Celestial Dragon Sword Venerable-Chapter 123: Will You Listen to Grandpa’s Words?
Wan Xuegui began to earnestly explain the Profound Meaning of the Ten Thousand Thoughts in One Heart Sword Technique.
Ye Tianling was very confident.
He possessed a lifetime’s worth of Sword Dao enlightenment from Dugu Qiubai. He himself had achieved the Unity of Heaven and Man with his Essence, Qi, and Soul, and had fully activated his unparalleled Sword Venerate Dominating Body Bloodline.
In his view, guiding Wan Xuegui on the trivial Ten Thousand Thoughts in One Heart Sword Technique would be a piece of cake.
’I’m this awesome, and I have the supreme Sword Venerate Dominating Body—the Emperor’s Qi Sword Body,’ Ye Tianling thought. ’A few casually bluffed phrases should be more than enough to make that Wan Xuegui bow in admiration, right? Besides, with my supreme wisdom and peerless comprehension, once Wan Xuegui finishes explaining the Profound Meaning of the Ten Thousand Thoughts in One Heart Sword Technique, I can fully grasp it on the spot. I’ll instruct him then and there, collecting the data on the Ten Thousand Thoughts in One Heart Sword Technique at the same time.’
As Ye Tianling mulled this over, he listened distractedly to Wan Xuegui’s explanation.
After the first part of the Profound Meaning was explained, Ye Tianling was a little dumbfounded.
He stared blankly. ’I... didn’t understand it? I’m this freaking amazing, and I couldn’t understand it? Are you kidding me?’
"Ahem, hold on. Something’s not right. Start over... Why did it feel off right from the beginning?"
Ye Tianling grew suspicious. He took a deep breath, activated the Dragon Blood within him, and the aura of his Emperor’s Qi Sword Body’s Sword Dao Physique began to manifest its corresponding Spiritual nature.
Ye Tianling started to get serious.
Naturally, Wan Xuegui wasn’t the least bit dissatisfied. Being stopped by Ye Tianling only made him more excited. ’The Elder is truly the Elder! He’s so good to me—so considerate, so meticulous, so serious about every single detail.’
Wan Xuegui was so moved he was on the verge of tears.
He immediately began to channel the Ten Thousand Thoughts in One Heart Sword Technique once more.
"Ten thousand thoughts arise from the heart. Only when the heart is condensed can one command all things. All things are swords; the heart can control ten thousand swords. With a heart of ten thousand thoughts, one forges a heart of ten thousand swords. From the heart of ten thousand swords, one forms the Sword Spirit of ten thousand swords. From the Sword Spirit of ten thousand swords, one forms the Sword Soul of ten thousand swords."
Wan Xuegui explained as he tried his best to do just that.
But in Ye Tianling’s eyes, this Cultivation Technique of Wan Xuegui’s was just so clumsy, so primitive.
No matter how Ye Tianling looked at it, something felt off.
Ye Tianling pursed his lips and said, "And then? From the Sword Soul of ten thousand swords, form the Sword Spirit of ten thousand swords. From the Sword Spirit of ten thousand swords, form the Void of ten thousand swords. From the Void of ten thousand swords, form the Calamity of ten thousand swords?"
Wan Xuegui was immediately overjoyed and nodded frantically. "Yes, Elder! So our family’s Cultivation Technique wasn’t wrong after all?"
Ye Tianling slapped his forehead as a stampede of ten thousand horses thundered through his mind. ’Which moron created this Cultivation Technique?’
Ye Tianling could only say to himself: ’I could pull a dozen theoretical techniques like this out of thin air. What is this rotten piece of garbage!’
Ye Tianling now understood why he’d been so dumbfounded. It wasn’t that the Ten Thousand Thoughts in One Heart Sword Technique was so amazing, nor that his comprehension was poor. It was that the Ten Thousand Thoughts in One Heart Sword Technique was, fundamentally, a complete and utter piece of trash.
It was so trashy that any random theory Ye Tianling could come up with would be enough to obliterate its so-called ’step-by-step,’ ’interlocking’ logic into dust.
"Grandpa."
Wan Xuegui watched Ye Tianling carefully, his face full of expectation and his gaze exceptionally fervent. ’Grandpa is truly Grandpa. He even understands the Ten Thousand Thoughts in One Heart Sword Technique so clearly.’
A look of genuine disappointment appeared on Ye Tianling’s face. "What is this rotten sword technique? You can throw it away."
Wan Xuegui was stunned. "Ah? Grandpa? Throw... throw it away?"
