Chapter 234: Chapter 92 Red Cherry
Sitting cross-legged on the back of the Ironscale Winged Beast, Zhang Xuan breathed rhythmically as the Origin qi from the air swiftly flowed through his body. Suddenly, he extended his palm forward, thrusting as if wielding a long spear, or like a Serpentine Dragon emerging from the sea. A glint of the spear immediately spread forwards, piercing tens of meters in the blink of an eye before dissipating into the air.
“It’s still not working…”
Zhang Xuan opened his eyes.
After imparting it to Min Jiangtao, he began understanding the Flowing Light Spear Technique, trying to see if it too could break through to the third level. Now, it seemed that this was not so simple.
Unless there was practicing with a real spear or a new insight, merely imagining a breakthrough wasn’t so straightforward.
“Master Zhang, we’ve arrived at Zouyi City!”
Just then, Min Jiangtao’s voice rang out, and Zhang Xuan looked down to see a majestic city spreading endlessly into the distance.
“Alright, find a place convenient for purchasing a mansion, and let me down, then we’ll part ways!”
Knowing that Empyrean Kong had been chased and killed here, and not far from the Zhilan Valley where he hid, Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief, smiled slightly, and turned to give the instruction.
“Yes!”
Min Jiangtao nodded.
As the other party was not his junior but rather the “killer” who had killed Ling Buyang, it was really not appropriate to bring him directly to meet the teacher.
It would be best to try to resolve this matter, or else if the teacher really offended this person, it might well lead to the destruction of the entire Mo Blade Sect.
Soon, the Ironscale Winged Beast slowly landed in front of a huge Merchants.
Min Jiangtao: “Master Zhang, this is the largest real estate trading place in Zouyi City. You can find the most suitable house for you here, whether it is for rent or purchase.”
Zhang Xuan nodded and looked at Sun Qiang: “Find a suitable mansion as quickly as possible!”
“Yes!”
Sun Qiang nodded and walked in. It wasn’t long before he returned with a middle-aged businessman.
“Gentlemen, I have a mansion here near the Heaven Mandate Hall. It’s very well-located and spacious, but the price is a bit high. If you want to buy it, it will cost three hundred million Origin Currencies…”
Knowing Zhang Xuan was the one making the decisions, the middle-aged man immediately began his cheerful introduction as soon as he arrived.
“Master Zhang, I should head back now…”
Seeing that everything was arranged, Min Jiangtao didn’t stay longer and raised his hand in a fist-and-palm salute.
“Wait a minute, on my way back, I’m afraid you might encounter some trouble. Here, let me teach you a saber technique, it might come in handy…”
With Sun Qiang fully in charge of purchasing the residence, Zhang Xuan found a tavern with a small courtyard to stay in first, and explained this while smiling towards Min Jiangtao.
Since that Elder Bai Ye had imparted a flawed spear technique to him, clearly not wanting him to surpass himself, and now, with his help, Min Jiangtao had already detected the problem. His strength had made great advances and was now a sure thing. It would be okay if it went unnoticed, but once discovered, he would inevitably face danger.
This was his long-sought “mouth substitute,” naturally he couldn’t let anything happen so soon.
“Yes!”
Min Jiangtao nodded, though he was skeptical deep inside.
Although his teacher was somewhat ruthless towards others, he had raised him for so many years, and their bond was deep—he surely wouldn’t go so far as to silence him by murder just because he discovered the flaws and gaps in the saber technique!
However, since such a master was willing to impart a technique to him, he naturally wouldn’t refuse.
Ignoring his thoughts, Zhang Xuan grabbed at the air, and the Mo Dao in Min Jiangtao’s hand landed in his palm. He gently lifted it, turned around, and slashed downwards.
In an instant, Min Jiangtao felt a brilliant saber qi break through the air, emitting a series of sonic booms due to its tremendous speed.
Although he hadn’t advanced the Flowing Light Heavenly Destiny to the third level during this period, his deeper understanding of the Mo Blade Technique had emerged.
In theory, Flowing Light’s spearmanship and Mo Dao’s saber art were incompatible, yet connected by the Pathos of Heaven, they miraculously merged some of the unrelated Heavenly Destinies, and thus this saber technique came into being.
“Such a powerful saber technique… I wonder, does it have a name?”
With wide eyes, Min Jiangtao was full of excitement.
This move, although novel and different from what the teacher had taught, was also directly pointing to the essence of Mo Dao Destiny. It was foreseeable that once fully comprehended, it would very likely help him rush into the third level!
The third level of destiny, corresponding to the Saint 4-dan pinnacle of the Galaxy Realm. Even if it couldn’t compare to his teacher’s 6-dan perch, it was still not too far off!
The Galaxy Realm, like the Source Pool Realm, had a threshold every 9 dans, from one to 3 as the Lower Star River, four to 6 for the Middle Star River, and seven to 9 as the Upper Star River.
Understanding the third level of Heavenly Destiny meant becoming a 3-star Fate Master, qualifying to rush towards the Middle Star River!
“Of course, it has a name, it’s called ‘Red Cherry’!”
Zhang Xuan explained with a smile.
Since it incorporated the Flowing Light Spear Technique, it naturally included its core: Flowing Light tends to cast people aside, “red the cherries, green the bananas.”
“Red Cherry?”
Min Jiangtao paused, then had an epiphany: “Great name!”
This Master Zhang surely thought that one slash would turn the opponent’s head as red as a cherry… Such a dominating saber technique, using such a bloody name, indeed matched perfectly.
