Chapter 20 - The Start of the Assessment

For someone who has cultivated the Thundercrash Saber Art for several years, and completely comprehended the realm of ‘One with the Saber’, one could say Tie San was extremely familiar with Saber Intent. One could only grasp this kind of Saber Intent once they had comprehended ‘One with the Saber’ to a certain depth, and achieved the ‘Greater Success Realm’.

Qin Nan had only just taken a step into the ‘One with the Saber’ realm, and he achieved this kind of level in just a single day?

Just how frightening was Qin Nan’s comprehension level?

Tie San took a deep breath and looked Qin Nan in the eyes, but this time, he didn’t call for Qin Nan.

With the Saber Intent protecting one's body, the rainwater could not touch him. Additionally, the thunder sounds surrounding him also functioned as protection. It was simply impossible to disturb Qin Nan, who was in a profound state.

If Young Lord Qin Nan’s Martial Spirit was of higher grade, then to what degree would his achievements reach?

Tie San thought to himself about Qin Nan only possessing a first-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirit, and he couldn’t help but sigh. Although Qin Nan has an impressive innate Martial Skill talent, his Martial Spirit grade was simply too low. On the Canglan Continent, that could only mean his achievement wouldn’t be very good.

As the time quickly flowed by, the rain continuously poured down and the thunder sounded incessantly. However, at this time within Qin Nan’s courtyard, there were no sounds of raindrops, nor thunder. Instead, a buzzing noise resounded. This sound came from the Saber Intent surrounding Qin Nan’s body. It was like a Saber, trembling at an unimaginable speed. The Saber Intent surrounding Qin Nan’s body was becoming increasingly dense and powerful.

After fourteen hours, the sound of a ‘thump’ exploded forth. The Saber Intent enveloping Qin Nan’s body began dispersing and he awakened from his frenzied state.

“The sky is almost bright…”

Qin Nan subconsciously raised his head and realized the sky was getting brighter. He couldn’t help but feel shocked; it seemed like he had been so immersed in the ancient book that he didn’t notice the amount of time he had invested in its reading. After that, Qin Nan revealed a satisfied smile. The harvest he received in the last fourteen hours was no small matter.

“Congratulations Young Lord, for grasping the Saber Intent, ‘One with the Saber’ and achieving the Greater Success Stage.” At that moment, Tie San walked out from the house, his face full of smiles.

“This was all thanks to Uncle San’s help,” Qin Nan immediately showed his gratitude. If it wasn’t for Uncle San’s cultivation records, he would not have been able to achieve this level within such a short time.

Tie San shook his head, “Young Lord, don’t be modest. It’s just your innate talent being exceedingly formidable.”

Qin Nan ignored this and asked in curiosity, “Oh right, Uncle San, what is this ‘Greater Success Stage’ of the ‘One with the Saber’ realm you just mentioned?”

Tie San’s face turned solemn and he said, “Young Lord, before I answer this question, I’d like to ask you if you have the feeling that your current Saber Art has completely exceeded the power which the Thundercrash Saber Art should originally have?”

Qin Nan was shocked, but quickly followed with a nod. There was indeed this feeling. Thundercrash Saber Art was merely a middle-class Martial Skill within the Qin Clan. Qin Nan could use ‘One with the Saber’ and burst forth with Saber Intent. If the opponent were to use a high-class Martial Skill, or even a supreme-class Martial Skill, they would not be on par with him.

Tie San continued, “As everyone knows, Martial Skills are divided into low-class, middle-class, high-class, and supreme-class. The higher the class of Martial Skill, the stronger its power will be. However, that’s not exactly correct. If one were to solely view the Martial Skill, then it’s indeed correct that the higher class it is, the stronger its power will be.”

“However, once you’ve reached another level with the Martial Skill, for example the ‘One with the Saber’, then one can no longer use its class to determine its power. In this case, it’d be what realm it’s in.”

