Chapter 454: Teacher's Letter

"When a sword practitioner is young, first stepping onto the sword path, looking at the vastness of the world's sword arts, they often want to learn whatever they encounter that they like. Especially for everyone present, 'learning swords' is really a quite easy thing, so they don't care even more, often greedily wanting everything."

"And when they have learned swords for a long time and want to climb upwards, they find it's not so free anymore."

"Pavilion-Transmitted and Mountain-Transmitted swords are sweet and weak fruit wine, which anyone can taste at will, drink like water, and squander at will; Vein-Transmitted and Court-Transmitted swords are not so easy to provoke. Some are true strong liquor, which few people can drink, and cannot be drunk often. At this time, you must choose carefully."

"And when you want to go further up, you will often find that no sword is within reach." The old man looked at them, "【Mind Sword】, every sect is like a flower on a high ridge. To learn it, you must master its true intent. At this time, it will require your life experience, your emotional character, and of course, it also requires your sword path experience and understanding."

"Excellent Places, Wonderful Wilds, Strange Spectacles, Ultimate Intent Absolute Scenery... Every step is a chasm. And further up, what about 【Heart Sword】, and what about 【Dao Sword】?" The old man said slowly, "They begin to require your entire life."

"To learn the 'King Mu Sword,' you must first bring the 'Eight Steeds' and 'Seven Jades' to the ultimate realm; and if you haven't mastered Confucian swords, the 'Yi Sword' cannot be used."

"Every sword is a reward for the previous level, and also a foundation for the next level. The destination you look at is the Dao Sword. This is the 【Sword Ladder】."

"How many sword arts are there in the world? Those that can be called treasures are vast as the sea, difficult to exhaust even with the utmost gaze. However, the life of a cultivator is no more than a hundred years." The old man said, "What sword to learn, and why to learn the sword, is a question every sword practitioner must answer."

"Not every sword practitioner needs a 【Sword Ladder】."

"The people in the world who pick up swords are as vast as crucian carp crossing a river, each with their own different reasons. Some for fame and wealth, some for venting hatred, some for glorifying their sect, and some don't even know why themselves... 'Sword' is enough as long as it helps them achieve their goals. It can be picked up, and it can be put down."

"Only those who learn the sword for the sake of the sword are my fellow travelers. The road is long and far, and I will seek it. In this life, I must see the true meaning of the sword, I must reach the absolute peak of the sword—since I came to ascend to heaven, I must have a ladder."

The old man stood up with his sword and slowly swept across every face present: "Constructing the Sword Ladder is 'Dao-Opening.' From now on, everyone is a seeker of the Dao, using the rest of their lives to climb on this Sword Ladder, learning swords, understanding swords, and ascending the steps toward heaven."

Suddenly, he tilted his head and said, "Seeing Pei Ye, what are you dazed about?"

Seeing Pei Ye was caught off guard, startled, "Academy... Academy Master."

"Why are your thoughts not here?"

Seeing Pei Ye was stunned, opened his mouth, pursed his lips, and said, "Academy Master, I was just thinking... I am the kind of person you mentioned who 'doesn't learn the sword for the sake of the sword'."

"When I learned the sword, I never thought about pursuing any Dao of the sword." Once his lips and tongue were opened, the young man said frankly, "The time I most wanted to learn a sword move was to cut the throat of the enemy in front of me. Later, I practiced swords diligently, more to defeat strong enemies. Although I like the sword, I don't like it for its own sake."

The field was silent. Wang Shousi quietly hooked his finger.

The Academy Master was talking about the foundation of the Daoqi Society, talking about the meaning of the Sword Academy. At this time, you come out with "our paths are different," then wouldn't it be "not seeking common ground"?

Seeing Pei Ye was actually frowning a bit. He certainly wouldn't stand up and sing the opposite, but who knew the old man would point him out at a glance.

And when this question really fell in front of him, he proudly didn't want to lie.

