“Are you entitled to simply address me as ‘Zhou Yan’?”

Zhou Yan menacingly gazed at Zhou Xian with his sharp eyes as a wave of pride washed over him.

Zhou Yan, however, was just being playfully sarcastic as he harbored no ill will against his cousin. Since he possessed abilities beyond his wildest dreams, he no longer wished to relive the days of shame and humility.

In the face of Zhou Yan’s fury, Zhou Xian felt an unnatural fear. Trying to act natural, he blinked and averted his eyes from Zhou Yan’s antagonizing gaze.

Zhou Xian felt that Zhou Yan might be at the brink of exploding in anger. He wondered to himself as he thought that it might be because he was pushing himself beyond his physical limits and failing as usual to exceed his expectations.

“A meager trash like him… what would I require to lower myself, a genius, to his level?” Zhou Xian thought to himself.

Even though he felt fear, he tried to ignore it by masquerading it behind the façade of his fragile pride. Upon hearing what his cousin said, Zhou Xian mustered a mockingly sarcastic smile and said, “You do have a point, hahaha. It seems you are still my genius cousin, after all. I am curious to witness the lengths of how gifted your talents are! I’ll give you a full moon’s cycle time. If you are still as stagnated as you are now, we will see how ashamed you will feel, claiming that you know of such vast resources.”

Zhou Yan just shrugged and ignored his comments. Zhou Xian turned around and left, filled with ignorant pride. However, Zhou Yan felt hurt as Zhou Xian’s words were so bold and disrespectful.

Zhou Yan trembled in rage and did not utter a single word as he clenched his broken sword tightly in his right hand.

He was offended, and his blood was boiling over in fury as it awakened the pure, unstable primal essence of the blade from deep down and was at the brink of unleashing a string of unchained wrath!

With every ounce of willpower, he subdued his boiling anger, confining it to his body, allowing the raging formless primal blade’s essence to wreak havoc inside him instead of using it to retaliate against his cousin.

The young lad was aware that he was unworthy of his grandpa’s kindness due to the constant disappointment that he brought home. The kindness his grandpa showered him caused unrest amongst his peers. They felt it was unfair of the Elder in favoring the lad as they had limited access to the resources as compared to the lad. It sparked hatred towards him as he just brooded in shame despite the constant teachings and good grace of his grandfather.

With that very fact in mind, it gave the young lad all the more reason to push his body beyond the limitations of his physical ability, such as when he was stuck in the middle of the freezing pond with cold winds constantly blowing at him.

The lad was aware of his natural talent for perception. As talented as he was, he could not shake the suffocating feeling he felt, being unable to expand it to its full potential.

However, that was in the past. He was now no longer shackled down by his previous worries. Gone were the days of his bondage in the pursuit of mastering the ‘Sword Art of Clear Waters Heaven’s blade’ that he inherited from generations of his family. He was now able to demonstrate a feat, not even his father, Zhou Wangchen, a genius could. With a single breath, he managed to perform up to form eight of this sword art!

This young lad just made history for generations to come in the Zhou family!

Thus, with him being fully aware of his blessed talents, this further fueled his confidence and pride more than ever before in his life.

…

“Elders of Lore worry not for I will speak to him about his arrogance. It concerns me as his prideful talents clouded his better judgment to the extent of feeding his temptation of unleashing fury upon me! However, I heeded your graceful advice, for I concern not with the disputes of the family, and thus I humbly backed away from his atrocious act and returned.”

Closing in to the academy with only a couple more steps, Zhou Yan heard Zhou Xian’s voice echo as he muttered those words of insanity to the air.

Upon hearing such words of ignorance uttered by that imbecile, Zhou Yan was disgusted by his act of deception!

Unable to defeat his annoyance, Zhou Yan was once again greeted with the deep echoey tone, by the Elder of Lore saying, “Yes, it is quite admirable for you to demonstrate such swift improvements by your current standards. This boy, Zhou Yan, however, he’s nothing but broken glass. Has the Elder gone blind for thinking he would be Zhou Wangchen’s successor? Don’t worry for him, for the likes of him could only be compared to dirt. Focus only on your training; so, you shall be able to prove the elder wrong for favoring such crude talent, which would be nothing but a joke!”

As the Elder of Lore spoke, his gaze drifted over to Zhou Yan as he remained rooted in his spot.

That very gaze was akin to the majestic work of twin bells of bronze, as the majesty of such art reflected the glimmers of cold winter rays. Hidden behind such elegance was a deep well that contained a menacing blade’s essence trapped in deep slumber.

Seemingly intimidated by such menacing rays radiating from the Elder’s gaze, Zhou Yan felt extremely compelled to kneel in submission and prostrate in shame.

However, deep within the young lad’s body was his primordial, formless blade’s essence, that raged in a sudden wave of primal unrest. With a loud bang, his long-flowing dark hair exploded into a messy glory as his unkempt hair billowed in the wind. That sudden burst of energy broke the nerve-racking pressure from the menacing gaze while a sudden rush of blood lust filled the air.

This young lad was unrecognizable as he transformed into a completely different man. Compared to the vast realm, this lad was frail, meek and insignificant, almost comparable to a mere insect. However, the instant the menacing blood lust filled the air; his unbending will made him appear like a God of War in the presence of mere mortals.

“Hmm!”

The shock was visible across the Elder’s wrinkly face. He looked at Zhou Yan in amusement and surprise.

