Chapter 19: Choose One or the Other — No, I'll Take Both

Old Geng had originally intended to chase this fellow away.

But seeing the other man's attitude, confusion crept into his eyes.

Every time the two met, they traded barbs and bickered like a pair of cats and dogs — always at each other's throats on the surface.

In truth, their relationship was excellent, and each understood the other deeply.

Old Mu's current attitude was clearly off somehow.

He had indeed noticed how exceptional this kid Lin Xiao was.

But it hadn't reached the point of taking on a disciple.

The Sword Pavilion was far too special, and Lin Xiao had not yet entered his range of consideration at the time.

When he told Lin Xiao to come find him after the Outer Sect Trial, he had only intended to offer some guidance.

Yet he never expected that this meeting would bring him such an enormous surprise.

"You old fellow, what exactly are you scheming?" Old Geng asked in a low, measured voice.

He was genuinely puzzled — why was this old man so insistent on taking Lin Xiao as his disciple?

The kid's comprehension was extraordinary, and he had even grasped twenty percent of Sword Intent.

That made him far more suited for the Sword Pavilion.

Old Mu answered directly.

"If you have this kid inherit the Sword Pavilion, how long do you think he'll live?" Old Mu shot back.

Old Geng said nothing.

He let out a long sigh and murmured, "A fate like that is not something you or I can decide."

Old Mu ignored him and turned to Lin Xiao instead. "Kid, show us your Mountain Embrace Seal — hold nothing back."

Hmm?!

Old Geng froze.

Mountain Embrace Seal?

Had this kid gone to the Technique Depository and chosen that technique?

This…

Lin Xiao sensed that the conversation between the two elders was layered with hidden meaning.

He hadn't quite followed all of it.

But when he heard Old Mu tell him to demonstrate the Mountain Embrace Seal without holding back, a wave of quiet resignation washed over him.

As expected — a Revolving Pill Realm expert was a Revolving Pill Realm expert.

Even this had been seen through.

Lin Xiao stirred the Spiritual Energy within him.

A faint blue seal-mark enveloped his entire body.

"Mountain Embrace Seal — sixth layer?!" Old Geng was stunned once again.

Old Mu was taken aback as well.

He had suspected as much — but sixth layer was beyond what he'd imagined.

This little brat really did know how to keep a card up his sleeve.

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Six layers in half a year.

He was genuinely impressed.

Indeed.

During the Outer Sect Trial, Lin Xiao had only displayed the fourth layer of the Mountain Embrace Seal.

In the months since, he had already cultivated it to the sixth layer.

Keeping two layers hidden was habit — and insurance.

For a moment, both Old Mu and Old Geng fell silent.

Yet the expressions on the two old men's faces were polar opposites.

Old Mu was bright-eyed and animated, growing more excited and eager by the second.

Old Geng wore a furrowed brow, looking more troubled than ever.

He finally understood why Old Mu had said he would take Lin Xiao as his disciple no matter the cost.

If Lin Xiao had not revealed the Mountain Embrace Seal, he would never have let the boy go.

But now…

What was to be done?

The silence between the two made Lin Xiao uneasy.

What did this mean?

Would the two of them stop speaking in riddles?

After waiting several minutes with still no word from either of them, Lin Xiao finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"Senior Geng, Senior Mu — what exactly do you mean by all this?"

The two elders exchanged a glance.

In the end, it was Old Geng who spoke.

"Kid, you're still too weak. Telling you certain things would do you far more harm than good."

"Suppose you were given two choices. The first is to cultivate the mightiest sword — but the sword is too sharp, and it comes at a great price, even at the cost of your own lifespan."

"The second is to cultivate the mightiest shield — but every time you break through a realm, it will be a hundred or even a thousand times harder than for others at the same level. There is a very real chance you'll be stuck at a certain realm for the rest of your life, unable to advance further."

"If it were you — which would you choose?"

Old Geng spoke these words with a complicated heart.

