Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 330
Thinking about this part, Long Yunxin smiled and said courteously, "Brother Li, Anan said that you are an expert and that you have been concealing yourself for a long time. I assume that you must be prepared to show your sharpness with your amazing skills at the Skyhill Sword Seminar.
"The annual Skyhill Sword Seminar is not just about competition. More importantly, it is about communication and the overall development of sword-forging technologies of the Flying Star Sector. Don't you agree?
"As it happens, a few friends of mine are gathering in a finely-made cottage behind the museum. We call it 'Sword Tasting Gettogether '. There are not many people, only around ten. However, they are all capable refiners who made it to the top 300 in the Skyhill Sword Seminar last year and have been preparing to fight again this year for a long time.
"Before the match begins, we will meet each other first. We will be enjoying delicious wine and discussing swords and sword-forging techniques. It will be quite a pleasant party.
"The competition of the Skyhill Sword Seminar is extremely fierce. The top 300 all have a chance of securing a place in the top 100. If my fellow Cultivator is free, why don't we go there together, have a nice talk, and make friends with each other? What do you say?"
Li Yao's eyes were shining.
He didn't know, nor did he want to know, Long Yunxin's purpose.
For a maniac in refining such as himself, he wouldn't even blink if he had to pass a mountain of blades and an ocean of flames as long as experienced refiners were waiting on the other side to talk to him.
He felt his hunger disappear. Nodding, he said, "Alright. Lead the way!"
…
Behind the museum was a large area of gold bamboo that looked like interconnecting swords and spears; it was known as 'Sword Forest'.
A cottage had been established in the middle of the bamboo to entertain the honorable guests.
They were mostly the young generation of the noble refining families. With their familial background, their own talent, and their hard work, they had distinguished themselves with people of the same generation and all marched into the top 300 in the Skyhill Sword Seminar last year.
Naturally, the topic of conversation was not gossip but the mysteries and secrets among refiners as well as the latest theories and academic problems.
There was a red stove nearby, in which a bottle of delicious wine was being boiled with the minimum fire.
It differed from normal wine in that there were a few scraps of ancient flying swords inside.
The wine that was boiled in such a way had the flavor of graveness. It was the most suitable beverage for refiners. The activity itself was known as 'Sword Tasting', which was quite a fashion among the refiners.
It was said that the seasoned sword-forging masters could tell the year, make, and story of the scraps in the wine after one sip. It was truly mysterious and remarkable.
"Mo Tianshui and Huangpu Xiaoya, the two most excellent heirs of the two most famous families, who have never participated in the Skyhill Sword Seminars before, are both joining the match this year. Two supernovas are going to collide furiously. It's definitely going to be earth-shaking!"
"Very true. This is going to be the most professional match in years. I'm told that, other than the masters of the three main crystal suit centers, big shots from Proud Sword Vale, Iron Blade Star, and Heavenly Horse Hall, as well as many reputable refiners that have been well-known for decades, are all coming to observe the game. They are all coming for Mo Tianshui and Huangpu Xiaoya!"
"It is said that the organizer even invited Master Fiend Star, the passionate expert of classical refining theories on the Spiritual Nexus recently, to come and comment on the games through the Great Illusionary Groups!
"But Fiend Star turned down the offer saying that he was 'otherwise occupied'. It is really a shame!"
"Speaking of which, this Fiend Star, who has appeared out of nowhere, is indeed a mystifying one! Who do you say he is exactly in the real world? A professor in a university? An elder in a sect? Or a grandpa of a certain noble family of refining? Chances are that he might be your father or mine. Hahahaha!"
"Fiend Star's theories are the new fashion nowadays. Why don't we set that as the topic of our get together today? Come on. Who wants to speak first?"
Everybody joined the conversation. As the debate got more and more intense, the door of the cottage was opened. Long Yunxin and Xie Anan brought Li Yao in.
Long Yunxin was the one of the highest level in the small group. Her appearance refreshed everyone.
