Peak Master Yang stood up and stared at the battle forum. “How is that possible?”
His disbelief was evident on his face, and his eyes were full of shock.
Tianzhu Peak, Heaven and Earth Palace.
“Senior brother?” Sage Qing Yang looked at the dragon and phoenix on the battle forum in astonishment.
“The dragon and the phoenix are the representations. The yin and yang are the true wills behind them,” Sage Mo Bei said while his eyes fixed on the battle forum. “The transformation is mutual and free-flowing. This is the power of the true will.”
“But, he’s only in the Beginning Foundation Plane!” said Sage Qing Yang, his throat dry.
“And he is also our junior brother.” Sage Mo Bei exhaled deeply.
Yunchao Peak, Cloud Gathering Hall.
“And what a little junior brother he has been,” Peak Master Jiang said. “We have to find a chance to get in touch with him and see if he is willing to come to Yunchao Peak. If he’s willing, everything will be easy to negotiate.”
“I’m afraid Daoxuan Peak will not consent to that,” Elder Zhou said with a resigned smile. “Even with true will present, albeit a little superficial, there is no fault with it. There is no way that Daoxuan Peak will be willing to miss out on such a character.”
“That’s a pity, then!” Peak Master Jiang shook his head and sighed. “In the end, we lack the opportunity.”
Everyone who was present also felt pity for missing such an opportunity.
Similar dialogues took place within each branch.
If they had been envious of the fact that Daoxuan Peak had someone like the Little Master-Uncle, these branches were now truly jealous.
Little Master-Uncle was not only qualified but also talented, easy to talk to, and fond of instructing disciples.
These kinds of characters were the talent that was sorely lacking among the branches!
Now that he even had a handle on the true will, in a form that was clearly more than just a rudimentary form—it was something that had been developed for a while.
This kind of excellent figure actually ended up in Daoxuan Peak?
Nascent Zhenjuns from many peaks were sighing. Some, who had stronger tempers, were already cursing under their breaths.
Not only were they cursing their own elders for being too weak to nab him for themselves, but they were also cursing Fuyunzi for being a bastard.
Even if Headmaster Fuyunzi heard them, he would not be showing up to confront their ire or cruising for a bruising.
He could only stand silently on top of the cloud, watching the young man on the battle forum.
In the battle forum, under the entanglement of the fire dragon and the ice phoenix, the Five Bamboo Sword shot out with a booming sound.
After it got closer, the three starlight swords broke inch by inch and shattered into bits and pieces of starlight.
Wang Yao spat out a mouthful of blood as he looked at Chen Jingzhai in disbelief.
“Master-Uncle?” he called out.
“Are you seriously hurt?” Chen Jingzhai waved his hand immediately, and the Five Bamboo Sword stopped dead in its tracks in mid-air.
“Master-Uncle,” Wang Yao said with a sniffling undertone in his voice, “is that the true will?”
“It’s precisely the true will,” Chen Jingzhai said reservedly. “One day, while cultivating swordsmanship after drinking, I thought of alchemy again. Then, after I finished with alchemy, I had an epiphany and realized the true will through a confluence of circumstances.”
“So, the Master-Uncle has been playing with us all this time!” Wang Yao had a look of sad indignation as he was secretly lamenting.
That was the true will!
Spells and swordsmanship could manifest the perception physically. Whatever one realizes, it could be manifested in physical form as well. This was the Dharma Intent and the sword’s will.
These two types of inception could add blessings to spells and swordsmanship, and their power was considerable.
True will was even more mysterious.
The so-called true will was when the perfection of the physical body had been accomplished, and the innate nature of the spiritual power had returned to its true form.
Simply put, it was the end product after the power of the physical celestial bones had a chance to blend with the spiritual power inside the body.
It sounded simple, but even the Nascent Zhenjuns found it difficult to realize.
And once the true will had been comprehended, there were countless benefits in the future when reaching the stage of the Nascent Zhenjun.
Basically, it was the key to transforming from the Nascent Plane to the Spirit Plane.
More importantly, after realizing the true will, one’s combat power would be freed from all limitations.
Even in the Beginning Foundation Plane, one could display combat power that far exceeded the capability of the Foundation Establishment Plane.
Chen Jingzhai’s dragon and phoenix unity was the most obvious example.
