394: Chapter 394 Situ Lan's Choice

One movement followed another, imprinting themselves within Gao Feng's Sea of Consciousness. He felt his Sword Intent growing at an incredible speed, like a dried-up riverbed suddenly filled by a flood.

The vajra sword at his waist went from a light hum to a violent vibration; the golden patterns on the blade grew brighter and brighter, nearly illuminating the entire stone pavilion.

Three hours later, Jian Chen withdrew his hand.

His face was a few shades paler than before, and that cluster of cyan-white light had dimmed until it was almost invisible. The phantom of the remnant soul swayed a few times before he pulled it back into his palm. He slowly exhaled, his voice tinged with exhaustion: "The first five of the Nine Styles of Heavenly Sword are now in your Sea of Consciousness. As for the latter four, come find me once you Breakthrough to the Late Golden Core Stage."

Gao Feng woke from that profound state, feeling that his Divine Sense was more than twice as strong as before, and his perception of Sword Intent had become much sharper. Subconsciously, he pressed his index and middle fingers together and gave a light flick; a golden sword light shot from his fingertips, silently slicing through a leaf outside the pavilion.

The leaf split neatly in half down the middle and drifted to the ground.

"Thank you, Elder." Gao Feng cupped his fists and gave a deep bow.

Jian Chen waved his hand: "No need to thank me. I passed my Sword Intent to you not because of how strong you are, but because the Heavenly Sword Sect needs change. The conservative faction has controlled the Sect for centuries, excluding outsiders and stagnating in isolation. If this continues, the Heavenly Sword Sect will decline sooner or later. Your performance in the Sword Tablet Forest has given those neutral Elders hope—an outside Disciple leading his teammates to clear stages through group cultivation is far more efficient than the individualistic heroics of our own Disciples."

He paused: "This is the future path of the Heavenly Sword Sect—not clinging to sectarian bias, but openness, exchange, and cooperation."

Just as Gao Feng was about to speak, he suddenly felt a Talisman in his robes grow warm. It was Tian Xin's Warning Talisman—someone was approaching, and more than one.

Jian Chen sensed it too; his brow furrowed slightly but quickly relaxed: "It seems someone doesn't want you to walk out of this valley alive."

Situ Lan and Lin Jingyu were guarding the valley entrance.

After Gao Feng left, Situ Lan had been restless. It wasn't that she didn't trust Elder Jian Chen, but rather that she understood the conservative faction too well. Those people had failed repeatedly at the sword heart stone, Sword Puppet Array, Sea of Sword Intent, and Sword Tablet Forest; they were bound to be humiliated and enraged. Gao Feng heading to the forest alone gave them the perfect opportunity.

"I'm going to guard the valley entrance," she said to Lin Jingyu.

"I'll go with you," Lin Jingyu replied without asking further.

The two walked to the valley entrance of the Sword Tablet Forest and stood by the stone beasts on either side of the gate. The night wind blew, bringing a few withered leaves. The moonlight stretched their shadows long, overlapping them.

Su Ning arrived as well. Carrying a space positioning bead and several Teleportation Talismans, she sat cross-legged ten paces behind Lin Jingyu and Situ Lan, closing her eyes to sense the surrounding spatial fluctuations. Tian Xin hadn't come; she had laid down three layers of Warning Talisman Formations around the guest house and was currently sitting at the center of the array, holding a master Talisman to track any intruders.

Before long, Tian Xin's voice reached their ears through a Transmission Talisman: "Someone's coming. Three people circling around from the northern slope. They're all masked, with cultivation at the ninth level of Foundation Establishment."

Three figures drifted down from the northern slope on the night wind. Their steps were silent, their forms hidden in shadows untouched by moonlight. Dressed in black and masked, only their eyes were visible, and each held a longsword—the standard-issue longswords of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

People from the conservative faction, and Inner Sect Disciples at that.

The three didn't communicate, walking straight toward the valley entrance. When they saw Lin Jingyu and Situ Lan standing by the stone gate, they paused for a moment but quickly resumed their advance.

"Senior Brothers, visiting so late at night, what is your business?" Situ Lan's voice was calm, yet it sounded exceptionally clear in the silent valley.

The lead man in black didn't speak, merely tightening his grip on his sword. His gaze bypassed Situ Lan and Lin Jingyu, landing on the stone pavilion deep within the valley. There, two figures could be faintly seen—Jian Chen and Gao Feng. He withdrew his gaze and raised his sword, pointing the tip at Situ Lan.

"Step aside."

Situ Lan didn't retreat. She drew the azure phoenix sword from her waist, its silver blade glinting coldly under the moonlight.

"This is Elder Jian Chen's place of quiet cultivation; outsiders are not permitted to enter," she said, her voice soft but every word distinct. "This is the rule of the Heavenly Sword Sect."

A flash of annoyance crossed the eyes of the man in black. It wasn't that he didn't know the rule, but his orders were clear—he had to take that person down tonight, by any means necessary.

The three struck simultaneously!

Three longswords lunged at Situ Lan from three directions with perfect coordination. One attacked high, one middle, and one low, completely sealing off Situ Lan's path of retreat. Lin Jingyu's sword also left its sheath beside her, but he didn't move to block the three blades; instead, he thrust toward the lead man's wrist.

