Imperial Cultivation

The sword's body was crystalline and smooth, with faint, unusual patterns.

Chu Zhiyuan raised a sharp eyebrow.

He was extremely sensitive to patterns, immediately thinking of phoenix patterns and other strange patterns, all imbued with formidable power. This pattern was peculiar but showed no anomalies; it was just ordinary cloud patterns.

Under the illumination of his ultra-sense, a palm-sized bronze mirror was embedded in the center of the sword. Behind the bronze mirror were strange patterns, while the front was hazy and unclear.

This bronze mirror was only the thickness of a palm and was embedded deep in the very center of the jade sword, blocked by white jade. Outsiders could only see it if they shattered the jade monument. He gazed into the distance.

White clouds floated in the sky, and distant peaks resembled small islands at sea. Not far from the sword monument was a palace.

The palace, built of white jade, was spotless and immaculate, like a celestial palace in the heavens. On a luohan bed in the very center of the hall sat a Grandmaster.

It was an old man with white hair and beard, a kind face and gentle eyes, his silver-white beard hanging down to his shoulders. He was meditating with his eyes closed, motionless as if he had fallen asleep.

The visualization diagram above his head was a sword, the very same white jade giant sword before him, but even more majestic, with faint arcs of purple electricity flowing around it. The visualization diagram matched the actual scene, something Chu Zhiyuan had never encountered before.

"Where did this sword monument come from?"

"It is said to be naturally formed."

"Naturally formed..." Chu Zhiyuan nodded slowly. "Such a heavy sword, I'm afraid it couldn't have been lifted here and inserted upside down by human power."

Even if a Grandmaster was formidable, they couldn't move this hundred-meter-high, thirty-meter-long, and thirty-meter-thick white jade sword.

Moreover, lifting it to the top of this towering mountain peak could only be described as naturally formed.

He felt it was more like it had fallen from the sky.

"Can it be touched?" Chu Zhiyuan asked. Huang Shirong nodded slightly.

Chu Zhiyuan stretched out his hand and gently touched the sword monument.

It felt soft and smooth to the touch, indeed like mutton-fat white jade.

Reaching up to touch it, he couldn't feel the location of the bronze mirror; it was too far away. He tried to channel a wisp of astral energy into it, but there was no reaction.

The white jade sword monument seemed to reject true energy, isolating it.

"Young Master, we must return at this time tomorrow."

"No rush, when will there be an anomaly?"

"Concentrate and focus, stare at it for a while, and the swordplay will naturally appear on the sword monument."

"Does the same set of swordplay appear before everyone's eyes?"

"Everyone's is different."

"Wouldn't that mean that the more times you look, the more sets of swordplay you can obtain?"

"The swordplay obtained the first time is the strongest; the later ones are worse, so it's only necessary to comprehend it once."

"Does the grade of the swordplay that everyone sees differ?"

"If the aptitude is the same, the grade of the swordplay seen is similar."

"In that case, the more talented one is, the stronger the swordplay they see?"

Huang Shirong nodded slightly. "The stronger the swordplay, the higher the required comprehension. If the comprehension is insufficient, seeing the swordplay is useless; you can't remember it. The sword monument is extremely mystical, as if it can discern the comprehension of the one studying it."

Chu Zhiyuan was thoughtful.

Huang Shirong said, "Young Master, your comprehension is extraordinary; you will surely obtain the world's top swordplay. I won't disturb you any longer."

Chu Zhiyuan nodded. "Then I'll take your kind words."

A luohan bed was carried up by two young men and placed behind Chu Zhiyuan.

Huang Shirong nodded slightly, thanking the two young men: "Thank you, Junior Brother Hu and Junior Brother Zhou."

The two men cupped their fists in salute, glancing at Chu Zhiyuan as they left.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and nodded.

He knew why they were surprised.

Probably because it was the first time a stranger had appeared on White Cloud Peak, someone who wasn't a disciple of White Cloud Sword Palace. "Then I will come back to pick up Young Master tomorrow," Huang Shirong cupped her fist.

Chu Zhiyuan cupped his fist and smiled, "Thank you for your trouble."

Huang Shirong glanced at him.

