The Tranquility of Sword Arts

Yaan had battled and killed a fair few people in the bloody arena during the month prior to his ascension, but after reaching the Early 3-Star realm, he lost all interest in competing in that place. He decided to spend the remainder of his days before the opening of the inheritance by his lonesome, quietly practising his sword arts in peace.

Sword arts were techniques developed to kill, yet Yaan found the solo practice of these arts to be quite tranquil and meditative. He didn't need to think, to worry, or to stress. He only needed to move his body, again and again, learning the forms, comprehending the ideas, engrossing himself in these dances designed to kill.

Qi masters often sought out means to calm their minds and sooth their hearts. The journey of cultivation was filled with difficulty and hardship, if you were forever getting caught up in these stressful situations without ever taking the time to relax, to sit back and enjoy those moments of peace, then the heart would never truly be clear. With a heart forever bogged down by stress and worries, it would become increasingly difficult to make progress with your cultivation.

Some practised meditation, others played an instrument, and right now, Yaan was performing his sword arts. In a way, this method of relaxing his mind and heart whilst still continuing to train was extremely efficient.

Sword arts were techniques developed for the purpose of killing, but when Yaan practised alone, these killing techniques felt very tranquil.

It was peaceful. Peaceful, and lonely…

Out of the multiple sword arts he had access to, Yaan was only yet to master the 3rd and 4th stages of the Flowing River Blade Art and the sole stage of Cutting Typhoon. At this point, he had made good progress in Cutting Typhoon and was approaching mastery in the 3rd stage of Flowing River Blade.

He occasional thought back to his recent battles in the arena, particular that battle against Shin Jinni. When he thought about it, it really was strange. His ability to create a sword of water, to attack with a blade of wind, to defend with a globe of air, to shoot spears of wind, and even to create a fully formed typhoon…it was bizarre!

When producing these visuals, Yaan wasn't using any energy such as Yuan Qi, nor was his vital energy responsible for the appearance of the various phenomena. There were no spells, only his body moving along with his sword. When the images appeared and he honed his attention in on them, they vanished, as if they were merely hallucinations that he had imagined within his mind.

It was only when he stopped trying to create these 'illusions', that they appeared and retained their stability. Only when he focused fully on the sword art itself would the illusions manifest in full force, encompassing the area and becoming indistinguishable from reality.

But, Yaan was still confused. Ignoring the bewildering fact that he had no clue how he was creating such things…if these were illusions, then how come they contained offensive power in battle?

How come the 'illusion' of his sword becoming water, allowed the metal sword to curve around at impossible angles, to extend beyond its reach and to strike with full force? Why was it that the illusion of his body moving gently like a falling leaf in the wind, translated into the very real ability of maintaining his maximum speed with very little effort?

And just how exactly did he create a typhoon filled with tens of blades, both of water and air?

No matter how he looked at it, using that typhoon against Shin Jinni resulted in the poor old idiot getting cut to shreds all across his body! How was such a thing possible, when he clearly only wielded a single sword?

"Am I just misunderstanding the word 'illusion', or is it something else?" Yaan muttered to himself with a frown, scratching his head as he tried to understand the mysteries behind his strange ability.

Knock knock!

"Hmm?"

Yaan had been practicing alone in his new quaint temple for three months now, but this was the first time that anyone had shown up at his front door.

"Elder Jishi, what brings you here?" Yaan asked with a polite smile as he found Nadda's great grandfather waiting calmly at his door. After getting to know this Elder during the whole debacle with Shin Jinni, Yaan learned of the old man's name and they became familiar enough that he felt a bit more comfortable around this Ghu Clan powerhouse.

"You damn kid, you never told anyone that you moved house! Eh, what's this, you actually reached the 3-Star realm?" The old man started berating him, but then showed a look of surprise when he noticed Yaan's cultivation level.

"Ah…that's right, I didn't really think about it…" Yaan scratched his head and laughed apologetically.

"Hah…" The old man sighed and shook his head.

Yaan politely invited him in, then prepared them a pot of 3,000 feet vine green tea. This was a sort of tea plant that grew 3,000 feet in height as a towering coil of vines, but only sprouted a single leaf each year. It was a bit expensive, but Yaan found that he enjoyed it quite a lot and deemed its relaxing properties to be worth the price.

After sipping the tea, the Elder's eyes shone and he silently complimented it. However, he had business to attend to and didn't want to waste too much time.

"Nadda successfully reached the 4th layer, but his breakthrough was too forceful and left him injured."

"Is he alright?" Yaan asked quickly.

"Mm, but he will take three to four months to recover. I just wanted to let you know that you shouldn't seek him out, since he needs absolute silence and concentration to treat these injuries before the inheritance opens in eight months time."

"Right, I understand." Yaan nodded seriously, then hesitated as he thought of something.

