True Solution of the Sword Dao

The swordsmanship of the Siyue Sword Sect is extraordinary, surpassing the mundane. Lin Fei believed he had reached a relative peak in speed through his practice of the Tracing Shadow Sword Art, but in combat, he had no chance to react at all before he was defeated and killed.

This is the standard of the elites in a world centered around the Sword Dao.

Upon returning home, Lin Fei felt unsettled for a long time.

"The gap shouldn’t be this massive,!" he muttered to himself. The practices of the Tracing Shadow Sword Art, the Basic Sword Technique, and the experience passed down by Yan Shi—they were no trifling matters; how could it be that he couldn’t even defeat an ordinary elite? Even if there was a tremendous difference between the levels of the two worlds, the Tracing Shadow Sword Art and Basic Sword Technique were complex Technique Decisions, which laid a solid foundation for him.

Thus, even though he perished quickly, Lin Fei had a nagging feeling that he wasn’t as weak as his performance had shown.

There must be some areas where he lacked vigilance.

Afterward, whether Lin Fei practiced on his own or performed movements, he couldn’t stop dwelling on that one sword strike. The only option was to lay aside all cultivation activities, to take a real break, and to clear his mind.

Past ten at night, Lin Jianguo and Jiang Feng also returned home. After a day of busyness, the two showed signs of weariness.

Lin You had also come back earlier, always slightly speedier in returning than the other two, and after swiftly washing her face and feet, she curled up on the couch to watch TV, putting on the act that she’d been watching for quite some time. The black cat played along, dozing off beside her.

"Xiaoyou, it’s getting late, you should go to sleep," said Jiang Feng upon entering and seeing Lin You’s weary face on the couch.

"It’s fine..." Lin You shook her head repeatedly.

Jiang Nan gently carried over two cups of freshly brewed hot tea and set them on the coffee table.

This scene had become almost a daily occurrence lately. Lin Jianguo and his wife politely expressed their thanks. Jiang Nan smiled and shook her head, taking a seat.

Lin Fei came out of his room.

"Mom and Dad, the scores can be checked tomorrow. There’s a phone number on the admission ticket, and we can inquire about my score by calling it," he said.

"Really?" Lin Jianguo’s face lit up with excitement. "The scores can finally be checked! We’ve been waiting for so long."

The results of Lin Fei’s high school examination had been a knot in the couple’s hearts since the day of the exam. Now that the time to inquire had arrived, regardless if the news was good or bad, having a result would be less unsettling than the hovering uncertainty.

"I think Feifei’s choices for universities were too ambitious. Yan Capital University’s admission score is so high; wouldn’t it have been better to choose something more general? If he scored well but just a little shy of their cut-off, it would be a pity. He could have been guaranteed a good major at another university," Jiang Feng expressed her worries. "And the major you chose, physics, is quite niche. It’s difficult to find a job with that."

"Why bring this up now? Everything is already decided," sighed Lin Jianguo. "We agreed earlier to let him handle it on his own. The child has grown up and should be able to make his own choices; all we can do as parents is to guide and assist from the side, but the main decisions are still his own. If it weren’t for my father influencing my choices, I wouldn’t be just running a small bookstore now."

Jiang Feng set down her handbag and took a seat next to Lin You, picking up the tea for a sip.

"At work today, our office’s Teacher Wang, her son is also taking the university entrance exams this year. He’s such a top student, always ranking among the top few of his grade on the mock tests. When she asked about our situation, I didn’t know what to say."

Lin Fei also came over and sat down.

"Didn’t I say it went well?" he chimed in.

"It doesn’t matter, if you don’t get in this time, you could always retake a year of prep classes," Lin Jianguo patted Lin Fei on the shoulder to console him.

"Dad..." Lin Fei couldn’t help but smile, realizing his family had already made peace with his potential failure.

That made sense, as which average student would fill out a college application with only one choice? Only Lin Fei did so. When he submitted the form, the surprised expression on his form teacher’s face was still fresh in the memories of Jiang Feng and Lin Jianguo. But Lin Fei was insistent, and they had no place to object, especially now that Lin Fei was much more resolute than before.

"Feifei brother will definitely get accepted," Jiang Nan whispered from the side.

This caused Lin You to glance at her and purse her lips without saying a word.

"Nannan has the most faith in your brother," sighed Jiang Feng with a smile.

"Alright, let’s all go to sleep; success or failure will be determined tomorrow," Lin Jianguo declared.

**********

"Siyue Sword Sect... Siyue Sword Technique," Lin Fei reflected as he lay on his bed, once again immersed in the vision of the crescent moon from the Siyue Sword Technique.

In his view, swordsmanship was actually a type of martial arts, consisting of movements executed by humans accompanied by the power inside their bodies to inflict damage. However, Yuan Yicheng’s execution lacked any movement; it felt as though in an instant, the crescent simply traversed space, appearing exactly where he was standing, at tremendous speed. What was more peculiar was that even though he had evaded, he still ended up being pierced through the heart.

From Yuan Yicheng’s movement technique, it was clear that he wasn’t as fast as Lin Fei.

So why did it turn out this way? 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Lin Fei opened his eyes wide, replaying every detail of that fatal moment— the trajectory of the Sword Form, the course of the True Force.

