Situ Mu, who had been watching the show from the sidelines with a faint smile, shifted his gaze to the saber scabbard at Lin Yan's side.
"Brother Lin is a Swordsman. A pity that this old man practices the sword. I'm afraid I can't offer much guidance when it comes to Saber Technique."
As Situ Mu spoke, he listened to the conversation between Lin Yan and his grand-disciple and found himself admiring the young man.
He wasn't sycophantic, but he wasn't arrogant either. In terms of temperament, he was promising.
"Senior, I practice Swordsmanship."
Lin Yan picked up the saber scabbard beside him and drew out the Longsword from within.
Seeing a Longsword drawn from a saber scabbard, Situ Mu's expression turned momentarily strange, while Yin Ruoxi, at his side, let out a snort of laughter.
"To be honest, Sword Scabbards are more expensive than saber scabbards on the market. I was just being cheap, so I bought a saber scabbard. As long as it works, it's all the same."
Lin Yan scratched his head in slight embarrassment, trying to justify himself.
'Of course, he wouldn't admit that he had it made to look like a saber scabbard just so he could be a sly old fox. That would completely ruin the image he had just built for himself.'
Situ Mu shook his head. "I cannot teach you Swordsmanship."
"Grandmaster, how can you not be able to teach him?"
Yin Ruoxi's elegant brows furrowed, her wide eyes filled with deep confusion. 'If even Grandmaster can't teach him, then who else possibly could?'
Situ Mu explained, "My girl, my Sword Dao is very particular. To receive my instruction, one must at the very least develop a Sword Heart. You cannot learn my Sword Dao without a Sword Heart. If I were to try and teach Brother Lin, it would only lead him down a path of obsession."
His Sword Dao was unique from the very beginning. Otherwise, he wouldn't have accepted only a single disciple in all these years.
He could not teach those who lacked talent in the Sword Dao, and frankly, he wouldn't stoop to it.
Yin Ruoxi didn't fully grasp the meaning behind her grandmaster's words, but Lin Yan understood perfectly. 'This senior is saying I'm too weak. That if he taught me his Swordsmanship, I'd never be able to learn it, and I might even go mad in the process.'
"Senior, what is a Sword Heart?" Lin Yan asked, his curiosity piqued.
"A Sword Heart is a heart that has achieved enlightenment in the Sword Dao. A Sword Heart has talent for the Sword Dao that far surpasses that of an ordinary Martial Artist."
"Then how can one obtain a Sword Heart?"
"There are Innate Sword Hearts and Acquired Sword Hearts. But whether Innate or Acquired, both have one thing in common: a pure love for the sword, valuing it more than one's own life. You, on the other hand, practice the sword simply to increase your strength. Your motives are a bit utilitarian."
Situ Mu hadn't been so blunt, but Lin Yan knew exactly what he meant. This Senior Situ thought he practiced the sword with ulterior motives, not out of a pure love for it.
'Senior Situ was right on the mark. He had initially chosen Swordsmanship because the Jinghong Sword Technique was a Top-grade Cultivation Method.'
'He had valued its Grade, not the Swordsmanship itself.'
But this was a golden opportunity, and he didn't want to miss it. He had to try and make a case for himself.
"My background forces me to be utilitarian in my approach to Martial Arts; I can't afford to be so pure. But I do believe I have some talent for Swordsmanship."
Situ Mu shook his head. "Some talent? You don't understand what it means to possess a Sword Heart. It's considered quite talented for an ordinary person to develop Sword Intent in three to five years. But for a Sword Heart, doing so within a year is normal."
Seeing that Lin Yan hadn't been discouraged by her grandmaster's words, Yin Ruoxi's eyes shifted, and she chimed in to help, "Grandmaster, why not just give him a chance? Let him show you a sword strike."
After a moment of contemplation, Situ Mu said, "Very well. Show me one strike."
'One strike, just to make him give up for good.'
"Thank you, Senior."
Lin Yan said no more. He gripped the hilt of his sword with his right hand. The instant his fingers closed around the hilt, a flicker of astonishment flashed in Situ Mu's old eyes.
'With his level of discernment, he could gauge a Martial Artist's accomplishment in the Sword Dao from the very moment they gripped their sword.'
'This boy has actually developed Sword Intent!'
While Situ Mu was still surprised, Lin Yan raised his hand. With no opening stance, no gathering of momentum, he simply swung the sword.
The glint of the sword was like a silk thread.
It was as fine as a wisp of smoke, as faint as a patch of mist, tracing an impossibly thin arc through the air.
A breath later, the glint of the sword vanished.
Lin Yan lowered his sword and stood with his hands at his side.
In that moment, the wilderness seemed to fall completely silent, leaving only the CRACKLE of the firewood.
Yin Ruoxi's mouth was slightly agape, her clear, wide eyes round with disbelief.
'That strike just now... Lin Yan had unleashed Sword Intent.'
'It wasn't as if she'd never seen anyone develop Sword Intent; she'd met plenty who had done so in their teens.'
'But those people came from backgrounds that destined them to be leagues ahead of their peers in the Sword Dao.'
She subconsciously glanced at her grandmaster. Although he had claimed he couldn't teach Lin Yan, she wasn't stupid. She'd heard the implication that he thought Lin Yan had no talent for the Sword Dao.
'Had Grandmaster misjudged him?'
Situ Mu's expression froze. He sat there, his salt-and-pepper eyebrows furrowed, his old eyes narrowing to a slit. 'Did I actually misjudge him?'
He wasn't concerned about losing face. His expression had frozen because he couldn't quite understand this boy.
'A Martial Artist without a Sword Heart could still develop Sword Intent, provided they trained hard enough.'
'It might take eight or ten years, or they could shorten the time after reaching the Blood Exchange Realm, leveraging the advantage of their Qi Blood.'
'But this boy, according to his own words, has been in Martial Arts Cultivation for less than two years. At most, he's been practicing the sword for a year and a half. There's no reason he should have developed Sword Intent already.'
'He was certain this boy did not have a Sword Heart.'
'If the boy possessed a Sword Heart, he would have been able to sense it, given the nature of his own Sword Dao.'
"How long have you been practicing the sword?"

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