Chapter 1301: I Quit Learning

"This was left by Sword Saint. Only a sword cultivator who has grasped the true essence of the Way of the Sword is qualified to touch me, break the seal, and pull me out! But as for how exactly to do that, I don't know..." The long sword seemed a bit embarrassed.

After Sword Saint passed away and sealed it here, it had been dormant. It only knew that to leave the stone platform, one must meet the requirements of the true essence of the Way of the Sword and understand the meaning of the character "剑" (sword). As for how to pull it out, it was unaware.

"Unaware?"

Zhang Xuan shook his head. "Let me try!"

This long sword was at least a High-tier Saint artifact. It would be of great help to him, and naturally, he wouldn't refuse to make it his own.

He swayed, stepped forward, gripped the long sword, and pulled with all his might.

The long sword seemed nailed in place, not budging an inch.

Frowning, Zhang Xuan looked down.

"It's actually a Heaven-Tier artifact! No wonder..."

With his strength, he could easily uproot even a large mountain, yet at this moment, he couldn't even budge an ordinary stone platform. It turned out that the long sword was not only surrounded by special rune seals but, more importantly, it was also part of a Heaven-Tier mechanism. Once interlocked, it was impossible to open without a special method.

"Since Sword Saint required grasping the true essence of the Way of the Sword to obtain his legacy, pulling out the sword likely has the same requirement..."

After a moment of speculation, he gripped the hilt with both hands, closed his eyes, and the true essence of the Way of the Sword he had just grasped immediately formed streams of sword qi, slowly circulating within his body.

*Boom!*

As if something had been activated, a rumbling sound echoed, and a special power surged from around the stone platform. Immediately after, a sharp sword qi shot out, enveloping the surroundings.

Like a seal, Zhang Xuan felt his spiritual sense immediately severed by the sword qi. He could no longer see outside, and similarly, those outside could not see his situation.

He frowned, and just as he was about to release the sword hilt, he saw the sword qi slowly converge before his eyes, gradually forming into an old man.

The old man appeared somewhat frail, but his entire being resembled a long sword, emanating a sharp aura, as if ready to pierce through the firmament at any moment.

"Sword Saint?"

Zhang Xuan secretly became vigilant.

Although the figure was formed by sword qi, it contained the will of the Sword Saint from his lifetime, which was incredibly powerful. Even with Zhang Xuan's current strength, he would likely struggle to contend with it.

"I am Jian Zhen, known as Sword Saint! To have activated the will I left behind, it seems you have indeed grasped the true essence of the Way of the Sword and are qualified to receive my legacy..."

With his hands clasped behind his back, sword intent flowed between the old man's dark eyes, seemingly capable of severing all.

"Kneel, acknowledge me as your master, and I shall pass on to you the Three Illusory Swords, along with the method to break the stone platform's seal!"

"Acknowledge you as master?" Zhang Xuan frowned.

"Having received my legacy and benefited from my grace, it is only natural for you to acknowledge me as your master!"

Sword Saint's voice carried an unquestionable tone: "My Three Illusory Swords—One Sword Breaks the Sea, One Sword Commands the Ocean, One Sword Pierces the Heavens—are all earth-shattering martial techniques that countless individuals in the Empire Alliance vie for but cannot obtain! If I had not been gravely injured here, how could I possibly pass them on to an outsider so casually!"

Generally, masters who wish to leave behind a legacy first test a disciple's character and disposition. By the time Sword Saint arrived here, he could no longer hold on and was unable to set up numerous trials. He merely left behind his writings and this stone platform, sealing the long sword within.

However, even though he couldn't test future generations, becoming his disciple was a prerequisite for learning his techniques.

Without the formal relationship of master and disciple, how could he trust them with his legacy?

"You invested great effort to decipher my writings, and at such a young age, you've grasped the true essence of the Way of the Sword. Surely, you've long desired my legacy! After becoming my disciple, not only will I pass on the Three Illusory Swords, but I will also impart all my lifelong understanding of swordsmanship without reservation. As long as you study diligently, becoming a top sword master in the Empire Alliance within three hundred years will be no problem!"

Sword Saint's tone was filled with arrogance.

He had absolute confidence in his swordsmanship.

Since the other party had gone through immense hardship to come here and painstakingly studied his character "剑," they naturally desired his legacy.

Given this, as the master, he also needed to possess absolute authority and status.

He needed to maintain his dignified bearing.

"Only become a top sword master in the Empire Alliance within three hundred years? That's too long, I'm afraid I can't wait!"

With a troubled expression, Zhang Xuan shook his head.

He had to become a 9-star master teacher before turning thirty to prevent the eruption of the innate fetal poison within him.

Furthermore, he needed to possess the strength of an 8-star peak master teacher or higher before April next year to rescue Luo Ruoxi from her failed "marriage."

Three hundred years, just to reach the peak of the Empire Alliance, and still some distance from the Sage Clans... It's too slow.

"Can't wait? What do you mean?"

Sword Saint's eyes narrowed, and the sword qi in the air surged forth, making the surrounding air whimper. "Are you implying that my swordsmanship is too profound, and you lack the confidence to succeed? No, that can't be right! To have understood the meaning of my character '剑' indicates that your comprehension is not weak. Although the Three Illusory Swords are intricate and complex, as long as you're diligent, there's still over a thirty percent chance of successfully cultivating them... Of course, the shorter the time it takes you to comprehend my writings, the higher your comprehension, and the greater the chance of success!"