But he saw the Academy Master hum, but then laughed, suddenly pointing at him with raised eyebrows, angrily saying, "That's right, that's why I'm most annoyed by people like you!"

He sighed, "Do you think I don't know that there are really few people in the world who are obsessed with the sword? The Daoqi Society accepts over a hundred people every year, how many of them are sincere?"

His eyebrows drooped, but his temperament became sharp, "Because not every sword practitioner is qualified to construct a 【Sword Ladder】."

"If there are thousands of people who practice swords in the world, those who can be called geniuses are probably only a few thousand, and among them, those who can truly walk the Sword Ladder are one in ten."

"Those who are obsessed with the sword may not necessarily obtain the favor of the sword, and you, a rare sword talent in the world, don't view the sword as your life." The old man laughed, "Heaven and earth are ruthless, it is originally like this."

"The Daoqi Society is not a religion; it doesn't require you to believe in it first before it is willing to impart true knowledge. What it desires is only that the sword practitioners in the world who can obtain the Dao but don't know the road, and have no ladder to climb, can have a grand door. There are always people who, once they leave the Sword Academy, no longer remember the heart of seeking the Dao; but there are also people who walk in with all their worldly affairs, and after leaving, travel the four seas alone, just to fill the next vacancy on the Sword Ladder."

The old man looked at Seeing Pei Ye and smiled, "I have exhausted my life for it, but if you hold the Dao Sword in your hand while thinking about other things, I can only scold 'Damn old heaven!'"

He opened the gourd lid and drank a full mouthful, "Alright, I haven't told you my name yet—my name is Qiu Qiu Ji Zi, the Academy Master of the Divine Capital Sword Academy for thirty years. Today, I will repair the Sword Ladder for everyone. I will be sincere, and I hope everyone will be true."

"Let's start with the most difficult one." Qiu Qiu Ji Zi laughed, his gaze falling, "Zhang Chao."

Laughter sounded on the field. This White Ape Cave true transmission was repeatedly the first name, and everyone was somewhat used to it.

And when these two words "most difficult" came out, Seeing Pei Ye understood the meaning of "construction."

No wonder the Sword Ladder varied from person to person. It clearly had to be constrained by what sword arts the sword student had learned and what sword arts they could learn in the future, all of which were influenced by origin, experience, and talent.

Like Zhang Chao, who had learned no Mind Sword, then this Academy Master had to first select a few suitable Mind Swords for him that he could learn, and then make these few Mind Swords tend toward a certain Heart Sword path.

But the Heart Swords in the world were originally limited. Which one would be willing to be learned by him?

And what kind of harsh conditions would it have?

And more importantly, the sword heart cultivated through this must also have the possibility of reaching the "Dao."

No wonder this kind of thing had to be done by the Academy Master. I'm afraid only this Academy Master who had been in office for thirty years could know almost all the swords in the world, and filter out a narrow but passable road from them.

The words "most difficult" were indeed not false. Even when he got the list, Qiu Qiu Ji Zi had already started preparing, but the two still discussed and frowned at the table for more than half an hour.

Eventually, Zhang Chao walked down holding a jade-inlaid booklet. That was the Sword Ladder that Qiu Qiu Ji Zi had written for him in detail. The three regular characters on the cover were 【Ape Duke Dao】.

It was indeed visibly much smoother next. But those from sword sects with Mind Sword inheritance all sought paths to the "Heart Sword," and as outstanding true transmissions of these sword sects, before coming to the Sword Academy, their sects had already carefully mapped out their future directions.

This was Qiu Qiu Ji Zi's true work, filling in and optimizing this Sword Ladder with the swords of the world he knew, making the sword student clear about what sword to learn next.

The Sword Ladder was indeed a more personal thing, but to say it couldn't be leaked at all had no reason. In short, Ning and Wang both showed him their jade booklets. Ning Shuhong's was named 【Shu Road Difficult】, and Wang Shousi's was 【Fire Fusang】.

