48: Chapter 48 The Transformation of Sword Intent

"Hehe, wake up!"

Su Jiuchuan woke up in a daze, only to see Cai Rujin standing before him, dressed in night-traveling clothes.

"What is it?"

Cai Rujin sighed and said, "I've been thinking about it for two days, and I don't think there's any possibility of you winning tomorrow."

"I've heard that Young Master Lin Yanyi's Saint Origin Arts strives for invincibility among peers from the very first level. It cultivates an invincible conviction, so once Sword Intent is condensed, it is often the most powerful Sword Intent."

"He has challenged ten cities in a row without a single defeat, and all the opponents he faced have been killed."

"You should flee Tianshui City overnight and go to my father's place. I imagine that even if the Lin family is powerful, they wouldn't dare to do anything to you."

Su Jiuchuan looked at her earnest expression and felt moved. In truth, they were strangers with no ties, but because he had learned the Blade Qi Secret Record, she kept thinking of him.

He shook his head and lay back down to sleep.

"You'll die!" Cai Rujin said angrily.

Su Jiuchuan closed his eyes and said, "My Saber Intent is about pressing forward without retreat. If I flee this time, I fear my Martial Dao heart will develop cracks, and my path in the martial arts will naturally be severed from then on."

Cai Rujin was stunned, and in the end, she could only sigh. She knew that what Su Jiuchuan said was correct. The higher the Realm of a Martial Artist, the more they value spiritual Perfection. Even a small weakness could eventually become an insurmountable obstacle in their martial path, not to mention fleeing in the face of battle.

After a long while, Su Jiuchuan heard the sound of the door being closed from the outside.

...

Su Jiuchuan checked his balance; there were 11,688 taels left. After countless simulations over these two days, only one last chance remained.

[Age eighteen, you become a First-grade Martial Artist. Young Master Lin Yanyi intends to use you as a stepping stone to perfect his state of mind and step into the Innate Realm.]

[That night, you leave Tianshui City and head to the Northern Polar Wasteland to hone your Saber Intent in the turbulent currents.]

[Age thirty-one, your will is more solid. Even in such harsh conditions, your Saber Intent can cause the turbulent currents to part. Yet, you still feel something is missing.]

[Age thirty-one, you kill an ice bear and feel your Saber Intent has achieved a bit more Perfection. Thus, you continue to seek out animals in the wasteland to fight.]

[Age thirty-two, you are poisoned during a fight with an ice python and die on the spot. You pass away at the age of thirty-two.]

After reading the results of this simulation, he sighed. It was still a bit short.

[Simulation ended. You may retain one of the following items.]

[One, the Martial Artist Realm at age thirty-two.]

[Two, the martial arts experience at age thirty-two.]

[Three, the life wisdom at age thirty-two.]

He chose two.

Su Jiuchuan felt his entire being quiet down, a stillness like that of a statue or a rock.

All his sharpness was reined in, as if he had become an ordinary person.

He was out of money again!

Su Jiuchuan let out a long sigh, but with his current level, he shouldn't lose to Young Master Lin Yanyi.

He stood up, stretched, and looked outside. The sky was already beginning to brighten; in a little while, he would be fighting Young Master Lin Yanyi.

Suddenly, he reached out and opened the door. Cai Rujin was standing at the entrance, her hand raised, preparing to knock.

Su Jiuchuan smiled. He was now in a mysterious and profound state, seemingly able to perceive everything around him. The breeze blowing past, the antennae of ants in the corner communicating—everything flowed through his heart.

Unfortunately, it was still just a little bit short.

Cai Rujin's face was tense and sullen. Clearly, she was still angry about the matter of Su Jiuchuan refusing to flee with her yesterday.

"Here!" She tossed a small cloth bag over.

Su Jiuchuan caught it casually; it was heavy.

"Since I promised to give you ten thousand taels, I won't owe money to a dead person." After saying that, she stomped off angrily.

He opened the cloth bag; it was full of gold leaves. It seemed she had really spent the whole day yesterday gathering the silver.

Su Jiuchuan opened the System and chose to recharge.

[Recharge successful. Current balance: 11,688.]

Seeing this amount, he let out a long breath.

[Use the Life Simulator? Each use consumes 10,000 points.]

Yes.

[Age eighteen, you become a First-grade Martial Artist. Young Master Lin Yanyi has scheduled a duel with you today.]

[You do not attend the duel, leave Tianshui City, and arrive at the Northern Ice Plains.]

[Age thirty-eight, you find an ice leopard. This is an animal that excels in speed; you are completely unable to track its movement path. You are covered in wounds from the ice leopard.]

[At this critical, life-or-death moment, you close your eyes and abandon your sense of hearing. All your will condenses and compresses. Just at this moment, the ice leopard attacks. During its fatal strike, your will compresses to the critical value and breaks through. Finally, you and the ice leopard perish together. You pass away at the age of thirty-eight.]

He had finally broken through. It was too difficult; this was definitely the most arduous Breakthrough Su Jiuchuan had ever experienced.

He chose martial arts experience.

His consciousness returned to the ice plains. With his will reaching the critical point, Su Jiuchuan felt as if a life had been born within his will, flexible and ever-changing. At that time, his only conviction was to press forward without retreat. That will, unexpectedly, transformed into a broadsword, exactly the same as his black blade.

Blade Intent Manifestation?

Su Jiuchuan naturally understood what state he had just been in; this was the legendary Blade Intent Manifestation.

In the inn, Su Jiuchuan sat quietly on a chair, eyes closed as he rested. He was reliving the repeated fights in the simulated life, savoring the feeling of the Breakthrough.

At this moment, the door pushed open. Hunchbacked Aunt Li walked in and gestured for him to leave.

By this time, Su Jiuchuan already knew that Hunchbacked Aunt Li was a servant of the Cai family, a mute who had followed Master Cai Jing for many years and was now indeed following by Cai Rujin's side to protect her.

He knew it was time to depart.

Packing his things, Su Jiuchuan picked up his black blade and followed the hunchbacked woman out.

Cai Rujin was already standing at the inn entrance, wearing a long pink dress with her hair in two small braids. She stood gracefully, but her face was sullen; clearly, she was not in a good mood.

However, very quickly, after seeing Su Jiuchuan, a flash of doubt crossed her eyes. It was as if Su Jiuchuan had become a different person.

But if asked to specify, she couldn't say what had changed.

Seeing her like this, Su Jiuchuan laughed heartily and said, "Let's go. Don't look at me like that, it makes it seem like I'm going to my death."

"Isn't that exactly what it is?" Cai Rujin muttered, following behind him as they walked out.

By this time, Tianshui City had become lively. The news that Young Master Lin Yanyi of the Lin family was going to have a duel had long since spread.

In the past few days, outsiders had been arriving continuously, all wanting to see just how distinguished the undefeated Young Master of the Lin family was.

As for Su Jiuchuan, legend had it that this person was also a Genius, capable of crossing Realms to injure a First-grade Martial Artist while only in the Second Grade, but compared to Young Master Lin Yanyi, there was absolutely no suspense.