Chapter 1980: Three Young Master's Sword

"Congratulations, Elder Lu!"

Hearing the voice, Dan Xiaotian stepped out of the room.

"This is your token of identity!" Elder Lu Yun handed over the token he had just received from the Elder Hall, smiling slightly. "With this, by spending a certain amount of Sword Pavilion Coins, you can freely access places like the Library and the Sword Arts Hall for observation! You can also undertake inner disciple trials to earn rewards! In short, you can freely visit any peak where inner disciples reside! Additionally, these are your rewards for becoming an inner disciple: five low-grade Immortal Origin Pills, one low-grade immortal-grade longsword, and one bottle each of healing and true qi recovery pills! As for this storage ring, it's my personal gift to you!"

With that, he handed over another storage ring.

"Thank you, Elder Lu!"

Dan Xiaotian's eyes lit up.

"This..." Zhang Xuan's eyebrows twitched, seeing so many benefits for becoming an inner disciple, even including a storage ring.

While enjoying the sect's resources, one must certainly accept its obligations; there's no such thing as a free lunch.

Anyway, he could earn money quickly by participating in competitions, so there was nothing to envy.

"Here are the sect's cultivation technique and the Lingyun Sword Art. Study them first, and if you have any questions, you can always find me..."

Elder Lu Yun took out two more books. "Our Lingyun Sword Pavilion cultivates a technique called the Lingyun Art, which is quite renowned across the continent! As for the sword art, it's considered the best in the world! However, just because the technique and sword art are powerful doesn't mean you'll become strong merely by cultivating them. You still need your own tireless effort and comprehension!"

Dan Xiaotian nodded.

Even with identical courses taught by a teacher, there would still be both top students and struggling ones.

A powerful cultivation technique or sword art doesn't necessarily make one a master.

"Of course, the Sword Pavilion is not stingy. If you have a cultivation technique or sword art that suits you better, you are free to cultivate it, as long as you can pass the annual assessment, we won't stop you!" Elder Lu Yun continued.

Zhang Xuan's 'throwing sword' move was something even Huo Jianghe couldn't block. Elder Lu Yun had even re-enacted it and believed he might not be able to receive it at the same level...

From this, it was clear Zhang Xuan certainly had his own secrets.

The Lingyun Sword Pavilion wouldn't delve deep into such matters.

As long as a disciple was strong, could pass assessments, and didn't violate sect rules, they weren't forbidden from learning other techniques.

The stones of other hills may serve to polish the jade of this one!

Sometimes, learning other cultivation methods for reference could lead to greater progress.

After discussing some sect rules, Elder Lu Yun finally turned and left.

Having just broken through to the True Immortal realm, he also needed to properly consolidate his cultivation.

"Teacher..."

Seeing the elder leave, Dan Xiaotian handed over the Lingyun Art and the sword art.

With a thought, two identical books appeared in Zhang Xuan's mind, and he quickly reviewed them.

Elder Lu Yun, fearing errors in cultivation, had only given him the Ancient Sage 1-dan version of the Lingyun Art. Although it had far fewer errors than the techniques from the Master Teacher Continent and was considered extremely top-tier, it was still vastly inferior to the Heaven's Path cultivation technique. It wasn't worth cultivating.

As for the sword art, it was indeed good, just as the elder had said, but compared to Zhang Xuan's current understanding, it was still nothing significant.

"As for the cultivation technique, you should continue practicing the one I taught you; there's no need to change it. For the sword art, just keep practicing the 'throwing sword' technique. Once you've completely mastered that set of sword movements, I will teach you the next stage!" Zhang Xuan instructed.

"Yes!" Dan Xiaotian nodded.

Since becoming a disciple, he had completely trusted his teacher, practicing exactly as instructed.

"By the way, Teacher, what exactly is the name of this 'throwing sword' technique you taught me?" Dan Xiaotian asked as Zhang Xuan finished giving instructions and was about to leave.

The teacher had only taught him the sword art; it didn't have a specific name yet.

Such a powerful sword art surely couldn't just be called "throwing sword"!

"This..." Zhang Xuan frowned.

He had casually created this sword move in the Spirit God Temple without much thought... When asked for a name, he truly didn't know how to answer.

"You are Young Master Dan... In that case, let's call this move 'Young Master Dan's Sword'!" Zhang Xuan said after a pause.

"Young Master Dan's Sword? This... isn't that inappropriate?" Dan Xiaotian's face twitched.

It was too perfunctory!

What kind of sword art had a name like that?

Moreover, this move was created by his teacher; how could it be named after him?

"What's inappropriate about it? Sword moves are named casually anyway; anything goes. 'Young Master Dan's Sword' is perfectly fine!" Zhang Xuan waved his hand, not wanting to dwell on the matter.

His father, Zhang Zhenxing, was terrible at naming; otherwise, he wouldn't have been given the name Zhang Diaofei!

Inheriting that gene, he wasn't much better. Otherwise, his Heaven's Path cultivation technique, Heaven's Path Sword Art, Heaven's Path Golden Body... and aliases like Yang Xuan, Tianya, and 'I'm Very Low-Key'... wouldn't be so uninspired.

"Alright then!"

Seeing his teacher being so perfunctory and settling on the name, Dan Xiaotian had no choice but to stop dwelling on it.

"Hand me your inner disciple token..."

Taking the token, Zhang Xuan left the courtyard and headed towards the inner disciple library.

The library was a grand and towering hall located on a man-made flat ground in the middle of the peak. He had seen it before when he went to the trade market.

Upon arriving, he took out his identity token and handed it over.

