Chapter 144 - What do you think of Elder Li’s Sword Technique?
Chapter 144: What do you think of Elder Li’s Sword Technique?
In the Jin Nation Academy, beside the Sword Washing Pool.
Li Jiang stood on a cliff and looked at the group of Jin Nation disciples beneath the cliff with a calm expression.
He was the best Sword Dao cultivator in Jin Nation who was at the perfected Golden Core realm and was just half a step away from condensing the sword intent. In fact, it would be modest to say that he was half a step away because he was only a tiny bit away from condensing the sword intent.
However, it was still a huge gap and if he really wanted to condense his own sword intent, he would need an opportunity. It could take several years or he might never be able to condense it even in his lifetime.
However, under the cliff, four to five hundred disciples stood by the Sword Washing Pool where they raised their heads one after another and looked at Li Jiang.
Although the newly matriculated disciples did not know who Li Jiang was, they knew that Li Jiang was an elder and were respectful towards him.
However, the fourth generation and even third generation disciples were full of admiration for Li Jiang.
“Senior Brother, who is this Elder Li? He seems very strong.”
“Yeah, he does.”
“Just by looking at Elder Li, I feel an inexplicable aura.”
The group of newly matriculated disciples couldn’t help but ask.
As soon as they heard that, some fourth generation Senior Brothers spoke up.
“Very strong? Heh, you guys are too ignorant.”
“Elder Li Jiang is the best Sword Dao cultivator in Jin Nation. He comprehended the Sword Dao at the age of five and stepped into the Sword Dao at the age of ten. He condensed his sword momentum at the age of twelve, and now at the age of five hundred and fifty, he is ranked first in the Sword Dao of the Jin Nation.”
“It can be said that there is not a single person in Jin Nation who is strong in the Sword Dao and does not revere Elder Li.”
A fourth generation Senior Brother spoke up and told them the origins of Elder Li Jiang.
However, soon, a third generation Senior Brother followed suit and spoke up.
“That’s not all. Elder Li is just one step away from condensing the sword intent, and once he crosses this step, his achievements will be shockingly remarkable.”
“Elder Li’s sword intent is extremely terrifying. He has integrated the sword intent into his realm. Don’t think that Elder Li has only reached the perfected Golden Core realm.”
“However, in reality, as long as Elder Li condenses his sword intent, he can condense the Nascent Soul, and by then, he will become one of the top 100 of the Ten Nations in Sword Dao.”
A third generation Senior Brother added, his expression full of admiration.
After he said that, the newly matriculated disciples couldn’t help but marvel and exclaim in awe.
“You guys are lucky to have been able to listen to Elder Li’s teachings as soon as you joined the Jin Nation Academy. To be honest, I’ve only had the chance to listen to Elder Li’s teachings twice in the 15 years that I’ve been in Jin Nation Academy.”
“Yes, you fifth generation disciples are really lucky, every elder of the Jin Nation Academy is a famous existence within Jin Nation, and every word they say contains the Dao.”
“Later on, go and listen and pay attention to every single word Elder Li says. They will be of infinite use to you, and of course to us.”
“Why does Elder Li suddenly want to come over and preach the teachings to us?”
The third and fourth generation disciples were talking and discussing because none of them expected Elder Li to suddenly preach the Dao. The other elders had also set up Dao platforms.
It surprised many cultivators in the academy.
“Huh!? Isn’t that Senior Brother Ye Ping?”
When the crowd was feeling emotional, a voice suddenly sounded, and for a moment, everyone couldn’t help but look into the distance.
In the distance, a person in a white robe appeared in front of everyone.
It was Ye Ping who was wearing a white robe and looking extremely handsome. He had an excellent aura and he was starry-eyed, but nothing about him seemed harsh at all. In fact, he even had the aura of a peerless Confucian Immortal which made him feel extremely affable.
“We haven’t met for a few days and Senior Brother Ye has become much more handsome.”
“Yeah, he’s so handsome. Senior Brother Ye is not only competent and powerful, he has extremely extraordinary good looks too. He’s such a rare find.”
“If I can marry Senior Brother Ye, I’m afraid it’d be a huge blessing.”
“Not to mention marrying Senior Brother Ye, even if I can become Senior Brother Ye’s concubine, I’d be absolutely willing.”
Some of the female cultivators began talking and swooning over Ye Ping while staring at him adoringly, their eyes full of affection and admiration.