Both had five layers in total, each with its own name, detailing the context, and listing the swords to be learned in the first two layers in detail.

Seeing Pei Ye felt even more blank. The old man said Zhang Chao was the most difficult. He thought that wasn't necessarily true, because Zhang Chao still had inheritance, while his own learning was truly sparse and chaotic, yet he himself didn't understand it at all. The old man had to write a Sword Ladder for him, which was truly creating something out of nothing.

However, this process was completed after all. The further back, the more obviously simple it was—like Tianshan and Shushan, whose carried Sword Ladders only had the Dao Sword column incomplete, and Qiu Qiu Ji Zi didn't go further than the two sword sects, just filling in some stones from other mountains in the lower three layers.

And when it came to Yang Zhenbing, the Sword Ladder given by White Deer Palace was a completely complete thing. Qiu Qiu Ji Zi just made some minor repairs and annotations before returning it.

"Then... there's only one left." Qiu Qiu Ji Zi stretched, stood up, and walked toward the Sword Treasury Pavilion, smiling, "Seeing Pei Ye, come with me."

Seeing Pei Ye was stunned and followed behind.

The previous twenty-four people hadn't entered the pavilion, so Seeing Pei Ye was actually somewhat caught off guard.

"Because yours is very difficult." Qiu Qiu Ji Zi sighed slightly, "We'll find a quiet place to do it slowly."

"I have no inheritance, sorry to trouble you." Seeing Pei Ye said somewhat apologetically.

Qiu Qiu Ji Zi opened his eyes wide to look at him: "You have no inheritance?"

"..."

Qiu Qiu Ji Zi laughed: "If you have no inheritance, then no one in the world has one."

"It is precisely because your inheritance is so clear and the road is so wide that the construction of your Sword Ladder must be extremely cautious." Qiu Qiu Ji Zi shook his wine gourd, restrained his expression, and looked at him earnestly, "Don't let my insufficient level hurt your future path."

"... I was thinking, everyone has a Sword Ladder provided by their sect for reference, only I am empty-handed, too much trouble for you."

"You have one too."

"... Ah?"

Qiu Qiu Ji Zi smiled, took out a snow-white letter from his bosom and handed it to him. Seeing Pei Ye received it in a daze. This was exactly the one he saw Ming Qitian send yesterday, already unfolded and read.

"Studied it for a whole night last night." Qiu Qiu Ji Zi laughed and sighed, pulling out a chair for him, and sat down himself.

Seeing Pei Ye unfolded the letter.

"Academy Master Qiu Ji Zi, respectfully opening,

Since parting, several months have passed.

Hearing that your academy has recently accepted new sword students, among whom is one named Seeing Pei Ye, whose sword talent is outstanding and who is just starting out, I hope you will take care of him.

I have already provided a recommendation letter for him, and thinking of the Sword Ladder matter, which is the weight of a sword practitioner's life, and he is confused about this, I cannot help but disturb you again.

I have known his sword for a long time and often thought about this matter. Over the past month, I have compiled a Sword Ladder for him, and yesterday I also asked my master to verify it. There should be no major omissions.

Please provide a reference, Senior.

Qitian, respectfully asking if you are well."

"And it is the first-class one in the world." Qiu Qiu Ji Zi sighed slightly, "'Master' has verified it, what else do I have to reference? Let's study it respectfully together."

He smiled and opened the attachment with the Sword Ladder, spreading it on the table. Seeing Pei Ye looked over, and it was indeed the woman's familiar handwriting, and this was almost the time he had seen the most handwriting.

Dense, painstaking writing. This paper unfolded to half the size of the table, and the small characters filled it completely.

Seeing Pei Ye was stunned for a moment before lowering his eyes to look at the content. It was also roughly divided into five levels. However, unlike Ning and Wang's, which became simpler as they went up, the space occupied by each level was almost the same.

