Chapter 37 Song Yin Learns Swordsmanship from a Personal Summoning by Her Grandmaster…

Song Yin narrowed her eyes, instantly feeling that Elder Wen's movements were damnably familiar, and the more she looked, the more it seemed like he was beckoning a puppy.

"Disciple greets Elder Wen." Song Yin stepped forward and bowed.

Elder Wen gave off a sense of composure and approachability, but Song Yin dared not be presumptuous. She didn't know why she had such thoughts, but she trusted her intuition; the person in front of her was very strong.

Elder Wen took Song Yin's hand and had her sit next to him, then asked, "I heard from your master that you want to learn swordsmanship?"

Song Yin: "Mm."

Elder Wen: "Swordsmanship is very arduous, requiring consistent practice every day. Even so, are you still willing to do it?"

Song Yin said firmly, "I'm willing."

Elder Wen: "Many people choose a path and spend their whole lives on it but rarely achieve anything. I hope you can seriously consider this before making a decision."

Song Yin: "I want to learn swordsmanship. This idea has been with me ever since I participated in the Foundation Establishment Competition. I am sure I will not regret it in the future because I am willing to bear the consequences of this choice, whether good or bad."

"Your resolve is firm." Elder Wen pointed to the open space in front of him. "Go there and demonstrate the sect's basic sword techniques."

Song Yin: "Yes."

Song Yin walked to the open space, took out her sword from her storage bag, and began to demonstrate the basic sword techniques she had learned under the watchful eyes of three people, striving to make sure that every move was perfect.

Elder Wen transmitted his voice to his disciple: "Yuzhu, what do you think of her basic swordsmanship?"

Shen Yuzhu transmitted his voice: "Your basic skills are very solid."

Elder Wen nodded to herself without much expression, watching Song Yin practice the entire set of basic sword techniques.

Elder Wen: "From now on, you will learn swordsmanship from me. If you have any questions, you can ask me or your Senior Brother Chen."

After practicing a set of sword techniques, Song Yin's breathing remained steady. When she heard Elder Wen agree to teach her swordsmanship, she was excited and revealed the innocent and carefree nature that was appropriate for her age.

"yes!"

Elder Wen: "However, there are some things I must say beforehand."

Song Yin: "Please speak."

Elder Wen: "You are not a direct disciple of Wujian Peak, so I cannot teach you the core techniques of Wujian Peak. You will be treated the same as other ordinary disciples of Wujian Peak. The only difference is that I can teach you some of my own insights into swordsmanship. Combined with the sword techniques in the sect's treasury, your achievements in swordsmanship will not be too bad."

"There is another method that is more difficult but more suitable for you, and that is to create your own swordsmanship. No matter how powerful the swordsmanship is, it is created by people. The strongest swordsmanship is not learned, but rather the swordsmanship that you comprehend yourself and finds best suited to you."

"Self-created sword techniques." This was the first time Song Yin had heard this term. She had never heard of it during her years in the outer sect of the Immortal Cloud Sect, and Senior Zhou had never mentioned the concept of self-created sword techniques.

Elder Wen patted Song Yin's little head, "There aren't many sword cultivators who can create their own sword techniques, so you don't need to put pressure on yourself." Oh dear, this child's little brain is so round, just like the pills that Qi Zibo concocted.

Song Yin felt the touch on her head and thought that just because others couldn't do it didn't mean she couldn't. There was a reason she could think this way. When she was fighting the Golden Core demon beast, she had entered a state of profound mystery for a moment, and her strength had become great. The sword in her hand seemed to be deeply connected to her.

Could this be related to her self-created swordsmanship? Perhaps she could try to recapture that mysterious feeling in the future. This thought made Song Yin unable to resist trying to emulate that feeling every time she drew her sword.

Whether it works or not, we'll only know by trying.

After it was decided that Elder Wen, who was also her master's wife, would be instructing her in swordsmanship from now on, Song Yin began shuttling between Danque Peak and Wujian Peak. Her regular assessments also changed from testing her alchemy skills to testing her alchemy skills combined with swordsmanship.

The once monotonous days have begun to become fulfilling again.