However, they were all quite shocked to see Li Yao behind her.
He was like a cocky rooster, stained with blood clearly resulting from its last fight, whose feathers were messed up barging in a flock of elegant cranes; it didn't look right at all.
But the manners of the heirs of the noble families were really good. Although they found it quite odd, they nodded at the three of them in acknowledgement and continued the furious debate.
Long Yunxin guided her companions to sit down among the crowd. Then she chuckled in a low voice. "Brother Li, every Sword Tasting Gettogether has a theme, on which everyone offers their opinions in turn. The topic today is theories of Master Fiend Star, the popular expert in classical refining theories recently. We are finding the loopholes in his theories and proposing rebuttals. The winner is the one whose eyes are keenest.
"Huh?"
Li Yao was stunned.
Long Yunxin continued, "The one talking right now is Luo Dong, heir of the Luo family of East Brightness. He has lambasted the hypothesis that Fiend Star came up with on the fifteen aerodynamic models of the ancient flying swords. Not bad. His observation is sharp and hits the ambiguities precisely!"
Luo Dong was a chubby young man who was wearing a red robe and had a bright red face. He was wagging his head and elaborating. After his long speech, everyone applauded for him.
"Well said! Fiend Star's theories about the aerodynamics of ancient flying swords are indeed incoherent and unsystematic. All his self-contradictions have been located by you!"
"Brother Luo, your speech is evident enough that you've made tremendous progress over the past year. You must be quite ambitious about the Skyhill Sword Seminar this year!"
Luo Dong smiled casually and looked at Long Yunxin and Li Yao.
Long Yunxin rose up and cleared her throat, before she opened her mouth. "May I have your attention, everyone? I would like to introduce a new friend to you. This fellow Cultivator is Li Yao, an expert in refining who has been hiding himself in the Great Horn Exo Society. He is also taking part in the Skyhill Sword Seminar this year. Let's all hear what he has to say, shall we?"
"Expert in refining?"
Long Yunxin was the one of the best refiners there. There wouldn't be anything wrong with someone she endorsed.
For a moment, everyone's eyes were beaming, like those of a leopard who had found its prey.
They were all the most enthusiastic lovers of swords and sabers who welcomed anyone regardless of their identities as long as they were proficient enough.
A tall, slender young man with green eyes stood up and said friendly, "Brother Li, greetings. I am Tu Yongqing, from the Tu family of Upper Woods. I'm also the host of this Sword Tasting Gettogether. We are all refiners here. Please make yourself at home and feel free to say whatever you want!
"Our theme today is finding loopholes in Fiend Star's classical refining theories, which have been quite a hit recently. Everybody is free to expound on his faults and propose a brand-new idea.
"But I'm wondering, have you found any loopholes in Fiend Star's theories, or do you simply object to them all?"
Shua! Shua! Shua!
More than ten pairs of expecting eyes were all fixed on Li Yao.
Chapter 486: Sword Tasting Get Together |
Li Yao felt a headache coming on.
He held his head and pondered for a long time, only to come up with nothing. In the end, he admitted honestly, "I don't see any loopholes in Fiend Star's theories, and I totally agree with him."
This time, everyone was dumbfounded.
Fiend Star's classical refining theories were quite popular on the Spiritual Nexus recently. His ideas of combining ancient refining arts with modern ones had opened a new window for many young refiners.
Therefore, Fiend Star's theories had become a fashion for the young refiners of the Flying Star Sector. Whoever knew nothing about Fiend Star would be considered to be outdated!
On the other hand, despite the validness and profoundness of Fiend Star's classical refining theories, his knowledge about modern refining was apparently flawed.
Combining the traditional techniques with the contemporary technologies was a path that no one had walked on previously. Many of his opinions were still immature, with errors that could be fixed. Therefore, the room for observation was quite large.
Young refiners often tried to find loopholes in Fiend Star's theories and would come up with their own remedies based on his ideas.
