If Meng Fan had unleashed sword qi with the cultivation of the 2nd Layer of Qi Refinement, it would have been astonishing, but not entirely incomprehensible.
Perhaps the technique Meng Fan practiced was unique, making his True Qi denser than that of ordinary people.
However, to casually unleash sword qi with a single stroke of his sword without even using True Qi completely defied conventional logic, leaving Liu Yanping utterly baffled, as if she had witnessed a miracle.
"Just how did you pull that off?" Liu Yanping frowned, her view of reality thoroughly shaken.
Meng Fan put the Hongqi Sword back into its scabbard and said with a smile, "This is precisely that missing piece you lacked to break through into the True Martial Realm!"
"What do you mean?" Liu Yanping failed to understand.
"To break through to the True Martial Realm, you not only need your True Qi to reach a certain intensity, but you also require a transformation of your spirit. Once you cultivate to the 9th Layer of Qi Refinement, your True Qi has already attained the intensity required for the True Martial Realm. Out of essence, qi, and spirit, the only thing you lack is spirit!
I don't know how other people achieve a breakthrough in spirit, but I figured out a method while comprehending the Sword God Monument.
That method is to cultivate a sword technique to its absolute peak. Once a sword technique reaches perfection and you achieve complete mastery, 'spirit' will naturally manifest in every swing of your sword.
The sword qi I just released did not rely on True Qi to generate it. It was spawned purely because the Banhai Chaosheng Sword Technique was executed to its absolute limit!"
Hearing Meng Fan's words, Liu Yanping looked dazed, finding it utterly incredible.
She murmured, "If you cultivate a sword technique to its absolute limit, it's as if a deity resides in your sword, allowing you to generate sword qi using the technique itself?"
"Precisely!" Meng Fan nodded.
"Then an ordinary person who trains a sword technique to perfection, even without True Qi inside their body, can still generate sword qi by relying on that set of sword techniques?"
"That is the logic behind it!"
Liu Yanping wore a shocked expression.
She had just personally experienced the power of Meng Fan's sword qi, which was comparable to a strike from a martial artist at the 6th or 7th Layers of Qi Refinement.
Viewed in this light, wouldn't that mean an ordinary person without any True Qi, once they cultivated a sword technique to the ultimate level, could go toe-to-toe with a martial artist at the 5th and 6th Layers of Qi Refinement?
Yet, on second thought, if someone could cultivate a sword technique to its absolute limit, how could they possibly be an ordinary person devoid of True Qi?
This was a paradox!
After a long while, Liu Yanping finally snapped out of her daze.
She asked Meng Fan thoughtfully, "Are you saying that if I can cultivate the Banhai Chaosheng Sword Technique to the same level as you, I can step into the True Martial Realm?"
Meng Fan nodded and said, "Indeed. Moreover, breaking through to the True Martial Realm using this method will make you much stronger than average practitioners in the True Martial Realm, and most importantly, your potential will be far deeper!"
"Why do you say that?" Liu Yanping was somewhat confused.
"Because this kind of Banhai Chaosheng sword qi is essentially the seed of the Banhai Chaosheng Sword Intent. Once you cultivate this kind of sword qi, condensing the Banhai Chaosheng Sword Intent in the future will not be a difficult task!"
Meng Fan continued to expound eloquently, "If you can further condense the Banhai Chaosheng Sword Intent while at the 9th Layer of True Martial, you will be able to smoothly step into the Tianyuan Realm."
The Tianyuan Realm?
She hadn't even stepped into the True Martial Realm yet, and this kid Meng Fan was already painting a grand picture of the Tianyuan Realm for her, which couldn't help but make Liu Yanping smile bitterly.
However...
Sword Intent?
So the foundation for condensing a Sword Intent was to cultivate a single sword technique to its absolute peak!
"I never imagined that comprehending the Sword God Monument just once would expand your horizons by this much!" Liu Yanping said with a hint of envy.
She had also comprehended the Sword God Monument before, but the result was... hard to put into words.
Truly, comparing oneself to others could infuriate someone to death!
Meng Fan smiled. To be honest, he hadn't expected that a single comprehension session before the Sword God Monument would grant him such high-level insights into the path of cultivation.
