Free Web NovelChapter 121: Chapter 121: The Grandmaster’s Doubt
’Speaking of which, considering Marshal Lei’s actions, he suspected Mr. Tang had definitely pulled some strings. The quotas for top-tier resources like these were allocated long ago—no more, no less. How could a new batch suddenly appear out of nowhere?’ freёwebnovel.com
Mr. Tang seemed a bit uncomfortable and cursed angrily, "That bald tiger, he’s ancient! This tea is damn useless to him, yet he’s giving the youngsters in the Bureau a hard time over a few lousy leaves. Is that any way for him to act? He’s the marshal of an entire army! Where’s his magnanimity? Where’s his vision? Obsessed with these piddling little things every day. If he’s so capable, why doesn’t he go snatch some from the Exotic Origin Realm?
"For that matter, the Primordial Demon Race has a ten-thousand-year-old Enlightenment Tea plant in their lands. If he managed to snatch that, I’d even call him my godfather. Hmph!"
Kong Sheng just listened with a smile. He knew not to take those words seriously.
Only upon reaching the Grandmaster realm would twenty-year-old Enlightenment Tea lose its effectiveness. Besides, a Martial Saint wasn’t a lone wolf; they always had comrades-in-arms, old friends, and junior disciples to look after.
Of course, Enlightenment Tea of this age was still quite good for his own use, it was just... there was too little of it.
Seeing his white pieces on the board gradually falling into a losing position, Mr. Tang grew frustrated. He said petulantly, "I say, you kid, can’t you go easy on an old man like me? You just have to take it so seriously. This is no fun. I’m not playing anymore."
Kong Sheng laughed heartily. "Mr. Tang, I can follow your orders unconditionally in any other matter, but when it comes to chess, that is something I can absolutely never concede."
Mr. Tang tossed his white pieces aside. "I’m done playing. No fun at all..."
Chuckling, Kong Sheng cleared the board. His love for chess surpassed even his love for the Sword Dao.
The old man looked down at the spot where Yu Fei was breaking through. His gaze seemed to pierce through the building’s obstruction, landing on the young man with a complex expression on his face.
"Sigh... Kong, you practice the sword too. Do you think that kid has a chance to recreate the glory of the Tribulation Sword?"
Kong Sheng also looked over. A Grandmaster’s senses were extraordinary, and with a single glance, he saw through Yu Fei completely. However, the more he looked, the more surprised he became.
"Hmm... This little fellow’s Qi Blood is rather ordinary, only mid-tier among prodigies. His cultivation realm is a bit behind; most prodigy Martial Artists at this stage have already started to assail the third realm. His aptitude is not bad, showing hints of a Martial Physique, though it’s slightly lacking.
"But his Spiritual Power is very strong. He will have great potential after entering the Inner Qi Realm.
"What I’m most curious about, however, is how he managed to cultivate an upper-grade Sword Intent at his current realm. It’s simply inconceivable.
"A few days ago, Zhuang came to me and said her student had found a promising candidate—someone who had comprehended Sword Intent before even practicing any Swordsmanship. At the time, I thought it was utter nonsense. It wasn’t until she mentioned the name Yan Sea that I guessed it was related to the Tribulation Sword, but what she described is completely different from this." frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
Kong Sheng stroked his beard in thought. He was known as the Soul-Breaking Sword, famed for how his blade brought death and a single strike could sever the soul. He was a genuine Sword Dao Grandmaster.
At his realm, although he had all sorts of exquisite sword techniques for combat, the core was still the upper-grade Sword Intent he had mastered.
Kong Sheng couldn’t understand it no matter how he racked his brain. Without years of accumulated training, without struggling on the brink of life and death, how could one possibly comprehend Sword Intent?
Moreover, the boy was just a kid in the first realm. His aura was so clean, completely devoid of Evil Qi. Where did this Sword Intent come from?
Mr. Tang was stunned. "Upper-grade Sword Intent? Kong, you’re not mistaken, are you?"
Su Yue had told him the kid had only grasped Sword Intent and hadn’t even mastered his Sword Nurturing Skill. This...
Kong Sheng nodded. Although his realm was not as high as Mr. Tang’s, the eye of a Sword Dao Grandmaster would not be wrong.
Mr. Tang pressed, "Then tell me, can he establish the Tribulation Sword Dao Foundation?"