Young people were supposed to be disobedient. They should have the confidence to challenge everything with a flexible mind, instead of believing in the authorities blindly. Moreover, it was well acknowledged that many parts of Fiend Star's theories were imperfect.
But this guy, Li Yao, completely agreed with Fiend Star's theories without offering any understandings of his own?
At that moment, no one thought highly of Li Yao.
When Li Yao first walked in, those young people from noble families had actually been quite nervous.
Nowadays, many top experts liked to play meek. They wore ragged, lowly clothes and yet they were preparing to give a killing shot at any time despite their hideous appearance.
Just now, when Long Yunxin had brought Li Yao in, they had thought that he was such a low-profile expert and were ready to listen to his discerning observations. It had never occurred to them that he couldn't say anything at all.
Fiend Star had proposed almost a hundred theories and hypotheses. If someone couldn't even find one loophole in them, how much expertise could he possibly have?
Li Yao said, "Please resume your discussion, everybody. I'm only here to listen and learn."
Then, he sat down peacefully.
The young generation of the noble families all had the basic courtesy to not make fun of a strange guest right to his face. Seeing that Li Yao was not going to say anything, they didn't force him to. A short girl in a bright gold refining uniform stood up and smiled at Li Yao. Then she said, "Brother Li Yao is new here and may still not be adapted to our ambience. I am Zhou Yilu from Green Island. I would like to offer my humble opinions on the drawbacks in twelve-chain ancient thunder runes that Fiend Star proposed when they are applied to modern magical equipment. I must say that Master Fiend Star was truly incredible to have excavated the twelve-chain ancient thunder runes and combined them with modern magical equipment. It is indeed fascinating. However, there is still some negligence that can be mended…"
Everybody here was a crazy fan of magical equipment. When they dwelled in the world of magical equipment, they completely forgot the episode of Li Yao's speechlessness. The furious battle continued, with words as weapons. It was quite a turmoil.
Li Yao was truly drawn to it.
Criticizing oneself was always the hardest. Of course, Li Yao did not know what loopholes existed in his theories. If he did, he would've rectified them on the Spiritual Nexus.
He had thought that it was going to be a boring party. However, listening to so many experts in refining diagnosing his theories with the sharpest language that felt like scalpel, Li Yao felt like cold sweat was trickling down his back. He nodded his head nonstop in consent.
Some of the rebuttals were completely unreasonable, but most of the criticisms hit right in the target and solved many problems that had baffled Li Yao for a long time.
One can always learn from the company one keeps. This trip has absolutely been worthwhile!
None of them are very old, but their families have given them a lot of solid teachings. The system of their theories is so concrete and impeccable. The loopholes that they've find are indeed faults now that I think about it!
After I correct my theories according to their amendments, many of my explorations could make another leap forward!
Li Yao was truly enraptured by their debate. He slapped his lap as he enjoyed himself. When he was rivetted by someone's ideas, he was even applauding them.
For the speakers, although the guy was plain and apparently had nothing inside his brain, his attitude was quite sincere, and his applause always came right in time when a criticism reached its most marvelous point. They all felt tickled and delighted. The atmosphere became somewhat friendly, too.
Long Yunxin had been observing Li Yao secretly, only to discover that he had been listening attentively like an elementary school student.
The more she observed, the less comfortable she became. She leaned over to Xie Anan and said in a low voice, "Xie Anan, just tell me the truth. Where did you meet this Li Yao and how are you sure that he is a mysterious expert? Just look at him. Putting the 'expert' part aside, do you think he is 'mysterious' at all?"
Xie Anan was suspicious, too. How could an expert who had passed such a difficult test perfectly in less than one minute have no second opinions about Fiend Star's theories?
Truth be told, even she could offer a few criticisms about Fiend Star's theories!
Thinking for a long time, Xie Anan tried to find an excuse for him. "Senior Brother Li Yao is truly skillful, but since he is from the Great Horn Exo Society, he must be a refiner who is best at the practical tasks. It's quite understandable that he is not familiar with theories."
