The State Preceptor of Yankang appeared before the Grand Academy Hall, smiling as he said, "Grand Sacrificial Master, then I shall be so bold as to take the liberty."
Fu Yuanqing followed behind him, looking around with a slight frown. "Which one is my little junior brother?"
Qin Mu had removed the Thousand Machine Poison from the Empress Dowager's body, and he had seen Qin Mu's appearance through the insect eyes. There were too many people here, and he couldn't immediately locate Qin Mu's position.
The Young Ancestor smiled. "You used to come occasionally to serve as a National Academy instructor, teaching the scholars, but you haven't come in recent years. It's not presumptuous. Please."
The State Preceptor of Yankang walked down the steps, looked around, and said, "The Grand Sacrificial Master's kindness is hard to refuse. Today I shall open the forum to discuss the sword, speaking for only two days, and discussing nothing else."
Bashan Sacrificial Master muttered quietly, "Isn't it three days?"
The Young Ancestor glanced at him. "The Daoist sect blocked our Grand Academy Hall's entrance for only three days, and half a day has already passed. If the State Preceptor speaks for three days, the yellow flowers will have wilted."
Bashan Sacrificial Master sighed. "It's rare for the State Preceptor to come and lecture, yet he cannot speak for two more days. What a regret... The State Preceptor personally lecturing is equivalent to the Tathagata of the Great Thunderclap Monastery expounding the sutras, the Dao Master of the Daoist sect transmitting the teachings, and the Cult Master of the Heavenly Demon Cult imparting wisdom. How rare is that?"
The State Preceptor of Yankang paced slowly down the steps, saying leisurely, "What is the sword? Is the sword defined and fixed in form? I deeply disagree. Some say the sword has ten thousand techniques, while others say it has only fourteen: thrust, flick, cloud, chop, hack, dot, burst, hang, lift, smear, sweep, block, intercept, and flourish. What nonsense!"
As he descended, the many scholars below felt immense pressure, as if an incomparably sharp sword hung above their heads, poised to strike but not yet falling. That unmatched momentum seemed to tear apart their bodies, their Spirit Wombs, their consciousness, their very souls!
"If the sword is fixed, then it is no longer the Dao. The Great Dao is boundless—how can it have only fourteen techniques?"
He took step after step down, and the pressure grew stronger with each step, yet his voice remained calm and even. Suddenly, his voice pierced like swords into everyone's eardrums: "Why can't the sword be sound? Why can't the sword be light? Why can't it be color? Why can't it be qi? Why can't it be a single glance?"
His gaze swept across the faces of the many scholars below. Countless scholars couldn't help but draw their swords, holding them horizontally to block, but they blocked nothing at all, breaking into a cold sweat of shock.
The State Preceptor of Yankang smiled. "From this, does the sword still have only fourteen techniques?"
Qin Mu felt cold sweat on his forehead, only now realizing the State Preceptor of Yankang's true power.
The Village Chief had taught him the fourteen basic sword techniques, and Qin Mu had converted these basic techniques into numbers. Any sword technique, as long as he saw it once, he could reproduce it. At the time, Qin Mu thought this was the ultimate form of the sword.
But now, the State Preceptor of Yankang had clearly innovated upon the traditional swordsmanship, developing it further.
His thinking was broader, and thus he had created basic techniques beyond the fourteen fundamental sword forms!
"Extraordinary achievement. No wonder he is the foremost person beneath the gods."
Qin Mu sighed in admiration. The State Preceptor of Yankang's thinking was too forward-thinking—or perhaps it wasn't forward-thinking, but rather he was pushing the era forward, pushing the divine techniques and cultivation methods forward, pushing the people of this era forward!
"Therefore, upon the foundation of the fourteen basic sword techniques, I have opened up several new forms. Over these two days, I shall teach you these few most basic sword techniques. Other sword techniques, I shall not discuss."
The State Preceptor of Yankang stopped walking, his smile vanishing, his expression solemn. "But before that, I want you to forget the form of the sword. The sword can be light, sound, color, a glance—so the sword needs no fixed form. It can be long or short, hard or soft, attacking from any angle. If you can forget the form of the sword, then you can learn my swordsmanship. The first form of my swordsmanship: Circling."
His fingertip moved, and countless strands of qi as fine as sword light surged forth, forming a sword pillar that thrust forward: "This is Circling!"
This was a technique from the Great Six Harmonies Swordplay. It looked like a thrust, but the sword pillar was actually composed of countless strands of sword light intertwined, these sword light strands constantly flowing and shifting positions!
Qin Mu had seen similar swordsmanship from Qu Ping before, but what Qu Ping executed was a chop.
Thrust and chop both looked like basic sword techniques, but the underlying structure of the basic techniques was the State Preceptor of Yankang's Circling Sword Form.
The Circling Sword Form was still different from the Entwining Sword Form among the fourteen basic techniques. The Entwining Sword Form used the sword hilt to generate force, entangling the opponent's weapon, while the Circling Sword Form gathered power to unleash an earth-shattering strike.
The difference between the State Preceptor of Yankang's Circling Sword Form and Qu Ping's was that in the former, each strand of sword light in the pillar changed differently, while Qu Ping controlled each strand identically—thus he was defeated by Daoist Master Lin Xuan using his horsetail whisk as a sword.
If it were the State Preceptor of Yankang, he would have been able to withstand Daoist Master Lin Xuan's horsetail whisk.
