The pain of hollow hunger.

Yin Long's brows were a bit creased as he left the cave, mentally going over the requirements to be considered a swordsman. He knew the theory, but just having knowledge didn't mean that you would know how to utilize it. And at the same time, there was another issue he had to contend with.

"I want to say that I'm amazed that you managed to see through the truth just by seeing her techniques, but I feel like I'm going to wear out my jaw if I were to say that every time you do something strange. But yeah, I can see why the Mountain Guardian said I wasn't cut out to be a swordsman, I... couldn't see the true uniqueness of those swords."

Xiao Yin Yu spoke as she followed after Yin Long, admitting her own inferiority wasn't an easy thing to do, but she had found that it was becoming easier the more time she spent with Yin Long. In truth, she found that it was a bit of a shame. If she couldn't see the uniqueness in Hongzai's swords then it also meant that she wouldn't be able to see it in Yin Long's. She would feel the emotions imbued in the weapon, but she wouldn't be able to truly and properly understand it.

"I don't really understand it, but since it's a type of training we can assume that following the basic rules is still quite beneficial. She showed a lot of different emotions, but focusing on one to start with is probably the best so that we don't get side-tracked. I'll probably start with the helplessness that Tao Tiankong fills me with, what about you?"

She did not see the true beauty or properly understand the requirements, but that did not mean that Yin Yu was content with just giving up. She would do her best and work herself to the bone, only if every single attempt failed would she allow herself to give up, to accept that this was not the path for her. Yin Long smoothed out his brows a short moment after Yin Yu's question, his hand unconsciously reaching out and stroking Jin Wang's head.

"I don't know, I'm trying to come up with one but I'm drawing a bit of a blank."

Yes, that was the problem that Yin Long was currently facing. What sort of emotion could he imbue into his sword, what sort of memory could he draw it from? His desire to bring his sword to the peak was probably a suitable emotion, but what memory was he supposed to use as the source of that emotion?

His emotions towards Lan Yun could also be counted as suitable emotions, but they held the same problem, what sort of memory was suitable? Lan Yun had been with him for many years already, the emotions the two shared had slowly steeped and brewed, they were like a fine cup of tea that took its time to become perfect. There wasn't a single stand-out point he could use, because all the memories were equally dear to him.

The stronger the emotion and memory you imbued into your blade, the stronger your sword would be, that was the unique strength of a true swordsman. But what about Yin Long? He was a rather carefree person who was perfectly fine with just pursuing the peak of his sword, he wasn't someone who had much familiarity with powerful, all-encompassing emotions. At least not ones that he could remember all that clearly.

"But that's also fine, wracking your head and testing out idea after idea is one of the joys of training. But I've only got two months so I'll probably have to engage in somewhat rougher training to kick my mind into high gear. Neither of you are allowed to interfere, even if I look like I'm at death's door."

Yin Long rolled his shoulders slightly as he spoke, giving both Jin Wang and Yin Yu a stern reminder. It was the same reminder he had given Yin Yu when the two first met up after entering the championship, only dragging him away as he was about to die was fine, only then would he have been able to learn everything the current him could learn from that fight.

"Oh boy, I can't wait to see what someone like you considers 'rough' training, that can't be pleasant by any measure."

Yin Yu couldn't but roll her blue eyes slightly, a twinge of curiosity emerging in her heart. She could still vividly remember the painful training he had put her and Fang Yau through, he was basically just beating them up and shouting at them to dodge. And that was just normal training for him, so she couldn't even imagine what would categorize as rough training for him. Yin Long didn't let Yin Yu's rolling eyes bother him, actually mimicking her actions as he stretched out his hand.

"Not my fault that your skulls are so weak that a little whacking is considered painful. Can you lend me a sword? The more normal the better."

Yin Long had no actual swords of his own, the only truly physical blade he had ever needed was the one his parents gifted him. But his weakness had broken that blade so he only had his self-made swords on hand at the moment. Yin Yu held a high position in her sect so she had plenty of weapons on hand, tossing out a Jian that was so normal that it was almost strange that someone of her position had it.

