At night, Meng Fan returned to his room and began to cultivate.
Now he was indulging in luxury: he held a Spirit Stone in his palm to absorb its energy, swallowed a Qi Gathering Pill, and on top of that, tapped into the Source of the Sword emerging from his lower abdomen.
At this rate of cultivation, even someone facing Supreme-grade Spiritual Roots would find themselves outmatched!
"Hongqi, have you ever heard of the Sword God Monument?" Meng Fan asked Hongqi during a break from his cultivation.
"No," Hongqi's voice echoed in Meng Fan's mind. "The previous master of the Hongqi Sword was not a disciple of the Shushan Sword Sect. After that master fell, the Hongqi Sword ended up in the Shushan Sword Pavilion by a stroke of fate. Since coming to Shushan, the Hongqi Sword has never left the Sword Pavilion. Actually, you are the very first master the Hongqi Sword has ever had here in the Shushan Sword Sect!"
Meng Fan nodded, indicating he understood.
It seemed Hongqi knew very little about Shushan; his idea of finding a living fossil had fallen through.
The next day, after finishing wiping the long swords, Meng Fan went to the Sword Comprehension Hall and met Liu Yanping as agreed.
"Are you planning to watch others practice the sword here for a while, or head straight to the Sword God Hall?" Liu Yanping asked, knowing that Meng Fan had a habit of watching others practice.
Originally, she hadn't understood why Meng Fan liked to watch people practice their swordplay. But ever since she witnessed Meng Fan's terrifying comprehension ability, she completely understood.
For a monster like Meng Fan, merely watching others practice was enough for him to grasp the true essence of their sword techniques. It was simply too exaggerated.
"Let's go straight to the Sword God Hall. No point wasting time," Meng Fan said to Liu Yanping.
To be honest, he was also very curious about the Sword God Hall and the Sword God Monument. After all, these were legendary treasures of the Shushan Sword Sect.
Liu Yanping led Meng Fan out of the Sword Comprehension Hall and headed toward the Sword God Hall.
On the way, Meng Fan suddenly stopped in his tracks.
He saw a towering pagoda, its surroundings suffused with a terrifying aura. The exterior of the pagoda was bound with iron chains, and countless talismans were pasted all over its surface.
The sight was magnificent and hair-raising!
This was Meng Fan's first time reaching this area, and his first time seeing this pagoda. Back when he was a handyman disciple, he simply didn't have the qualifications to enter this region. Even after becoming a sword-guarding disciple of the Sword Pavilion, he had never come anywhere near here.
"What's wrong?" Liu Yanping asked, looking a bit puzzled when she saw Meng Fan stop.
Then she saw Meng Fan staring at the pagoda on their right, a smile appearing on her face.
"First time seeing the Demon Suppressing Pagoda?"
Meng Fan immediately looked at Liu Yanping, his face full of astonishment.
"This is the legendary Demon Suppressing Pagoda?"
Naturally, Meng Fan had heard of the great reputation of the Demon Suppressing Pagoda. It was said that this pagoda suppressed the passage connecting the Demon Realm to the Human Realm, and imprisoned numerous members of the Demon Race within its walls—every single one of them extremely vicious and unimaginably terrifying!
Liu Yanping said to him, "The interior of the Demon Suppressing Pagoda is extremely terrifying, but the outside is safe, so you don't need to worry."
She assumed Meng Fan had been frightened, so she offered words of comfort.
Meng Fan exclaimed in wonder, "Legend has it that beneath the Demon Suppressing Pagoda lies the passage from the Demon Realm to the Human Realm. Although the passage is sealed, fish that slip through the net occasionally appear at the bottom of the pagoda. And the mighty figures of the Shushan Sword Sect frequently enter the Demon Suppressing Pagoda to clear out these strays and slay demons!"
Liu Yanping glanced at Meng Fan.
"That's not a rumor; it's a fact. However, only cultivators at the elder level are qualified to enter the Demon Suppressing Pagoda to slay demons. If a mere disciple enters, it's nothing-less than suicide!"
