Although Jiang Poyue has no reason to attack him, making this assumption pointless, what if he impulsively lost his mind and provoked Jiang Poyue?
Meng Fan's mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, exceedingly complex.
All of this was because of the stark contrast between Jiang Poyue's strength and his own weakness.
After a long while, Meng Fan collected his emotions and left the peach grove, returning to the Sword Pavilion.
At this moment, Meng Fan's mentality had changed.
After time-traveling to the Shu Mountain Sword Sect, it was the first time Meng Fan felt such an urgent desire to become stronger.
Or rather, it was the first time he truly felt the helplessness of the weak.
Previously, Meng Fan had always had it easy, and with arrogance, he looked down on others from his high perch.
Little did he know, he himself stood very low.
***
The next day at morning, Meng Fan arrived at the second floor of the Sword Pavilion.
"Master, I wish to comprehend the Sword God Stele," Meng Fan said directly to Elder Lin.
Some time ago, Elder Lin had rewarded Meng Fan with the opportunity to comprehend the Sword God Stele for a day and a night, an opportunity Meng Fan had not yet used.
"Previously you said you wanted to finish reading all the sword scriptures on the first floor of the Sword Pavilion before attempting to comprehend the Sword God Stele. Have you finished reading all the sword scriptures on the first floor?" Elder Lin asked Meng Fan with a hint of helplessness.
Meng Fan hesitated for a moment, then honestly replied, "Not yet, I haven't finished them all."
Elder Lin frowned and asked, "Roughly how many more days will it take for you to finish?"
"About five more days, then I should be able to finish."
"Why the change of heart, so eager to comprehend the Sword God Stele that you can't even wait five more days?"
Hearing Elder Lin's question, Meng Fan fell silent.
After a moment, he shared with Elder Lin his experience in the peach grove the day before.
Elder Lin also fell silent upon hearing this.
Then he said to Meng Fan, "You feel you're not strong enough, and that's why you're desperate to become stronger? If you were strong enough, you could have saved that female disciple yesterday, or you could have taught Jiang Poyue a lesson to vent your frustration?"
Meng Fan nodded, although he wanted to do more than just teach Jiang Poyue a lesson—he wanted to slay him. But at this time, there was no need to emphasize that; it would only make him look foolish.
"Your thoughts aren't wrong. If you had the strength, you could indeed have saved that female disciple and taught Jiang Poyue a lesson, even killed him.
But your current behavior is all wrong!
Your heart is in turmoil. It's good to want to become stronger, and you can work hard and strive for it.
But you shouldn't let this desire disrupt your plans; otherwise, you'll only go downhill.
Not only will you not become stronger, but you'll also become weaker!"
Elder Lin began to instruct Meng Fan, whose thoughts he could understand, having once been young and hot-headed himself.
But understanding is one thing; he would not support it.
As a master, his duty was to impart knowledge and resolve doubts, not just to teach cultivation.
When a disciple is wrong, it is naturally his duty to point it out.
"Master's lesson is well taken, I know I was wrong," Meng Fan said, bowing his head.
Indeed, his heart was in turmoil, and he was being impatient, which was not good.
Although going to comprehend the Sword God Stele now, as opposed to after finishing reading all the sword scriptures in the Scripture Pavilion in five days, wouldn't make much difference, the impact was minimal.
But such a mentality was indeed unacceptable!
"You continue to read the sword scriptures in the Scripture Pavilion. After five days, if you have finished reading all the scriptures on the first floor, I will take you to the Sword God Temple to comprehend the Sword God Stele," Elder Lin told Meng Fan.
"Yes, Master!" Meng Fan obediently agreed.
He turned to head for the Scripture Pavilion, but after taking a couple of steps, he turned back and asked Elder Lin, "Master, about that mission to the Demon Realm you mentioned before, when will it start?"
Elder Lin replied, "Not for at least a month; there's no rush."
The Kunlun Sword Sect and the Limitless Sword Sect were also going to have a literary competition, which would certainly take some time.
"Going to the Demon Realm, your cultivation level will be sealed, so during this time you don't need to be too eager to increase your cultivation level. Improving your sword technique is more important," Elder Lin added.
"I understand."
Meng Fan left the Sword Pavilion and returned to the Scripture Pavilion to continue reading the sword scriptures.
Elder Lin's persuasion made him deeply aware of his own problems.
***
While Meng Fan was reading the sword scriptures in the Scripture Pavilion, the people from the Limitless Sword Sect and the Kunlun Sword Sect left the Shu Mountain Sword Sect today.
As Meng Fan had thought, the death of the inner sect female disciple had no effect on Jiang Poyue; he left the Shu Mountain Sword Sect with his head held high.
The people from the Kunlun Sword Sect said that once they returned to their sect, they would severely punish Jiang Poyue.
But obviously, these were just pleasantries, casually spoken.
The female disciple died in vain!
Even more sadly, among those who gossiped, there were not only people from the Limitless Sword Sect and the Kunlun Sword Sect but even people from the Shu Mountain Sword Sect!
Some seemed to lament, saying the female disciple lacked mental fortitude, that committing suicide for someone else was not worth it, and indirectly smeared the clan's reputation.
