Xuantian Sect, Jianjian Peak.

On the vast, open plain, dozens of white-haired elders were practicing swordsmanship. Dazzling spiritual energy enveloped their long swords, and their sword tips slashed through the air, creating incessant tremors.

Not far away, a group of people stared blankly, their eyes full of envy.

"If I could be one of them, I could learn swordsmanship and practice swordplay too! Just thinking about it is so exciting!" said Ma Nian.

"Dream on! We're just sword slaves, while they are disciples of Xuan Tian Sect. How could we possibly train swords like them!"

"It's simple enough to be a Xuan Tian Sect disciple, just go by Xuelin Xuen!" A strange voice echoed.

The crowd burst into laughter, but their eyes all looked in the same direction.

In the woods, there was a young man, about sixteen or seventeen years old, with a handsome face and a somewhat thin frame. He held a black iron long sword and kept thrusting it out. Sweat had already soaked through his shirt, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Lin Xuan? Humph, with his kind of trash, give him a hundred years and he still won't become a disciple of Xuantian Sect! Don't even mention it, among us, he's at the bottom. What does he have to offer as a disciple of Xuanjian Sect?"

"That's right, I heard he tried to break through to the Condensation Pulse Realm a while back, but failed. He vomited constantly and his cultivation dropped all the way to the third level of Refinement. He hasn't recovered yet!" The voice was filled with schadenfreude.

"That guy, he's been practicing the same sword technique every day for the past three months. And it's just an ordinary one at that. I bet he's driven himself crazy!"

Even though the others' voices were loud, Lin Xuan felt a pang of sadness in his heart when he heard their words. However, his grip on the sword tightened, and he clenched his face, continuing to practice his swordsmanship.

The martial arts path, refining the foundation is paramount. Only when one reaches the Meridian Condensation Realm can one be considered to have stepped through the threshold. Only by clearing the spiritual meridians can one have a chance of walking further on the path of martial arts.

"Wang Ge is already at the ninth level of Refining, isn't he? If he breaks through to the Meridian Nurturing Realm, don't forget about us!" These youths saw Lin Xuan unfazed and muttered curses under their breath. Then they began flattering the older man beside him.

"That's for sure, Brother Wang will be able to break through in another two months, maybe even for the Xuan Tian Sect disciples by then!"

Wang Yang glanced disdainfully at Lin Xuan and then said, "In less than two months, maybe even just one month, I'll break through!"

"Really? Brother Wang is mighty..." Those men all started flattering him.

"Wang Ge, look how arrogant Lin Xuan is. Why don't you teach him a lesson?"

Wang Yang had long harbored resentment towards Lin Xuan. He glanced at the white-clad disciples practicing swordplay, estimating that there was still a considerable amount of time before rest. Only then did he begin to walk toward Lin Xuan.

Many people followed suit, eager to see Lin Xuan's joke.

Lin Xuan trained with his sword wholeheartedly. He charged forward, the long sword in his hand stabbing straight ahead. With a flash of the blade, a sword mark was left on the tree trunk.

Actually, they didn't know that Lin Xuan had been practicing this move for three years. From that day on, he practiced this sword technique every day, no matter what the circumstances, he never stopped.

With a whoosh, a stone flew towards Lin Xuan's back of the head, breaking through the air with a sound that sent chills down everyone's spine. The force behind it was terrifying.

Lin Xuanzi dodged the attack precariously, narrowly avoiding it. He stopped, a hint of anger in his eyes. In the distance, Wang Yang stood with a group of hooligans, looking ready for trouble.

"Wow, that's pretty good! You actually dodged that?" Wang Yang said with a chuckle.

"What's the matter?" Lin Xuan gripped his sword tightly and said in a deep voice. Just now, if he had been slower, there would have been one more on his head. He had no grievances with these people, but they were so ruthless!

"I hear you've been practicing your swordsmanship for three months. It must be quite powerful. Show us what you've got."

Lin Xuan coldly looked at them, without saying a word.

"What's the matter? Are you afraid? Or are you saying that after three months of training, you haven't seen any results?" Wang Yang said with a very arrogant smile.

"Brother Wang, give him a taste, let him know how capable you are!"

"Kid, let me show you what swordsmanship is!" Wang Yang took a step forward, surging with a sharp aura, like a dormant volcano, ready to erupt at any moment.

"As expected of a Ninth Rank Alchemist, just your aura makes me feel pressured!" Bu Mianyuan exclaimed in shock.

