World's No. 1 Swordsman-Chapter 127: Sword-Controlling Art Acquired!

In the spacious stone hall, two figures clashed with swords in a battle of immense intensity. They fought without pause. As one fierce duel followed another, the treasured swords suspended beneath the bronze cauldrons began to lose their radiance one by one, signifying that Wang Sheng was successfully clearing one challenge after another.

Each subsequent floor of the Seventy-Two Swords was naturally more difficult than the one before. The strength of the formation spirit displayed on each floor was set according to the maximum limits designated by the Seventy-Two Swords formation.

Although the old man had mentioned that he could not stop Wang Sheng from taking the Sword-Controlling Art, Wang Sheng couldn't maintain his peak state in every single battle that he had fought up until now.

As long as he made a single mistake or left an opening, the formation spirit's sword would immediately restrict him.

Fortunately, the two had gotten to know each other somewhat. The formation spirit no longer tried to injure Wang Sheng. Every time he pushed back Wang Sheng, he would take the time to offer him a few pointers—though the pointers slowly turned into playful jabs.

Wang Sheng took two attempts to clear the fifty-fifth stage, four attempts to clear the fifty-sixth, and then burst forth in a full effort to pass the fifty-seventh in one go.

He spent more and more time within the Seventy-Two Swords. By the time his phone ran out of battery, he had lost all sense of how much time had passed.

Since the formation spirit was intentionally making things difficult, Wang Sheng simply stopped rushing. After all, where else in the outside world could he find a sparring opponent with a profound understanding of the sword, a cultivation level close to his, and endless tricks up his sleeve?

With that in mind, Wang Sheng began cultivating right in the trial grounds. Once he had recovered and replenished his true essence, he would challenge the formation spirit again. If he won, he would move forward. If he lost, he would retreat, sit in meditation beyond the stone door, and cultivate in the place with the richest and purest primal qi.

His Primal-Qi Gatherer and Multipurpose Primal-Qi Gloves had also run out of power. Since this wasn't a life-or-death battle, Wang Sheng didn't use the artifact he carried with him.

The continuous fighting drained his mind and spirit significantly as well. The closer he got to the Sword-Controlling Art, the more he forced himself to slow down. Each day, he cheered himself on and told himself jokes. Doing his best to maintain a stable mindset, he thought of his master, senior sister, and parents back home.

Whenever the formation spirit saw Wang Sheng stop cultivating, he would come over to chat. It became clear that his "blunt sword" senior was truly quite bored. As the two chatted more and more happily, the formation spirit shared many amusing stories.

According to him, cultivators in ancient times would be selected into sects as early as five or six years old. With the full support of their sects, they lacked nothing—pills, techniques, and guidance from renowned teachers were all sufficiently provided. By the time they reached the trial, many of them had already reached the Illusory Core Realm.

Thinking of his senior sister, Wang Sheng felt that such cultivation speed wasn't anything impressive. She had also cultivated under their master since childhood. She had lacked pills and primal qi in the past, but now, she would definitely reach the Illusory Core Realm before the age of twenty-five. Her aptitude would have been considered top-tier or at least elite even in ancient times.

He was certainly not as talented as his senior sister. But now, with the help of various pills and Qi-Nurturing Stones...

Seizing the opportunity, Wang Sheng fiddled with the Qi-Nurturing Stones. After exhausting his true essence, he followed the instructions in the manual and used the stones to arrange a small qi-gathering formation. As the stones began to release rich primal qi, Wang Sheng quickly sat down cross-legged and absorbed it with all his might.

The old man floated out from the stone gate, frowning. "Tsk. Has the cultivation world really come to this, throwing formations together however they please? This is far too crude."

Before Wang Sheng could respond, the old man raised a hand and tapped the air. The eighteen stones that Wang Sheng had placed around him shifted positions.

Although the Qi-Nurturing Stones only emitted a faint amount of primal qi, streams of primal qi converged around Wang Sheng, making his eyes light up. He immediately realized the economic value of this array.

This could greatly reduce the consumption of Qi-Nurturing Stones.

