Chapter 399: Chapter 32 Before the Grand Competition, Guidance from the Sect Leader
“`
“The Supreme Revelation of the Secret Esoteric Scriptures” is actually even more difficult to understand than the “Nine Heavens Clear Entrance True Mantra,” making Luo Yan feel somewhat frustrated.
After studying for three or four days, he read it with only a vague understanding; it wasn’t that his comprehension was poor, but the text itself is truly obscure, with many ancient grammatical structures enormously different from today’s, coupled with a lack of commentary to explain, making it akin to learning a foreign language.
Moreover, this “Supreme Revelation of the Secret Esoteric Scriptures” seems to contain methods related to External Incarnation, hence he cannot ask others for advice, further slowing down the translation progress.
In addition to studying this scripture, Luo Yan must also gather daily with Miss Shi and the other five competitors from the White Jade Capital to spar and test their magical abilities against each other.
There’s no need to practice with Magical Treasures, of course, but Shi Liuli now has two things to train in: one is the East Sea Jade Coral Swordsmanship, and the other is the Southern Dipper Galaxy Secret Technique.
When she practices swordsmanship, Luo Yan would spar with her using the Huangting Kunwu Sword.
This Divine Sword, belonging to the Earth System, is heavy with powerful momentum. With its high rank, a single sweep could overwhelm Shi Liuli’s Purple Extreme Han Yuan Sword, allowing Luo Yan to dominate her in various ways;
When she practices Daoist Magic, Luo Yan would counter her with the Five Elements Divine Light.
The Southern Dipper Galaxy Secret Technique is also extraordinary, capable of summoning the water of the celestial river to the Lower Realm, where even a drop of water thrown at someone can form a force of a thousand jun.
However, no matter how fierce this technique is, it cannot escape the attribute of the Five Elements Water System, and once swept by the Five Elements Divine Light, it’s like a sharp blade slicing through silk, being cleanly torn apart.
This infuriated Shi Liuli, who gnashed her teeth in anger and refused to continue sparring with Luo Yan, instead turning to the others for practice matches.
Source: NovelFull.com, updated on ƝοѵǤօ.ƈο
Although her combat experience is lacking, Tian Zhang and the others weren’t necessarily much better; and given that both the Purple Extreme Han Yuan Sword and Southern Dipper Galaxy Secret Technique are not common in grade rank, she easily trounced them, allowing Miss Shi to vent and feel greatly refreshed.
The Yuqing View naturally places high hopes on these seven disciples and closely monitors their daily sparring progress.
The Sect Leader of Xuan Du often takes time to watch the bouts and has found that among the seven, Luo Yan is unquestionably the strongest, pressing down on all the others, making him the most powerful in this group.
Although Shi Liuli is not a match for Luo Yan, she is undefeated against the rest.
The remaining five, including his own son Tian Zhang, are evenly matched against each other, with the outcomes of the fights being unpredictable.
It seems that in this White Jade Capital’s competition, if one wants to win one of the twelve seats, focus will need to be placed on Luo Yan and Shi Liuli.
Hence, one day after their sparring session ended, the Sect Leader of Xuan Du called aside Luo Yan alone.
“Why has the Sect Leader summoned this junior?” Luo Yan was also somewhat puzzled.
Could it be that he wanted to privately bestow special training like Patriarch Subhuti did with Sun Wukong?
As if seeing through his thoughts, the Sect Leader of Xuan Du said with a smile:
“I’m not planning to give you a reward; you currently have no shortage of Magic Artifacts on you, be careful not to bite off more than you can chew.”
Luo Yan then feigned an awkward laugh, unable to deny this point.
In terms of Flying Swords, he has the Huangting Kunwu Sword; in terms of Daoist Magic, he has the Five Elements Divine Light. Both of these items are extraordinary, and their grade ranks even higher than those of Miss Shi.
As for Magical Treasures… the Hundred Treasures Bag from the Heavenly Craft Workshop hangs at his waist; what kind of Magical Treasures can’t be found in there?
If he simply took them out to throw, he could smash his opponents to death!
In the eyes of the Sect Leader of Xuan Du, Luo Yan’s only shortcoming is his lack of combat experience.
For example, in a Cultivator’s duel, if the opponent directly fires a Flying Sword at great speed, and you can’t even defend against it, then forget about any Hundred Treasures Bag, any Five Elements Divine Light, where would you have the time to use them?
Lacking combat experience is like holding the Tai’a Divine Sword in the hands of a child; it poses no threat at all!