Wang Yang let out a cold snort. He drew his steel sword, twirled it in a flourish, and then thrust it towards Lin Xuan.

The crowd stared wide-eyed, wanting to see Lin Xuan sprawled on the ground helplessly. They'd been irritated by this out-of-place fellow for a long time. Everyone here was a Sword Slave, what kind of big shot do you think you are!

Lin Xuan let out a sigh, his pale hand gripping the black sword. In the next moment, his eyes became unusually sharp.

Draw sword, rise, thrust sword, sheathe sword.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye. When everyone came to their senses, they found that Lin Xuan had sheathed his black iron sword and stood there coldly.

"Impossible, this can't be!" Wang Yang turned around in terror. A strand of his hair was severed, and a gash on his neck was oozing fresh blood.

Ugh!

Everyone gasped in shock. They never expected Wang Yang, who had cultivated to the ninth level, to be defeated by Lin Xuan, who had only cultivated to the third level, and that too with a single move.

"Who exactly is Lin Xuan, and what kind of swordsmanship does he practice?" This was the question on everyone's mind.

"What's going on? What are you all doing here, are you trying to rebel?!" A sharp voice rang out.

"Oh no, the disciples of Xuantian Sect are going to rest." Many young men, all smiling, greeted those white-clad disciples.

"Master, here you are. This is Jiǔyè Língchá, I brewed it all night!"

"Grandfather, elixir, quickly recover your strength, you eat one."

All the Mazu people servilely took care of those white disciples, even Wang Yang was no exception. He put away his frightened expression and quickly ran towards a white disciple.

"Master, here is your elixir," Wang Yang said respectfully.

That year, after taking the elixir, I swallowed it. As I glanced at Wang Yang's neck, my brows furrowed immediately.

"What happened? How did you get the wound on your neck?" Bai Nian asked Chen Feng.

"Master, Lord..." Wang Yang's voice was trembling. If the master knew he had lost to someone at the third level of refining Qi, his ending would be terrible.

At this time, the other white disciples also surrounded him. Some of the sword slaves spoke out about what had happened, and everyone looked at Lin Xuan.

"A sword slave, daring to be so bold, you dare defy me? You'll regret it!"

It seems you're getting more and more out of line!

"Master, he is Miss Tang Yu's sword slave," someone reminded.

"Oh, Tang Yuhui changed swords? I didn't know that."

"Well, do you have an opinion?" A crisp voice came from outside the crowd, and then a figure in pale white walked in.

She has fine features, fair skin, a proud bearing and long limbs.

The man's throat worked involuntarily, swallowing hard. Even the white disciples were dry-mouthed, eyes wide with awe.

"Lin Xuan, let's go." Tang Yu directly ignored these people, threw the sword in his hand to Lin Xuan, and then left shoulder to shoulder with him.

"Could we just let them go like this?" A disciple was not convinced.

"Rest assured, I can handle Tang Yu. But a mere sword slave, I could kill him in minutes. Aren't we going into the mountains tomorrow to prepare for that? Bring this kid along, let him have a good taste of it!"

"Dare to provoke me, Chen Feng, you're dead!" The white disciple stared at Lin Xuan's back and gave a cruel smile.

Lin Xuan followed the long road, attracting the attention of many people. Of course, most of these eyes were on Tang Yu.

Tang Yu didn't care about these eyes at all. He smiled at Lin Xuan and said, "I saved you, how do you plan to repay me?"

"Well, thank you," Lin Xuan said seriously.

"You—"

Gnawing on her silver teeth, her face puffed up in anger, she glared at Lin Xuan with a menacing look. But as if remembering something, she blinked and said softly, "Lin Xuan, there's something wrong with my sword. Can you take a look at it for me?"

He passed over a long sword, its jade-green scabbard crafted from the finest demonic hide. Upon it, several jewels glittered, sparkling with an alluring light.

Lin Xuan didn't pay attention to these things. He grabbed the long sword and unsheathed it, carefully observing it.

The sky-blue sword was as beautiful as the heavens, but a small black spot at its tip dimmed the entire blade's radiance.

"Oh, you really don't care about your own sword," Lin Xuan muttered as he used the blade to cut his finger, letting blood flow out. He dipped his fingertip in the blood and quickly wiped it across the black spot on the blade. The stain vanished. Then he ran the blood over the entire length of the blade before finally stopping his movements.

"Alright," he said, handing her the longsword.