Under the bearing of the Five Bamboo Sword, the power of true will pervaded. Thus, the dragon and the phoenix were born.
The dragon and the phoenix were no longer just illusions, but real powers of dragon and phoenix that were derived from the shadows.
This was a truly domineering blow that broke Wang Yao’s starlight swords.
“I was not playing with you guys!” Chen Jingzhai shook his head and continued. “This is the first time I have used the power of true will, only because disciple nephew Wang’s starlight swords were powerful beyond measure.”
“No matter what, it’s me who lost this time!” Wang Yao said with a wry smile. “And I deserved to lose. Once the true will is unleashed, there is no way to compete with it. Congratulations to Master-Uncle, who has taken the first place at the battle forum this time.”
“I don’t care about the rankings at the battle forum. I came this time only to experience the genius talents from each peak,” Chen Jingzhai said with a smile. “It’s also to hone the swordsmanship. This time, I have benefited a lot.”
Wang Yao bowed with his hands clasped in front of him and turned to leave the Eight Trigrams Platform.
It was better when Chen Jingzhai said nothing. But what he said had depressed Wang Yao even more.
The Master-Uncle had come prepared, and he didn’t take the battle forum as a big challenge.
This was probably because he had true strength as his basis!
When Wang Yao thought of how ambitious he was when he looked forward to the opening of the battle forum, intending to snatch the top spot at the battle forum this time, Wang Yao couldn’t help but laugh at himself. He was destined to lose, even from the very beginning.
After Wang Yao left, Chen Jingzhai sat cross-legged on the Eight Trigrams Platform to recuperate.
He was holding the jade token in his hand, and he did not choose to leave. After that, there was only one challenge left.
In fact, even if he did not choose to challenge, he would still be number one.
Wang Yao had lost to Chen Jingzhai. Even if his next challenge ended in victory, that would only mean a tie with Chen Jingzhai.
Because of his seniority and that Wang Yao lost to Chen Jingzhai, he could only ever be second.
This was also the reason why Wang Yao congratulated Chen Jingzhai earlier.
In reality, that was not Chen Jingzhai’s thinking.
In the stands, everyone remained very silent.
“True will!” Kong Guang said bitterly. “Among the celestial clans, who was able to reach true will while still in the Foundation Establishment Plane? The Little Master-Uncle is simply an anomaly. How on earth did he do it?”
“Perhaps this is talent,” Zhao Qinghe said. “The power of true will, from the celestial bones to the flesh and to the spiritual power, is indispensable in all of them. It cannot be achieved without great luck.”
Cultivation had always been just an excuse because the cultivators had always pursued the way of returning to innocence.
The true will was the beginning of returning to innocence and also the key to the return of innocence.
As long as he had grasped the true will, and as long as Chen Jingzhai did not perish in the future, it was only a matter of time before he elevated to the Spirit Plane.
“Junior Brother Zhao is correct,” Wang Yao said. “True will is difficult to achieve. This is the power that even Nascent Zhenjuns are pursuing. In fact, without celestial bones, the true will is simply out of reach.”
The innate physical body attracted the essence power between heaven and earth and drove the power of the celestial bones to integrate into the physical body.
Just this step alone had stumped most cultivators.
After that, the nature of spiritual power became the core of the core. This was done without any skills involved.
In the end, it could only be attributed to innate talent.
“Do you think Master-Uncle might be able to slay Golden Core Sages now?” Shen Yurong asked the question.
“If it’s a Golden Core Sage who has magic treasure in hand, it will be difficult,” Wang Yao pondered. “If it’s a Golden Core Sage with secret life-saving techniques or other escape techniques, it would be totally impossible.”
“Thank goodness, then,” Li Yifei breathed a sigh of relief. “Fortunately, Master-Uncle is still in the Beginning Foundation Plane.”
“However,” Zhang Kui asked, “why didn’t you use your magic treasure?”
“Disciples of the sword branch will not resort to other assistance!” Qiao Haisheng said.
One very embarrassing reason was that the magic treasures in the form of swords were actually very scarce.
And then, disciples of the sword branch needed to temper intrinsic items so that they simply had no way to afford the physical consumption of more magic treasures.
“Junior Brother Jiang is up!” Kong Guang said.
This attracted everyone’s attention. Sure enough, Jiang Youning had been sent up to the Eight Trigrams Platform by the jade token.
