Jade Shakes the Thousand Mountains - Chapter 22 Sword Practice: The Person You Seek Will Come to You on Their Own...

Chapter 22 Sword Practice: The Person You Seek Will Come to You on Their Own…

Within a ten-mile radius, only the pine trees near Sword Forging Cliff shed pine needles like these. Even without hearing his response, Yu Chanyi knew he had returned from Sword Forging Cliff.

Wei Shengming didn’t answer.

He seemed utterly exhausted. The glance he gave her when slightly lifting his eyelids was weary, and even the movement of reaching for the jade seal carried an air of despondent lethargy.

From beginning to end, he didn’t utter a single word.

After taking the jade seal handed by Yu Chanyi, he trudged heavily back to his room and never emerged again.

The next day, Yu Chanyi – who had fallen asleep embracing her sword – was the first to wake.

She commanded three puppets to water the spiritual fields, freeing her hands to practice sword movements in the air.

When Wu Xi Lan woke up and was once again moved by “how could the Inexhaustible Sect possibly deserve such a junior sister,” Yu Chanyi looked at her and said: “Senior sister, senior brother returned last night.”

Wu Xi Lan: “Huh? He didn’t leave?”

“Mm.” Yu Chanyi glanced distantly at Wei Shengming’s room. Through the hazy morning mist, the door remained tightly shut.

Remembering her last glimpse of senior brother the previous night – his stumbling walk back to his room, his figure looking somewhat distraught as if he’d lost half his soul – Yu Chanyi asked Wu Xi Lan with concern, “Senior sister, senior brother didn’t seem right when he returned. Is he okay?”

“He’s fine, he’s fine. Just leave him alone and he’ll recover on his own.” Wu Xi Lan appeared much more experienced in this matter. “He’s never been normal when he returns. If he came back properly, I’d actually be worried then.”

“Is that so…”

Wu Xi Lan said: “Last time he was seriously injured and still turned out fine. Junior sister, you can rest assured this time.”

Yu Chanyi asked: “Does senior brother often go to… Sword Inheriting Sect?”

“Not exactly often.” Wu Xi Lan replied. “Mainly because he hardly ever returns to Inexhaustible Sect. This time he’s already stayed unusually long. Why? Did something happen yesterday when you went to Sword Inheriting Sect?”

“No.” Yu Chanyi said. “Just asking.”

Perhaps senior brother really did go to Sword Forging Cliff last night to reminisce with that old friend of his.

She just didn’t know what kind of reminiscing could leave him so despondent and soul-lost.

But now wasn’t the time to investigate this.

After one night, Yu Chanyi had completely adapted to the sharp Sword Qi of the sword in her hand. Today when she picked up the sword again, she could wield it with even greater ease.

After irrigating the medicine field, Yu Chanyi returned to her room.

She sat cross-legged on her bed to meditate and regulate her breathing, simultaneously closing her eyes to mentally review all the sword moves she had previously practiced and observed.

The sword rested on her thighs, with threads of spiritual power emerging from the blade and intertwining with the spiritual power circulating around Yu Chanyi as she regulated her energy.

Sensing the connection between herself and the sword, Yu Chanyi envisioned how she could execute previous sword moves using spiritual power – from which angle each move should attack to maximize its effectiveness.

Countless past experiences sparring with puppets made Yu Chanyi instinctively imagine her opponent as a puppet.

But recalling her senior brother’s evaluation of her, Yu Chanyi suddenly frowned.

Living people… sparring with dead lacks flexibility, must spar with living people. Living people, living people…

In her mind, the puppet she had been sparring with gradually transformed into a figure. When it turned around, it revealed Lu Wenshu’s perpetually stern face. Yu Chanyi’s focus wavered for a moment, and in that instant, his sword shot straight toward her heart.

Just as Lu Wenshu’s sword was about to pierce her heart, Yu Chanyi’s eyes snapped open, her forehead drenched in cold sweat.

She exhaled heavily.

Her senior brother was right she lacked experience sparring with living opponents. Counting Lu Qi, there were only two living people she had ever crossed swords with, and the one she faced most often was Lu Wenshu.

Moreover, all those previous encounters had taken place when she had no spiritual power, and Lu Wenshu had restrained his own.

A chilling realization suddenly dawned on Yu Chanyi, sending a shiver down her spine.

In the past, she could defeat Lu Wenshu when he didn’t use spiritual power, but she had never faced him when he did.

And besides, a full thousand years had passed.

While she drifted through the world as a solitary shadow, Lu Wenshu’s cultivation had advanced day and night for an entire millennium.

Even if she could have defeated the Lu Wenshu of a thousand years ago, she might not stand a chance against the Lu Wenshu of today.

