Chapter 43: Seven Years for You
Half a day to pass through Xuan, this was even more shocking news than the White Sheep Cave's students being able to participate in the Green Vine Sword Academy's Sword Sacrifice Trial. And this kind of vibration was definitely not only within White Sheep Cave.
However, the figure of Ding Ning, who had caused such a shock, had waited until the sun rose before appearing on the mountain path of White Sheep Cave.
"Isn't this a joke?"
On the mountain path not far from the Scripture History Cave, Ding Ning looked at the expressionless Li Daoji and said with furrowed brows, "Only yesterday I was told that I could utilize that spirit vein to cultivate myself, and only after one night, now I'm being told that that spirit vein belongs to the winner of the Sword Sacrifice Trials, this change is also a little too fast, isn't it?"
Li Daoji coldly glanced at Ding Ning and said, "At least there is still a month before the Sword Sacrifice Trial, and this spirit vein still belongs to you. If you dislike the change too quickly, you should have listened to me yesterday and grabbed all the time you could to utilize the spirit vein to cultivate, instead of having to live back in Wutong Fall and spend such a long time on the road."
Ding Ning looked at Li Daoji whose eyes were filled with dissatisfaction and said, "I wasn't idle on the way back and forth ah, I will be studying the Wildfire Sword Scripture."
Li Daoji sneered, "Just that short of a time, you memorized some of the contents of the Wildfire Sword Scripture?"
Ding Ning nodded.
A hint of hidden anger flashed in the depths of Li Daoji's eyes, yet he didn't say anything at first, reaching out to break off a branch from the mountain wall beside him and handing it over to Ding Ning before pointing to a nearby platform that was less than a square foot in circumference and gesturing for Ding Ning to go over there, "Since that's the case, why don't you practice it for me to see?"
"Good."
Ding Ning did not refuse, and carrying the twig, he stepped onto the platform and began to swing it.
This twig in his hand looked ridiculous, with a few tender leaves at the top.
Li Daoji was also deliberately making him look ridiculous, so he came to not even break off those few tender leaves.
Cultivation most avoided arrogance, the Wildfire Sword Scripture was more complex than most of the White Sheep Cave's sword dictionaries, many of the sword gestures were made up of a number of sword strokes that were linked together, and there were many variations in a single sword stance, so even if he went to study the Wildfire Sword Scripture on his own, he would not have been able to memorize too much of the content and comprehend it in just a day's time.
However, just at the moment of this start of Ding Ning's hand, a bolt of lightning had crossed his sneer-filled eyes, and his face instantly stiffened slightly.
The seemingly ridiculous twig suddenly shook into a semicircle in front of Ding Ning's body, and in the next instant, a sharp cracking sound resounded in the air.
The twigs turned into countless tiny sword shadows, enveloping a few feet in front of Ding Ning's body.
The sword shadows were dense, most of them centered below Ding Ning's waist, as if a dense grass field had suddenly appeared on the ground in front of him.
The shock in Li Daoji's eyes widened once more, and his eyebrows continued to throb.
He had never flipped through the Wildfire Sword Scripture before, but he could tell that this should be the starting sword stance of the Wildfire Sword Scripture, and although there were still many flaws in Ding Ning's eyes with this one sword stance, yet he had already sensed that true sword intent.
With just a single starting sword stance, he felt that a wildfire would rise from the grasslands.
This was divinity.
The sword style was not perfect, the orientation of the sword in the air had a small deviation every moment, this could be improved through practice, however, the divine rhythm of the sword intent could not be comprehended through simple practice.
He is now the first sword master of the White Sheep Cave besides the cave master Xue Forgetfulness, so he knows very well that only the kind of sword masters who have truly gained the charisma of the sword can really bring out the power of the sword technique, and in the battle, naturally, the sword will be able to follow the sword intent, so that the sword will be everywhere, appearing in the position it should appear.
And what shocked him the most at this moment was that even the few ridiculous leaves on that branch seemed to have taken on a unique flavor, giving him a strange, and wildfire prairie very different from the thriving, and the backbone of the sword intent.
"Perhaps I should recognize this way of cultivation of yours. But from today onwards, if you want to leave the mountain gate, I will arrange a faster carriage for you."
He took a deep breath, looked at the stopped Ding Ning, and said this before he said nothing more and turned to leave.
"Thank you, Uncle Li Daoji."
Looking at the back of Li Daoji, who did not say much, Ding Ning thanked him earnestly.
Instead of a smug expression in his eyes, a trace of inexplicable coldness appeared.
The cultivation in the White Sheep Cave had gone well in yesterday.
Now, however, it seemed that everything would indeed not go as smoothly as he had imagined.
Qingteng Sword Academy's Di Qingmei was indeed at odds with Xue Forgetfulness and Du Qingjiao just like the rumors had it, and in order to satisfy that Empress in the majestic palace, he had to make more moves in order to let her see his attitude.
