The courtyard was lively as the disciples, and members of the Feng Clan were going about their daily routines. Some individuals started to lift gravity enhanced weighted stones that were augmented with simple runes, while others gathered at the martial platform to begin their regular matches.

Carefully examining the courtyard, a youth could be seen seated cross-legged within a field of bamboo poles. He sat with his eyes closed and his palms firmly holding the sheathed sword Black-lighting that rested in a horizontal position on top of his legs. Feng Yu currently felt as if he was in a different world, as his concentration was pushed to the utmost extreme, trying to comprehend the meaning of the sword from the floating sword manual within his sea of consciousness.

Soon, an ancient and profound stream of words reverberated within his mind, a collection of memories appeared showing the details of how to practice and further grasp swordsmanship’s true essence:

“To grasp the initial success of the sword, one must first master the foundational stances of basic swordsmanship: Attack Stance, Defence Stance, and Control Stance. It is only through mastering these basic stances could one truly have been said to have become a beginner practitioner who walks the path of the sword. To go further, one must think beyond the lines of thoughts of the basic swordsman.”

“The sword should be as swift as the wind, as flexible as the clouds. It’s fierceness no different from the waves at sea and as firm as the mountain that shoulders the weight of the world.”

“Only through mastering all four paths, could one truly be said to have attained the initial success of true swordsmanship. The way of the sword does not lean solely on one path; for its essence can only be found at the core of attaining everlasting balance, eruption, and speed. ‘Balance’ can control any situation regardless of attack or defense, as ‘Eruption’ is capable of inspiring overwhelming prestige, demonstrating domineering and oppressive power. ‘Speed,’ on the other hand, challenges the limits of time itself, seeking to be free from its fetters. This principle is known as the Extremity Path and is the path that is walked by only the most powerful of swordsmen.”

Swoosh! Rustle! Rustle!

With the gust of the morning wind, the calmness of the region filled with bamboo poles instantly faded, as the poles swiftly began to rustle about due to the wind threatening to sweep them about the area. However, before they could wreak havoc, time seemed to have stopped, as a flash of white lightning fluidly swiped across the region. A series of precise sword movements sliced apart the entirety of each bamboo pole, showing control at the zenith level of flexibility.

All this took time to describe, but it happened in the blink of an eye. Time once again sped up with the winds urging the bamboo poles that had now been cut to small pieces, scattering them about the courtyard like dust.

Clank! As Feng Yu sheathed Black-Lightning into its sheath, he looked towards the crumbling bamboo poles with slight disappointment, “Sigh... I’m still not capable of doing it. Trying to understand the principles of ‘One with Sword’ is not as simple as I’d thought it would be, I’ll need to find a turning point. “

After placing the sheathed Black-Lightning on his back, Feng Yu soon quickly recovered from his disappointment state of mind. As now his expression showed one of confidence, he smiled while muttering to himself, “However, where there are losses, there are gains. My insights into the sword have allowed me to truly fuse my movement technique into my sword arts, creating an entirely new sword skill, the .”

Gripping his fist together in excitement, he began to ponder the next direction his path of the sword should take, “Now my comprehension of the way of the sword has already attained all minor forms of the extremity path. My embodies the Path of Balance, as it is elusive capable of attacking or defending. In contrast, my embodies the Path of Eruption, as a destructive technique by nature, and finally, my newly created which embodies the Path of Speed.”

As he thought this, he then placed his hand on his chin and thought to himself once more, “If I am to advance further, it would be to truly understand the depths of these techniques and evolving them into something of a higher scale, but right now my cultivation and sword realm is still too low. The best method for improving my strength now would be to assimilate a second lifeblood weapon and seek insights into the dual extremity path.”

Thinking up to here, Feng Yu crossed his arms together while speaking his thoughts out loud, “Where... where can I get another sword that’s not too far off Black-Lightning’s quality?”

As he pondered, the sound of a person’s steps approaching him from behind pulled him away from his thoughts. Feng Yu smiled and turned around, looking at the form that was now standing behind him.

“Young... Young Master Yu! This servant offers his greetings,” The blue-haired figure said as he politely bowed his head and cupped his hands.

“Dai Lin, do you know why the family has removed your position as guardsman of the gate and send you to see me?” Asked Feng Yu as he scrutinized Dai Lin’s expression.

“This... this servant has his speculations, as Young Master Yu seems not to be the type of person to hold grudges over simple matters,” Dai Lin replied as he looked towards Feng Yu curiously.

“Hmm, then tell me, what has the family sent you to me for?” Asked for Feng Yu once more as strange gleam shone in his eyes.

“Replying to the Young Master! If my speculations are correct, I believe it is because Young Master Yu has found a need for my services,” Dai Lin said while looking towards Feng Yu curiously as he pondered his fate.

Clap! Clap!