She wanted to spar with living opponents to hone her swordsmanship.

Taking another deep breath, Yu Chanyi pushed the door open and stepped outside.

She went to the Medicine Hut to find Wu Xi Lan and asked her, “Senior sister, are there any Sword Cultivators in nearby sects?”

“Sword Cultivators?” Wu Xi Lan thought for a moment and said, “The Sword Inheriting Sect most of its disciples practice the Sword Way.”

“I meant… Sword Cultivators in smaller sects.”

Wu Xi Lan frowned. “Sword Cultivators in smaller sects… aside from you, there are none. Who would practice the sword under the shadow of the Sword Inheriting Sect? It’s just asking to be ridiculed by them.”

Yu Chanyi’s expression fell. “Does that mean I can only spar with disciples of the Sword Inheriting Sect…?”

“So you want to spar with someone that’s what this is about!” Wu Xi Lan suddenly understood, then her expression turned helpless. “It’s not that you can only spar with their disciples it’s that even if you want to, they’d look down on you and wouldn’t bother.”

She added, “The disciples of the Sword Inheriting Sect are proud. They won’t easily spar with unknown minor cultivators. And you know our Inexhaustible Sect is about as obscure as it gets they wouldn’t give you a second glance.”

Yu Chanyi fell completely silent.

Seeing her lost in troubled thought, Wu Xi Lan sighed. “It’s a shame your senior brother can’t draw his sword. Otherwise, he might have been able to spar with you. What a pity, truly a pity.”

“Why can’t senior brother draw his sword?” Yu Chanyi asked.

Wu Xi Lan was taken aback. After thinking for a long while, she finally said, somewhat uncertainly, “I don’t know the exact reason. I only heard from the sword stall owner he often visits that some people are simply unsuited for sword practice from birth.”

“Your senior brother is so stubborn he’s just walking a path of no return, wasting his time. Don’t follow his example.”

But Yu Chanyi hesitated, holding back her words.

How could it be called a waste? If she hadn’t spent her mortal days tirelessly studying sword manuals day and night, she wouldn’t be able to wield a sword today without a manual in hand, yet hold all its principles in her heart.

But these matters from her past couldn’t be shared with Wu Xi Lan. Lowering her gaze to conceal her complicated emotions, Yu Chanyi said softly, “Still, if one day he can draw his sword, perhaps he too could become a formidable Sword Cultivator.” Just like her.

It makes no sense that only the talented are worthy of practicing the Sword Way.

Upon hearing this, Wu Xi Lan smiled faintly and teased Yu Chanyi, “Oh my, now that your senior brother has gotten you a sword, your heart is so biased toward him?”

Yu Chanyi didn’t know how to respond and awkwardly changed the subject: “Since there are no Sword Cultivators in any nearby sects, might there be wandering cultivators who practice sword arts passing through this area? If so, where would they likely appear?”

“There are some, but…” Wu Xi Lan looked at Yu Chanyi, noticing she never let go of her sword, and guessed she was still fresh with excitement after just obtaining it.

However, Yu Chanyi was, after all, only a novice cultivator who had just entered the Sword Way.

Wu Xi Lan understood the feeling of a young cultivator fearlessly diving into the Sword Way, but she worried that if her junior sister immediately sought sparring partners, she might suffer a crushing defeat, damaging her Dao heart and hindering her future cultivation.

“Would you like to practice first?” Wu Xi Lan suggested. “Besides, while there are wandering cultivators passing by, those who cultivate the Sword Way are truly hard to find. It’s difficult to find someone to spar with you.”

Yu Chanyi pursed her lips, having no better solution for the moment.

If she really couldn’t find a living person to practice sword with, she would have to make do with a Puppet for a while.

But she couldn’t help showing a trace of anxiety on her face.

There weren’t many days left until the Sword Debate Tournament, and she was determined to win the First Prize this time no matter what.

She had practiced sword with Puppets for thirteen years, plus the period after her physical body was reshaped, totaling just over thirteen years of sword practice. Ever since her senior brother pointed out her lack of adaptability that day, the issue had lingered in her mind. If not resolved quickly, Yu Chanyi felt uneasy.

As she bit her lip, wondering where to find a Sword Cultivator willing to spar with her, a lazy chuckle came from nearby: “Little junior sister, why the rush?”

“Perhaps the person you’re looking for will come to you on their own.”

Yu Chanyi turned toward the voice and saw a tall figure leaning against the doorframe.

Wei Shengming watched Yu Chanyi with crossed arms, noticing how she clung to her sword without ever letting go, his gaze momentarily distant.

He glanced up and down at the sword in her arms and said, “Good taste. It’s a fine sword.”