This time, he had truly struck gold!
Suddenly remembering something, Liu Yanping looked at Meng Fan in amazement and said, "Since you have already cultivated the Banhai Chaosheng Sword Technique to its limit and can rely on this technique to generate sword qi, does that mean once you reach the 9th Layer of Qi Refinement, you can seamlessly transition and advance straight into the True Martial Realm?"
"Theoretically, that is indeed the case," Meng Fan nodded and said.
Liu Yanping was filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment, feeling that heaven was truly unfair. How could someone be allowed to become exceptional to this degree?
How were other people supposed to live?
Couldn't they share some of this excellence with everyone else?
Liu Yanping sighed and said with peerless envy, "Someone like you is simply outrageous. I wouldn't even be surprised if one day you suddenly mastered Sword Intent!"
Meng Fan smiled and said nothing.
For him, cultivating Sword Intent indeed wasn't a difficult task.
Take the Banhai Chaosheng Sword Technique, for instance. If Meng Fan were willing to spend time studying it, perhaps in a month or two, he could cultivate the Banhai Chaosheng Sword Intent.
However, Meng Fan looked down upon the Banhai Chaosheng Sword Technique; even if one cultivated Sword Intent from it, it wouldn't be an exceptionally powerful Sword Intent.
If someone like Meng Fan wanted to cultivate Sword Intent, he would certainly choose a formidable one to master!
"Merely telling you this news is obviously not worth a hundred Spirit Stones. I am an honest man who never cheats customers or children, so over the next few days, I will personally coach you in the Banhai Chaosheng Sword Technique."
Meng Fan's service could be described as exceptionally thorough and highly considerate.
There was no help for it; he still valued Liu Yanping, this little maiden scattering wealth, quite a bit.
Since he still wanted to go comprehend the Sword God Monument a few more times, he had no choice but to keep shearing wool off this little wealthy benefactress.
"Within seven days, I will definitely have you break through to the True Martial Realm!" Meng Fan declared with boundless boldness.
Over the following seven days, Meng Fan tutored Liu Yanping in the Banhai Chaosheng Sword Technique every day.
Most of the time, they went to the Sword Comprehension Hall, and whenever Senior Brother Luo went out to buy wine, Liu Yanping would come over to the Sword Pavilion.
Not a single day was wasted!
Seven days later, Liu Yanping finally cultivated the Banhai Chaosheng Sword Technique to its absolute limit.
Just like Meng Fan, even without using True Qi, she could spur the technique to unleash sword qi.
Most importantly, she successfully broke through to the True Martial Realm.
This made her so overjoyed that she casually rewarded Meng Fan with ten Spirit Stones on the spot.
It wasn't a huge amount, but Meng Fan was quite content and didn't disdain it.
Time flowed like water, and in the blink of an eye, another half a month passed.
During this period, Meng Fan still went to the Sword Comprehension Hall every day to observe swords. Following his previous comprehension of the Sword God Monument, he gained even deeper insights when observing swords now.
His cultivation had also reached the 3rd Layer of Qi Refinement.
Most importantly, the Myriad Swords Return to Sect technique he had envisioned was already vaguely taking shape.
The pity was that his accumulation was still insufficient; if he could really be given ten thousand sword techniques to study, that would be wonderful.
The sword techniques practiced by the disciples in the Sword Comprehension Hall hovered back and forth around a hundred or so variations, and Meng Fan could no longer find any fresh sword techniques there.
By now, he rarely visited the Sword Comprehension Hall anymore.
"If I could sweep through the Scripture Pavilion, that would be fantastic," Meng Fan sometimes couldn't help thinking to himself.
Unfortunately, he was merely a sword-guarding disciple of the Sword Pavilion, not a scripture-guarding disciple of the Scripture Pavilion.
On this particular morning, just like usual, Meng Fan began wiping the long swords.
Lately, the long swords Meng Fan wiped occasionally possessed malevolent qi.
However, the "memories" within these sword malevolences could no longer capture Meng Fan's attention.
They were basically just ordinary sword techniques, roughly on par with what he saw the disciples practicing in the Sword Comprehension Hall.
