Chapter 10: A Brilliantly Lit Path to Riches

Lu Mingyue stared in one direction, her mind in a daze.

The person had called her Senior Sister, which meant he had to be a disciple of Sword Demon Sect.

But when had a genius Sword Cultivator like this appeared among the Inner Sect?

That breathtaking sword strike her junior brother had just unleashed...

It seemed to contain some kind of extraordinarily powerful force.

She was certain that even if her brother had still been alive, his strength would have fallen far short of this person's.

No use dwelling on it — she needed to get back to the sect quickly. Someone this remarkable would only take a little asking around to identify.

Lu Mingyue hurried off toward the sect.

* * *

On the other side, in less than thirty minutes, Lin Xiao had already left the Demonic Beast Forest and returned to Sword Demon Sect.

On the way back, he had already figured out how to use the Storage Ring.

The space inside the ring was not particularly large — only ten cubic metres.

After thoroughly searching through the ring, Lin Xiao felt a twinge of disappointment.

Apart from nearly three thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones and a jumble of miscellaneous materials, the ring contained only one human-grade superior martial technique, the Shadow Palm, and one human-grade peak martial technique, the Shadow Blade.

Beyond those, there was nothing else of value.

And as for those two techniques, to Lin Xiao they were about as useful as a fishbone stuck in the throat.

Learning them was far less worthwhile than spending more time studying sword arts and deepening his comprehension of Sword Intent.

Goodness.

His very first time robbing a robber, and he'd run into a pauper.

The greatest gain was probably the Storage Ring itself.

According to the memories in Lin Xiao's mind, Storage Rings were rare treasures even among Wheel Sea Realm powerhouses — items with a market but no fixed price.

A smallest-size Storage Ring like the one in his hand would fetch at least thirty thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones if sold.

That was no small fortune.

Lin Xiao didn't dwell on it further. After returning to the sect, he went straight to the sect's purchasing department and sold off the demonic beast materials.

Setting up his own stall would certainly fetch a higher price, but it was too time-consuming.

After more than ten days outside, he had accumulated quite a haul of demonic beast materials — and all of them were from Spirit Gathering Realm late-stage or above.

This left the disciples at the purchasing department wide-eyed with astonishment.

They simply couldn't figure out how a young disciple with a cultivation of only Spirit Gathering Realm third stage had obtained so many materials.

In the end, Lin Xiao sold the materials for over four hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

That was already quite respectable.

Yet Lin Xiao quietly pursed his lips.

He'd spent over ten days of hard work to earn four hundred-odd spirit stones, but by cutting down one Wheel Sea Realm fellow, he'd walked away with three thousand — and that wasn't even counting the techniques and the ring.

Sure enough, robbing robbers was the fast lane to wealth.

After selling the demonic beast materials, Lin Xiao made his way to the Trading Plaza next door.

This place had been established by Sword Demon Sect specifically for its disciples. When disciples returned from training expeditions or obtained Fortuitous Encounters that didn't suit them, they could come here to trade.

As a result, the Trading Plaza had something for everyone.

Lin Xiao hadn't walked far before he spotted quite a few people selling martial techniques and cultivation methods.

Alongside the sellers, there were also buyers posting requests for techniques and martial arts.

After comparing a few options, Lin Xiao sold the two martial techniques he'd taken from the robber for 500 Low-Grade Spirit Stones and 1,200 Low-Grade Spirit Stones respectively.

Next on his list was finding a suitable sword.

True, Lin Xiao could still unleash Sword Qi and Sword Intent without a sword in hand.

But he couldn't bring their full power to bear.

He had tested the difference himself — bare-handed versus wielding an ordinary longsword when unleashing Sword Qi and Sword Intent.

The gap in power was at least thirty percent.

That was a terrifying difference.

When masters clashed, even the slightest edge could decide victory or defeat — let alone a thirty-percent gap in power. That was the difference between heaven and earth.

But after browsing the entire plaza, Lin Xiao found no longsword that caught his eye.

What did catch his interest, however, were the request boards posted by certain disciples.

