On the first day after entering the academy, the morning glow filled the sky, and the weather was fair and beautiful.
Looking from the mountainside, as yellow leaves fell within Shengjing City, the autumn deepened, and the faint morning light shone on the glazed tiles of the imperial palace, making them sparkle.
During this time, the students of Tianshu Academy woke up early and successively headed to the Wudao Field by Bi Shui Lake.
According to legend, during the dark and ignorant period, Heavenly Dao bestowed a Celestial Book upon the first generation of Human Race sages to resolve the doubts of all beings. The sages then established Tianshu Academy and became the first Celestial Book Institute Head Teacher.
If a student practicing in the Wudao Field has extremely high Comprehension Ability, he can establish a connection with the Celestial Book.
And once a connection with the Celestial Book is established, it means a connection with Heavenly Dao, allowing for greater efficiency.
There are also rumors that although students who have not reached Perfection cannot sense Heavenly Dao, they still have the opportunity to sense the Celestial Book.
This way, they can gain advanced knowledge of profound mysteries, yielding endless benefits.
Over thousands of years, no one has seen where the Celestial Book is, nor do they know if it is actually a book, but there have indeed been students who suddenly glowed with Spiritual Qi, and upon waking, joyfully exclaimed, “I have seen the Celestial Book,” indicating it is not a false claim.
Therefore, from morning till afternoon, Disciples led by Chu River and Lu Qingqiu diligently sought Dao and sensed the Celestial Book.
The only one who did not appear was Ji You, this year's third Junior Third Realm Completion.
Although the Outer Courtyard Disciples all said that Ji You was a self-taught practitioner from the countryside, without Immortal Plants or Spirit Medicine to break through, he might not be able to enter the Upper Five Realms within a year.
However, he was, after all, a person who had cultivated to Junior Third Realm Completion on his own, so his whereabouts would naturally be of particular concern to some.
There was a sense of urgency, as if thinking, “As long as I don't see you, I have reason to suspect you have some secret method and are secretly learning.”
“Where did that Ji You go?”
“I haven't seen him. I just guessed if he followed other students to Baiyu Platform to learn that Dao Source General Outline?”
“He has already reached Junior Third Realm Completion, and his foundation is already solid. Such things would be useless to him; why would he go there?”
“Oh, I heard that someone saw him leave at dawn and go to Trial Sword Forest after breakfast.”
The one who had asked the question earlier was Chu River, who was determined to secure a spot in the Inner Courtyard next year. Listening attentively beside him were Young Miss Lu Qingqiu from Yunzhou, as well as Bai Rulong, Du Zhu, and Qian Yunxiao, who had already reached Ninghua Upper Realm.
Among them was also Fang Ruoyao, who was trying to sense a true spirit but had yet to find the method.
And when they heard that Ji You hadn't come to the Wudao Field on the first day but had gone directly to the Trial Sword Forest, they all looked astonished.
“He wants to Dual Cultivate martial Dao?”
“He should be Dual Cultivating martial Dao.”
Chu River slightly frowned, “Even dedicated cultivation of Dao feels like not enough time; he actually wastes time on martial Dao?”
Lu Qingqiu turned to look at Fang Ruoyao beside her, “Ruoyao, is your fiancé usually so eccentric in his actions?”
Fang Ruoyao paused slightly upon hearing this, then nodded, her expression somewhat uncomfortable.
Yes, she herself told others that Ji You was her fiancé.
Previously in Yuyang County, Young Miss Fang was the county magistrate's daughter, a Disciple chosen by Tianshu Academy, and a crane among clouds whom everyone had to look up to.
But after coming to Tianshu Academy, she discovered that her family background was inferior to these people, her status inferior to these people, and she suddenly became the most ordinary Disciple, feeling a huge sense of disparity.
Especially after returning to the female dormitory last night, she saw her roommates laughing and chatting happily, but she dared not interject at all.
Until she said she was Ji You's fiancée.
The self-taught practitioner from the countryside who reached Junior Third Realm Completion before coming of age was already a key topic of conversation on the first night of admission, so at that moment, everyone's gaze turned to her.
Then she suddenly realized that the identity she once despised so much had now become the only thing she could boast about…
“Dual Cultivation martial Dao…”
“Students in the academy are striving to comprehend Dao and break through. What's the point of cultivating martial arts? Are you going to fight someone to the death in the future?”
