Chapter 1000: Secret of the Academy (2)
Editor: Henyee Translations

Shen Ping continued, “Alright, it’s already late. Fairy, you should rest early.”

Fairy Lijiang bowed, but before they parted, she said hesitantly, “Senior Zhenbei…”

“You don’t have to call me senior. To be honest, I’m much younger than you. My name is Shen Ping. You can call me Shen Ping in the future.”

“Sh-Shen Ping, I-I’ll call you senior brother. No matter what, you’ve taught me.”

“Sure.”

“Senior Brother Shen, I wonder if you can impart this Water Splitting Sword Technique to the Palace Master?” she asked nervously.

All the strong cultivators in the world were searching for the true secret of the painting. The Water Splitting Sword Technique was one of the secrets. It could be seen how precious it was. If it was spread, even the immortals of the eighth realm would be shocked. However, the motto of Seeping River Academy was never to hide anything, so she braced herself and asked.

Shen Ping said without thinking, “Of course. The Water Splitting Sword itself is a drawing secret of the Seeping River Academy. It belongs to the academy.”

Fairy Lijiang smiled brightly, looking a little cute. “Thank you, Senior Brother Shen.”

The two of them separate. He returned to his residence in Lijiang City. Shen Ping sighed. “This trip was not in vain!”

In fact, he knew that when he gathered the authority and seriously explored the giant hall world, he would live until his comprehension of the Great Dao deepened. Sooner or later, he would discover the secret of the landscape painting. However, if he discovered it earlier, it would be more helpful to him.

To be honest, although he had comprehended all kinds of Great Daos and his combat strength was comparable to the middle and late stages of the Initial Dao Realm, he indeed did not have a Dao Protection Technique.

For example, the Great Dao of the Chaos Hole did not even have any comprehension secret techniques to date. He could not refer to them and could only explore by himself. The Dao of Fate was even more so. The other Great Daos did have secret techniques, but they had never cultivated them.

Miss Meng came from the Meng Family of the Skyflame Realm. In the last battle, she probably did not use all her trump cards or her strongest secret technique. Otherwise, he might not be her match. He could only burn his Dao Body.

Dao Body, secret technique, and Great Dao treasure. These were the three elements of the combat strength of experts above the Venerable Sovereign realm. He did not have a Dao Body, nor did he have a secret technique. He only had a Great Dao treasure.

That was why his overall combat strength was low.

Under normal circumstances, even if one was at the Immortal Venerable realm, after comprehending more than 30% of the top Great Dao, as long as they could unleash their true power, combined with a Great Dao treasure, they could compare to a Dao Origin Realm expert.

“There’s no hurry. My comprehension of the Sword Dao is still at a low level. Even if I obtain the secret technique of the Sword Dao, it’s useless. I should improve the Sword Dao first!”

In any case, all the pictures were in the palace world. Sooner or later, they would be his. No one else can take it away.

…

The moonlight shone down. It was as cool as water. Palace Master Yan listened to Fairy Lijiang’s report, and her expression changed from surprise to shock. “What? You’re saying that the Marquis of Zhenbei broke the secret of my academy’s Diagram of Mountains and Rivers?”

Fairy Lijiang nodded repeatedly. Palace Master Yan was silent for a long time before she sighed, “Rumor has it that the Marquis of Zhenbei is one of the few sword geniuses in the world with peerless talent. I only wanted him to give it a try, but I didn’t expect it to really succeed. Our academy has been passed down for many years, but we haven’t been able to crack the secret of the Mountain and River Diagrams. The other factions are the same. In the end, the Marquis of Zhenbei comprehended a sword technique after a long time!”

Fairy Lijiang did not say that Shen Ping had seen through the true secret because of her. Although she trusted the academy and Palace Master Yan, this matter was too important and would cause a shocking change in the world.

“Yao Xian, can you use that… Water Splitting Sword Technique?”

Fairy Lijiang shook her head. “Palace Master, the sword intent contained in that sword technique is endless. I can’t use it at all. My sword intent of Parting Water is nothing compared to it.”

Palace Master Yan took a deep breath. “Your strength is outstanding among the younger generation in the world. Yet you can’t use it. It seems that this Water Splitting Sword is indeed a top-notch sword technique. Since the Marquis of Zhenbei is willing to teach it, this matter is naturally a joyous occasion for our academy. However, it’s a secret for now. It’s not too late to spread it after you learn this sword technique. There’s no need for Marquis Zhenbei to teach me. I’ll wait for you to teach me.”

