Chapter 8 Start Learning

Many years later, Li Fuyao was not a teenager anymore. But when he stood on an isolated peak and thought of that man who led him to learn swordsmanship, he still couldn’t help laughing.

But at the moment, Li Fuyao had to think about how capable the middle-aged man was, who had a heavy moustache and was in front of him before deciding if he would learn swordsmanship from him.

Late in the afternoon yesterday, he had seen Chen Sheng in the forest cut off that python’s head with his sword at one blow. Earlier, he found the rope Chen Sheng had made with willow leaves on the bank of the Baiyu River. The two things were enough to prove that Chen Sheng was not weak.

He was even quite powerful.

Under the sun early in the morning, Li Fuyao sat under the eave in his courtyard. In front of him, Chen Sheng looked at this teenager, with a big smile on his face.

Chen Sheng stared at Li Fuyao who kept silent for a long time. Then he got anxious and rubbed Li Fuyao’s head, saying crossly, “Why do you still need to think? I am one of the top two swordsmen on the Sword Mountain in the past one hundred years. I could reach the Dawning Stage under the age of 100. I have such a talent. How many people in the human world can compare with me? Do you think anybody in my stage can kill an evil demon in the Revelation Stage?”

Although Li Fuyao had heard of a lot of rumors about the human cultivators, he knew little about the swordsmen. In the human world ruled by the three religious sects, the swordsmen had to open a new path.

“Little Fuyao, you should know that there are few swordsmen in the human world, but why has swordsmanship been passed down from generation to generation? Except for that Sword Mountain, it is because Sword Immortal sustains the current situation. Otherwise, it is uncertain if the swordsmen have come to an end now.”

“Just now I said I am one of the top two genius swordsmen on the Sword Mountain in the past one hundred years. Sword Immortal is the most talented swordsman in the human world in the past six thousand years. It’s not one hundred or two hundred years but six thousand years!”

“There are nine stages for the cultivators. The cultivators of the three religious sects can be sages after reaching the last stage, the Ocean Stage, and the swordsman like me can be a Sword Immortal after reaching the last stage. What is Sword Immortal? When he unsheathes his sword, even a sage would have to get away from him.”

“Six thousand years ago, when there were many swordsmen in the human world, six Sword Immortals showed up. You know what? There are only six sages in the most prosperous Daoism Sect in the human world. The six Sword Immortals were so honorable and energetic. Each one could cut thousands of stars at one blow. The swordsmen stood for the first Orthodoxy of the human world then. The cultivators of the three religious sects should be respectful to the swordsmen.”

“Fuyao, you have a good talent. It’s not that you have a good talent to cultivate. Instead, your cultivating ability is ordinary, but if you practice swordsmanship, you can go farther. The cultivators of the three religious sects like to talk about the talent, and so do we as swordsmen. However, in comparison, there were some swordsmen of ordinary talent who became the Sword Immortals in the end, but there were few. At last, I want to say something unnecessary. How can the swordsmen stand out among all in the same stage? That is because the way of swordsmanship is not as broad as the way of the cultivators. It is rough and difficult to walk on.”

“By the way, you need to remember the name of the Sword Immortal I mentioned. Otherwise, you will practice swordsmanship for nothing.”

“His name is Chao Qingqiu. He is the only Sword Immortal in the human world in the past six thousand years.”

Chen Sheng said a lot, but in the end, Li Fuyao didn’t have any reaction except writing down the two words, Chao Qingqiu.

Chen Sheng stood up and looked at Li Fuyao, thinking him unreasonable. He roared, “Little Fuyao, why are you so hesitant like a woman? Will you learn swordsmanship from me? Tell me yes or no. Why do you think so much?”

Li Fuyao asked in confusion, “After I learn swordsmanship from you, will I need to go to the Sword Mountain?”

“Of course you will. You can’t be counted as a swordsman before you climb up the Sword Mountain and come down from it. Even that Sword Immortal came out of the Sword Mountain,” Chen Sheng paused for a while and then continued, “You will mention my name when you go to the Sword Mountain after you learn swordsmanship. You don’t need to worry about any other problem.”

Chen Sheng was like a fortuneteller on the street and wanted to cheat Li Fuyao out of his money, so he looked unserious.

Fortunately, the lonely teenager nodded at last.

Behind him, Qing Huai looked much better. She glanced at Li Fuyao, with other meanings in her eyes.

…

Li Fuyao started to learn swordsmanship.

But he needed a sword to practice swordsmanship.

However, hearing Li Fuyao’s question, Chen Sheng just shook his head.

“There are many swords on the Sword Mountain. You can choose any one when you climb the mountain.”

As Chen Sheng said, the swords from any place of the human world couldn’t be compared with the ones on the Sword Mountain. But he himself kept the Baiyu Sword he had just found on his waist, seizing it as heaven-sent.

Seeing that, Li Fuyao rolled his eyes even though he was good-tempered.

Ignoring Li Fuyao’s expression, Chen Sheng stated calmly, “The cultivators in the world have nine stages. The highest was the ninth stage, the Ocean Stage. I don’t know if it means the oceans and mulberry fields change as time goes by. Anyway, the cultivators reach the destination when they get to this stage. If they want to climb up, they will not be cultivators but immortals.”

“However, the great war that year broke the world, so in the past six thousand years, nobody in the world could become an immortal, so we can’t see any.”

Chen Sheng raised his head and sighed with emotion, “There is no immortal in the world in the past six thousand years.”

When he was speaking, in fact behind him, Qing Huai didn’t look natural.

“Under the Ocean Stage is the Ascending Stage. It is said that only after you ascend higher, you can see the ocean. If you reach this stage, I am afraid very few people in the world can take your life, except the sages.”

“The Revelation Stage, Twilight Stage, Sanctification Stage and Fundamental Stage are in descending order. If they are in the later stage, they are less powerful.”

“As for the lowest three stages, it is the Awakening Stage for the Confucian cultivators, the Triplex Unity Stage for the Dao cultivators, and the Bodhi Stage for the Buddhist cultivator. They are different. The cultivators of the three religious sects only need to cultivate the first stage and then they can try to reach the Fundamental Stage. They can avoid suffering from ascending each stage.”

“We are swordsmen and the later six stages are the same as the cultivators’, but our lowest stages are three stages: the Intent Stage, Focus Stage and Sword Qi Stage. We need to reach each stage step by step. Fuyao, you need to pay attention. The first three stages are the basic ability of a swordsman. If you don’t learn it carefully, you will walk slower and slower in the future.”

Li Fuyao kept the knowledge in his mind that he didn’t know in Luoyang City and nodded at last.

Chen Sheng laughed and waved his hand. Then he picked up a stick conveniently and looked at Li Fuyao with a smile, “So, Fuyao, now let’s start practicing swordsmanship.”