ES c3: A Sword Unleashed

July 22nd, 2023

Zong Ci’s attention wasn’t on the martial arts competition happening on the stage. His brows were knitted, wondering why he felt that something was off with Liu Yuan.

He lost all of his cultivation base and his soul was unlike how it was in the past, and so he was unable to use his Divine Sense to investigate his source of conflict.

Zong Ci’s reputation was high amongst the outer sect disciples. As such, the other’s enthusiasm, although slightly extreme, was nothing too out of the ordinary.

He halted his thought process there. He couldn’t help but massage his temples, pursing his lips. 

He had been obsessed with cultivation in his past life. When it came to pursuing the Great Dao and longevity, he didn’t, nor did he want to, slack off.

After his rebirth, however, he let go of his resentment, living peaceful days at Tai Yan Sect as an outer disciple. It was beyond dull and he led a very simple lifestyle, but he was satisfied.

Perhaps he was being too paranoid, thinking of every tree or bush as an enemy soldier1.

Zong Ci was about to drop his hand away from his temples.

——Suddenly, a sense of extreme danger converged on the crown of his head, enveloping his entire body.

He whipped his head back. The light of the roaring flames rushing towards him was reflected within his pitch-black eyes, a splatter of starlight.

Reflexively, his body reacted far faster than his mind could.

Especially for a cultivator like Zong Ci, whose battle instincts were engraved deep into his very blood, bones and soul.

He subconsciously raised his right hand, slashing towards the sabre qi from afar. His sleeves flew with unparalleled swiftness, but stopped in mid-air the next moment when his thoughts finally caught up.

The youth’s long, black sleeves slipped down his slender arms. From beneath pale skin, one could catch a glimpse of even the blood flowing through green veins. It was a startling sight.

The firelight suffused Zong Ci’s pale face with a soul-stirring shade of warmth.

A ray of sword qi that was as dark as it was mysterious abruptly erupted from the slender fingertips of the black clothed youth. It was extremely cold, extremely bright, as though it was the first light at the break of dawn.

It did not have the petrifying chill an ordinary sword qi would have, neither did it have killing intent. To put it nicely, it was mediocre.

“The materialisation of sword qi?!”

The appearance of this ray of sword qi had the executives that were about to step in all cry out in surprise, shock written all over their faces.

Compared to the half-formed sabre qi materialised a moment ago, this ray of sword qi was not only complete, the might attached to it could slightly numb even the skulls of the Almighty cultivators that were present.

All of that was achieved by a disciple that had not yet reached the Foundation Building stage (1/10)…and without using a sword on top of it all!

“A cultivator in the third level of the Qi Refining stage (1.3/10)…how is this possible?!”

Everyone had realised one thing: This person is a genius.

An exceptional genius that was born to wield a sword2!

Amongst all the Tai Yan Sect’s elders, the Sword Peak’s peak master looked up suddenly. His eyes that were usually as tranquil as a pool of stagnant water, rippled.

It all happened too quickly. No one managed to react in time.

When the sword qi clashed with the sabre’s rays, a light with the resplendence of daybreak erupted from the ground, extinguishing the blaze. Only traces of its vast might lingered in the air. All of the spectating disciples were forced to step back in its wake.

Everyone present was silent, all of them recalling that single, transcendental sword they just saw. 

At the moment, the Tai Yan Sect’s executives are unable to calm their hearts. They are even doubting their time on earth3.

Who would have thought that a disciple at the third level of the Qi Refining stage was such a world-shaking genius?

How could they have overlooked a seed that was this good?

Looking back, the black haired youth had a tall and steadfast figure, ink black hair hanging loose behind his back, swaying despite there being no wind. He had a serene, pretty appearance, along with a pallid complexion he couldn’t hide that added to his beauty.4

“I never thought that your esteemed sect had this many hidden dragons and crouching tigers5 (concealed talents).”

On his cushioned seat above the clouds, Rong Lian smiled inscrutably, raised his voice and said: “Such astonishing and exceptional sword intent. He has a talent that compels this venerable one6 to cherish it.”

