Comprehending Myriad Techniques as Woodcutter

It was the first time he’d ever learned such a profound Cultivation Technique, and after seeing how effective it was, he was overjoyed.

’And that move I used to break his ultimate technique... I had this strange intuition, like a spark of inspiration nurtured from something I saw in the Black Celestial Book?’

Xie Yuan’s eyes glinted. This Black Celestial Book really did have extra benefits for his Sword Dao.

It was so wondrous. If he got the chance, he’d have to spend more time in that rock crevice.

’That should teach the kid to behave. I wonder if he can even hold a sword anymore.’

Having tested his strength and vented his frustrations, Xie Yuan felt a great sense of relief. He leaned his head back and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

「The third day of the sword competition.」

The hosts and guests took their seats around the arena, filling the area completely.

However, unlike the previous two days, the large crowd was unusually quiet, and the atmosphere was incredibly delicate.

Yesterday, Yao Tianchuan had thoroughly humiliated the Cloud Mountain Sword Sect. He had even escalated the incident to the point of nearly causing a conflict between Flying Dragon List Masters. What was supposed to be a friendly exchange of pointers between two rival sects had suddenly turned sour.

Especially after the arena matches, major conflicts had broken out between the disciples of the two sects, leading to countless private duels. Today, there were many gaps in their ranks; a number of people were on leave to recuperate, bedridden with their injuries.

The private duels had worsened relations between the two sides, but that wasn’t all—

In the middle of the night, Song Qingping had gone to the main peak and caused a huge scene, claiming that Yao Tianchuan had been bullied!

Yao Tianchuan was bullied?

Everyone in the Cloud Mountain Sword Sect, from the top down, looked at each other in utter confusion.

Wasn’t he so arrogant and powerful during the day? How could he now be crying to his master about being bullied?

It was somewhat comical, but also rather satisfying...

But the key question was, given his strength, who in the same realm could possibly bully him?

The Sword Sect, from top to bottom, was clearly in the dark about this.

In the end, Song Qingping insisted that the Cloud Mountain Sword Sect was bullying the weak. He cursed and swore until Li Xingtuo had to step in again to placate his anger, promising he would find the disciple who had "sparred" with Yao Tianchuan.

But it was absolutely impossible that a Grandmaster had bullied him.

After finally placating and sending Song Qingping away, the Sect Leader and elders questioned their own disciples, but they all knew nothing, their faces blank with confusion.

Since when did the Sword Sect have such a powerful disciple at the Qi Blood First Transformation Realm?

With subtle expressions, they glanced at one another, wondering which of them had been secretly training a disciple and hiding their true strength.

In reality, this was highly unlikely. No one in Cloud Mountain could possibly have such a formidable disciple at the First Transformation Realm; if they did, he would have been sent into the arena long ago.

They did, however, come up with two theories:

The troublemaker was actually one of Situ Qin’s people, or perhaps a bad-tempered elder from within the sect.

However, if an elder was still only at the Qi Blood First Transformation Realm after all these years of cultivation, even with decades of extra experience, they probably wouldn’t be a match for Yao Tianchuan. The more likely scenario was that someone powerful had indeed bullied someone weaker...

Li Xingtuo had only said that a Grandmaster would never make a move, but he couldn’t rule out some older-generation Sword Sect members at the Second or Third Transformation. For the moment, however, they had no idea who it could be.

But could a master at that level really, as Song Qingping had let slip, cause Yao Tianchuan’s Sword Heart to become unbalanced?

Only Qin Zhenyang, who had been woken by the commotion, showed a flicker of understanding. For some reason, he was reminded of that mysterious senior from the other day.

While the matter was satisfying, if it was true, it was also somewhat embarrassing for their sect.

The people of the Sword Sect were, of course, secretly delighted, but they couldn’t show it openly. Meanwhile, the members of the Sword Storage Pavilion were all grim-faced and unwilling to speak much on the matter.

But the news that Yao Tianchuan had been beaten so badly his Sword Heart nearly shattered had naturally spread. As other guests heard the news, various versions of the story emerged. There were even rumors that "a Sword Spirit on Sword Peak had emerged to punish the arrogant fool." For a time, everyone was suppressing their excitement, whispering amongst themselves endlessly.

Thus, the area around the arena today was unusually quiet and strangely eerie. The two sects, host and guest, weren’t speaking. The others were communicating only with their eyes. It seemed everyone was scrutinizing those around them, secretly trying to identify last night’s mysterious master.

But whether it was the disciples of the Sword Sect and Sword Storage Pavilion or the other guests, none of them ever considered that it was truly a disciple of the same realm who had defeated Yao Tianchuan. They certainly wouldn’t think to look among the menial disciples, even though there seemed to be a faint rumor to that effect.

Quite a few people, however, were looking toward Situ Qin. In fact, if the hidden figure behind Situ Qin had dispatched a prodigy from the world’s number one sect—a demonic disciple at the Qi Blood First Transformation Realm—to defeat Yao Tianchuan head-on and shatter his Sword Heart, that sounded much more plausible.

This version of events quickly spread, and many people secretly nodded in agreement.

And so, Xie Yuan’s image transformed from that of an irascible senior of the Cloud Mountain Sword Sect into a prodigy of the Demon Sect, the Saintess’s personal shadow guard, a great villain who specialized in hunting down the geniuses of the righteous sects.

Many gazes fell upon her, but Situ Qin maintained an innocent expression. She turned her head slightly to the side and said with a faint, unreadable smile:

"It seems it takes a villain to put another in their place. Hmm, I suppose I should thank this particular villain."

Her tone was gentle, but her lively eyes betrayed her shock. She glanced back, both happy and surprised, at a certain menial disciple who was standing with his eyes fixed on the floor, perfectly still.

’He really won? And it was a decisive victory?’

’How did he do it...’

"Yes, yes, Sister Qin is right! I couldn’t stand the sight of that guy either! It’s just..."

Xue Yanwen, who was at a nearby table, leaned over and chimed in.

"I wasn’t talking to you!"

Situ Qin retorted with annoyance, pulling her gaze back with a look of disdain.

"Uh, you weren’t talking to me...?"

Li Tai and Aunt Hong sat quietly on either side of Situ Qin. They exchanged a brief, profound glance.

They were the only ones present who knew who this "mysterious master" really was.

Others guessed it was one of their people, or perhaps a senior master from the Sword Sect—

One could say both answers were half-right.

Xie Yuan wasn’t one of their people yet, but he might be soon...

And based on his performance, he was indeed a skilled disciple of the Sword Sect, but he was no senior.

The two Grandmasters’ eyes flickered with emotion. Neither had ever imagined that Xie Yuan could actually defeat Yao Tianchuan.

After all, from their perspective, the gap in cultivation between the two was simply too large. They never expected Xie Yuan to win so decisively; it was simply astounding.

Li Tai greatly admired the excellent and decisive young man for venting their young miss’s frustrations. Aunt Hong, meanwhile, was thinking that his talent was even more astonishing than she had anticipated. ’I’m afraid the young miss’s heart is truly fluttering now. She’ll have eyes for no one else.’

Amidst the countless gazes sweeping back and forth across the crowd, Xie Yuan stood silently, as inconspicuous as any other ordinary menial disciple.