The Cold Pond at the Sword Mound rippled with Qi Condensation, and Dao Lord Zisu's jade sword pendant swayed without wind.
He gazed at the two figures gradually solidifying in the pond, and his thousand-year-old Dao Heart actually stirred. Could it be that two of the younger Disciples of this generation possessed talent surpassing his own?
As the former leader of the Beast Taming Sect who had suppressed his peers for three hundred years, Zisu had never imagined he would lose in terms of bone structure and comprehension to a junior. At this moment, his gaze swept over his closed-door Disciple, who stood with head bowed beside him, and he suddenly understood why Qin Heng, that mediocre sword cultivator, always carried a satisfied smile.
"Shibo is here." Qin Yue stepped across the waves, her innate sword qi not yet fully contained.
Zisu raised his hand in a gentle gesture, and the water vapor from the Cold Pond condensed into an ice lotus to support the girl who was about to bow: "This mistake was due to my oversight, almost causing your Foundation Establishment to collapse, Qing Feng Shizhi..." Before he finished speaking, the sound of metal clashing came from the center of the pond.
Qing Feng broke out of the water, and the water droplets dripping from his hair tips solidified into tiny sword auras in mid-air.
Zisu's pupils contracted slightly; such pure Geng Metal Qi was far beyond what an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator could wield. He flicked his sleeve, sweeping away the surrounding probing auras, and said in a deep voice, "Qing Feng Shizhi hides himself very well."
"Shibo is discerning." Qing Feng's aura surged and receded like a tide, finally settling at Foundation Establishment ninth layer: "I received a gift from a senior in the Mystic Realm, which allowed me to make progress." He spoke cleverly, neither denying hidden cultivation nor claiming the breakthrough was due to a fortuitous encounter.
Qin Yue stared blankly at her fellow Disciple, with whom she had fought side-by-side. Fragments of memory suddenly connected; at the brink of life and death just now, it was indeed that seemingly timid figure who had carved a path for her amidst countless sword shadows. The girl's ear tips flushed slightly, but she was then startled by Zisu's next words.
"From Foundation Establishment third layer directly to ninth layer?" The Dao Lord's fingertips pulsed with green light, carving profound runes in the void: "Even with ancient god Initiation, without a deep foundation..." His voice abruptly stopped, as the runes actually disintegrated on their own three feet from Qing Feng, transforming into specks of starlight that merged into the Cold Pond.
The ancient pine by the pond swayed without wind, and Dao Lord Zisu suddenly laughed aloud: "Good! What excellent hidden brilliance!"
He unfastened the dark jade sword token from his waist and tossed it to Qing Feng, "Three days from now, at Chenshi, come to my Zixiao Peak to retrieve the first volume of the 'Tai Xuan Sword Manual'." As he turned, he gave Qin Yue a deep look, "As for Qin Shizhi... tomorrow, have your Master come to retrieve the second volume."
"With your talent, your cultivation should not stagnate at this realm," Dao Lord Zisu lightly tapped the table with his fingertips, and the jade chessboard echoed with a clear sound.
"Perhaps it would have been feasible ten thousand years ago, but in this era, it is difficult to achieve the Great Dao without shedding blood. Unfortunately, I am not fond of killing by nature." Qing Feng lowered his eyes, gazing at the spiritual tea leaves floating in his cup, and mist condensed into tiny beads on his eyelashes.
"But you have clearly broken through your shackles by engaging in killing," Dao Lord Zisu's wide sleeve swept across the astrolabe, and countless points of light flickered uncertainly.
"My father once said when he broke through, that the Demon Slaying Sword drank thirty-six thousand drops of blood. However, three years later, the soul lamps of him and my mother shattered in the Soul Suppressing Hall."
The young man suddenly looked up, and the candlelight danced in his pupils, forming two golden points.
Dao Lord Zisu's hand, holding a chess piece, paused slightly.
The sound of wind sweeping through the pine trees outside the hall suddenly became clear. He looked at the Xuan-robed young man before him, and suddenly realized that the memorial tablets of his parents were still in the deepest part of the Hall of Valiant Souls.
The undercurrents that had accumulated for years in the archives suddenly took on a concrete form at this moment.
"It's normal to have reservations, however..." The Dao Lord's words were cut short mid-sentence.
"Does Dao Lord know that Chen Ming Peak was only half a step away from being the third main Peak back then?" Qing Feng's fingertips traced the contours of mountains on the table:
"Jingyang Peak has changed seven stewards in a hundred years, and Hu Ji Peak still maintains twelve Nascent Soul Peak cultivators. And I am the last direct descendant of Chen Ming Peak."