Fairy Lijiang could not help but say, “Palace Master, h-how can this do? Compared to you, my talent in the Sword Dao is much worse.”

Palace Master Yan smiled and said, “Xian’er, you don’t have to belittle yourself. In terms of talent in the Sword Dao, you can be ranked in the top five among the geniuses of the five major factions, including the Demon Nation. Although the Parting Water Sword Intent is far inferior to the Water Splitting Sword Technique, it’s already rare for you to comprehend a set of Sword Intent from the Mountain and River Diagram. I believe you will succeed.”

She seemed to have thought of something and asked hesitantly, “Xian’er, what do you think of this Marquis of Zhenbei?”

“Marquis Zhenbei is extremely talented, and his talent in the Sword Dao is unparalleled!”

“What do you think of him as a person?”

“Ah… I-I didn’t notice.”

Palace Master Yan sighed and said, “Xian’er, you’re not young anymore. Ever since you entered my academy, you’ve been immersed in the Sword Dao and cultivated sword techniques diligently. However, you’re still a human after all. Our academy doesn’t walk the Heartless Sword Dao of the Sword Whisper Tower, but the Sword Dao of Emotion. If you want to master this path, you have to be in love. You have to have emotions. Marquis Zhenbei is one of the few peerless geniuses in the world. Be it his looks, family background, or status, he’s top-notch. If you can marry him, it will be a good story.

“And you can communicate with him day and night about the Dao of the sword, and you can improve together. Originally, I wanted to find an opportunity for you to enter the world and travel around the world. I wanted you to experience the joys and sorrows, and the true feelings of the world. From there, you can comprehend the true Sword Dao of Emotion. Now that the Marquis of Zhenbei is here, it can save me a lot of trouble.”

Seeing that Palace Master Yan was talking more and more, Fairy Lijiang’s face was slightly red as she hurriedly interrupted, “Pa-Palace Master, my goal is the sword dao, not love. As for the Sword Dao of Emotions, it’s not a relationship between a man and a woman. Other relationships are also fine.”

Palace Master Yan said helplessly, “Even so, it’s rare to have a good match. If you miss it, you will inevitably have regrets in the future.”

Fairy Lijiang shook her head and remained silent. A moment later, she left the courtyard. Looking at her back, Palace Master Yan murmured, “It’s not fate yet.”

…

The next day, Palace Master Yan found Shen Ping and wanted him to teach Fairy Lijiang the Water Splitting Sword Technique every day. Shen Ping was still rather surprised. He thought that Palace Master Yan wanted him to turn the Water Splitting Sword Technique into a book and place it in the library of the academy.

“No problem!” he replied casually, “But I still have to enjoy the dance during the day. If I don’t have time, I’ll teach at night.”

Palace Master Yan: “…”

It was rumored that Marquis Zhenbei was promiscuous. Although she wanted to matchmake him, she did not want to see Xian’er being ruined by him. Therefore, she reminded him, “Marquis Zhenbei, our academy does not prohibit romantic relationships, but it is really inconvenient for you to go at night.”

Shen Ping blinked. “How is it inconvenient? As far as I know, Fairy Lijiang doesn’t bathe at night. I’m only going to teach sword techniques. I don’t want to do anything else!”

Palace Master Yan stared at Shen Ping. “How do you know that she won’t take a bath at night?”

“Ahem… I guessed,” Shen Ping hurriedly explained.

“Alright, I’ll tell her about this first. If she agrees, then I’ll have to trouble you in the future!”

Palace Master Yan left after saying that. Fairy Lijiang did not think that there was anything wrong. However, the palace master had just said last night that she wanted her to marry Shen Ping. Now, he wanted her to teach sword techniques at night. She could not help but feel strange.

At night, the hazy moonlight enveloped the Moon Immortal Pavilion where Fairy Lijiang lived. Her graceful figure was soaking in the hotspring. When it was almost the appointed time, Fairy Lijiang walked out of the hot spring and evaporated the water from her skin. She changed into a moon-white fairy dress and tied a simple ribbon around her waist. Then, she stood quietly in the courtyard with her sword in her arms and waited.

After a while, Shen Ping appeared in her line of sight.

“Senior Brother Shen.”

“Fairy, let’s practice our swordsmanship.”