*Clang!*

The sword tip struck the man's wrist; though it didn't pierce through, it forced his blade an inch off course. Situ Lan's azure phoenix sword seized the opening to slash out, clashing with the other two blades in a shower of sparks.

Failing their initial strike, the three immediately changed their Formation. One tied down Lin Jingyu while the other two besieged Situ Lan. Lin Jingyu's sword was as fast as lightning, but his opponent's ninth-level Foundation Establishment cultivation was significantly higher than his, making a quick victory impossible. Situ Lan, fighting one against two, gradually began to fall into a disadvantage.

Su Ning acted.

Her hands formed a seal, and a Spatial Barrier isolated one of the men in black. The man found himself in an independent space; he could clearly see his companions just a few steps away, yet no matter how he moved, he couldn't reach them. Though Su Ning's Spatial Barrier could only last for a dozen breaths, a dozen breaths were enough.

Situ Lan seized the chance to force the other man back. On Lin Jingyu's side, he also gained the upper hand; his sword was so fast that the man's sleeves were pierced with several holes. Though his flesh wasn't wounded, he was left in a wretched state.

Seeing things going south, the leader pulled a black Talisman from his sleeve and flung it toward the stone pavilion. The Talisman transformed mid-air into a burst of black flames, lunging straight for Jian Chen and Gao Feng.

"Watch out!" Situ Lan's voice turned shrill.

But she was too far away to stop it.

The cluster of black flames suddenly stopped three zhang away from the pavilion. It was as if it had hit an invisible wall, struggling in the air for a moment before silently extinguishing.

It was Jian Chen.

He hadn't even moved, merely twitching an eyelid. The Spiritual Pressure of a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator was not something a Foundation Establishment Talisman could break through.

"Go back and tell the one who sent you," Jian Chen's voice wasn't loud, but every word hit the men's chests like a heavy hammer, "that as long as I am here, the rules of the Heavenly Sword Sect remain."

The three masked men looked at each other and finally sheathed their swords, disappearing dejectedly into the night.

Back at the guest house, Tian Xin sensed the danger had passed and put away her master Talisman.

Situ Lan stood where she was, her azure phoenix sword still pointed toward where the men had vanished. Lin Jingyu sheathed his sword and walked to her side: "It's over."

Su Ning also withdrew the Spatial Barrier, her face somewhat pale.

Situ Lan returned her azure phoenix sword to its scabbard and remained silent for a long time. Then, she did something neither Lin Jingyu nor Su Ning expected—she turned and walked toward the stone pavilion.

She knelt before Jian Chen.

Jian Chen looked at the young woman kneeling before him and didn't tell her to rise. Moonlight shone on her cool face, and her eyes, usually so calm, were now filled with complex emotions.

"Elder," Situ Lan's voice was slightly hoarse, "when I left the Heavenly Sword Sect back then, it wasn't out of betrayal, but because I couldn't see a path. The conservative faction controlled the Sect, caring only for sectarian bias, excluding outside sword paths and even the Aurora Sword Art I practiced. They said the Aurora Sword Art was a heterodox path, unworthy of the Inner Sect. I refused to accept that, so I left."

She paused: "After leaving, I went to the Wuxiang Sect. There, I met Senior Brother Gao Feng. He never asked about my past, nor why I left the Heavenly Sword Sect. He only said—'Your sword is fast, but it can be faster.'"

"He took me to the Battlefield of Ten Thousand Races, to the Green Wood Realm, and to the Star Sea. I saw a different kind of sword path—not the oppressive power of the Heavenly Sword Sect, nor the clever force-breaking of the Qingyun Sect, but 'protection'. His sword is for protection, not for slaughter. I had never seen such a sword, and I had never thought a sword could be used that way."

She looked up, her eyes slightly red: "Elder, I do not regret leaving the Heavenly Sword Sect. But I feel regret because the Heavenly Sword Sect taught me sword techniques, yet failed to teach me what a sword truly is."

Jian Chen was silent for a long time. The moonlight cast heavy shadows across his gaunt face, and his eyes, buried like deep wells, betrayed no emotion.

Finally, he spoke: "You were not wrong."

Situ Lan's tears fell.

"The fault of the Heavenly Sword Sect lies not with those of you who left," Jian Chen's tone was level, yet carried an unspeakable weight. "It lies with those who stayed—stagnating, excluding others, and turning the ten-thousand-year foundation of the Heavenly Sword Sect into a private tool for a select few. You haven't failed the Heavenly Sword Sect; the Heavenly Sword Sect failed you."

Situ Lan prostrated herself on the ground, her shoulders trembling slightly.

Gao Feng walked to her side and helped her up. Situ Lan wiped her tears and didn't look at Jian Chen again, simply standing to the side with her head lowered.

Jian Chen took a palm-sized cyan token from his sleeve and handed it to Gao Feng. A small sword was carved onto the token, and on the blade were seven stars—the mark of the Seven-Star Sword God.

"This is the Sword Heart Token," Jian Chen said. "At the ninth stage, the Sword God Platform, the conservative faction might use their tricks. Should you encounter the unexpected, press this token against the Sword God Platform to draw upon my Sword Intent for aid. This is my own Sword Intent, not the remnant soul of an ancestor. It will dissipate at dawn and has only the power for a single strike."

Gao Feng took the token; it was heavy. It felt cool to the touch, and he could feel an extremely restrained Sword Intent contained within—unthreatening when dormant, but once unleashed, it would surely shake the heavens.