Watching the Mountain

Chapter 277: Chapter 169: Imparting the Sword

This aura was hotter than a scorching sun, carrying a fearless, unflinching, and unstoppable momentum. It seemed poised to burn everything to cinders, making those who faced it feel an involuntary chill and lose all thought of resistance.

This was a sword technique that targeted one’s will. The scorching sun it unleashed burned the enemy’s fighting spirit, a flame that could not be resisted by sheer willpower alone.

Even if your will is forged of iron, I can melt you into liquid steel.

’So strong.’ This was what Li Daoyi and the others were feeling at that moment.

The three of them were all heaven-gifted prodigies with limitless potential and exceptional Comprehension. They had watched with perfect clarity as Xu Ran executed his swordsmanship, and they could distinctly feel the power of this technique.

The group stared at Xu Ran, their expressions filled with shock. To witness such a powerful sword technique firsthand was, for them, a stroke of good fortune.

After a long moment, Li Daoyi was the first to compose himself. He looked at Xu Ran and asked,

”Such a powerful sword technique... why have I never seen you perform it before, Elder? Is this something you created recently?”

Chu Lingxiao and Luo Qianxue also stared at Xu Ran with looks of anticipation.

As for Lu Mingchen, his mouth hung open and his face was blank. He didn’t understand what he had just seen, but he knew it was incredible. Unlike the other three, his only impression of Xu Ran’s swordsmanship was that it was extremely powerful. Beyond that, he couldn’t grasp any of the intricacies.

’But wasn’t it normal for his Grand-Master’s swordsmanship to be powerful? After all, this was his Grand-Master.’

Xu Ran smiled at their reactions and nodded. He made no attempt to hide anything, replying with a hint of excitement in his voice,

”That’s right. A moment ago, I was looking at the spirited, passionate smiles on your faces when I had a flash of insight. And from that, this sword technique was born.”

”This technique, ’Scorching Sun,’ was inspired by all of you. For that, I have to thank you. If I hadn’t seen you young people, burning as brightly as scorching suns yourselves, I would never have been able to grasp this sword technique.”

Hearing this, Li Daoyi and the others were dumbfounded.

’It was actually related to them?’

Even though they were heaven-gifted prodigies, they were at the center of it all and couldn’t quite process it, leaving them feeling bewildered.

’They didn’t recall doing anything special, just chatting as they normally would. Could that really help someone gain enlightenment?’

’Or was gaining enlightenment really that simple?’

The group looked at Xu Ran, slightly aghast. Then, a playful glint appeared in Luo Qianxue’s eyes. She smiled sweetly at Xu Ran and said,

”Elder Hidden Mountain, I seem to recall you saying that your Comprehension was very poor, didn’t you?”

Xu Ran chuckled. ”My Comprehension is indeed poor. But some things are like that—enlightenment just comes naturally.”

As his words fell, he could clearly see their expressions stiffen.

Luo Qianxue quickly composed herself and exclaimed in an exaggerated tone,

”That may be so, but we respect you so much, Elder, yet you used us to gain enlightenment! Isn’t that a little unfair? As compensation, could you tell us how you did it?”

She finished with a mischievous wink at Xu Ran.

The moment she finished speaking, Li Daoyi, who was standing to the side, propped his chin on his hand and said thoughtfully,

”I suppose the Elder saw our youthful vigor and was reminded of his own younger days. A flood of emotions must have washed over him, leading to this spontaneous enlightenment.”

After the initial shock, he had calmed down to think it through and arrived at this conclusion.

Beside him, Chu Lingxiao also nodded in profound agreement, his voice deep as he said,

”The Dao is found in everyday life. Nearly all Cultivators know this principle, but those who can truly gain enlightenment from the small details of daily life are few and far between.”

”Most instead use their own Cultivation Techniques and Magic Techniques as a foundation to actively resonate with the Heaven and Earth Dao.”

”The Elder’s Comprehension is by no means poor.”

He finished speaking and gazed at Xu Ran with admiration. ’To think that this Elder, merely by seeing our group and recalling his own youth, could so effortlessly grasp that surge of emotion and turn it into enlightenment... that is truly incredible.’

’He had tried this method of gaining enlightenment before, but it was extremely difficult and didn’t suit him at all. He was better suited to finding insight through combat.’

Hearing their dead-serious analysis, Luo Qianxue shot them an annoyed glare. ”Just had to show off how smart you are, didn’t you? As if anyone here doesn’t already know that.”

She pursed her lips. ”Now that you’ve said it all, what’s left for Elder Hidden Mountain to share with us?”

At her complaint, Li Daoyi and Chu Lingxiao’s expressions froze. They instantly understood what Luo Qianxue was getting at.

’She had asked her question to prompt Elder Hidden Mountain to share his personal experience and insights. Now that the two of them had analyzed it so thoroughly, it would be awkward to ask him to elaborate, wouldn’t it?’

Xu Ran let out a hearty laugh at the scene. He found it impossible to dislike Luo Qianxue, a girl who was impish and a little sly, but also wonderfully straightforward.

He waved his hand gently. ”It’s fine. You just want to know about my personal experience, right? I’ll share it with you.”

His tone then shifted, growing more serious. ”And not just that. If you think my swordsmanship is any good, I can teach it to you—not only the ’Scorching Sun’ technique I just grasped, but the other three sword forms as well.”