“Attack me and give it a try,” the Sect Leader of Xuan Du said warmly, “Go ahead, use all your abilities.”
Luo Yan was startled, then realized the Sect Leader meant to personally assess and guide him, and he quickly responded:
“Then this junior will show his modest skill; please do not spare your guidance.”
“`
Having said that, he made a sword gesture and shot the Huangting Kunwu Sword toward the Sect Leader of Xuan Du.
The Sect Leader of Xuan Du did not even blink as a silver light shot out from behind him. It was his Sect Leader’s side sword, the Radiant Scenery Cloud Fang Sword, which intercepted and blocked the Huangting Kunwu Sword.
When the swords collided, there was a thunderous noise, and the Radiant Scenery Cloud Fang Sword was slightly overpowered, its blade bursting with streaks of dawn light. The Sect Leader of Xuan Du, seeing this, uttered a sound of surprise.
This Huangting Kunwu Sword, truly worthy of its past as the Emperor’s Side Sword, even the Radiant Scenery Cloud Fang Sword could not fully stop it. Its overwhelming power was evident, but why did it seem somewhat less than agile?
“You have not yet had this sword acknowledge you as its master?” the Sect Leader of Xuan Du asked with a frown.
“The Sect Leader also knows that this is the Emperor’s Side Sword.” Luo Yan then gave a helpless and bitter smile, “Is it that easy to have it recognize a master?”
“It is indeed strange,” the Sect Leader of Xuan Du said in a low voice.
It wasn’t strange for the Emperor’s Side Sword to refuse to acknowledge an ordinary person as its master.
However, by rights, if the sword was unwilling to acknowledge Luo Yan as its master, then with Luo Yan’s current cultivation realm, he should have found it difficult to even make it move slightly.
Therefore, the Sect Leader of Xuan Du had thought that Luo Yan must have used some method, by a fluke or error, to subdue the Huangting Kunwu Sword.
Yet now, Luo Yan had personally admitted that he had not made the sword acknowledge him as its master… So how could he command it?
It couldn’t possibly be that it had recognized him as its master by halfway, not completely, could it?
The Sect Leader of Xuan Du fell into silent contemplation, and Luo Yan naturally did not dare to interject recklessly. The scene fell into solemn silence, with only the Green Duckweed Sword, which knew the hidden secret, giggling snidely within Luo Yan’s body.
“Speaking of which, how did you help him subdue that sword?” the Kunlun Mirror asked curiously.
“I’m not telling you,” the Green Duckweed Sword purposely played coy.
After pondering for a long time, the Sect Leader of Xuan Du finally spoke slowly:
“With the might of the Huangting Kunwu Sword, it won’t be difficult for you to achieve a ranking in the Great Competition of the White Jade Capital.”
“But if you aim for one of the twelve seats, and the sword has not yet acknowledged you as its master, its sluggish response will likely become a significant vulnerability.”
Luo Yan was naturally aware of this and replied with a wry smile:
“I am incompetent, please enlighten me, Sect Leader.”
“To make up for this vulnerability, there are two methods,” the Sect Leader of Xuan Du said, holding up two fingers. “One is to nurture the sword with your True Yuan over a long period of time, until it becomes familiar with your essence, and then you can refine it with a secret technique.”
Luo Yan nodded, aware of the secret technique that the Sect Leader of Xuan Du was referring to.
The secret technique of the Life-bound Sword Artifact as passed down by Shushan.
However, what the Sect Leader of Xuan Du did not know was that he had already made the Green Duckweed Sword his Life-bound Sword Artifact.
Just as a man cannot marry two wives, how could he possibly have two Life-bound Sword Artifacts at the same time?
Clearly, this path was not an option.
“The second,” the Sect Leader of Xuan Du continued, “is to rigorously practice your swordsmanship.”
“The higher the level of your swordsmanship, the fewer the flaws within it. Although it cannot completely eliminate them, it is sufficient to improve your odds of winning.”
Luo Yan nodded in agreement.
The Sect Leader of Xuan Du’s reasoning was quite straightforward: you do not need to perfect your swordsmanship without any flaws, you only need to raise your swordsmanship, so your flaws are not so easily targeted.
As for Luo Yan’s actual swordsmanship level… if we talk solely about swordsmanship attainment, he dared to say that, except for An Zhisu with her Innate Sword Heart, among all those from the Orthodox Sect participating in the Great Competition of the White Jade Capital, no one could match him!
Of course, Qiu Changtian and Ling Yunpo also didn’t count—fighting against oneself, no matter the win or loss, how could that be considered!