Chapter 690: The Realms of the Sword
The Sword Spirit, who had entered deep slumber years ago, had awoken once again.
However, it was still as weak as ever. Sleep could only slow its decline, but it could not recover its energy.
The Sword Spirit's words did not seem to change the youth's decision. He insisted, "According to our Master's standards, he does not have the qualifications to stay."
"The Master's standards… " The Sword Spirit sighed and shook his head. "That standard is too high… To be at the large success stage of Sword Intent before the age of twenty, and to comprehend the Heart of the Sword before the age of hundred… "
"This standard was indeed set by our Master, but it was established based on the 12 Empyrean Heavens back then, provided that one had a powerful master, and had perfect heritage. In this lower realm, how can there be such things... In this desolate land, to have such a successor is already great luck… "
"Chibai, we do not have much time left. Even if we rely on sleep, it will just extend our lifespans by a few million years or ten million years. Do you really believe that we will be able to find a successor who can be at the large success stage of Sword Intent before the age of twenty in that period of time?"
The white-dressed youth might look young, but in fact, the amount of time that he had lived was not much shorter than the Sword Spirit. It was because the Pure Yang Sword Palace owner's companion sword had been broken, causing the Sword Spirit to be severely injured. As such, he had to sleep in the Pure Yang Sword Palace, which made him look even weaker. As for the white-dressed youth, he was the Pure Yang Sword Palace's Temple Spirit. Although his lifespan was longer than the Sword Spirit's, it was not that much longer.
The gray-dressed elder's words made the youth frown. He was arrogant and cold. To him, the rules set by the Pure Yang Sword Palace owner was everything.
And in fact, the Pure Yang Sword Palace owner had never thought of leaving the Pure Yang Sword Palace in a lower realm. It was easier said than done finding a successor in the lower realm.
Seeing the youth not speak, the Sword Spirit looked at Yi Yun. More than ten years ago, he had understood Yi Yun's strength very well. Back then, Yi Yun had never used a sword, yet, now, he had today's achievements. Although he had not completely reached the Pure Yang Sword Palace owner's standards, with his background and the amount of time he had been practicing martial arts, the achievements he had attained was stunning.
"Although you have failed to meet the owner's standards, for tens of thousands of years, we have only managed to wait for you. Tens of millions of years ago, the Pure Yang Sword Palace received a visitor. He cultivated pure Yang laws and he was a sword user. It could be said that his talent was excellent, but unfortunately, he was too old. He far exceeded the upper limits of the age demanded by our Master. He already had his own Sword Dao and Martial Dao. His life potential had also been mostly used up. It was very difficult for him to inherit the inheritance. So, we gave up on him… "
"As for you, you can be considered to be a piece of white paper. Although your foundation is weak, it has a lot of room for growth. For us to manage to wait for your arrival, we probably do not have time left to carry on waiting… "
The Sword Spirit's words stunned Yi Yun.
What? Tens of millions of years ago, another person had come to Pure Yang Sword Palace?
Yi Yun knew that discovering and entering the Pure Yang Sword Palace was not easy. Even Yi Yun himself, together with the Purple Crystal, managed to break through the Nine Nine As One array through a certain amount of luck to enter this world.
That person had the ability to enter the Pure Yang Sword Palace and cultivated pure Yang laws and swords… Could he be… Azure Yang Lord?
On careful thought, it could only be him.
Even the Azure Yang Lord had been rejected by the Pure Yang Sword Palace.
Upon thinking of this, Yi Yun was secretly horrified. However, upon careful thought, it was understandable. If the Azure Yang Lord was a beautifully piece of wood carving, the wood carving was already formed, so it was very difficult to change it any further.
As for himself, he came from a poor background. In all the cultivation he had, a lot of standards never reached a proper level, yet he was still a uncarved, rough piece of wood. He still had a lot of room for growth.
The Sword Spirit had already decided on Yi Yun, but the white-dressed youth was still frowning. He seemed like a perfectionist. Picking a successor that did not match his ideals caused a knot in his heart.
As the Pure Yang Sword Palace's Temple Spirit, he naturally had a greater right to decide on a successor.
He refused to choose Yi Yun, but he also had to admit that the Sword Spirit had a point.