"I wonder when I'll ever get such a chance," Meng Fan thought with a sense of longing.
Slaying demons and devils, flying on a sword—this was the ultimate dream of every sword cultivator.
Liu Yanping rolled her eyes, holding back the urge to tease Meng Fan, and said, "Once you gain enough comprehension from the Sword God Monument, perhaps you'll have the chance in the future."
Wanting to enter the Demon Suppressing Pagoda to vanquish demons was something only elders were qualified to do. At the very least, one had to reach the Primordial Spirit realm or even condense a Sword Soul to have that capability!
Meng Fan, a mere cultivator at the 2nd Layer of Qi Condensation, was far too far off. But given Meng Fan's terrifying comprehension, it wasn't impossible in the future. In any case, Liu Yanping still valued Meng Fan quite a bit.
Meng Fan cast one last look at the Demon Suppressing Pagoda, pushed down the longing in his heart, and said to Liu Yanping, "Senior Sister Liu, let's go. To the Sword God Hall first."
Moments later, guided by Liu Yanping, Meng Fan arrived at the Sword God Hall.
Although the Sword God Hall sounded magnificent, it was actually a plain and unadorned grand hall. In the center of the hall stood a huge stone monument.
The monument was a good seven or eight meters tall, almost touching the ceiling of the Sword God Hall. All four sides of the monument were extremely smooth, without any writing or patterns, looking completely ordinary.
Yet sometimes, the more ordinary something looked, the more astonishing mysteries it harbored within! The Sword God Monument was precisely like that.
"Up to ten people can comprehend the Sword God Monument at the same time, but right now there are only two. You can go straight ahead and comprehend it," Liu Yanping told Meng Fan.
Although the Sword God Monument was miraculous, the fee was too exorbitant, so naturally, it couldn't be used by ten people every single time. In fact, let alone ten people, there were times when not even a single person was there!
"I'm going in alone?" Meng Fan asked Liu Yanping.
"Of course! If I went in with you, that would cost another two hundred Spirit Stones. Even though I do have a small stash of Spirit Stones, a hundred Spirit Stones isn't something to be wasted casually!"
In Liu Yanping's view, spending a hundred Spirit Stones to comprehend the Sword God Monument herself would be pure waste. She had already comprehended the monument long ago; although she did gain a tiny bit, that pitifully small harvest was truly not worth a hundred Spirit Stones!
Chapter 29: The Great Dao of the Sword — [Primal Origin]
Originally, she thought she would never come to this heartbreaking place called the Sword God Hall again.
As it turned out, she never expected to stumble upon a treasure like Meng Fan. Comprehending the Sword God Monument relied on comprehension, not spiritual roots.
Even though Meng Fan had garbage-grade spiritual roots, his comprehension was the highest Liu Yanping had ever seen. With such comprehension, he was bound to gain insights from the Sword God Monument. If Meng Fan shared those insights with her, her hundred Spirit Stones definitely wouldn't go to waste.
It was worth it!
If it weren't worth it, she wouldn't fund Meng Fan ever again.
Before Meng Fan left, Liu Yanping urged him once more, "Good luck! You must comprehend with all your might. If you gain nothing, or if your gains don't satisfy me, don't ever expect to get another Spirit Stone from me!"
That sounded a bit harsh.
Meng Fan immediately wore a solemn expression as he told Liu Yanping, "Don't worry, Senior Sister Liu, I will give it my all!"
He could let anyone down, but he couldn't let down his personal sugar mommy.
After Liu Yanping paid the one hundred Spirit Stones for Meng Fan, he walked toward the Sword God Monument.
The Sword God Monument was massive, practically a small wall. The method to comprehend the Sword God Monument was actually very simple: one only needed to place a hand on the monument.
With one hundred Spirit Stones buying an hour, Meng Fan naturally wouldn't waste time. Approaching the Sword God Monument, he sat cross-legged and placed his hand upon it.
The next second, Meng Fan closed his eyes.
