Chapter 1282: I'm Not Learning

"This was left by Sword Elder. Only a sword cultivator who has comprehended the True Meaning of the Sword Dao is qualified to approach it, break the seal, and pull me out! But as for how exactly to do it, I don't know..."

The longsword was slightly embarrassed.

After Sword Elder passed away, he sealed it here and fell asleep. It only knew that to leave the stone platform, one must conform to the True Meaning of the Sword Dao and comprehend the meaning of the character 'sword,' finding the so-called successor. As for how to pull it out, it didn't know.

"Don't know?"

Zhang Xuan shook his head. "Let me try."

This longsword was at least a high-grade saint artifact, which would be of great help to him. Since he could claim it for his own, he naturally wouldn't refuse.

With a flicker of his body, he arrived before it, grasped the longsword, and exerted force with his arm.

The longsword seemed nailed to the stone, unmoving.

Frowning, Zhang Xuan looked down.

"It's a crafted item. No wonder..."

With his strength, even a great mountain could be easily uprooted, yet now he couldn't even move an ordinary stone platform. It turned out that around the longsword, there were not only special runic seals but also a mechanical mechanism. Once engaged, without a special method, it was impossible to open.

"Since Sword Elder required comprehension of the True Meaning of the Sword Dao to obtain the inheritance, pulling the sword probably has the same requirement..."

Speculating, Zhang Xuan gripped the sword hilt with both hands, closed his eyes, and let the True Meaning of the Sword Dao he had just comprehended form strands of sword intent, circulating slowly within his body.

Boom!

As if something was activated, a roar sounded, and a special force surged from around the stone platform. Then, a sharp sword qi shot out, enveloping the surroundings.

Like a seal, Zhang Xuan felt his divine sense immediately severed by the sword qi, unable to see outside. Similarly, those outside could not see his situation.

Frowning, he was about to let go of the sword hilt when he saw the sword qi slowly gather before him, gradually forming an old man.

He looked somewhat thin, but his whole being was like a longsword, exuding a sharpness that could pierce the sky at any moment.

"Sword Elder?"

Zhang Xuan remained vigilant.

Although the other was formed from sword qi, it contained the will of his lifetime, extremely powerful. Even with his current strength, he might find it hard to contend.

"I am Sword Zhen, known as Sword Elder! Since you have activated the will I left behind, it seems you have comprehended the True Meaning of the Sword Dao and are qualified to receive my inheritance..."

With his hands behind his back, the old man's pitch-black eyes flowed with sword intent, seemingly capable of cutting through everything.

"Kneel, worship me as your master, and I will teach you the Three Lingxu Swords and the method to break the seal on the stone platform!"

"Worship a master?" Zhang Xuan frowned.

"To receive my inheritance and benefit from my grace, you naturally must worship me as your master!"

Sword Elder's tone carried an air of unquestionability. "My Three Lingxu Swords—Sword Breaks the Sea, Sword Vast as Ocean, Sword Soars to Heaven—are all earth-shattering martial techniques. Countless people in the Empire Alliance vie for them but cannot obtain them! If I hadn't been severely injured here, how could I casually pass them on to an outsider!"

Normally, when experts leave behind inheritances, they first test the disciple's character and nature. When Sword Elder arrived here, he could no longer hold on and couldn't set up many trials, leaving only the inscription and this stone platform, sealing the longsword within.

However, although he couldn't test later generations, to learn his techniques, worshiping him as master was necessary.

Without the bond of master and disciple, how could he rest assured to pass on the inheritance?

"You have spent effort to understand my inscription, and at a young age, comprehended the True Meaning of the Sword Dao. You must have long been eager for my inheritance! After worshiping me, I will not only teach you the three swords but also impart my lifelong understanding of swordsmanship. As long as you study diligently, within three hundred years, becoming a top sword master in the Empire Alliance is no problem!"

Sword Elder's tone carried pride.

He had absolute confidence in his swordsmanship.

The other had come through great hardship, painstakingly studying his 'sword' character, naturally wanting to obtain the inheritance.

Since that was the case, this teacher must also have absolute authority and status.

He had to put on airs.

"Three hundred years to become a top sword master in the Empire Alliance? Too long, I'm afraid I can't wait!"

With a troubled expression, Zhang Xuan shook his head.

He had to become a nine-star master teacher before the age of thirty to avoid the outbreak of his congenital fetal poison.

Moreover, he needed to have the strength of an eight-star peak master teacher or higher before April next year to rescue Luo Ruoxin from her failed 'marriage.'

Three hundred years to only be at the top of the Empire Alliance, still with a gap from the sage clans... too slow.

"Can't wait? What do you mean?"

