Chapter 2139: The Shadow of the Sword of Heaven and Earth
“Eh? Moli…” Ouyang Du chuckled ruefully when he saw the boy return to sword training. “I actually have another idea in mind. You can become Grandmaster Yang’s disciple and become an alchemist. Alchemists enjoy the same status as martial cultivators. It would bring honor and glory to Aurora City if you became an alchemist!”
“An alchemist?” Yus.h.i.+ Moli retracted his sword aura and turned back to Ouyang Du.
“That’s right, become an alchemist,” the young man nodded. “Of the four cities in Nebula Prefecture—Qingqiu City, Tianyi City, Cloudscape City, and Aurora City—only Aurora City lacks an alchemist. If you can become one, the help you can offer your father will be far greater than you being a martial cultivator.”
“But Grandmaster Yang is a celestial rank alchemist. The line of people who wish to take him for their master probably runs from Aurora City to the Nebula capital. It’ll never be my turn,” Yus.h.i.+ Moli laughed self-deprecatingly. Although he was young, he didn’t crave for things high and out of reach.
Gain Yuqing Yang as his master? It was more practical to practice his sword techniques!
But when Yus.h.i.+ Moli heard the name “Qingqiu”, a hint of light flared through the depths of his eyes and an air of sorrow wafted from his heart, like something was about to break out of its sh.e.l.l.
At the same time, a sword shadow flickered into view and suppressed the memory about to break free.
Ouyang Du didn’t notice the undercurrent of reactions, he fell silent as he also knew that becoming Yuqing Yang’s disciple was far more difficult than obtaining a Qi Elevation Pill.
“But no matter what you do, you need to give it a try. It’s an opportunity, after all,” he said.
“Thank you uncle, I hear you!” Yus.h.i.+ Moli turned around and grinned radiantly at Ouyang Du.
……
Yus.h.i.+ Moli was loath to waste a single second of his days. He spent the mornings stabbing his sword forward a thousand times, then practicing three sword techniques. The afternoons were spent on strengthening his body.
But even when he trained his body, the young man kept his sword firmly in hand, gripping it at every second.
Any ordinary person would’ve fallen to the ground halfway through the one thousand pierces, paralyzed from the effort of such rigorous and intense training. It was beyond the limits of what a human being could endure. However, Yus.h.i.+ Moli had the aid of herbal baths and food. He always recovered in the shortest amount of time possible even when his body was gravely injured.
Night fell and ushered in the brisk breezes of autumn.
Yus.h.i.+ Moli wore a thin s.h.i.+rt and sat cross-legged on his bed. A slightly open collar revealed taut muscles that were at odds with his years.
“I hope it really does work, that I haven’t persevered all this time for nothing!” A gossamer-thin piece of silk slowly unfurled in front of Yus.h.i.+ Moli. There was a sword drawn on it, one with sword aura rus.h.i.+ng to the heavens.
The Sword Chart of Heaven and Earth!
It was why Yus.h.i.+ Moli insisted on training everyday. The sword chart was not defined by the requirements of true qi. True qi was the strength formed by collecting the energy of heaven and earth in a cultivator’s body. In contrast, the sword chart used heaven and earth as the teacher and all living things as the sword, breaking the shackles imposed by the heavens.
Once a cultivator set foot into the Sword Chart of Heaven and Earth, the energy of heaven and earth would be summoned to them and become true qi, even if they didn’t themselves possess a sense of qi.
But to set foot into the sword chart… one must reach the level of holding a sword in one’s heart. Only with the heart in the sword and the sword in the heart could one reach the peak of all things as the sword.
At Yus.h.i.+ Moli’s current level of mastery, all he possessed was a sword in his hand. That was the prerequisite for bearing a sword in the heart. The latter was simply too difficult to reach!
According to the records of the Sword Chart of Heaven and Earth, not even the great sword master Long Qianjue had reached such august heights. It was an unfathomable goal far out of reach for Yus.h.i.+ Moli.
He practiced with the sword everyday, conducting one thousand pierces to familiarize himself with the sword and developing a firm grip with it. With that, he could imprint the sword onto his heart.
Yus.h.i.+ Moli was well practiced with sword techniques now. Even one hundred moves had been beyond him at first, but now he achieved one thousand pierces everyday and then practiced three sword techniques.
Given that he was only thirteen years old, his achievements were profoundly stunning. While he was yet to reach great perfection in the realm of sword in the hand, the boy was absolutely a sword expert!
