[Tongshan], although Meng Fan did not know the identity of the owner of this sword, anyone capable of cultivating Sword Momentum was definitely no nobody!
In the hands of others, these three swords would indeed be ordinary mortal swords, not worth mentioning. Only because Meng Fan possessed [Sword Dao Divine Communion] was he able to refine the sword baleful qi, extract the memories within, and reap astonishing gains.
Therefore, it was not strange that these three swords appeared on the first floor of the Sword Pavilion. In a sense, what was strong was not the three swords, but Meng Fan's talent—Sword Dao Divine Communion.
"Sword Momentum..." Meng Fan muttered to himself.
Suddenly, a wave of intense pain struck his mind. Clutching his head, he returned to his room to rest, stopping the wiping of the longswords. Although he had only wiped twenty-six longswords, falling short of forty, the excruciating pain in his head made it impossible to continue.
He had to rest!
The sword baleful qi that erupted from the Tongshan sword this time was truly more astonishing than that of all the previous swords combined. Therefore, the toll it took on Meng Fan was also the most severe.
Back in his room, Meng Fan began to regulate his breathing. The warm current within his body, now commanded to act as the breath of sword qi, began to expend once more.
Passing the night without sleep, Meng Fan's headache gradually began to subside. By now, day was breaking; the night had passed.
"The sword baleful qi of this Tongshan sword is simply too powerful," Meng Fan muttered, stepping down from the bed and rubbing his head.
The greater the danger, the greater the opportunity. Meng Fan's suffering naturally had not been in vain!
Last night within those memories, he had witnessed that strand of Sword Momentum—[Mountain Splitting].
Sword Momentum was a concept far too profound. Even with [Sword Dao Divine Communion], it was impossible for him to condense Sword Momentum just by watching it once. Had his cultivation base been sufficiently high, perhaps there would have been such a possibility. But after all, Meng Fan at this moment was merely a rookie at the 1st Layer of Qi Refinement.
Sword Momentum! It was far too distant for him.
Yet even so, Meng Fan was not without gains. Although he could not condense the Mountain Splitting Sword Momentum, he had mastered the sword technique of Mountain Splitting itself. He had fused this strand of Sword Momentum into a sword technique of his own.
This was the enlightenment brought to him by [Sword Dao Divine Communion].
Meng Fan walked out of the room to the wooden rack outside, casually picked up a longsword, and drew it from its scabbard. Then, he slashed down with a light stroke!
The movement was identical to that of the person in last night's memory. The person in his memory struck every blow with utter plainness, save for that final strike!
Yet the strike Meng Fan delivered at this moment, though seemingly identical, possessed a special might.
[Treating the heavy as if it were light.]
It looked like a feather-light strike, but actually contained the force of a thousand jun.
He retrieved the sword, returned it to its scabbard, and placed it back on the wooden rack. A smile appeared on Meng Fan's face.
Chapter 15: Myriad Swords Return to the Sect, Prototype
Although Meng Fan could not condense Sword Momentum, through this Mountain Splitting Sword Momentum, he had comprehended his own sword technique. Meng Fan also named this move [Mountain Splitting].
When executing this move [Mountain Splitting], he could produce the effect of treating the heavy as if it were light. With the same amount of force, delivered through this technique, his power could surge by three to fourfolds.
It could be called absurd!
And most importantly, as Meng Fan's cultivation and realm advanced, this sword technique [Mountain Splitting] would sooner or later evolve into the Sword Momentum [Mountain Splitting].
A satisfied smile appeared on Meng Fan's face. In fact, this [Mountain Splitting] sword technique he had comprehended was quite important to him, because this was an enhancement in hard strength!
Once this sword was executed, Meng Fan's attacking power could completely rival a martial artist at the 3rd Layer of Qi Refinement. Although relying on his own talent and mastery of sword techniques allowed Meng Fan to easily fight opponents of higher realms, it ultimately felt like opportunistic trickery rather than true hard strength!
