"I, Su Bei, wish that every sincere swordsman in this world may strike down the heavens with a single sword."
Shan Wuque kept these words in her heart, murmuring and repeating them countless times.
Then she raised her head and looked once again at Su Bei, who had already vanished deep into the Sword Hidden Pavilion, a brilliant light blooming in her eyes.
"Senior Brother, this junior sister has wronged you all this time!"
"Not just me... everyone in the Sword Sect has wronged you!"
"So your heart was set on the entire Twenty-One Provinces all along!"
"Senior Brother, your grand ambition is now known to your junior sister, but how could such a lofty aspiration ever be buried within the Sword Sect?"
"With such restraint and low profile, this time I will no longer let you hide yourself away!"
"..."
Shan Wuque looked deeply into the depths of the Sword Hidden Pavilion and slowly drew in a breath.
Just what reason could have kept a man of such great ambition as Fifth Senior Brother unknown until now?
Just what reason could have driven a man of such great righteousness as Fifth Senior Brother to bear such heavy burdens in silence?
I don't care!
Fifth Senior Brother.
Just like you said.
All matters under heaven are nothing more than a matter of a single sword!
Whatever hardships or suffering you bear, your junior sister will carry them with you!
The entire Sword Sect will carry them with you!
The Sword Sect will never abandon any piece of gold wrapped in dung.
Nor will the Sword Sect ever spare any dung that covers up the gold!
Let all those fellows who only know how to put on airs while being utterly useless simply drop dead...
This time, during the upcoming sect initiation ceremony, I will surely clear Senior Brother's name before the entire world of the Twenty-One Provinces!
I will let everyone in all Twenty-One Provinces know that Senior Brother is most certainly not just in the Soul Formation Stage!
"With Senior Brother's realm, I'm afraid even those in the Void Return and Dao Integration stages could be beaten back with a single sword..."
...
The rest of the Sword Sect disciples also stared with tear-filled eyes at the swords in their hands, Su Bei's shocking words echoing ceaselessly in their ears.
"Anyone can strike down the heavens with a single sword!"
"Ah!! Fifth Elder! I love you!"
"From this day on, anyone who dares to gossip behind Fifth Elder's back about his cultivation realm being poor, I, Wang Dadao, will be the very first to disagree!"
"I always considered myself to have grand ambitions, but compared to Fifth Elder, I am merely a single grain of millet in the vast sea. To think I previously boasted that I could surpass Fifth Elder's realm in two hundred years! And crush Fifth Elder in three hundred years! I am nothing but a fart!"
The blue-robed disciple stood with his back to the firmament, the sword in his hand seemingly humming in resonance, as he let out a long sigh of emotion:
"Fifth Elder is the heavens!"
"Fifth Elder is the eternal god!"
The female disciple holding her little notebook calmed the overwhelming excitement surging in her heart, flipped to a fresh page, and diligently recorded everything Su Bei had said!
[All matters under heaven are nothing more than a matter of a single sword!]
[One should use the sword to smooth over all injustices in the world, and with the sword remain unashamed before all who bear shame!]
[I, Su Bei, wish that every sincere swordsman in this world may strike down the heavens with a single sword!]
[At the cry of "Sword, come!", all swords in the world shall arrive!]
At the end, after thinking for a moment, she added another line:
[Fifth Elder's realm is suspected to be at the Half-step Dao Integration stage; no one in the entire world is worthy of speaking of swordsmanship before Fifth Elder!]
Then she let out a long breath, looked at her notebook with satisfaction, and murmured to herself:
"Well, I'll have these photocopied tomorrow,"
"..."
...
Su Bei walked slowly into the Sword Hidden Pavilion, examining the place row by row starting from the first floor.
Looking at the various books scattered all over the floor, along with the Yellow-rank cultivation manuals fluttering about the sky, Su Bei gave a wave of his sleeve, and an untold number of books flew straight toward him.
