Lin Yan felt like his brain couldn’t keep up.
Seeing his disciple’s confused expression, Lin Shouyuan explained, "Since you’ve been to the third floor and read the book on Sword Pills, you should know that the path of the Sword Dao is divided into the Innate Sword Heart and the Acquired Sword Heart. You should also know that the so-called Acquired Sword Heart, achieved by comprehending ten Sword Intents, is little more than a comforting platitude. A Sword Heart... you’re either born with it, or you’re not."
"Yes, I understand."
He had scoffed inwardly when he first learned about the Acquired Sword Heart. ’It’s just a nice-sounding platitude. If I actually managed to comprehend ten Sword Intents, everyone would just assume I had some special, hidden Sword Heart that simply hadn’t been discovered yet.’
’To put it simply: once you’re famous and successful, the scholars will line up to justify your greatness.’
’But a fake is still a fake!’
"Whether your Sword Intent resides in a Sword Pill or a Sword Heart, it is already linked to your very consciousness. Shen Guyun cultivates the Devouring Sword Dao, which allows him to seize a wisp of his opponent’s Sword Intent after defeating them. This is equivalent to stripping away a sliver of your own spirit to strengthen his Sword Pill. The one who is defeated suffers spiritual damage, falling into a state of demoralized listlessness."
"Seize it? And he uses a Sword Pill?"
Lin Yan’s mouth fell slightly open. He was shocked, first, that such a Sword Dao even existed, and second, that Shen Guyun wasn’t an Innate Sword Heart.
’If he isn’t even Lower Rank A... does that mean an Innate Sword Heart is considered Middle Rank A or Upper Rank A?’
"Master, is this Devouring Sword Dao one of the Shen Family’s cultivation techniques?"
"Of course not."
Lin Shouyuan shook his head. "The Shen Family has no such Cultivation Technique. Shen Guyun must have acquired it from somewhere else. The Devouring Sword Dao seems powerful, as it can compensate for the inherent limitations of a Sword Pill, but it has a major flaw. Once you choose this path, you can no longer comprehend Sword Intent on your own. You can only advance by defeating opponents and seizing their Sword Intent. Furthermore, you must defeat them in a head-on battle while they are in the same realm. It’s manageable in the Blood Exchange Realm, but later on, in the True Gang Realm or even higher, people won’t be so willing to spar once they know you practice the Devouring Sword Dao."
"Shen Guyun is well aware of this. He could have broken through to the True Gang Realm long ago, but he’s been deliberately suppressing his realm because of his Devouring Sword Dao."
"Once he enters the True Gang Realm, no matter how much he suppresses his power, he’ll still be a cut above anyone in the Blood Exchange Realm. He would have to find Sword Dao geniuses in the True Gang Realm, but geniuses at that level are far rarer. And if he encounters someone who reached the True Gang Realm before him, they certainly won’t suppress their own power just to fight him. That’s why he’s holding back from breaking through. He wants to defeat as many Sword Dao geniuses as he can while still in the Blood Exchange Realm to plunder their Sword Intent. If he can gather ten Perfect Sword Intents, he’ll have what’s called an ’Acquired Sword Heart.’ At that point, whether he joins the Celestial Sword Sect or the Taiyi Sword Sect, his standing will be far greater than someone with a Lower Rank A evaluation."
Lin Yan more or less understood. ’Shen Guyun is basically farming low-level zones, grinding for enough talent before he levels up.’
A practitioner at the Blood Exchange Fourth Transformation could control their Blood Gang to match someone at the First Transformation. However, a True Gang Realm powerhouse, no matter how much they suppressed their strength, would always be stronger than someone at the Fourth Transformation.
"Master, there are quite a few Sword Dao geniuses in the Shandong Lineage who have achieved Sword Intent Perfection. Hasn’t Shen Guyun collected ten of them after all this time?"
"The Devouring Sword Dao isn’t as overpowered as you think. When he defeats an opponent, he can at most seize one-tenth of their Perfect Level Sword Intent. This means he has to defeat ten such geniuses just to form a single, complete strand. Besides, quite a few people have figured out he’s cultivating the Devouring Sword Dao, so most try to avoid him. Otherwise, Jian Sheng wouldn’t have been intercepted on the road."
Hearing his master’s explanation, Lin Yan did the math.
’Shen Guyun needs to defeat ten Sword Dao geniuses who have reached the Perfection Level just to forge a single strand of Perfect Level Sword Intent.’
’If I kill ten Blood Exchange Realm powerhouses of Non-human Origin, that’s enough for me to comprehend one strand of Perfect Level Sword Intent.’
’Looked at that way, this so-called Devouring Sword Dao can’t even begin to compare to my Martial Arts Tree.’
’The Devouring Sword Dao is inferior to the Martial Arts Tree, which basically means Shen Guyun is inferior to me.’
But Shen Guyun’s Devouring Sword Dao, combined with the information he’d seen in the Hidden Technique Pavilion about Root Bones being plunderable, put Lin Yan on high alert. ’The Martial Arts of this world... it might be even more complex than I imagined.’
"Master, if that Shen Guyun comes looking for me, can’t I refuse?"
Lin Shouyuan didn’t answer directly, his fingers tracing the rim of his teacup. "The Shen Family is the number one family in Qin State, its sole overlord. Their strength is far greater than our Lin Family’s. However, Qing State and Qin State are separated by thousands of miles, and our two families have no direct conflicts of interest, so we don’t necessarily have to fear them." Lin Shouyuan paused, his tone growing heavy. "But Shen Guyun’s aunt is married to the Vice Patrol Envoy of Shandong Dao."
Patrol Envoy.
A muscle in Lin Yan’s brow twitched.
He had read about this official title in the Travel Notes on the third floor of the Hidden Technique Pavilion. The Great Zhou used Paths to delineate its territories. Within each Path, Sects and Clans were self-governing, but the central government wasn’t completely hands-off. Each Path was assigned one Patrol Envoy and three Vice Patrol Envoys. The Patrol Envoy was appointed by the Court, whereas the Vice Patrol Envoys were nominated from within the Path itself. They represented the Path’s local interests, creating a check and balance against the Patrol Envoy.
Anyone who could serve as a Vice Patrol Envoy was either one of the Path’s absolute top powerhouses or represented its most powerful factions.
The influence of such a powerhouse, and the faction behind them, could radiate across the entire Path—unlike the Lin Family, whose influence was confined to the Qing State region.
His master hadn’t said whether he could refuse, but Lin Yan knew the answer. He could refuse, but if he did, the Lin Family would certainly face retaliation.
’There was no need to have the family refuse Shen Guyun on his behalf just to prove how much they valued him.’

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