Yus.h.i.+ Moli sat cross-legged on the bed and closed his eyes, sketching out in his mind the sword etched in the sword chart. This kind of mental observation method was one of the cultivation methods recorded in the Sword Chart of Heaven and Earth.
He’d managed to outline the shadow of a sword in his mind three months ago. The shadow of unknown purpose happened to suppress his memories from another world. But thanks to its creation, he was more proficient in his training during the day.
And now, resolution and desire alike flared vigorously in the depths of his heart.
Not only because he wished to amount to something and shake off his past, but also because there seemed to be an extremely important calling waiting for him!
He didn’t want to wait for a single second—he needed to grow stronger as quickly as possible!
Yus.h.i.+ Moli continued to observe his inner mind. He focused his entire concentration on the white shadow in his consciousness, becoming one with it. The more he observed it, the clearer the shadow became.
As time went on, he felt that he might be approaching the second level of the Sword Chart of Heaven and Earth—sword in the heart. There was a tendril of a connection between him and the shadow in his mind.
……
Early next morning, Yus.h.i.+ Moli practiced in the yard after eating breakfast.
“Hmm? One thousand pierces is easier today than yesterday! It must be because of the sword shadow in my mind!” He brightened. “Do I want to increase the difficulty? Fifteen hundred pierces, maybe?”
His heart sped up with excitement.
“Wait, no! One thousand a day is the limit of my current capabilities. Fifteen hundred would end me and not even herbal baths can save me then!”
He forced down the impulse dancing in his heart and stopped training for the day after practicing the three sword techniques. Yus.h.i.+ Moli was well aware that though he could easily complete one thousand pierces, his body would collapse if he did any more. He was only thirteen years old, after all, a time when his body was developing. He absolutely had to refrain from doing anything that pushed his body beyond capacity.
“Big brother!” A four year old child accompanied by a slender and tall middle-aged man bounded into Yus.h.i.+ Moli’s yard. He was Yus.h.i.+ Moli’s younger brother—Yus.h.i.+ Mow.a.n.g.
Prior to Yus.h.i.+ Moli’s mother disappearing four years ago, she’d given birth to Mow.a.n.g. After the boy was born, she vanished without a trace. Yus.h.i.+ Moli had found the Sword Chart of Heaven and Earth in a book that she’d left him.
“What are you doing here, Mow.a.n.g?” Yus.h.i.+ Moli grinned at the boy.
“Hug, big bro!” Yus.h.i.+ Mow.a.n.g didn’t care that Yus.h.i.+ Moli was soaked with sweat and threw himself into the older boy’s arms.
“Okay!” Yus.h.i.+ Moli swung his brother upward.
The man behind Yus.h.i.+ Mow.a.n.g furrowed his brow, plainly displeased with the action, but he couldn’t say anything, seeing as Yus.h.i.+ Moli was also the city lord’s son.
“Here you go, big brother. Father gave me this pill this morning.” Yus.h.i.+ Mow.a.n.g snuck a pill into Yus.h.i.+ Moli’s robes, warming the older boy’s heart.
Although Little Mo was only four years old, he was very mature and had a close relations.h.i.+p with Yus.h.i.+ Moli. Most important of all was that he possessed prodigious talent. He was only four, but all of his meridians were open and he could cultivate as soon as he turned six.
Yus.h.i.+ Jianchou had given him this pill to nurture his foundations, but here Yus.h.i.+ Mow.a.n.g was, giving it to his older brother instead.
“You keep this, Mow.a.n.g! Big bro doesn’t have a use for this pill and it’s too sweet. Big bro doesn’t like sweet stuff, remember?” Yus.h.i.+ Moli tucked the pill back into his brother’s robes. It would actually be very beneficial for him too, but it was too expensive!
He naturally recognized it since he’d studied many ancient records. This was an Origin Doubling Pill and it cost ten thousand gold coins! It was one tenth of his father’s entire fortune!
Aurora City lacked an alchemist, so Yus.h.i.+ Jianchou must have paid too costly a price to obtain the pill. Yus.h.i.+ Moli would never take it.
“Huh?” Yus.h.i.+ Mow.a.n.g rubbed his head with a small hand and smiled foolishly. He was easy to fool since he was only four years old.
“Eldest young master, milord requests your presence in the living room,” said the middle-aged man behind Yus.h.i.+ Mow.a.n.g.