“Realm?” Qin Nan felt like he understood this a little.

Tie San nodded and said, “That’s right. The higher the realm you are in, the stronger your power will be. For example, other than ‘One with the Saber’, there are also others with ‘One with the Sword,’ and so on. They are called, ‘One with the Weapons’. This is the first realm, and it is divided into: Foundation, Greater Success, and Perfection. After the ‘One with the Weapons,’ there’s an even higher realm called ‘Minute Subtlety’. After that, there’s even higher Martial realms, however, I do not know the details on this subject.

‘Above ‘One with the Weapons’ is ‘Minute Subtlety’…. I see.”

Qin Nan came to a sudden realization, and now thoroughly understood. For example, Martial Skill would only be a temporary expedient. As long as one could grasp the realm, and depending on how much one grasped, then the power one could unleash would be even greater than normal. Qin Nan’s current proficiency in Thundercrash Saber Art was so high that one could no longer describe the art as a middle-class Martial Skill. At this point, one could only use the terms ‘One with the Saber’ and ‘Greater Success Stage’ to describe its level.

“Young Lord, since the sky is not bright yet, should we start moving now so we can join the people of the Qin Clan and head toward the Fang Clan to participate in the Mystic Spirit Sect’s Disciple Recruiting Ceremony?” Tie San couldn’t help but remind him as he saw Qin Nan beginning to ponder.

Qin Nan came back to his senses and realized that, despite the sky not even being bright yet, the Qin Clan was still bustling with noise and excitement. Hearing this, he nodded his head. Tie San and Qin Nan walked toward the Martial Training Ground of the Qin Clan.

On the lively Martial Training Ground, Qin Tieba sat on the premier seat with his face radiating, his complexion rosy. Behind him was the Second Elder and Third Elder, as well as the other attendees of the Qin Clan, while on the other side was Qin Tian. However, there was no one behind him at all. He was standing there by himself, thus, the differences were very clear. The disciples beneath them were all led by Qin Changkong.

The current Qin Changkong was like the former him, his face filled with pride and his body emanated an aura that was unexpectedly a level more formidable than one of a third-layer of the Body Tempering stage. It was clear that he had used even more cultivation resources in the past few days. When Tie San and Qin Nan entered the Martial Training Grounds, the original passionate atmosphere suddenly calmed down. It was as if someone had poured a bucket of water onto a fire.

All eyes within the crowd immediately turned to watch them enter. The first to look over was naturally Qin Tieba and Qin Changkong. The father and son’s expressions were brimming with resentment and killing intent. There was also a trace of impatience- this was because the father and son had already decided that they would take revenge during the Mystic Spirit Sect’s Disciple Recruiting Ceremony. The other gazes belonged to the elders and attendees of Qin Clan.

Not long ago in the Hall of Conference, after Qin Nan defeated Qin Changkong, he also reprimanded the crowd of elders and attendees. However, after seeing the current circumstances, it seemed like Qin Nan’s words at that time hadn’t had any effect whatsoever. The elders and attendees looked at Qin Nan with despise in their eyes, and it was clear that they did not take him seriously at all.

You, Qin Nan, are still saying to not regret it? That is simply ridiculous. Following you, Qin Nan, Qin Tian would be regretful.

The remains were naturally the disciples of the Qin Clan. These disciples’ gazes were more honest, and there was neither ridicule, nor derision. That was because Qin Nan’s cultivation was much higher than theirs, so they simply did not have the confidence to face him. However, among the crowd of disciples were also a few individuals who wore a look of disdain. Some even went out of their way to ridicule Qin Nan in a low voice. The most excessive one among them was the genius of Qin Clan, Qin Hai.

Qin Nan’s face was expressionless. He had already taken note of the situation when he first entered the Martial Training Grounds. Although his heart felt a slight disappointment towards the crowd, he still quickly calmed himself down. He did not even give a glance at the elders, attendees, and disciples. Only after Qin Nan and Tie San stood behind Qin Tian did the deathly still Martial Training Ground become a bit more noisy.

