Sword Venerable Bi Xiao’s voice seemed to come from another world, layer by layer, finally reaching Suo Lun who was deep in meditation.
Of course this was only possible because the Sword Venerable Bi Xiao used powerful spiritual power in his voice to awaken him. If it were anyone else, even if they shouted until their throat broke, it would be impossible to wake someone in deep meditation.
Suo Lun woke up and bowed to Sword Venerable Bi Xiao as he said, Thank you, senior, for granting me the sword dao.
Sword Venerable Bi Xiao waved his hand and said, No need. I also want to see whether you can achieve what I could not.
What he meant by what he could not achieve was of course preserving his family territory and foundation. It was for this reason that he helped Suo Lun without proposing any conditions.
Just as Suo Lun had said, no feudal lord would willingly give up his own territory.
Although Suo Lun did not know why Bi Xiao had given up his territory back then, it was definitely not for the reason in the rumours that he was obsessed with the sword dao.
If that were truly the case, why had he almost never entered the royal city after giving up his territory, nor paid a visit to the king.
Let us begin now. Bi Xiao said.
Then he picked up the wooden sword beside him and gently formed a sword seal.
In an instant the old and decayed aura around him disappeared completely. In its place was a figure filled with sword intent.
The most difficult sword technique in the world is none other than the厄难九剑. Bi Xiao said, And the best method to comprehend the sword is also none other than the厄难九剑. Next I will perform the厄难九剑 once at the fastest speed. See how much you can remember.
Yes. Suo Lun said.
As soon as his words fell, his eyes suddenly blurred.
In an instant Sword Venerable Bi Xiao disappeared and was replaced by a godlike graceful figure that flitted through the cave like a shadow.
Even the entire cave seemed to disappear.
Because this cave was extremely narrow, yet in this set of sword arts it seemed to turn into a vast and boundless world.
In that world there seemed to be only one figure and one sword.
This sword technique was naturally like the dance steps of immortals in heaven, incomparably stunning, incomparably wonderful, and incomparably magnificent.
Every single movement seemed to have reached the pinnacle of physical aesthetics.
Purely from the perspective of the action and visuals, it could even reach the level of shocking heaven and moving ghosts.
However it was simply too fast. From start to finish it took no more than ten seconds for the nine moves and eighty one forms of the厄难九剑 to be completely finished.
After the sword technique ended, countless afterimages seemed to appear before finally condensing back into the single figure of Sword Venerable Bi Xiao.
How was it? Bi Xiao asked.
Suo Lun was dumbfounded and murmured, This does not look like a set of sword arts at all. It is more like immortals dancing, or like heavenly demons dancing wildly. In this world there is actually such a… exquisite sword technique.
Bi Xiao said, The reaction of anyone in the world seeing this set of sword arts for the first time is about the same as yours. Countless swordsmen have become completely obsessed with the sword dao because of this set of sword arts.
Suo Lun understood. It was like how countless people became obsessed with dancing after seeing Michael Jackson’s moonwalk.
Or how countless people fell in love with basketball after seeing Jordan’s flying slam dunks on television.
Bi Xiao said, This set of厄难九剑 is completely for showing off skill and training the meridians. It is not suitable for actual combat. Yet it is still hailed as the number one sword technique in the world because it is the most difficult, the most magnificent, and the best at displaying a person’s sword technique attainment.
This feeling was perhaps similar to a piano player who, right at the beginning of learning the piano, swore in his heart that he must play something like the Death Waltz, a piece that defies human mechanics and is almost impossible to play.
Or like certain mathematics enthusiasts who, right after enlightenment, swore in their hearts that they must conquer Goldbach’s conjecture because it was the jewel in the crown of mathematics.
…
So of the nine moves and eighty one forms, how much did you remember? Bi Xiao asked.
Suo Lun was stunned and said, I was completely dazzled by it. It was like seeing an immortal dance, so I did not even manage to remember anything.
Bi Xiao said, Then I will perform it once more, slowing the speed by half.
Then Bi Xiao once again transformed into the immortal shadow and performed the厄难九剑 again.
This time Suo Lun widened his eyes and desperately tried to see each move and form clearly.
