Chapter 167: Breaking Through (III)

Teacher and disciple couldn’t help but laugh.

“It’s better for Li Meng to take things slow and incrementally improve her strength,” Yuan Shuo chuckled. “I also don’t recommend your current course of action, by the way. I’m afraid you won’t be able to cry in the future if you produce too many tears now.”

“There’s no scientific basis for that, teacher. There is no finite amount of tears, the body continuously produces them...”

“You lil bastard!” Yuan Shuo cursed with a smile.

Do you think I don’t know? I’m just making a joke.

Li Hao took his teacher’s advice and slowly soaked his tear glands with internal force. It was safer than directly incorporating it into his eyes, but still dangerous nonetheless. For those who walked the path of martial dao, however, a bit of danger was mandatory. Even if he ended up ruining his tear glands, he just wouldn’t be able to cry in the future.

𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Bloody tears welled up in his eyes, a particularly horrifying sight!

Yuan Shuo cocked his head and silently watched his student.

However much blood you shed today is however much you gain. Li Hao, I hope you understand that the best teacher and most abundant energy is still less than internal strength. And you... are much stronger than I anticipated.

A true powerhouse was never strong on the outside, he was strong when it came to cultivation level. Did those so-called Solars and above necessarily possess the heart of a powerhouse?

The professor thought through a great deal in this moment. He hadn’t thought that the normally unassuming and polite Li Hao would be able to endure this kind of suffering and pain.

When the young man’s vision was blurry from tears, Yuan Shuo gently broke the silence. “Have you decided what path you’ll take in the future?”

“I have.” Li Hao smiled through his tears. “My first major goal is that Red Moon must be toppled! My second is to understand what the eight trigrams are. I want to see whatever and whoever’s inside. My third is that I want to provide for my elderly teacher and make sure you receive a fitting sendoff...”

The fuck??

Yuan Shuo nearly erupted out loud.

Who are you cursing to die?!

“Forget about the third, I can live to at least one hundred after setting foot into Dominator. Send me off after you live to that age. I even want to find a wife for you to respect!”

“...cough! Cough cough cough!” Li Hao nearly choked on his spit.

Hey, I mean what I say! A final disciple is supposed to care for their master in their last days and take care of the final arrangements. Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do?

Teacher and disciple chatted and laughed, distracting Li Hao from his pain. The young man knew that his teacher was teasing him on purpose to help him forget the suffering from training. He wouldn’t breathe a word of his anguish, he would just remember it. He would remember that Red Moon brought him this kind of pain. Yes, Red Moon. He would remember it with every fiber of his being!

After an indeterminate period of time, Li Hao’s tears finally stopped flowing when the scarlet shadow’s power was almost exhausted. He was almost out of tears as it were—he was severely dehydrated. His tongue and lips were dry to the point of cracking, but his high spirits could not be denied.

Everything seemed to be brighter in front of him. He’d recovered his previous eyesight and could see further and brighter than before!

He closed his eyes, then shot out a ray of killing intent when he opened them. It wasn’t the kind that he’d sensed earlier, but a tangible ray of killing intent resulting from internal force!

Bam!

Internal force oscillated through the surroundings and hit Panther. The little black dog turned around to look at Li Hao and wagged its tail. It didn’t hurt and was actually slightly comfortable, like a massage. It felt good!

What’s up?

“This is enough, even if we don’t obtain anything else tonight!” Yuan Shuo flashed a thankful smile. His injuries were healed and Li Hao had broken through three levels in a row! The lad had gone through mid Sunderer to late Sunderer and could be considered peak Sunderer since he possessed an aura. This was much faster than he’d anticipated; Yuan Shuo was highly gratified.

“Am I late Sunderer, teacher?” Li Hao frowned. “My killing intent is so weak that it doesn’t feel like I’ve improved. I sensed something different when I was mid Sunderer...”

“It’s different!” Yuan Shuo chuckled. “This is only the beginning, what you need to do next is consolidate all of your internal force!” The professor debated how to teach the next lesson.

“Please enlighten me, teacher.”

“Use the consciousness to observe form!” Yuan Shuo’s voice rang with authority. “This is the prep work for becoming a Dominator. Take me, for instance. My consciousness is as if animals and the aura of the Five Styles. You might sometimes feel that I am a tiger or a bear during battle. That is not a delusion, but the manifestation of my consciousness!

“Liu Long, for example, fashions his after the waves and tidal wave. It is not your imagination either, but an exhibition of his observations.

“You will undergo the same experience in times to come. However, you will not be as Liu Long and directly set foot into Dominator because you are still a ways away. Though he was yet to comprehend the aura before, he’d finished consolidating his internal force and was skilled in his cultivation level. He lacked only the final observation of form.”

Li Hao only seemed to partially understand and quickly asked, “Teacher, do you mean that I need to simulate the form of the earth to consolidate my internal force and then break through to Dominator?”

“Not necessarily.”

The young man blinked.

Not necessarily?

