Seeking the Flying Sword Path

The Dao Ancestor’s preaching of the Dao might have focused on Sword Dao, but he began his sermon from the basics—every stalk of flower, every blade of grass, and every drop of water.

A tiny tree’s roots sprouted as it slowly grew, until it bloomed and sprouted fragrant flowers.

Flowing water surged to nourish the myriad things, capable of moving from a state of solid ice to a billowing steam...

The Great Dao was weaved into everything.

Sword Dao manifested itself in every trivial matter.

Qin Yun gradually found himself immersed into the sermon and could not help but beam. He was naturally relaxed as he sat cross-legged to listen.

"Rocks allow the elements to strike at them..." The Dao Ancestor smiled as a scene of a rock being left to the elements appeared. With the passage of time, it was finally, gradually reduced to a part of the land...

...

Qin Yun became more and more excited as he listened.

In the past, he had watched the world pass by him, occasionally gaining some inspiration, allowing his newfound insights to fuse with his sword.

His sword could be like mist, rain, lightning, fire, and light.

But he had never heard such a detailed explanation like the one being provided by Numinous Treasure Dao Ancestor. It went from simple to deeply profound. Qin Yun felt that the most essential Great Dao of the world was being unveiled to him! The Dao Ancestor appeared to be the most brilliant chef, peeling layers off the myriad things of the world one by one for Qin Yun, showing him how they all mixed together. Different Dao was interconnected and, in the Dao Ancestor’s eyes, all the Dao in the world could manifest as a Sword Dao.

In the first two hours, Qin Yun had an unprecedented excitement from listening.

In the next two hours, Qin Yun felt the blood in him boil. Even his Essence Soul was trembling with excitement.

From the sixth hour on, he gradually fell into bewilderment.

Although the Dao Ancestor’s explanation was very easy to follow, the deeper he went, the more aspects were involved.

Time, space, life, Samsara, Karma, Merit... every time a new aspect was brought in, the complexity raised to a whole new level. As more and more elements were involved, Qin Yun felt that he seemed to understand but was more perplexed when he thought about it.

By the eighth hour, Qin Yun was already frowning. He felt like he was listening to something extremely esoteric.

Numinous Treasure Dao Ancestor continued explaining freely, and as he spoke—

A sun would occasionally rise around him, or a silvery moon might appear.

From time to time, golden lotus flowers would appear around him.

And at other times, the Heavenly realm and the Underworld realm would circle around Samsara.

Also, there were the occasional wisps of Chaos Qi that fleeted past them.

By the tenth hour, Numinous Treasure Dao Ancestor was talking about even more vague and insubstantial matters. He was talking about the Immortal Vanquishing Sword Array that the Three Realms feared greatly.

"Immortal Vanquishing, Immortal Slaying, Immortal Entrapment, Immortal Peril... All four Sword Dao require the combination of an array chart." Numinous Treasure Dao Ancestor explained simply. Four faint sword shadows appeared at his side, and beneath them was a array chart. Although the sword array was an illusion conjured by thought, boundless and horrifying killing intent appeared from within it, as though it was about to destroy space itself.

Numinous Treasure Dao Ancestor stopped after a short explanation. He could tell that his new disciple was already completely lost.

"Alright." Numinous Treasure Dao Ancestor smiled.

Qin Yun snapped out of his reverie. The last bits had left him utterly confused and in a daze. When he jolted awake, he immediately stood up and bowed. "Master."

"I’ll stop here. Is there anything you might want to ask?" inquired Numinous Treasure Dao Ancestor.

"I do have questions," said Qin Yun respectfully. He knew that this was the only time he could learn from his master in person and was naturally not going to waste it.

After a few questions, Numinous Treasure Dao Ancestor gave his answers before stopping.

"There’s no need to continue asking. What remains is for you to figure it out yourself. Only by doing so will your progress truly be your own. Understanding it on a superficial level might not mean that you truly comprehend it at its core," said Numinous Treasure Dao Ancestor.

"Yes." Qin Yun did not dare raise any further questions.

"You were originally an itinerant cultivator and had no master to guide you. You are used to creating your own sword moves, building your own foundations," said Numinous Treasure Dao Ancestor with a smile. "Creating your sword moves yourself is naturally a good thing, but to keep blindly creating alone while cultivating makes it easy to go astray without knowing it."

Qin Yun was alarmed as he said politely, "Master, please teach me!"

He had been creating moves for himself all this while...

During the dream of a hundred years, his first stepping into the Dao gave him a Dao domain of ten kilometers. In his second stepping into the Dao, it reached fifteen kilometers.

Thankfully, he had another chance to step into the Dao again after returning to his actual body, allowing him to build a very robust foundation.

He had been influenced by a dream of a hundred years that was left behind by Buddha Amita. In the first world, the bloodlust in him was extremely intense. In the second world, his heart was still as an ice mirror. This resulted in his stepping into the Dao to go slightly astray both times.

But if not for those opportunities...