"200 Low-Grade Spirit Stones — seeking someone to demonstrate the Falling Rain Sword Art at the major mastery level."

"450 Low-Grade Spirit Stones — seeking someone to share insights on the Thunder Rush Body Art."

"1,200 Low-Grade Spirit Stones — seeking someone to reveal the fourth-layer mysteries of the Diamond Body Protection technique."

And so on — board after board requesting guidance on techniques and martial arts hung in a long row.

The moment Lin Xiao saw them, his eyes lit up.

It was as though a brilliantly lit path to riches had opened up right before him.

Setting aside other techniques for now, when it came to sword arts alone, he currently had mastery over more than a hundred different sword arts of varying grades.

He was, in every sense of the word, a true grandmaster of sword art theory!

And because he had condensed Sword Intent, his comprehension of sword arts had risen to an even higher level.

Teaching others about the sword? That was absolutely within his capabilities.

After scanning the boards for a moment, Lin Xiao selected one.

"500 Low-Grade Spirit Stones — seeking someone to carefully demonstrate the essence of the Raging Flame Sword Art."

That one.

The Raging Flame Sword Art — human-grade peak tier. Quite a few people in Sword Demon Sect cultivated it. It was the kind of sword art that was easy to start but hard to master, with a high ceiling.

Among the nearly two thousand strands of Sword Qi and accumulated experience Lin Xiao had absorbed in Pyre Heaven Sword Tomb, no small number of people had cultivated the Raging Flame Sword Art.

So he was thoroughly familiar with this sword art and had gained deep insight into it.

Lin Xiao reached out and took the board down.

"Please guide me, Senior Bro— hm?! Spirit Gathering Realm third stage? Junior Brother, you... you're going to demonstrate the Raging Flame Sword Art for me?"

The moment the board was taken, a figure stepped up to Lin Xiao.

It was a disciple dressed in the blue robes of the Inner Sect, with a cultivation around the Spirit Gathering Realm.

He had just begun to address Lin Xiao as "Senior Brother," but then noticed Lin Xiao's youthful appearance and Spirit Gathering Realm third-stage cultivation.

That left him blinking in bewilderment.

"Does the depth of one's insight into a sword art have a direct relationship with one's cultivation level?" Lin Xiao asked mildly.

"That... that was poorly said of me. Junior Brother, please follow me this way." The man nodded apologetically and gestured for Lin Xiao to proceed.

Demonstrating a sword art required the use of a private chamber nearby — a room equipped with dedicated defensive Array Formations that also ensured privacy.

The two quickly arrived at a chamber of over two hundred square metres.

The Inner Sect disciple's eyes still held a trace of skepticism.

But since this junior brother had dared to take the board, he must have had some confidence in himself.

As for whether he might be a fraud, that wasn't something to worry about.

The Trading Plaza had its own rules — especially when it came to demonstrating techniques and martial arts. If both parties couldn't reach a mutual agreement, the transaction simply wouldn't go through.

"Give me your sword," Lin Xiao said, extending his hand.

The Inner Sect disciple was momentarily taken aback.

For a Sword Cultivator, the sword was one with the person — it was not something to be parted with lightly, let alone handed to someone else to use.

"I didn't bring a sword," Lin Xiao said. "How am I supposed to demonstrate anything for you?"

Only then did the Inner Sect disciple notice that this junior brother truly had no sword on him.

After a brief hesitation, he passed the sword over.

Lin Xiao gripped the hilt and drew the blade from its scabbard.

Hum!

A stream of memories surged in.

His comprehension of the Raging Flame Sword Art deepened once more.

Lin Xiao gently closed his eyes.

In his mind, this Inner Sect disciple appeared across countless scenes, executing the Raging Flame Sword Art in every one of them.

The sword erupted like a wildfire, burning everything in its path.

Flames swallowed miles of land, domineering and unstoppable!

A few seconds later, Lin Xiao opened his eyes.

He had already formed a clear picture of this person.

"Like so many others, you have been training in the wrong direction!"