"'Zhou Yan,' is that a name you can just call out casually?"
Zhou Yan's gaze was as sharp as a sword, and when he stared at Zhou Xian, an invisible aura of authority emanated from him.
He wasn't generous enough to not mind such a provocation; now that he had the power, he didn't want to endure the humiliating days of being trampled underfoot any longer.
Faced with this piercing gaze, Zhou Xian felt an inexplicable fear and couldn't help but avoid Zhou Yan's sharp edge by averting his eyes.
He vaguely sensed that Zhou Yan seemed to be on the edge of explosion, perhaps driven hysterical by his inability to break through despite forcing his potential.
Anyway, by skipping the morning training at the school grounds, Zhou Yan had already angered the extremely dignified Preaching Elder, so he shouldn't expect any good days ahead!
With himself being a genius, why should he even bother with such a worthless person?
As Zhou Xian geared himself to retreat, he found a grand justification. Therefore, as he spoke, his eyes flickered with a hint of a cold smile: "Yes, indeed, haha, you are my genius cousin. Let's see what amazing talent you have! If you're still like this a month later, let's see how you have the nerve to take up so many cultivation resources!"
With that, Zhou Xian shrugged as if he were very innocent, then turned and left with great indifference, but his ironic and mocking words deeply pierced Zhou Yan's heart.
He stood there silently, his right hand gripping the hilt of the broken sword tightly, his body trembling slightly.
Inside him, as if there was hot blood boiling and burning. Endless nascent Sword Qi seemed to awaken from slumber at this moment, ready to explode with fury that could shake Heaven and Earth!
But he restrained himself; he didn't make a move, allowing the invisible Sword Qi to howl inside him.
He knew that it was precisely because of his lackluster performance that his Grandfather, the family head, seemed somewhat biased toward him, which made other disciples who couldn't get access to good resources extremely hostile to him, filling him with endless guilt, feeling unworthy of his grandfather's nurturing.
Otherwise, why would he, at such a young age, forsake essentials to exploit his potential, training in the ebb and flow of the Cold Ice Lake Water?
He knew he had talent and that unique astounding comprehension, but he always felt as if some shackle bound him, preventing complete understanding.
Now, that constraint, like an oppression on his heart, vanished, and he trained the family's inherited Bi Shui Lian Tian Swordsmanship to the eighth form in one breath; such an achievement was unprecedented, even surpassing his genius father, Zhou Wangchen!
He had created history for the Zhou Family!
And so, now, knowing his talent had come to fruition, he was extremely confident in himself.
...
"Preaching Elder, I kindly advised him, but he thought too highly of himself, thinking he was still a genius, and almost got physical! But as a disciple of the family, I remember the lesson not to dispute, so I backed down."
As Zhou Yan walked a few steps closer to the training grounds, he heard Zhou Xian's voice lingering in the air.
His eyebrow twitched, and a chill appeared in his gaze—such detestable contemptible behavior indeed!
Still in displeasure, he heard the Preaching Elder's deep and solemn voice: "Hmm, with your temperament, reaching this step is pretty decent. That Zhou Yan, useless and hopeless, the family head must be blind, thinking he's another Zhou Wangchen?
He's just mud that cannot stick to the wall; in the future, you don't need to worry about him repeatedly. Train hard yourself and prove that the family head's bias is a joke!"
As the Preaching Elder spoke, his gaze suddenly landed on Zhou Yan.
That gaze, like a pair of bronze bells, shone with an indescribable cold gleam, as if a Sacred Sword Dao deity slumbered within a deep pool.
Almost instinctively, Zhou Yan trembled internally, nearly falling to his knees on the spot to bow and admit fault in response to that gaze.
His nascent Sword Qi suddenly went rampant, his black hair burst open with a "boom," his unruly hair flying, the erupting invisible energy breaking the pressure of that gaze, and an invisible Blood Qi rippled outward.
He suddenly felt transformed; though he still appeared frail, as small as an ant in the vast world, the momentary force of his Blood Qi, the resilience that manifested at that moment, made him stand like a War God.
"Huh?"
The bearded elder's deeply wrinkled face bore an expression of surprise, and his eyes did not hide their 'astonishment.'
"Elder, Grandfather, the family head's eyes aren't blind! It's you self-righteous old goats who are! Besides, I've already advanced to the First Layer of Sword Beginning; I'm no longer required to attend training at the school grounds and can cultivate independently, which doesn't break family rules, nor do I need to kneel and confess!"
Zhou Yan's sharp gaze no longer feared the Preaching Elder, who struck fear with just a mention.
Despite the Preaching Elder's impassive gaze, he remained quite displeased!
In the past, this was common; he didn't care much. But equipped with the insights and memories of a Grandmaster's soul, he knew that a man should kneel to Heaven, Earth, and his parents, but beyond that, must not bend for 'five bushels of rice'!
To him, this was now a tremendous insult! He had his pride and dignity!
"You, with such spirit, indeed no longer need to enter the training ground! But excessively exploiting your potential, although it has brought you capability now, it has ruined you! You are not Zhou Wangchen after all... sigh, take care of yourself!"