Old Mu, for once, did not interrupt, and wore an equally complex expression.

Both elders looked toward Lin Xiao, wanting to know what his answer would be.

It mattered greatly to them.

Lin Xiao fell into thought as he listened to Old Geng's words.

He had a rough guess at what lay beneath the question. The so-called mightiest sword likely referred to Old Geng, while the mightiest shield referred to Old Mu.

They were placing the choice in his hands.

Letting him decide for himself.

The mightiest sword and the mightiest shield…

"If it were me…" Lin Xiao began.

The two elders perked up and leaned in a step closer.

"If it were me, I'd definitely choose both the sword and the shield. Having the mightiest sword and the mightiest shield at the same time doesn't seem like a contradiction, does it?"

The two elders stared at him for a moment, caught off guard.

Old Geng couldn't help but shake his head.

Old Mu burst out laughing and scolded him outright.

"You little brat, aren't you a bit too greedy? A person's energy is limited — there's simply no way to manage both. The price of greed is mediocrity."

"Let me be straightforward. The founding ancestors of Sword Demon Sect once discovered two cultivation manuals in a certain ruin. Their grade is unknown, but they are certainly above the Heavenly Grade."

"These two techniques are extraordinarily difficult to cultivate. For an ordinary person, forget about getting started — they can't even attempt it."

"I was fortunate enough to be able to cultivate one of them — a Body Tempering technique."

"After cultivating this Body Tempering technique, one's defensive power becomes unmatched at the same level. Even fighting across realms, it is no easy feat for others to injure me. But its drawbacks are glaring — with every realm higher, the cultivation difficulty multiplies several times over. Each Breakthrough requires consuming ten, a hundred, or even a thousand times more Spiritual Energy than others."

"Does the description sound a little familiar? The Mountain Embrace Seal is a simplified, scaled-down version I created by drawing on this Body Tempering technique."

Old Mu stated this as plain fact, his words tinged with helpless resignation.

Lin Xiao was stunned.

No wonder he had always felt something slightly off about the Mountain Embrace Seal when he cultivated it.

It was only Human Grade peak-tier, yet it gave him a faint sense of unfathomable depth.

"Then… what about the mightiest sword?" Lin Xiao pressed.

"Ah, the mightiest sword."

Old Mu glanced at Old Geng, and seeing that the other man had no intention of explaining himself, he continued.

"This old… Old Geng cultivates the other manual — a Sword Cultivator technique."

"Ordinary techniques absorb Spiritual Qi for cultivation, but this one requires devouring Sword Qi into the body, combined with Spiritual Energy and Hand Seals to cultivate. The higher the realm, the greater the demands on both the quality and quantity of Sword Qi."

"Harm a thousand enemies, wound yourself eight hundred. It grants power far beyond what others at the same level can achieve, but the damage it inflicts on one's own body and lifespan is utterly terrifying."

"To put it plainly — when Old Geng broke through to the first layer of the Wheel Sea Realm, he was already capable of slaying an ordinary Revolving Pill Realm cultivator."

"But could he go on a killing spree? He wouldn't dare. Kill too many, and the technique's backlash would likely claim his life before long."

"That said, whatever else you might say — simply because this old thing exists, no one has dared to come stir up trouble at our Sword Demon Sect ever since he stepped into the Revolving Pill Realm."

"That kind of deterrence is something to be envied."

"Now do you understand? Cultivating even one of these techniques is extraordinarily difficult — to say nothing of both."

Lin Xiao listened to Old Mu's words and lowered his head, appearing to be deep in thought.

But no one saw the flash of sharp light that flickered in the depths of his eyes.

A technique that cultivates by absorbing Sword Qi.

This… this was practically tailor-made for him!

Add to that his Max-Level Comprehension.

Cultivating two techniques simultaneously? So what?

"Old Geng, Old Mu — I've made up my mind. I want to try cultivating both techniques at the same time. Please grant me this!"