He pulled out a notebook, quickly sketched the formation, and then clasped his hands respectfully toward the formation spirit. "Thank you for your guidance, Senior. May I ask if this array can be promoted across the cultivation world? I will be sure to tell everyone that it was a gift from you, the Shu Mountains' formation spirit."

"Sure. It's just a minor bit of array knowledge anyway. What would it matter to pass it on to the world?" the formation spirit replied calmly. "However, it's not appropriate for me to be known. Just say you found some fragmented array texts in the trial grounds. I have more arrays here. Hand me your notebook and I will write down a few that you may find useful."

Wang Sheng was overjoyed. His refusal to go easy during the trials aside, the formation spirit was truly agreeable in every other way. He handed over the notebook that he had bought from Fei Lianzi for five yuan and sat cross-legged again to meditate.

The formation spirit took the marker from Wang Sheng as if by magic, studied how to use it for a while, then went to the seventh floor and began working. By the time Wang Sheng stood up to challenge the formation spirit again, the spirit had already filled the entire notebook with array diagrams and basic explanations of their principles.

Wang Sheng couldn't help but feel deeply moved. Having an elder around is truly like finding treasure.

Remembering that he still had two blank notebooks in his Crane-Spirit Treasure Pouch, Wang Sheng wished he wasn't embarrassed to ask this senior to draw a few more formations for him.

Forget it.

He wasn't a formation researcher anyway; taking too much would be pointless. Moreover, he still needed the two notebooks to copy the Sword-Controlling Art.

Wang Sheng took nine attempts each to clear the fifty-ninth and sixtieth stages.

At the sixty-first stage, which marked the point where he would obtain a third of the Sword-Controlling Art, the formation spirit unleashed everything he had within the limits of the formation. Wang Sheng fought twelve matches before he finally won.

A small bronze cauldron slowly descended, inside of which was a scroll. Exhausted to his core, Wang Sheng grabbed the scroll and held it tightly in his arms.

He didn't rush to open it. Instead, he walked to a corner of the seventh floor and slept for a while. Only after waking up did he carefully unroll it.

The scroll was no ordinary item. Despite having been stored for who knew how long and having endured a millennium without the protection of primal qi, it remained completely intact.

With a flashlight in his mouth, Wang Sheng carefully read through the Sword-Nurturing Technique. When he encountered ancient characters that he couldn't understand, he simply asked aloud. He would hear the formation spirit's voice in his mind, using spiritual consciousness to explain the meanings of those characters to him.

After going through the scroll, Wang Sheng had more or less memorized the Sword-Nurturing Technique. Nevertheless, he carefully copied it once, repeatedly compared the original with his transcription several times, and committed it firmly to memory.

The Sword-Nurturing Techniques was essentially the foundation of the Sword-Controlling Art—the method to nurture one's flying sword. There were a total of four sword-nurturing techniques. The first two were foundational, while the latter two required a certain level of sword intent.

The first technique was the simplest and considered the early stage of the Sword-Controlling Art. Still, one would first have to find a treasured sword with sufficient spiritual insight. They could then use their spiritual consciousness and dedicated effort to nurture it according to the technique until it became spiritually connected with the wielder. Only once done could one begin practicing the Sword-Controlling Art.

The second technique was the most commonly used by disciples of Shu Mountain to practice the Sword-Controlling Art. It involved using celestial or precious materials to forge a sword embryo following the recorded process, then refining it into a sword core and placing it within the cultivator to be nurtured.

In combat, the sword core would transform into a flying sword, its power far exceeding that of the first sword-nurturing technique. The flying sword was a life-bound artifact, directly linked to the wielder's own life. Where the sword remained, the person lived. If the sword were damaged, the person would be harmed.

The third sword-nurturing technique could only be practiced after achieving minor culmination in the Sword-Controlling Art and perfecting a sword intent. It involved directly nurturing a sword intent and controlling the sword with the mind.

As long as Wang Sheng obtained the remaining two scrolls of the Sword-Controlling Art, he could begin practicing this technique. However, it also required a long period of cultivation. According to the formation spirit's suggestion, Wang Sheng should first forge a sword core before slowly cultivating his sword intent.

The materials required to forge the flying sword were detailed within the scroll and classified into various grades. Wang Sheng would have to gather them on his own.