Meanwhile, in the Trial Sword Forest behind the mountain.
The bamboo sea was unaffected by autumn, still a deep green, swaying in the wind, with the trees rustling.
Ji You was currently holding a wooden sword, practicing basic sword Moves with Wang Xin'an, the Instructor of Dual Cultivation martial Dao in the academy.
Chop, thrust, point, parry, collapse, intercept, wipe, pierce, lift, twist, sweep.
One set after another, continuous instruction.
Junior Third Realm Completion itself allows for external control of Spiritual Qi and also control of objects with Qi, which is why most sword techniques in Qingyun World are not flashy.
The simplest sword is the most direct killing Move.
Ji You moved through the forest, repeating these sixteen characters continuously, one sword, one sword, and then another sword, constantly making himself stable in hand and quick in mind when drawing the sword.
According to Wang Instructor, facing an enemy with a sword requires first breaking his Qi, but if the sword strike is unstable, the entire sword's Qi will be dissipated during the first collision.
So Ji You kept searching for the feeling, and then let all his muscles engrave the movements according to this feeling, allowing it to bypass the barrier of thought and become a subconscious action.
“Phew…”
“It's quite tiring.”
Ji You found that repeating some actions too much easily led to fatigue, but if he pushed through the fatigue period, he gradually began to feel a sense of flowing smoothness.
Wang Instructor walked over at this moment and glanced, “Open your hand and let me see.”
Ji You opened his hand; there was no deep redness, nor was there excessive sweat accumulated in his palm.
“Good, no dead force. Remember instantaneous force, continue!”
“Remember, when striking with the sword, pay attention to your breath. Do not let it hinder your sword strike. Know that if the rhythm is disrupted, it will be over in an instant!”
“Once the basic sword Moves are proficient, you will slowly form your own sword-wielding habits, and cultivators, their Qi control habits also vary.”
“The combination of Qi control habits and sword-wielding habits will eventually form ever-changing sword Moves, moving with your heart, striking with your hand!”
And upon hearing the words “moving with your heart,” the peerless bandit furrowed his brow, connecting several of the Moves into a sword flourish, which then flew out of his hand, rapidly swirling around his body like lightning three times, and quickly connecting with another sword flourish upon returning to his hand.
Just as Wang Xin'an was slightly stunned, he saw Spiritual Qi suddenly surge under Ji You's feet, his body rotating like lightning in place, and the wooden sword fiercely advancing after circling him into a perfect circle, causing bamboo leaves in the forest to fall wildly.
Having exhausted his continuous Moves, Ji You leaned on his sword, wiped his sweat, and then looked up to see Wang Instructor's astonished face.
He seemed to be utterly stunned by Ji Hanfei's recent combo, unable to recover for a long time.
“Have you ever seen a master use a sword?”
Ji You wiped his sweat and said, “Indeed, as a child, I was fortunate enough to witness it firsthand.”
Wang Xin'an narrowed his eyes, “Which master was it?”
“Meng Xinghun.”
“?”
After cultivators can externally control Spiritual Qi, many seemingly incredible Moves can be used.
Flying Sword can connect different sword Moves, leading to a myriad of variations and styles; even “Meteor, Butterfly, Sword” can be replicated, which pleasantly surprised Ji You.
Subsequently, he looked at another teaching wooden sword in Wang Xin'an's hand, and a strange idea suddenly came to him, “Instructor, can a practitioner only control one sword?”
“Not necessarily. With your Junior Third Realm Completion Spirit Origin, even ten swords would be fine.”
“What about ten thousand swords?”
Wang Xin'an chuckled upon hearing this, “Naturally, it's possible, but it's meaningless. You should know that controlling Qi emphasizes the strongest form of Spiritual Qi condensation; when it's dispersed, it naturally weakens, unless your Spirit Origin can continuously supply you with Spiritual Qi, making every sword rich in Spiritual Qi, otherwise it's just for show.”
Ji You pondered for a moment, “Perhaps I will be invincible…”
“Ji You, Instructor wants to ask, where can that Meng Xinghun be found?”
“Yanliu Island, Stalactite Cave, Yixian Tian, Jinhua City…”
“?”
(Next chapter will be later, after Lao Cuo makes some revisions. Please support with continuous reading and monthly votes. Let's rise again in the new book period!)