“Disciple nephew Jiang!” Chen Jingzhai greeted him with a smile.
“Little Master-Uncle.” Jiang Youning looked at him. “Why am I the last to come up?”
“Because in my eyes, you are the most dangerous,” Chen Jingzhai replied with a smile.
“Am I the most dangerous?” Jiang Youning said without any expression. “Master-Uncle has a very keen perception. What I have was only something begotten by chance. I did not expect Master-Uncle to see through it at a glance.”
“Let me see it!” Chen Jingzhai said with a smile.
“Very well!” Jiang Youning nodded.
The Restrictions quickly dissipated. Jiang Youning raised his hand, and a long sword condensed by water appeared.
He was not in a hurry to attack Chen Jingzhai but kept sculpting the long water-colored sword.
That long water-colored sword, under Jiang Youning’s careful sculpting, quickly transformed from its rough original form to something much more sophisticated.
Gradually, a transparent sword was born.
However, Jiang Youning did not make any moves because it was not finished yet.
A faint silver glow appeared within the sword, then slowly spread throughout the entire sword.
A unique aura permeated, and the entire Eight Trigrams Platform was full of solemnity.
“Sword’s will!” Wang Yao whispered.
“Sword’s will!” Likewise, Kong Guang murmured softly.
“Entry-level sword’s will!” Qiao Haisheng gritted his teeth.
Qiao Haisheng was the least of the disciples from the three major sword branches, possessing only a trace of a rudimentary sword’s will.
Kong Guang was about the same as Wang Yao. Both had mastered the basics of the sword’s will and were only one step away from the entry-level.
Just one step, but the difference was like that from earth to heaven.
Only after the entry-level sword’s will appeared did they finally understand why Jiang Youning was the last one to be picked.
They were all in the Advanced Foundation Plane. However, in terms of swordsmanship, they were inferior to Jiang Youning.
On the Eight Trigrams Platform, Jiang Youning looked at Chen Jingzhai and gave his warning, “Master-Uncle, watch out!”
Chen Jingzhai nodded. “Just do it!”
Jiang Youning stopped the chitchat and pointed with a finger. Then, the floating sword of silver brilliance rushed in for the kill.
Its speed was not much slower than the peacock light.
Even though Chen Jingzhai was prepared, he was still a little stunned.
Holding the White Jade Sword in his hand, he used the Dharma Intent to urge the sword vapor, and the icy sword vapor immediately spewed out.
[Psst!]
The icy sword vapor clashed with the sword of silver brilliance, and the icy sword vapor was extinguished without question.
Furthermore, the sword of silver brilliance also charged straight toward Chen Jingzhai.
When Chen Jingzhai was about to make a move using the White Jade Sword, his expression changed drastically.
He disappeared from where he was using the earth escape technique. When Chen Jingzhai got close to Jiang Youning, he flashed away again.
He appeared in mid-air and looked at Jiang Youning with a burning gaze. “This is…”
“Have you realized what it is?” Jiang Youning had a rare smile on his face. “Now, try this!”
As soon as he finished speaking those words, the silver brilliance quickly divided.
Water-colored swords in various sizes floated in the air above the Eight Trigrams Platform,
An overwhelming pressure made Chen Jingzhai unable to hold on to his composure.
“It’s pressure!
“The pressure of the water, mixed with the pressure of the sword.
“And formed a unique field of sword’s will.
“The closer you get, the greater the impact.
“On the other hand, if it is far away from you, the sword’s will can better exert its advantages,” Chen Jingzhai said in pure amazement.
He was standing in mid-air at this time, and he felt as if he was carrying a giant mountain on his back.
This pressure came from all directions, making him feel very uncomfortable.
It was a feeling as if he was suffocating in the depths of the ocean, and this alarmed him more than anything.
Because even if he were to use the sword at will, he would need to consume more spiritual power.
“This is the power of my sword’s will.
“The weight of water in Lijian!
“This is just the beginning, Little Master-Uncle. Enjoy it!”
Jiang Youning looked at him and chuckled softly.
A small water-colored sword dashed over on its own, and Chen Jingzhai slapped it away with the White Jade Sword.
But this seemed to have caused a chain reaction. As the dense water-colored little swords flew out in quick succession, all of them rushed toward Chen Jingzhai.