Chapter 45 - Sword Token (1/2)

Beads of cold sweat percolated on Qiu Jin'er's forehead. Her mother had really stepped it up; she even dared to set her sights on the secret art of the Swords Gate headmaster.

"The headmaster's [Great Boundless Sword Qi] will definitely be passed down to his successor, while the headmaster is now old, he might die anytime now. Therefore, he will definitely leave down a written record of it, a medium that contains the secret of his [Great Boundless Sword Qi]."

The beautiful woman pondered and thought, "I've searched the whole golden summit and paid countless visits to the library, but I still couldn't find where he hid the medium at, the only thing I've found is this sword token. But it's utterly useless, and it contains only an ordinary sword art that goes by the name of [Geng Jin Sword Qi]. I peeped at headmaster diligently sculpting this sword token, and I thought it would be some good stuff, but who knew it was just an ordinary sword art like this [Geng Jin Sword Qi]…"

Qiu Jin'er took over the sword token and looked at it. It was really the [Geng Jin Sword Qi].

Geng Jin Swords Qi was one of the most common sword art among the Swords Gate, Qiu Jin'er had once practiced it, it could not be considered as a profound art at all.

"Mother, even if I don't practice the [Great Boundless Sword Qi], I would still not be weaker than the others. There is no need for mother to worry about me, as long as I am outstanding enough, the headmaster would surely pass the [Great Boundless Sword Qi] to me." Qiu Jin'er smiled and reassured her mother.

The beautiful woman shook her head and said solemnly, "It may be true, but things are different now. If the headmaster is still young and lively, he will have more than enough time to select the next in line. There will be time for you to grow and compete with the four young successor candidates. But now the headmaster is old, and he will have to push forward the timeframe within which he decides the next headmaster by at least a few years. You entered the scene later than those four young and formidable opponents of yours, they are already strong and well-known Qi Practitioners, you will not have enough time to stand out. The only way to stand out and chase up to Fang Jiange and the like… is to take a shortcut!"

"I don't want to stand out either…" Qiu Jin'er mumbled.

"If you don't stand out, how are you going to remedy your leg?"

The beautiful woman sighed, she carried Qiu Jin'er and placed her on the wooden wheelchair and pushed her out, she said, "You were born with the Wood Innate Spirit, the wood element in your body is too overpowering causing your legs to be disabled from birth. I've asked the You Yu Clan grand elder, and he said that the Wood Innate Spirit is both a blessing and curse. You are born with a heavily concentrated wood element Qi that also took a toll on your body. Plus, you didn't make it in time to cultivate at an early age. Hence, the wood element Qi accumulated in greater quantities. As the Wood Innate Spirit is the God of Tree, when you were born, the tree god will have to find a way to take root. Your legs are the roots, your body the trunk, and your head is the tree crown. It is still fine if your legs are disabled, but a few years later, and the condition might spread to the rest of your body. Then you will be a living dead, and there's nothing you can control other than your soul."

Qiu Jin'er stayed silent, moments later she insisted, "Mother, you don't have to push me, I am a Qi Practitioner, I can fly even without my legs."

The beautiful woman shook her head and insisted on pushing the wheelchair as she said, "Only with the increase of your prowess can you resolve the oppressive Wood Qi in your body and wrest back full autonomy of your body. But the Wood Qi is too heavily concentrated in your body… accumulated too much. With your current cultivation speed, god knows how long it would take to resolve the Wood Qi. If the Wood Qi solidifies your body, then you… If you can practice the headmaster's [Great Boundless Sword Qi], your cultivation speed will be crazily fast. Once you are cured, why would mother still stop you from leaving the palace?"

Qiu Jin'er gripped the sword token tightly in her hands, and she maintained a contemplative silence.

"Let's go and bathe in the sunlight, look at your face, all pale and white."

The beautiful woman pushed her out of the palace, she crouched down and tapped on Qiu Jin'er's legs, she asked, "Any feelings?"

Qiu Jin'er shook her head.

The woman then pinched her waist, "Pain?"

"Pain." Qiu Jin'er answered.

The beautiful woman heaved a breath of relief, and her face suffused a pensive smile, "Good, your waist is still no affected yet, if it is, then it will be very dangerous. The waist is not far away from the heart. If your heart is affected, then there would be no recourse anymore. When you are done resting, I will go to the golden summit again… I refuse to believe that I can't find where the hidden [Great Boundless Sword Qi] is at!"

The smile on Qiu Jin'er face was sweet and warm but beneath her clothes at her waist were purplish and livid bruises that belied the grace she showed on her face. Her mother's pinches didn't cause the injuries; they were a result of her own desperate inflictions.

Her waist had long since been numbed—she could not feel any pain at all, no matter how hard she pinched.

The next day, Zhong Yue met with Qiu Jin'er again. The young maiden's soul flew over, and she danced in the midst of the lightning like a gracious fairy; she was practicing an art of the sword.

The sword art she cast was sharp and intense. The golden Sword Qi curled and intertwined with the lightning, it painted a very astonishing scene, even more profound than the [Spring Thunderbolt Sword Skill] he has learned from Elder Pu.

"Junior Martial Sister Jin'er, what sword art is this?" Zhong Yue was surprised and asked curiously.

Qiu Jin'er was even more surprised, she said, "This is the [Geng Jin Sword Qi], most of the Qi Practitioners in Swords Gate have learned this before, hasn't senior martial brother practice it before?"

Zhong Yue was ashamed; he was never a Qi Practitioner, how could he have the qualification to learn the Qi Practitioner leveled sword art, [Geng Jin Sword Qi].

I guess only this silly little Junior Martial Sister Jin'er couldn't tell that I am not Qi Practitioner. Zhong Yue said in his heart.

"Wait for a moment, senior martial brother!"

Qiu Jin'er's soul flew back to her palace and returned moments later, bringing a sword token along with her. She smiled and said, "Senior Martial Brother Zhong, this sword token contains the art of [Geng Jin Sword Qi], you only need to 'look' at it with your heart and feel it, then you will be able to learn it."

Zhong Yue accepted the sword token and his sights fixated on it. There were sword marks disorderly placed all over the sword token, and it was hard to tell how would one learn the [Geng Jin Sword Qi] from the sword token, his brows furrowed in confusion.

But it was not long before Zhong Yue's heart suddenly thumped quicker, the cluttered sword marks on the sword token magnified before his eyes as if they were actual slashes of sword rays that sliced the heaven and earth in half!

A thrust that caused the stars to fall, a slash that demarcated life from death, a slice that divided Yin and Yang from the Void!