This [Mountain Splitting] technique made up for Meng Fan's deficiency in hard strength.
After testing the sword, Meng Fan contentedly began to wipe the longswords. Having hurried to put the Tongshan sword back on the rack last night, he hadn't yet had time to wipe it.
Most importantly, he hadn't absorbed its sword qi yet. This was an "elixir" for accelerating cultivation speed; not a single bit could be wasted.
Meng Fan drew the Tongshan sword, and instantly a wisp of sword qi flowed into his body. Then he began to wipe the Tongshan sword, and after finishing, proceeded to wipe the other longswords.
Senior Brother Luo had not yet woken up, and Meng Fan had nothing to do. Moreover, he would feel too embarrassed to leave the Sword Pavilion directly, so besides wiping the longswords, he could find no other task.
An hour later, Meng Fan finished wiping all forty longswords.
It was hard to tell whether to call it good luck or bad luck—none of these forty longswords contained sword qi!
In truth, the probability of Meng Fan encountering sword qi was already very high. Anyone else assaulted by sword qi so many times would probably be at death's door, nearly finished. Yet Meng Fan remained full of vigor!
Bored, Meng Fan began to rehearse in his mind the various sword techniques he had seen at the Sword Enlightenment Hall yesterday. A jumble of sword techniques, numbering in total several dozen. For the vast majority, he didn't even know their names.
Yet this did not hinder him from learning them.
The talent [Sword Dao Divine Communion] was known as a supreme talent, extraordinarily terrifying. On the path of the Sword Dao, Meng Fan was a born sword seed, the future Sword Supreme! Therefore, even just watching someone else execute a set of sword techniques allowed him to thoroughly master it.
It could simply be called monstrous.
"However, these sword techniques are mixed and chaotic. Having seen so many, there is no need for me to actually cultivate all of them," Meng Fan muttered to himself.
In a single day, he had viewed dozens of sword techniques and could even barely master them. But whether it was sword techniques or anything else, there was a universal truth—greed leads to indigestion!
Meng Fan possessed the capacity for greed and could barely digest them. But these sword techniques held no real significance for him! Or to put it bluntly, Meng Fan looked down upon these sword techniques.
The reason he viewed so many sword techniques and browsed through swords of all kinds was actually driven by his own ambition. He wanted to fuse the strengths of a hundred schools and create a sword technique of his own.
If anyone else harbored such a thought, it would be no different from a fantasy, utterly ridiculous. Because that was something only a Grandmaster of the Sword Dao had the qualification to do and think about!
Although Meng Fan was not a Sword Grandmaster, he had [Sword Dao Divine Communion] and possessed that qualification. Every time he viewed a sword technique, he could master it and comprehend its inner essence.
"When I have accumulated enough, I will definitely create a sword technique of my own!" Meng Fan muttered.
Though the blueprint was not yet drawn, Meng Fan had already decided on the name for this sword technique.
*Myriad Swords Return to the Sect*.
The name of this sword technique carried the suspicion of plagiarism, but Meng Fan believed that once he created it, he certainly wouldn't disgrace these four words!
Nurturing this beautiful notion, he continued to rehearse and deduce in his mind the sword techniques he had seen yesterday. He did not practice them in reality, but rather rehearsed them mentally, fearing that once he displayed so many techniques and Senior Brother Luo discovered it, he wouldn't be able to explain himself.
And even if he could fool Senior Brother Luo, there were big shots on the upper floors of the Sword Pavilion whom he did not know; his performance would inevitably be detected.
Although Meng Fan had consistently shown himself to be outstanding since joining the Sword Pavilion, this excellence had not yet exceeded a certain limit and could not be considered monstrous. Therefore, when it was time to hide one's brilliance, one still had to hide it!
Half an hour later, Senior Brother Luo woke up and walked out of his room.
