"I assume the destruction of the Golden Earth Sect is your fault?"

Cold Sword thoroughly investigated the matter of the flame snake and the destruction of Vyncent's sect. There was sightings of Arthur, so it wasn't easy to link his presence there with all that happened.

Arthur remained his silent as he inspected her and casually said

"You seemed to have stopped your training routine, I see no improvement since the last time we met."

Jian Si crossed her arms and coldly snorted while retorting

"And whose fault do you think that is? I've been busy searching for my 'Senior'."

Hearing this, Arthur became delighted as she finally began spending some efforts in finding Syth. Arthur sat up on a chair which suddenly appeared behind him and made himself comfortable before listening to the irritated Jian Si, who tried her best to keep a respectful attitude, after all, she still wanted him to teach her a few things.

She wasn't behaving like a student, nonetheless, she wasn't as rude as when he first met her.

"What I've discovered left me totally speechless."

Cold Sword for a second as she saw Arthur's change in expression, she then resumed:

"The young man you assigned me to search for has been sighted in Green-Leaf around five years ago. Back then, he was living in a mortal village only to be discovered by a powerful Sword Saint that was passing by. This Sword Saint praised Syth's skills and made him into his disciple then brought him to his sect. That Sword Saint is actually Joseph Bolona."

After saying that, Cold Sword remained silent as she stared at Arthur, trying to read his expression.

Claud grasped this moment of silence to explain to Arthur what's a Sword Saint

'Sword Saints are cultivators that reached the peak of sword mastery. Each Sword Saint is an Overgod and there's actually a Realm beyond Sword Saint, it's called Sword God. As far as I know, only the Nameless Knight reached that Realm and perhaps even surpassed that. Your skills with the Sword reached perfection so without a doubt you have the skills of a sword saint but you can't be called so due to your low Realm.'

"What's the name of the Sword Saint's sect?"

Jian Si expected such a question so she quickly gave him the desired answer

"It's the Sky Whale Sword Sect. It's the strongest sword sect in the Cloud Sea Universe and it's situated in the Divine Planet."

Arthur listened to her and pondered about what to do. Since Syth didn't seem to be in any danger and is actually getting strong in such a powerful sect, he doesn't need to worry. In the future, they'll surely meet and if Syth wants to go back, he'll take him to Astria.

That boy always loved swords and trained meticulously, no wonder he was picked by a Sword Saint, though his luck played a big part in this.

'Now my mind is at ease.'

With Lisa safe and back on Astria and Syth in the Divine Planet, where he's receiving tutoring from a Sword Saint, he can worry about other things and prepare for the White Specter Clan, 'X', and the rest.

Arthur converted with Jian Si for some time before he beckoned with his hand while saying

"Now, shall we begin?"

Confused, Cold Sword tilted her head with a questioning look. Seeing such a comical reaction, Arthur chuckled and said

"You're my student, it's only natural I pass my knowledge to you."

He has some free time and despite her rotten attitude, he still considered her as his student. She was a talented Sword cultivator and her dao of sword is a bit similar to his.

The usually cold girl became excited as she unsheathed her sword and took a stance.

"No need to hold back, show me what you're made of."

The aura around her drastically changed, she became like an unsheathed sword, ready to kill her opponent with one strike. The amount of killing intent she was unleashing with overwhelming and would make any weak-willed person unconscious.

With his hand behind his back, Arthur nodded his head as he inspected her using [Eyes of Tranquility]. He could see a red and bloody energy circulate inside her body, though it was most concentrated in her Dantian.

Like a bolt of lightning, Cold Sword charged at Arthur, appearing before him like a ghost. With nimble and swift movements, she stabbed him, holding nothing back.

Unfortunately, the calm Arthur tilted his body in a weird way, easily dodging the attack while still chuckling. This further incensed the short-tempered girl, who slashed with her sword again, causing the wind to become turbulent.

