Eternal Saber

Chapter 426 - 32: Mysterious Symbols

"So it’s him, no wonder."

After leaving the courtyard, not long after, Ye Xuan murmured softly.

Ye Taoyuan was somewhat surprised and asked, "Cousin, do you know this person?"

"Just heard of him."

Ye Xuan said, "Every year when the Sword Pavilion evaluates the Wind and Cloud Ranking, they also pay attention to news from Beiqian and the Cold Domain."

"This Chen Tang is not yet twenty, but he stirred quite a wave in Beiqian, being hunted by the Beiqian court and the Profound Celestial Sect. He avenged the wrongful death of Yuan Qingshan, wreaked havoc in Qingzhou, slaughtering two Profound Celestial Temples, and finally killed a juvenile flood dragon, but was chased by a True Dragon and fell into the sea to his death."

"I didn’t expect he would still be alive and come to Great Xia."

Ye Taoyuan was secretly astonished, showing a look of shock.

If these words had not come from Ye Xuan, she would never have believed that a young man under twenty could have done such things.

"How could this person survive being hunted by a True Dragon and falling into the East Sea?"

"East Sea, East Sea..."

What was originally just Ye Taoyuan’s unintentional words, Ye Xuan felt a stir in his heart, as if he had thought of something.

"He’s so young, how could he have such great abilities?"

Ye Taoyuan found it somewhat unbelievable.

Ye Xuan’s thoughts were interrupted, and he couldn’t recall what he just thought. After pondering for a moment, he spoke shockingly: "If I’m not mistaken, he should be Emperor Wu’s disciple."

"Ah!"

Ye Taoyuan’s expression changed, and she exclaimed, "Is Emperor Wu still alive?"

"I don’t know."

Ye Xuan shook his head and said, "I once asked Uncle, but he just smiled and remained silent, not saying a word. It’s also possible that Emperor Wu has already died, and this person was his disciple taken in before his death."

"How did you guess he was Emperor Wu’s disciple?"

Ye Taoyuan asked again.

Ye Xuan said, "Because of that half-page of calligraphy just now."

"That half-page of calligraphy was extremely uninhibited and unrestrained, expressing its essence fully through the strokes! That kind of battlefield iron-bloodedness, an invincible aura, and the heroism of breaking the river with a whip, only Emperor Wu could have such a sword intent!"

"As for Xiao Wuhen, what level is he at? To withstand Emperor Wu’s sword intent, going blind is considered light."

Ye Taoyuan was somewhat surprised and asked, "According to what Brother says, has this person’s sword skill reached the Divine Realm?"

"Correct."

Ye Xuan nodded.

"But how is that possible?"

Ye Taoyuan said, "Normally, cultivating martial arts to the Divine Realm requires years of practice and comprehension. Typically, martial artists would need to reach Meridian Passage or Innate to possibly touch the Divine Realm."

"Unless one is a Grandmaster who has opened the Mud Ball Palace, entering the Divine State, it’s easy to comprehend a martial art to the Divine Realm, but this person is not even twenty."

Ye Xuan pondered, "Indeed, it defies logic. I don’t know what methods Emperor Wu used on him to create such an unparalleled prodigy."

"Moreover, what’s even more remarkable is that his calligraphy not only contains the Martial Emperor’s Blade Technique, but also subtly hones a sword intent of his own, walking his own path."

"Although not yet fully formed, it already shows initial sharpness."

Ye Taoyuan seemed to be in deep thought.

She closed her eyes, recalling the scene of seeing that calligraphy just now.

The calligraphy seemed to vanish, replaced by a young man with a blurred appearance, standing in front of a desk, wielding a brush with sweeping strokes, though holding a pen in his hand, a radiant sword light from his chest seemed to pierce through, sweeping across the heavens and the earth, eternal!

Ye Taoyuan opened her eyes and exhaled gently.

After a moment, she suddenly laughed and said, "Come to think of it, his handwriting is quite unsightly."

"Not really."