Seeing Meng Fan sitting cross-legged on the floor, a hint of surprise crossed his face as he said, "You brat, instead of meditating in your room, what are you doing out here in the main hall?"
Meng Fan stood up and said, "I woke up early to wipe the longswords, and having nothing to do after finishing, I simply continued to meditate."
Senior Brother Luo smiled and said, "You brat, you were tossed about so miserably last night, yet I didn't expect you to be able to crawl back up full of life today. It seems I didn't misjudge you. Perhaps you really can adapt to being a sword-guarding disciple of the Sword Pavilion!"
Senior Brother Luo had actually sensed the astonishing baleful qi erupted by the Tongshan sword last night. Originally, he thought Meng Fan would be severely battered by it and, at the very least, unable to get out of bed today, lying down instead. He hadn't expected Meng Fan to still be so spirited.
For a little rookie at the 1st Layer of Qi Refinement to possess such astonishing perseverance and endurance was truly impressive!
"However, even though you have the talent to be a sword-guarding disciple, your physique must keep up as well. Especially your cultivation base; you cannot let it fall behind and must raise it," Senior Brother Luo glanced at Meng Fan.
Then he returned to his room, took out three Spirit Stones, and handed them to Meng Fan.
Meng Fan looked at Senior Brother Luo in surprise, somewhat baffled.
Senior Brother Luo said, "Sword-guarding disciples get a stipend of three Spirit Stones every month. Although the day for distributing stipends hasn't arrived yet, your cultivation resources can't keep up. Consider these three Spirit Stones as a loan from me; you can just pay me back when the stipend is issued!"
Meng Fan did not stand on ceremony. He took the Spirit Stones and said gratefully, "Many thanks, Senior Brother Luo."
"Don't thank me. Helping you is helping myself. After all, if you brat kick the bucket, I'll have to wipe these swords myself," Senior Brother Luo shook his head and said.
Meng Fan looked at the three Spirit Stones in his hand, feeling immensely emotional. Previously, he had never even owned a single complete Spirit Stone. Now, he suddenly had three!
Happiness had arrived too swiftly.
"With these three Spirit Stones, you'd better go to the Pill Pavilion and purchase some Qi Gathering Pills to raise your cultivation. Although your constitution is decent and you've withstood the invasion of the sword baleful qi these past few times, your cultivation is far too low and must be raised quickly, otherwise something will go wrong in the Sword Pavilion sooner or later!"
"Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother Luo. I understand."
The gates of the Sword Pavilion opened. After exchanging words with Senior Brother Luo, Meng Fan left the pavilion.
He planned to head to the Pill Pavilion first to take a look. Senior Brother Luo was right; he indeed needed to raise his cultivation as soon as possible because he was simply too weak.
Strong as [Sword Dao Divine Communion] was, it wasn't omnipotent. What if one day while wiping longswords, he encountered a sword that looked completely unremarkable but was actually terrifyingly formidable? At that time, Meng Fan might very well capsize!
Meng Fan arrived at the Pill Pavilion.
The Pill Pavilion was the place where the Shushan Sword Sect sold medicinal pills, backed by the Alchemy Hall. The only medicinal pill suitable for a little rookie like Meng Fan at the 1st Layer of Qi Refinement was the Qi Gathering Pill.
One Spirit Stone bought ten Qi Gathering Pills.
Meng Fan bought twenty Qi Gathering Pills in one breath. With the remaining single Spirit Stone, he bought ten Body Tempering Pills.
Body Tempering Pills, as the name implied, were used for tempering the body.
Meng Fan had [Sword Dao Divine Communion], so there was nothing to fault regarding his comprehension. However, his physical constitution could not be considered strong, and coupled with the fact that he hadn't practiced any body-refining cultivation techniques, buying some Body Tempering Pills to temper his body was quite necessary.
In truth, compared to Body Tempering Pills, Meng Fan would have preferred to directly acquire a body-refining cultivation technique, but he had no such opportunity.
