True Solution of the Sword Dao

After all, with his learning speed, graduating early was not a very difficult thing.

Lin Fei never spent time on trivial matters; he saved time whenever he could. But now, he felt a sense of aimlessness about how to use the saved time.

Cultivating Sword Intent was not something that could be achieved through mere hard practice of swordsmanship and constant battling; it required things, processes, and conditions of which he knew nothing. He always saved time, but he did not know what to do with it.

Cultivating the Star Shattering Sword Technique was secondary. Although it was loosening up, truly cultivating it was not something that could be done in a moment or two. The more advanced the sword moves, the higher the demands on one’s mental cultivation level. Without the proper Sword Intent, one could not make any progress. Although he could now choose—to simply give up and follow his own path, adopting the artistic conception of the sword method from Star Shattering Sword Technique as his Sword Intent—but then, how would he be different from any other cultivator of the Star Shattering Sword Technique?

And how was he any different from the mad Sword Intent maniacs he had encountered in the Sword Canon Space?

He was unwilling to let it rest.

Zhao Yuqing accompanied him during the meal. She sat across from him, her eyes squinting like two crescents. Her lunchbox contained rice with tomato and scrambled eggs, along with a serving of double-cooked pork. The red tomatoes and yellow eggs combined with the crisply fried pork looked particularly appetizing. Yet Zhao Yuqing was just sporadically pushing the white rice around with her chopsticks.

Lin Fei ate from his lunchbox in small bites. Although each bite was small, he ate very quickly. His box contained the same dish, tomato and scrambled eggs with double-cooked pork, and the food was disappearing at a visible rate.

The way he ate looked very refined, but in reality, it was very fast.

Lin Fei had always thought of eating as merely a way to replenish nutrients; as long as the nutrition was balanced, he could eat even tasteless food. To him, eating was just about replenishing energy and completing a task. There was no need to waste time on it.

When Lin Fei had finished all his food and looked across at Zhao Yuqing, she had barely touched her large box of food. However, her eyes were still fixated on Lin Fei.

"I suddenly realize..." Zhao Yuqing suddenly said, "you look really good when you eat..." Her gaze was intense as she watched Lin Fei.

For the first time in his life, Lin Fei felt a tingling sensation in his heart.

"Aren’t you going to eat?" he couldn’t help but remind her.

"It’s okay. I’m not hungry," Zhao Yuqing said with a smile.

"Alright, tell me, what are you really here for?" Lin Fei quickly changed the subject.

Zhao Yuqing’s face turned red, and she hesitated. It seemed she was uncertain about something.

She bit her lip and hesitated for a moment before saying,

"Actually, it’s nothing... just bored and wanted to see you."

Lin Fei naturally didn’t believe her. But, it also seemed likely that Zhao Yuqing had faced some kind of pressure at home and had chosen to flee to him, although if she didn’t want to talk about it, he wouldn’t pry. After all, he didn’t consider himself and Zhao Yuqing to be friends. At best, they were barely acquaintances.

The only reason he cared about her purpose was because she had somewhat disrupted his life.

"Alright, now that you’ve finished eating, it’s time to go," Lin Fei stood up, took out a pack of napkins, pulled out two, tossed one to Zhao Yuqing and wiped his own mouth. Then, without looking back, he walked alone toward the exit of the cafeteria.

Zhao Yuqing had just taken the napkin and was about to speak when she saw Lin Fei turn and leave. Only then did she realize that his invitation to leave was meant for her.

Her face showed slight surprise for a moment, and she quickly stood and hurried after him.

That afternoon, Lin Fei went online to select courses, and Zhao Yuqing did the same. Lin Fei went out to have his afternoon meal, and Zhao Yuqing followed. Her expression clearly said she would go wherever he went, almost glued to his side.

Lin Fei was genuinely starting to feel a bit troubled by it.

Until the evening.

Lin Fei was hurrying from outside the campus back inside, with Zhao Yuqing following behind him.

The two of them walked one after the other across the campus square. Around them by the plaza’s pond, other university couples were also leisurely strolling about, casting the two in a contrast that made it seem as if Lin Fei and Zhao Yuqing were also a couple.

The night air had become slightly chilly.

Zhao Yuqing remained silent, just following behind.

"I’m heading back to my dorm," Lin Fei said calmly.

"Oh," Zhao Yuqing responded, but still followed him.

"I said I’m going back to my dorm, why are you still following me?" Lin Fei turned around, exasperated.

"What are you afraid of, people who don’t know better might think I’m taking advantage of you!" Zhao Yuqing said irritably. "To be honest, standing next to you, I kind of feel like the man here."

Lin Fei was utterly speechless. He no longer cared to deal with this woman.

He turned directly and walked toward the direction of his dorm.

Fortunately, this time she really did not follow him.

**************

Sword Canon Space, Extinction Holy Hall

In the scarlet grand hall, bloody flames on both sides of the walls continuously burned, emitting whooshing sounds mixed with occasional crackling noises, as if some impurities were being incinerated and exploding.