"You're in luck, I don't really have a lot of normal swords, I just so happened to nick a handful from one of the interspatial rings I picked up inside the championship. But why do you need one, can't you just make a new sword?"

She was a bit curious as to why Yin Long wanted to borrow a sword, but it was luckily not something he had a problem with answering so she received a quick response.

"The swords I make on my own all have an attribute tied to them, they're tainted so to speak. I want purity, I want the sword to contain nothing but the emotions and memories I inject into it. I'll be able to feel it a bit better at that point, even if I only manage it by fluke. Infusing it into my other swords can be done afterwards when I'm more familiar with the process, the sensation of it."

Yin Long swung the sword a few times as he spoke, he had never held it before, but just like all the other swords he had held before, it seemed to fit perfectly in his grasp. Yin Yu also saw it, it was as if the blade was just an extension of his arm, just another finger he could move as nimbly as he wanted to.

It was a sword so normal that it was boring, mass-produced to be a simple tool. It shouldn't fit perfectly in any hand, shouldn't exhibit anything special, it was made to be worn down and tossed aside. But in his hands, it seemed to gleam and smile. It was no tool, it was the weapon of a monarch, and it was joyful that it could fulfil its task.

Yin Long backtracked after they left the cave, moving past the sword scars they had seen when they first tracked down Hongzai. The group moved a fair bit faster this time, but Yin Long had no intention of heading all the way back to the outer wall this time so they wouldn't have spent several days even if they went at their previous pace.

"Right, should be around here. Step back a bit and make some space please."

Yin Long's steps halted after they passed by a somewhat familiar sword scar, his head turning a few times before he waved Jin Wang and Yin Yu away. Once the two had moved back a bit, he let out a heavy breath and unleashed his Qi, sending it high into the sky. He hadn't gotten to rest much after his exhausting display of determination, but the walk here had been enough for him to restore a fair amount of his Qi so he wasn't running on empty any more.

His Qi was like a beacon, a flashing sign to all Demonic beasts in the area that a tasty treat had appeared. And this was Underearth Forest, it housed far more Demonic beasts than any normal forest. As such, the earth started rumbling slightly before the first beast even entered their sight, the sound of trees cracking and falling coming from all around Yin Long.

The sound got louder and louder until finally, a group of beasts broke down the trees around Yin Long, creating a make-shift clearing. The first wave consisted of around 10 beasts of various sizes and shapes, the largest looked like a hulking mass of stones as large as a small hill, it even had some earth still clinging to its sides.

But there was one thing that all these beasts had in common, and that was their cultivation level. Every one of the beasts had reached the 4th Immortal Door, the same realm as Yin Long. Normally he would be able to exterminate these with ease, even if he only used his sword skills. But now he was trying to learn something new entirely from scratch, trying to dig into a concept that was entirely foreign to him.

He wasn't trying to play it safe by fighting against beasts this weak, he simply chose this level of strength because he honestly wasn't sure if he would be able to beat anything stronger while testing out new things. But in truth, there was one additional point he had all but forgotten about, it was tossed so far to the back of his mind thanks to the idea of training that he couldn't even feel it right now.

The fastest of the beasts reached him and lunged at his head, a leopard that seemed to approach two metres opening its maw to bite down on his head. Yin Long exhaled another long breath and raised his blade, his mind constantly replaying the scene where Tiankong broke his white sword. He tried to guide that regret, that pain, into his blade as he swept it up in an ascending arc.

The sharp edge collided with the outstretched paws of the leopard, catching the claws that tried to sink into Yin Long's shoulder. Initially, this ascending arc should continue on and flip the leopard over. But that was only initially.

Yin Long's stomach suddenly complained fiercely, the aching hollow sensation that was plaguing it finally hitting him. He hadn't eaten for 21 days, and after that, he had only gotten a bit of raw meat to eat, he was still on the brink of starvation. He had managed to forget it due to his sharp focus, but now that he sprung into true action it was no longer something that was willing to be ignored.