《Three Years of Being a Human, Five Years of Immortal Cultivation》
《Unable to Conceive a Child, I Am Terribly Sorry》
《A Hundred Ways to Make Wealthy Older Women Fall in Love With Me》
《Crossing Over to Another World, I Married Eighteen Thousand Wives》
《My Review: Inferior to the Sailor Suit Next Door》
《How to Make the Aloof Junior Sister Fall in Love With Me》
...
Looking at these bizarrely named books, Su Bei widened his eyes, wearing a strange expression.
Why did he always feel a strange sense of incongruity?
Take this book called 《Postpartum Care for the Immortal Pig》, for instance—no matter how he looked at it, it was full of malicious intent!
Could one really dig out useful cultivation manuals from such books?
Right at that moment, a book suddenly appeared that looked utterly unremarkable, with even the handwriting on the cover appearing crooked and messy.
《Protagonist Must-Cultivate Formula》!
Su Bei drew in a sharp breath of cold air, secretly thinking to himself how terrifying this was!
Never had he imagined that a cultivation manual that looked so ordinary—yet so ordinary that it clearly wasn't ordinary at all—could actually exist!
This... this was simply a cultivation manual tailor-made for his own disciple!
Suppressing the shock in his heart, Su Bei opened the first page with trembling hands.
Soon, lines of small characters appeared, running from right to left.
[Protagonist Must-Cultivate Formula]
I am the protagonist!
This cultivation manual is left for those in the world endowed with great fortune, written specifically for the Son of Destiny!
All things in heaven and earth possess fortune!
If your fortune is poor, then abandon this book!
It is not suited for you! Perhaps the book next to you, which looks rather extraordinary, is better suited for you!
Are you ready?
...
This was the entire opening content of the 《Protagonist Must-Cultivate Formula》!
Su Bei felt his heart trembling. Looking at the opening of this book, every single line leaked an air of supreme superiority.
If your fortune is poor, simply abandon this book!
Good grief, these words were simply... simply too reasonable!
In a word: Superb!
Clutching his expectant heart, Su Bei slowly turned to the next page.
"Being able to turn to this page shows that you are absolutely confident in your own fortune!"
"The content that follows is only permitted for you to view alone!"
"Are you certain there is not a single person around you?"
"..."
Su Bei drew a heavy breath and peered around sneakily in all directions.
Seeing that no one seemed to be paying attention to his spot, he nodded with satisfaction.
Just as Su Bei was about to continue turning the page, he suddenly and inexplicably felt a direct, unblinking gaze fixated upon him.
Su Bei hurriedly closed the cultivation manual in his hand and stood up to look in that direction.
The first floor of the Sword Hidden Pavilion was quiet and peaceful, with everything just as usual.
Only a white-haired woman sat gracefully in a chair, her cold eyes gazing indifferently at the book before her.
A purple robe enveloped her figure, revealing her graceful curves to the fullest, her snowy white legs crossed.
Her expression was cold, devoid of any emotional fluctuation, and her exquisite face wore no makeup yet remained striking. She looked as though she had been cast from the very same mold as Shan Wuque, the only difference being that her temperament was even more refined and icy.
She resembled an blooming snow lotus atop an icy mountain.
Ninth Elder! Shān Wúlán!
Seeing this woman, Su Bei frowned with a trace of doubt.
Where on earth had that gaze come from? As a cultivator, his intuition could be described as exceptionally sharp; no matter how covert a glance might be, it was impossible for him to sense it incorrectly.
—However, at the mere thought of this woman, Su Bei couldn't help but shiver involuntarily.
That gaze absolutely could not have come from her!
He had never once seen this woman show interest in anything; she forever wore that same frozen face!
Right! She was the embodiment of that self-contained, aloof ice-queen who never uttered a single word!
She and her sister Shan Wuque were simply absolute polar opposites!
If it were her, it would be even more absurd than his own disciple wanting to commit treason against her master.
Then who on earth could it have been?
Yet it was precisely this direction, without a doubt?