Chapter 123: Chapter 122: Comparing Swords

PFFT!

A spray of stone chips flew from the massive boulder, a deep, narrow groove carved into its surface. Ling Yun’Er landed on the ground. She glanced at the chaotic web of marks crisscrossing the boulder, then at the one she had just made. A proud little smile curved her lips.

She had never imagined she could leave a mark on such a huge boulder before. Even with a fine sword in hand, the most she could have managed in the past was a shallow scratch!

Ling Tianxiao gave an almost imperceptible nod, a flash of approval in his eyes. He was suddenly struck by the feeling that his most doted-on little daughter had grown up in an instant. She was no longer the little girl who used to cling to him, begging for stories. ’When your daughter grows up, doesn’t that just mean you’ve grown old?’ Ling Tianxiao’s lips quirked into a self-mocking smile. His expression was identical to Ling Yun’Er’s—they were father and daughter, through and through.

Ling Tianxiao turned to Ling Xiao. "Xiao’Er, you go give it a try!"

Ling Xiao felt a bit helpless about this method of testing strength. ’An opponent isn’t a rock, after all.’ Just like Ling Yun’Er, who had little combat experience. Even if she could cleave this boulder in two with a single strike, she wouldn’t necessarily win against a slightly weaker opponent who far surpassed her in experience.

Besides, Ling Xiao could tell that his little sister had only used their family’s Hurricane Break sword skill to attack the boulder because she was afraid of displeasing their father. Ling Xiao was sure that if Ling Yun’Er had used the Jade Maiden Sword Skill instead, while she might not have left such a deep mark, she could have carved seventeen or eighteen gashes into the boulder in that single instant!

Ling Xiao had once read through Dugu Qiubai’s notes, which contained a saying that was even applicable in the Cultivation Realm: "Of all the martial arts in the world, nothing is indestructible, only speed is unbreakable!"

To a certain extent, this was true. While the saying wasn’t an absolute truth, it was extremely practical within certain limits.

Ling Xiao held his breath and circulated his Spiritual Power through his body once. A gray stream of Hurricane Break’s Sword Qi hissed from his longsword. The entire process was incredibly natural and fluid. Although his Sword Qi wasn’t any fiercer than Ling Yun’Er’s, the effortlessness with which he produced it was something she was far from achieving.

Ling Tianxiao, still on his horse, was startled. His eyes were glued to Ling Xiao’s every move. Although Ling Xiao’s opening stance was the Hurricane Break he was so familiar with, Ling Tianxiao had the feeling that his son’s version was thousands of times purer than his own. He didn’t look like an underage boy at all—he looked more like a Grandmaster!

’This realization was both ridiculous and shocking to Ling Tianxiao. ’Could the rumors be true? Xiao’Er... has he been taken in by some thousand-year-old prestigious family? How else could you explain such a transformation in such a short time!’

This guess did much to calm the anxiety that had been weighing on Ling Tianxiao’s heart. Although he said he had faith in his son, what parent didn’t worry about their children day and night?

Across the continent, Empires and Dynasties rose and fell, their lands changing hands. An Empire like the Lanyue Empire, which had stood for over 1,400 years since its founding, was a rarity. But in reality, there was an astonishing number of prestigious families and super-sects with legacies stretching back thousands of years, all hidden from the sight of ordinary people.

These were not legends, but real, tangible existences. They simply rejected ordinary people and each had its own methods of passing down its heritage. Thus, to the rest of the world, they remained a mystery.

Ling Xiao’s longsword traced a graceful arc through the air. Ling Tianxiao’s pupils contracted abruptly, following the trajectory of the blade. The stream of Sword Qi, plain and unadorned, stabbed into the boulder. The pliant Fine Willow Sword let out a soft "DING."

Ling Yun’Er stared dumbfounded at her third brother’s strike, her delicate mouth slightly agape, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelief. ’Is he just humoring Father? Or is he just playing around?’ Ling Yun’Er worriedly glanced at her father, afraid he would scold her free-spirited brother. Instead, she saw her father’s face was stern, his gaze fixed on the point where her brother’s sword had struck the boulder.

Ling Yun’Er stared hard for a long time, but aside from a tiny gray pit, she couldn’t see anything else.

Ling Tianxiao asked in a low voice, "How did you do that?"

"By concentrating all my power, I was able to do it," Ling Xiao said calmly, a smile on his face. He knew that if he couldn’t give his father some confidence, the man wouldn’t be at ease leaving him alone in the south. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Third Brother, Father, what is this riddle you’re both talking about?" Ling Yun’Er said, a little impatiently.

Ling Tianxiao walked up to the boulder, extended his palm, and gave a shout. A ball of clear energy materialized over his hand.

CRACK!

He slapped the boulder. Several cracks immediately snaked out from the point of Ling Xiao’s sword strike, spreading over a meter long!

Ling Tianxiao let out another low roar and gave the boulder a hard shake. The cracked sections crumbled and fell away with a great clatter. The boulder, originally taller than a man, was now significantly smaller!

Ling Yun’Er’s eyes went wide. She looked at her father, then at her third brother, and said, "Father, your palm strength is amazing! Is that the same Cultivation Technique you used when you hit Third Brother?"

