Chapter 58: A Quiet Breakthrough

Sword Dynasty

Volume 1: Great Rebel

Chapter 58: A Quiet Breakthrough

Hearing Gu Xichun's words, the gates of the Green Vine Sword School suddenly fell silent.

Nearby, Xu Heshan, Xie Changsheng and the others stopped talking. Xu Heshan could not help but shake his head. “Even if he has such ambitions, he does not need to say it publicly just to show off his extraordinary nature,” he said with slight disdain.

Xu Heshan was somewhat convinced and added softly. “At least he has that kind of spirit.”

There were disciples from a dozen cultivation places gathered here. However, of them, only three or four cultivation places were qualified to take the Min Mountain Sword Trials. Of those few who qualified, perhaps only Gu Xichun dared to say such a thing. The others knew that they were not strong enough and would only be characters who would not play a significant role in the sword trials.

Clearly, Gu Xichun could not guarantee that he would get the chance to join the Min Mountain Sword Sect to learn from the sword trials. However, this had been his goal. Compared to the people around him, who would never associate themselves with such a sword trial, his words naturally implied that he was far more ambitious than these short-sighted individuals.

Xu Heshan, Xie Changsheng, and the others felt that Gu Xichun had every right to be proud, so they could only speak in hushed tones and did not want to challenge Gu Xichun openly. However, some of the disciples present were of high births but were not as strong as Gu Xichun.

After a moment of silence, someone could not help but speak out. “Brother Gu has great aspirations, and we certainly can't compete with you. But if this Ding Ning from the White Goat Cave is truly like An Baoshi from the Spirit Void Sword Sect and Jing Liuli from the Min Mountain Sword Sect, and reaches Energy Refinement in a month, if he has a cultivation speed similar to those two, perhaps when the Min Mountain Sword Trials are held, he will be a formidable opponent for you.” he said lightly.

“Really?”

Gu Xichun looked at that person and smiled slightly. He said, “We're just waiting leisurely, how about we make a bet? Let's see if Ding Ning can achieve a breakthrough today and reach Energy Refinement within a month.”

Hearing these words, most of the people present felt it was meaningless.

Because until yesterday, everyone was certain Ding Ning had not achieved a breakthrough. By making today the deadline, Ding Ning's chances of achieving a breakthrough were slim.

In reality, everyone present felt that the young wine shop owner from White Goat Cave could not possibly reach Energy Refinement in a month. The Energy Refinement in a month was a phrase used to refer to the two freaks from the Spirit Void Sword Sect and the Min Mountain Sword Sect.

Could Ding Ning really achieve Energy Refinement within a month?

Most people would bet that it was impossible, and even if a small portion bet that it was possible, the majority would not win much.

Suddenly, a somewhat young but rebellious voice rang out. “Alright, then, I'll bet three mica knife coins that Ding Ning can achieve a breakthrough today.”

Hiss…

Shocked voices rang out from the gates of the Green Vine Sword School.

All gazes were focused on this person.

One mica knife coin was worth five hundred gold. Three mica knife coins were worth one thousand five hundred gold. Most of the disciples here likely could not come up with such a large sum at once.

All the disciples took this person’s words as a joke. But when they saw him pull out three knife-shaped coins from his sleeve, reality proved otherwise.

This was Xie Changsheng of the White Cloud Monastery The Xie family possessed immense wealth. Other people could not afford to bet one thousand five hundred gold, but he could.

“What are you doing?” Xu Heshan stared in disbelief from beside Xie Changsheng…

“Money is just worldly possession.” Xie Changsheng pursed his lips and replied softly.

In fact, when Gu Xichun mocked the crowd, he felt a little displeased. When he saw Gu Xichun betting out of pride, he could not hold himself back.

“Oh?” Gu Xichun saw it was Xie Changsheng and wanted to speak to him.

Just as he was about to speak and agree to the bet, the sound of approaching horse gallops was heard.

“Xie Changsheng! Is the money of our family not money? Do you think you can squander it all you want once it reaches your hands?” An irate female voice echoed along the mountain paths along the snap of reins. “Xie Changsheng! Do you think just because Father gave you that name means you'll always win all your bets?”

Xie Changsheng shuddered, his face turning pale.

“What's going on?” Xu Heshang looked along with the crowd. He saw a tall young woman with angry eyes dart out of a parked carriage.

This young woman had a beautiful oval face and a well-proportioned figure. Her long hair was tied up with a green jade hairpin, making her neck appear longer and thinner.

“Who is she?” Xu Heshang could not help but look at Xie Changsheng beside him and ask. There were two characters engraved on this young woman's blue robe: Great Heaven, and this told him she was a disciple of the Great Sky Palace. Historically, the Great Sky Palace had been invited by the Green Vine Sword School. But in all the years prior, Great Sky Palace had only had a few disciples, and he had never seen this young woman before.

“She's my older sister, Xie Rou. Her name means gentle, but she's anything but gentle.” Xie Changsheng whispered with a frown.

Xu Heshan did not understand. He thought, even if this was his older sister, he should not be afraid of her.