"Two Sword Pavilion Coins for half an hour. You may choose one cultivation technique or martial art to copy!" the elder in charge of the library stated indifferently after glancing at the token.

Zhang Xuan took out two Sword Pavilion Coins, tossed them over, and stepped into the hall.

The Lingyun Sword Pavilion had been passed down for thousands of years, and its collection of sword arts and cultivation techniques was vast and dense, numbering in the millions.

Inside the hall, many disciples were browsing. Since time cost money, most had already chosen the books they wanted and were copying them as quickly as possible.

Zhang Xuan didn't need to go through such trouble. He simply swept his eyes across the bookshelves, while mentally calling out "Deficiency."

*Whoosh!*

Countless books instantly imprinted themselves into his mind.

Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that his library's ability to collect books hadn't disappeared.

He had originally wondered if, upon entering the Firmament, his library's corresponding ability would change and be restricted, but it seemed he had worried too much.

He continued to scan along the bookshelves, and rows of books entered his mind, transforming into his knowledge.

This was the inner disciple library, containing only Ancient Sage-level cultivation techniques and martial arts. There were no False Immortal-level ones, and the number of Ancient Sage 1-dan books was greater, gradually decreasing with higher levels.

Zhang Xuan was currently at the peak of the early Shattered Void stage of Ancient Sage 4-dan, so it didn't matter if he looked at the lower-level books or not.

In nearly two hours, he had collected all the books.

After leaving the library and paying another six Sword Pavilion Coins, he returned to his residence.

"Time to break through!"

With the cultivation techniques collected, it was time to unleash the cultivation he had suppressed for so many days!

He sat cross-legged on the bed. With a thought, all the Ancient Sage 4-dan books in his library piled up.

"Correct!"

He whispered, and an Ancient Sage 4-dan cultivation technique appeared before him.

He hastily opened it.

He quickly breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as he had guessed, with so many manuals accumulated, it had reached the Heaven's Path level.

With a flip of his wrist, the remaining seven Immortal Origin Pills appeared in his palm. He opened his mouth and swallowed one.

*Grumble! Grumble! Grumble!*

A powerful surge of spiritual energy immediately erupted within him. His true qi began to circulate strictly according to the newly formed Heaven's Path cultivation technique.

*Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!*

His power grew stronger and stronger, and his true qi became increasingly dense.

Before long, with a roar, he broke through the early Shattered Void stage. He continued to swallow pills, rapidly increasing his cultivation.

"Hmm, the effect of the Immortal Origin Pills is getting weaker?"

In less than half an hour, he reached the late Shattered Void stage. However, at this point, the low-grade Immortal Origin Pills he had purchased previously were becoming less effective. After swallowing all seven, he barely reached the late Ancient Sage 4-dan, still unsure how far he was from the peak.

"The Heaven's Path cultivation technique indeed has extremely high requirements for the grade of medicine..."

Stopping his cultivation, Zhang Xuan rubbed his temples.

The Heaven's Path cultivation technique had extremely high demands for spiritual energy. Although low-grade Immortal Origin Pills were very effective for False Immortal experts, they were no longer very useful for him.

Without Immortal Origin Pills, absorbing the free-floating mercury true qi in the air was much faster than in the Master Teacher Continent, but it would be almost impossible to break through to the peak of the Shattered Void stage without two or three months!

Advancing only two minor levels in such a long time... he absolutely couldn't wait!

"Anyway, I still have plenty of Sword Pavilion Coins. I'll go buy some mid-grade Immortal Origin Pills..."

He had won over 1,400 Sword Pavilion Coins from the bet and had only spent eight. It was better to take the opportunity to buy more Immortal Origin Pills and first raise his cultivation to the peak of the Shattered Void stage!

He took out his Spirit God Jade Token, and with another thought, he entered it.

This time, he didn't go to the dueling area, but to the item purchase area.

"Mid-grade Immortal Origin Pills, two hundred Sword Pavilion Coins each!" said the young man in charge of selling resources.

"Two hundred?" Zhang Xuan's eyebrow twitched.

That was truly expensive!

Low-grade Immortal Origin Pills were two Sword Pavilion Coins, but mid-grade ones were two hundred—a full 100-fold difference in price!

"Mid-grade Immortal Origin Pills are medicines that only True Immortal realm experts can use. Reaching this level means you're considered a master among core disciples, and even inner elders are only at this level... Two hundred Sword Pavilion Coins are nothing to them!" the young man explained. "Of course, the most important thing is that this type of pill requires precious medicinal ingredients to refine, and it also places great demands on the alchemist's cultivation, so the quantity is scarce..."

Zhang Xuan nodded.

The previous Zhu Yanzhi, as an inner disciple, had nearly a thousand Sword Pavilion Coins on him. So for core disciples, or even elders, two hundred coins for a mid-grade Immortal Origin Pill was indeed not expensive for them!

"I'll buy five first!"

After transferring one thousand Sword Pavilion Coins, Zhang Xuan purchased five pills.

He had thought that the more than a thousand coins he won from the bet would last him a long time, but now it seemed he had been mistaken.

Just like with the previous Spirit God Jade Token, his consciousness returned. Activating the array on the token, the pills smoothly appeared before him.

He took one out and placed it in his palm. Indeed, it radiated potent spiritual energy. Compared to it, low-grade pills were incomparable, not even in the same league.

He took a deep breath, just about to swallow the pill in his hand to break through the late Shattered Void stage in one go, when his vision blurred again. The gourd shot out once more, staring at the mid-grade Immortal Origin Pill in his palm, an expression of longing dripping with saliva.

"So fragrant..."