Moreover, this strike from the State Preceptor of Yankang, in Qin Mu's eyes, was a whole.
His sword pillar was composed of countless strands of sword light, each strand an individual, yet when he thrust with a single sword, it was a unified whole. To break this strike, one would need to overpower the sword pillar's might in order to have any hope of breaking each individual strand within it.
The method Daoist Master Lin Xuan used to deal with Qu Ping would be completely useless against him!
"The State Preceptor of Yankang's foundation is as solid as mine, even more solid than Daoist Master Lin Xuan's!"
Qin Mu marveled. How could such a being exist?
He was practically a celestial god!
The State Preceptor of Yankang explained the Circling Sword Form's power generation details on the steps, speaking with great precision. To Qin Mu, it felt as if the Village Chief were teaching him swordsmanship.
The Circling Sword Form was an extension of the basic sword techniques. Qin Mu's fourteen basic sword techniques were already exceptionally solid, and having experienced the Village Chief's teachings, learning this Circling Sword Form was not difficult for him. He understood with just a hint, grasped with just an explanation, listening with rapt absorption.
But this was only him. Others listening to the State Preceptor of Yankang's explanation were pondering with difficulty, some not pondering at all but instead committing everything to memory, others using qi to control a brush, swiftly recording the State Preceptor's words, intending to slowly comprehend them later.
Those who could understand on the spot and comprehend thoroughly were, after all, a minority. Most people wore expressions of bewilderment.
After finishing his explanation of the Circling Sword Form, the State Preceptor of Yankang said, "Scholars, you may now demonstrate it once."
The various National Academy, Secretariat, and Sacrificial Masters perked up. They had been listening intently just moments ago, lost in concentration, but now they had to pay attention, their eyes falling on the thousand-odd scholars below.
Having the State Preceptor let them practice was actually a way to see if among these people there were any noteworthy figures. Those with strong comprehension would definitely be selected to face Daoist Master Lin Xuan two days later.
Before the Grand Academy Hall, one scholar after another began clumsily attempting to use their own qi to form sword qi, executing the Circling Sword Form. Some couldn't control the strands of sword qi, their qi scattering and shooting in all directions, nearly injuring nearby scholars and causing a commotion.
Others gathered qi into a sword pillar, but when trying to make the sword qi rotate concentrically, it stubbornly refused to turn, going straight back and forth.
Quite a few cultivators had already learned the Great Six Harmonies Swordplay taught at the Grand Academy. Since the Great Six Harmonies Swordplay was originally created by the State Preceptor of Yankang, they naturally performed it with some proficiency.
A few others received direct guidance from the State Preceptor of Yankang, and their swordsmanship leapt to a new level. Though they hadn't grasped the essence of the Circling Sword Form, their power increased dramatically.
There were also some who were extremely clever. Though they hadn't learned the Circling Sword Form, after receiving guidance, they actually comprehended some of its mysteries and managed to execute the sword pillar. Though their technique was still somewhat clumsy, it grew more fluid with each attempt.
Qin Mu was also attempting to execute the Circling Sword Form, but he soon frowned, staring blankly at his "qi thread."
Other people's qi was as fine as hair, so when they executed the sword pillar, it was composed of incredibly delicate sword qi. But his qi thread was as thick as an arm—using such a thick "qi thread" to execute the Circling Sword Form?
Then how thick would the resulting sword pillar be?
The young man shook his head. A sword pillar that thick was no longer a sword pillar—it was a sword peak!
A mountain peak made of sword qi thrusting forward?
"My qi is abundant, but not to that extent. Such a sword peak—I cannot execute it."
Beside Qin Mu, even the little fox was diligently learning the Circling Sword Form. Wei Yong and Yun Que had already tried making their sword qi rotate. Ling Yuxiu and Shen Wanyun were progressing the fastest, while only he remained in a daze.
After a moment, Qin Mu tried sending out a single arm-thick "qi thread," thinking, "Since it won't work that way, perhaps I can use the Circling Sword Form to break down my qi thread?"
As soon as the thought occurred, he immediately set to work with enthusiasm, attempting to use the method taught by the State Preceptor of Yankang to break down his own qi thread.
His qi was massive and robust, and extremely pure, making it difficult to refine into threads—especially after cultivating the Crimson Heart Art, which made his qi even more refined.
The villagers had never taught him how to refine qi into threads, because the one with the highest swordsmanship was the Village Chief, and the Village Chief only taught him one sword technique with fourteen forms, leaving everything else to Qin Mu's own devices, allowing his "qi thread" to grow strong and thick.
This time, a flash of inspiration crossed Qin Mu's mind, feeling that using the Circling Sword Form to refine qi into threads would surely yield results.
The Circling Sword Form taught by the State Preceptor of Yankang was truly marvelous, and soon he caught the knack, a look of joy appearing on his face.
Before the Grand Academy Hall, the Young Ancestor's gaze fell on Qin Mu, and he couldn't help but frown slightly. "What is this rascal doing? Instead of learning swordsmanship, he's there fooling around with a stick?"
Nearby, Shen Wanyun saw Qin Mu's qi stick and smiled. "Though he is very strong, his comprehension is merely average—far inferior to mine!"
Just at that moment, Qin Mu suddenly burst into wild joy, laughing loudly, his voice like thunder, resounding throughout the entire grounds: "It's done! It's finally done! Heaven has eyes! I've finally mastered the qi thread!"