The dancing flames lit the already red grand hall in a deeper blood-red glow.

The air faintly carried a scent of blood.

Lin Fei sat silently in the highest seat. To his right, a black monster statue lay quietly on the ground, its head bowed down, perfectly aligned with Lin Fei’s right hand.

"The space has reached the stage of the Sword Intent, and the Space Evolution Degree has increased to the critical value. The next stage of spatial evolution is permitted to open. Would you like to initiate it?"

The Sword Canon’s query kept repeating in Lin Fei’s ear.

In front of him, where he sat, a giant square screen displaying the choices he faced was one person high.

There were two selectable options above.

On the left was a small icon of a sword, silver in color, enclosed within a small golden frame, faintly flickering with white fluorescence. Below it was an explanatory text.

’Rank assessment, obtain title system. Acquiring titles grants additional auxiliary strength enhancements.’

On the right was an icon of a blood-red palace. Similarly enclosed within a small golden frame, surrounded by white fluorescence. Below it was the explanation.

’Ability enhancement for Extinction Holy Hall. One, increase trial capabilities. Two, corresponding overlapping of reality initiated.’

This was where Lin Fei hesitated. The rank title system would allow those who entered to acquire titles and additional strength enhancements, highly random, but with the potential to gain powerful passive abilities, such as post-Qi Cultivation passive abilities like speed enhancements, strength enhancements, or innate talents. This was undoubtedly very enticing.

On the other hand, the option for Extinction Holy Hall, corresponding overlapping of reality initiation, was the fundamental reason for his hesitation. According to the information transmitted to his mind, this option meant projecting the trial space of Extinction Holy Hall into the real world and gaining strength by letting people enter and undergo trials. Most crucially, once someone succeeded in the trial, obtaining the strength enhancement, they would automatically become a member of the Extinction Holy Hall. They would then forge a transactional contract with Lin Fei himself, and as long as they served Lin Fei, they could obtain the power and abilities bestowed by the Extinction Holy Hall.

The relationship between Lin Fei and those who entered into contracts was simply an exchange of services for strength. As long as he did not overly coerce them, the powers developed in this way would grow stronger and larger.

This was of great significance for Lin Fei in attracting experts. Moreover, just by initiating this reality overlapping feature, not only the title system but also various other branches later on could all be projected into reality, allowing anyone to enter and undergo trials.

This set of abilities was of great advantage for Lin Fei to form a stronghold completely in his own style, as he determined the content of the trials.

Above the blood-red hall,

Lin Fei remained silent. After a long time, he slowly stretched out his finger and gently tapped on the screen in front of him.

"Initiate overlapping reality function."

The cold, merciless voice of the Sword Canon Space suddenly rang out.

"Begin preparing the projection."

"Please confirm the projection location."

In front of Lin Fei, a blue phantom of Earth suddenly unfolded. The basketball-sized globe slowly rotated.

Where Lin Fei’s gaze fell, a place on the Earth quickly zoomed in. It was the Indian Ocean near Australia.

A large swath of blue rapidly enlarged, passing through the white atmosphere, through countless clouds.

In the center of the vast expanse of blue, a sesame-size black dot slowly emerged in the middle of the view.

This dot, when viewed from space, showed no signs at all.

The black dot quickly enlarged, growing faster and faster, changing from the size of a sesame seed to a giant island that occupied all the view in just a few seconds.

"Locate projection, Indian Ocean, unknown island underground center," Lin Fei said softly.

"Location locked."

"Begin constructing projection."

Suddenly, Lin Fei felt the entire hall begin to quiver slightly. It was like an earthquake, the ground was shaking, and everything around was vibrating intensely.

Whirr!!

A ring, like a gear of golden light, suddenly appeared in front of him and began to slowly rotate.

Inside the ring were spirals of golden threads extending inward, the whole thing resembling some sort of metallic funnel.

"Shield unknown power detection. Projection construction completed,"

The spiral inside the golden funnel instantly opened up, revealing a screen-like view inside.

Lin Fei clearly saw that at the center of the small island, through numerous rocks, it went deep below ground. Numerous soil and rocks began to melt like magma rapidly, and then at the center, a huge vortex formed, absorbing all the melted soil and rocks into it. In its place, a gigantic palace, a blood-red branch of the Extinction Holy Hall, emerged slowly from the void below the island.

"Projection completed. Remaining Space Evolution Degree: 1."

Countless pieces of information suddenly flooded Lin Fei’s mind.

"Extinction Holy Hall projection completed. The Sword Intent stage automatically initiated."

"Sword Master automatically acquires the ability to set co-planar spatial teleportation points, consuming one point of Space Evolution Degree each time."

Lin Fei was shocked.

"Spatial teleportation ability..."

Countless pieces of information entering his mind made it clear. Just by consuming one point of Space Evolution Degree, he could set teleportation gates between any two points on Earth. This was undoubtedly designed to facilitate scene projection trials.(to be continued. If you like this work, feel free to cast your recommendation vote and monthly ticket at qidian.com, your support are my greatest motivation.)