Finishing his words, Senior Brother Luo returned to his room, and a moment later emerged with a small booklet, which he tossed to Meng Fan.
"Actually, you could also go to the Scripture Pavilion to collect a copy of the *Shushan Qi-Guiding Art*, but that's just the most basic cultivation technique—it's not even as good as my *Spirit-Wind Profound Manual*."
"You have a Miscellaneous-grade Spiritual Root with no specific elemental affinity, which means you can cultivate any technique."
"Instead of practicing a dime-a-dozen, run-of-the-mill technique like the Shushan Qi-Guiding Art, you'd be much better off practicing this manual of mine!"
Hearing Senior Brother Luo's words, a flash of pleasant surprise appeared on Meng Fan's face.
The *Spirit-Wind Profound Manual* sounded much more high-grade than the *Shushan Qi-Guiding Art*.
However, he still had some misgivings in his heart.
"This... Senior Brother Luo, within the Shushan Sword Sect, isn't it forbidden to secretly pass down cultivation techniques? If the sect finds out, there might be punishments," Meng Fan asked cautiously.
The corner of Senior Brother Luo's mouth twitched into a faint smile.
"Don't worry, this *Spirit-Wind Profound Manual* was given to me by Old Lin before; it wasn't handed down by the sect."
"Even if you killed someone because of it, there wouldn't be any punishment."
"Old Lin?" Meng Fan asked with some curiosity.
Senior Brother Luo smiled and said, "Old Lin is upstairs. You'll meet him in time. Go right ahead and cultivate this *Spirit-Wind Profound Manual*; you don't need to have any worries."
"Alright, thank you very much, Senior Brother Luo."
"No need to thank me. Even if I didn't pass it on to you, Old Lin would have given it to you eventually. After all, you are also a disciple of the Sword Pavilion."
……
In the afternoon, someone visited the Sword Pavilion.
"What business brings you to the Sword Pavilion?" Meng Fan asked the newcomer.
"You must be Meng Fan?" The newcomer glanced at Meng Fan, wearing an unfriendly expression.
Meng Fan raised an eyebrow.
He knew his name?
And judging by that tone, he seemed to have come here specifically looking for him.
Meng Fan roughly guessed who the person was.
He was most likely Yang Shi, the true owner of the broken sword Yang Fei had dropped yesterday.
With a blank expression, Meng Fan said, "I am Meng Fan. Are you looking for me?"
"Where is my sword?"
"What sword?"
"Yesterday, I had Yang Fei come help me exchange my sword. Not only did you beat Yang Fei up, but you also seized his sword. What kind of logic is that?"
As expected, this fellow was Yang Shi.
Meng Fan chuckled, a trace of coldness showing on his face.
"Yang Fei initiated an attack on me, so I taught him a lesson. He dropped his sword here in the Sword Pavilion himself and fled in a panic—that's his problem."
"He's the one who lost the sword. If you want to find it, you should go look for him."
"If you want to collect a sword here at the Sword Pavilion, then hand over ten Spirit Stones. Those are the rules!"
Yang Shi instantly glared at Meng Fan and said in a cold voice, "My sword is clearly right here with you, and exchanging a sword only costs three Spirit Stones!"
"Exchanging a sword does indeed cost only three Spirit Stones, but where is your sword?" Meng Fan's tone was indifferent.
"You clearly know that my sword is with you!"
Meng Fan looked at Yang Shi expressionlessly.
"Then that means you don't have a sword. Without a sword, you cannot exchange; you can only collect a new one, and collecting a sword costs ten Spirit Stones."
Staring at Meng Fan with a furious expression, Yang Shi said coldly, "Are you toying with me?"
Meng Fan replied, "I am merely telling you the rules of the Sword Pavilion."
Yang Shi said, "You are a mere handyman disciple—how dare you show me such disrespect? Do you want to die?"
Meng Fan shook his head and looked at Yang Shi coldly.
"I am now a sword-guarding disciple of the Sword Pavilion."
"And you're still just good for nothing!"
Right at that moment, Senior Brother Luo walked out of his room and shouted in displeasure, "What's all this yelling about? This is the Sword Pavilion, not a mess hall!"
He walked over to Meng Fan and asked, "What's going on?"