To Meng Fan's surprise, the moment his hand touched the Sword God Monument, he immediately felt an unmatched, razor-sharp Sword Intent.
This Sword Intent was immensely majestic and boundless.
Meng Fan felt all sorts of profound mysteries: suppressing demons, subduing devils, executing immortals, slaying gods, destroying Buddhas, piercing the heavens, penetrating the earth...
This single Sword Intent actually contained such infinite auras.
Meng Fan's heart was shaken. What kind of Sword Intent and Sword Dao could possibly be this magnificent, grand, and boundless?
This was no longer just simple Sword Intent; this was the Sword Dao—the Great Dao of the Sword!
At the same time, Meng Fan's Divine-tier Sword Comprehension talent began to operate.
Immediately, waves of profound mysteries surged into Meng Fan's mind.
The Great Dao of the Sword — [Primal Origin].
Within this monument lay a Great Dao of the Sword. And the name of this Sword Dao was called [Primal Origin].
The Primal Origin Great Dao!
Meng Fan's heart pounded in shock, feeling as though he had touched upon something extraordinary.
In the Shushan Sword Sect, countless people had comprehended this monument. Many had comprehended sword techniques from it, while others comprehended Sword Intent. Even those with exceptional talent had comprehended Sword Momentum from the monument.
Yet from past to present, Meng Fan was the only one who had managed to comprehend the Sword Dao itself!
The Primal Origin Sword Dao encompassed everything.
Through his Divine-tier Sword Comprehension talent, Meng Fan frantically absorbed and ingested the information of the Primal Origin Sword Dao.Sword Qi, Sword Intent, Sword Momentum, Sword Soul, Sword Spirit, Sword Dao...
Meng Fan gained a macro-level understanding of the path of the sword, his train of thought completely blown wide open.
Ten thousand Great Daos ultimately return to the Primal Origin!
[Primal Origin] was merely one type of Sword Dao, yet it seemed to encompass all Sword Daos. No matter the sword technique, Sword Intent, or even Sword Soul, as long as one was willing, they could all be integrated into the [Primal Origin] Great Dao.
Although [Primal Origin] was just one path of the Sword Dao, it could be considered a supreme Sword Dao. One could even fuse other Great Daos of the Sword into [Primal Origin].
Meng Fan's mind was shaken; his gains at this moment could be considered leaping to the heavens in a single step.
As a mere cultivator in the Qi Condensation Realm, he should have only been able to touch upon Sword Qi, while the level of Sword Intent should have remained hopelessly out of reach. Yet now, he had vaguely touched upon the very end of the path of the sword.
Even if it was just a touch, it caused a heaven-subverting transformation within his entire being.
Just as Meng Fan was immersed in this comprehension, he felt someone tap him on the shoulder.
He opened his eyes and saw a gray-robed elder.
"One hour is up," the gray-robed elder said expressionlessly.
Time was up?
Meng Fan was utterly bewildered.
He clearly felt as though only a few seconds had passed, yet an hour had already gone by.
The gray-robed elder certainly wouldn't lie to him about such a thing. What's more, Liu Yanping was watching from the side; no one could dare swallow his time.
Reluctantly, Meng Fan lowered his hand from the monument, feeling completely unsatisfied.
That single hour had given him a heaven-subverting transformation in his understanding of the sword. If he were allowed to comprehend here for ten days and ten nights, he truly would undergo a complete rebirth.
Without boasting, Meng Fan even had the confidence to instantly kill a cultivator of the 2nd Layer of True Martial with his cultivation at the 2nd Layer of Qi Condensation!
For others, spending money to comprehend the Sword God Monument was a waste. But for Meng Fan, it was truly a supreme fortune bestowed by heaven!
Especially this [Primal Origin] Sword Dao, which coincided seamlessly with Meng Fan's previous vision of the Myriad Swords Return to Sect—gathering tens of thousands of sword techniques and fusing them into one.