“Since our sects are now allies, in the days before officially declaring war against the Ghost Field, my race’s Scarlet Sky Palace will stop over the eastern side of this esteemed sect’s Public Square. This venerable one found this young friend here congenial, so if he ever encounters a bottleneck during their cultivation journey, he is welcome anytime to visit the palace as a guest.”

He made no effort to lower his volume. As if rousing from a dream, everyone slowly regained their senses.

The Sabre Peak peak master was the first to leave the clouds, heading towards his favourite disciple to check on him.

When many other disciples regained their senses, they couldn’t help but be envious.

To be able to receive the guidance of an Almighty cultivator at the Exiting Orifices stage (7/10) was something one can only come across serendipitously. On top of that, the person extending the invite was the leader of a major faction which evidently appreciated him. It was essentially extending a personal, exclusive olive branch.

Liu Yuan took his hands out of his robes, an expression of admiration on his face that was no different from the other disciples, blending into the crowd that had gathered around Zong Ci.

The black-clothed youth paused, coughed twice, keeping his expression calm.

Under the gaze of everyone, he cupped his hands in greeting towards the clouds. His body was languid and his attitude was easy-going. He calmly said: “Many thanks to the Yao Emperor for your appreciation.”

His neither haughty nor humble attitude gave others a favourable impression and gained him attention.

Despite the brief interlude of happenings, the most important thing was still the alliance itself. After the enforcer disciples sent the injured Dao Zhongxue to the apothecary to treat his wounds and the elder in charge of enforcement promised to get to the bottom of this incident, the executives of both sects made announcements regarding the specific matters that disciples from both sides have to pay attention to, in lieu of the alliance.

In the end, this outer sect disciple was someone who gained the approval of both faction’s executives. Tai Yan Sect was definitely going to double down and cultivate such a rarely seen, exceptional seed.

Zong Ci stood to the side. His expression was normal but his heart was heavy, his mood at an all-time low. 

What just happened didn’t seem purely like an accident. 

It was way too coincidental. Dao Zhongxue just so happened to step out of the protective boundaries and the sabre just so happened to have fallen in his direction.

It was fortunate that Zong Ci became an immortal via the Way of the Sword in his past life. At the moment he ascended, he reached the pinnacle of the sword path and achieved the acme of perfection. He was on an entirely different, higher level, incomparable to the him of yesterday.

Moreover, after he had achieved his sword Dao, his state of mind was completely overturned. His sword qi and sword intent was the complete opposite of what it was before in his previous life. 

What was once unstoppable, inhumanely cold and unfeelingly sharp now had an edge that was beyond mortal conflict, reverting to a state of innocence and simplicity7.

He had achieved the legendary swordless state amongst sword cultivators: When there is no sword in hand but there is one in the heart, everything can be used as a sword.

Zong Ci pondered for a long while but to no avail.

He laid low after his rebirth. He maintained a healthy mindset, did good deeds everywhere he went and made no enemies.

The black-clothed youth fiddled his flimsy changshan, his gaze complex.

So, who is plotting against him behind his back?

    ####

The alliance between the Yao race and Tai Yan Sect was hence settled.

The Ghost Cultivator’s invasion had dealt severe damage to the Yao race’s territory and was in urgent need of rebuilding. As a result, the Yao Emperor decided to seal off the race’s restricted area outright. Making use of a secret treasure with spatial abilities, he brought his people along to settle down at the beach located on the foot of Tai Yan Mountain with much bravado.

Tai Yan Sect was located in the northern region of the mainland, where there was plenty of land space and resources were abundant. Moreover, the sect was positioned on a mountain range with rich, top-grade spiritual reserves. Splitting a piece of land for the Yao race for them to live on temporarily was nothing to them. 

The alliance didn’t bring much change to the lifestyles of the lower level disciples from both sides. It was only the executives that busied themselves over it.

No one could have predicted that in the end, during the event set up in lieu of the alliance between the Yao race and Tai Yan Sect, the star of the show would end up being an outer sect disciple.