"Is that so? I guess we'll find out shortly." Long Yunxin was not fully convinced.
The hot debate went on for more than two hours. Other than Li Yao, everyone had pointed out many of Fiend Star's flaws clearly and thoroughly. Even Xie Anan had stood up and talked for five minutes under the encouragement of everybody. She was praised by them, too.
Li Yao was already soaked in sweat; he felt that he had just taken a hot shower.
Right then, a thin, exotic scent spread over them.
"The sword has been boiled!"
Tu Yongqing, host of the gettogether, bulged his eyes. He clapped his hands and smiled. "Everyone, the wine that I brought here is nothing unusual. It's just the 120-year-old 'Drunk Mountain' from the Floating Stream Island! However, the scraps of ancient swords boiled inside today are indeed fabulous. Come on. Just like our convention, whoever identifies the scraps will be deemed the 'Sword Master' today!"
Tu Yongqing brought in three bottles and poured the yellow, honey-like wine into cups. Everyone present took a cup carefully, closed their eyes, and focused their attention on tasting the wine.
"This wine has additional sorrow compared with normal 'Drunk Mountain'. It gives me the same feeling as the 'Broken Heart Sword Sect' from forty-eight thousand years ago. I'm guessing that the scrap came from the Broken Heart Sword Sect!"
"I don't agree with Brother Dongmen. You sense sorrow from the wine, but I also sense a vague killing intent beneath the sorrow. In my opinion, the scrap should be from 'Bloody Thorn', an assassination group from forty-seven thousand years ago. It is even possible that the sword was personally made by Elder Bloody Thorn, leader of the group and also a renowned master in sword forging!"
"You two both have fair points. But in my opinion…"
All the participants expressed their opinions without giving in to anyone.
Tu Yongqing, as the host, was truly a gentleman. He didn't despise Li Yao for not speaking just now. He handed over a cup of 'Drunk Mountain' with both hands and smiled. "Brother Li, since this is a 'Sword Tasting Gettogether', how can we not taste swords?
"Our convention is that the host brings bottles of delicious wine and a scrap from an ancient sword. We boil the sword with the delicious wine, and when the feelings of the sword are melted into the wine, everyone will taste the wine and guess the origins of the scrap. Whoever gets closest to the fact will be the 'Sword Master' of this gettogether and the host for the next one.
"Brother Li, please."
Li Yao blinked and took the cup suspiciously.
Boiling the scrap of an ancient sword in the wine could melt the 'feelings of sword', and the origins of the scrap could be sensed simply by tasting the wine?
What kind of techniques were these? That sounded rather wonderful.
Li Yao supped. The wine was not bad. The spiritual energy contained inside was abundant. But other than that, he didn't sense the slightest hint of sorrow or scent of killing.
Tu Yongqing smiled and said, "Feel free to offer your input, Brother Li. It's not a big deal even if your guess is wrong. In fact, determining a sword through the wine is a very complicated technique. Few Cultivators are even close to grasping it. We are merely taking wild guesses and pretend that we are knowledgeable people!"
"Is there really such a technique?" Li Yao's eyes were glittering, as he was greatly interested, too. If one could learn the feelings of the ancient swords by boiling them, such a technique was definitely worth studying.
"Of course there is."
Tu Yongqing suddenly turned solemn. He said seriously, "This is a mysterious ancient technique, and the top secret of the 'Hundred Smelting Clan', an unparalleled refining sect from forty thousand years ago in the ancient Cultivation world.
"Through such a technique, one can train one's senses in the most efficient way. A refiner would be able to understand the ultimate level of melding the soul with the magical equipment in the half-drunk state!"
Li Yao coughed beyond his control. His face was pure red. 'Drunk Mountain' was all over his body.
"The wine is too strong for me."
Li Yao's eyes were twitching violently, as he said with a weird expression, "But I've never heard such an enigmatic technique before. I really can't taste anything in it. Please do forgive me, Brother Tu."
