Chapter 20: Two Heaven-Grade Techniques — Acquired

"Hey!! Why are you so stubborn, kid?! So everything I said just now was a complete waste of breath?!" Old Mu said, clearly irritated.

Old Geng couldn't stand by any longer either, and offered a reminder: "Listen here, young one — mastering a single technique to its absolute limit is worth more than ten thousand lesser ones. If you truly wield the mightiest sword, no shield in the world can stand before you. It would be utterly useless!"

"Right, right, right — Old Geng's got it exactly right. Specialization is the true path. Don't ever think about splitting your focus. Wield the mightiest sword and— pfft!! You old fellow, you're just patting yourself on the back again! Why don't you try cutting through my shield?! What are you bragging about?!"

Old Mu had been nodding along with the first half of that, but the second half sent him into a fury.

"Want to try?!" Old Geng shot him a sideways glance, battle intent surging from his body.

"Like I'm afraid of you!!" Old Mu showed not a trace of fear.

Lin Xiao: "……"

Goodness.

This was the fantasy-world version of the unstoppable spear versus the immovable shield.

"Ahem — Seniors, I think maybe we could do it this way." Lin Xiao quickly stepped in to mediate.

The two old men stopped and turned to look at Lin Xiao, waiting for him to continue.

"Both Seniors tell me their respective techniques, and I'll try both of them. Whichever one I cultivate more smoothly and quickly, that's the one I'll stick with. How does that sound?" Lin Xiao proposed a compromise.

The two elders' eyes lit up when they heard this. After a moment's consideration, they both agreed to Lin Xiao's proposal.

More importantly, the two of them turned it into a wager.

They had been rivals within Sword Demon Sect for decades, always evenly matched, never able to determine a winner.

This time, whichever technique Lin Xiao ultimately chose to cultivate would decide who won between them.

That made both old men look at Lin Xiao with burning, fervent eyes.

They could barely wait for him to start cultivating on the spot.

One hour later.

The two elders had finished transmitting their respective techniques.

Old Geng's technique was the "Heavenly Sovereign Sword Canon."

Old Mu's technique was the "Nine Abyssal Demon-Suppressing Seal."

Lin Xiao sat in a room inside the Sword Pavilion, eyes closed, carefully sensing both techniques.

He appeared calm on the surface, but inside he was overjoyed.

These were two heaven-grade techniques!

Even if neither was easy to cultivate, their value was immeasurable.

One had to understand — the entire Sword Demon Sect possessed only a single heaven-grade low-tier technique, and even that was exclusively reserved for the Sect Master and the Young Sect Master.

And now he had directly obtained two techniques above the heaven grade.

This truly counted as a Fortuitous Encounter.

Lin Xiao felt genuine gratitude toward Old Mu and Old Geng.

After confirming that he had memorized both techniques thoroughly, Lin Xiao did not rush to begin cultivating. Instead, he opened his eyes and stood up.

He gave both Old Mu and Old Geng a sincere bow.

"I am truly grateful to both Seniors for imparting these techniques to me," Lin Xiao said earnestly.

"One month's time — I hope you can achieve entry-level mastery as soon as possible," Old Geng said, fixing Lin Xiao with a long, deep look.

When they had first cultivated these two techniques, it had taken each of them over a month just to reach entry-level mastery.

This young one's comprehension was higher than theirs — perhaps he could manage it within a month.

"Work hard, kid. I'll be waiting for you to come kneel before me as my disciple!" Old Mu said with a cheerful laugh.

Old Geng flicked his wrist, and a Token engraved with the characters "Pyre Heaven" flew into Lin Xiao's hand.

"With this Token, you may move freely in and out of Pyre Heaven Sword Tomb — both the outer perimeter and the inner area are open to you. If you run into any problems with your cultivation, come find me at any time," Old Geng said evenly.

"Thank you, Old Geng!"

Lin Xiao quickly acknowledged him, his mood lifting even further.

Pyre Heaven Sword Tomb was filled with countless strands of Sword Qi — even if he didn't cultivate Old Geng's Heavenly Sovereign Sword Canon, this Token would be enormously useful to him.

He then turned his gaze toward Old Mu.

He said nothing, but those eyes of his were already conveying a very clear message.

"Old Geng already gave me something — what about you? What are you waiting for?"

Old Mu felt a little awkward under that stare.

It wasn't that he didn't want to give anything — it was that he was flat broke and had nothing to offer.

