Li Si Chan very happily departed, and Ling Han lay on his bed for some rest.
It wasn't that he did not want to immediately begin concocting the Second Star Pill, just that he had never imagined that he would actually manage to obtain such a valuable spiritual medicine on his very first day in the Imperial City—how could he have the other supplementary ingredients on hand? As a result, the only option for him now was to wait until the next day to go to the Heaven's Medicine Pavilion to buy the complete set of ingredients necessary before he could go onto the next step.
Conveniently, he still had to fix up his own courtyard slightly. After all, he would have to stay here for at least a few years, so it was necessary to set up some restrictions in the surrounding area. This would be one of the hidden cards up his sleeve.
Meanwhile, Hu Niu had lain down beside his legs like a giant cat, and very quickly, the sound of her breathing lengthened and became quieter. But if there was any little bit of disturbance, she would immediately be alerted to wakefulness, bare her sharp teeth, and growl.
Ling Han believed that with Liu Yu Tong's influence in the Academy, she would be able to find him very soon. Thus, Ling Han needed not think about anything else, and went to sleep very peacefully.
The night passed in silence, and early the next morning, after Ling Han had prepared breakfast and filled the stomachs of both himself and Hu Niu, he headed to officially greet his teacher. This was the basic respect that a student should have towards his teacher.
He pushed the door open and entered to see that Mo Gao was practicing his sword techniques. However, it was very odd. His right hand held a sword while his left hand was firmly held in a gesture. There wasn't any sort of movement from him at all.
Was he practicing his sword techniques, or practicing some kind of Qi supporting technique?
"Hu!" Hu Niu meanwhile revealed a very defensive expression. Her hands were firmly pressed upon the ground, her whole body slightly raised, her small mouth was open, and there was a ferocious light flickering in her eyes. She was ready to make a move at any moment.
Ling Han was surprised. The little girl would only show such behavior when she sensed a threat, but the problem was, was this movement of Mo Gao very threatening?
'Wait!'
Ling Han's eyes gradually widened. His divine sense seemed to have detected something inconceivable. And that was the aura exuded from Mo Gao—it was extremely mysterious. It had a slightly familiar feeling to it, yet he couldn't really grasp what it was exactly.
Sword… that's right, it had something to do with his sword.
"You're here," Mo Gao said, "then accompany me in my sword practice."
"What sword technique is this?" Ling Han asked.
"It's not any sword technique, but a sword of invincibility!" Mo Gao declared incredibly.
Meanwhile, Ling Han's heart skipped a beat. He had sensed a very mysterious feeling from the aura that Mo Gao had been giving out just now, and now getting the somewhat even more mysterious way the latter was speaking in, Ling Han felt as if he had grasped something, though it still wasn't too clear.
"Does a sword of invincibility exist in this world?" He asked.
"A sword in the hands of an invincible swordsman would be a sword of invincibility!" Mo Gao said, "I am the sword itself, the heart of the sword is brightly lit. Able to pierce through every attack, and shatter every attack!"
"Hong," Ling Han felt as if his whole mind had trembled, giving rise to a towering tsunami wave.
Sword Heart!
No wonder he had felt a feeling of mystery yet this profound feeling was so familiar to him; so Mo Gao was actually cultivating Sword Heart.
He was not the slightest bit suspicious of Mo Gao putting on airs, because the overall level of martial arts in Rain Country was really too low. Simply being able to form Sword Qi, you'd be named as a ruler. There was no one who had managed to form Sword Point at all, so how could Sword Heart be possible?
The heart is the sword that is brightly lit; that was the highest level of comprehension of sword arts. With Sword Heart, all the attacks of this world would be easily understood and broken down. One only needs to wave his sword once, and all attacks would naturally be broken apart.
Who would ever have thought that a swordsman at the mere level of the ninth layer of Element Gathering Tier would be able to somewhat touch the level of Sword Heart?
No wonder that Mo Gao, an obvious genius in his youth—otherwise, he wouldn't have managed to enroll into Hu Yang Academy in the first place—had all of a sudden "gone mad". In truth, he hadn't gone mad at all, it was just that he had already began to cultivate Sword Heart at that time.