Chu Zhiyuan saw the hint of reproach in her eyes and smiled, "Even among close friends, thanks should still be expressed when appropriate."

Huang Shirong rolled her eyes at him and floated away.

Only he was left in the vast plaza. The biting cold wind howled.

Chu Zhiyuan protected himself with astral wind, not minding the cold wind.

It was just that he was somewhat unaccustomed to not having Zou Fang by his side.

There was no other way; he could only comprehend the sword monument alone and couldn't let Zou Fang join him.

Time was precious, and he didn't want to waste any more of it. He couldn't wait to see what kind of swordplay would appear on this sword.

Looking again at the Grandmaster, he was still as if in meditation, motionless. If it weren't for his visible breathing, one might even suspect he was dead. Chu Zhiyuan sat down on the luohan bed, crossed his legs, and fixed his gaze on the white jade monument, remaining still.

Staring at it for a moment, the patterns on the white jade monument seemed to absorb the power contained in his gaze, gradually appearing.

The patterns first appeared, then slowly brightened, and then transformed into strands of light, drifting out and condensing into a ball of light on the white jade monument. Within this ball of light, a figure could be faintly seen.

Chu Zhiyuan didn't blink, nor did he stop the illumination of his ultra-sense. The scene seen by the ultra-sense was slightly different.

A beam of light descended from the void and landed on the bronze mirror, causing a small figure to appear on the mirror surface, then two people, then three. And in the light and shadow floating on the sword monument, on the surface of the white jade, were also the people in the bronze mirror, only magnified several times, as large as real people.

Chu Zhiyuan was greatly amazed.

Where did that beam of light come from that wasn't visible to the naked eye?

The figures he saw were six young men and women practicing swordplay, first a young girl practicing. The swordplay was graceful and light, like a graceful dance, every move extremely beautiful.

Then another man practiced the sword.

The style of the swordplay changed abruptly, like a Shura reborn, stern and fierce, daring not to look directly at it. Then another girl, graceful and gentle, like a startled swan skimming across a lake.

Then a man, like ten thousand ghosts emerging from the world, gloomy and terrifying.

The third girl was ethereal and immortal, pure and cold, as if she didn't eat earthly food. The third man was refined and elegant, like a worldly gentleman strolling slowly.

Chu Zhiyuan stared at these swordplay, but his mind was thinking.

The clothing of these people was very strange.

Although the customs of Da Jing, Da Zhen, and Da Meng were different, their clothing was similar. The clothes of these men and women in the mirror were completely different in style.

Moreover, the demeanor and temperament of these men and women were even more sharp. Even the three girls seemed gentle, their bright eyes revealing sharpness between glances.

Chu Zhiyuan had ultra-sense, and his observational skills far surpassed ordinary people, making him extremely sensitive to these details.

These six men and women were probably not from Da Jing, Da Zhen, or Da Meng.

As the six sets of swordplay were completed, they began to fight. The elegant and light swordplay against the gloomy and terrifying swordplay actually suppressed the opponent move by move. Chu Zhiyuan watched with fascination.

Originally, it was speculated that the man's swordplay would be more fierce and ruthless, and the woman's swordplay would be like a dance, more like a performance. But when they exchanged moves, the woman actually suppressed the man move by move.

The same moves depended on how and when they were executed, which greatly broadened Chu Zhiyuan's horizons and increased his knowledge.

"Chi!" Suddenly, with a sword, the woman pierced the man's wrist, the long sword flew up, and then the two retreated.

Next was another group, still a man and a woman. The man's swordplay was fierce, and the woman's swordplay was light, without any worldly aura, but it suppressed the man so much that he couldn't breathe. After thirty-two moves, he also lost.

Then was the third group.

As Chu Zhiyuan expected, the man still lost.

Chu Zhiyuan watched as their figures gradually moved away, disappearing into a lush green forest, lost in thought. His mind recalled the swordplay of the six people.

Six different sets of swordplay. At first glance, the swordplay of the three men seemed more powerful, but the swordplay of the three women was more exquisite.

But if he were to switch places with the three men, he might not necessarily lose to the three women.

The swordplay was fierce, but it couldn't be unleashed.