"You want to know about the inheritance, right?" Elder Jishi chuckled, having anticipated this.

"Right." Yaan nodded with a wry laugh. "All I really know is that it's dangerous and likely related to a body cultivator. I also heard that stronger Qi masters have their realm suppressed within." Yaan sighed.

He'd been wanting to ask someone knowledgable about this for a while, but he knew that Nadda was busy and he was unsure about how he could contact his great grandfather. Regarding the inheritance, he didn't intend to walk into such a dangerous place without gathering as much knowledge as possible beforehand.

"Well, that is true. Are you aware of the number of people entering, and the general power of the participants?"

"No, not at all." Yaan shook his head.

"Then let's start there." The Elder nodded. Truthfully, he also came to visit Yaan this time to explain these details. Normally, he wouldn't waste his time on some 3-Star outsider who was not a part of his Ghu Clan, but Yaan was going to be teaming up with Nadda, his great grandson and personal disciple.

"The Ghu Clan controls the inheritance site, but our control isn't perfect. It's impossible to completely monopolise entry, so some other large groups from across the Ghu Province will be attending. Of course, only those below the Core realms dare to enter. Sometimes initial stage Spirit Core realm old fellows will take the plunge, but it's not worth it, since their core will be extracted one they enter. Anyone who does this has probably damaged their core, or they're reaching the end of their life span and want to take a desperate gamble. It's true that the core can be refined and re-established after leaving the inheritance, but this alone takes 20-30 years, then even longer to recover one's full realm."

Yaan nodded slowly and felt a bit relieved. Even if they were suppressed to the Qi Temple realm, an old and experienced Spirit Core realm Elder would have many unique spells and treasures that Yaan absolutely didn't want to deal with.

"The Ghu Clan will be sending in around 100-200 clansmen." Elder Jishi went on.

"So many?" Yaan was a bit surprised. He knew that the Ghu Clan, whilst strong, actually lacked numbers. This was due to their extremely harsh conditions used to temper the younger generation. Merely surviving past 20 years of age could be considered a great achievement in this insane demonic clan.

"Mm, the inheritance is an excellent tempering experience for our Rank 3 clansmen." The Elder nodded.

It wasn't often that Qi masters referred to Qi masters, or really any cultivators, by their numerical rank. However, in the Ghu Clan where they raised a mixture of Qi masters, demonic race Qi masters and demonic body cultivators, it was easier to group them together with the numerical rank. The numerical rank was typically assigned to beasts, but truthfully, it described all types of cultivating life with decent accuracy.

Yaan nodded slowly, starting to feel the pressure of the competition that would inevitably erupt within the inheritance.

"Around one third of the clansmen will assign a clan guest, people in the same position as yourself. For the purpose of reaching deeper into the inheritance, it is ordered by the clan that all clansmen and clan guests must work together and not fight amongst one another within the inheritance."

"But the other factions…" Yaan spoke slowly as a guess emerged in his mind.

"Indeed, there will definitely be battles with the other factions. In fact, some groups like to take this opportunity to target the Ghu Clan's younger generation…unfortunately for them, no Ghu Clansman able to enter this inheritance is ordinary or easily bullied."

Yaan nodded, he agreed that the Ghu Clansmen he had met were all memorable figures. Although he had still only encountered three such people; this Elder, Ghu Nadda and the North Ghu City guard.

Suddenly, Yaan's heart thumped, he swallowed and asked a question that had popped into his mind with increasing frequency during these past months.

"The nine Northern factions…will they be entering this time?"

"Usually two to four of those groups attend with large numbers at each opening, whilst they all will send a small group at the very least. But this time…I'm unsure, given their circumstance." The Elder studied Yaan's face as he said this.

The Northern border's war against the beasts still hadn't become widespread knowledge amongst the masses. Even those who did know about the war, were probably not aware of the great catastrophe which saw millions of members from eight of the sects slaughtered, along with tens of millions of unsuspecting mortals from the various settlements jotted throughout the mountain range.

The eight groups were left with only the core of their organisation remaining; the Spirit Core realm Elders were able to survive with their own abilities, whilst almost all of the promising disciples had attended the inter-sect competition, allowing them to keep their little lives.

Even Yaan had heard no news from the Northern mountain range since he left. The nine groups were quite far out and there were no major public cities within the mountain range, so people wouldn't visit without reason. Any news sent out would be directed to specific individuals, powerhouses who wouldn't care to publicise the news to the masses. The Northern border was far away enough that even if it was completely razed to the ground, the outside world might not even realise for a few years.

"You have some connection with the Northern factions?" The Elder suddenly narrowed his eyes and stared at Yaan sharply. The older man released his bloody pressure, bearing down on Yaan with the full might of a Demonic Core realm Elder of the mighty Ghu Clan!