No matter where, there are always those who love to gossip!
***
Meng Fan silently read the scriptures in the Scripture Pavilion; the deceased had passed, and he could not let the female disciple affect his own life.
After all, they were not close!
Five days later, he finally finished reading all the sword scriptures on the first floor of the Scripture Pavilion.
He found Elder Lin and informed him of this news.
Then Elder Lin personally took Meng Fan to the Sword God Temple, where the old man negotiated with a grey-clothed elder and then handed him a cloth bag.
The grey-clothed elder accepted the cloth bag without a word, then nodded at Elder Lin.
Elder Lin returned to Meng Fan's side and said, "Alright, now you can go comprehend the Sword God Stele, for one day and one night!"
Meng Fan looked at Elder Lin in surprise and asked, "Master, what did you give him?"
The cloth bag was small and didn't seem to contain spirit stones.
Elder Lin glared at Meng Fan and said, "Childish curiosity, why concern yourself with such matters? Your time has already started; go in and comprehend!"
Meng Fan had just asked casually, not really that curious, and upon hearing this, he immediately headed towards the Sword God Stele.
At the moment, there was someone else comprehending the Sword God Stele.
Meng Fan paid him no mind; the Sword God Stele was large enough for ten people to comprehend at the same time.
He found a spot, sat down cross-legged, placed his hands on the Sword God Stele, and then closed his eyes.
Elder Lin didn't rush to leave but watched Meng Fan closely as he comprehended.
Meng Fan regarded comprehending the Sword God Stele as extremely important, saying it could yield astonishing gains.
Elder Lin was curious about this because he had also comprehended the Sword God Stele before. Although he had some gains, they were limited and nothing like what Meng Fan had described.
So he couldn't help but want to see what it looked like when Meng Fan comprehended the Sword God Stele.
However, an hour passed, then two hours.
Meng Fan sat in front of the Sword God Stele, hands on it, motionless.
There was nothing to see!
Elder Lin chuckled to himself.
Indeed, from the outside, there was really nothing to see in the comprehension of the Sword God Stele; he didn't know what he was expecting.
He could only wait until after a day and a night to see what Meng Fan had gained.
The grey-clothed elder from the Sword God Temple came to Meng Fan's side silently.
With a calm expression, he asked, "Is this the new direct disciple you've taken?"
"That's right, what do you think?" Elder Lin asked with a smile.
"What can I see? I've never seen him cultivate or practice his sword technique. I only know he's a cultivator at the fifth level of the True Martial Realm," the grey-clothed elder said indifferently.
"But I heard you took him to the Three Emperors Platform for visualization. Any effects?"
Upon hearing this, Elder Lin's face took on a mysterious air and said, "Guess!"
The grey-clothed elder's face showed a trace of surprise as he glanced at Meng Fan, who was comprehending the Sword God Stele.
Because Elder Lin's smug expression had already given him the answer.
This pretty-faced fellow had actually visualized the Three Emperors!
With such a high-level visualization technique, this young man's future achievements would certainly not be low.
It's just unknown how his sword technique is?
After all, they are sword cultivators of the Shu Mountain Sword Sect, not those Daoist sects; they value the "Sword" more.
"However, you're actually willing to pay such a high price for this young man to comprehend the Sword God Stele for one day and one night. Isn't that wasteful?" The grey-clothed elder was actually very curious about this.
Comprehending the Sword God Stele comes at a great cost.
Most people only try it briefly, experiencing it for an hour before giving up.
Because they don't comprehend much.
Elder Lin was actually willing to let his disciple comprehend for one day and one night.
Either he was extremely indulgent with this disciple, or the disciple was truly worth comprehending the Sword God Stele for one day and one night.
The grey-clothed elder felt the former was more likely.
After all, Elder Lin's expression had already proved how much he doted on this disciple.
"In a few years, you'll know!" Elder Lin said with a proud smile, then left the Sword God Temple.
Continuing to watch Meng Fan comprehend would reveal nothing; better to ask the young man directly tomorrow.
***
Time flowed like water, and a day and a night passed in the blink of an eye.
Meng Fan was immersed in the ocean of the Primordial Great Way of the Sword, completely unaware of the passage of time.
His gains from this day and night were too great to be described in words.
His sword technique had advanced by more than just one level!
Firstly, his self-created Myriad Swords Returning to me sword technique, the first move "Sword Comes," had been perfected to the pinnacle.
The Sword Momentum of "Sword Comes" had been mastered unconsciously.
And with the mastery of the Sword Comes Sword Momentum, Meng Fan found it even easier to master other sword techniques.
Whether it was the Emerald Sea Tide Rises Sword or the Mountain Splitting and Thunderous Sword Technique, he naturally mastered their Sword Momentum.
Even for the Seven Absolute Demon Swords and the Eternal Night Sword Technique, Meng Fan had new insights that could lead to breakthroughs.
However, one of these sword techniques was of the demonic path, and the other was a demon clan sword technique. Meng Fan had not delved deeply into them, or else he could have mastered the Sword Intent as well.
Although Meng Fan had the potential to master the Sword Momentum of these two techniques, he felt he was not yet able to fully control them.
There was a risk of deviating from the path!
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan
Recheck: Lotas