Chapter 6349 Saber and Man as One
That golden claw blazed with devil flames, its sheer size blotting out the sky. Whoever the attacker was, their body was so vast it couldn’t even be seen in full.
“Courting death!” exclaimed Mu Qingyun.
As she had just been hurt by Long Chen’s words, her anger instantly flared. With a sword seal, she sent a flying sword shooting out, slashing the golden claw.
BOOM!
A startled cry rang out as the void exploded. The enormous lifeform staggered back in shock, then fled in panic, leaving behind a spray of golden blood.
Vines lashed out like lightning, gathering every last drop. Zhi Zhi wouldn’t even allow a single droplet to be wasted.
“That lifeform was incredibly powerful. My sword only managed to slice its skin,” Mu Qingyun said, her eyes widening in disbelief.
She hadn’t held back with that strike and had expected to cut its leg clean through, but she couldn’t do it.
Not only was that lifeform immensely powerful, but it was also unimaginably fast. She hadn’t even managed to glimpse its true form.
Long Chen shook his head. Mu Qingyun’s realm was really lacking. If Yue Zifeng had been here, that monster would already be split neatly in two.
At first, Long Chen had considered pairing Mu Qingyun and Yue Zifeng together. But the two of them had never gotten that close. Now he wondered—did Yue Zifeng simply find her too foolish?
“Brother San, why are you looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong again?” Mu Qingyun shrank back nervously.
Long Chen couldn’t help but rub her head. She really was adorably foolish.
However, some things could not be taught. Until her moment of realization arrived, she would never understand—no matter how much Long Chen explained it to her.
Long Chen said, “From now on, stop relying on your flying swords too much. Hold your sword in your hand. Seek your sword with your heart, and your sword will reach out to you. If you can’t sense the true realm of your opponent, then leave it to your sword. Listen to its voice, and it will tell you.”
Although those thirty-six flying swords were powerful, Mu Qingyun had started to lean on them heavily. That dependence was dangerous.
No matter how much talent one had, if the path itself was crooked, the end result was meaningless. Flying sword arts were too premature for her current stage.
Mu Qingyun nodded. Although she didn’t know the reason, she trusted Long Chen.
“Tell me, has Yue Zifeng never taught you anything substantial?” Long Chen asked suddenly.
Yue Zifeng had given her pointers before, but they were mostly warnings and corrections. Judging by Mu Qingyun’s current attack style, Yue Zifeng hadn’t passed down any of his true techniques.
“He taught me two moves...” Mu Qingyun lowered her head, not daring to look at Long Chen.
“Which two moves?” Long Chen grew even more curious after seeing this reaction.
“Drawing the sword... and sheathing the sword,” Mu Qingyun muttered with an aggrieved expression.
Long Chen was baffled. Teaching a genius of the Sword Dao to draw the sword and sheath the sword? Was Yue Zifeng trying to hide his true skills?
“Show me!” Long Chen refused to believe Yue Zifeng would be so stingy.
Mu Qingyun did as told. A sword came out of its sheath, and then it returned. Simple. Clean. In an instant, it was over.
Long Chen slowly closed his eyes and clutched his chest with one hand.
Seeing that, Mu Qingyun panicked. “Brother San, are you saying I shouldn’t use my eyes to see, but my heart instead?”
“No. I’m saying watching your move made my heart skip in pain,” scowled Long Chen.
“Brother San!” Mu Qingyun was startled, feeling like she had done something terribly wrong.
Long Chen took a steadying breath and forced himself to calm down. He said slowly, “Drawing your sword is movement, while sheathing your sword is stillness. Between these two lies endless transformation. When you draw your sword, the moment it scrapes against the sheath, that cry is your sword calling out to your soul. But you can’t hear it. When the sword is sheathed, that sound is its farewell to you. Can’t you feel its emotions? If a cultivator and their sword cannot resonate, how can they even call themselves a sword cultivator?”
Mu Qingyun’s eyes widened as understanding dawned. Now, she finally realized why Yue Zifeng had her practice only this and then never taught her anything else.
So, this was the first step to mastering the Sword Dao, and she had failed to even take it. Moreover, she had doubted Yue Zifeng, thinking he was intentionally making things hard on her. All of a sudden, a wave of shame crashed over her. Once again, she felt foolish.
“Do you know why Yue Zifeng is so strong?” Long Chen continued. “Because others merely use their swords. They think ‘man and sword as one’ is the highest realm. But Yue Zifeng has already surpassed that—he’s reached the realm where sword and man are one. To use stillness to guide movement... Forget it, there’s no point in me saying more. Just focus on properly drawing and sheathing your sword.”
“Brother san, you’re really amazing!” praised Mu Qingyun.
“When it comes to flattery, you’re nowhere near Guo Ran’s level. Just train properly!” Long Chen chided irritably.
However, this flattery indeed eased his heart, dulling the sharp edge of his scolding.
Mu Qingyun giggled, feeling more at ease.
She rose and moved behind Long Chen to resume training, but he immediately barked, “Don’t stand behind me! What if you accidentally slash me? Stand in front of me. I’ll feel much safer.”
Mu Qingyun almost burst out laughing. Brother San could be frighteningly strict, yet also tease her like a child.
Obediently, she stood before Long Chen and started practicing again. Slowly, carefully, she drew and sheathed her sword over and over again. Once, she had abandoned this training out of pride. As one of the academy’s top geniuses, wouldn’t training such a basic thing make others laugh at her?
But now, it was different. She poured her entire heart into listening to the sword’s cry, letting her soul commune with it. Gradually, her spiritual fluctuations started to resonate with that sound.
Long Chen nodded in satisfaction. Mu Qingyun truly had talent; her only weakness was her comprehension.
“I like it!” Evilmoon exclaimed, its voice suddenly echoing in Long Chen’s mind. “‘Sword and man as one’—I approve. But why stop there? Let’s try ‘saber and man as one’. That will definitely surpass it.”
“You mean you want to take the lead? Then wouldn’t we simply hack whoever we find displeasing?” Long Chen snorted. He hadn’t expected this fellow to grasp this opening in his words.
“We’ll hack them even if they’re pleasing,” Evilmoon corrected without hesitation.
“...”
Evilmoon, of course, was only joking.
Satisfied that Mu Qingyun finally started to touch upon her optimal realm, Long Chen turned to the Earth Cauldron in the primal chaos space.
“Senior, what do you think about that Qian Jie?” Long Chen asked.