Chapter 465 — The Pinnacle of the Sword Dao

"We will follow at a distance, and hide ourselves well.

" The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping watched Shen Mu's army of women recede into the distance, and said unhurriedly, "We wait for the moment Bagou and that god make their move. Cult Leader Shen—he will settle all of this for us.

" Xiong Xiyu's heart brimmed with feeling. Back in the Desolate Ruins, when she had begged Shen Mu for help, she had never imagined that the big boy who saved her and her daughter would possess such terrifying power, would stir up such a storm in the Western Lands. She had thought the youth merely a scion of some great house with a measure of talent; yet the more she came to know him, the more she marveled at how extraordinary he was.

The vast city of Jun raced across the broad land. Shen Mu stood upon the city tower with the heads of several great Western clans, directing the armies of the various houses so that they would not trample one another in the press.

The scions of the Western clans were, after all, no well-drilled army, and marshaling them took no small effort. Fortunately, He Yiyi, a grandmaster of formations, was there; by using formations to marshal the clan youths, she gradually grew deft at it.

One had to know that even in the Kingdom of Jingping, those with He Yiyi's mastery of formations could be counted on one's fingers, and those few were invariably first-rank ministers of the realm.

"Luo Yinyu, Sword Master of the Western Lands, pays her respects to Cult Leader Shen of the Central Plains. " Shen Mu looked at the long-haired girl who had come toward him to salute, and astonishment showed on his face; he hurriedly returned the courtesy. The Three Masters of the Western Lands: Mu Yingxue the Poison Master, He Yiyi the Formation Master, and Luo Yinyu the Sword Master.

Mu Yingxue and He Yiyi he knew well; only Luo Yinyu the Sword Master he was meeting for the first time.

Luo Yinyu the Sword Master was unlike the other women of the Western Lands.

The other girls loved gold and silver, silver crowns on their heads, silver and gold rings about their necks, and many bracelets on their wrists and ankles. Yet on this Sword Master's person not a single ornament was to be found.

Her dress, too, was of the utmost simplicity: a plain white robe, elegant and unadorned, with no other color to it. Her hair was simply dressed as well, bound at its middle with a single cord, only to keep it from falling into disorder.

Her long black hair, like a woman's waist, was set off by the white of her garments—a striking contrast of color.

The reason her dress and adornment were so plain was that, like a sword, she could tolerate no impurity; any ornament at all was, to her, dross.

This was a woman with no other pleasures; she had, in all likelihood, already married herself to the sword. The moment Shen Mu saw her, he felt as though a sword were thrusting at him.

When she bowed in salute, the sword-light was fierce, sharp beyond compare, aimed straight at his dao heart!

Shen Mu bowed in return, yet calmly blocked her sword intent. Luo Yinyu the Sword Master rose, her gaze strange: "Cult Leader Shen is also a grandmaster of the sword?

" Shen Mu said modestly, "I would not presume.

How many grandmasters of the sword are there under heaven? Those whose strength surpasses mine are beyond counting.

But if we speak of attainment in sword technique, I daresay I can be ranked.

" Luo Yinyu the Sword Master grew more curious.

"I have long wished to go to the Central Plains and see the sword dao there. Since you, Cult Leader Shen, are a grandmaster of the sword come from the Central Plains, might you tell me—who are those whose sword technique surpasses yours?

" Shen Mu thought a moment, then shook his head. "In sword technique, there should be none who surpass me. But there are those who have entered the realm of the sword dao.

How many surpass me in the sword dao, I dare not say—yet the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping is surely above me. And there is Li Zheng of my own household; he taught me three sword moves, and his attainment in the sword dao is most uncommon. As for other masters of the sword dao, I know too few to speak. " "Sword technique and sword dao? " Disappointment showed on Luo Yinyu's face.

She murmured, "Has someone truly entered the realm of the sword dao?

For so many years I have pursued the utmost limits of sword technique without wearying, longing to enter the sword dao and never attaining it—and yet there are those who can enter that wondrous realm? " Shen Mu understood her disappointment. Luo Yinyu was now at the stage of investigating things to attain knowledge, seeking the ultimate comprehension through the study of sword technique.

She had most likely already reached the limit in sword technique, yet she had not found the gate to the sword dao and could not enter its hall. That Shen Mu should say there were many masters of the sword dao in the Central Plains struck her a heavy blow. Sword technique and sword dao—a single character apart, yet the difference was as between cloud and mud.

However well one practiced sword technique, before a master of the sword dao it was still no match at all.

Shen Mu's curiosity stirred.

"I have not yet seen the sword techniques of your Western Lands, and I wonder whether they differ from those of our Central Plains.

The sword techniques of the Central Plains originally had fourteen forms; later the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping added three, making seventeen. Not long ago I added one more, making eighteen basic sword forms. How many forms do the sword techniques of the Western Lands have? " Luo Yinyu was all the more astonished.

"The sword techniques of the Central Plains already have eighteen forms? The sword techniques of our Western Lands have only fourteen. But our sword techniques are founded upon the sword spirit and prize power; they may differ from yours.

" Shen Mu's interest was at once kindled. He had been studying the sword spirit these days as well, though with little progress; he always felt there was great learning in it. To meet Luo Yinyu, a grandmaster of the Western sword, was a rare chance, and he meant to seek her instruction properly.

The two talked at length and in detail, and each gained greatly.

The sword techniques of the Western Lands command the sword by spirit; the sword spirit can greatly increase a sword's power, almost doubling it. In Shen Mu's eyes, the sword techniques of the Western Lands were still somewhat dry, far less exquisite than those of the Kingdom of Jingping. Even Luo Yinyu, a grandmaster of the sword, fell a notch short in attainment of sword technique compared with many sects of the Central Plains. Yet the sword spirit raised the power of her sword moves to a height that Central Plains masters could only dream of.

When she performed the basic sword forms, every move and every stance was stern in its rule and order, its might surging, with a dashing heroic bearing that made men dare not face its edge. And Luo Yinyu, too, saw the uncommon quality brought by the Central Plains' innovations. The sword techniques of the Central Plains were strange and changeable; especially after the four basic sword forms opened up by the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping and Shen Mu, the sword techniques produced ever more variations and variables, with countless possibilities!

Luo Yinyu tried performing the Circling Sword Form, the Entangling Sword Form, the Drilling Sword Form, and the eighteenth form that Shen Mu had created, and mused, "There is something strange here. The first fourteen basic sword forms of the Central Plains are no different from those of our Western Lands, but these last four—though they too are basic sword forms—demand more and more mana the further they go. Especially this basic sword form of yours, Cult Leader Shen: to activate it once nearly consumes half of one's vital essence cultivation!