His current foundation would probably pale in comparison to what it was even if he worked hard at stepping into the Dao back in his homeworld.

This was the flaw that was constantly present in self-creation! Having a dream of a hundred years was equivalent to having a senior guide him. With a master or a senior guiding him, his foundation would turn out completely differently.

"Go to the Myriad Dharma Repository. Choose a Sword Dao manual at the Golden Immortal level that suits you the best. Make it your focus. Then, choose another few Sword Dao manuals at the Golden Immortal level to study on the side. Just focus on cultivating and, one day, when you reach the point of being at the pinnacle of what the Skyimmortal realm has to offer, you can fuse what you have learned into one. That will be the moment your Golden Immortal Dao fruit will be ripe," said Numinous Treasure Dao Ancestor. "Only the piling of soil results in a mountain, the combinations of tiny tributary streams combine to form a raging river. Studying the Sword Dao manuals of seniors helps you accumulate more knowledge. Without the accumulation of knowledge, how are you to create things yourself? Do you understand?"

Qin Yun brightened up as he said respectfully, "Yes, I understand."

"Since you wish to create a sword immortal Dharmic formulation yourself, you will be stuck in the Essence Soul realm for quite some time," said Numinous Treasure Dao Ancestor. "It’s also wise for you to choose a potent divine power. Cultivate well."

"Yes," said Qin Yun politely.

"You may leave," said Numinous Treasure Dao Ancestor.

"Your humble disciple bids you farewell."

Qin Yun took a few steps back in retreat and walked out the door that appeared behind him.

Numinous Treasure Dao Ancestor sat there, smiling before he vanished into thin air.

The Green Touring Palace’s grand hall became an ordinary hall. It no longer had that endless feel of the cosmos.

If the Dao Ancestor did not appear, his disciples could not meet him even if they wanted.

...

"Senior Brother Qin Yun, this will be your residence in Green Touring Palace from now on." The Dao Child brought Qin Yun to an ordinary courtyard which had three buildings.

Qin Yun found the place surprisingly ordinary. However, Green Touring Palace’s spiritual energies were astoundingly rich. Just breathing them in left one’s body refreshed and comfortable. It was as though he was constantly consuming rare treasures and felt immensely ethereal. It allowed him to be more efficient when meditating.

"It’s really a good place for cultivation," marveled Qin Yun.

The Dao Child flipped his hand and handed a book to Qin Yun. "Senior Brother Qin, this manual records some of the important places in Green Touring Palace. You can take your time to read through it carefully. Also, the most important spot to Green Touring Palace disciples is the Myriad Dharma Repository. It would be wise for you to remember that well."

"Myriad Dharma Repository?" Qin Yun recalled what the Dao Ancestor had told him.

"Yes." The Dao Child nodded. "The Myriad Dharma Repository holds a collection of countless manuals from all over the Three Realms. It has a total of nine floors. The ninth floor is only open to those who have attained a Golden Immortal Dao fruit. Disciples are free to enter the other eight floors. You can read any of the Dharmic formulations there."

"I can read any of them?" Qin Yun was astonished. "All of them?"

The more powerful a manual, the more it incurred the envy of the heavens.

Therefore, the number of reads was usually limited.

"Yes, you can read them all," said the Dao Child with a smile. "No matter how envious the Heavenly Dao is, the manuals in our Myriad Dharma Repository are immune to its wrath."

"The first eight floors hold a collection of countless precious manuals from the Three Realms. Humans, demons, dragons, and even Buddhist manuals are in there. There are naturally all sorts of artifact refinement, alchemical methods, array formation arts, and talisman arts in there too," said the Dao Child. "It includes some of the most potent divine powers and Dharma spells in the Three Realms. You are free to read them all. Most of them can be cultivated straight to the Golden Immortal level."

"Master has countless manuals in his collection and they are all freely available to his disciples," said the Dao Child with a smile. "The top Dharmic formulations and divine powers are there for you. How far you can cultivate them to depends on you."

Qin Yun was truly astonished.

This was what it meant to be a personal disciple of the Dao Ancestor!

In the past, he was poor as an itinerant cultivator. Now, it was as though he had walked into a treasure mountain!

However, among the tens of thousands of Green Touring Palace disciples, there were some who remained mediocre and were only at the ordinary Skyimmortal level. Clearly, the individual mattered more than how good the conditions were.

"Then, Senior Brother Qin Yun, I shall take my leave," said the Dao Child with a smile.

"Thank you, Junior Brother," said Qin Yun.

As he watched the Dao Child leave, Qin Yun waved his hand as the courtyard’s door closed slowly.

Although he wished to immediately visit the Myriad Dharma Repository to choose Sword Dao manuals for his primary and secondary focus, and select potent divine powers, Qin Yun still had many thoughts clashing in his mind after hearing his master’s preaching of the Dao.

"I shall meditate for a period of time before I visit the Myriad Dharma Repository." Qin Yun entered a room and began a seclusive meditation.