The difference in treatment between inner sect disciples and outer sect disciples are as far as the distance between the ground and the sky. Outer sect disciples are at the bottom of the barrel, with all of them below the Foundation Building stage. Usually, they are ordinary people with spiritual roots and root bones that are barely satisfactory enough to enter the sect.

Anyone with remotely decent spiritual roots and root bones could directly become an inner sect disciple. There is no need for them to suffer hardships in the outer sect.

The sect’s teachings are not passed down to outer sect disciples, nor were they allowed to formally become an apprentice to a master.  On top of not having a monthly allowance, they are also tasked with completing odd-jobs. For example, tending to the flowers within the Garden of Ten Thousand Spirits or reorganising books in the Library Pavilion.

Inner sect disciples could formally become an apprentice to a master, had a small amount of monthly allowances, and didn’t have to do any annoying odd-jobs. Naturally, their cultivation would be much faster and smoother. The cherry on top was the one-on-one guidance they would receive from their shizun. The inner sect disciples were as pleased as punch at the sheer privilege they had in comparison.

Two days had passed since the establishment of the alliance, and everyone residing in the inner circle of Tai Yan Sect were discussing what happened that day at the Public Square.

Thanks to that incident, there was a crowd of onlookers watching Zong Ci wherever he went. Amongst the outer sect disciples, his fame peaked. Everyone treated him as their role model and leader, becoming his fans.

Today, the Cold Dormitory located at the mountain’s foot was more lively than usual.

Zong Ci had just finished meditating. When he walked into the courtyard, an outer sect disciple hurriedly waved him over, his expression was one of shock: “Fellow daoist Zong, the First Senior Martial Brother of Sabre Peak is outside the Cold Dormitory. He asked me to tell you that he’s looking for you.”

“Alright, I understand. Thank you.” Zong Ci nodded, heading outside the courtyard.

Today’s morning daylight was dim, the sun having just risen above the ocean of mist and clouds. The golden rays emblazoned with red flitted across the large cliffs, the mountain peaks and the lone tree standing tall and straight on the precipice, as if a gushing, galloping waterfall dispersing mist in all directions, all over the boundless land.

If one stood at the Main Peak of Tai Yan Sect, they would easily be able to have a panoramic view of such beautiful scenery. It is a shame that the outer sect was located at the foot of the mountain. Early on in the morning, all one can see above their heads other than fog is more fog.

Dao Zhongxue had been standing outside since very early in the morning.

He wore form fitting robes8 suited for combat and fastened a sabre around his waist. His side profile was as chiselled as a sculpture in the cold daylight.

Seeing Zong Ci come out, he straightened his back, pushing himself off the tree he had been leaning on.

“Fellow daoist Zong, I’m here to apologise for what happened yesterday. I was unskilled in my craft and made a laughing stock out of myself.”

The sabre wielder cupped his fists before his chest, his demeanour different from his usual arrogant and obstinate one, traces of remorse on his face.

Zong Ci didn’t say a word, observing for a moment and detected nothing unusual.

Although it isn’t outwardly obvious, he was indeed here to apologise.

Normally, as a zhenren9 cultivator with a golden core and a core disciple of the sect, there was no reason for him to go out of his way to apologise to an insignificant outer sect disciple.

His actions meant that he was sincere. He was neither conceited nor contemptuous and was wholeheartedly dedicated to the ways of the sabre.

Dao Zhongxue’s name was basically cleared in Zong Ci’s heart.

“Swords and sabres are blind, just as fate is fickle.10 Moreover, I wasn’t hurt.”

The black-clothed youth relaxed his hands, changing the topic of conversation: “I noticed that Dao-shixiong’s condition didn’t seem right that day. Did something go wrong?”

“No, not in the slightest.”

While on this topic, Dao Zhongxue’s eyes went hazy with doubt, “In actuality, that move was something I had used many times in private. Other than using up a lot of energy, it definitely doesn’t have even half a problem.”

“I am ashamed to say it, but my condition was indeed strange at that moment. Just as the sabre qi took form, I seemed to have…lost control over my own hands, which resulted in such a massive blunder.”