His stomach felt more like a hole, tugging on his heart and other organs, as if it was fine with digesting them instead of food if he didn't give it anything else to fill the emptiness. The strange sensation of pain and emptiness caught him off-guard and lowered the strength he could put into his attack, his wrist and blade faltering.

The leopard saw its chance and put more strength into its paw, the blade blocking its claws shattering into several parts with a mournful creak. Its other paw landed on Yin Long's left shoulder, its claws sinking into his flesh and bringing with them a hot flash of pain. But his mind was as clear as always, his body quickly jerking back to avoid the fangs that sought to shatter his skull.

He rolled back, his arm already stretching out as he moved. And with perfect timing, another blade flew towards him, his hand catching it just as he finished his dodge. Yin Yu said she had a handful of these swords, and she hadn't even needed him to say anything before she tossed out a replacement. Yin Long's gaze lowered slightly, landing on the jagged fragments that littered the ground where he had just stood.

"I'm sorry."

A quiet apology to the weapon that broke because of him, it hadn't been with him for long at all, but that was the least it deserved. But that short apology was all he could afford, his body twisting as he spun around and lashed out with his sword. He thought about the day he sat in prison and drank the wine that Lang Ru brought for him, the bitter taste that filled his mouth when he made the decision to hurt his sister so that she could more firmly control the clan.

His spin was halted somewhat as the void in his stomach continued to act up, sapping the strength of his entire body so that just performing that simple sweep was hard. But his blade still found the head of the beast that tried to attack him from behind, a monkey with deer-like antlers. The sword collided with the antlers, but the hunger that impeded him made it so that it didn't even have the strength to break one of the antlers.

The monkey's hand lashed out, Yin Long already mid-dodge by the time his blade hit the monkey's antlers. Two more beasts were coming at him from the side, they were relatively small and had managed to sneak through the gaps between the other beasts. But a loud rumble came from his stomach as he was dodging, the hollow pain flaring up worse than previously.

Ignoring it while you were doing nothing was simple, but now he was moving his body and had to think rapidly, it drained even more energy than his display of determination did. And so, each move made the pain worse, the empty pit in his stomach tugging on his very soul in a desperate attempt to fill itself.

The monkey's fist grazed his abdomen and the porcupine-like beasts got him from the side, their quills launching and embedding themselves in Yin Long's right arm and left waist. The monkey punching his already screaming hollow stomach didn't make things better for him, it was like tossing dry wood into a fire.

He rolled backwards somewhat uncontrollably, his body getting tossed into the air as a rhino-like beast with a flat horn burst out from the ground beneath him. As his body rose into the air, he couldn't help but be reminded of his past, when he first trained with Bai Xiang. He felt like that weak child again, struggling just to dodge even the simplest of attacks that Bai Xiang telegraphed as best he could.

He spun his body around and lashed out with his sword, focusing on that memory of pain when Bai Xiang hit his head with the wooden swords and metal pipes. His blade sliced open the beak of the eagle that was shooting towards him, but it was just a simple attack, it didn't contain any emotion or memory.

But Yin Long could feel it slightly, as if he was about to grasp something. His idea had been theoretically good, but the thing he tried to imbue seemed incomplete, as if that memory and emotion weren't good enough. The eagle also didn't let up, its beak had been sliced through but it wasn't deep enough to cut it.

It crashed into Yin Long's stomach at full speed, slamming him down towards the ground. He hit the earth and bounced twice, his body aching and screaming at him for more than just the empty stomach now. Yin Yu frowned darkly and stepped forward, but Yin Long flipped backwards onto his feet at this moment, one of his pupils shooting towards her.

"You do not get to interfere!"

He just looked at her out of the corner of his eyes, but Yin Yu felt a light shiver run down her spine. His eye was bloodshot and looked as if his entire body tried to vent its pain through it, but at the same time, it contained an unfathomable madness. The corners of his lips had also turned up somewhat into what could best be described as an excited grin. Battered and bruised, blood staining his robes, but he was having fun. He could feel himself get closer to something, he could feel that he had room for improvement here. So it was worth it, even if he bled and broke, even if he ached and fell, it was worth it.