Kong Sheng mused for a moment. "He most certainly can. Although Mr. Lanren has passed away, as a fellow Sword Cultivator, I also spent some time studying the Heart Furnace Lotus Planting Skill he left behind."
After a moment of thought, he explained in detail, "Mr. Lanren’s greatest strength was his ability to use the Primordial Qi Sword Lotus Seed to expand the power of his Sword Intent and enhance his own foundation.
"By using an external-to-internal refining method, he would refine the lotus seed, which possesses the Primordial Formless characteristic, into a treasure intrinsically linked to his own life. This way, his Sword Intent would naturally gain a formless aspect, allowing him to ascend to the heavens in a single step. It also granted the characteristic of primordial unity, which provided an extreme advantage when cultivating in the Inner Qi Realm.
"As you know, Mr. Tang, if one chooses a single-attribute Cultivation Technique for the Inner Qi Realm, focusing only on one path, progress is faster. However, this creates an irreparable weakness and is detrimental to breaking through to the Grandmaster Realm.
"But all-attribute Cultivation Techniques are extremely difficult to cultivate. Many prodigies struggle to advance, wasting their entire lives with nothing to show for it.
"That’s why most people choose multi-attribute variant Cultivation Techniques. Their power isn’t as great, but they don’t have any major flaws either.
"Mr. Lanren blazed a new trail. He refined the Primordial Qi Sword Lotus Seed into a symbiotic treasure, imbuing his Sword Intent with the formless characteristic while gaining the primordial characteristic in his own cultivation. In this way, the two great problems of cultivation and self-protection were easily solved.
"That is why it’s rumored that Mr. Lanren had poor aptitude, but I believe that after establishing the Tribulation Sword Dao Foundation, his aptitude was actually first-rate. This Cultivation Technique is a method to truly defy heaven and change one’s fate.
"The Primordial Qi Sword Lotus Seed is incredibly miraculous. Once a Martial Artist passes the blood gate of the first realm, no matter how they try to refine it, they will only end up with a dead seed that has no use whatsoever.
"Therefore, the greatest difficulty lies in acquiring Sword Intent in the first realm. Only a Sword Intent that is fundamentally powerful can subdue such a rare treasure of heaven and earth."
Mr. Tang was not a Sword Cultivator, but in order to groom a successor for the Tribulation Sword, he had also put in the effort to study Sword Intent.
Sword Intent is a profound concept, difficult to put into words.
In the cultivation of the Sword Dao, Sword Intent is generally divided into three rough grades: upper, middle, and lower.
This classification is actually quite simplistic, because the strength of Sword Intent is difficult to define. It is more like a special power that a Martial Artist masters during their cultivation, and its might is influenced by the Martial Artist’s state of mind.
In the eyes of a true Sword Dao Grandmaster, the three grades are only defined by the distinctions in the power they represent.
Lower-grade Sword Intent often manifests as visible forces, such as the common wind, fire, lightning, and so on.
Middle-grade Sword Intent builds upon this, further deepening the power and allowing it to proliferate from one to many.
As for upper-grade Sword Intent, there is only one criterion: it must trend towards conceptual, law-based power, drawn from formless forces, making it sublime and peerless.
Mr. Tang was shocked to his core. He then asked, "Are you certain that little fellow down there has mastered an upper-grade Sword Intent?"
Kong Sheng smiled wryly. "Mr. Tang, I may be untalented, but the name of the Soul-Breaking Sword is not an unearned one. This little fellow has no secrets in my eyes. His Sword Intent has cultivated three characteristics. The first two are rather ordinary—just Sharpness and sturdiness.
"But it’s the third characteristic of his Sword Intent that made my Soul-Cutting Sword Intent react. I don’t know the name of this type of Sword Intent, but it seems related to space, though not entirely. It is absolutely an upper-grade Sword Intent."
After a pause, Kong Sheng added doubtfully, "Leaving aside the upper-grade Sword Intent, let’s just talk about the Sharpness characteristic. How can one comprehend that without experiencing slaughter? And the sturdiness characteristic can only be obtained after tempering one’s Sword Intent thousands upon thousands of times."
Mr. Tang nodded. In truth, Mr. Lanren had made nearly all of his Cultivation Techniques public, but the Green Lotus Sword Nourishing Skill and the corresponding Cyan Lotus Sword were little-known.
After a moment of thought, he asked, "Kong, have you ever heard of a prerequisite Cultivation Technique for the Tribulation Sword Dao Foundation?"
