time, it added a layer of transformation to Yin and Yang.

The Sword Emperor had also divided Sword Two into five realms.

It required a shorter time for one to practice Sword Two using the Sword Emperor’s method. However, one had to unite Yin and Yang with a woman every time he moved to the next realm.

This woman was called the “swordsman’s maidservant”.

To reach the great completion of Sword Two, one would require at least five swordsman’s maidservants.

Moreover, the great benefits of becoming swordsman’s maidservants was that these women would themselves become top superiors among sword practitioners.

Zhang Ruochen shook his head and smiled. “The Sword Emperor was a rather romantic and unconventional libertine. Even his understanding and practice of the Tao of the sword was so unorthodox.”

Zhang Ruochen was quite familiar with the Sword Emperor. His dissoluteness had brought rumors all over Kunlun’s field. However, he had never forced the women. It was always consensual and often the women had thrown themselves at him.

He was, unfortunately, unable to fully accept the Sword Emperor’s method of practice.

While the Sword Emperor was able to be totally disengaged with the women he united with, Zhang Ruochen did not think he could be like him. If he were to have a relationship with a woman, he would feel an obligation to her all his life.

There were still many things he could learn from the Sword Emperor’s notes, so Zhang Ruochen decided to keep the scroll with him.

“Inscribed by Thousand-bone Empress.”

Zhang Ruochen’s eyes lit up when he spotted this scroll. He took a turtle’s shell down from the top of the shelf and saw that there were tiny ancient inscriptions on its surface. Each of the ancient characters exuberated a piercing Sword One power that directly penetrated into the hearts of men.

No one was sure if these characters had been personally inscribed by the Thousand-bone Empress onto the turtle shell.

The Thousand-bone Empress’s explanation of Sword Two was even more obscure. Zhang Ruochen spent six hours reading through it, just managing to get a tenth of its content.

The Thousand-bone Empress’s comprehension of Sword Two was another system altogether and it differed from that of the Moon-burier Sword Saint and the Sword Emperor in many different areas.

She interpreted Sword Two as being similar to “Day and Night”.

During the day, one should practice and cultivate Day Sword, by observing the blue skies and white clouds.

During the night, one should practice and cultivate Night Sword, by observing the moon and stars.

When one’s cultivation reached the state of merging day and night, he would have reached the great completion of Sword Two. By then, one sword movement would bring about the reversal of day and night.

The Thousand-bone Empress’s understanding of Sword Two was very mysterious. Zhang Ruochen thought he could gain a lot from it, so he kept her notes, intending to bring them back with him to study.

Zhang Ruochen went through several other scrolls and came to the conclusion that the system written by the Moon-burier Sword Saint was by far the most universal. It was not as extreme as that of the Sword Emperor, nor was it as mysterious and obscure as that of the Thousand-bone Empress. That was why it was the most universally accepted set of notes.

Zhang Rouchen picked up the three scrolls and exited the Sword Pavilion. He returned to the square at the foot of Whitestone Sacred Cliff.

It was evening and a clear round moon suspended in the sky. An invisible, subtle force dispersed the clouds to display a dark cobalt sky.

Zhang Ruochen glanced in the direction of the altar at the center of the square; a strange light flashed across his eyes.

The altar, which was thirty feet tall, was built of stacked up pieces of chiseled jade stones. Each stone was inscribed with mysterious prints. Under the shine of the moonlight, the prints gave out a gentle glow.

Zhang Ruochen walked up to the altar. He put a hand on one of the jade stones and began releasing Spiritual Power as a test.

He had seen a Heaven and Earth Altar once before in the Wood Spirit Primitive World.

For this reason, he had some knowledge of the Heaven and Earth Altar.

Zhang Ruochen managed to assess each character of inscription on the stone using his Spiritual Power. “This altar is completely different from the Heaven and Earth Altar. Could I have made a wrong guess? No… ” he muttered.

Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen sensed something incredible.

There was nothing unusual about the Spiritual Power on the surface of the altar.

However, when his Spiritual Power flowed towards the bottom of the altar, he immediately lost contact with it. It was as if his Spiritual Power had sunk to the bottom of the sea and vanished completely.

“Unless… could there be a different universe at the bottom of the Jade Stone Altar?”

Zhang Ruochen was stunned. He continued to use his Spiritual Power to investigate and quickly found an entrance at the north-eastern corner of the Jade Stone Altar.