“Seriously? Can’t you guys be more restrained? He’s just competent and handsome. What’s the big deal?”
“Yeah, not all women like handsome and competent men, right?”
“I’ve heard that those who are handsome are often scumbags who cheat you women out of your feelings.”
Some male cultivators spoke up, their tone full of jealousy.
“Hmph, so what if he’s a scumbag? I like it and I’m pleased.”
“Yeah, even if it’s only for one night, it’d at least be better than being with some ugly scumbags.”
“Female cultivators love male cultivators who are jerks. Do you understand?”
“Stop being so sour, don’t you male cultivators get attracted to gorgeous and competent female cultivators?”
The group of women spoke up and retorted aggressively.
After they said that, the male cultivators fell silent.
Those female cultivators were right.
The newly matriculated disciples were not too bad as they could speak.
However, the third generation and fourth generation Senior Brothers were different. After Ye Ping appeared, their faces were covered in embarrassment and shame.
After all, they had been taught a good lesson by Ye Ping just a few days ago, so how could they not be embarrassed when they met again?
“Greetings, Senior Brothers, Senior Sisters, Junior Brothers, Junior Sisters.”
Ye Ping stood in front of the crowd with a calm expression and a gentle salute.
“Greetings, Senior Brother Ye.”
“Greetings, Senior Brother Ye.”
Hearing Ye Ping’s word, all the newly matriculated disciples bowed to Ye Ping in unison.
Ever since Ye Ping defeated all the fourth and third generation disciples in the combat arena with his own strength, they had already seen him as the leader of the fifth generation disciples.
Hence, when they saw Ye Ping, they treated him like a Senior Brother and were extremely respectful towards him.
In fact, they were just as respectful towards him as they were towards Elder Li Jiang.
The few third and fourth generation disciples, on the other hand, felt rather embarrassed and were at a loss for words. They didn’t have the cheek to bring themselves to call Ye Ping their junior brother.
However, they couldn’t bring themselves to call Ye Ping their Senior Brother either. Hence, they had no choice but to be awkward and nod.
“Senior Brother Ye, do you remember me?”
At this moment, a woman in black walked over and acted as if she knew Ye Ping well.
She was Mo Xuan.
“I naturally do, Junior Sister Mo.”
Mo Xuan had left a deep impression on Ye Ping, mainly because of her name.
Hence, he quite liked her as a person.
“Senior Brother Ye, I haven’t seen you for a few days, but it feels like your strength has improved again, you really deserve to be a supreme genius.”
Mo Xuan was the type to act close to others. Besides, she wanted to cozy up to Ye Ping, and hence, she was rather deferential and helpful towards him.
“You’re too kind, Junior Sister Mo.”
Ye Ping smiled calmly, not repulsed by Mo Xuan’s compliment. After all, who would be repulsed by someone who admired them?
However, at the next moment, on the cliff.
When Li Jiang noticed that Ye Ping had appeared, he couldn’t help but be extremely excited.
Eight days ago, all the elders of the academy had been vying intensely with each other to be the first one to impart Dharmic Dao to Ye Ping. In the end, they decided the sequence by drawing lots.
What made Li Jiang feel happy and excited was that he became the first person to impart the Dao to Ye Ping.
Hence, Li Jiang thought that he was destined to be Ye Ping’s master. Otherwise, why was he the first and not the others?
That was also the reason why Li Jiang had prepared his lessons for eight days and decided to teach Ye Ping the sword techniques.
By shocking Ye Ping, the latter would definitely think that he was the strongest existence in the Jin Nation Academy.
When the time came, Ye Ping would beg him to be his master.
Thinking of this, Li Jiang got excited. If not for the fact that the disciples had all gathered there, Li Jiang would have laughed out loud.
“Ahem.”
In the next moment, Li Jiang withdrew his attention and coughed gently, but his coughing attracted the attention of all the people.
In an instant, all the disciples couldn’t help but turn to look at Li Jiang, including Ye Ping.
Sensing the gaze of the crowd, Li Jiang slowly glanced at them, but he did not fix his gaze on Ye Ping for a while longer.
The reason being, he had to pretend to be composed and impressive in order to attract Ye Ping.
“Of the 3,000 Great Dao, the Sword Dao is supreme.”
After taking a look at the crowd, Li Jiang slowly said.
His voice was not loud but it was enriched with mana, and hence, everyone could hear him. Besides, he had a composed aura and a menacing sword momentum.