In this moment, Qin Tian opened his mouth with a bustling aura, “Good! Everyone should understand the rules right? In that case, I won’t be saying anymore about it. Since everyone has arrived, then we should depart to the Fang Clan.”

After saying this, Qin Tian waved his hand and motioned for Qin Nan and Tie San to go with him. Behind him was Qin Tieba, and his company, who quickly followed. Following Qin Tieba were the forces of the Qin Clan, who were all proceeding toward the Fang Clan.

A while after following Qin Tian, Qin Nan saw a vast red wooden gate not too far away. Above this great gate was a golden tablet. On the golden tablet were two characters that said ‘Fang Clan’. The calligraphic style was vigorous and incomparably bold. Outside of the great gate were five rows of servants. These servants were all wearing red robes, and all seemed to be full of joy.

After seeing the Qin Clan’s crowd, a servant among them, with the third-layer of the Body Tempering stage, came out and yelled, “The Qin Clan has arrived.”

After this was heard, a ferocious energy erupted from within the Fang Clan. A lofty man with a white tiger robe draped over his body strode over. Despite his face being all smiles, his energy was still very fierce. This person coming was the Patriarch of the Fang Clan, Fang Li. As Fang Li appeared, the attendees and disciples of the Qin Clan began to feel their hearts tighten.

“Qin Clan, you are here. Let me first begin to say, Brother Qin Tian, our grounds are small so we can’t give you a grand welcome. Please pardon me,” Fang Li said with a welcoming smile. His eyes didn’t even glance at Qin Tieba at all; it was fixed solely on Qin Tian.

Qin Tieba’s face changed. One had to understand that although Qin Tian was the Patriarch, who didn’t know that the one who really held the power in Qin Clan right now was Qin Tieba? This action by Fang Li was basically like smacking Qin Tieba’s face. However, currently they were in the Fang Clan’s territory. Additionally, it was also the Mystic Spirit Sect’s ‘Disciple Recruiting Ceremony’. Even if Qin Tieba’s temper was worsening, he still had to hold it back.

“Fang Clan is already extravagant enough, Brother Fang Li. Let’s not waste time on exchanging greetings. Don’t make the two elders wait…” Qin Tian remained calm, he did not mind this at all.

Fang Li didn’t say anything else. He brought the crowd of people into the Fang Clan. However, on the way there, he took the initiative to talk to Qin Tian, and even asked about Qin Nan. He did not shoot any glances at Qin Tieba, who was beside him. Fang Li brought the crowd from the Qin Clan directly into their Martial Training Ground.

Within the Martial Training Ground was a grand platform. This grand platform was of white jade, and appeared prominently luxurious. Beneath this grand platform was a fifty Mi circumference long arena. Atop the arena were rows of seats. Qin Nan followed behind Qin Tian while remaining calm and collected. He began to sweep his gaze across the disciples of the Fang Clan.

His gaze was immediately fixed on a youth. This youth was wearing a white robe, and his figure was similar to Fang Li, exceedingly lofty. However, this youth was emanating an aura that showed he had only achieved the third-layer of Body Tempering stage. As Qin Nan was sizing up this youth, the youth was naturally also looking through the crowd of people from Qin Clan. However, his eyes were filled with a heavy scorn.

“It seems like that person is Fang Rulong. He possesses a sixth-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirit. It’s impossible for him to have only achieved the third-layer of Body Tempering stage. It seems like he is hiding his cultivation,” Qin Nan guessed roughly in his heart. His gaze quickly shifted to the grand platform.

Qin Nan really wanted to know just how powerful were these people from Mystic Spirit Sect? Additionally, in the instant Qin Clan’s gaze looked over, he could feel another gaze coming from the grand platform. As the two gazes collided, Qin Nan’s face suddenly changed.

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