“You’re here.”
I don’t know how much time had passed when I heard a voice calling out. Jiang Nian opened his eyes again and found himself standing in an oasis.
Outside the oasis, tornadoes were rolling, the fierce wind was like knives, and yellow sand filled the sky.
A tall man in a gold-and-silver robe stood before the lake, his hands behind his back, gazing into the distance.
“Who are you?”
Seeing this, Jiang Nian couldn’t help but let out a soft exclamation of surprise.
Then the man turned around, revealing a face Jiang Nian knew all too well—Yu Huatian.
“You’re here.”
He looked at Jiang Nian and repeated what he had just said.
A faint smile appeared on his cold, proud face: “Not bad. A little faster than I expected.”
Jiang Nian furrowed his brow. “What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said.” Yu Huatian paced toward him. “I thought it would take you a bit longer to reach this level, but here you are, just two months later, and you’ve already mastered everything I’ve learned in my life.”
“Huh?”
Hearing this, Jiang Nian sensed something was wrong.
Although he had always known that during a breakthrough, he would fall into a state of enlightenment, becoming Yu Huatian himself and experiencing everything he had gone through to gain understanding…
Up until now, he had never had any direct interaction with Yu Huatian.
So why was this happening now?
“Don’t overthink it. You haven’t traveled through time. This is still the enlightenment.”
“The only difference is that I’m personally guiding this one.”
Yu Huatian sensed Jiang Nian’s thoughts and gave an explanation with a light laugh.
Then he pointed at Jiang Nian. “And instead of worrying about all that, haven’t you noticed anything strange about yourself yet?”
“Strange?” Jiang Nian was confused.
Seeing this, Yu Huatian shook his head and muttered to himself, How dull.
Then, without any warning, he reached out and slapped Jiang Nian right in the chest.
Thump!
A dull sound rang out. Jiang Nian was caught off guard and couldn’t react in time.
He felt a sharp pain in his chest, his breath hitched, and then he was sent flying backward uncontrollably into the sandstorm.
The raging sand tore him apart almost instantly.
The intense pain had just barely spread through his body when, in the next second, he was standing in front of Yu Huatian again, completely unharmed.
“Hah… hah…”
Jiang Nian gasped for breath, his heart still pounding in fear.
Yu Huatian smirked. “Do you get it now?”
“Get what?”
Thump!
Another slap. Another trip into the sandstorm. Another instant reappearance in front of Yu Huatian.
He kept that same teasing smirk. “Do you get it now?”
Having learned from the last two times, Jiang Nian quickly raised his hands to guard his chest, looking wary. “What are you trying to do?”
“Looks like you still don’t get it.”
Yu Huatian got his answer and raised his hand again.
Seeing this, Jiang Nian’s eyes sharpened, and he immediately tried to channel his internal energy to use his techniques to block the attack.
But the moment he thought about it…
He realized something terrifying.
His techniques were gone!
Whether it was Du Gao’s Shaolin Boy’s Kung Fu, Eight-Step Cicada Chase, or Xingyi Fist…
Or Yu Huatian’s Sword-Breaking Art, Sword and Blade Divine Arts, or Peerless Martial Arts…
All of them. Gone.
“What happened to all my skills and martial arts?”
Sensing this, Jiang Nian couldn’t help but ask.
Whoosh—
The sharp sound of the incoming strike suddenly stopped. Yu Huatian’s palm halted right in front of Jiang Nian’s face before he pulled it back.
He nodded in satisfaction. “Looks like you finally understand. But don’t worry. My trial has only temporarily sealed them. Once you pass the trial, they’ll all come back to you.”
Jiang Nian latched onto the key word. “Trial?”
“Exactly,” Yu Huatian said. Then, as if performing a magic trick, he flicked his hand and pulled a wooden sword out of thin air, tossing it to Jiang Nian.
He then took out a steel saber for himself.
As if talking to himself or explaining it to Jiang Nian, he said:
“The sword is a gentleman’s weapon. Every swordsman is first drawn to it by its elegant and cool techniques, hoping that after mastering it, they can travel the world with their blade and right all wrongs.”
“But do you know why there are so few famous swordsmen in the martial world?”
He looked at Jiang Nian.
Jiang Nian thought for a moment. “Because it’s hard?”
“That’s one reason,” Yu Huatian said, twirling the saber in his hand. “But the bigger reason is that the sword just isn’t practical. Among all weapons, it’s like a lotus flower—beautiful to look at but not meant for real combat. I’d say at least eighty percent of other weapons will give you a hard time if you try to use a sword against them.”
“So?” Jiang Nian wasn’t sure why Yu Huatian was telling him all this.
Yu Huatian held up the saber.
“So here’s what’s going to happen. I’ll fight you to the death, switching between the saber, staff, spear, and blade. You’ll have only four minutes. If you can’t break through all four weapons with that wooden sword and kill me within that time, the sandstorm outside the oasis will sweep in, devour us both, and then restart the trial.”
“Oh, and let me remind you—the moment I threw you that wooden sword, the trial began. You now have only three minutes left.”
With that, a chill flashed in his eyes.
Then he swung his steel saber and charged straight at Jiang Nian!
