There was no response from Sword Master inside the cave.
Soren spoke again, “Sword Master, if I insist on going in?”
A voice came from within, “Soren, is it? Everything in this world has value. If I let you in, what can you bring me?”
Soren was taken aback. This Sword Master did not sound like an unmatched expert, but rather like a calculating merchant.
The Sword Master said, “Think carefully before you answer. What can you bring me? What you have now, or what you can fulfil in the future, both are acceptable. If what you offer can move me, I will let you in. Of course, you only have one chance.”
Soren fell into thought. What could he possibly bring the Sword Master?
Or rather, what did the Sword Master need?
He needed nothing. In a lifetime, people pursue little more than fame, wealth, and emotion.
The Sword Master cared nothing for the title of duke, nothing for money, and his fame already spread across the world. Now in his sixties, he had seen through everything and possessed everything. He lacked nothing.
What could someone like Soren offer him? It seemed like nothing at all.
That was why the Sword Master had said to think carefully before answering. What exactly did he need?
Soren closed his eyes and listened again to the Sword Master’s voice. It seemed filled with desolation, heaviness, seriousness, and weariness.
So Soren said, “I have almost nothing right now, so what I can offer you may only be a smile.”
“Your smile?” the Sword Master asked. “I probably do not need that.”
“No, your smile,” Soren said. “Sword Master, how long has it been since you last smiled? Perhaps since losing your family territory, you have never smiled again.”
Soren spoke of losing the territory, not the rumoured offering of it.
The Sword Master fell silent. Indeed, he had not smiled for decades. He had even forgotten how to smile, as if his life had become endless loneliness and desolation.
“Very well, try it,” the Sword Master said. “Making me laugh is very difficult, even harder than killing me. I have completely forgotten how to laugh.”
Yes, making a grandmaster like him laugh might truly be harder than killing him.
Soren said, “I will tell you a joke.”
The Sword Master was speechless. His heart was as still as an ancient well, as heavy as death. Even if he defeated the King of Dongli and became the strongest in the world, it might not make him laugh.
And yet Soren wanted to tell him a joke.
Soren said, “One night, Gui Qinshao was bathing. Suddenly she noticed a shadow outside the window, someone peeping at her. The figure looked like senior brother Qingchengzi. So she got dressed and went crying noisily to you, calling all the disciples. She accused Qingchengzi of peeping at her bath, and Qingchengzi denied it. Gui Qinshao insisted it was him, she had seen it clearly.”
There was no reaction from inside the cave.
Soren continued, “Then senior brother Qingchengzi swore to the heavens, if I peeked at junior sister Gui Qinshao bathing, may I be struck by lightning and die a miserable death.”
Soren paused slightly, then said, “Boom, boom, boom, several bolts of lightning struck and killed you, Sword Master.”
Still, there was no response. A gust of wind blew past, and Soren felt a chill.
After quite a while, laughter finally came from inside.
“Hahaha…” the Sword Master laughed loudly. “You brat, making such a crude and vulgar joke about me, are you not afraid I will kill you with one strike? Gui Qinshao is your fiancée, yet you joke about her like this. What a mischievous and despicable little rascal.”
Then the Sword Master said, “Alright, come in.”
At once, the powerful energy barrier ahead disappeared, and Soren walked inside.
…
Did Sword Master Bi Xiao truly let Soren in because of that vulgar joke? Of course not. It was because of Soren’s words about losing his territory and coming to pay respects, they shared the same misfortune.
However, he could not admit that reason. Publicly, Bi Xiao had relinquished his territory because he was devoted to the sword.
So he casually made up a reason, also to test Soren.
Unexpectedly, Soren’s answer was indeed unique. The Sword Master truly needed nothing. What he lacked was a smile.
The joke was crude and even made fun of the Sword Master himself, but it did make him laugh.
After entering, Soren found the cave where Bi Xiao secluded himself was very small, only a few square metres, with nothing inside but stone.
In the dim light, he finally saw the legendary Sword Master Bi Xiao, the greatest swordsman.
In Soren’s imagination, such a powerful figure should have white hair yet youthful features, elegant and extraordinary, almost divine.
But in reality, Bi Xiao was just a frail old man. His hair was completely white, his face thin and gaunt, his body small. He was sixty nine, yet looked over eighty.
When a person grows old, especially when the face becomes thin, it is hard to distinguish features or judge beauty.
And Bi Xiao was already so gaunt that one could not tell.
“So, I look completely different from what you imagined, disappointing you, have I?” Bi Xiao said.
“Indeed,” Soren replied. “But this confirms my suspicion. No lord in the world would willingly give up his territory, the foundation of his ancestors.”
