While many people are speculating on this clash, Sword Monarch Zhu Yao on the other hand is practicing by his lonesome on a secluded forest near the foot of the mountain.
Even though, the ground is uneven and there are many roots of tree crawling around the ground, for some reason he never lost his footing.
He ignores all those words he heard and those speculation as his eyes only seek the path of the sword.
It is a pure devotion to the sword. Even Azief did not have such pure heart toward the sword. This is because they both seek different things. But could the devotion of sword defeats Azief?
How could it? Zhu Yao seek the sword, Azief seek the truth of all things. These things are so different and its height is also different.
It is like comparing Heaven and Earth
One seeks the origin of sword, while one seeks the origins of all things. It is clear who is more advantageous.
Sword is just that, a sword. But many people did not understand this simple notion. Even Xi Feng did not understand. They were taught that sword intent comes from the will of the sword resonating with the world.
Sword intent comes from the heart and it affect the world. The heart affects the world, like a sight affect your mood.
A blind man could not see the world while a deaf man could not hear. And as such it affects one mood.
The Sword did not resonate with the world unless one put some soul into it. And whose soul was put into it?
The swordsman soul.
The Heart affect the world, and the heart create a sword. And a sword is always just that, a sword.
Azief understand this the moment he heard Xi Feng told him about his belief of the sword intent. But the reason Azief knows so much is because unlike the people of this world, he was exposed to more secrets of the Universe.
While these people used sword to fight Azief used Laws and Concepts of the World and the Universe to fight monstrous and G.o.dly beings.
If Zhu Yao heard Azief teaching, there is no doubt his attainment in the sword arts would increase almost immediately.
Zhu Yao did not know that there is such expert on top of the mountains, if not he would not act drastically, leaving the Sword Residence and travelled all the way to Silhae to spar with Xi Feng so he could understand One Sword technique.
Xi Feng would never have the chance to be in the notice of such a powerful sword pract.i.tioner if not for the fact that he is rumored to have mastered the ten moves of the Flowing Sword Arts.
Zhu Yao eyes is clear and the sword on his hand shows unbreakable resolve as his sword swing through the air like a graceful dance
His long white robe contrasted the gloomy dim darkness of the forest as his sword light cut many leaves into two.
The wind rustles the leaves, the leaves falls and his sword light will split the leave following the grains of those leaves.
It shows not only Zhu Yao precision in attacking, it also highlighted his control over his own internal energy.
If he uses to much of his internal energy, the leaves would not be split apart that cleanly. Instead it would have scattered into thousand pieces.
His aura when he is wielding a sword is akin to nature itself. Soothing and calm at times but could also become a disaster. It is tempestuous and unpredictable.
Like always, in his eyes there is only the sword in his hand. Not far away, some female sword pract.i.tioner from other orthodox sect marvel at the handsome face of the Sword Monarch.
Behind them mumbling with a dissatisfied face is Saber Manor Young Master Jian Que. Flitting around the camp is Tukhla from Beiyuan and his companion Ulhak, making small talks and socializing with other warriors of the South.
There is even Su Yun who Tukhla suspected to be one of the secret spies of the southern dynasties.
Elegant Scholar Sun Wu from Wu Pavilion waving his fan and crafted a few poems in the night, about the One Sword might and the unpredictable Flowing Sword Arts. It was like he is goading Zhu Yao and hyping the battle ahead of time.
People have always knowns that the Elegant Scholar is not that proficient in fighting but his intellect in strategizing make him a formidable enemy.
His family even though they are also of a martial family, they are also a family of n.o.bles with many of the Sun family descendant serving in the Yong military circle.
Elegant Scholar also have one other nickname among the military circle. The Little Sun. This is because his name was the same as the name of his great grandfather The Saint of War Sun Wu of Yan.
Since the Spring and Autumn period, the Sun family have been a n.o.ble family of military lineage.
He is hyping the battle and singing poems every day.
Saber Manor Young Master Jian Que also present. Unlike others who like to train he just waited in his tent with his many woman handmaiden.
But no one doubted his attainment in saber arts. Before the appearance of Xi Feng in the martial art world, people always compared Sword Monarch with him.
One with The Sword Su Meng from Sword Was.h.i.+ng Sect is also training but he did not spar with the people of the orthodox sect.
Instead he spars with many of the young talents of the heterodox sect.
The Sword Was.h.i.+ng Sect is quite ambivalent in their relations.h.i.+p with the heterodox sect.
Like the Temple of Xi which wanted to achieve Enlightenment and the Cloud Abode in Yongxian Valley that wanted to attain immortality, the Sword Was.h.i.+ng Sect only wanted to know the origins of sword.
They are impartial in many matters and they trained themselves to see the world transcending from the norm of good and evil.
To them, there is no sword technique that is evil. To them sword technique is sword technique. The good and evil rested on one heart and the wielder of the sword.
And the heterodox sect who detest the orthodox sect weirdly enough did not mind that the successor of the Sword Was.h.i.+ng Sect sparring with them.
In fact, they even trusted him more than their own member of the heterodox sect.
There is many reason for this weird trust. They are many prominent figures of the heterodox sect that once learn swordsmans.h.i.+p from the streams of the Zhou River valleys where the Sword Was.h.i.+ng Sect resided in.
Whether they enter the orthodox sect or not, the one that have learned in the Sword Was.h.i.+ng Sect only have one goals and that is to improve their swordsmans.h.i.+p.
But it is not only the orthodox sect that have a great lineup. The foot of the mountain of the Five Element Mountain is now filed with dragons and tigers.
Their arrival even shocked the royal family of Silhae.
But since, these arrivals of many martial arts expert did not mean harm for her kingdom, she did not do anything excessive and let them tread the snowy path leading to the Five Element Mountain.
To many Silhae royal family, the Five Element Mountain is a cursed site. The ma.s.sacre that they heard happen on top of the mountain only help reinforce that belief.
Which is why there is not many that dares tread its path.
Even the villagers around the foot of the mountain was actually the descendant of many prisoner and political dissident of the kingdom who was sent there as punishment.
They did not die and instead thrive under the foot of the mountain and even establish many small villages and a small city form not too far away from their villages.
The Five Element Mountain was rarely approached by people.
Which is why the royal family was shocked when they read the List of Swordsman and find out one of the great master of martial arts is living in their kingdom.
If they knew, they would have long sent people to invite the master to come to the royal palace.
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