"Kid, stop looking at him. That technique of his devours resources and Spirit Stones at a terrifying rate. Calling him the poorest Old Fellow in Sword Demon Sect wouldn't be an exaggeration," Old Geng seized the opportunity to jab at him.

"You — you — who — who says I have nothing to give?! Kid, take this IOU to Old Qiao at Azure Brush Peak. It can be exchanged for three bottles of Ascending Origin Pills." With that, Old Mu tossed over a slip of spirit paper.

Lin Xiao instinctively caught it.

He blinked.

An IOU?!

So… Old Mu really was broke.

A mighty cultivator at the Revolving Pill Realm, and he couldn't produce a single thing of his own.

Just how resource-intensive was the Nine Abyssal Demon-Suppressing Seal?

Lin Xiao's curiosity deepened considerably.

"Heh, it's rare to see you be generous for once," Old Geng remarked with a sideways glance.

"Well, he'll be my disciple in a month — isn't it perfectly natural to be generous with your own disciple?" Old Mu said with a cheerful grin.

"You're getting ahead of yourself. I should be the one thanking you for getting my disciple three bottles of Ascending Origin Pills — those are fine things indeed," Old Geng shot straight back.

Before they'd exchanged more than a few words, the two old men were bickering again.

Lin Xiao said a quick farewell to both of them and hurried away.

Looking at the IOU in his hand, Lin Xiao decided to head straight to Azure Brush Peak and collect the pills.

Ascending Origin Pills were medicinal pills used by cultivators at the Wheel Sea Realm and Revolving Pill Realm — each one contained a vast reservoir of Spiritual Energy.

A single low-grade Ascending Origin Pill was worth a considerable number of Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

Those at the Spirit Gathering Realm dared not consume them, nor could they afford to.

But Old Mu had told him that if he cultivated the Nine Abyssal Demon-Suppressing Seal, he could consume one Ascending Origin Pill before each cultivation session.

He set off at a brisk pace.

Before long, Lin Xiao's expression turned strange.

After the Outer Sect Trial concluded, his status had been elevated to Inner Sect Disciple.

Or rather, not just him — Shen Gao and Gu Shi had also been promoted to Inner Sect Disciple.

Now it wasn't just the Outer Sect Disciples talking about him — even the Inner Sect Disciples were discussing his affairs.

"Have you heard? A genius appeared at the Outer Sect Trial — at the first stage of the Spirit Gathering Realm, he comprehended the embryonic form of Sword Intent and crushed everyone to take first place."

"That's terrifying — the embryonic form of Sword Intent? Isn't that something only late-stage Wheel Sea Realm geniuses can reach?"

"He must have stumbled onto some Fortuitous Encounter that triggered the embryonic form of Sword Intent. Just got lucky, that's all."

"You actually believe that? I refuse to believe someone at the Spirit Gathering Realm can comprehend the embryonic form of Sword Intent."

"I heard that throughout the entire Outer Sect competition, he never once drew his sword."

"I also heard that this person thinks the people on the Inner Sect Elite Rankings are nothing special — that they'd be no match for him at all."

"Isn't that a bit too arrogant? Does he really think taking first place in the Outer Sect makes him something special?"

"Short-sighted fool. The people on the Inner Sect Elite Rankings are beyond anything he can imagine."

Lin Xiao: "??"

The more he heard, the more bewildered he became.

When had he said any of that?

He had been taken away by Old Mu right after the Outer Sect Trial ended, and had only just come out now.

Three people make a tiger — rumors truly were a force of nature.

A short while later.

Lin Xiao arrived at Azure Brush Peak.

Azure Brush Peak was one of the most unique main peaks within Sword Demon Sect.

The Elder who presided over it, along with the disciples under the peak, were all primarily focused on Alchemy.

At the same time, Azure Brush Peak was also the wealthiest main peak in the entire sect — bar none.

"Hey, hold on — you can't just wander into Azure Brush Peak. Which Servant Disciple are you, and what's your business here?!"

A disciple standing guard at Azure Brush Peak called out to stop Lin Xiao.

"I have business with Elder Qiao," Lin Xiao said calmly.

Since he hadn't had a moment to rest, Lin Xiao was still wearing the Tomb Guardian's Servant Disciple uniform.

"You want to see our Peak Master?! You?!" The guard disciple stared at him as though he were an idiot.

A Servant Disciple wanting to see their Peak Master — it was utterly absurd.

Just then.

A graceful silhouette suddenly rushed up in front of Lin Xiao, a pair of beautiful eyes staring straight at him.

"Wow!! Finally — I finally found you!"