Chapter 960 - 429: Foolish!
In an instant, Xu Ran felt as if a deafening thunder had suddenly erupted in his mind.
Then, he merely sensed a burst of whiteness explode in his mind, all around him fell silent, as if he were in a place isolated from the world, with no movement whatsoever around.
This feeling, however, only appeared for a moment.
"Oh no!"
One must know.
This was during a trial, and if there was a sudden drastic change in his senses, the events to come would definitely not be easy to handle!
Immediately.
Xu Ran calmed his mind, attempting to open his seemingly leaden eyelids.
However, no matter how hard he tried, his eyelids remained unable to open, as if they had been glued shut.
"Buzz!"
Suddenly.
A sound akin to metal vibrating violently shattered the silence by Xu Ran’s ears, like a huge thunderclap, instantly invigorating Xu Ran’s spirit!
At the same time.
Those eyelids that felt as if they were leaded snapped open under his subconscious exertion.
In the instant his eyes opened, twelve iron swords hovered around his body, as if encircling Xu Ran.
These twelve iron swords, their blades covered entirely in rust, the air saturated with the scent of rust.
This smell, Xu Ran was quite familiar with.
During the swordsmanship trial, those swords contaminated with the aura of the Sword Immortal and Nether Abyss were all embroidery swords; every swing would clearly emanate the scent of rust.
At that time, Xu Ran had been too focused on the trial to pay it much attention.
Now recalling it, the pervasive rust odor throughout the dueling arena was somewhat nauseating.
"Could it be that I’ve returned to that situation?"
A bad premonition surged in Xu Ran’s heart; even though he hadn’t opened his eyes, a look of disdain had already surfaced on his face.
"Let it not be so!"
Xu Ran prayed, hoping this matter would not occur.
In the moment Xu Ran opened his eyes, he seemed to hear the sound of rust falling, extremely faint, so faint that Xu Ran wasn’t even sure if it really happened!
Looking down, he saw a dark green substance scattered on the ground — precisely rust.
More than that, the twelve iron swords hanging around Xu Ran continued shedding rust from their blades.
But luckily, as soon as this rust touched the ground, it vanished without a trace.
The ground covered in rust that Xu Ran imagined did not materialize.
"What a relief!"
Xu Ran let out a long sigh, perhaps he hadn’t thought he would find himself sighing over such a thing.
Suddenly.
The closest sword to Xu Ran started to tremble, the ancient seal on the blade glowing faintly, a glimmer in the darkness, attracting Xu Ran.
"What is this..."
Xu Ran’s awareness was a bit blurred; then he subconsciously reached out to touch it, as his fingertips brushed the sword, a burst of light suddenly rose.
This light transformed into slender strands, pulling down the rust remaining on the sword, streaming into Xu Ran’s mind.
Memories tinged with the scent of rust surged into his mind.
"Where is this?"
Suddenly, Xu Ran smelled a refreshing fragrance.
This fragrance emanated from rainwater falling upon the grass.
At the same time, droplets of rain fell on his body.
Xu Ran subconsciously opened his arms, allowing the rain to fall, the touch extremely real, as if it were a real-life experience.
"Is this... a rainy day?"
Feeling the changes in the surroundings, Xu Ran opened his eyes, and what met his gaze was a certain rainy day, in front of him, a small figure repeatedly practicing sword strokes on a cliff, each swing of the sword stirring the falling rainwater, forming a thin mist.
This thin mist served no practical purpose, merely offering a touch of beauty!
The sword marks carved in the rain by the small silhouette bore a clumsy perseverance with each stroke.
"This figure doesn’t seem to have the essence of Sword Dao?"
Xu Ran stood in the drizzle, letting the rain pelt against him, the realness of the sensation made him feel as though he had stepped out of the Nine-Layered Giant Tower into the outside world!
While pondering, Yu Kong’s voice sounded beside him.
"These are the Sword Testing Iron Cores left by predecessors, within each sword is sealed the obsession of practicing swordsmanship."
Xu Ran began to look around, trying to discover where this voice was coming from, yet he never found any sign of Yu Kong.
"You don’t need to search, you can’t find me; only by comprehending the true [Sword Control Skill] among them can you pass this trial!"
Yu Kong’s voice resounded again; this statement made Xu Ran entirely give up the idea of searching.
Yet, Yu Kong’s words were enough to make Xu Ran devote all his attention to where it should be!
"Phew!"
Xu Ran focused on the small silhouette fully absorbed in each sword swing, carefully sensing the technique in these sword strokes.
"This technique doesn’t seem to be particularly special!"
Xu Ran watched for quite some time, never discovering anything special about the sword marks drawn in the rain by this figure.
As Xu Ran continued to watch, he suddenly noticed that the figure in the rain was gradually getting larger, taller, older, but the iron sword in hand, and the trajectory of sword swings, remained unchanged.
The cultivation level of this figure too had no change at all.
"This..."
Xu Ran watching this scene, eyes filled with confusion!
"Does it have any meaning?"
Xu Ran murmured to himself.
This matter was something Xu Ran could not comprehend.
This figure, from young to old, the cultivation, swordsmanship, and Sword Intent did not change at all, only day after day, year after year, persistently swinging the sword.