The purpose of his writings was simple: to test one's comprehension.

Without comprehension, even with secret manuals, one could not succeed.

Therefore, the shorter the time it took to understand the meaning, the more heaven-defying one's comprehension.

"You don't seem very old, so you probably haven't spent long comprehending my character '剑,' have you?" Sword Saint said. "If it's no more than ten years... the chance of mastering the three swords would be over sixty percent. Could you tell me... how long did you spend comprehending it?"

"Well..."

Zhang Xuan scratched his head, recalling carefully, "It should have been a few... tens of seconds!"

He had only glanced at the characters on the rock wall before collecting everyone's annotations. If he calculated carefully, the total time combined should have been a few seconds...

However, stating it directly would be too shocking, so before speaking, he multiplied it tenfold.

"Tens of... seconds?"

Sword Saint was stunned, and the sword intent filling the air wavered, seemingly on the verge of collapse. "You said you only looked at it for tens of seconds and figured out the purpose and meaning of my writings?"

"That's right. Although your writings consist of only a single character, they contain one hundred and seven types of sword techniques and one hundred and seven different sword intents. If I'm not mistaken, it should be a legacy of a sword formation! This makes it easier to better integrate so many sword intents."

Zhang Xuan smiled. "This kind of thinking is still quite easy to grasp!"

"You... in mere tens of seconds, could you discern that I left behind so many sword techniques?"

Still seemingly reeling from shock, Sword Saint was filled with disbelief.

A moment later, remembering something, he frowned and showed a hint of displeasure. "At such a young age, you're already trying to cut corners... You claim to have understood the meaning of my writings, so I'll test you! If you can still discern it, then I'll believe what you say is true!"

The sword techniques and sword intents he left behind were extremely obscure. Even a grandmaster of the Way of the Sword at his own level would be bewildered upon first contact, unable to grasp what was happening. For this person in front of him to claim he saw through it in mere tens of seconds, it was likely opportunistic trickery, not genuine comprehension.

"Test me? Alright!" Zhang Xuan nodded.

"I'll now perform a sword move. See how many sword intents and sword techniques it contains!"

With a huff, without any visible movement from Sword Saint, Zhang Xuan immediately felt a surge of killing intent rush towards him.

Looking up into his eyes, Zhang Xuan immediately saw an ocean of sword qi, like a new world, where flowing water changed, white clouds transformed into dogs, and swords were everywhere, in every conceivable form.

"Can you discern how many sword techniques my recent move contained?"

After performing the move, Sword Saint looked over again.

"Well..."

Zhang Xuan shook his head. "I didn't discern that!"

"You couldn't even discern such obvious sword intent? Isn't that just cutting corners?" Sword Saint was full of displeasure.

The sword intent he had just displayed was much simpler than his writings. For Zhang Xuan not to discern it meant his claim of understanding the meaning in tens of seconds was immediately exposed as false.

"I didn't discern how many sword techniques it contained, but I did see a full seventeen flaws!"

Zhang Xuan smiled faintly.

He was able to understand the character "剑" due to the annotations of countless predecessors; if he had to comprehend it on his own, it would certainly take him several years... Therefore, with the opponent's sword intent flickering so rapidly, even if he had grasped the true essence of the Way of the Sword, it would be impossible to count the techniques with just one glance.

But... why bother counting?

Knowing the flaws was enough.

"Seventeen flaws? What utter nonsense!"

"Firstly, although the sword intent just now was profound, it carried a chaotic quality. If I'm not mistaken, it's a trapping move, extremely difficult to use to kill someone! In other words, it has a good appearance, but insufficient power!"

"Secondly, the move contained sword intent that attacks the soul. While it does significantly increase its power, when actually executed, it places great demands on the cultivator's soul and state of mind. If either is insufficient, not only would you fail to attack others, but you might also be exploited by your opponent and defeated on the spot..."

"Thirdly..."

"Fourthly..."

"Seventeenth, the move is grand but dispersed, light and empty. A single strike that could clearly kill someone is unnecessarily expanded into over a dozen variations, adding legs to a snake, nothing more..."

Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan looked over calmly. "I wonder if what I've said is correct?"

"You, you..."

When the young man first started speaking, Sword Saint was dismissive, but the more he spoke, the paler Sword Saint's face became. By the time he uttered the last sentence, Sword Saint was trembling all over, completely speechless.

As a grandmaster of the Way of the Sword, he was aware of some issues with the sword moves he performed... Yet, the other party uncovered all of them with just one glance, detailing them even more thoroughly than he, the practitioner, could...

How did he even do that?

"Such comprehension, such insight! Learning the Three Illusory Swords will undoubtedly lead to swift success..."

Following the shock was intense elation. Sword Saint's eyes lit up. Unable to restrain himself any longer, just as he was about to ask Zhang Xuan to become his disciple and impart the sword techniques, he heard the young man opposite him sigh.

"Even a casually performed sword technique has so many flaws. The Three Illusory Swords are probably nothing but empty reputation as well... Forget it, you can keep your sword techniques; I won't learn them!"

"Huh?"

Sword Saint froze in place.