Chapter 16 Part 1
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
This chapter is edited by Farouq Omileye. Thank you for your contribution!
Chapter 16: Your Heart Is Helpless! (1)
Among the four great sects, Thousand Sword City stands as the most unique.
Its founder once sacrificed his life to teach his disciples the art of cultivating a “sword” in the truest sense.
Now, ten thousand years later, the city is home to tens of thousands of disciples—none of whom can be called normal.
This isn’t to say the cultivation methods of Thousand Sword City drive people mad, but their way of sword cultivation is vastly different from the others.
While other sects focus on swordsmanship, aiming for mastery in killing or guarding, the disciples of Thousand Sword City practice something else entirely—they practice themselves.
Their bodies become swords.
Their hearts transform into the heart of the sword.
Their entire lives are devoted to refining their own existence.
Upon reaching the Foundation Establishment Stage, every disciple forges their own “Human Sword,” which will accompany them for life.
It’s akin to a solemn vow of marriage:
Through sickness and health, in poverty or wealth, for better or worse, love it, protect it, cherish it, and remain faithful to it until your last breath.
This path is far from easy.
For the ordinary and even the talented, it is nearly impossible to traverse this narrow, grueling road.
There’s a tale of a swordsmanship prodigy from the Taixuan Taoist Sect who joined Thousand Sword City, hoping to elevate his craft. He studied there for three years.
When he finally left, he was in tears.
The first thing he said upon leaving was, “I feel alive!”
When asked about his experience, he often clenched his fists and sighed deeply.
“Do you know how I survived those three years? It felt like walking in quicksand, sinking deeper with every step. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t advance. In the end, I was beaten down and forced to leave.”
Yet, the experience wasn’t without merit.
Though nearly driven mad, the prodigy emerged with an unshakable belief:
“My sword is mine alone. I don’t need to walk someone else’s path.”
Armed with this conviction, he rose to become the most brilliant Sword Master of the Taixuan Taoist Sect.
It is often said: 99.9% of those who join Thousand Sword City are “lunatics.”
Those with deep-seated hatred, those who’ve severed ties with the world, or those utterly isolated tend to excel in the sect’s unique cultivation methods.
In many ways, Thousand Sword City resembles a colossal “mental asylum.”
Yet Bai Lian doesn’t judge.
The sect’s founder likely never intended it this way, but his methods have healed countless broken hearts, helping them forge new ones.
Under strict discipline, these “madmen” seldom stray into criminality. Instead, their contributions to the world remain overwhelmingly positive.
A sect ranked among the four greats could never truly be a Demon Sect.
But none of this excuses the swordsman before Bai Lian.
A sect is a sect. An individual is an individual.
Hatred is hatred. Killing is killing.
While Bai Lian wouldn’t go out of her way to seek trouble, she couldn’t ignore it when it was right in front of her.
With a spark-like aura surrounding her fist, she struck the swordsman, shattering his five senses with a single blow.
Die!
But this man was at the peak of the Soul Changing Stage. Within moments, his injuries healed completely.
He stood, his face calm, though his bloodshot eyes betrayed his fury.
He rarely killed. Not even the man who once humiliated him.
But if anyone stood in his way of killing an evil demon beast, he wouldn’t hesitate to beat them until they couldn’t move.
“Not even my Shifu can stop me!”
Closing his eyes, the swordsman let his heart guide him.
In that instant, the world painted itself in his mind. He could sense Bai Lian’s spirit Qi, mapping every movement she made.
He paused, stunned.
Her spirit Qi was unnervingly calm—no cultivation method, no spells, nothing.
“How can this be…?”
Before he could process it, Bai Lian’s second punch landed, sending him flying miles away.
She followed swiftly.
Bai Lian refrained from using her cultivation method, unwilling to risk exposing her true identity or implicating her sect, the Duxian Sect, which couldn’t afford such a conflict.
Her fists alone would suffice. If they failed, she had another ace up her sleeve—her Qianhuan Real Eyes.
No one, aside from her fifth Martial Sister, knew she possessed this. As long as her secret stayed safe, no one could confirm her identity.
“This plan is flawless!” Bai Lian thought smugly.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
One by one, she shattered the swordsman’s Sun Covering Sword and Ground Chasing Sword.
In a dazzling display of sword Qi, the two clashed fiercely.
The swordsman was formidable, his sense of danger bordering on precognition. No matter how hard Bai Lian struck, she couldn’t land a fatal blow.
Gradually, she began to falter.
Nearby, a woman in white prepared to intervene, but her companion, dressed in black, stopped her.
“You can’t stop them with your strength.”
The woman in white frowned, “Your words hurt!”
The woman in black continued, “Don’t worry. That girl hasn’t used her full strength. Have you noticed? She hasn’t cast a single spell or activated her cultivation method.”
“Why not?” the woman in white asked, confused.
The woman in black glanced at the shield over Gucheng County.
“She’s containing the battle’s aftermath. She doesn’t want to harm the people here.”
The woman in white was stunned, her respect for Bai Lian growing.
“But doesn’t that put her in danger?”
“That depends on your Elder Martial Brother Gu.”
The swordsman, too, had noticed Bai Lian’s restraint.
“You… I only want to kill that demonic beast, not harm innocents.”
With a deep breath, he stowed his Sun Covering and Ground Chasing Swords, opting instead to fight with his Heart Reading Sword.
This directly reduced his strength by 30%, and immediately alleviated Bai Lian’s crisis.
Is such a thing even possible?
To be honest, Bai Lian was taken aback.
Thank you, mysterious girl in black!
Yet, even without this unexpected assistance, she was prepared.
It’s time to begin.
Bai Lian slowly brushed her right hand across her right eye.
In an instant, her calm black pupils transformed into double pupils.
“Huh?”
The swordsman froze in surprise.
It felt as if he could see a chilling, pulsing power within her eyes.
It was like a bottomless pit, a roaring abyss.
The more he gazed, the more he sensed a growing terror and despair that seemed to emanate from it.
Then, he noticed something even more unsettling.
Bai Lian’s right eye shifted once again.
A radiant white light began pouring out from all around her, and her double pupils exploded into a flurry of white snowflakes, filling the air.
Buzz—
An invisible wave rippled through the atmosphere.
The swordsman was immediately engulfed by a surge of icy, spirit-like energy.
“What is this place?”
He gasped, his confusion deepening as he realized he had left Gucheng County.
Instead, he now stood in the midst of an endless snowfield, where the wind howled and snowflakes danced through the air.
