Chapter 212: Ancient Absolute Saber Formation
So there was such a reason for this! This was an eye-opener for Xiao Chen. However, does this mean that the sword was the most orthodox weapon out of hundreds?
Liu Ruyue continued, “There are many states for the sword that cannot be applied to sabers. Of course, sabers have many unique states as well. However, all of this is too distant for us. We do not need to consider them for now.”
There were other states for the saber—this was the first time Xiao Chen was hearing of this. However, Liu Ruyue was right. At this point in time, he had not even learned the main points of Listening to the Sword and Communicating With It. Thinking of these other states, is a little far-fetched for him now.
Xiao Chen nodded, “I can understand the principles of it. Elder Sister Ruyue, let’s begin. How do I enter the first state?”
Liu Ruyue smiled helplessly, her charm radiating. She said, “Actually, I do not know how to do that either. When I was training with the saber, I entered into the state as I practiced. Such experiences would definitely be useless to you.
“So when you asked me to teach you Listening To the Sword and Communicating With It, I truly had no way to do so back then. During these days, I have been thinking about how to teach you, how to lead you into the state of Listening To the Sword and Communicating With It.”
Xiao Chen felt depressed. After spending so much effect, he was back to the start. All he got was that he had to comprehend it on his own. It was as good as saying nothing.
Fortunately, Liu Ruyue’s next sentence cleared his doubts. It allowed him to not be overly depressed.
“Since ancient times, this state had always been comprehended on one’s own. There has been no precedent for someone achieving this state by relying on someone’s help. I have thought of a few ideas but I am not very confident in them. So you must be mentally prepared.”
Xiao Chen smiled faintly, “Not a problem. Not very confident is better than no confidence at all. Just do all you can. If you can’t do it, I will not insist on it.”
Liu Ruyue exhaled in relief. She smiled, “In that case, then I can relax. The girl in the Lunar Shadow Saber should be very important to you right? Otherwise you would not be willing to delay your cultivation to try and awaken her.”
Ao Jiao’s appearance came into Xiao Chen’s mind. He remembered the promise he once made to the Thunder Emperor. Xiao Chen said seriously, “Very important, extremely important. Elder Sister Ruyue, you managed to awaken her the last time. Would you be able to do that again?”
Previously, when they were fighting Song Que, Liu Ruyue successfully awakened Ao Jiao. If there was a way to completely awaken Ao Jiao, then Xiao Chen would not have to spend any effort on this.
Liu Ruyue smiled, “That won’t work. It is, after all, not my saber. Furthermore, I had forcefully used Communicating with the Sword the last time to achieve the result. In order to truly awaken her, you have to rely on yourself.”
Qingyun Peak, Dueling Grounds:
Xiao Chen sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes. He did not circulate his Essence, he simply sat there quietly. His mind was blank, he was not thinking of anything.
There were 500 sabers in his surroundings, arranged in a ring shape around him. If each saber was inspected carefully, they all had a faint flowing light flickering; occasionally, a cold light flashed.
In the blink of an eye, ten thousand stampeding horses appeared in his mind, there was an illusion of thousands of soldiers howling angrily. It felt as if it was happening right in front of him; the origins of these 500 sabers flashed before him.
The Lunar Shadow Saber sat in its scabbard, lying quietly beside Xiao Chen. It seemed very ordinary when placed in the middle of these 500 sabers.
Liu Ruyue stood quietly at the side as she watched the seated Xiao Chen. A warm smile was revealed on her face as she muttered to herself, “I hope it will be useful.”
“Sis, one can comprehend Listening To the Sword and Communicating With It by sticking 500 broken sabers in the ground and then sitting in the middle of them thinking nonsense? Seems ridiculous!” Liu Suifeng said, it was unknown when he got behind Liu Ruyue.
Liu Ruyue’s expression was as calm as water as she said indifferently, “Broken sabers? Go look for 500 broken sabers like these for me then. Each one of the sabers were obtained from ancient saber formations.”
“Although they are not highly ranked, they have existed for tens of thousands of years. They all contain a trace of the Dao. You actually called them broken sabers… I can’t be bothered with you.”
The full name of the Saber Formation in Saber City was the Ancient Absolute Saber Formation. It had existed since the Ancient Era and had been active for at least ten thousand years. Even so, there were no signs of its might decreasing.
No one knew the origins of this Saber Formation. For a very long time, no one had been into the center of the Saber Formation and could see exactly what was allowing it to keep operating.
The thing that made the Saber Formation famous was that if one was able to escape from the Saber Formation, they would be able to obtain a treasured saber. The longer they stayed in there, the more valuable the saber they would obtain.
However, the Saber Formation was very dangerous. It was already exceptional for a Martial Saint to be able to stay in there for an hour. The even stronger Martial Monarch would not be able to stay in there for longer than half a day.
If one wanted to obtain a treasured saber that existed for ten thousand years and had a trace of the Dao in it, the odds would be very low. This went to show how difficult it was for to gather 500 treasured sabers like Liu Ruyue did.
Liu Suifeng revealed an astonished expression, “Sis, 500 of such sabers would probably be half of the Heavenly Saber Pavilion’s stock. How did you managed to do this?”