Clapping his hands two times, Feng Yu exclaimed as he looked at Dai Lin with praise, “Interesting! Dai Lin, this is the reason I have asked them to send you to me. It is because you have a knack for gathering information and a keen eye for detail. I value your hidden skillset very much, as I believe with a bit of training, you would be capable of serving as the core of my future forces. What do you say, Dai Lin, will you join me as we journey the continent and rise to the peak of this world?”

Hearing Feng Yu’s statement, a feeling that he had once lost slowly began to rise within him. Dai Lin felt that the world grew brighter as he stared at Feng Yu excitedly with his blood boiling to the brim. Promptly kneeling on the floor, he made a humble gesture as he gave his reply.

“I, Dai Lin, thank Young Master Yu for your gracious care and opportunity, with the heavens as my witness, I at this moment solemnly swear to become Young Master’s greatest aid. If I do not carry out this task, then let my body vanish, and my soul be extinguished forever unable to reincarnate!”

Hearing Dai Lin’s words, a look of surprise came across Feng Yu’s face, but soon it became replaced by a look of pure admiration. He could not believe that Dai Lin’s determination would be to such a degree that he would even be willing to swear an oath to the heavens itself. One must know ‘An Oath broken is no different from Yama’s token’ as judgment is sure to be followed out by ‘Heavens Will’ itself.

Promptly, he reached his hand out and firmly patted Dai Lin on his shoulder while replying, “Dai Lin, from now on, we are not only master and retainer. We are brothers who will travel through hell and ride the tides of the dark currents from now on to the future. As the very first member of my guard squad, I would like to welcome you officially,” Feng Yu said as help Dai Lin to once more stand on his feet, he then stretched his hands out and finished his statement, “Welcome to Dawnwing!”

Hearing the words of his young master and seeing the stretched-out hand before him, Dai Lin felt a feeling of approval. Without hesitating in the slightest, he gripped Feng Yu’s hand firmly, as the golden light from dawn’s rise illuminated their figures along with the family courtyard creating a grand scene.

∞∞∞

Dawn faded away quickly as the day flowed onwards to its peak.

Inside of a vast room stood two young men, one of them had his hands placed behind his back, as the other currently sat down in a crossed-legged posture on top of the neatly tiled floor. The room was quiet; however, that mood had quickly been disturbed by the figure seated in crossed-legged position.

Bang! Zzzzzz! Along with a series of noises, a large current of essence energies shot from the body of the seated individual. Vaguely, a few small sparks of electricity had begun to gather within the essence power generated from the armored blue-haired young man sitting on the mat. These tiny traces of electrical energy released a peculiar aura as if they came from another world. After a long while, the youth finally managed to collect back all the rampant energies quickly, stabilizing his power.

Feng Yu, who stood to watch this scene, became filled with shock as his thoughts went wild, “Such... such a peerless genius in the Martial Path of Electricity. To think he would be so adaptable to my old master’s that he was so proud of, I wonder if he would be pleased,” Thinking up to here Feng Yu unknowingly made a distant smile as slightly remote look appeared on his face.

“Whew! Young Master Yu, I broke through successfully to the 9 Tier of Body Training realm. However, I’ve found that in circulating this new cultivation technique, my current cultivation speed compared with my earlier efforts is in an entirely different league of its own. I feel as if I can gather the essence 20 times greater.” Dai Lin said a look of excitement came over his face while feeling appreciative of Feng Yu’s cultivation technique.

Hearing this, Feng Yu smiled while thinking, “Of course it would, it’s one of the highest tier techniques of that man after all, and it would not be anything short of amazing. Who would have thought that this technique would truly find its successor here in this new life? Master searched for ages to find the right one, but no one can bear its burden, even my previous life’s self, who, despite my lack of talent, had a high affinity for thunder. Sigh, destiny is truly a mysterious path amongst the divine principles.”

Soon, however, he cleared his thoughts and replied, “Dai Lin, now that you’ve successfully broken through your bottleneck, and have already consolidated your cultivation with the effects of the small foundation pill. You will have no trouble in any of your further cultivation progress. As such, the first task at hand that I will leave for you is to break through into the realm of Aura Disciple quickly. “

As Feng Yu said this, he quickly realized that he had forgotten something, quickly he willed for two pieces of jade-slips from his storage ring. After imbuing his thoughts into the slips, he then tossed them towards Dai Lin.

Swish! Tap! “Eh? Young Master, what is--? “Catching the two jade slips tossed towards him Dai Lin felt confused, as he was about to inquire about them, he was cut off by Feng Yu.

“These two jade slips are storing top-level mortal tier skills, the movement skill, and the electric path technique. You may practice them while you’re in your cultivation seclusion, as for attaining more skills, that will depend on how deeply you can understand the ,” As he said this, he promptly turned around and headed towards the outside of the room.

Seeing Feng Yu leaving, Dai Lin offered a bow of gratitude as he responded, “As Young Master Yu commands!”