Hearing this, Luo Qianxue cried out in delight, ”Really?”

But as soon as the word was out, she came to her senses and quickly waved her hands in refusal. ”No, no! Elder, you should just teach Fellow Daoist Li. Chu Ice Cube and I are fine.”

’She desperately wanted to learn, but she wasn’t a member of the Profound Pure Sect, after all. She couldn’t possibly accept such an offer.’

Chu Lingxiao also took a step back, his intention obvious: he too was refusing.

Xu Ran gave a faint smile at their reactions. ”It’s alright. This is swordsmanship I created myself; it doesn’t belong to any Sect’s legacy. We were fated to meet, and I’ve taken a liking to you all. If I want to teach you, I’ll teach you. It’s no big deal.”

He was speaking from the heart. Seeing Luo Qianxue, Chu Lingxiao, Li Daoyi, and Lu Mingchen—four youths from different Sects, each with their own personality, yet all equally full of spirited energy—made him feel as if he were back in his previous life, filling him with a warm, vicarious affection.

It was rare to see such pure friendship in a place like the Cultivation Realm. He didn’t know what fate awaited these four young people, but he sincerely hoped they could remain this way forever.

Therefore, he was willing to follow his heart and lend them a hand, hoping it would help them go farther on their paths.

For a Cultivator, following one’s heart is of the utmost importance.

Luo Qianxue still tried to refuse. ”I appreciate that, but...”

But before she could finish, Xu Ran cut her off. ”What’s this? Weren’t you the one just confidently proclaiming that the future belongs to you, with all that talk about changing the world? And now you don’t even have the courage to accept my swordsmanship?”

At this, Li Daoyi stepped in to persuade them. ”Since this is the Elder’s wish, Fellow Daoist Qianxue, Fellow Daoist Chu, as his juniors, it would be more respectful for us to obey than to decline.”

”Is that really okay?” Luo Qianxue blinked, her resolve clearly wavering.

After a moment of silence, Chu Lingxiao stepped forward, raised his hands in a solemn salute to Xu Ran, and said, ”Thank you, Elder.”

’Since both Elder Hidden Mountain and Li Daoyi had put it that way, he wouldn’t refuse any longer. He was truly captivated by the prospect of learning the Elder’s four sword forms.’

”Chu Ice Cube, you accepted just like that?” Luo Qianxue shot him a glare. Then, she hurriedly copied Chu Lingxiao, performing a solemn salute to Xu Ran before saying with a wide grin,

”In that case, thank you very much, Elder! Hehe.”

After speaking, she didn’t forget to add a compliment. ”Elder Hidden Mountain, you’re so generous!”

Xu Ran shook his head with a smile at her impish antics, then waved his hand and said,

”Don’t be so quick with the praise. I need you to promise me one thing: you must never use the swordsmanship you learn from me against anyone from my Profound Pure Sect. This, of course, is limited only to the techniques I teach you. I won’t make any demands regarding anything else.”

Luo Qianxue and Chu Lingxiao were taken aback by his words, their thoughts yanked back to reality. They belonged to different Sects. If, in the future, they were ever forced to meet on the battlefield...

Sometimes, a Sect’s official stance was not something that could be swayed by personal will.

Then, an idea flashed in Luo Qianxue’s mind. She looked cheekily at Chu Lingxiao and Li Daoyi and proposed,

”Hey, we’re all the current Chief Disciples of our respective Sects. Why don’t we take the lead and organize more interactions between our disciples? We could improve relations and hopefully avoid ever reaching a point we’d all regret.”

”How, specifically?” Chu Lingxiao asked, ever concise.

Li Daoyi added thoughtfully, ”Perhaps we could start by having disciples from our Sects form teams to undertake missions together?”

”That’s a great idea!” Luo Qianxue exclaimed. The group immediately launched into an enthusiastic discussion, completely forgetting about learning the swordsmanship.

Only after the better part of the day had passed, and Xu Ran saw that their discussion was winding down, did he finally speak up.

”Alright now, do you still want to learn this swordsmanship or not?”

Hearing him, Luo Qianxue tapped her forehead and cried out, ”Oh, right! I almost forgot! Yes, of course, we want to learn! Please teach us, Elder.”

She bowed deeply to Xu Ran, her attitude utterly sincere.

Xu Ran waved his hand. ”Hold on. Your talent is impressive, but learning my swordsmanship will still take some time. When were you originally planning on returning? Don’t you need to notify your Sects?”

Luo Qianxue and Chu Lingxiao were not, after all, from the Profound Pure Sect. Although in the Cultivation Realm, it was common for cultivators to be away for decades or even centuries, they were still just young disciples.

They had already been at the Profound Pure Sect for several months, which was a considerable amount of time for young disciples. If they stayed much longer, their respective Sects would likely start to worry.

However, they were Chief Disciples, and they had Dao Protectors accompanying them as guests at the Profound Pure Sect.

At Xu Ran’s reminder, Luo Qianxue and Chu Lingxiao froze for a moment before it dawned on them. They quickly took out their Communication Jade Talismans.

Only after they had contacted their respective Sects did Xu Ran smile faintly and say to them,

”Alright then, let’s begin.”