He raised his sword in an ascending slash, doing his best to offset the weakness that his hollow stomach brought with it. He thought of the day he and Lan Yun left the Sunsong province, of the anger he felt when the supervisor called Lan Yun a whore. The sensation of his sword piercing out and leaving a hole in the man's throat, the sensation of rage leaving his body as the man breathed his last.

The hill-like rock beast blocked his sword with the layer of stone that covered its chin, the blade only going a handful of centimetres into the stone before it was forced to halt. The beast opened its mouth, revealing that even the inside of its mouth was filled with jagged rocks instead of teeth. Its long and sinuous tongue shot out as if it was a chameleon, aiming for Yin Long's chest.

He wanted to pull his blade back and split the tongue down the middle, but the intense hunger made it so that he could only barely draw the blade back and use the hilt to block the attack. He felt the fingers in his hand crack as the tongue smashed into them, his body launched back like an arrow.

He rolled along the ground a few times as his momentum finally started to die down, the taste of blood filling his mouth. He felt weak and empty, more so than he had ever done before, but he could feel it, he was grasping something. It was always just a hair's width away from him, but it was there, just out of reach, waiting for him to take that final step.

He corrected his position again and swept out with his sword, another pair of beasts were already on him since he had attracted so many. He focused on a particular memory, how it made him feel, what he had felt then. His attack failed thanks to hunger, his emotions couldn't be conveyed properly and he was barely able to dodge.

But he wasn't discouraged this time either and continued trying, continued struggling against the beasts around him. It didn't matter how many times he failed or got injured, it didn't matter that the hours passed, it didn't matter that his blood stained the ground in a macabre display. He kept thinking and attacking, dredged up his memories and tried again and again.

But right now he was weak, the hollow pain cursed him. Each move made the curse grow stronger, each wound suffered was a bit less flesh that the hole in his stomach could eat to fill itself. But Yin Long was determination itself and pushed on, raising his arms time and time again as day turned to night and then day again. But in the end, as the third day turned to night, the hollow hunger became too much and his arms lost all strength.

Xiao Yin Yu had been watching over him for every second of those three days, bore witness to his determination and excitement. As such, the second his arms lowered, she sprung into action, bursting forth with violent lightning that ruined all the beasts that surrounded him. Yin Long was sitting on his knees, his arms hanging weakly at his side as he gasped for air, his stomach producing constant low growls as it whined. Yin Yu walked over to him, her expression somewhat complex as she brought out a waterjug that released a sweet floral scent.

"Yeah...I can see why you'd call it rough training. I think the actual word you were looking for is suicidal, but I have the sneaking suspicion that you don't really care about the difference."

She crouched down at his side and tilted the waterjug, pouring some light pink liquid into her hand and applying it to the wounds on Yin Long's body. His robe was so tattered that it wasn't worth mentioning, all his wounds and pasts scars were put on full display, especially the scar that practically split him in half. Yin Yu had seen it several times, but she had never asked about it, a scar like this was not something you got easily, nor was it one you survived easily, it definitely had a heavy story to it.

"It doesn't seem like there was any result. I'd tell you to not be discouraged, but you aren't really the type to be discouraged, are you? You'll keep trying, and you'll succeed. The question is When, not If, that's just the kind of man you are."

It didn't seem like there was anything that could bring Yin Long down, he would always just rise again and continue marching ahead. He was an unstoppable force, a sword that cut through anything as it headed for its final destination, he had already made that very clear from what she had seen from him. Yin Long's expression didn't falter even as the medicinal liquid poured into his wounds and agitated his nerves, his brows were creased heavily as his mind moved.

"...It's not enough, I'm lacking that final thing, that bit of clarity to make it all come together. Yin Yu, I'm going to leave Underearth Forest for a bit, I need to go home, to the source of the memories. Are you going to follow along or stay here?"

This was Underearth Forest, it was located not far from Wolfsoul city, the place where he had been born and made most of his memories. He had the feeling that just fighting like he was doing right now wouldn't be enough, it would show a result eventually, but it would be too late for the two-month time limit. So he had to leave, he had to trace his memories with more clarity than he could here. It was time to go home for a bit.