Unaware of his thoughts, Zhang Xuan raised the Mo Dao in his hand, looked over, and said, “I’ll demonstrate it once more, how much you can learn depends on your own intelligence…”
“Yes!”
Min Jiangtao dared not be careless, carefully observing and quickly committing the opponent’s battle techniques to memory before he slowly practiced them with the Mo Dao saber.
The wind howled with the swing of the saber. Although his speed was not as fast as his opponent’s, he managed to learn about twenty to thirty percent of it.
“Not bad talent…” Zhang Xuan said with a light smile.
Although they were skills inherited directly, being able to grasp the gist after only a couple of observations meant that this guy’s talent was indeed quite remarkable.
“Alright, continue practicing slowly!”
Disinclined to pay further attention to him, Zhang Xuan was about to return to his room to rest when suddenly his whole body shook. He immediately felt a torrent of Heavenly Mandate Vitality rushing towards him and, in the blink of an eye, it entered the Library of Heaven’s Path and transformed into a collection of books.
“This is…”
Zhang Xuan looked towards Min Jiangtao in surprise.
He could confirm that this strength came from the person in front of him.
But… wasn’t the other party a disciple of Elder Bai Ye? Why did he benefit when Min Jiangtao comprehended the saber art?
According to the laws of Heavenly Mandate, whoever was the teacher of this Heavenly Mandate, once the student began practicing, the former would benefit.
Just like when he imparted Zheng Yang with the Flowing Light Heavenly Destiny; once Zheng understood the second realm, even if he himself did not practice, he could at least advance to the pinnacle of the second realm or even directly charge into the third realm.
Min Jiangtao’s Mo Dao Destiny came from Elder Bai Ye, and he had followed the latter in practice for several decades, yet Zhang had only taught a saber technique. Why then was there such a massive reward of Heavenly Mandate Vitality?
According to the customs of the Master Teacher Continent, even if he held the position of a half-mentor, he shouldn’t receive more than the teacher himself, right?
“Could it be… that there was something wrong with the saber art Elder Bai Ye taught, and not only did I provide guidance, but I also imparted newly comprehended moves?”
A thought popped up.
If this idea was true, this was no mere half-mentor relationship, but a contest for the greater path!
He quickly looked into the library and indeed saw the Mo Dao Destiny, which had recently reached the third realm, now receiving a clear stream of qi from the Phantasm Space, making it even more substantial.
If one said it was merely at the early third realm before, now it had definitely reached the intermediate stage!
“This is… Min Jiangtao’s Heavenly Mandate!”
Zhang Xuan’s eyelids twitched.
It seemed his guess was not wrong. The Heavenly Mandate Min Jiangtao comprehended was indeed connected to him, meaning from now on, even if Min Jiangtao made a breakthrough, Elder Bai Ye would not benefit from it at all!
No wonder the Heaven Mandate Hall was so wary of ‘Mandate Chaos Masters.’ Merely teaching a student could contest their Heavenly Mandate; anyone would be fearful in this situation!
Though shocked in his heart, his face showed no sign of it as he turned to walk to his room.
What was most important at this moment was to find out whether this ability was unique to him or if others could do it too.
However, such a matter was inconvenient to inquire about directly; he would have to find an opportunity to search for answers in the Book Collection Vault later.
Min Jiangtao, unaware that his comprehension had been transferred to Zhang Xuan, continued to quietly grasp the saber art.
The Mo Dao saber continuously sliced through the air, lasting for over an hour as he felt he had thoroughly mastered the technique “Red Cherry,” before he finally couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief.
“Time to head back!”
Bowing gratefully towards Zhang Xuan’s room, Min Jiangtao then flew back on his Ironscale Winged Beast towards the direction of the Mo Blade Sect.
It did not take long before he landed.
“Brother Min has returned…”
As he entered the courtyard, immediately many disciples surrounded him with smiles.
There were only a few direct disciples of Elder Bai Ye, but there were many ordinary disciples. Otherwise, the Mo Dao Destiny couldn’t have possibly advanced to the pinnacle of the third realm in just a few decades and qualify to join the “Ten Thousand Sabers Alliance.”
The Ten Thousand Sabers Alliance was a collective of all saber arts Heavenly Mandates, categorizing sabers into many types: single-handed sabers, plain sabers, ghost-head sabers, long-handle short-blade sabers, Azure Dragon Crescent Blade, Bengtong Hu’s Saber, trident double-edged sabers, Zi Wu Yuan Yang Saber, Jin Chuan Shike Saber, curved back blade sabers, purple-gold fish-scale sabers…
There were over a hundred varieties, each cultivator and founder representing a branch stream of the saber art’s Heavenly Mandate. And Mo Dao was just one of the not-too-famous types among them.
“Hmm, where is the teacher?”
Turning to one of the disciples, Min Jiangtao asked.
“Don’t know where the teacher is, but big brother instructed that you find him immediately when you return!”
This disciple hurriedly bowed.
“Alright!” Min Jiangtao nodded.
The situation in Han Yuan City was complicated and indeed troublesome; it was necessary to discuss with someone reliable before reporting to the teacher.
This big brother was the person the teacher trusted most, holding great authority over the entire Mo Blade Sect.
He walked quickly to the courtyard where the person lived, and soon arrived there.
The gate was not closed; he knocked, and receiving no response, Min Jiangtao looked inside with a puzzled face.
“Big brother, are you there?”
He stepped over the threshold, and had only taken two steps when suddenly his heart skipped a beat, and he hastily retreated.
Immediately thereafter, he saw a glint of the saber swooping down, landing right where he had just been standing. Had he not moved quickly, he might have turned into a literal Red Cherry…