Meng Fan explained the whole sequence of events from beginning to end, including how Yang Fei had taken the initiative to attack him yesterday, only to get beaten up in return and end up losing his sword.
After listening, Senior Brother Luo cast a cold glare at Yang Shi and said sternly, "You should take care of your own sword yourself—how could you hand it over to someone else so carelessly? And now that you've lost it, you have the nerve to blame others?"
Yang Shi said with some unwillingness, "But the sword was clearly lost right here in the Sword Pavilion!"
Senior Brother Luo said coldly, "Wherever it was lost, you lost it, and you need to take responsibility for it yourself. To pick a new sword, it's ten Spirit Stones. If you don't have the Spirit Stones, get lost at once!"
With that, Senior Brother Luo turned back to Meng Fan and said, "You're at fault too, kid—you're far too lenient. That fellow yesterday actually dared to make a move against you? Ha, running wild in the Sword Pavilion—you could have killed him outright and there wouldn't have been any problem at all!"
Although these words were spoken to Meng Fan, Yang Shi standing nearby was instantly drenched in a cold sweat of terror.
He felt that this old man was threatening him.
The crucial point was that he was indeed falling for the threat!
So without another word, this fellow turned around and walked away.
If it were just Meng Fan alone, he certainly would have stayed to argue reason.
But this old man looked like someone you definitely shouldn't mess with—better not ask for trouble!
After Yang Shi left, Meng Fan pressed Senior Brother Luo with a question:
"Senior Brother Luo, if I had killed that Yang Fei yesterday, would I really not have faced any punishment?"
Senior Brother Luo chuckled.
He glanced at Yang Shi's retreating figure, then turned back to Meng Fan and said, "You kid, you haven't been in the Sword Pavilion long, so you don't know its terror. Anyone who dares to run wild here is already a dead man!"
"I can tell you responsibly: if anyone ever dares to come to the Sword Pavilion to cause trouble again, you can just kill them. There won't be any problem at all."
"Even the Enforcement Hall of the Shushan Sword Sect has to walk around the Sword Pavilion with a wide berth!"
"Of course, that assumes you have the strength to do it. Otherwise, if you die at someone else's hands, there'll be nowhere for you to seek justice."
Senior Brother Luo's words made Meng Fan's heart surge with excitement.
He hadn't expected that after being inexplicably duped into coming to the Sword Pavilion, he had actually managed to latch onto a powerful backer.
However, the backer this powerful figure was talking about wasn't Senior Brother Luo himself.
Instead, it was the "Old Lin" upstairs that Senior Brother Luo had mentioned!
Soon, the sun set in the west, and the Sword Pavilion closed its doors once more.
Meng Fan returned to his room and began to cultivate the *Spirit-Wind Profound Manual*.
This was his first formal contact with an immortal cultivation technique, and his heart held a trace of small excitement.
A wind-attribute cultivation technique didn't grant exceptionally formidable attack power once practiced, but its speed was extremely fast.
Meng Fan was already very satisfied with this.
If he were cultivating the *Shushan Qi-Guiding Art*, not only would his attack power be weak, but his speed wouldn't be fast either—he would have possessed no advantage whatsoever.
During his cultivation, a warm current once again appeared in Meng Fan's lower abdomen.
This thing clearly amplified Meng Fan's cultivation speed.
Under normal circumstances, given Meng Fan's aptitude with a Miscellaneous-grade Spiritual Root, his cultivation would undoubtedly have progressed at a snail's pace.
One could even say that practicing for an entire night would yield almost zero results.
Yet right now, bolstered by the amplification of this warm current, Meng Fan could clearly feel the sliver of True Qi within his body slowly growing stronger.
However, this growth only lasted for half the night; by the second half of the night, it had lost all effect.
Because the warm current in Meng Fan's lower abdomen had been completely exhausted!
Meng Fan opened his eyes, a distinct look of lingering dissatisfaction in his gaze.
Having experienced the accelerated cultivation of the first half of the night, the near-zero-speed cultivation of the second half truly filled Meng Fan with a sense of despair.
"That warm current is clearly the energy that pours into my body every time I draw a sword. I never expected that these energies would actually have the effect of accelerating cultivation!"
Filled with sudden drive, Meng Fan decided that starting today, he would wipe forty long swords every day.