Qi Zibo taught Song Yin alchemy on a regular basis, while Shen Yuzhu taught her swordsmanship. Wen Zhiling would only personally guide her when she encountered minor bottlenecks.

Shi Heming knew that Song Yin had learned more sword techniques, and he began to wonder if he should also learn one more.

Without hesitation, Shi Heming picked up his favorite subject, formations, and began to teach himself. He was interested in many things initially, but his favorite was talismans, followed by formations.

When Elder Yuan saw his disciple begin to learn array cultivation techniques, he immediately became hostile.

What happened at Danque was happening again at Wendao Peak. The difference was that Elder Yuan did not find a formation cultivator to guide Shi Heming. He only agreed to let Shi Heming learn formations on his own after knowing that Shi Heming had not given up on talisman cultivation.

In both incidents, the one who was hurt the most was not the two mentors, but their friend Xia Xining.

When Xia Xining learned that Song Yin cultivated both alchemy and swordsmanship, and that Shi Heming was also developing towards dual cultivation of talismans and arrays, her world collapsed!

During her free time, Song Yin went to meet with Xia Xining and told Xia Xining the news.

Xia Xining grabbed Song Yin's shoulders and shook her violently, "Ahhh! Are you guys even human! You all have only one spiritual root, how can you be so reckless!"

Song Yin: "It's alright. Why don't you learn another skill like us?"

Xia Xining released Song Yin's shoulder and immediately stepped back, saying, "Farewell!"

Song Yin pleaded, "Hey, don't go."

Xia Xining turned her back on Song Yin; she couldn't stand the two of them anymore!

Xia Xining: "I'm going to cultivate now, and I'll try to reach the Foundation Establishment stage next year to participate in the Foundation Establishment Competition."

Song Yin: "Good heavens, you've rolled it up!"

Xia Xining burst into tears, thinking that if she didn't work harder, she would fall behind her friends. "You have no right to say such things."

Song Yin chuckled.

...

One day, Song Yin was practicing swordsmanship at Wujian Peak, and Shen Yuzhu was watching and giving her pointers.

Shen Yuzhu held his natal sword and demonstrated it to Song Yin, "This move requires skillful application of force. Let me demonstrate it for you again."

After watching Shen Yuzhu's demonstration, Song Yin repeated the move herself over and over again.

The sword technique she is currently practicing is a sword technique that a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator can practice, which Hua Lingshi retrieved from the Scripture Pavilion. After replicating the sword technique, the original sword technique will be returned to the Scripture Pavilion, and the sword technique will wait for its next destined person.

"Well done. That's enough for today's sword practice. Go have some water and rest." Shen Yuzhu called Song Yin over for a drink after seeing that she had learned the move.

The two were in the sword training ground of Wujian Peak. There weren't many people who could practice swordsmanship here, but now there was another one, Song Yin.

Shen Yuzhu: "Tomorrow I will be instructing other disciples in swordsmanship. If you need me, go to the inner sect academy. I will share my experience in the swordsmanship class."

Song Yin choked on her water. "Cough cough, you're going to teach disciples at the academy?"

"Is there a problem?" Shen Yuzhu asked with a smile in his eyes, clearly wanting to tease Song Yin.

Song Yin: "Senior brother, what is your cultivation level?"

Shen Yuzhu: "His cultivation level isn't high; he's barely at the early Nascent Soul stage."

Not high...

Barely at the early stage of Nascent Soul...

Do people say that?

Song Yin took out a handkerchief and wiped the water stains clean.

How old are you this year, senior brother?

"If I remember correctly, I am over 380 years old this year."

Haha, Song Yin, how come you still can't remember? In the cultivation world, you can't guess someone's age based on their appearance!

Seeing Song Yin's expression change repeatedly, Shen Yuzhu turned his head away, suppressing a laugh.

Song Yin has such a rich range of expressions despite her young age.

The next day, Song Yin did not go to the inner school to find Shen Yuzhu, because she received a message that her grandmaster asked her to go to the forbidden area.

Song Yin didn't understand why her master would call her to the forbidden area alone, and the message specifically stated not to tell Qi Zibo.