He indeed felt like a Dao expert.
The crowd was in awe, and their eyes were filled with anticipation.
However, Ye Ping frowned slightly.
‘Of the 3,000 Great Dao, the Sword Dao is supreme?’
‘That seems like an exaggeration.’
Ye Ping frowned, because in his memory, Su Changyu, Xu Luochen, and even Wang Zhuoyu would never say how strong their Dao was.
Instead, they believed that all of the 3,000 Great Dao could be used to enter the Dao.
Even a person as strong as Su Changyu, the eldest Senior Brother, never said that the Sword Dao was supreme.
‘Indeed, the Jin Nation Academy is inferior to the Qingyun Dao Sect.’
‘Those who can say such words seem to have weak sword intent.’
Ye Ping couldn’t help but feel disappointed. He initially thought that the elders of the Jin Nation Academy should be somewhat capable at least.
However, he did not expect the elders to be that confident. ‘No wonder the Jin Nation Academy has been in the doldrums.’
Ye Ping thought in his heart.
On the cliff.
Although Li Jiang did not look at Ye Ping, he had been staring at the crowd with his peripheral vision, especially Ye Ping, as he wanted to see his expression.
Everyone looked shocked, and even many of them were full of expectations, but Ye Ping was frowning, which made Li Jiang couldn’t help but be puzzled.
‘What does Ye Ping’s frown mean?’
‘Does he think that what I said is not good enough?’
‘This can’t be, my words were so domineering. Of the 3,000 Great Dao, the Sword Dao is supreme. Am I wrong?’
“Oh, I get it.”
Li Jiang suddenly understood.
It was not that Ye Ping thought that he was inferior, but rather, his words had made Ye Ping ponder.
When ordinary people heard others speak, their first reaction was either to approve or deny.
However, when a true genius listened to someone’s words, they would think and judge for themselves.
‘Yes, yes, yes, that’s it.’
‘Tsk, it’s true that geniuses and ordinary people are just different.’
Li Jiang was in awe of Ye Ping.
‘But why is someone else frowning too?’
‘Your aptitude is so poor, what are you frowning for?’
‘Oh, no, those with poor aptitude should indeed frown. It’s normal not to understand.’
Li Jiang stopped letting his imagination run wild.
Instead, he continued to speak, “Today, I will teach you the true meaning of the Sword Dao.”
As soon as Li Jiang finished speaking, he pulled out a flying sword.
The flying sword was golden in color and shone even more under the sun.
In the next moment, Li Jiang raised his hand, and for a moment, thousands of golden sword shadows overlapped and drowned out the area.
“The so-called Sword Dao is supreme, and the true Sword Dao is about sword moves and sword momentum.”
“So a truly powerful Sword Dao expert must know many sword moves. The more sword moves you have, the more powerful your Sword Dao will be.”
“There are 36,000 volumes of sword manuals in the Kṣitigarbha Pavilion. If you can comprehend them all, you will be listed in the top ten of the Sword Dao cultivators of Jin Nation.”
Li Jiang was imparting the Dao and giving a simple narration with his own understanding of the Sword Dao.
However, he was indeed pretending to be impressive when imparting the Dao.
As soon as he struck, he gave out several thousands of Sword Qi that gave off an indescribable sense of oppression, as if everyone present would die if the sword was slashed.
“Elder Lu, do you mean that the ultimate of the Sword Dao is to comprehend endless sword moves?”
A disciple spoke up and asked Li Jiang.
On the cliff, Li Jiang nodded.
“Yes, the ultimate of the Sword Dao is to comprehend endless sword moves. When cultivating, you tend to often get stuck in bottlenecks, not because of insufficient comprehension.”
“But rather, it’s because you have comprehended too few sword moves, so naturally, it is easy to get stuck in a bottleneck.”
“If you can master 30,000 different sword moves, you will naturally be able to condense the sword momentum.”
“If you can master a million different sword moves, you can then condense sword intent.”
Li Jiang answered.
The disciples came to a sudden realization after hearing his words, but Ye Ping was still frowning and his frown had even deepened.
The reason being, Ye Ping discovered that every word that Li Jiang said was completely opposite to the Sword Dao that Su Changyu had taught him.
There was no problem with the statement that the more sword moves one had, the more powerful they would be.
However, the problem was that a breakthrough in the Sword Dao could not be achieved through sword moves only.