The most terrifying thing for a person is the inability to see hope; once hope is in sight, one becomes brimming with motivation to get things done.
Early in the morning, Meng Fan began wiping the long swords.
When he reached the thirteenth long sword, the long-absent sword baleful aura appeared.
While wiping the long swords, Meng Fan always deliberately avoided some of the obviously formidable ones, planning to wait until he grew stronger in the future before tackling them.
Yet accidents always happen.
Occasionally, some unassuming swords would also conceal a sword baleful aura.
After all, even the most ordinary mortal sword, once it had tasted enough blood and taken enough lives, would become saturated with baleful qi.
Just like the White Night Sword that Meng Fan had wiped previously, which was suspected to be the earliest personal sword of the Divine Lord of Eternal Night during his youth.
The long sword Meng Fan was wiping this time, much like the White Night Sword, looked completely ordinary, yet it had experienced countless slaughters and was stained with endless blood!
[Sword name: Black Wind.]
……
Chapter Nine: Taishang Emotion-Severing Sword
A streak of sword baleful aura rushed from the Black Wind Sword toward Meng Fan.
The moment the baleful aura drilled into Meng Fan's body, his entire frame shuddered.
A pain unlike anything he had ever felt before spread throughout his body, accompanied by a suffocating sensation.
This time, the sword baleful aura of the Black Wind Sword was even stronger and more terrifying than those of the previous swords!
[Sword Dao Penetrating the Divine] activated, beginning to refine the sword baleful aura of the Black Wind Sword.
Yet this time, the process proved far more arduous.
Meng Fan's body felt as though it were being bitten by countless ants, a torment so intense that it caused him to tremble and spasm uncontrollably.
At the same time, a vision appeared in Meng Fan's mind.
On a precipitous cliff, a man dressed in cyan robes pointed his sword at a woman in a white dress.
The woman looked at the man with a desolate expression, tears streaming down her face.
"Li Qingyun, can you truly be so ruthless? I am your wife, and I am carrying your child in my womb!"
The man's expression was complex, seemingly harboring a hint of reluctance, but it quickly returned to indifference.
He said in a cold voice, "Qiu'er, I am sorry. I hope you will not cross paths with me again in your next life."
The woman named Qiu'er stroked her belly.
"Li Qingyun, go ahead and strike! I refuse to believe you could be so devoid of feeling, so cruel as to kill your own wife and child!"
"I must do this. I must master the *Taishang Emotion-Severing Sword*. For the sake of this sword technique, I have already sacrificed too much."
Qiu'er shouted angrily, "What have you sacrificed? Is a single sword technique really that important?"
"Qiu'er, there is actually something I have lied to you about all along. The culprit who wiped out my entire Li family was not the notorious Blood Demon of the martial world."
At this, Li Qingyun sighed, his expression exceptionally complex.
Hearing Li Qingyun's words, an unthinkable thought flashed through Qiu'er's mind at that moment.
She stared at Li Qingyun in terror, as if looking at an evil ghost that had crawled out of hell!
"It seems you have already guessed it—the Li family was wiped out by my own hands.
I exterminated my entire family precisely to cultivate the *Taishang Emotion-Severing Sword*, so that I would have the capability to become the Sect Master of the Wuji Sword Sect.
Pity that until now, I still have not mastered this sword technique.
Because I am still not ruthless enough!
Because you are still alive!"
Li Qingyun's words stripped Qiu'er of her last shred of faith.
At that instant, she felt as though her soul had been ripped away, turning her into a walking corpse.
The man she deeply loved turned out to be such a terrifying demon; her love was nothing short of a joke.
Could someone who could personally exterminate their own entire family even be considered human?
The most terrifying monster in this world was none other than this!
She slowly closed her eyes. At that moment, she felt that death was her only release and destination.
Even if she managed to survive, what meaning would there be?
It was simply a pity for her unborn child within her womb!
Whether this child was born or never came into the world, it was destined to be a complete and utter tragedy.
A flash of sword light bloomed upon the cliff.
This single strike was the Taishang Emotion-Severing Sword that Li Qingyun had longed for day and night!
At this moment, a wild and frantic smile broke across Li Qingyun's face.
The *Taishang Emotion-Severing Sword*.
