Chapter Twenty: Peerless Sword Technique (Third Update)

Juling Sect, Yang Xiao's residence.

At this moment, Yang Xiao was carefully examining the items he had obtained from the ancient cultivator’s cave abode. Not long ago, after he and He Ming returned to the Juling Sect, they had parted ways and gone back to their own quarters. Having acquired many precious things from that ancient dwelling, they naturally needed to handle them with care. First, those spiritual herbs could not remain in the storage pouch for long, lest their spiritual energy dissipate. They had to be replanted, or preserved with some spirit-gathering formation.

Of course, the abundance and variety of spiritual herbs they had gained filled them with delight. Some could be refined into elixirs to enhance cultivation, while the rest could be sold in the market, exchanging for a considerable amount of spirit stones.

All in all, their journey to the ancient cultivator’s cave abode had certainly been worthwhile.

After properly attending to the spiritual herbs, Yang Xiao turned his attention to several other items before him. This time, he had acquired two spiritual artifacts: one was a low-grade flying needle, and the other was a mid-grade Dragon-Serpent Sword.

Though the flying needle was only a low-grade artifact, its small size made it easy to control. More importantly, it could be used for a sudden, unexpected attack, catching the opponent off guard—the perfect weapon for a sneak assault. Yang Xiao was quite satisfied with it.

As for the Dragon-Serpent Sword, it was exceptional even among mid-grade artifacts. With further refining, it might even be promoted to a high-grade spiritual artifact, greatly increasing its lethality. Gazing at the Dragon-Serpent Sword, Yang Xiao murmured to himself, “Fortunately, in my previous life I forged a few artifacts and mastered some of the secrets of artifact refinement. When I find some special materials, I’ll reforge this Dragon-Serpent Sword. It will be transformed, and then its power will be truly formidable.”

He carefully put away the two spiritual artifacts, and then focused on three other objects. These three had been taken from the remains of the ancient cultivator. They were: a jade token, a jade slip, and a jade shard.

The jade token gleamed with a faint light, obviously a low-grade artifact as well, but this type was only for identification and had no offensive use. On the token were inscribed three small characters: Heavenly Sword Sect. Clearly, this was the name of a sect, and the ancient cultivator must have been a disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect. That explained everything: why all the spiritual artifacts on the cultivator were swords. His sect must have specialized in sword cultivation.

Of course, Yang Xiao had no interest in the true background of the ancient cultivator. Seeing the jade token had no particular use, he put it away. Though it was useless, it seemed a pity to throw it away, so he kept it as a collectible.

Next, Yang Xiao examined the jade slip, which was exquisitely crafted. Injecting his spiritual sense into it, Yang Xiao discovered it contained a sword art called Peerless Sword Manual.

The manual was divided into four parts: Sword Soul, Sword Spirit, Sword Body, and Sword Intent. However, the jade slip only recorded the first two parts—Sword Soul and Sword Spirit—meaning this was an incomplete sword art.

In his previous life, Yang Xiao had not been particularly skilled with the sword, but he had studied many sword arts. After carefully reading through this manual, he felt as if enlightenment poured down upon him, as if he had suddenly grasped a profound truth. So, swordsmanship could be used in such a way.

Without a doubt, this was an earth-grade cultivation technique. In fact, Yang Xiao felt it was probably superior to ordinary earth-grade arts. Having more than two thousand years of memories, his judgement of cultivation techniques was always precise.

Only major sects possessed earth-grade arts. Ordinary sects practiced merely human-grade ones. For instance, the two techniques in Juling Sect, Gale Palm and Thunderfist, were both human-grade.

Finding an earth-grade cultivation art was extremely difficult, and Yang Xiao had unexpectedly obtained one. Though incomplete, it was well worth studying. More importantly, he now had a treasured sword to pair with it, making his training twice as effective with half the effort.

After putting away the Peerless Sword Manual, Yang Xiao turned to the jade shard. This piece was rather peculiar. After studying it for a long time, Yang Xiao still could not discern its origin. It did not seem to be an artifact, for it held no trace of spiritual energy. Nor was it ordinary jade, for when Yang Xiao tested its strength, no matter how hard he squeezed, it would not yield at all.

If it were an ordinary shard, Yang Xiao could have crushed it easily, but this piece resisted all his efforts—clearly, it was no ordinary item.

Since the ancient cultivator had kept it in his storage pouch, it must have had some value, though its purpose was currently unknown. After some thought, Yang Xiao put it away carefully. Perhaps one day, its use would reveal itself and lend him great aid.

After reviewing all his spoils, Yang Xiao decided that the most pressing matter was to improve his own strength. Thus, he focused his attention on the Peerless Sword Manual. Even if he mastered only the first level and reached the realm of Sword Soul, his power would increase significantly. With this manual and the Dragon-Serpent Sword, he could even slay enemies far stronger than himself.

After all, having lived for over six thousand years in his previous life, Yang Xiao needed less than a day to fully grasp the essentials of the Sword Soul level. In other words, he had already mastered most of the first level of this technique; the rest could only be improved through practice and persistent cultivation.

As for the second level of the Peerless Sword Manual, he could only begin once he had perfected the first. Cultivation must proceed step by step—any haste could lead to disastrous consequences.