“I can't beat her. Besides, since we're studying, Father put her in charge of the money. I need to receive my money from her …” Xie Changsheng seemed to guess Xu Heshan’s thoughts and added softly.

Xu Heshan's eyes revealed a look of understanding. He was filled with sympathy for Xie Changsheng. He was used to seeing Xie Changsheng squander money like trash. If Xie Changsheng, who was used to squandering money so casually, had no money to spend, he would be very uncomfortable. Perhaps, it would affect his cultivation progress.

“Then why does she call you Xie Changsheng?” Seeing the tall, angry young woman approaching, Xu Heshan lowered his voice.

Xie Changsheng's face grew even more sour. “My original name is Xie Changsheng, which means always victorious, but I felt it was too simple, so I changed it to Xie Changsheng, which means immortality.”

Xu Heshan was taken aback. “That’s very rude.” However, he then said seriously, “But no matter what, you can’t change the name your father gave you.”

“Change? You changed your name?” Xie Rou was close enough to hear Xu Heshan’s words. Her eyebrows raised and she glared at Xie Changsheng coldly. “You’re so impudent!” she said harshly.

“I’m not.” Xie Changsheng denied with a very ugly expression. “Who here doesn’t know I’m called Xie Changsheng?”

The corners of Xu Heshan’s lips twitched. But he did not dare laugh. He was afraid that from now on, Xie Changsheng would have to revert to his original name.

“Really?” Xie Rou glared at her younger brother, who in her eyes was lacking in accomplishments. “Then shout as loud as you can here: I’m Xie Changsheng.”

Xie Changsheng was immediately irritated and shouted. “Older Sister! What do you want? I just made a bet. This Ding Ning achieved Profound Understanding in half a day. I probably won’t lose!”

“This is an ordinary person from the streets who doesn't have anyone or a large family to support him. Furthermore, I heard he was seriously injured in the previous incident.” Xie Rou smiled sarcastically. “If he can achieve Energy Refinement in just a month, then I'll make him your brother-in-law.”

“…”

A tense silence fell over the gates of the Green Vine Sword School.

They were all speechless.

Was not Xie Changsheng's sister Xie Rou herself? If Xie Rou said that Ding Ning would become Xie Changsheng's brother-in-law, would not that imply that if Ding Ning's talent was outstanding enough, she would marry Ding Ning?

It was often said that the people of Guanzhong were passionate. Now, she seemed very different from the women around Changling… even if she was just lecturing her younger brother, her words still alarmed the people of Changling, coming from the mouth of a young woman.

“As powerful as expected. No wonder you're afraid of her.” Xu Heshan swallowed hard and could not help but whisper in Xie Changsheng’s ear.

 

“Eldest Sect Brother, how is Ding Ning really doing?”

At this time, in the White Goat Cave, many disciples were surrounding Zhang Yi and asking about Ding Ning's cultivation.

“Very difficult.” Zhang Yi could not help but glance in the direction of the grass hut hidden in the gorge. He understood the feelings of these White Goat Cave disciples. Their initial doubts about Ding Ning, which they had harbored from the start, had now turned into high expectations. However, he still explained honestly. “He opened his jade palace in the middle of the month. Based on his energy circulation, unless his cultivation progress is extremely stable, and he doesn't encounter any major obstacles in his breakthrough, like when he achieved Profound Understanding in half a day, he might be able to achieve Energy Refinement today.”

Hearing Zhang Yi’s explanation, the White Goat Cave students around him were disappointed in various degrees.

 

Within the tranquil grass hut, Ding Ning cultivated quietly.

The jade palace in the depths of his energy sea was completely illuminated by five-colored energy. The energy flowing within his energy sea began to spill out of the jade palace, forming an energy pillar. This pillar slowly moved toward the highest and brightest spot on top of the energy sea in a slow and remarkably steady manner.

That brightest space being the celestial aperture. At this moment, the top of this energy pillar was only a thread's distance from that brightest space.

Just as the White Goat Cave disciples surrounding Zhang Yi began to disperse in disappointment, that thread's distance slowly disappeared under the movement of the energy pillar.

Ding Ning’s body shook slightly.

Energy sea, jade palace, and celestial aperture were completely connected. Like an endless waterfall, the five energies flowed from the celestial aperture.

Without any obstruction or hindrance, under the control of Ding Ning's mental power, some of the energies circulating began to mystically converge. A much denser, milky-white physical energy began to settle in his body. The energy sea began to fill with this new type of energy.

This was the Energy Refinement Realm.

At this moment, his cultivation was the topic of much discussion. Even Zhang Yi, who cared deeply for him, had little confidence in his breakthrough. As for the disciples at the gate of the Green Vine Sword School, they considered this to be absolutely impossible.

However, no one knew that for Ding Ning, this was something inevitable.

This was all according to his plan, step by step.

So, this afternoon, while many people were still debating this matter, in this quiet grass hut, Ding Ning experienced a quiet breakthrough.

Energy Refinement in a month.

 

Notes:

This novel is not my work... I just translated it from a Chinese web novel written by Wu Zui

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