"All Sword Ladders are made of five levels. Clumsy, Spirit, Intent, Heart, Dao, intertwined with the sword path realm." Qiu Qiu Ji Zi said, "You are the opposite of other sword students. The 'Heart' and 'Dao' levels at the highest point are already clear, but the three levels below are extremely thin. So this is a process of writing steps according to the answer—do you know what your answer is?"

"... It's the last form of 'Snow Night Flying Goose,' but I haven't seen it yet."

"Not bad. I said your Sword Ladder is clear, precisely because this Dao Sword is sleeping completely in your heart. This is the fifth level that doesn't need hesitation." Qiu Qiu Ji Zi copied the content of the letter onto the blank jade booklet, "And the path to learn it has also been clearly marked for you—you need to learn the following four Heart Swords, and then you can hatch this Dao Sword."

"And you have already obtained three of the four Heart Swords, only the last form 'Snow Night Silence' is not yet achieved, right?"

"... Yes."

The "studied for a whole night" the old man mentioned was indeed not false. He looked at the letter and pointed out his sword-learning path with incomparable precision.

"Then this is the key." Qiu Qiu Ji Zi raised his head and looked at him with a restrained expression, "This is the destination we want to reach with the Sword Ladder today—once the Snow Night is cultivated, the sword heart will be cast. Once the sword heart is formed, the four swords will naturally all become Heart Swords. And once the four swords are formed, the Dao Sword will be in sight."

"How to learn this sword?"

Seeing Pei Ye was stunned. He learned the previous three forms, none of which were in his plan. They were all experienced through life and heart, obtained through spiritual enlightenment. Before learning them, he didn't know what they looked like.

Now it was the same. Although he knew this sword was born from "Snow Night Silence," he couldn't see its appearance, let alone know how to learn it.

"Because you are not standing at that height, so it is too dark and mysterious for you." Qiu Qiu Ji Zi said, and sighed as he looked at him, "You are too far away from them, so naturally you don't know how to learn it—so I am still puzzled, how did you learn the first three forms?"

"..."

"But no matter how you learned them, this method won't work now." Qiu Qiu Ji Zi pointed to the letter, "Young Shao Shao Jian Jun said, this form is 'After enlightenment, listen quietly to the falling snow. And precipitation cannot be replaced by spiritual enlightenment,' and I deeply agree."

Qiu Qiu Ji Zi looked at him: "No Dao Sword can be reached solely by spiritual enlightenment. This is not a question of talent, this is a question of the sword itself."

Seeing Pei Ye was slightly blank. Qiu Qiu Ji Zi said earnestly: "Moves, Intent, Heart, are the sword's excavation of a person from the outside in. Between the sword and the person is the realm of sword talent."

"But 'Dao' is not just on the person. Dao Sword, to some extent, is a matter between heaven and earth and the person, between the Dao and the heart." Qiu Qiu Ji Zi said, "Therefore, this sword was created, and there must be such a form in it. After the sudden spiritual enlightenment, one must practice, reason, and experience with a quiet heart."

It is like this, Seeing Pei Ye suddenly realized.

"The loneliness of leaving the group," the old man had already reached it when he killed that young lady.

The eighteen years of lying stiff in the small city were all "Snow Night Silence."

"So to learn this sword, you must thoroughly understand its truth. This itself is also the process of practicing it." Qiu Qiu Ji Zi moved the inkless brush tip to the third level, "And the true meaning of this Dao Sword, Young Shao Shao Jian Jun said is 'Life Feather,' I say is 'Hatching,' I think it's about the same. To master this true meaning, we must pick a few Mind Swords." ===== CHAPTER 455 =====

"So, if you want to learn this sword art, you must thoroughly grasp its truth in a grounded way; this process itself is part of practicing it." Qiu Jiji moved the inkless brush tip to the third layer. "As for the true meaning of this sword, the Young Shao Shao Jian Jun calls it 'Sprouting Wings,' while I call it 'Hatching.' I imagine they are much the same. To master this true meaning, we must select a few sword techniques."