“Enough, no more of that, it only brings trouble,” Bi Xiao sighed. “But as someone who has experienced it, I advise you, no matter how strong your martial arts are, it is useless. You cannot defeat an army, nor overpower overwhelming authority. Unless you reach the level of the Dragon Emperor.”
“Yes, thank you for your guidance,” Soren said.
“What have you come to see me for?” the Sword Master asked.
“To learn swordsmanship from you,” Soren said.
“Why learn the sword?” the Sword Master asked.
“To defeat Gui Qinshao,” Soren said.
The Sword Master narrowed his eyes at Soren, then nodded. “You have talent. If you focus entirely on the sword, in about ten years you may defeat her.”
He spoke based on Soren’s natural talent and understanding. No one in this world knew about the Demon Star.
Soren coughed lightly. “I, in ten days, will duel with Gui Qinshao to determine the victor.”
“Cough, cough…” Upon hearing this, the Sword Master nearly choked on his own saliva and began coughing violently.
Soren quickly stepped forward and patted his back.
After recovering, Bi Xiao pointed outside and said, “Leave.”
If not for his status, he might have slapped Soren flat.
What did this brat think swordsmanship was? Starting from nothing and wanting to defeat someone who had trained for over ten years in just ten days.
Did he think all swordsmen in the world were fools?
Soren said, “And it will be without dragon power, only sword techniques, using the Nine Calamities Sword.”
“Leave,” Bi Xiao said. “If you do not leave, I will strike you.”
The Nine Calamities Sword, though not suited for real combat, was the supreme method for comprehending the sword, the most difficult technique in the world.
Yet Soren claimed he could defeat Gui Qinshao in ten days.
Bi Xiao, despite his talent, had taken three years just to reach a small level of mastery.
Because this technique was not about movements, but about understanding the internal force and balance.
“Leave,” Bi Xiao said angrily. “I have nothing left but the sword. Anyone who insults it is my enemy.”
Soren did not leave. Instead, he knelt and said seriously, “Please believe me. I am very serious and hold the sword in sacred respect. I am risking my life to learn this technique. In real time it is ten days, but in the mental realm, it may be three, five, or more years.”
Hearing this, Bi Xiao lowered his raised staff and said in shock, “Learning the sword through meditation?”
“Yes,” Soren said.
Bi Xiao looked at him for a while and shook his head. “Impossible. Do you know who possesses meditation?”
“Yes,” Soren said. “The Dragon Temple, those great spiritual cultivators. They slow time in the mental realm to study real problems.”
“And do you know at what age I learned it?” Bi Xiao asked.
“No,” Soren said.
“At fifty nine, after the woman I loved died, when I had no attachments left,” Bi Xiao said.
He continued, “Your idea is theoretically possible. In deep meditation, ten days can become ten years. But at my level, ten days is only one year. What you propose is a hundred times harder than defeating Gui Qinshao.”
“I know,” Soren said.
He knew meditation was the highest form of cultivation, reserved for the strongest minds.
What he proposed was like villagers fighting over water, and one deciding to build a nuclear weapon. The difficulty far exceeded the goal.
But for Soren, it might be easy.
Because he had the Demon Star.
If he relied on strength, he would lose. But using the Nine Calamities Sword without dragon power, victory depended on mastery.
Each higher move defeated the lower. If he reached the ninth move, he would win.
So he needed guidance from a master, then years of training in meditation.
…
“Sword Master, I happen to possess a rare meditation talent,” Soren said. “Ten days in reality can become years for me.”
Bi Xiao’s eyes widened. “Impossible.”
Meditation required decades of refinement, complete emotional stillness.
No one under forty could achieve it.
Once mastered, one’s swordsmanship would soar.
Soren closed his eyes.
“Demon Star, block my mind, block everything, let me enter meditation,” he said.
“Yes,” it replied.
A powerful force enveloped his mind, cutting him off from the outside world.
Soon, he entered meditation, then deeper still.
Bi Xiao checked his breathing and heartbeat.
Both slowed drastically.
Soon, he seemed almost dead.
In deep meditation, only part of the brain functions, and energy consumption drops.
His heartbeat slowed to fewer than ten beats per minute.
He had entered deep meditation.
Bi Xiao was stunned. Someone so young could enter such a state so easily.
This was a once in a century genius, almost unnatural.
This overturned everything he knew.
Now, Soren defeating Gui Qinshao in ten days seemed possible.
Looking at Soren’s face, he muttered, “You are a monster.”
Then he gently tapped him. “Wake up. I will teach you the Nine Calamities Sword. I want to witness a miracle.”