Only, this Primal Origin Sword Dao was even more exaggerated. Meng Fan's envisioned Myriad Swords Return to Sect had a limit. As the name implied, fusing ten thousand swords was the extreme limit. In fact, Meng Fan had never thought about actually fusing ten thousand swords; his vision was to fuse a few hundred sword techniques to create a unique sword technique of his own.
The so-called Myriad Swords Return to Sect—those ten thousand swords just sounded intimidating! Where could one actually find ten thousand sword techniques?
Yet this [Primal Origin] Sword Dao refreshed Meng Fan's imagination. Let alone ten thousand sword techniques, even a hundred thousand or a million sword techniques—as long as that many existed in the world—could all be fused into the [Primal Origin] Sword Dao.
"How was it? What did you comprehend? Was it worth a hundred Spirit Stones?" Liu Yanping hurried over and asked anxiously after Meng Fan stepped away from the Sword God Monument.
Meng Fan thought for a moment and said to Liu Yanping, "Let's talk somewhere with fewer people."
The two left the Sword God Hall and found an open space outside.
"Well, how was it?" Liu Yanping asked impatiently.
Without a doubt, for Meng Fan, this comprehension was definitely worth it. Although the Sword God Monument hadn't seemingly taught Meng Fan any specific sword techniques or Sword Intents, it had upgraded Meng Fan's own underlying hardware.
Giving a man a fish is worse than teaching him how to fish!
Even in terms of raw combat power, Meng Fan's combat strength right now had improved immensely compared to before he entered the Sword God Hall. It wasn't an increase in True Qi, but an increase in awareness.
To put it more perfunctorily, one could also say it was an improvement in sword technique.
And right now, Meng Fan had the ability to rope Liu Yanping into continuing her investment in him. He could make her feel that the Spirit Stones she spent were not wasted!
Meng Fan looked at Liu Yanping with a serious face and said, "I did indeed comprehend quite a few things from the Sword God Monument.
However, some of those insights I cannot share with you. It's not that I'm keeping secrets, but rather that certain things gained through pure awareness are impossible to explain clearly or put into words. But there are some things I *can* share with you, and sharing them will definitely make you feel that spending those one hundred Spirit Stones was entirely worth it."
Hearing Meng Fan's words, excitement bloomed on Liu Yanping's face.
Of course she knew that some insights could only be comprehended and not put into words. The reason she funded Meng Fan in the first place was hoping to pick up some scraps from him. As long as the scraps she picked up were worth more than a hundred Spirit Stones, she would turn a profit.
Besides, doing this would make Meng Fan owe her a favor.
She valued Meng Fan highly and believed he would achieve great things in the future. Having someone like that owe her a favor was an absolute win-win investment with zero risk.
This was an investment made from the fifth floor.
Right now, it seemed she hadn't invested wrongly; she was guaranteed to profit.
"Then hurry up and share whatever you can share with me! I want to see if it's really worth a hundred Spirit Stones!" Liu Yanping said eagerly.
Meng Fan smiled and said, "Don't rush, let me think about how to guide you."
If another cultivator at the 9th Layer of Qi Condensation heard a mere 2nd Layer cultivator brazenly offering to guide them, they would fly into a rage. But Liu Yanping was already used to it.
When it came to the word "guide," she felt zero resistance.
And to be fair, even though Meng Fan was only at the 2nd Layer of Qi Condensation, she truly felt inferior to him. If Meng Fan's cultivation were to rise just a tiny bit, even if he only reached the 4th or 5th Layer of Qi Condensation, she reckoned he could string her up and beat her!
Moments later, Meng Fan had figured out a method to guide Liu Yanping.
He looked at her and said earnestly, "Senior Sister Liu, you've been stuck at the 9th Layer of Qi Condensation for a while now. It's time to break through to the True Martial Realm."
Liu Yanping rolled her eyes and said helplessly, "Isn't that stating the obvious? I've wanted to break through to the True Martial Realm for ages, but is this something I can just do whenever I want?"
Meng Fan smiled. "If I want you to break through, you'll break through."