Suddenly, he seemed to recall the moment right after speaking with Yuan Yicheng, when the other’s True Force briefly dispersed rapidly. Afterward, since his attention had been on Yuan Yicheng’s words, he hadn’t noticed the state of the dispersed True Force. An inexplicable intuition told him that the change immediately after might be the key.

"If I could face it one more time, perhaps I could understand," Lin Fei’s spirit sank into the Sword Dao True Solution. He opted to enter the Basic Cultivation space again.

A myriad of white replaced the original bedroom—you still find yourself in the same white space.

’Begin cultivation practice?’

"Yes."

’Available opponent: Yuan Yicheng, Siyue Sword Sect elite disciple. Status: at the peak of his strength in Siyue Sword Sect. Preservation degree: 70%.’ The stream of information automatically transformed into data Lin Fei could understand and entered his brain.

"Status?" Lin Fei blinked in surprise, as there was no such information the last time he entered. "Does that refer to the current state of the opponent? What does preservation degree mean?"

He vaguely felt that this might be the greatest secret in the Sword Dao True Solution.

"What does preservation degree mean?" He tried asking aloud, but there was no response. The Sword Dao True Solution was always like this, merely transferring the information within. There might be some feedback function, but it wasn’t comprehensive; it didn’t seem to have an intelligence like a computer.

Without any feedback, Lin Fei could only suppress his doubts. After mentally selecting his choice:

Yuan Yicheng’s figure once again appeared opposite him.

"Are you here for the trial? With such strength, you dare to venture into the Trial Space? Ignorant of life and death." Yuan Yicheng seemed very strange, as if he didn’t recognize Lin Fei at all. Lin Fei, who also cultivated True Force, knew that once the True Force Cultivation reached a certain realm, it greatly aided the development of physical intelligence. At his current stage, even photographic memory was a simple matter. For two people who had fought less than a day ago, it was unlikely that Yuan Yicheng completely lacked any impression of him.

With a thought:

"Who are you?" Lin Fei asked softly.

"Siyue Sword Sect’s Yuan Yicheng. You should feel honored to die under the Siyue Sword Art," Yuan Yicheng smoothly drew his longsword.

Lin Fei immediately began to fully sense the subtle True Force emanating from him.

Very subtle, very weak—the countless streams of True Force spread out quickly like a net, silent and elusive, as if a giant net was swiftly cast. If it weren’t for Lin Fei’s full concentration, he might not have noticed it at all.

"Did you notice it? Good talent," Yuan Yicheng gently shook his longsword. A crescent moon suddenly appeared at Lin Fei’s location.

"The secret of Siyue Sword Art is not so easily uncovered by you. Die!"

The result was the same; Lin Fei still instantly dodged the position of the crescent moon.

Hiss!

Lin Fei immediately felt a sharp pain in his body, the same spot on his chest, as blood spurted out. His vision suddenly went dark.

When he came to his senses again, he was back in his bedroom.

"True Force quickly forms a net, but what is the result?" Lin Fei spoke softly. Although he still failed, he had begun to detect a pattern. He did not resist; he only observed, yet he understood the subsequent changes.

And this time, he had obtained an important piece of information.

That was, Yuan Yicheng seemed to have no memory of their previous fight at all.

"Perhaps the Sword Dao True Solution is meant to store his imprint, hence the talk of a preservation degree, which might be the completeness of the saved imprint," he speculated. "But it feels like he still thinks he’s alive and in some Trial Space."

This failure, although it seemed to bring Lin Fei a hint of understanding, was still murky and unclear.

***********

The next day, Lin Jianguo and another person rose very early. Jiang Nan did too, which also caused Lin You to be woken up. After Lin Fei finished his morning visualization practice and went to the kitchen, the four were sitting and eating breakfast—noodles cooked by Jiang Feng. Seeing Lin Fei approach, Jiang Feng hurriedly got up and also prepared a bowl of noodles for him.

"You always get up so early. Why don’t you sleep in a bit more?" Jiang Feng said to Lin Fei.

"It’s a habit," Lin Fei replied, taking the bowl of noodles. "Practicing swordsmanship every morning is also an early exercise."

After breakfast, Lin Jianguo decided not to go to the shop. He stayed at home, waiting for the results. Jiang Feng stayed home as well; it was Saturday and she could rest. Jiang Nan was now entirely accompanying Lin Fei to the Swordsmanship Club—if Lin Fei didn’t go, she had nothing else to do. So it happened that today, the whole family was at home.

Lin You had originally planned to go out, but for some reason, he stayed as well.

Jiang Feng washed dishes in the kitchen with Jiang Nan’s help. Lin Jianguo set up a chess board in the living room with Lin Fei.

"Come! Let’s have a game. It’s been a long time since I’ve played," he said.

Lin Fei knew his father was anxious at this moment and took out the chessboard merely to pass the time and calm his nerves. He also smiled and nodded. Scores wouldn’t be available until after 10 o’clock, and it was just past 8.

He pulled up a chair next to the chessboard, placing it between them. The board was made of solid wood and doubled as a box for the chess pieces. When unfolded, it served as the play surface. Very convenient.

Lin Jianguo’s chess skill wasn’t good, but his sportsmanship was quite poor.

In the first game, despite Lin Fei giving in time and again, he still won unavoidably.

"Again!" Lin Jianguo frowned slightly, feeling a bit embarrassed, and immediately began to reset the board. "I haven’t played for a long time. Okay, I’m serious this time."

Lin Fei smiled as he helped set up the pieces. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes, Monthly Ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation.)