However it was still too fast. In less than twenty seconds the nine times eighty one moves ended.
How much did you remember this time? Bi Xiao asked.
About less than ten percent. Suo Lun said.
Bi Xiao said, I will perform it a third time, slowing the speed by another half.
So Bi Xiao performed the厄难九剑 once more. It was still an incomparably stunning and peerless sword technique. However this time the speed was four times slower than the beginning and it took nearly a minute to complete.
How much did you remember now? Bi Xiao asked.
Thirty percent. Suo Lun said, But…
Do not speak. Wait until you have remembered everything before speaking. Bi Xiao said.
Then he performed it a fourth time, a fifth time, a sixth time, a seventh time…
The speed became slower and slower.
Until the ninth time it was already very slow. It took a full five minutes to complete the entire set of厄难九剑, just like slow motion in a film.
How much did you remember now? Bi Xiao asked.
Yet Suo Lun was almost going crazy. He had remembered nothing at all. His mind was a complete mess.
Because… because this damn厄难九剑 was different every single time he performed it.
Correct. Every time it was performed it was different. This was truly ghostly.
No wonder this set of sword arts had no so called sword manual and could only be passed down from person to person. He now very much suspected who on earth had created this set of sword arts. This was either a genius or a pervert.
Suo Lun said, I simply cannot remember it at all because every time it is different.
Correct, this is the厄难九剑. Bi Xiao said, Otherwise how could it be the most difficult sword technique in the world? Because it is different every single time.
Suo Lun said, Although the surface sword moves are different every time, the feeling it gives is the same. It is like a piece of music performed with different instruments, or performed in different keys.
Correct, so to learn the厄难九剑 you must comprehend it. Bi Xiao said, Simply memorising the surface sword moves is useless. You must comprehend it with your heart and spirit.
How do I comprehend it? Suo Lun asked.
Bi Xiao said, First find the core of the sword technique and find the pattern within the changes.
Suo Lun said, Then how do I find the pattern within the changes?
Keep watching, keep watching, keep watching. Bi Xiao said, Even if it is different every time, it cannot change infinitely. In fact this set of sword arts has a total of ninety nine variations. After ninety nine variations it begins to cycle. Now I will perform all ninety nine variations. You must remember them all.
Yes! Suo Lun said.
Bi Xiao said, You must prepare yourself mentally. Simply remembering these ninety nine variations will require a very long time. The lower the spiritual talent, the longer it will take.
Next Suo Lun concentrated all his spiritual power and stared at Bi Xiao without moving.
Just like this, demonstration after demonstration.
Ninety nine variations formed one cycle.
After the ninety nine variations ended, two hours had already passed.
If it continued like this, it would take at least three to five days or more to completely remember these ninety nine variations.
Yet Suo Lun only had nine days left.
After the first cycle of ninety nine variations ended, Bi Xiao said, I will now demonstrate the second cycle. If your spiritual talent is high enough, perhaps in five days you will be able to completely remember it and find the pattern within the changes. As for the remaining time, it may not be enough to learn this entire set of sword arts, even in deep meditation.
No need. I have already remembered it all. Suo Lun said.
Bi Xiao said in shock, That is impossible. Even someone with the highest spiritual talent would need several cycles before finding the pattern within it. The shortest time would still be four or five days.
Could Suo Lun remember the ninety nine variations after just one cycle? Of course not.
But he had the demon star.
The demon star had a kind of forced memory, just like a video recorder. It forcibly engraved the entire scene into Suo Lun’s brain for him to review constantly.
This was like how the human brain could not remember something in one go, yet a computer hard drive could store it all at once.
After recording all ninety nine variations of the厄难九剑, Suo Lun once again entered deep meditation.
In the meditation world time was slowed down countless times.
He watched the ninety nine variations of the厄难九剑 again and again.
Dozens of times, hundreds of times. In the end, in the meditation world more than half a month passed before he completely remembered these ninety nine variations.
Then he began to comprehend the pattern and changes within them.
This required even longer time. It was like a huge pile of numbers in reality, several thousand or tens of thousands, that looked completely chaotic.
But after studying them thoroughly one would discover a certain pattern hidden inside.