Although Meng Fan's tone was arrogant, a trace of excitement and thrill flashed across Liu Yanping's face.
This brat Meng Fan happened to mention breaking through to the True Martial Realm at a time like this—could he really have a way?
"What method do you have? Spill it!" Liu Yanping was an impatient girl.
Meng Fan said, "Breaking through from the 9th Layer of Qi Condensation to the True Martial Realm actually comes down to just one breath!"
"What breath? Stop playing games with me!" Liu Yanping urged impatiently.
As for what was missing to break through from the 9th Layer of Qi Condensation to True Martial, the previous Meng Fan had been completely clueless. But after the baptism of the [Primal Origin] Sword Dao, Meng Fan had gained numerous insights, insights that extended from the Sword Dao all the way to the path of cultivation.
"This breath is Sword Qi!" Meng Fan said to Liu Yanping with a serious expression.
Sword Qi?
Liu Yanping looked at him in bewilderment.
She channeled her True Qi into the blade of her sword, then slashed outward. A streak of Sword Qi shot out through the blade.
"Sword Qi? I've been able to pull off this trick for ages. As long as you reach the 3rd Layer of Qi Condensation and channel a sufficient amount of True Qi into a long sword, you can slash out Sword Qi. What does this have to do with breaking through to the True Martial Realm?"
Liu Yanping looked at Meng Fan in utter confusion.
Chapter 30: The Pinnacle of Sword Technique is Sword Qi
Meng Fan smiled.
"This Sword Qi is not *that* Sword Qi!"
With that, he drew the Hongqi Sword and began to execute the Binhai Chaosheng Sword Technique.
Meng Fan had previously sparred with Liu Yanping using this sword technique, and in order to guide her, he had specifically studied it. Therefore, he was already extremely familiar with the Binhai Chaosheng Sword Technique.
"Senior Sister Liu, your primary sword technique is the Binhai Chaosheng Sword, correct?" Meng Fan asked.
"Correct!" Liu Yanping replied.
"In that case, watch closely."
Having said that, Meng Fan continued to demonstrate the Binhai Chaosheng Sword Technique.
Every single move and stance flowed naturally, making Liu Yanping—someone who had practiced the Binhai Chaosheng Sword for many years—feel utterly ashamed of her own inferiority.
Watching Meng Fan practice the sword, Liu Yanping unconsciously gained insights, feeling that her own Binhai Chaosheng Sword Technique could advance to yet another level.
Moments later, the entire set of the Binhai Chaosheng Sword Technique had reached its final form.
At that very moment, Meng Fan suddenly shouted loudly, "Senior Sister Liu, take my sword!"
Liu Yanping looked at Meng Fan in surprise.
She saw that Meng Fan had already completed the final form of the Binhai Chaosheng Sword. Yet instead of stopping his sword, he swung it once more toward Liu Yanping.
It was a completely ordinary sword strike, devoid of any flashy sword moves. It was just a simple, understated swing.
"Whoosh..."
A streak of Sword Qi pierced out from the blade of the Hongqi Sword, slashing toward Liu Yanping.
Liu Yanping's expression changed. She abruptly rallied her True Qi and slashed out with her own sword in response.
"Boom!"
With a muffled sound, the Sword Qi unleashed by Meng Fan was shattered by Liu Yanping's slash.
However, a massive force accompanied it, forcing Liu Yanping to take a step back.
She stared at Meng Fan in absolute shock and disbelief. "Junior Brother Meng, you are merely at the 2nd Layer of Qi Condensation—how on earth were you able to unleash Sword Qi?"
As everyone knew, one had to reach at least the 3rd Layer of Qi Condensation and put forth their full True Qi to slash out Sword Qi!
"Think back carefully, did I use any True Qi just now?" Meng Fan asked, looking at her.
Just now?
Liu Yanping frowned, recalling the moment.
When Meng Fan was practicing the Binhai Chaosheng Sword Technique, he hadn't used any True Qi at all; he was just practicing the sword casually.