He received the long sword with glee, waving it in the air a few times, producing a whooshing sound as it cut through the air. The azure brilliance within the blade was so intense that the entire sword resembled a sapphire.

"Stop!" Seeing Lin Xuan turn and run, he coldly shouted.

"Tang Yu, I've fixed your sword. Is there anything else?" Lin Xuan sighed and said helplessly.

"I'm going to practice swordsmanship, will you spar with me?" Tang Yu puffed out his chest and drew his long sword.

"Big sister, you're a Spirit Master at the fourth stage of Condensing Meridians, you want me, a Spirit Cultivator at the third stage, to spar with you? Are you trying to kill me?" Lin Xuan immediately refused.

Those who have reached the stage of Jingmai are called Ling Shi, while those who have achieved the stage of Lianjing are called Ling Tu.

"Rest assured, I won't use any spiritual energy," Tang Yu Jiao smirked, her wrist flicking as a blue longsword shot towards him.

"This girl is serious!" Lin Xuan was shocked and quickly raised his sword to block. With a clang, the two swords met. Lin Xuan felt a tremendous force that knocked him back three steps.

"I don't have any spiritual power!" Tang Yu said with a grin, his long sword changing again, like a gust of wind attacking Lin Xuan.

"Hee hee, this is my newly learned Qingfeng sword technique. Try it out."

Tang Yu's sword in his hand whipped up a flurry of wind, sending Lin Xuan's clothes fluttering. "
“Damn it, here we go again, every time he learns a new sword technique, he uses me as a practice dummy!”

Lin Xuan had been a sword slave at this Xuantian Sect for three months now. In these three months, he didn't know how many times he had been tormented by this little demon. Every time he practiced swordplay with him, he would inevitably be injured.

Thinking of this, a tearing sound was heard as his clothes were slashed with a long gash. Lin Xuan's anger flared, and the long sword in his hand began to counterattack rapidly.

Although he never managed to connect with his spiritual energy and couldn't truly cultivate, Lin Xuan possessed a high talent for swordsmanship. Even ordinary sword techniques became magical in his hands, as if he were born with this ability. This is also why Tang Yu often sought him out to practice swordplay.

Seeing that Tang Yu had no spiritual power, Lin Xuan's long sword flashed, drawing a half-arc in the air and deflecting Tang Yu's attack to one side. Then, he struck downwards, aiming for Tang Yu's wrist.

Tang Yuxin's heart skipped a beat, her Qingfeng swordsmanship swirling like the wind as she tried to defuse the attack. But Lin Xuan's sword was like a venomous snake, each strike precise and relentless, blocking every one of her moves.

"Hmph!" Tang Yu was angry in her heart, unknowingly using her spiritual energy. A beam of light shone from the blue long sword, instantly knocking Lin Xuan away.

Plop!

Lin Xuan flew backward two meters and crashed to the ground, his breath surging. Before spiritual energy, he was like a small boat in a furious sea, ready to be capsized at any moment.

"If I could only open up the spiritual channels, I wouldn't be reduced to this state!" Lin Xuan thought to himself, his eyes dimming.

"Oh, heavens! You gave me such good potential, yet I can't even connect to my spiritual veins. Just go ahead and kill me!"

Seeing Lin Xuan pretending to be dead on the ground, Tang Yu walked over and kicked him: "Alright, stop pretending to be dead, I didn't use any force."

Lin Xuan cried out in pain and sat up, "Give me a healing pill, or no one will practice swordsmanship with you anymore."

Tang Yubai glared at him, unwillingly took out a crimson pill, and tossed it over. While other sword slaves were subservient and obeyed their masters, this Lin Xuan was different. He didn't care about reason and had an even bigger air than everyone else.

However, Lin Xuan always had unique insights into swordsmanship. He was also better at nurturing his sword than other sword slaves, so Tang Yu only bullied him and didn't dare to seriously injure him. Since training with Lin Xuan three months ago, his swordsmanship has improved a lot.

"You're quite a swordsmanship prodigy, unfortunately you can't cultivate spiritual energy. So just follow this young lady obediently, I won't let you suffer any losses!" Tang Yu said a few words, then left.

Lin Xuan took out a small white porcelain bottle and put the cinnabar medicinal pill inside. Then, he carefully put it away. This was a healing pill with excellent effects. He always kept the pills stored, using them only when needed.

Having stowed away the pills, Lin Xuan walked towards his own hut. He wanted to reach the ninth level of refining as soon as possible and try again to break through the spirit meridian.

(Editor in charge：fantasy novels)