Chapter 127: Number One Sword Cultivator!
Chapter 127: Chapter 127: Number One Sword Cultivator!
The entire class instantly fell silent.
The bustling noise of whistling Sword Qi from moments ago was instantly dispersed by this effortless strike.
Everyone’s gazes were dead-set on that yellow radiance.
"...What... is that?"
"The Sword Qi was... directly dispersed?"
"No! Not dispersed! It was pierced! Is he using... Sword Aura?"
"Sword Aura?! Doesn’t that require cultivating a High Martial Level swordsmanship to the Great Success stage to condense it? How old is he?"
"Who is this guy? A new face?"
Whispers surged like a tide, mixed with gasps of disbelief and probing inquiries.
On the podium, the laziness on Liu Suifeng’s face had long vanished.
His posture was frozen in place, the stance he had taken to intervene and rescue not yet fully retracted. All his attention, however, was focused on the young figure holding the sword.
"You..."
He stared blankly at Fang Chen, particularly at the Cyan Blade.
"This is indeed Sword Aura... Its condensation and length far exceed ordinary Sword Aura," Liu Suifeng thought, his mind racing. With his keen discernment, he could naturally tell.
What shocked him even more was the effortless control and the ability to strike later yet arrive first.
Only when Fang Chen calmly turned his face to look directly at the podium did Liu Suifeng overlap this young face with a certain impression in his memory.
"Ah... it’s him," Liu Suifeng thought.
The freshman in the Skill Transmission Hall yesterday who chose the *Yin Yang Two Forms Creation Skill*.
He remembered this face because those who chose Celestial Tier cultivation techniques were few and far between.
"He was only in the True Martial Realm yesterday... Breaking through to the High Martial Realm today isn’t strange. With enough accumulation, it’s a natural progression," he pondered. "But... Great Success in swordsmanship? Condensing a Sword Aura of this caliber?"
Liu Suifeng felt his common sense taking a slight hit.
A breakthrough in a cultivation technique could rely on accumulation, but honing the intent and technique of swordsmanship was definitely not an overnight achievement.
He looked at Fang Chen, his voice clear. "Student, what is your name?"
Hearing this, Fang Chen returned his sword to the nearby weapon rack, stood up calmly, and bowed slightly toward Liu Suifeng. "Teacher Liu, my name is Fang Chen."
"Fang Chen..."
Liu Suifeng repeated the name and pointed at the air where the Sword Qi had just dissipated. "I remember there was a freshman yesterday who chose swordsmanship, I believe it was the Clear Radiance Swordsmanship?"
His tone carried a trace of disbelief. "Could it be... you cultivated the Clear Radiance Swordsmanship to Great Success in a single day?"
This question voiced the thoughts of everyone present.
A single day?
Cultivating a High Martial Level swordsmanship to Great Success and condensing Sword Aura?
This was simply an unheard-of myth!
Countless burning gazes pinned onto Fang Chen, waiting for his answer.
Fang Chen’s expression was calm, as if he had long expected this question.
He shook his head, his tone sincere yet clear. "Teacher Liu, you misunderstand. This Sword Aura does not originate from the Clear Radiance Swordsmanship.
"This Sword Aura comes from a swordsmanship I have been cultivating since I was in the True Martial Realm, called the Profound Tiger Wind-Breaking Sword.
"Because I remained in the True Martial Realm for quite a long time and had nothing else to do, I had no choice but to repeatedly hone this swordsmanship. Over time, I developed Sword Qi, and even faintly felt myself touching the barrier of Sword Aura.
"Yesterday, I broke through to the High Martial Realm and formed my True Essence. I also came into contact with the superior concepts of the Clear Radiance Swordsmanship. My past accumulations and insights collided with this new perspective... leading to an epiphany that resolved years of confusion, allowing me to achieve the Sword Aura in one stroke."
Upon hearing this, Liu Suifeng’s tone was filled with marvel. "Genius!
"To actually cultivate Sword Aura relying solely on a True Martial Level swordsmanship... this..."
Before he could finish, some students in the audience couldn’t help but gasp in low voices.
"Huh? You can develop Sword Aura from a True Martial Level swordsmanship?"
"I have no idea... it’s my first time hearing this..."