Just as Meng Fan was wiping the twenty-ninth long sword of the day, a voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
"Wait!"
Hongqi's voice rang out.
"What is it?" Meng Fan asked softly.
"Although this sword looks unremarkable, it is actually a Spiritual Sword," Hongqi reminded Meng Fan.
Chapter 31: The Sword Demon Turns Out to be a Woman
Having lived with Meng Fan day in and day out, Hongqi naturally knew that he was deliberately choosing to wipe ordinary long swords while avoiding Spiritual Swords.
Therefore, when Meng Fan was about to make contact with a Spiritual Sword, she took the initiative to speak up and remind him.
Meng Fan might sometimes fail to tell a Spiritual Sword apart, but as a Spiritual Sword herself, Hongqi was naturally crystal clear about it!
Hearing Hongqi's reminder, a trace of surprise appeared on Meng Fan's face.
However, it was merely a trace of surprise. He had thought before that there might be some Spiritual Swords that looked completely ordinary and would be accidentally selected by him.
Hence, he had always been very cautious and deliberately avoided Spiritual Swords.
He hadn't expected to actually run into one this time!
Yet, upon hearing Hongqi's reminder, Meng Fan did not pull his hand away. Instead, he continued to reach for this Spiritual Sword.
Recently, the sword implements he had come into contact with were all too trashy; even those containing sword malevolence yielded no good harvests.
Since he had coincidentally stumbled upon a Spiritual Sword this time, Meng Fan simply decided not to dodge anymore. He wanted to test this Spiritual Sword, and he wanted to test himself!
By now, Meng Fan had already cultivated to the 3rd Layer of Qi Refinement, and coupled with taking the Body-Tempering Pill every day, his physique was much stronger than before.
Most importantly, after his previous comprehension of the Sword God Monument, Meng Fan's "consciousness" had also experienced massive growth and progress.
"It's about time I grabbed a Spiritual Sword to test the waters!" Meng Fan muttered to himself.
"Don't be reckless!" Hongqi's nervous and anxious voice resounded in Meng Fan's mind.
She clearly remembered that previously, that inner sect disciple Dugu Ming, an existence at the True Martial Realm, had almost been killed by a Spiritual Sword.
For Meng Fan to touch a Spiritual Sword this early was truly a bit too reckless.
Unfortunately, her warning came too late.
For Meng Fan's hand had already grasped that Spiritual Sword.
[Sword Name: Meyun]
………
The moment Meng Fan's hand touched the Meyun Sword, a majestic wave of malevolent qi surged forth from the blade, directly enveloping Meng Fan's body.
The Hongqi Sword violently erupted with a red glow, attempting to fend off this malevolent qi and protect its master.
Yet Meng Fan hurriedly shouted, "Hongqi, stop! Let me handle this myself!"
The red light of the Hongqi Sword flashed and dimmed, evidently showing hesitation.
In the end, Hongqi obediently followed Meng Fan's words and did not strike.
Though she was worried, she also felt that since Meng Fan was the master she had chosen, she ought to believe in him!
If he couldn't even handle this bit of danger, how could he ever grow, and how would he ever have the capability to avenge her?
Rolling billows of sword malevolence closed in on Meng Fan, looking extremely sinister and terrifying.
A moment later, all of this sword malevolence poured directly into Meng Fan's body.
Hongqi's phantom drifted out from the Hongqi Sword, watching Meng Fan with a face full of worry.
At the same time, she felt a trace of puzzlement, as it seemed these sword malevolences were being actively absorbed into Meng Fan's body by him.
She shook her head, banishing this absurd thought from her mind.
"Are you worried about him?"
Hearing a voice, Hongqi spun around sharply.
She saw Senior Brother Luo, who was also gazing at Meng Fan with a face full of anxiety.
To forcibly touch a Spiritual Sword with the cultivation of the 3rd Layer of Qi Refinement was indeed extremely dangerous.
Fortunately, Meng Fan was different from Dugu Ming. Dugu Ming had wanted to subjugate the Spiritual Sword, whereas Meng Fan only wanted to wipe it, so this Spiritual Sword shouldn't deal too harsh a blow to him!