Yu Chanyi wasn’t in the mood for small talk, only remembering what he said when he first entered, and asked urgently, “Who will come to me?”

Wei Shengming lazily looked up at her, the corners of his eyes suddenly reddening, his voice hoarse: “Just wait. When the time comes, the person will naturally appear.”

What did he mean by “when the time comes”?

Yu Chanyi didn’t understand and waited for him to explain, but he didn’t continue.

Hearing his voice even hoarser than usual, Yu Chanyi keenly noticed that the black-and-crimson birthmark-like pattern on his neck seemed to have grown larger, spreading outward with a somewhat frenzied momentum.

A growing birthmark?

Yu Chanyi narrowed her eyes. She even thought of calling Wu Xi Lan to take a look, but as she opened her mouth, Wei Shengming pulled his collar up to cover the “birthmark.”

Wu Xi Lan shook her head at him and said to Yu Chanyi, “Little junior sister, your senior brother is probably lightheaded again, talking nonsense.”

Yu Chanyi remained silent.

For the rest of the day, Yu Chanyi didn’t leave the Inexhaustible Sect.

Evening.

An uninvited guest truly arrived at the Inexhaustible Sect.

It was Li Xu.

Carrying a pouch of new seeds, he stepped through the Inexhaustible Sect’s Restriction and immediately spotted a graceful figure practicing swordplay in the distant courtyard.

Upon closer inspection, it was Yu Chanyi wielding her sword in the courtyard.

The sword in her hand was black with crimson undertones, casting a desolate cold gleam under the sunlight. In the deepening twilight, it appeared particularly striking.

It was indeed a blade forged by their Grand Micro Sect! The one crafted from obsidian among the Five-Colored Kunlun Stones!

So the “new Grand Micro Sect disciple” Yin Haiwei mentioned who went to purchase a sword was truly her!

Li Xu narrowed his eyes and unconsciously tightened his grip on the pouch.

Today, two incidents occurred among the Grand Micro Sect disciples active in Flame Province.

The first incident: one day ago, someone bearing a Grand Micro Sect identity jade seal exchanged for a superior sword from the shop run by sect disciple Yin Haiwei. Yin Haiwei reported the cultivator had shallow cultivation but astonishing talent, and wished to learn their identity.

The second incident proved more peculiar

The disciple tasked with tracking Wei Shengming to the Sword Inheriting Sect discovered his identity jade seal missing after leaving the Hall of Famous Swords. But today, the lost jade seal had inexplicably reappeared on his person. Along with the seal came a spirit herb.

A spirit herb from Ancestral Province, extremely rare. It had flown into the storage pouch at his waist together with the jade seal.

Both matters were reported to Li Xu by his subordinates.

Initially, Li Xu paid little attention to the sword exchange at Yin Haiwei’s shop. But when the disciple tracking Wei Shengming reported the missing jade seal, he naturally connected the two events.

After questioning the shopkeeper and learning the sword-buying cultivator was a black-clad young maiden with exquisite features but perpetually cold expression, Li Xu had essentially confirmed her identity.

Not a new Grand Micro Sect disciple, but the Inexhaustible Sect’s newest junior member Yu Chanyi. She had impersonated one of their disciples to acquire that exceptional sword among ten thousand.

Now witnessing it firsthand, it was indeed her.

No, to be precise, it was indeed Wei Shengming’s doing.

Wei Shengming must have orchestrated everything behind the scenes.

Li Xu’s expression darkened considerably.

He couldn’t fathom how Wei Shengming had accomplished this, nor how much intelligence Wei Shengming had gathered about their operations.

The realization that Wei Shengming knew every detail about the Grand Micro Sect disciples tracking him, yet silently permitted their surveillance as if everything was under his control, made Li Xu feel prickling discomfort down his spine. The more he pondered, the more his scalp crawled.

Though it should have been the mantis stalking the cicada, he had always believed their Grand Micro Sect was the mantis. Today he discovered he might instead be the prey. Amid his trepidation, Li Xu felt profound humiliation.

Just then, a sharp Sword Qi cut through the air. Li Xu instinctively dodged, only to realize the energy was feeble and completely devoid of killing intent merely a probe.

When he looked up again, Yu Chanyi had alighted gracefully before him, staring directly into his eyes as she asked: “Fellow Daoist Li the seed seller, are you also a Sword Cultivator?” Was this the person senior brother said would come seeking them out?

Her tone brimmed with unconcealed excitement, eyes sparkling like polished lacquer. The slight smile curling her lips radiated genuine delight, appearing exceedingly friendly.

Somehow, Li Xu nonetheless felt an instinctive shiver run through him.