He looked deeply at Yi Yun and he did not wish to speak to Yi Yun any further. He turned around and left.
As his figure turned dim, he disappeared into the white and empty void.
Yi Yun gave a wry smile. The Temple Spirit could not even be bothered to speak to him.
"Don't mind him. Chibai and I are far from what we were in the past. We just want to see this piece of world vibrant once again. We are indignant about it while lingering on our last breaths. My sleep is not for recovery. It is just to extend the tiny bit of useful time in the lifespan that I have left to find a successor. Although I don't have any hopes, I still have the hope that maybe one day, this divine palace will be restored to its former glory, even if the chances are a tenth… " As the Sword Spirit spoke, he sighed.
He had decided on Yi Yun, while the youth had reluctantly acquiesced to this.
As such, Yi Yun's identity as successor was decided.
"Senior, I have a question. How far am I away from the standards of the Sword Palace's successor?" Yi Yun wanted to know the gap that he had. He wanted to know what it meant to "be at the large success stage of Sword Intent before the age of twenty, and to comprehend the Heart of the Sword before the age of hundred".
The Sword Spirit said, "Sword Dao is one of the 3000 Great Dao in martial arts. A warrior's understanding of Sword Dao is divided into realms by itself. However, in this world, due to the limitations of its heritage, it does not have any system of Sword Dao, nor is there any divisive realms in Sword Dao."
The realms of the sword begins with gaining insight into Sword Intent, followed by condensing one's Heart of the Sword, then tempering one's Sword Soul, and finally creating the Heavenly Dao of the Sword."
"In these four large realms, there are smaller realms dividing them, being the Initial Stage, Small Success Stage, Large Success Stage and Perfection. There aren't many realms, but just breaking through one realm is extremely difficult. Those who consider themselves Kings in the 12 Empyrean Heavens are usually in the Initial Stages of Sword Soul. As for the final Heavenly Dao of the Sword, that is our Master's realm. Even our Master failed to reach the peak of Sword Dao."
"Of course, the path of martial arts number in the thousands. Sword Dao is just one of them, and there is no need to specifically choose the Sword Dao. Other Great Dao can equally allow a person to reach the position of a mighty expert. As for your current realm in the way of the sword, you are barely considered to be at the Small Success Stage of Sword Intent… "
The successor of the Pure Yang Sword Palace was required to reach the Large Success Stage of Sword Intent before the age of twenty, or achieve Heart of the Sword before the age of hundred.
Yi Yun was already twenty years old when he entered reclusion in the God Advent Tower. He had already failed the first condition, but Yi Yun wanted to achieve the second condition of cultivating the Heart of the Sword before the age of hundred.
The white-dressed youth's disregard for himself was because he was weak. Although Yi Yun had nothing to say about that, he still felt like he was suppressing some anger in his heart.
He had been painstakingly cultivating for more than ten years and he had yet to meet the criteria of the Pure Yang Sword Palace. He only became the "better than nothing" successor because Chibai and the gray-dressed elder had little lifespan left.
However, Yi Yun would not sell himself short because of this.
His path was still long. He had came from the Cloud Wilderness where he could not even have a meal. There was no point even mentioning the geniuses from the 12 Empyrean Heavens, just a genius in a small family clan in the Tian Yuan world was enough to show the huge disparity.
He had came from the lowest possible background, taking step after step to this day. He might be lacking in qualifications now, but it did not mean that he was any less or that he would be inferior all his life.
He was unable to decide on his starting point, but how far his ending point could go to, it was all decided by him.
When the Sword Spirit saw how quickly Yi Yun swept away the dark clouds in his heart, he also nodded silently.
As a swordsman, to cultivate one's Heart of the Sword, one had to persevere and move forward fiercely.
With one's heart bent on martial arts, seeking one's Dao, only such a person had the true qualifications to pursue martial arts.
"Follow me, I'll take you into the inner sanctums of the Pure Yang Sword Palace." The Sword Spirit said.
Just as he finished speaking, Yi Yun was faced with blurriness. After a moment of haziness, he was standing in front of that large door once again, as if he had never taken a single step.
And at this moment, the runes on the door began to light up. It began to tremble, rumbling as it opened. The Pure Yang Sword Palace that had been sealed for countless numbers of years had finally opened for Yi Yun…