Besides, Meyun wasn't as vicious and murderous as Chiyue, so Meng Fan shouldn't be in any major danger, right?
Though he thought this way, Senior Brother Luo wasn't entirely certain either. After all, Spiritual Swords weren't human, and one couldn't measure a Spiritual Sword using human logic.
Still, this kid Meng Fan had displayed all sorts of monstrous traits ever since entering the Sword Pavilion; presumably, he should be able to withstand this Meyun Sword.
With a hint of curiosity, Senior Brother Luo looked at Hongqi and said, "To be honest, I'm quite curious. Why do you care about this kid so much? Even if his aptitude is great, it shouldn't be enough to make you care this deeply. Could it be that you've also taken a fancy to his handsome appearance? Do sword spirits like handsome guys too?"
Hearing Senior Brother Luo's words, Hongqi was clearly startled.
Because she had never even considered this question herself!
When she acknowledged Meng Fan as her master, had she valued his handsome face, or his astonishing comprehension and aptitude?
It seemed to be a bit of both!
Senior Brother Luo did not know that the sword spirit of the Hongqi Sword was actually once a living person.
Unlike Meng Fan, he could not discern the origin and forging method of the Hongqi Sword.
Thus, he had no idea that the Hongqi Sword was forged by sacrificing a young girl's heart blood, let alone that the sword spirit Hongqi was that very sacrificed girl.
Had he known, he wouldn't have teased the Hongqi Sword in such a manner.
"None of your damn business!" Hongqi let out a cold snort, then transformed into a streak of red light, darting back into the Hongqi Sword.
Senior Brother Luo rubbed his nose, bewildered as to why he had just been cursed.
As expected, sword spirits were completely unreasonable, let alone receptive to jokes.
"If this kid can safely withstand the sword malevolence of this Meyun Sword, perhaps it's time to take him to see Old Lin," Senior Brother Luo muttered to himself.
Perhaps this kid truly had a sliver of hope of becoming Old Lin's personal disciple!
If that happened, it would truly be stepping into the heavens in a single bound.
Thinking of this, Senior Brother Luo couldn't help feeling a trace of envy.
However, it was merely envy, devoid of any jealousy.
Because he had previously possessed the opportunity to become Old Lin's personal disciple, but alas, he hadn't lived up to expectations and failed.
In the end, he had barely managed to scrape by with the status of Old Lin's registered disciple.
Meanwhile, once those sword malevolences entered Meng Fan's body, they were being frantically refined by the Sword Dao God-Connecting technique.
The memories contained within the sword malevolence also gradually surfaced in Meng Fan's mind.
…………
At a certain mountain peak, clouds and mist coiled.
A man and a woman stood facing each other in confrontation.
The man wore white robes, while the woman was clad in a black gown.
Merely from the colors of their clothing, one could tell that these two were locked in a fierce opposition.
"Junior Sister Yurou, you've reached this point, yet you still refuse to see the error of your ways?
The Hunyuan Sword Sect has already been annihilated by the Ghost Shadow Demonic Sect.
Master, Mistress, junior brothers, and junior sisters have all turned to piles of white bones. Even now, you still won't repent?"
The white-robed man looked at the black-robed woman with a grief-stricken expression, his tone filled with bitterness and helplessness.
An irrepressible aura of sorrow radiated from the man.
Merely seeing the beginning of this memory, Meng Fan already understood that this was a tragic drama.
Sure enough, the black-robed woman spoke: "From the moment I joined the Ghost Shadow Demonic Sect, I was no longer a person of the Hunyuan Sword Sect. Whether the Hunyuan Sword Sect survives or perishes has not the slightest relation to me!"
"Junior Sister, before Master passed away, he told me that you were his biggest worry, and made me promise to persuade you to abandon evil and return to the righteous path," the white-robed man said with a complex tone.
The black-robed woman let out a cold laugh, a mocking expression forming at the corners of her mouth.
"He was worried about me? Was this his way of trying to drag me down to be buried with him?"
…………
……
Meng Fan carefully observed these memories, followed by a tear-jerking melodrama of the man and woman bickering back and forth.
The woman had once been a disciple of the Hunyuan Sword Sect, but she had been wronged by the sect, prompting her in her fury to betray the Hunyuan Sword Sect and join the rival demonic sect.