Sword Elder's eyes narrowed, and the sword qi in the air surged, causing the air to whimper. "Do you think my swordsmanship is too profound and lack confidence to succeed? No! Being able to comprehend the meaning of my 'sword' character shows your comprehension is not weak. Although the Three Lingxu Swords are complex, if you are serious, there is still a thirty percent chance of mastering them... Of course, the shorter the time you took to understand my inscription, the higher your comprehension, and the greater the chance of success!"

The purpose of his inscription was simple: to test a person's comprehension.

Without comprehension, even if given the manual, one could not succeed.

Therefore, the shorter the time to understand the meaning, the more extraordinary the comprehension.

"You seem young, so you probably haven't been pondering my 'sword' character for long!" Sword Elder said. "If it's no more than ten years... your chance of mastering the three swords will reach over sixty percent. Can you tell me... how long you've been pondering?"

"Well..."

Zhang Xuan scratched his head and thought carefully. "Probably a few... tens of seconds."

He had only glanced at the characters on the rock wall before collecting everyone's annotations. If he counted carefully, the total time was probably a few seconds...

But saying it directly would be too shocking, so he multiplied it by ten as the words left his mouth.

"A few tens of... seconds?"

Sword Elder was stunned, and the漫天 sword intent wavered, seeming on the verge of collapse. "You mean you saw the purpose and meaning of my inscription in just a few tens of seconds?"

"Yes. Your inscription, though just one character, contains one hundred and seven sword techniques and one hundred and seven different sword intents. If I'm not mistaken, you left behind a sword array inheritance to better integrate so many sword intents."

Zhang Xuan smiled. "This kind of thinking is still easy to figure out."

"You... in a few tens of seconds, you could see that I left so many sword techniques?"

Seeming not to have recovered from his shock, Sword Elder was full of disbelief.

After a moment, he thought of something, frowned, and showed a hint of displeasure. "At such a young age, you resort to trickery... You say you saw the meaning of my inscription, so let me test you! If you can still see it, then I'll believe you're not lying!"

The sword techniques and sword intents he left were very obscure. Even a sword grandmaster of his level would be confused at first contact, unable to figure out what was going on. This young man said he saw it in a few tens of seconds—it was probably a trick, not his own understanding.

"Test me? Fine!" Zhang Xuan nodded.

"I will now perform a sword move. See how many sword intents and techniques it contains!"

With a snort, without any visible movement from Sword Elder, Zhang Xuan immediately felt a surge of killing intent rushing toward him.

Looking up at his eyes, he saw a sea of sword qi, like a new world, with flowing water and changing clouds, everywhere sword, everything sword.

"Can you see how many sword techniques my move just now contained?"

After doing this, Sword Elder looked over again.

"This..."

Zhang Xuan shook his head. "I didn't see."

"Such obvious sword intent, and you can't see it? Isn't that trickery?" Sword Elder was very displeased.

The sword intent he had just displayed was much simpler than his inscription. If he couldn't see it, then the claim of understanding his meaning in a few tens of seconds was immediately exposed as false.

"I didn't see how many sword techniques it contained, but I saw a full seventeen flaws!"

Zhang Xuan smiled faintly.

He could understand the 'sword' character because of the annotations of countless predecessors. If he had to comprehend it himself, it would take several years at least... Therefore, with the sword intent flashing so quickly, even though he had reached the True Meaning of the Sword Dao, he couldn't count it at a glance.

But... why count?

Knowing the flaws was enough.

"Seventeen flaws? Nonsense!"

Sword Elder's face darkened.

"First flaw: The sword intent just now, though vigorous, carried a mixed impurity. If I'm not mistaken, it should be a trapping technique, very difficult to kill. That is, it has great momentum but insufficient power."

"Second flaw: The move contained sword intent that attacks the primordial spirit, which can indeed increase its power. But when actually executed, it places great demands on the cultivator's soul and state of mind. If insufficient, not only can it not attack the opponent, but it may also be exploited and instantly defeated..."

"Third..."

"Fourth..."

...

"Seventeenth: The move is grand but scattered, light and empty. Clearly one move could kill, yet it evolves into a dozen variations—gilding the lily, nothing more..."

Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan looked over calmly. "May I ask if what I said is correct?"

"You, you..."

When the other started speaking, he was dismissive, but as more was said, Sword Elder's face grew paler. When the last sentence was spoken, he was trembling all over, completely speechless.

As a sword grandmaster, he knew something about the problems in his own sword moves... The other had seen them all at a glance, even more detailed than he, the practitioner, could describe...

How was this possible?

"With such comprehension and insight, learning the Three Lingxu Swords will surely succeed quickly..."

After the shock came intense joy. Sword Elder's eyes shone, and he couldn't help but want him to worship as master and teach the swordsmanship, when he heard the young man's sigh.

"A casually performed sword move has so many flaws. The Three Lingxu Swords are probably also unworthy of their reputation... Forget it, keep your swordsmanship. I'm not learning!"

"Huh?"

Sword Elder stood frozen in place.