Chapter 125 - Junior Brother Su?
Jian Wushen also bowed, his posture rigid once more. "Disciple Jian Wushen greets the Ancestor."
The Ancestor looked at them, his eyes resting on Su Ming for a long moment. He gave a quiet nod.
"Su Ming, we meet again," the Ancestor said, his voice quiet but clear.
"It is this disciple’s honor to see the Ancestor again and receive his guidance," Su Ming replied.
"I hope you have heard about the arrangements from the Sect Master," the Ancestor said. "I am departing the sect soon for a mission. Before I go, I wanted to see your sword path. I am glad you came."
"This disciple is grateful for the Ancestor’s kindness," Su Ming said.
The Ancestor turned his gaze to the Dragon Emperor Sword sheathed at Su Ming’s waist.
"Jian Wushen is my direct successor," the Ancestor said, gesturing toward him. "He has walked the sword path for years. But your path is different. You have forged your own path. It is a path that deserves to be seen."
Jian Wushen stepped back to the edge of the main ground. His posture was relaxed, but his gaze remained fixed on Su Ming, carrying a competitive spark in his eyes.
The Ancestor walked to the side of the main ground, resting his hands behind his back. He turned to look at Su Ming.
"Show me what your sword has gathered."
Su Ming took a deep breath. He stepped forward, entering the center of the ground. It was a rare opportunity for him to impress this Ancestor and receive some pointers. He was excited.
He reached down, his fingers wrapping around the hilt of the Dragon Emperor Sword.
As he gripped the sword, his mind cleared of all distractions. The quiet valley, the swirling fog, and the watchful gazes of the Ancestor and Jian Wushen faded.
Su Ming held the sword before him, his posture unyielding. The Sovereign Will condensed around the blade, locking the surrounding space in a silent grip.
He was ready to perform the Sky Sovereign Sword Technique.
***
With a swift movement, Su Ming swept the blade outward to execute the first move, Sovereign’s Gaze.
The air locked in place. The swirling mist froze instantly, and the surrounding grass flattened under a heavy pressure.
At the edge of the clearing, Jian Wushen watched with sharp eyes. His hand that had been resting loosely on the hilt of his own sword tightened. As the successor to the Sky Sovereign legacy, he knew the forms of the technique very well. He had spent years in this very valley, enduring the cold winds and the Ancestor’s overwhelming pressure to master them.
But the sword path Su Ming was displaying was very much different from what he had imagined. It carried the descending authority of a sovereign, yet it was fused with the domineering force that seemed to demand the very world to yield.
’He is actually using his Body Cultivation to reinforce the sword,’ Jian Wushen thought, his heart beating faster. He felt a faint vibration in his own meridians, his Boundless Sword Physique reacting to the heavy pressure in front of him.
’To imbue such a domineering force directly into the forms... this is monstrous. He is not simply executing a technique but commanding the space around him at the same time. I wonder if I could do that too?’ A quiet excitement rose in his chest.
At the same time, looking at Su Ming’s calm face, a sudden feeling of warmth rose in Jian Wushen’s chest. For years, he had stood alone at the peak of the young generation in the Sword Peak. Even across the entire Heavenly Cloud Sect, barely two or three others were on his level.
To a certain extent, it was due to his background. As the crown prince of a mortal kingdom who had been hunted down after a coup, he was only twelve years of age when the sect took him in.
Since then, even among those selected few, Jian Wushen had always felt a certain distance. They were rivals or allies, but they did not share his path to the sword. The other disciples looked at him with awe or jealousy, treating him like a distant weapon rather than a person. Even the Peak Master maintained a strict formality.
Now, standing in this isolated valley, he realized he had finally found someone he could call his brother. Someone who could understand the solitude of the peak, and whose talent was worthy of his respect.
’He is good,’ Jian Wushen thought, a grin spreading across his face. ’Very good. Since he is an unofficial disciple and I am the direct successor, that makes me the senior brother. Yes, Peak Master Su can be my junior brother in the sword path. I will have to teach him the ways after this, and perhaps show him how magnanimous his senior brother is.’
Su Ming did not notice Jian Wushen’s thoughts. His focus was entirely on the flow of his Qi.
He shifted his stance, his movements fluid but heavy. Channeling his Qi, he swept the Dragon Emperor Sword in a horizontal arc to execute the second move, Heaven’s Mandate. Before the momentum faded, he transitioned into a vertical descent, delivering the third move, Sovereign’s Judgment.
Using his Stage 4 Sword Will - Unrelenting Will, the strikes did not rely on flashy explosions. Instead, they carried an absolute command of his sword way. As the blade descended, the air itself shattered with a thunderous hum. The physical pressure of his Sovereign Domination rippled outward, cracking the stone ground beneath his boots in concentric circles.
The earth itself seemed to bend, yielding to the authority of a Sovereign.
As the Sovereign’s Judgment ended, Su Ming sheathed the Dragon Emperor Sword with a crisp click.
The phantom sword vanished, as the heavy pressure dissolved, and the frozen mist began to swirl once more. The silence of the valley returned, broken only by the soft rustle of the pines.
Ancestor Sky Sovereign walked forward, his hands still resting behind his back. His weathered face carried a thoughtful expression, and he looked at the stone circles around Su Ming’s feet.