He said the exact same thing to the sect’s enforcement elder. The Array Peak and Talisman Peak also sent over a few disciples to inspect if there were any traces of a curse being placed on him, but to no avail.

“I see.”

Zong Ci nodded, pensive.

    ####

After Zong Ci finished accepting Dao Zhongxue’s apology, he returned to his room to pick up his basket. He was headed to the Hundred Grass Field to complete the odd-job he was tasked with…when trouble found him a second time.

“Brother Zong. There’s another person looking for you outside…”

It was the same disciple that gave him the message earlier. Except, instead of wearing an expression of shock, he was now in a trance of sorts.

Yet another person had arrived? Why is he so busy today?

Zong Ci replied, “Alright.” Basket in hand, he headed out once again.

Halfway there, he found out the reason why that disciple had worn an expression that was even more exaggerated than the first one.

Because standing outside the gates was the Sword Peak’s peak master, Xuan Ji.

The outer sect disciples that came and went took the longer route in, determined to not disturb that honourable elder.

It was rare enough for an outer sect disciple to see a core disciple like the First Senior Martial Brother of the Sabre Peak. Usually, they are only able to see someone of their status from afar during celebrations held by the sect every 10 years. It was even rarer to see someone like Sword Immortal Xuan Ji, whose name was revered within the world of cultivation, an existence of great renown. 

A silver crown held up his black hair, his appearance as fair as jade, his robes whiter than snow. Amidst the fog, he stood out like an extremely sharp sword.

Zong Ci had heard a couple of things about Xuan Ji’s accomplishments.

In terms of talent, Xuan Ji is the most outstanding cultivator that has appeared in the past 1000 years. He formed a golden core (3/10) within 200 years, attained a nascent soul (4/10) in 500 and by 900 years, he had rushed into the Astral Projection stage (5/10) . This feat earned himself the title of sword immortal and he is now known by many as Sword Immortal Xuan Ji.

Zong Ci died a thousand years ago. Before his death, he had never heard of someone like Xuan Ji in the cultivation world. And taking into account the length of time the other had cultivated, he was most likely Zong Ci’s junior.

After all, if Zong Ci hadn’t deviated into the demonic path in the end, he would have been the most talented, most brilliant cultivator that has appeared in the last ten thousand years.

But this junior’s talent was really not bad. It took him 900 years to reach the Hua Shen11 stage (6/10), achieving it later than Zong Ci by only 200 years.

As for Zong Ci, his cultivation speed in the past life could not be explained by conventional wisdom. On his path of cultivation, he had countless miraculous encounters, leaving every cultivator of his generation in the dust.

Being late by 200 years is already very impressive.

It’s just that for some reason, Zong Ci found his face familiar. But no matter how hard he tried to recall, he couldn’t remember anything.

Zong Ci had shelved Xuan Ji as a junior in his mind, but outwardly, his expression didn’t change at all as he asked first: “Is something the matter?”

The other party’s black pupils swept over to him, pausing on his hands, before stopping on the black-clothed youth’s face.

Feeling the other person’s gaze, Zong Ci suddenly had a thought.

His chilly demeanour that couldn’t be concealed was similar to Zong Ci in his past life. When he was still Sword Saint Ling Yun, he also only wore white. It was in his current lifetime did he switch to a wardrobe filled with black clothes.

“Your sword is very good.” The Sword Immortal’s voice was chilly, his words concise and comprehensive. “Are you willing to become my closed door disciple?”

Zong Ci: “……”

Zong Ci: Huh???

Translator has something to say:

Note to self: Never use the footnote function. It all got yeeted into the void after I exited and entered whyyyyy T_T

Also, if you’re wondering what’s the (1/10, 1.3/10), it denotes the numerical value of a certain stage I implemented so you don’t have to keep referring to the ranking list.

Hope it improved your reading experience!

Footnotes:

(1) Thinking of every tree or bush as an enemy soldier (草木皆兵): To feel beleaguered. A state of extreme suspicion and fear.