The Preaching Elder scrutinized Zhou Yan for a few moments and then gave a rather 'regretful' evaluation.
Though he wasn't favored, being part of the family, the Preaching Elder merely lamented the waste of Zhou Yan's excellent 'comprehension' talent.
Sensing a momentary tinge of desolation from the Preaching Elder, Zhou Yan's heart was slightly moved.
As harsh as it was, establishing authority wasn't wrong; the family faced internal and external troubles, and if every disciple followed his example to exploit their potential, ruin their cultivation foundations, it would pave a path to destruction for the Zhou Family.
Suddenly realizing these, the fleeting displeasure dissipated.
Watching the Preaching Elder's retreating figure, marked by visible aged desolation, he suddenly understood the weight of hopes he carried was more than just one person.
He also comprehended that the words aimed at Zhou Xian were, in essence, meant to provoke him to strive hard… yet it seemed to the Preaching Elder that he achieved breakthroughs through sheer desperation by exploiting his bodily potential…
If that were the case, his physical constitution and root bone would be completely destroyed, leaving him with nothing in the end, rendering any good talent or comprehension meaningless…
He stood there in silence, as if nailed to the spot, motionless.
At this moment, he wished to shout out loud that his breakthrough wasn't from potential exhaustion but from… a natural culmination of great potential, achieving a Great Perfection breakthrough, and he could even challenge opponents across a minor realm border in combat!
Yet… something like a thorn in his throat prevented him from uttering a word.
He didn't wish to see the extremely disappointed looks from family and friends. Yet, the Preaching Elder's disappointed eyes once again pierced his heart.
Besides the Preaching Elder, most clan disciples training at the grounds held looks of extreme disappointment, except for a few like Zhou Xian, Zhou Cheng, and Zhou Shuangshuang, whose eyes displayed a mix of schadenfreude and ridicule.
"Pity his misfortune, but angry at his failure to strive forward!"
This was the sentiment Zhou Yan keenly perceived with his heightened senses, a shuddering feeling that resonated with his very soul.
Also, at that moment, he understood that he wasn't being mocked by all as a 'famed but incompetent' 'genius' because most people still cared for him; like the Preaching Elder, they were merely pitying his misfortune and angry at his failure to strive.
He tightened his grip on the broken sword, all the blood in his body boiling.
But he explained nothing; everything would become clear during the examination in a month.
By then, he'd give them a surprise they couldn't anticipate!
...
A Short Sword danced elegantly, engraving a pitch-black iron block into a lifelike woman's statue.
The statue of the woman showed only her back, reminiscent of that woman's back in Zhou Yan's memory.
The statue's lines flowed like water, periodically casting a luminous spiritual glow.
Before, Zhou Yan didn't understand the Bi Shui Lian Tian Swordsmanship, hence couldn't decipher the technique; now, he understood.
This was a state akin to the great perfection of Harmonizing Tao in swordsmanship. The basic Bi Shui Lian Tian Swordsmanship, in this man's hands, transformed into an endless confrontation between Affectionate Sword Dao and Heartless Sword Dao.
Affectionate Sword Dao bestowed the statue with a sense of life, embodying endless love, extending indefinitely; while Heartless Sword Dao imparted a resoluteness, a despairing destruction of all hope lost.
Hence, life and death, moment by moment, were enacted on this statue until the black iron block transformed into a chaotic, useless hunk of scrap, at which point he stopped.
His eyes were lined with wrinkles, each wrinkle laden with the hardships and misfortunes of his life—except for those occasionally profound-as-abyss yet dull eyes, nothing else testified to his existence in this world.
Seeing the once orderly iron block turned into chaos in his hands, he sighed deeply, a jar of wine appearing out of thin air. He tilted his head, drinking deeply as if he consumed all the world's hardships and sorrows.
This drinking act caused the flush from carving earlier on his otherwise pale face to morph into a starkly disturbing shade of white, seeming to hint he didn't have long to live.
After finishing the drink, his frail body shaky, he cast a glance at Zhou Yan for the first time.
That solitary look of simple attention made Zhou Yan feel acknowledged instead of ignored; this gaze felt like undergoing a cycle of reincarnation.
A single glance, like ten thousand years.
Zhou Yan was somewhat apprehensive. His father, Zhou Wangchen—the most genius being in Zhou Family history, bar none!
But due to unknown reasons, now completely devoid of cultivation ability, living alongside statues day by day.
Drinking, carving, carving, drinking, nothing more.
And today was the once-a-week opportunity to learn something from his father.
Before today, he never received any guidance from his father.
Yet today, his sharpened senses picked up on a fleeting luminous moment within his father's somber eyes.
"This sculpture isn't ruined; it contains two Sword Daos, namely 'Affectionate Sword Dao' and 'Lifeless Sword Dao.' Watch them and choose one to practice!"
Mysteriously, this father who had fallen from grace lightly tapped the Void, causing a pitch-black statue to suddenly fly out of nowhere.
The statue still depicted a woman's departing silhouette, a hesitant back, as if about to turn but never quite doing so, filled with 'indecision.'