He had mastered it.
The moment he unleashed this sword strike signified that he had succeeded.
The blade ruthlessly plunged into Qiu'er's heart.
A blossom of blood bloomed upon Qiu'er's pristine white dress.
Tragic and beautiful!
Dazzling and stunning!
Like the legendary Manjusaka, the red spider lily.
"I've done it!" A perverted, twisted satisfaction appeared on Li Qingyun's face.
He gently pushed Qiu'er's corpse.
The body plummeted down the cliff.
He had succeeded.
Qiu'er was dead.
The final, minuscule shred of humanity belonging to Li Qingyun was also completely buried.
On the first floor of the Sword Pavilion.
Meng Fan shuddered all over.
He collapsed onto the floor, panting heavily, his whole body shaking.
Pain, tyranny, apathy, madness, ruthlessness...
All kinds of emotions collided within his mind, giving him a splitting headache and driving him to the verge of a breakdown.
Senior Brother Luo, who had just gotten out of bed and stepped out of his room, saw Meng Fan slumped on the ground holding a sword. He gave a wry smile and shook his head, not finding it strange in the least.
Sword-guarding disciples of the Sword Pavilion frequently experienced this sort of situation while wiping long swords.
Back then, he had gone through the exact same thing!
In fact, Meng Fan's performance was much better than his had been; when he first entered the Sword Pavilion, he had been tortured until he was half dead.
Meng Fan's current state was practically child's play, so he didn't take it to heart at all.
Slumped on the floor, Meng Fan took quite a while to recover a bit of composure.
He stumbled to his feet, drew the Black Wind Sword to give it a quick wipe, and then placed it back on the wooden rack.
When drawing the sword, as expected, a wisp of energy poured into his body.
These wisps of energy were the "warm currents" that appeared during his cultivation, offering enormous assistance to his progress.
That was why Meng Fan worked so hard to wipe the long swords, increasing his daily quota from twenty to forty!
Without even sparing Meng Fan another glance, Senior Brother Luo went off with a steady mind to wash up.
Instead of continuing to wipe swords, Meng Fan dragged over a stool, sat down, and began to rest.
The impact of the Black Wind Sword's baleful aura just now had been simply too massive—even more terrifying than the White Night Sword from last time.
In truth, if an ordinary handyman disciple were assigned to guard the Sword Pavilion, the baleful aura from the first few swords would at most leave them injured.
Yet the baleful aura of the Black Wind Sword this time around was potent enough to kill an ordinary handyman disciple if it invaded their body!
Had it not been for his [Sword Dao Penetrating the Divine], Meng Fan would likely have been nothing more than a corpse by now.
Even with [Sword Dao Penetrating the Divine], Meng Fan had suffered a severe vitality drain and sustained minor internal injuries.
He had to admit, it was truly terrifying!
The *Taishang Emotion-Severing Sword*.
It wasn't the Black Wind Sword that was terrifying; it was the sword technique itself—the *Taishang Emotion-Severing Sword*—that was horrifying.
Severing all ties of affection and righteousness, exterminating one's own entire family, and personally killing one's wife and child.
How could such a vicious, extreme sword technique exist in this world?
In truth, the most vicious thing wasn't the sword technique; it was the human heart!
The sword technique itself was not terrifying.
The ruthless person who chose to cultivate this technique was the truly terrifying one!
Sitting on the stool, Meng Fan breathed heavily, gasping for air. Even now, he had not completely calmed down.
Li Qingyun.
The Wuji Sword Sect.
In the memory vision just now, Qiu'er had spoken these two names.
And both of these names were world-shaking existences.
The Wuji Sword Sect, much like the Shushan Sword Sect, was a renowned orthodox sword dao sect in the martial world.
As for Li Qingyun, he was the Sect Master of the Wuji Sword Sect.
With such a deranged lunatic serving as its sect master, did the Wuji Sword Sect truly deserve the label of being "orthodox"?
The corners of Meng Fan's mouth tugged upward in an involuntary, cold, and mocking smirk.
This must be what it meant to be sanctimonious, right?
To be honest, while experiencing the memories of the sword baleful aura just now, Meng Fan had felt an incomparable surge of anger.
He had felt an impulse to hack Li Qingyun to death with a single sword!