Seeing this, Jiang Nian cursed under his breath and hurriedly raised the wooden sword to defend himself.
But because he was too slow and their weapons were made of completely different materials…
The moment his wooden sword touched Yu Huatian’s steel saber, it was sliced cleanly in half.
Jiang Nian quickly jumped back. “Wait, that’s not fair! I have a wooden sword, and you have steel! How the hell am I supposed to fight that?”
“But that’s exactly the reality of a swordsman. If you can’t handle that, then don’t practice the sword. Now, die!”
The moment the words left his mouth, Jiang Nian saw a flash of silver before his eyes. A sharp pain followed, and then he was back in the oasis, completely unharmed, with Yu Huatian standing five steps away.
The wooden sword that had been chopped in half was restored as well, back in Jiang Nian’s hand.
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Jiang Nian cursed under his breath.
What kind of bullshit breakthrough is this?
This is just like Dark Souls!
But before he could finish the thought, Yu Huatian was already swinging his steel saber again, repeating the same move.
“Motherf***er! Respawn and fight again—it never ends!”
Jiang Nian shouted in frustration but had no choice except to desperately defend himself.
And then—
Crack!
The sword shattered.
Stab!
He died.
This repeated over and over again.
At some point, Jiang Nian stopped cursing or thinking about anything else.
He had only one thought in his mind: No matter what, I have to kill Yu Huatian!
So, the moment he respawned again, he took the initiative. Closing the distance in three quick steps, he swung his sword at Yu Huatian.
A flicker of approval appeared in Yu Huatian’s eyes.
But…
“Not good enough!”
He coldly declared, then countered with his saber, killing Jiang Nian in just two moves.
After that…
The oasis became an endless loop.
Jiang Nian died over and over again, only to respawn and try again. He learned from his previous mistakes and kept attacking relentlessly.
Finally, after dying hundreds of times…
“Shatter!”
Jiang Nian’s wooden sword struck Yu Huatian’s steel saber. With a furious roar, his internal energy exploded.
Bang!
Yu Huatian’s steel saber shattered on the spot.
Jiang Nian grinned in triumph. But in the next second—
Whoosh, thud!
A coiled dragon staff came swinging in, sending him right back to the respawn point.
Jiang Nian: “…”
“Again!”
He braced himself and charged again. This time, Yu Huatian swapped the steel saber for a large staff.
Then next time, a three-section staff, then an eyebrow-level staff, then a short staff.
Watching Yu Huatian, who was like some kind of weapon master, pull out a different staff every time Jiang Nian broke his saber…
Only one thought remained in Jiang Nian’s mind.
Yu Huatian, I f** your mother!*
Jiang Nian already knew that the spear hidden behind the staff and the blade hidden behind the spear would be just as bad.
But he had no choice except to grit his teeth and keep going.
He kept dying, kept learning, kept failing, kept gaining experience.
Finally…
Hard work paid off.
After dying more times than he could count…
Stab!
With bloodshot eyes, Jiang Nian broke through Yu Huatian’s Green Dragon Crescent Blade and drove the wooden sword straight into his chest.
Then, gripping the sword tightly, just before Yu Huatian’s fist could land on him, he slashed upward.
Rip!
Yu Huatian’s upper body was torn in two by the wooden sword. He was dead beyond dead.
Seeing this…
Jiang Nian finally felt the satisfaction of revenge!
This wasn’t the first time he had killed Yu Huatian.
But before, every time he was about to land the final blow, that bastard would either use his last breath to punch Jiang Nian to death as well, or time would run out and the sandstorm would swallow them both.
But now…
“Finally… finally, it’s over!”
Jiang Nian let go of the sword with trembling hands, relieved beyond words.
Yu Huatian, having respawned, walked over with a look of admiration in his eyes.
“Congratulations, Jiang Nian. You’ve finally passed my trial.”
“Well… to be more precise, you passed it a long time ago.”
Jiang Nian froze. He turned his head slowly, staring at Yu Huatian. “What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said.” Yu Huatian smiled. “You had already passed the trial the very first time you drove that wooden sword into my chest. But I noticed you were still struggling with some weapons, unsure how to handle them. So I just stretched the process out a little longer. And you certainly didn’t disappoint me.”
“Now, let me sincerely congratulate you, Jiang Nian. You are now a swordsman who would make even me feel ashamed of myself. It is both my honor and the honor of the Sword-Breaking Art to pass it down to you.”
“I’ll close this space now. I hope we meet again someday.”
Jiang Nian’s eyes went wide.
He wanted to lunge at Yu Huatian, grab him by the collar, and scream, F** you!*
But before he could…
A wave of weightlessness hit him.
When he came to his senses, he was back in his living room.
At the same time, the system’s notifications went off like firecrackers in his ears.
[Promotion]
[Sword-Breaking Art: Integration (1499/1500) → Sword-Breaking Art: Mastery (Unupgradable)]
[Congratulations on completing the character: Yu Huatian (Low Martial)]
[Reward obtained: Comprehension * 1]
[Your current Comprehension is: 3]
[Congratulations! You have been promoted to: First-Class Martial Artist!]