Ye Xuan shook his head and said, "You can tell by his strokes, he clearly has no foundation in calligraphy, but by chance, he is infinitely close to the ’cursive script’ that Uncle Shen once mentioned."

"Cursive script?"

Ye Taoyuan realized that the Uncle Shen in Ye Xuan’s words refers to Young Master Shen Yi.

Yet, she had never heard of ’cursive script.’

Ye Xuan said, "During a casual chat, Uncle Shen mentioned it once. Cursive script connects the strokes, with wildly varying forms, drawing from things, cultivating the mind, understanding the concept."

"Only when Uncle Shen was very drunk would he, inspired, write such ’cursive script.’ At first glance, it looked messy, even indiscernible, but only a master of calligraphy could feel the momentum, mental realm, and all kinds of emotions contained within."

"If Zhiyuan’s upper half is the form of martial arts and mastering its change, then Chen Tang’s lower half attains the spirit and masters its intent."

Pausing for a moment, Ye Xuan seemed to think of something, slightly frowned, lost in thought.

"What’s wrong?"

Ye Taoyuan asked.

Ye Xuan said, "However, in some places under his writing, there indeed lies something peculiar, which I couldn’t figure out all along."

"Like the ’contract’ character that seems to fit perfectly, he used a strange stroke that doesn’t belong to any script, resembling some mysterious symbol, containing some kind of reasoning and rule, strange indeed."

Ye Taoyuan laughed and said, "You’ve piqued my curiosity; I want to see what this young man is really like."

Ye Xuan said, "No rush, since he’s at Langya Pavilion, we’ll meet him sooner or later."

Ye Taoyuan suddenly became suspicious and asked, "After all, he’s Emperor Wu’s disciple, and now appearing at Langya Pavilion, might he have some scheme? Is the Prime Minister’s Mansion planning to recruit him?"

"Concern leads to chaos, Taoyuan, you’re overthinking this."

Ye Xuan smiled slightly and said, "Seeing the writing is like meeting the person; from Zhiyuan’s writing, you can see his gentle and modest personality. And from this person’s writing, you can see his free and unrestrained, bold and straightforward nature; he would never listen to someone like Xia Daozi."

"What’s more, he was just walking closely with Zhiyuan and Song Wu, if you don’t trust him, can’t you trust Zhiyuan?"

"True."

Ye Taoyuan nodded.

The two arrived at a cliffside, where Ye Xuan paused, gazing at the distant clouds and mist, saying: "This one is quite daring, having performed many shocking feats in Beiqian. Now that he’s come to Great Xia, I wonder what waves he’ll stir in the Jianghu."

Ye Taoyuan said, "He’s young, his cultivation shouldn’t be high, so he might not cause too big of a stir?"

"It’s hard to say. When he was in Beiqian, his cultivation was even lower. Moreover, according to my guess, even among the younger generation in Great Xia, those who can surpass him are few indeed."

Ye Xuan sighed, "The younger generation is truly to be feared."

"You hold him in such high regard?"

Ye Taoyuan was surprised.

It had been less than half a day, and Ye Xuan had given such high praise to two young people. In the past ten years, no young person had caught his eye.

Ye Taoyuan thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said, "I don’t know about others, but Yushi is definitely superior to him."

"Yushi is also very strong, having hidden her name these years, unwilling to rely on your power and connections, she made a great name for herself in the Jianghu, snatching the top of the Human Ranking."

"In the world, people only know her as the Jade Flute Fairy, but no one knows she’s your daughter, Marshal Xuan."

"I heard she’s returned this time, has she reached Meridian Passage? The first of the younger generation, I believe, is none other than her, you must be proud."

Mentioning his precious daughter, Ye Xuan did not hide his pride, slightly lifting his chin, with a proud gleam in his eyes, and an involuntary smile on his face.

However, he said, "Hmph, so strong-willed, that child just blames me, not wanting to be associated with me."

"But you’re right, she returned from overseas this time, her cultivation has advanced significantly; among the younger generation, indeed, none can surpass her, still capable of firmly outshining Chen Tang."