"Take it slow!" Meng Fan muttered to himself, then left the Pill Pavilion clutching his pills.
Leaving the Pill Pavilion, Meng Fan once again arrived at the Sword Enlightenment Hall.
Observing sword techniques at the Sword Enlightenment Hall was his most important avenue for perfecting his self-created sword technique, *Myriad Swords Return to the Sect*.
Upon arriving at the Sword Enlightenment Hall, just like the day before, Meng Fan found a corner and squatted down. He didn't spar with others or exchange pointers; he simply watched silently as others practiced their swords.
There were actually a few people in the Sword Enlightenment Hall like Meng Fan who only watched without practicing. They were observing experts who cultivated the exact same sword technique as them, hoping to learn from those experts' techniques, recognize their own shortcomings, and improve.
Someone like Meng Fan, who watched every kind of sword technique without picking and choosing, was definitely one of a kind.
"What a coincidence, I see you again."
Just as Meng Fan was intently watching the Shushan Sword Sect disciples practice their swords, a slightly familiar voice sounded by his ear.
He tilted his head slightly and saw a barely familiar face.
Liu Yanping, the delusional girl from yesterday who had wrongfully accused him of peeping at her.
Chapter 17: You Know Nothing About the Wealth of a Wealthy Woman
Meng Fan glanced at Liu Yanping and smiled bitterly, "Miss, I am not squatting behind you today."
He was somewhat afraid of being falsely accused. After all, when encountering such a situation, you simply couldn't explain it clearly!
She said you were peeping at her, and this point was impossible to refute. Because you really were looking at her, except that what you were looking at was her sword technique.
Yet how could you explain clearly whether you were looking at the sword or the person?
It was impossible to explain! Even though yesterday he had demonstrated Liu Yanping's Azure Sea Tide-Resisting Sword, she only admitted defeat in words, not in her heart. In her heart, she still believed Meng Fan had been peeping at her, though she chose not to pursue it further.
One had to say, young men out in the world really needed to protect themselves well. Because many times when you were falsely accused by a girl, no one would listen to your explanation, and you were naturally in the wrong.
Liu Yanping looked at Meng Fan and said helplessly, "Rest assured, I'm not here to look for trouble."
Although she said that, Meng Fan felt that this person *was* the trouble.
"That's good," Meng Fan said with a smile.
He had no intention of continuing a conversation with Liu Yanping, but Liu Yanping did not let Meng Fan off, taking the initiative to say, "After hearing your views on the Azure Sea Tide-Resisting Sword yesterday, I gained some new insights when I went back."
"Uh, congratulations," Meng Fan perfunctorily replied.
"Although I don't know why you know the Azure Sea Tide-Resisting Sword, you really do have some accomplishments in this sword technique. Would you like to exchange pointers with me?"
Meng Fan looked at Liu Yanping in surprise. He truly hadn't expected this girl to come looking for him to exchange pointers and test swords.
Was this what they called becoming friends through a fight?
She had actually set her sights on him just like that?
As a young lady, wasn't she being a bit unreserved?
Meng Fan felt helpless; he actually didn't want to be "targeted" by anyone. But if a person was too outstanding, it was difficult to hide it completely, and eventually, they would be discovered by others.
However, it seemed this girl Liu Yanping had a tendency to be a martial arts fanatic, which was why she was so unconstrained by convention. Just yesterday she had falsely accused him of peeping at her, and today she wanted to spar with him on sword techniques without feeling awkward at all!
"Actually, I have no interest in the Azure Sea Tide-Resisting Sword you mentioned, nor do I plan to practice it..."
Before Meng Fan could finish his refusal, he was interrupted by Liu Yanping's overbearing voice.
"Accompany me in sparring with sword techniques for an hour, and I'll pay you one Spirit Stone."
This...
Hearing Liu Yanping's words, Meng Fan couldn't hold out. He had indeed been very firm about refusing, but this girl was offering way too much.