“There’s no rule that there must be one kind of aura. For me, the convergence of all five animal auras makes for the Five Styles!” Yuan Shuo explained. “Although the key to your advancement may be to understand the aura of the earth, don’t forget that your heritage may be a family of swordsmen! I think it might be more appropriate for you to meditate upon a sword, like the one you just saw! The sword that slays and can sunder heaven, earth, and immortality!

“Which do you think is stronger, that sword or the earth?”

Li Hao thought deeply for a moment before answering solemnly, “That sword! I think that sword can cut through the earth and annihilate anything that stands in its way!”

“And do you think the earth is more powerful at offense or that sword?”

“The sword, of course!”

“Then you have your answer. Observe the sword if you wish to pursue mighty offense. Of course, you can also meditate upon the earth at the same time. The earth can focus on defense while the longsword is adept at offense. That will ensure you possess both defense and offense.” The professor displayed an exceedingly high level of knowledge as he shone a light on the way forward.

“I should not let you be distracted at this point as you’ve already grasped an initial understanding of the aura of earth. You should deepen that comprehension. However, this is a rare opportunity. I did not personally witness that stroke, but I can already tell that its power is limitless. Add to that the fact that you own your family’s sword... I cannot bear to have you forgo this opportunity.”

The gaze in Li Hao’s eyes shifted as he didn’t blindly accept everything his teacher said, but Yuan Shuo did indeed make sense. The particulars of that sword were impossible to imagine. If he could deploy the same stroke, would there be a need to fear Ying Hongyue?

“Where should I start, teacher?”

“With the sword in your hand!” Yuan Shuo pointed at the weapon that Li Hao was keeping enclosed. “You should perceive the treasure first and then consider the might of that sword. Have your internal force slowly converge as one and transform into that sword. Not just internal force, but also your aura!

“You will have succeeded when your aura is like a sword. That will be an initial completion of all training that should occur at the Sunderer stage. You can gradually fortify what you know as you officially set foot into Dominator.” Yuan Shuo gave a detailed overview of the training process from Sunderer to Dominator. He worried that he wouldn’t have a second chance to explain as the little fellow improved too quickly.

“A sword...” Li Hao caressed the small sword in his arms. He was familiar with it.

Too familiar.

He’d worn it around his neck for a dozen years and it’d always been with him. He didn’t even need to look at it to know what it looked like.

Perceive it?

What was to perceive? Plainly not its shape. Teacher wanted him to sense the killing qi of the sword, its strength, its attacks. But this one... wasn’t a threat at all.

The little sword stirred in his hands as his thoughts flitted from idea to idea. A thought struck the young man and he abruptly gripped the sword, blossoming with internal force and thinking back to the scene of the other sword.

To sever heaven and earth!

A mighty sword stroke!

Hummm!

The short sword seemed to cut through the void and faint sword qi hung in the air. Panther was long out of sight before the stroke landed, while Yuan Shuo watched with bright eyes. He knew that his student could do it! And this was just the beginning.

Li Hao burst forth with different might each time he swung the sword. The little sword was only the length of a pair of chopsticks, but deployed longer sword light each time Li Hao slashed with it. This was the effect of internal force melding with the sword.

Once, twice, thrice...

Stroke after stroke followed as Li Hao envisioned the scene he’d seen in the eight trigrams. Not only had he not forgotten the blow, but it was growing clearer in his mind’s eye.

Clang!

The little sword rang happily and trembled, emitting a metallic hum. Inspiration struck Li Hao and he turned the sword on his teacher. Experience was the best mentor!

Yuan Shuo smiled and rose, answering with a punch from a prowling tiger.

Teacher and disciple exchanged a furious flurry of blows in the karst cave. Yuan Shuo avoided meeting the weapon head-on as it was too keen. Although he had many ways to eliminate Li Hao, being too brutal was out of the question as this was an exercise in feeding moves to his disciple. A teacher skilled at imparting knowledge could draw a student’s strengths out of them, not stymie them with no place to showcase themselves.

“The sword is the gentleman of all weapons. This is not meant for you to be a gentleman, but that you must be quick and ruthless with a sword. Your opponent does not suffer if you kill with one stroke—they die in a quick and straightforward manner. That is the manner of a gentleman...”

Li Hao’s jaw dropped and he almost faltered in his movements!

Teacher, don’t misguide your student! Is that really how one interprets the meaning behind “gentleman of all weapons”? Attacking swiftly, accurately, and decisively to kill the enemy with one stroke so they feel no pain... And isn’t the saying to be the lord of all weapons?

Yuan Shuo sent him flying with a punch and frowned. “It’s just an analogy. The point to focus on is that you must be swift, accurate, and unrelenting! You need to hit their critical points with one stroke and kill them after one blow! That’s how you can understand it. Not inflicting unnecessary pain on your enemies is also the hallmark of a gentleman, do you understand?

“So just think of it in that way. Your goal now is to kill me with one stroke, so bring up your speed!”

Li Hao moved faster without a word, soundlessly stabbing forward with speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness! Every stroke targeted Yuan Shuo’s vital points, his internal force projected out of his body and sword qi erupted. The short sword that measured the length of a chopstick blazed with sword light a meter long.