The moment the words left her mouth, Ling Yun’Er knew she had misspoken. She stuck out her tongue and scurried behind Ling Xiao.

"Ahem..." Ling Tianxiao shot his daughter an embarrassed glare, then said, "If your third brother hadn’t just damaged the boulder’s ’veins’ with his sword, do you think your father is a Sword Saint, able to shatter such a large boulder with a single slap?"

"How can a rock have ’veins’?" Ling Yun’Er looked completely baffled.

"Yun’Er, everything in this world has its own patterns. For example, the alternation of day and night, the movement of the stars, the rising and setting of the sun—they all follow their own patterns. A sunflower always follows the sun; that is also a pattern." Ling Tianxiao spoke calmly, a sacred light appearing on his face.

This was the first time he had ever explained his understanding of the Martial Dao to his children. It wasn’t that he hadn’t wanted to before, but that his children’s cultivation levels had been too low.

Ling Yun’Er only half-understood what she was hearing, but the look she gave her father was filled with the same adoration she’d had as a child. In every daughter’s eyes, her father is a perfect man. This is why so many girls, after growing up, seek husbands who resemble their fathers in some way. It’s a subtle, ingrained sentiment that many people never even notice about themselves in their entire lifetime.

Ling Xiao, however, felt a new respect for his father growing in his heart. It really was true: ’Underestimate others, and you’ll be the one to suffer for it.’

No matter what world one was in, there was never a shortage of intelligent people. Based on the insight Ling Tianxiao had just shown, Ling Xiao believed that being a Demon Swordsman was by no means the true limit of his father’s power!

Ling Xiao wasn’t wrong. Ling Tianxiao had returned this time for two reasons. The first was that he had heard about his son’s situation. The second was that he had finally broken through again, reaching the level of a Tier Five Demon Swordsmen! Tier Three... that was a long time ago! As a General who lacked for neither fame nor fortune, Ling Tianxiao had no desire to reveal too much about himself. Therefore, when he had broken through to Tier Four, only Lady Ling and his eldest son, Lingzhi, knew about it. He hadn’t gone to the Sword Guild for certification at all!

This was also one of the reasons why many High-level Martial Artists on the continent remained unknown! Not everyone recognized the authority of the Sword Guild! In fact, many people looked down on the so-called ranking system with disdain. ’Who would be willing to expose their true strength to you?’

For millions of years, descriptions of the signs of power at each stage had been passed down across the continent. After advancing, the cultivator themselves was the first to feel the change, so why was it necessary to go to the Sword Guild to get their approval?

’Is their approval really that important?’

Seeing that no one else was around, Ling Tianxiao walked to the base of a stone cliff face and looked up. The tall, wide cliff seemed to press down on them, and Ling Yun’Er felt a little dizzy even from a distance.

Ling Tianxiao gestured for his children to step back. Then, he took a sharp breath. A wind suddenly whipped up at the base of the calm, windless cliff, making his clothes flutter loudly. Ling Xiao, with his keen senses, detected energy in the air beginning to converge on Ling Tianxiao’s sword. The Hundred-refined Steel Sword seemed unable to bear the strain, letting out a series of whining sounds!

Ling Tianxiao roared, "Watch closely! This is the Hurricane-breaking Sword Skill, cultivated to the fifth level!" As he spoke, a ripple appeared above his longsword. The air seemed to twist, and a piercing wind howled around him.

A gray blade of Sword Qi, fully five meters long and over a meter wide, formed. Following the dance of Ling Tianxiao’s longsword, it was viciously flung toward the incredibly hard stone cliff face!

"Cultivation is important, but sword skills are just as important!"

With a furious roar from Ling Tianxiao, the Sword Qi passed silently through the cliff face, embedding itself completely within!

Ling Tianxiao’s body, however, drifted backward like a falling leaf in the autumn wind, weightless and swift. His feet didn’t even touch the ground as he retreated to stand beside Ling Xiao and Ling Yun’Er. He said calmly, "Even a low-tier, human-grade sword skill is not trash if you can practice it to its absolute peak! Unfortunately, too many people only fixate on High-tier Sword Skills and desperately try to raise their cultivation level, forgetting that sword skills, Cultivation Techniques, and one’s own strength must complement each other!"

Just then, a deafening BOOM echoed from the cliff face. Huge chunks of rock slid down as if they were rotten wood, sending a cloud of dust into the air. When the dust gradually settled, the scene behind it was revealed. A massive crater, five or six meters deep at its center and over twenty meters in diameter, had been gouged out of the smooth cliff face of the giant stone mountain!

The fallen rocks piled up in a large mound at the bottom. The most astonishing thing was that every single piece of rock was almost exactly the same size!

"That is a pattern! Everything has its own pattern. Xiao’Er, do you still think you’re so powerful now?" Ling Tianxiao looked immensely proud, feeling he had earned the right to teach a lesson to this son who had become so outstanding. ’Young people always need to be humbled from time to time.’

"Father, if you were a quarryman, you’d definitely be the best!"

Ling Yun’Er said, her star-like eyes full of adoration as she looked at her father’s smug face.