In the end, with the woman's assistance, the Ghost Shadow Demonic Sect successfully destroyed the Hunyuan Sword Sect.
Only this white-robed man survived out of the entire Hunyuan Sword Sect. He had tracked down the black-robed woman, wishing to persuade her to forsake the demonic path.
Regrettably, not every tragic drama ended with a happy resolution.
The white-robed man cleared up the misunderstandings of the past, but this woman named Yurou did not burst into tears and experience a sudden epiphany as Meng Fan had imagined.
The ending of this memory was that this Yurou plunged a sword straight into the white-robed man's heart.
The white-robed man: perished!
And the Meyun Sword was Yurou's personal weapon.
After killing the white-robed man with a single sword strike, Yurou comprehended a sword technique:
《Seven Absolutes Demonic Sword》
Absolute Sentiment!
Absolute Justice!
Absolute Love!
Absolute Hatred!
Absolute Sorrow!
Absolute Joy!
Absolute Anger!
These Seven Absolutes directly caused Yurou to completely plunge into the demonic path, transforming into the Sword Demon.
Meng Fan had once heard of the great reputation of the Sword Demon from the Ghost Shadow Demonic Sect. She was an extremely powerful and terrifying existence within the sect, and it was said that even the master of the Ghost Shadow Demonic Sect dared not easily provoke this Sword Demon.
The 《Seven Absolutes Demonic Sword》 was the unique ultimate skill with which the Sword Demon dominated the world.
It was worth mentioning that this Sword Demon was still alive to this day.
After absorbing all these memories, Meng Fan opened his eyes.
He hadn't expected that the world-renowned Sword Demon would actually be a woman.
This truly came as quite a surprise to Meng Fan.
Looking at the Meyun Sword in his hand, a sense of astonishment welled up in Meng Fan's heart.
He never imagined that this seemingly unremarkable Meyun Sword had once been the personal weapon of the Sword Demon!
This Shushan Sword Pavilion could truly be said to encompass all the famous swords of the world; even on the very first floor, one could frequently pick up leaks and find extraordinary swords.
However, although some of these sword implements had unusual origins, no matter how extraordinary their background, the actual strength of the sword implement itself remained fixed.
One could not say that just because it once belonged to a great figure, it was inherently more powerful than other sword implements of the same tier.
There was no such logic; its actual lethality was identical!
Yet, the Shushan Sword Sect did indeed possess the greatest number of renowned swords in the entire world.
To say nothing else, the Fuxi Sword, one of the three divine artifacts, was in the Shushan Sword Sect.
The famed Demon Suppressing Sword was also within the Demon Suppressing Pagoda of the Shushan Sword Sect.
If Meng Fan could one day come into contact with a divine sword of that caliber, he would truly be able to soar straight into the heavens!
"How do you feel? Are you alright?" Senior Brother Luo stood behind Meng Fan, asking with a hint of concern.
"Senior Brother, rest assured, I'm fine!" Meng Fan turned his head, glanced at Senior Brother Luo, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
Although his head throbbed with a dull ache, Meng Fan could completely endure this minor sequela.
Meng Fan's guess had been correct: his previous comprehension of the Sword God Monument had indeed brought about massive improvements to his consciousness and mental strength.
And this kind of improvement would be immensely beneficial to his future cultivation!
It seemed he needed to find a way to earn some more Spirit Stones from Liu Yanping, striving to go comprehend the Sword God Monument once more.
To others, comprehending the Sword God Monument was a waste of Spirit Stones.
But for Meng Fan, the help he gained from comprehending the Sword God Monument was simply too massive!
Meng Fan drew the Meyun Sword, wiped it clean once, and then placed it back in its original spot.
This time, the origin of the sword that poured into Meng Fan's body from the Meyun Sword was vastly greater than that of ordinary long swords.
This matched Meng Fan's conjecture; as expected, the origin of the sword emitted by Spiritual Swords was much more abundant!
"Go get some rest first. After the Sword Pavilion closes today, accompany me to the second floor."
Chapter 32: The Second Floor of the Sword Pavilion, Old Lin
Go to the second floor?