Meng Fan's monthly stipend was only three Spirit Stones. And that was the "prestigious" treatment after becoming a sword-guarding disciple of the Sword Pavilion. When he was a handyman disciple, he had never even received a single complete Spirit Stone!
"Deal," Meng Fan said without the slightest hesitation.
A trace of a smile appeared at the corner of Liu Yanping's mouth.
You want to refuse me? What do you have to refuse me with?
As the beloved granddaughter of Elder Liu from the Alchemy Hall of the Shushan Sword Sect, she might not be the strongest inner sect disciple, but she was definitely the wealthiest inner sect disciple.
Filthy rich!
She, Liu Yanping, was the most notorious little wealthy woman in the inner sect circle.
In fact, if Meng Fan had still disagreed just now, she would have pulled out ten Spirit Stones to tempt him. If he still disagreed, she would pull out twenty... tempting him until he agreed!
If Meng Fan knew Liu Yanping's thoughts, he would definitely regret it to his very intestines. Unfortunately, he lacked backbone. He surrendered unconditionally over a single Spirit Stone.
"Since you've agreed, let's begin now," Liu Yanping looked at Meng Fan, frowning slightly as she asked, "Where is your sword?"
Sword?
Meng Fan smiled bitterly. Where was he supposed to get a sword?
Only the top fifty outer sect disciples were qualified to take a sword from the Sword Pavilion. Right now, he was neither a handyman disciple nor an outer sect disciple; he was a sword-guarding disciple of the Sword Pavilion.
Meng Fan only now realized that as a sword-guarding disciple, his status was equivalent to an outer sect disciple, yet he had no ranking. Under such circumstances, did he have the qualification to take a sword from the Sword Pavilion?
He would have to ask Senior Brother Luo when he returned tonight. After all, everyone in the Sword Pavilion was on the same side; taking a sword to use shouldn't be too much to ask, right?
Meng Fan walked over to a wooden rack nearby and picked up a wooden sword.
Liu Yanping shook her head with a helpless expression, and she too replaced the sword in her hand with a wooden sword.
Since they were sparring and not fighting, let alone fighting a life-or-death battle, there was no need to take advantage of someone in weaponry. If it were a real battle, she certainly wouldn't be so hypocritical; crushing the enemy with the advantage of her weapons and letting them die in frustration was something she felt was quite satisfying.
But right now they were just sparring with sword techniques, and Meng Fan wasn't her enemy; the nature of it was completely different!
"I really don't understand how a rookie at the 1st Layer of Qi Refinement like you, without even your own sword, managed to practice the Azure Sea Tide-Resisting Sword to that extent," Liu Yanping muttered in slight incomprehension.
The mastery of the Azure Sea Tide-Resisting Sword that Meng Fan displayed yesterday simply didn't look like something a rookie at the 1st Layer of Qi Refinement could achieve.
"Half an incense stick of time has already passed. This is all counted within the hour," Meng Fan said to Liu Yanping with a serious face.
Hearing Meng Fan's words, Liu Yanping couldn't help but laugh. This fellow knew nothing about the wealth of a wealthy woman!
"Junior Brother, let alone hiring you for an hour, even hiring you for a day, a month, or a year, this senior sister can afford it!" Liu Yanping said with a look of disdain, unhidden arrogance flashing in her eyes.
Meng Fan frowned, harboring a vague, ominous premonition.
Ever since this girl started causing trouble for him yesterday, the way she looked at him hadn't been right. Could it be... she wanted to keep him as a kept man?
The possibility was very high!
The body Meng Fan inhabited after transmigrated was extremely handsome. In terms of appearance, he was seventy percent similar to Yang Guo and Ding Peng played by Louis Koo in TV dramas. As for the remaining thirty percent, it surpassed them!
Meng Fan's cultivation might not be worth mentioning in the Shushan Sword Sect, and could even be called the absolute bottom.