The Qi Condensation in the hall suddenly solidified, and Dao Lord Zisu's life-bound sword in his sleeve let out a clear chime. He suddenly realized that the young man before him was not complaining, but rather stating a startling deduction.
"Falling on the battlefield is normal..." He felt his words were inappropriate before finishing.
"A Spirit Transformation ninth layer cultivator, possessing the Xuan Tian Dun Jia Art, would have a seventy percent chance of survival even against a Demon Emperor."
Qing Feng suddenly smiled, but the smile did not reach his eyes, "It just so happened that the patrol order token drew my parents that day, and it just so happened that the hundred thousand beast tide erupted three months early. Dao Lord, are there truly so many 'coincidences' in this world?"
Dao Lord Zisu gazed at the patrol jade slip pushed towards him by the young man, its dark patterns flowing like blood under the moonlight. He suddenly recalled that at a certain Elder meeting three years ago, Tiger Ji Peak Lord had been toying with a similar jade token.
"Empty words are no proof." The Dao Lord tapped with two fingers, and the jade slip shattered into dust.
"If I had solid proof, why would this junior have endured until now?" Qing Feng brushed off the jade dust from his clothes, his eyebrows lowered like a docile junior, "It's just that among the thirty-six Peaks of the Beast Taming Sect, how many eyes are fixed on this last spark of Chen Ming Peak. If this junior were to be too prominent..."
He raised his hand and extinguished the candle flame, and the hall instantly plunged into darkness, "I'm afraid I would follow in my parents' footsteps."
Dao Lord Zisu gazed at the young man before him, suddenly realizing that this Disciple, whom the Sect regarded as a good-for-nothing, actually bore a suffocating destiny.
As the orphan of the former Grand Elder, Qing Feng's life trajectory was like a cliff-like plummet, from a favored immortal second-generation to a martyr's orphan with an empty title. This disparity was enough to crush any youth.
The Dao Lord, with slightly furrowed brows, seemed to see the young child from thirty years ago: having just learned to wield a sword, he encountered a catastrophic disaster, and amidst countless gazes of pity or calculation, he forcibly sealed his astonishing talent into a lazy facade.
How could those fellow Disciples who said he "slept too much and neglected cultivation" know that this might be the only way Qing Feng could preserve himself?
"The world says you lack ambition," Dao Lord Zisu's fingertips flowed with sword qi, carving the characters "Hidden Edge" (Hidden Edge) on the stone table, "But have you ever thought that being too prominent makes it difficult to bear the weight?"
Before he finished speaking, his life-bound sword at his waist suddenly chimed, and this powerful expert, known for his clear sword heart, showed a look of sudden realization.
Qin Yue was startled to realize that her Shishu's aura had suddenly changed; his usual icy sword intent had transformed into the warm sun of March.
Dao Lord Zisu pointed two fingers like a sword and lightly touched Qing Feng's brow: "From today onwards, you are my secret Disciple of Zhijian Peak. Sect gossip?"
He suddenly sneered, and a seven-foot green blade shot out of the air, "Let's see who dares to gossip!"
Qing Feng instinctively reached for the wooden sword at his waist, the last gift left by his deceased father. In the depths of his usually cynical eyes, a sword intent sealed for twenty years was awakening.
Qing Feng's Adam's apple moved slightly; this Shibo's line of thinking had clearly deviated from common sense, and was even beginning to shake his Dao Heart: "I am grateful for Shibo's kindness, but acting this way might attract too much attention..."
"A strong person is like the bright sun in the sky, naturally meant to illuminate the world." Dao Lord Zisu's sleeves swayed without wind, "Since you possess the talent of Kunlun Jade Soul, why imitate a stubborn rock and hide your spiritual light?"
"This Disciple has heard that the martial world is perilous, and even if Shibo's magic power reaches the heavens, it's hard to guard against petty villains' schemes." Qing Feng subtly took half a step back, and the Xuan-iron sword pendant at his waist emitted a faint tremor.
He knew the Beast Taming Sect's iron rule well: the more resources one received, the more responsibility one had to bear. If he truly displayed his prominence, he feared he would be sent to the bloody battlefields, which ran counter to his dream of cultivating in peace.
Dao Lord Zisu's eyebrows arched slightly: "Do you know that the lifespan limit of cultivators is currently declining?"
Seeing Qing Feng's pupils contract sharply, he swept his whisk, transforming it into the trajectory of stars, "Those old monsters who have been in secluded cultivation for thousands of years are frequently undergoing tribulations, all because of the drastic changes in the laws of heaven and earth. Such a secret should not be revealed, but for a promising talent like you who has hope of knocking on the door to immortality."