Chapter 16: I May Be Invincible

On the first day after entering the academy, the morning glow filled the sky, the wind gentle and the sun bright.

From the mountain slope, yellow leaves drifted down, autumn deepening, faint dawn light spilling across the white marble path, glittering brilliantly.

The newly admitted disciples rose early and gathered at the Awakening Ground.

Legend says that during the dark, ignorant age, the Dao granted the first human sages a heavenly scroll to enlighten all beings; the sages then founded the Heavenly Scroll Academy, becoming its first headmaster.

When students cultivate at the Awakening Ground, those with exceptional insight may establish a connection with the heavenly scroll.

Once connected to the heavenly scroll, one connects with the Dao, accelerating cultivation exponentially.

There are also rumors that even students who have not yet reached perfection may still sense the heavenly scroll.

In this way, they gain early access to profound mysteries, with boundless benefits.

For thousands of years, no one has seen where the heavenly scroll is, nor known if it is even a book—but some students have suddenly been bathed in spiritual light, waking to cry in ecstatic joy that they saw the heavenly scroll, proving it is no falsehood.

Thus, from dawn until afternoon, disciples led by Chu He and Lu Qingqiu strained to cultivate and sense the heavenly scroll.

The only one absent was Ji You, this year’s third-ranked student who had reached perfection in the Lower Three Realms.

Though outer academy students all claimed Ji You was a wilderness self-cultivator without immortal herbs or spirit stones to break through, unlikely to ascend to the Upper Five Realms within a year,

he was still a man who had reached perfection in the Lower Three Realms alone—his whereabouts naturally drew special attention.

“Where has Ji You gone?”

“Not seen. I just wondered if he followed other students to the White Jade Terrace to study the Source Outline.”

“He’s already perfected the Lower Three Realms—his foundation is already solid. That kind of thing holds no value for him. Why would he go there?”

“Hey, I heard someone saw him leave at Chen Hour, and after breakfast went to the Trial Sword Grove.”

Upon hearing this, Chu He and Lu Qingqiu slightly opened their eyes, expression calm.

Others, upon learning Ji You had skipped the Awakening Ground entirely and gone straight to the Trial Sword Grove, all stared in shock—including Fang Ruoyao, who was still striving to sense her true spirit.

“He wants to cultivate both martial and spiritual arts?”

“He must want to cultivate both.”

Chu He opened his mouth slightly: “Even cultivating the Dao feels like time is never enough—he wastes it on martial arts?”

Lu Qingqiu opened his eyes and turned to Fang Ruoyao beside him: “Ruoyao, is your fiancé always this erratic?”

Fang Ruoyao paused, then nodded, her expression uneasy.

Yes, she had told others herself that Ji You was her fiancé.

Back in Yuyang County, Miss Fang was the magistrate’s daughter, a disciple chosen by the Heavenly Scroll Academy, a celestial crane to be looked up to by all.

But after arriving at the academy, she realized her family background couldn’t match these people, her status couldn’t match these people—suddenly, she became just another ordinary disciple, her inner sense of loss immense.

Especially last night, after returning to the female dormitory, she saw the other girls laughing and chatting happily, yet dared not interject.

Until she said she was Ji You’s fiancée.

A wilderness self-cultivator who reached perfection in the Lower Three Realms before turning twenty was already the main topic of conversation on the first night—so at that moment, everyone turned to look at her.

Then she suddenly realized: the identity she had once despised had become the only thing she could now boast about…

“Cultivating both martial and spiritual arts…”

“All academy students are striving to sense the Dao and break through—why bother with martial arts? Are you planning to fight someone to the death later?”

Meanwhile, in the Trial Sword Grove behind the mountain.

The bamboo forest remained lush green, untouched by autumn, swaying in the wind, leaves rustling everywhere.

Ji You held a wooden sword, practicing basic sword forms under the martial arts instructor Wang Xin’an.

Slash, thrust, point, flick, strike, block, sweep, pierce, lift, twist, sweep.

One set after another, continuous instruction.

Those perfected in the Lower Three Realms can project spiritual energy outward and manipulate objects—thus most sword techniques under Qingyun Heaven are unadorned.

The simplest sword moves are the most direct killing techniques.

Ji You moved through the grove, repeating the sixteen characters over and over—one strike, one strike, another strike—constantly refining himself until his hand remained steady and his mind swift the moment he drew the sword.

As Instructor Wang put it, to meet an opponent with the sword, you must first break their energy—but if your strike is unsteady, all your sword’s force dissipates on the first impact.

So Ji You kept searching for the feeling, then trained every muscle to imprint the motion, letting it bypass thought and become instinctive.

“Huh…”

“It’s tiring.”

Ji You found repetitive motions quickly caused fatigue—but once he pushed past that phase, a smooth, flowing sensation gradually emerged.

Wang Xin’an, watching this newly admitted Lower Three Realms perfectionist, wore a strange expression.

In all these years, he’d seen students rush to the Awakening Ground on their first day to sense the heavenly scroll—he’d never seen one head straight for the Trial Sword Grove.

He’d assumed Ji You was just curious, but never expected such dedication.

Wang Xin’an snapped back to attention: “Open your hands.”

Ji You opened his palms—no deep red, no excessive sweat pooled in his palms.

“Good. Don’t strain. Remember instant power—keep going!”

“Remember, when striking, pay attention to your breath—don’t let it hinder your sword. A disrupted rhythm means instant defeat!”

“Once you master the basic forms, you’ll gradually develop your own sword habits—and cultivators each have unique ways of controlling energy.”

“The fusion of energy control habits and sword habits will eventually form countless sword techniques—moving as your heart wishes, emerging as your hand directs!”

Upon hearing “as your heart wishes,” the legendary bandit furrowed his brow, linked several movements into a sword flourish, released it, and the blade whirled around his body in three lightning-fast circles before snapping back into the flourish.

As Wang Xin’an stared in slight shock, Ji You’s feet surged with spiritual energy—he spun in place like lightning, the wooden sword circling him before thrusting forward violently, sending bamboo leaves cascading through the grove.

After finishing the combo, Ji You leaned on his sword, wiped sweat, then looked up to see Instructor Wang utterly stunned.

He seemed thoroughly bewildered by Ji You’s combo, unable to recover for a long while.

“Have you ever seen a master use a sword?”

Ji You wiped his brow: “Yes, when I was young, I was fortunate enough to witness one firsthand.”

Wang Xin’an narrowed his eyes: “Which master?”

“Meng Xinghun.”

“?”

After cultivators can project spiritual energy, many seemingly impossible techniques become possible.

Flying swords can chain different moves into endless variations—even the “Meteor, Butterfly, Sword” could be replicated, something that delighted Ji You.

Then he glanced at the other wooden sword in Wang Xin’an’s hand and had a sudden idea: “Instructor, can a cultivator control only one sword at a time?”

“Not necessarily. With your Lower Three Realms perfection’s spiritual energy, ten swords would be no problem.”

“Ten thousand?”

Wang Xin’an laughed: “Of course you could—but it’s meaningless. Controlling energy requires concentrated spiritual essence for maximum power; scattering it weakens you. Unless your spiritual core can supply endless energy to keep every sword fully charged, it’s just flashy showmanship.”

Ji You paused, thinking: “Perhaps I will be invincible…”

“Ji You, Instructor wants to ask—where can one find this Meng Xinghun?”

“Yanliu Island, Stalactite Cave, One-Line Sky, Jinhua City…”

“?”

(End of Chapter)