Song Yin had a token, which was very convenient in the past.

Upon arriving at the forbidden area again, Song Yin easily found her way to her master's residence.

"Song Yin pays respects to her grandmaster."

Master Lou stopped watering the flowers, rolled up his wide sleeves, and without looking at Song Yin, turned and walked directly into the house.

"Come in with me."

Song Yin obediently followed behind her grandmaster.

Grandmaster Lou: "I heard from Qi Zibo that you've started practicing both alchemy and swordsmanship?"

"Yes." Oh no, what if my master makes trouble over this? I thought of my master, but I forgot about my master.

Grandmaster Lou: "You don't like alchemy?"

Song Yin: "I like it."

Grandmaster Lou: "How does it compare to the way of the sword?"

What's the difference between this question and asking whether a child prefers their father or mother?

Song Yin slowly replied, "Well, I like them all." She couldn't even see her master's expression; she could only see his back.

Master Lou realized that his question was tricky, so he turned around and explained without a care: "You don't need to think too much about it. I don't mind if my grand-disciple learns skills other than alchemy. After all, I also learn a little bit of everything."

Song Yin's tense nerves finally relaxed a little.

"Why did Grandmaster summon me here?"

Master Lou: "You didn't tell Qi Zibo you were coming this time, did you?"

Song Yin: "I listened to my master's words and did not tell my master that I came to the forbidden area."

Master Lou led Song Yin to the room where the portrait of the founder hung.

Master Lou's tone betrayed his disdain: "It's good that he didn't say anything, lest he find out and start making a fuss again. He's over a thousand years old and has a family, yet he still can't calm down over such trivial matters."

Song Yin shut up and dared not say anything.

Master Lou pointed to the portrait of the founder, "Do you recognize who he is?"

"Grandmaster".

Grandmaster Lou: "Knowing this makes things easier. I have a task for you, a task that has only been passed down among the peak masters of Danque Peak throughout the ages. Because this secret concerns our ancestor, only we know about this task. The task is not difficult; just be careful when you go out. But it is not easy either, since no one has been able to complete it in the tens of thousands of years since the establishment of the Immortal Cloud Sect."

Song Yin exclaimed in surprise: "What kind of mission has been unfinished for tens of thousands of years?"

Master Lou: "Searching for the patriarch."

"But didn't our ancestor ascend to heaven long ago?" She still remembered what her master had said back then.

Master Lou: "Having lived in the sect for so long, you should know about the Xuan Tian Tribulation in ancient times. Everyone knows that our Dan Que Peak Ancestor made a great contribution to the Xuan Tian Tribulation, laying the foundation for the victory of the Xuan Tian Tribulation, and ascended to the upper realm in the days that followed. However, no one knows that our Dan Que Peak Ancestor did not successfully ascend, but disappeared."

Master Lou casually tossed out a bomb, cast a spell on an object resembling a soul lamp, and then a short sentence appeared above it.

The soul lamp will never be extinguished; remember to seek me out.

Grandmaster Lou: "This soul lamp is the Grandmaster's soul lamp. From the state of the soul lamp, we can know that the Grandmaster did not perish. He has lived for tens of thousands of years in an unknown place. This secret command was left by the Grandmaster himself. Unfortunately, none of the successive peak masters have been able to find the Grandmaster's whereabouts."

“I have traveled all over the cultivation world, but I have not found a single clue. With my current cultivation level, I may face the ascension tribulation in a few hundred years, so I can only entrust this important task to you, bypassing Qi Zibo. You are still young and will definitely leave the sect to travel in the future. At that time, you just need to pay more attention.”

Song Yin: "Why don't you tell Master that he is the current peak master of Danque Peak?"

"Give it to him?"

Master Lou's expression became subtle, feeling ashamed to even mention it.

-----------------------

Author's Note: Master Lou: Give it to him? Forget it. [Shrugs]

Qi Zibo: Master, you! [Cracks open]

Master Lou: Get out of here [eye roll]

-

The owner remained silent, only repeatedly picking up the empty bowl and begging to add it to his collection. [empty bowl]