"In fact, in normal times, if you fight with the White Sheep Cave any more, I won't intervene, I have a whole wall...I don't have the ability to meddle in things here, however, right now it's about my cultivation, and the Spirit Vein that was given to me only yesterday has just been overnighted, and it's like you are taking it away from me, but I'm really not happy about it."
Ding Ning dropped the branch in his hand and looked in the direction of the Green Vine Sword Academy, saying softly but seriously in his mind.
At this moment, he was truly unhappy.
Unhappy for the extra incident that had arisen, unhappy for the recent, very distant appellation that had appeared in his mind from time to time.
"Ding Ning!"
At this time, he heard someone calling out to him.
Nangong Caiyang ran towards him in the sunlight.
Her body trembled slightly as she looked at Ding Ning, who stood staunchly on the platform looking into the distance.
Her voice also trembled a little as she ran to Ding Ning's body, "Ding Ning, you really are that kind of marvelous monster."
Ding Ning retrieved his thoughts, and as he looked at her excited expression and the way she looked at herself which was already completely different, he knew that this young girl must have already gained a great deal in her sense of Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi.
So he calmly and softly asked, "Those two accompanying books are useful?"
"I don't know how you think those two accompanying books are useful, but they are really useful to me." Nangong Caiyang was still unable to calm down as she said in a trembling voice, "I should be able to break through to the Second Realm very quickly."
Ding Ning softly said, "It's best if I can help you, you made a statement for me at the mountain gate so that I wouldn't owe you any favors."
Nangong Caiyang was stunned.
Her eyes were filled with incomprehensibility, and even a hint of anger appeared.
"How is this a thing!"
She looked straight into Ding Ning's eyes, and her face rose slightly red, "What do you mean, you don't owe me any favors either, I casually said a few words for you on the mountain path, can it be compared to this? This kind of cultivation thing...with this kind of help from you, you're probably saving me seven years, or more than that!"
Ding Ning frowned slightly as he looked at the agitated her, and was silent for a moment.
"Perhaps you feel that you are a disciple of the White Sheep Cave, and are inherently estranged from the students of my Green Vine Sword Academy, but I won't bother with such matters, and even if you don't see me as a friend right now, I must still thank you." Nangong Cai Beans' countenance, however, became even more serious, and she even earnestly owed her body and bowed to Ding Ning, "You and I have talked about your physical problems, and I know that your cultivation is even more urgent than the average person's, so I hope that if there's anything that you need help with, you must say so to me."
Ding Ning's brows furrowed a little more as he thought for a moment and said, "If you really want to help me, promise me that you won't tell anyone that it was those two accompanying books I helped you pick that helped you. Including your master teacher, your father."
Nangong Cai Beans froze, she could not understand as she looked at Ding Ning and asked, "Why?"
"I'm afraid that a fast cultivation advancement will already cause a lot of unnecessary trouble." Ding Ning said calmly, "If a person with a fast cultivation advancement is also perceived to still have a strong intuition and understanding of cultivation texts, that would be even more troublesome. You know that I don't have much time, I don't have time to be utilized, for me, I need to spend all my time on my cultivation advancement."
Nangong Cai Beans didn't know what was truly in Ding Ning's mind, but she felt that Ding Ning was right in these words.
She was well aware that those geniuses who were called monsters would be greeted with more challenges and mundane chores after their talents unfolded. And most of those people's future pursuits would probably be a higher position in Changling, those challenges and chores would help them in the future when they stood on a higher position, and they had enough time to run them, yet Ding Ning did not.
"I promise you, I swear I will never tell anyone that it was because those two accompanying books you picked helped me, I will find another reason."
Nangong Cai Beans nodded seriously, then she still stubbornly raised her head and looked at Ding Ning, "But that's not enough...is there anything else I can do to help you?"
Looking at this young girl who was bent on helping herself, Ding Ning had a bit of a headache, but he still thought carefully.
"Are there any pills that can raise your cultivation?"
He pondered for a moment and said this, then even felt a bit shameless.
Nangong Caiyang froze for a moment.
This was something that if a different person had said this, she would inevitably feel shameless as well.
Even though cultivation-enhancing pills had more or less long-term unfavorable consequences, and even in the legends, they had a greater impact on cultivators breaking through upwards after reaching the seventh realm, yet because they could quickly change the cultivator's body, raise the realm, and even greatly save the time it took to break through the realm, any pills that were related to cultivation enhancement were the most valuable treasures under the heavens.
Such an elixir, for a cultivator from a family background such as Nangong Caiyang, was a supreme treasure, and usually when one obtained such an elixir, they would use it themselves, how could they possibly give it to someone else.
However, Ding Ning's body allowed Nangong Cai Beans to not give birth to his shameless thoughts.
She naturally felt that this would indeed allow Ding Ning to cultivate faster, which was equivalent to salvaging some of his longevity.
"I will think of a way to do my best."
So after freezing, she very seriously and earnestly patted her chest and promised.
"Thanks."
A strange flavor also rose in Ding Ning's eyes as he seriously thanked her, then softly said, "Then now can you please tell me about your Qingteng Sword Academy's Sword Sacrifice Trial...what kind of thing is it exactly?"