Ye Tianling said, "Yes. It’s not worth a damn. Even if you master it, you’ll never reach a high Realm."
Wan Xuegui was stunned again. "But... but if I don’t practice this, what else can I cultivate? As for the Asura Killing Dao... I... I haven’t been able to comprehend even a sliver of it yet, and my bloodline inheritance hasn’t given me a Cultivation Technique for it..."
Ye Tianling was speechless. Seeing Wan Xuegui’s pitiful expression, he felt a bit of sympathy.
’I’ve already scammed this Wan Xuegui out of everything he has, and now I’ve even ’destroyed’ the Cultivation Technique he was so confident in. When I think about it, I’m really creating some bad karma.’
Ye Tianling shot Wan Xuegui a cold glance.
That glance made Wan Xuegui’s heart skip a beat. His expression immediately became respectful, and he stood there obediently like a child who had done something wrong, not daring to speak.
"Will you listen to what I have to say?"
Ye Tianling began.
"Your good grandson listens to whatever Grandpa says! I’ll listen, I’ll listen!"
Wan Xuegui immediately replied with reverence.
Ye Tianling nodded. "Good. In that case, I won’t critique the Ten Thousand Thoughts in One Heart Sword Technique. I’ll just offer a few of my own thoughts. If you can grasp them, it’s your good fortune. If you can’t, then I can’t be bothered with you either. The once-mighty Ten Thousand Thoughts in One Heart Sword Technique... you people are truly something else, to have comprehended and understood it in such a way."
Ye Tianling’s tone was full of dissatisfaction.
Wan Xuegui immediately dropped to his knees and kowtowed, overwhelmed with shame and remorse.
Ye Tianling didn’t stop him. Instead, he clasped his hands behind his back and paced back and forth for a moment.
"My good grandson, Wan Xuegui."
"Your grandson is here."
"Do you know what a sword is? What the Sword Dao is? What a Sword Heart is? What a Sword Spirit is, what a Sword Soul is, what a Sword Spirit is?"
"Your grandson’s understanding is this: a sword is a Weapon. The Sword Dao is the Supreme Dao for us Cultivators. The Sword Heart is the Dao Heart of the Sword Dao. A Sword Spirit is when the Sword Heart transforms and condenses into a spirit, possessing a Spiritual nature. A Sword Soul is when that spirit transforms into a soul, able to exist independently. A Sword Spirit is a further transformation of the Sword Soul."
Wan Xuegui’s by-the-book answer left Ye Tianling at a loss for words to mock him.
This was basically a formulaic understanding.
’With this kind of understanding, it was no wonder Wan Xuegui couldn’t advance. If he could progress with that, pigs could fly.’
Ye Tianling sighed internally. ’This Wan Xuegui’s intelligence is really something else.’
’Then again, if he weren’t this dim-witted, he wouldn’t be so easy to deceive.’
Ye Tianling began to spout nonsense off the cuff. "You’re right, but you’re also wrong."
Wan Xuegui listened with rapt attention, utterly focused. At these words, his expression immediately filled with anticipation, and he gazed at Ye Tianling with even greater fervor.
Ye Tianling clasped his hands behind his back and gazed at the sky, striking a pose meant to look as profound as an abyss and as mighty as a mountain, radiating pure awesomeness.
’At this moment,’ he thought to himself, ’I must be handsome enough to startle the Celestial Gods and cool enough to make heaven and earth pale in comparison.’
"Ahem. Don’t go thinking I’m handsome."
Ye Tianling chuckled.
"Um... Grandpa, doesn’t your neck get sore holding your head up like that? The sky is so gloomy, there’s nothing really to see."
Wan Xuegui honestly expressed his confusion.
Hearing this, Ye Tianling stumbled and nearly coughed up a mouthful of old blood. ’With your IQ, you’d never appreciate my charm!’
"Ahem. Regarding the understanding of the Sword Dao, you’re right because that’s what all Sword Dao Cultivators believe. But there’s a reason why I believe it’s wrong."
Ye Tianling said.
Wan Xuegui was growing impatient from listening. ’At the critical moment, Grandpa always trails off. It makes my impatient self want to vomit blood.’
This time, Ye Tianling didn’t delay further. He just slapped on a layer of random theory and said, "As you said, a sword is a Weapon? Correct. A sword is a Weapon. But a sword is also not a Weapon."
Wan Xuegui looked completely baffled.
’A sword... isn’t a Weapon?’
’If a sword isn’t a Weapon, what is it? A Daoist partner? A mount?’