(2) Born to wield a sword (天生剑骨，天生剑心): Literally translated, it means ‘Born with a sword bone and sword heart’. There’s much more nuance to this sentence. I simplified it for flow purposes. 

剑骨 is literally translated to Sword Bone, but it means that Zong Ci was born with a physique/ bone structure perfectly fit for sword cultivation.

剑心 is literally translated to Sword Heart. In xianxia and wuxia novels, a Sword Heart is quite commonly mentioned. There are various ways of interpretation but in this case, it means Zong Ci had a heart (talent) for/ is able to comprehend the way of the sword easily.

All in all, Zong Ci was born to wield a sword, in the POV of the Almighty cultivators here.

(3) Doubting their lifetime on earth (怀疑人生): A sort of meme-ish, colloquial expression that basically means the executives are questioning everything they know because Zong Ci’s existence is that common sense defying.

(4) About the description of Zong Ci’s looks -He had a serene, pretty appearance, along with a sickly look he couldn’t hide that added to his countenance- (眉眼沉静好看，带着难掩的病容，反而更添三分颜色): A bit confused on how being sickly added colour to Zong Ci’s face, according to the author’s description, when it is usually the opposite. So I interpreted it as his sickly look made him seem even more good looking.

(5) Hidden dragons and crouching tigers (藏龙卧虎): an idiom that means concealed talent, that there are many talented individuals in hiding

(6) This venerable one (本座): An ancient form of address for an emperor to refer to himself when speaking to others instead of saying ‘me/I’ (我).

(7) About Zong Ci’s sword qi description– What was once unstoppable, inhumanely cold and unfeelingly sharp now had an edge that was beyond mortal conflict, reverting to a state of purity and simplicity (从冰寒凌冽到返璞归真，从锐不可当到洗尽铅华):

I have to break it down, combine, rearrange in order for this sentence to even remotely make sense. This was really hard to translate, ow.

Inhumanely cold and unfeelingly sharp (冰寒凌冽): It is more of an impressive description for the sword qi and sword intent. It is cold and sharp both in a descriptive way (of the sword) and emotional way.

Return to a state of innocence and simplicity (返璞归真): Also can be translated as ‘back to basics’. It’s a very…abstract and kinda contradictory concept. Like after enlightenment, you’re so powerful that you don’t need techniques anymore to overpower your opponent. Techniques and skills may even be burdensome or hold your power back, so the basics are all you need (e.g. how Zong Ci just waved his hand and Dao Zhongxue’s fancy fire sabre was extinguished immediately)

OP? Yeah. It is.

Unstoppable (锐不可当): Self explanatory

Beyond mortal conflict (洗尽铅华): Washing themselves off of worldly matters. I had to take creative liberties with this…

TL;DR: All these fancy descriptions basically mean that Zong Ci’s sword intent and qi are vastly different from before he became an Immortal, to the point of being unrecognisable. 

No one has seen his ‘new’ sword Qi and sword intent that has ascended to another level because right after he ascended, he qi deviated, then ended his life.

The point is, there was no way someone could identify him based on his sword qi and sword intent he revealed.

(8) Form fitting robes suited for combat (短打劲装):

Image: https://images.app.goo.gl/oLgUvFjM5ZYM7Gxg9 

(9) Zhenren cultivator with a golden core (金丹真人): Zhenren is a title. The closest western equivalent is ‘sage’. A phase lower than Almighty, in the book’s context. According to wikipedia, Zhenren is a Chinese term that first appeared in the Zhuangzi meaning “Taoist spiritual master” in those writings. Religious Taoism mythologized zhenren, having them occupy various places in the celestial hierarchy sometimes synonymous with xian, while Chinese Buddhism used it to translate Arahant “Enlightened One” .

More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhenren 

(10) Swords and sabres are blind, just as fate is fickle.(刀剑无眼，命运无常): Literally translates to swords and sabres have no eyes, fate is fickle. Basically means that Zong Ci acknowledges that it was an accident.

(11) Hua Shen (化神期): Literally translates to ‘transforming into god’.