It was just like how when he comprehended the sword momentum, he only comprehended 144 sword moves. Even in the Heavenly River Swordsmanship, there were only a few thousand sword moves.
Although he did not comprehend the sword intent, it had nothing to do with sword moves, but the comprehension of sword intent was still insufficient and he hadn’t found a sword intent that truly belonged to him.
However, everyone had their own understanding of the Sword Dao.
Ye Ping understood that point and hence did not say anything.
However, there was one thing that Ye Ping was sure of, and that was, Li Jiang was inferior to his eldest Senior Brother.
That was perhaps the difference between a supreme sword immortal and an ordinary Sword Dao practitioner.
Ye Ping thought in his heart.
“Elder Li, how many sword moves have you comprehended?”
A disciple asked.
After he said that, Li Jiang couldn’t help but glance at him.
‘Good, he’s a sensible disciple.’
‘He knows what to ask.’
“Ahem, I have average aptitude. So far, I have only comprehended 36,000 sword moves.”
Li Jiang said slowly. Although his words seemed modest, he actually sounded very smug.
Sure enough, once he said that, the disciples were all astonished.
36,000 sword moves, what kind of a concept was that? Among them, the best qualified people had probably only mastered 2,000 to 3,000 sword moves at most, right?
Could anyone remember 36,000 sword moves?
Feeling the shock of the crowd, Li Jiang felt fine. Although he was a little conceited, he was paying more attention to Ye Ping.
He didn’t care that the others were shocked because his focus was on Ye Ping.
He would be satisfied only if Ye Ping was shocked.
However, when Li Jiang looked at Ye Ping, he realized that the latter was still frowning, thus making him feel inexplicably awkward.
‘Why do you have to take so long to think about a question?’
‘Can’t you change your expression?’
‘Give me some reaction, okay?’
‘Is it because what I said is too exaggerated, so Ye Ping can’t snap back to his senses for a long time?’
Li Jiang thought to himself.
At this point, Li Jiang continued to speak.
He started making a long speech.
In order to make Ye Ping shocked, Li Jiang almost said everything he had kept a secret.
It was an astonishing Sword Dao theory.
The group of disciples were mesmerized.
However, Ye Ping was frowning more and more.
The more he listened, the more he felt that there was something wrong.
On the other hand, Mo Xuan, who was at the side, was taking down notes maniacally with a smile on her face.
For others, such Dao preaching was enlightening and would enhance one’s abilities, but to Mo Xuan, it was something that would generate a fortune.
The insights of the best Sword Dao cultivation powerhouse in Jin Nation would definitely bring her great benefits if she copied it and made some modifications.
However, Mo Xuan soon noticed Ye Ping’s expression.
As a secret manual writer who had sharp senses, Mo Xuan immediately felt that Ye Ping seemed to have a bit of an objection.
Thinking of this, Mo Xuan could not help but speak up.
“Senior Brother Ye, what do you think of what Elder Li said?”
Mo Xuan asked.
Her voice made Ye Ping snap back to his senses, and he looked at Mo Xuan before turning to look at Li Jiang who was talking incessantly on the cliff.
Finally, he lowered his voice.
“Elder Li’s sword technique may look good, but it focuses on the form rather than the intention, so it’s not a superior sword technique.”
“In fact… it’s inferior.”
Ye Ping voiced his concerns and understanding.
However, after he said that, Li Jiang, who was on the cliff, froze.
Below the cliff, all the disciples also froze.
The Sword Washing Pool suddenly fell silent.
Phew!
Phew!
A gust of wind rose and blew at the Sword Washing Pool.
Everyone was silent.
All eyes were on Ye Ping.
Everyone’s eyes were filled with astonishment.
Ye Ping’s voice was not loud.
However, the problem was that everyone present was a cultivator and the poorest of them all was a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Not to mention whispering, they could even hear the sounds of mosquitoes flapping their wings a hundred meters away.
Everyone was stunned.
They really did not expect that Ye Ping actually dared to say such things.
Li Jiang was the best Sword Dao cultivator in Jin Nation.
He had cultivated the Sword Dao for 500 years and could be said to have great attainments.
It might be true that everyone’s Sword Dao was different.
However, how dare a newly matriculated disciple say that Elder Li Jiang’s Sword Dao was inferior?
‘Brother, we know you are ferocious.’
‘But can you not be so ruthless?’
‘You even dare to criticize an elder?’
‘Why don’t you teach instead?’
Even Li Jiang, who was on the cliff, froze on the spot.