Arthur never moved his feet, he kept tilting his body and evading all her attacks by a hair's breadth. No matter how much she tried, she couldn't touch him. Only after some time did he raise his hand, which had a formless yet incredibly sharp Sword essence enveloping it, and casually swung it at Jian Si, whose face paled as she raised her sword to block the incoming hand.

She felt as if she was hit by a mountain, moreover, the sword-essence around his hand transformed into countless needles that stabbed her body. The force behind his hand, albeit greatly weakened to not hurt her, still caused her to be sent flying thirty or so meters.

She managed to safely land on her feet but her face was paler.

"You focus too much on your first strike and think it's going to land thus you don't think of a countermeasure. Moreover, your energy becomes chaotic when you're in a disadvantage…"

Arthur carefully told her the flaws he noticed in their last exchange. Jian Si stood there and opened her ears wide. Though the notes he gave her were extremely useful and allowed her to reach the rank of Sword Master earlier than expected, experimental training is always better than a theoretical one.

After talking non-stop for ten minutes, Arthur raised his hand and grabbed the air, which startled Jian Si as the sword in her hand, which was supposed to be her life-time companion, was snatched so easily. The sword flew toward Arthur then disappeared into nothingness.

"Here's your first training. Recreate your sword with purely your energy. If you can't do that, your sword will be trapped in my dimensional space, never to see the light of day again."

Although she was angry, Cold Sword didn't dare throw a tantrum. She helplessly looked at him and retorted

"How is it even possible to create a sword with just energy?"

What she said was true. Energy was formless and her sword was a material thing, to recreate it using energy is such an absurd idea.

"Oh but it's possible. Your sword needs to be part of you, its energy, shape, height, everything… only then will you understand my meaning."

In a demonstration, Arthur raised his right hand, from which emitted ominous darkness that enveloped a small area around him. The darkness didn't last long and was soon replaced by a dark blade that burned with black flames.

The illusory dark blade was so sharp that the ground under it suffered a clean slash mark. Witnessing this, Jian Si became momentarily flabbergasted.

The dark blade soon vanished as Arthur sat on a nearby chair, crossed his arms and gazed at the dark-haired girl, expecting him to begin.

Cold Sword closed her eyes and pictured her red sword as energy circulated in her hand. The moment the energy started taking shape, it shattered, causing the girl to feel dizzy.

…

Like a statue, Arthur gazed at Jian Si for twelve-hours. The usually cold and indifferent girl was now panting as she laid on the ground. She couldn't even lift a finger as Arthur's task was much harder and exhausting that she initially thought.

As someone in the God Realm, she has a considerable amount of stored Nether Energy yet it was depleted in the four hours. She had to use precious recovery pills that increased her absorption of Nether Energy.

She could feel Arthur's stare, he remained silent and would only throw a few remarks now and then. When he finally told her to go get some rest, Jian Si felt as if she was pardoned. She dragged her heavy body and entered her nearby residence.

Although meditation would help her recover, she was so mentally fatigued that she fell asleep the moment she laid on her bed. It has been so long since she slept as she always spends her time practicing with the sword or cultivating.

Back on the peak of mountain, Arthur was still sitting on the chair and staring at the starry-sky with an absent-minded look.

Very soon, two youths appeared before him, both were bowing respectfully. One was a red-haired youth while the other had a striking resemblance to the former with only difference being the color of the hair.

"I need you two to go to Earth and get something for me."

"I shall follow thy command."

"As you wish."

Surprisingly, Midolf didn't dare curse or fight with Radolf as he saw the serious look on Arthur's face. After gazing at them for some time, he explained what needs to be done while the two silently and carefully listened.

After bowing one last time, the two entered a Spatial Tunnel he just created, disappearing from Green-Leaf.

"No one will accept your actions. We're not talking about one or two factions, I fear that all of them will form an alliance to take you down."

Arthur chuckled and retorted

"Let them try for when I show myself, I shall flip the world upside down."

Inside the ARK, Claud stared at the endless white space before him while muttering

"So this how the Prophecy begins… but what about its ending?"