The fourth sword-nurturing technique was known as Immortal Spirit Sword-Nurturing Technique. It was the most difficult to cultivate and the hardest to master. Moreover, it required a treasured sword of extraordinary spiritual insight. By using it to nurture the sword over time, it could gradually develop a sentient sword spirit—something akin to the formation spirit.

A sword spirit would be spiritually connected to its wielder and bound to their life, allowing the Sword-Controlling Art to unleash exponentially greater power. However, creating such a spirit demanded either a tremendous amount of time or a very high cultivation realm, both of which were beyond Wang Sheng's reach at the moment.

He would leave that for the future. There were still two more stages ahead, and he could not afford to stop now.

Wang Sheng put away his transcription of the Sword-Nurturing Technique, carefully folded the scroll, and returned it to the small bronze cauldron. He then picked up his sword and stepped forward. Since he had already fully memorized the techniques, he could just hand the copy that he had made over to the Shu Sword Sect.

The formation spirit chuckled, clearly pleased that Wang Sheng copied the scroll instead of taking the original. Nevertheless, for the next two stages, he would still show no leniency.

After fighting through more than twenty additional matches, Wang Sheng finally completed the seventh level of the trial. The nine treasured swords had gone completely dim.

He had copied down the entire sword-controlling technique and memorized every word by heart. Afraid he might have made a mistake, he cross-checked his transcription against the original more than ten times.

Afterward, Wang Sheng even took the initiative to ask the formation spirit about several obscure and difficult points, and carefully wrote down its explanations in a separate notebook.

He had truly gone above and beyond in his service to the Shu Sword Sect.

This mission could be considered perfectly completed.

"You're leaving?" The formation spirit's tone had a strong sense of disappointment. "The eighth floor contains the Earth Dao of the Sword. Are you not going to experience it?"

Wang Sheng only smiled. He pressed two fingers together into a sword finger gesture and practiced a simple Sword-Controlling Art technique that he had just learned, then headed straight toward the first floor.

The formation spirit sighed and vanished.

Wang Sheng walked all the way to the wooden door on the first level. He then turned and asked, "Senior, if I don't step through this wooden door, does that mean I haven't exited?"

The formation spirit's voice echoed from the stone gate. "Correct."

"Great." Wang Sheng gathered his true essence and shouted into the corridor beyond the wooden door, "Is anyone out there?"

His words echoed through the passage. As long as there was no one in the corridor, the fierce wind would not blow, allowing his shouts to carry clearly.

A response came immediately from outside. "Yes~!"

"Go call the elders!" Wang Sheng shouted.

Soon after, a few aged voices replied from beyond the cave, "We're all here!"

"Seniors, here's the complete Sword-Controlling Art of the Shu Sword Sect!"

Wang Sheng drew the longsword from his back and wrapped it in his true essence. He then tied the two five-yuan notebooks containing his copy of the Sword-Controlling Art to it.

He formed a sword finger, and with a few strokes, the longsword slowly rose and steadily floated hilt-first into the corridor.

"Go!"

Whoosh~!

The longsword shot forward like an arrow and gradually slowed at the cave entrance. It then passed through the formation at the cave opening and flew beyond the range of Wang Sheng's spiritual consciousness.

Wang Sheng called out, "Did you catch it? The second book contains annotations from a senior of the Shu Sword Sect. I copied that too and sent it out! Anyway, please help me contact my master and tell him I'm going into seclusion here for a while. I don't want him to worry!"

"Got it! We will never forget your great kindness, Fei Yu! Quick, go find Qing Yanzi's number!"

Several voices responded. The cave entrance then slightly shook.

Breathing out, Wang Sheng looked as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He turned to the formation spirit and smiled.

"Senior, I'm ready."

The formation spirit burst into loud laughter and disappeared again. "I'm heading to the eighth floor to prepare! This time, I'll truly temper you well!"

The corner of Wang Sheng's mouth twitched slightly.

It was said that the sword followed the nature of its master. Could Qing Feng Zhenren have a habit of tormenting his disciples?

Well, I can't embarrass the forefathers now, can I?

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