Once that pattern was discovered everything would become easy. It was like having the code book for a telegram. No matter how difficult or complex the encrypted message, it could be deciphered instantly.
Comprehend, comprehend, comprehend…
Countless comprehensions. In fact Bi Xiao could have directly told him the answer because the core of the厄难九剑 had a clear answer.
In the end, in the meditation world, Suo Lun also closed his eyes.
He completely overlapped the figures of the ninety nine variation sword moves.
Then he removed all the human figures inside, leaving only the sword. Next he removed the sword as well, leaving only the tip of the sword.
Nine moves and eighty one forms multiplied by ninety nine variations. This meant the sword tip had stabbed more than eight thousand times in the air, leaving more than eight thousand points in the air.
When these more than eight thousand points were combined, they actually formed one character.
And when he saw this character Suo Lun’s whole body began to tremble. From the depths of his heart all the way to the top of his head he felt completely chilled to the bone.
Because this character was Ling!
Correct, it was the Ling from Lan Ling!
Was this a coincidence? Or was there another reason?
The entire厄难九剑, nine moves and eighty one forms, ninety nine variations in one cycle, actually used the sword tip to write the character Ling in the air.
Suo Lun immediately woke from meditation and said to Bi Xiao, Is the core of this厄难九剑 writing the character Ling?
Bi Xiao nodded and said, Correct. You comprehended it in just half a day. It is truly astonishing.
Suo Lun said in a trembling hoarse voice, Who created this sword technique? Why does it write the character Ling?
Bi Xiao said, This is a mystery. This set of sword arts has no sword manual. No one knows who created it, nor even how it was passed down. In short it is the most magnificent and the most difficult sword technique, and it has simply been passed down like this. The person who created this set of sword arts made it so difficult and so magnificent, yet that was not the main purpose. His purpose seemed to be only to tell everyone one character, Ling!
Suo Lun’s heart trembled violently once more. Could this Ling be referring to himself? Surely not.
No one knows the reason. This has been the greatest mystery in the entire martial dao world for over a thousand years. Bi Xiao continued, No one knows what the person who created this set of sword arts wanted to tell people.
Suo Lun said, Then does this set of sword arts have a second layer, a third layer, or something like that?
Bi Xiao said, I have heard that there are, but… they have been sealed by the Divine Dragon Holy Temple. What is currently circulating is only the first layer.
At this moment Suo Lun’s entire heart was trembling. Could this be just a coincidence?
Or perhaps the person who created this set of sword arts really created it to find him? To tell him something?
And the information he left behind was in the second layer and third layer of the sword arts?
But no matter what, this mystery would have to be solved later.
Now the most important thing was to learn the entire set of厄难九剑 in the shortest time and then defeat Gui Qin Shao.
Temporarily setting aside all distracting thoughts, Suo Lun once again entered meditation.
Because he had already comprehended the core pattern of this set of sword arts, he could now move on to actual practice.
In the meditation world Suo Lun practised again and again.
Then he discovered just how difficult and how monstrous this set of sword arts truly was.
Because it completely defied human body mechanics. Every movement and every form required first comprehending the internal meridian airflow and comprehending the internal sword intent.
Otherwise, if one forcibly completed it, there was only one result, the meridians would snap.
Suo Lun deeply felt that the person who created this set of sword arts was the strongest genius in history, a genius ten times or a hundred times greater than Suo Lun.
Not to mention hiding the information he wanted to convey inside the sword technique, the key was that this set of sword arts was so difficult and so complex and profound.
No wonder Bi Xiao had said that once one mastered this set of sword arts, other sword techniques would no longer be a problem.
No wonder, although this set of sword arts was not suitable for combat and was more suitable for performance, it was still the benchmark for measuring a person’s sword technique, so it drove countless people crazy.
Suo Lun comprehended while practising.
One time, ten times, a hundred times, a thousand times, ten thousand times, a hundred thousand times…
In the meditation world time flew by.
One month, half a year, one year, two years, three years…
The first move was completed, the second move was completed, the third move…
And in the real world time also passed day by day.
Suddenly one day Suo Lun opened his eyes. At this moment there were still three days left until the duel with Gui Qin Shao.