"I understand Sword Qi, but doesn’t Sword Aura require Great Success in a High Martial Level swordsmanship?"
Sitting beside Fang Chen, Fan Yutong immediately straightened her back. With an expression of shared honor and excitement, she loudly added, "That’s right! Teacher Liu, Junior Brother Fang from our club had already developed Sword Qi while he was still in the True Martial Realm! And it’s not just a little bit stronger than ordinary Sword Qi."
Liu Suifeng nodded slightly and took the opportunity to explain to the whole class. "Developing Sword Aura from a True Martial Level swordsmanship is extremely rare, but it is not without precedent.
"According to the oral accounts of some seniors, if one can temper a True Martial Realm swordsmanship to its absolute pinnacle, and then experience an epiphany through a specific fortuitous encounter, it is possible to transcend the grade limits of the cultivation technique itself and condense Sword Aura ahead of time."
His gaze fell back onto Fang Chen, examining him even more carefully. "Moreover... judging by the condensation and length of that Sword Aura just now, it is absolutely extraordinary. Ordinary Sword Aura merely wraps around the blade by an inch, like a thin layer of light. But when you executed it, it was clearly already half a foot long, condensed like a tangible substance, with its sharpness contained within..."
Relishing the clean and decisive manner in which that yellow Sword Aura broke through the crimson Sword Qi, he recognized it indeed belonged to the unique swift and fierce intent of the Profound Tiger Wind-Breaking Sword. He couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.
"Heh heh, it seems that any martial skill, as long as one is willing to put in the hard work to study it to the extreme, cannot be underestimated."
He waved his hand and said to the rest of the students, "Alright, the rest of you engage in self-study or spar with one another. Fang Chen—"
He looked at Fang Chen and beckoned him over. "Come up here."
Fang Chen’s heart stirred, and he immediately replied, "Yes!"
He exactly needed a truly brilliant senior in the Sword Dao to clear his confusion, especially regarding the cultivation path of Sword Gang.
The might of the Sword Gang that Liu Suifeng had displayed earlier, along with his few words of guidance, had already benefited him immensely. That was why he had imitated Shao Feng and intentionally showed off a little.
In this world, one must show off when it’s time to show off; blindly hiding one’s capabilities might just allow others to snatch away one’s fortuitous encounters.
Fang Chen quickly walked up to the podium and arrived in front of Liu Suifeng.
Liu Suifeng didn’t waste words, pointing to a spacious empty area beside the podium. "Come, execute your Profound Tiger Wind-Breaking Sword completely from beginning to end for me to see. Remember, use your Sword Aura and go all out. There is no need to hold back."
"Yes!"
Fang Chen walked to the center of the area and drew his Cyan Blade.
With the sword in hand, his heart spirit naturally calmed down, harmonizing with the blade.
HUM—
A yellow Sword Aura flowed out from the edge of the blade, steadily extending over half a foot. Its radiance was restrained, yet its sharpness was imposing.
Immediately after, the sword moved!
The Tiger Leap Stance, the Wind Cutting Stance, the Sky Breaking Stance, the Returning Waves Stance... Every move and every stance was executed in his hands.
Upon finishing the set of swordsmanship, Fang Chen sheathed his sword and stood upright. His aura was long and steady as the Sword Aura slowly retracted into the blade. He looked at Liu Suifeng, quietly waiting for his evaluation.
At this moment, however, the students below the podium were dumbfounded by what they saw.
"Who is this guy? Why haven’t we ever seen him before?"
"Didn’t he just say it? He only advanced yesterday. He’s a freshman."
"A freshman... I feel like Shao Feng and Peng Song pride themselves as the genius Sword Cultivators of our cohort, but I feel... they fall short by more than just a little bit."
"Yeah, this guy named Fang Chen might just be the number one Sword Cultivator in our academy."
Shao Feng was present in the room. Since the students didn’t deliberately keep their voices down, he naturally heard their discussions.
He gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, making a sharp CRACKING sound.
But he couldn’t throw a temper at all; that was Sword Aura, after all!
His epiphany just now had barely scratched the surface of attaining Sword Aura...
"Just what kind of monster has arrived among this year’s freshmen?!" Shao Feng wondered in sheer disbelief.