However, it was immeasurably difficult to grasp Sword Heart. As a result, his cultivation had stagnated for these ten plus years, because he had concentrated all his efforts on comprehending Sword Heart.
A somber respect came to life in Ling Han. This was Sword Heart. Even in his last life, there were not many elite swordsmen that had managed to successfully form it. But as long as one succeeded in forming Sword Heart, not only would he be invincible among all those in the same cultivation level, he'd also be able to disregard the colossal gulf of differing cultivation levels to kill a powerful enemy at a higher tier. It was incomparably feared.
He clasped his hands together, and said, "Please share your wisdom, Teacher."
Mo Gao was a bit surprised. Aside from himself, everyone else in the Academy thought that he was off his rocker. Even he himself, in these ten plus years, would occasionally doubt if he had made a wrong turn in life, and whether he really would be able to create a sword of invincibility.
And this young man, without any bit of hesitation, was actually willing to join him in sword practice. What deep trust this unfamiliar young man had towards him!
When he thought this, Mo Gao actually felt a little touched!
He, a solo swordsman with the sword as his only companion, completely isolated himself from everyone else. In the blink of an eye, ten plus years had already passed. He had spent it on sword practice, sword practice, and even more sword practice. And now, a young man actually held such admiration and trust for him, causing him to suddenly become excited.
This was a good student, he definitely had to teach this student well!
Mo Gao was thinking thus in his heart, and began to talk non-stop, "The art of the sword is like a person of noble character, magnanimous and devoid of even a single bit of vile character…" this was the understanding that he had come to through these ten plus years of extreme focus and hard practice. He didn't even care if Ling Han could understand or not, and simply recited all of whatever he knew and had grasped.
Yet Ling Han was becoming more and more astonished. Although his cultivation level had dropped, his comprehension was still the one of that powerful warrior of Heaven Tier that he had been, so naturally, he could understand all of what Mo Gao was saying.
And it was exactly because he could understand everything that he was astonished beyond measure.
…Mo Gao's understanding of the sword had already completely surpassed his cultivation level. Even if he had yet to reach the level of 'the heart of the sword is brightly lit', he was just a mere step away from grasping Sword Heart.
In a place with such a low overall level of martial arts, and with himself who was at the mere level of ninth layer of Element Gathering Tier, his fingers actually managed to touch the door that led to Sword Heart; how could Ling Han not be astonished?
When Mo Gao was finished speaking, Ling Han simply stood there without moving at all, silently digesting all that he had heard.
For any swordsman, this lecture was invaluable!
This was not a sword technique, nor was it a martial arts technique at the high level of Heaven or Earth Grade. It was only a lecture of an individual's understanding of the art of the sword. Yet it was an explanation that was very close to the core of the art, directly touching the base.
Of course, even if a swordsman had managed to form Sword Heart, the level every individual swordsman could grasp would differ, because Sword Heart was based on the individual swordsman's understanding of the art of the sword. But listening to such a lecture was too great a help for Ling Han who had, at the moment, only formed five flashes of Sword Qi. It was as if there was a path of gold laid out in front of him, guiding his advance forwards.
Hu Niu instantly looked bored. Her hands held onto her ears, and she appeared very sleepy.
"Hei!" Ling Han suddenly leaped up, the sword hanging at his waist leaving its sheath. He quickly turned around on the spot and brandished his sword in a wave.
Five flashes of Sword Qi danced unhindered. "Shua, shua, shua," cold light flashed and flickered. But moments later, another needle-sharp flash of Sword Qi was actually formed, and joined the previous five flashes of Sword Qi.
The sixth flash of Sword Qi!
This flash of Sword Qi quickly grew, becoming longer and wider, and finally looked no different from the other five flashes of Sword Qi.
"Many thanks, Teacher!" Ling Han raised his clasped hands towards Mo Gao and offered his thanks. This was not as simple as only having formed a flash of Sword Qi. He would be able to benefit from Mo Gao's lecture throughout his whole life. If he managed to grasp Sword Heart in this lifetime, then Mo Gao's lecture would at least have helped him save half the time he needed to be able to reach that step.
He had never thought this would happen. The only reason why he had come to Hu Yang Academy was to make Ling Dong Xing happy, yet he would actually have such an unexpected gain.
He's earned big!