This wasn't meddling in other people's business, because he had truly experienced that scene firsthand.
The sensation was profound!
He felt it as if it were his own experience!
Pity that he lacked the strength to do so.
Li Qingyun was the Sect Master of the Wuji Sword Sect, and his strength was no weaker than that of the Shushan Sword Sect's Sect Master.
Standing before Li Qingyun, Meng Fan was essentially nothing more than an ant.
Yet that was only true for now!
Give Meng Fan sixty years, and he would have the confidence to surpass Li Qingyun.
Sitting on the stool, Meng Fan looked at the Black Wind Sword, feeling a genuine sense of marvel in his heart.
The Sword Pavilion of the Shushan Sword Sect truly lived up to its reputation as a place that gathered famous swords from all under heaven.
Even on the lowliest first floor of the Sword Pavilion, one could pick up discarded treasures that had once belonged to major figures.
Although these were merely the personal swords from those major figures' weak days—weapons they had replaced with higher-grade ones once they grew stronger—the mere fact that these weapons could be collected here was proof of the Shushan Sword Pavilion's terrifying stature!
"The Taishang Emotion-Severing Sword..." Meng Fan muttered to himself as he sat.
Having refined the baleful aura of the Black Wind and witnessed those memories, Meng Fan had naturally gained something from the experience.
He had obtained a trace of the Taishang Emotion-Severing Sword Intent.
Although it was merely a trace rather than a complete sword intent, it served as the most crucial "seed."
The *Taishang Emotion-Severing Sword* was not a set of sword moves, but rather a sword intent.
It possessed no stances or forms!
Truly profound sword techniques had no sword moves—only sword intent.
Those capable of cultivating sword intent were absolute prodigies along the path of the sword dao.
If Meng Fan were to cultivate the *Taishang Emotion-Severing Sword*, there was a hundred-percent chance he could successfully forge the Taishang Emotion-Severing Sword Intent!
Meng Fan was an orphan with no family.
Even if he wanted to sever emotional ties, he didn't even have the opportunity to do so.
For him, there was only one way to truly cultivate the Taishang Emotion-Severing Sword Intent.
That was to fall in love with someone, and then personally execute that beloved person.
Only by doing so would the sword intent instantly take form!
Would Meng Fan ever do such a thing?
Naturally, not.
Not even television dramas dared to broadcast such plots, and screenwriters wouldn't dare pen such heart-wrenching, tragic drama—how could Meng Fan possibly go and do it?
What fun was there in torturing oneself?
With [Sword Dao Penetrating the Divine] at his disposal, Meng Fan would certainly never lack sword intent in the future; there was simply no need to subject himself to such torment.
"However, suffering such massive torment this time wasn't entirely without reward," Meng Fan said with a smile, a spark of exhilaration actually visible in his gaze.
Because even though he had no intention of cultivating this "Taishang Emotion-Severing Sword Intent" seed or letting it blossom and bear fruit—
He could still utilize this seed to unleash a single, explosive strike of Taishang Emotion-Severing Sword Intent for combat!
If he chose this approach, then this "sword intent seed" would essentially become a one-time-use offensive weapon.
Though it was somewhat wasteful, for Meng Fan—who had no plans to practice the Taishang Emotion-Severing Sword—this was truly the most suitable approach!
"I have a single sword strike that can render me invincible among outer disciples," Meng Fan thought proudly.
With the eruption of this sword intent, perhaps even the inner disciples of the Shushan Sword Sect might not prove to be his match.
"This Sword Pavilion is truly my blessed land!"
Meng Fan had only been in the Sword Pavilion for three days, yet in these short three days, he had truly undergone a complete rebirth.
After resting for over an hour, a disciple walked through the doors of the Sword Pavilion.
Regaining some of his strength, Meng Fan stood up and asked the incoming disciple:
"What business brings you to the Sword Pavilion?"
The disciple quickly bowed to Meng Fan and said, "Outer disciple Liu Wei, fifty-ranking among the newly promoted outer disciples, has come to collect a sword."
Ordinary disciples showed the utmost respect toward the Sword Pavilion.
Therefore, upon arriving here, they treated everyone with great politeness, and they wouldn't dare offend sword-guarding disciples like Meng Fan.