Liu Ruyue said softly, “Lu Chen owes me a favor. Coincidentally, he is the one managing all this. So I borrowed some to use. Since I have to return them anyway, he agreed.”
Liu Suifeng made an exaggerated expression of being hurt as he said, “Sis, I’m starting to suspect you are not my blood sister. Why do I not enjoy such treatment? This is so hurtful.”
Liu Ruyue look at Liu Suifeng, feeling resentful at him for not living up to her expectations. She said, “Did I not spend enough effort on you before you were 13? I laid such a good foundation for you and yet you wasted it all. Are you not embarrassed?”
Liu Suifeng laughed out, “Sis, I find that you are a little perturbed. Like you are trying to cover up for something. Are feelings of love blossoming? I can help you by being your matchmaker.
“Look at Brother Ye, he has limitless potential. He should not have any trouble in the upcoming core disciple exam. Furthermore, he is a 16-year-old Superior Grade Martial Grand Master. His cultivation talent is not inferior to yours. He is completely a match for you.
“The most important thing is that, Brother Ye does not seem to have anyone he fancies. Coincidentally, you can fill the void… Ah!”
“Bang!”
Before Liu Suifeng could complete his jabbering, there was the sound of a breeze. A long leg appeared in front of him and kicked him heavily on the chest.
There was a loud boom as Liu Suifeng flew back quickly like a sandbag. He was crying out painfully in the air. Eventually, he crashed into the wall at the other end of the dueling ground before landing with a bang.
Liu Suifeng slowly climbed up, feeling sore all over. He could not help but grumble, “That is more painful than usual. Haha! The results seems to be good though. There is a good show coming! Haha!”
Xiao Bai, who had drank until it was somewhat intoxicated, saw Liu Suifeng suddenly fall beside it. Its face turned red as it cried excitedly and smashed a paw over.
“Hu!”
There was a huge air current and, in a short moment, it turned into an intense berserk wind. This wind tossed Liu Suifeng into the air.
When the berserk wind died down, Liu Suifeng fell heavily to the ground again. This time, he fell even more miserably; his bones almost broke.
When Liu Suifeng saw the intoxicated, red-faced Xiao Bai crying out, he was startled, “Damn! This little thing is in a drunken fit again. Run!”
In the days when Xiao Chen left, Xiao Bai would occasionally enter into a drunken fit when it got drunk. Furthermore, it loved taking it out on Liu Suifeng, leaving a deep impression on him.
Because they were afraid Xiao Chen would blame them, no one dared to tell Xiao Chen abou this. Liu Suifeng circulated his Essence and ran quickly, heading outside the dueling ground.
Xiao Bai turned into a white phanom, it was even significantly faster than Liu Suifeng. It kept crying out as it chased.
Liu Ruyue saw everything that happened but did not care about it. This was not the first time Xiao Bai chased after Liu Suifeng everywhere.
Although Xiao Bai was naughty and mischievous, it would not really injure Liu Suifeng. In Liu Ruyue’s opinion, it coincidentally helped Liu Suifeng train his reactions and defensive abilities. So, she left it alone.
On the other end of the dueling ground, Xiao Chen was seated on the ground. His mind was blank, not thinking of anything. He simply sat there quietly.
Initially, when Liu Ruyue told him about her first method, he felt that it was strange, like Liu Suifeng did.
However, since he chose to believe in Liu Ruyue, he would trust in her unconditionally. He kept an open mind and gave it a try.
After an unknown period of time, the scene before Xiao Chen’s eyes changed. He discovered he was in a black space with nothing in it. The surrounding was very quiet, there were no sounds at all.
“Huang Dang Dang!”
Suddenly, the 500 sabers on the ground all started shaking. The shaking became more and more intense. The entire dueling ground started to tremble slightly.
Liu Ruyue revealed an extremely joyous expression. She looked at Xiao Chen on the ground and said, “The ancient Saber Intent has converged. Now, it's a matter of whether you can grasp it. Don’t disappoint me.”
The dark space suddenly resembled the starry sky outside the city. Thousands of bright spots lit up in the boundless and limitless darkness, like thousands of houses lighting up. It slowly turned brighter, the now resplendent space was extremely beautiful.
Xiao Chen exclaimed, “What is this? What is this place? Aren’t I in the dueling ground of Qingyun Peak? How did I get here?”
“Shua! Shua!”
Just as Xiao Chen was filled with doubts, the spots of light all flew over, covering the air. When they flew near, he discovered that these spots of lights were sabers, sabers giving off a glow.
“Hu Chi! Hu Chi!”
Countless glowing sabers flew around before Xiao Chen’s eyes. They all left a trail of flames behind them. It was especially radiant in his pitch-dark space.
Faster! Faster! Faster!
There was an anxious voice continually urging Xiao Chen, urging him to find a saber that would belong to him in this space.
“Hu!” A saber flew right before Xiao Chen like a meteor. Xiao Chen was startled. If he was struck by it, he would be pierced through and die on the spot. So he quickly dodged.
“Shua! Shua!” A few more sabers flew at Xiao Chen continuously. They were as fast as meteors. Xiao Chen panicked and executed the Azure Dragon Cloud Soaring Art, moving around continuously in this pitch-dark space.