“Great Elder, blind was not the Elder of my household, nay. For the ones that truly are blind are none other than old fools who share your title! On a side note, I ascended to rank one of the Blade Essence prodigies, without the need of studying in this rotting academy. I am now worthy of training with no form of supervision, and no rules of our household were violated; thus, there won’t be a need for me to kneel in anticipation of punishment!”

Zhou Yan’s eyes filled with pride, and no longer will this young lad fear the prejudice of the Elder of Lore.

However, he started to feel restless and irritated as the Elder’s menacing gaze never left him.

It was common for him to feel that way, but in the past, he felt no resentment towards such humiliation. Now, upon inheriting the soul of the ancient sage along with the sage’s memories, he was graced by the knowledge of honor in kneeling. He realized that no one other than his birth parents was he allowed to bend his knee. This was a form of preservation of self-respect as he should not need to kneel before those who were unworthy.

Since his rebirth, Zhou Yan felt there was no greater insult to him than kneeling for the Elder of

Lore. He now realized what self-respect and pride meant.

The Elder of Lore was disappointed with him and dismissed his valiance. “It is not wrong what you said. This academy is no longer worthy for you to attend. However, the cost to attaining your power and leaping through progression would be overexerting your body’s physical limitations, and, in the end, you will only destroy yourself! You will never truly be Zhou Wangchen’s successor… sigh, be wary of your progression, child!”

It was without a shred of doubt that the young lad remained unwelcome. However, due to the bond the lad had as part of the family, all the Elder of Lore could do was regretfully bear witness to such gifted talent waste away.

Zhou Yan’s heart was wretched at the sight of the desolate gaze of the Elder of Lore.

As strict as the Elder of Lore may be, given the position he was placed in and the status he carried, it would be required for him to show menace. All of his responsibility was in the name of maintaining order, preventing an internal conflict, and deterring external threats to the family. If every single pupil pushed the limitations of their physical body all in the name of progress like the young lad, the very foundation and order of this household would be destroyed, and the only fate that awaited the Zhou family would be death.

With that sudden realization, Zhou Yan’s cloud of dissatisfaction disappeared in an instant.

All the young lad could do was watch the silhouette of the Elder of Lore as he walked away from the young lad with despair. The young lad finally understood the weight of responsibility and faith he had to shoulder was not solely his own.

He, too, realized the bitter words spewed towards Zhou Xian was motivated by provocation, and their only purpose was to prod the young lad to work even harder… However, the careless actions of the lad caused the Elder of Lore to think that his sudden progression was at the cost of his constant persistence in pushing the limits of his physical talents…

If that were the truth, the bones in his body would, without doubt, be destroyed. This effort would only end in vain. Even with the possession of insurmountable perception, it would only be a futile effort…

The young lad stood rooted to his spot, unable to move.

He was tempted to scream out loud and explain that in fact, he did not force his body beyond the limits of his physical strength and that the product of his sudden progress was due to the blessing of his inborn gift of perception and the journey to attain powers enough to rival a small nation was a smooth sailing one. However, he could not bring himself to say such things.

He wished not to disappoint anyone from the family. However, the young lad’s heart wrenched at the sight of the disappointment in the eyes of the Elder of Lore.

Excluding the Elder of Lore, the look of disdain he was given was commonplace across his peers in the academy except for Zhou Xian and Zhou Cheng as they were humoring themselves at the cost of Zhou Yan’s despair.

As the saying of common folk goes, ‘Saddened was the unfortunate, angered were the act of submission.”

With the gift of clairvoyance, comes the blessing of heightened emotions. Zhou Yan had a sudden feeling that shook him down to his core.

At the same time, Zhou Yan realized that he was not called a fraud and an unworthy genius by everyone he crossed paths. On the other hand, he now understood that he was cared for by most of his peers. The only thing was, they demonstrated their feelings of care the same way the Elder of Lore did, following the saying of ‘Saddened was the unfortunate, angered were the act of submission.’

Gripping his broken blade in the palm of his hand tightly, once again, the young lad’s blood boiled with fury.

However, the young lad found no need to explain his case as the truth of his progress would undoubtedly be brought to light during the test of might in a full moon’s cycle time, which would surprise them.

Till then, he would remain humble.

…

Carved from a single block of pitch-black steel was an effigy of a lady brought to life by the slithering curved blade of a dagger.

Only the back of the lady was carved. It was uncanny to the silhouette in Zhou Yan’s visions.

The effigy carved was detailed with streaks of intricately laced lines that resembled streams of flowing water.

Zhou Yan was never able to grasp the intricacies of the ‘Sword Art of Clear Waters Heaven’s blade,’ nor was he able to understand the deeper meaning of the inner workings of said technique in his recent past. However, graced by his awakening, in his current state, the young lad was able to understand entirely the very intricacy of this sword art.

This very sword art reflected a perfect symphony of balance, rooted deeply in the very principles of the ‘Sword Art of Clear Waters Heaven’s Blade’ and it was through the very hands of the man that appeared in the face of Zhou Yan that transcended the parallels of balance in the form of ‘the way of the sword through bond and despair.’

Way of the sword through bond was the very principle that bequeathed life unto this hand-carved effigy. Life was bestowed to this object through the grace of limitless love, a relationship forged that stretched to no ends. The parallel to this balance was one of despair. The way of the sword through despair, bestowed only the purest form of desperation, wrought with its wake were the destruction of all life.

Thus, the symphony of life and death perfectly reflected upon this intricately carved effigy. Only when this block of steel was reduced to a pile of metallic dust will the hands of the man finally rest.

The edge of this man’s eyes filled with wrinkles of age. Each strand a different tale of the bitter, unfortunate paths he traversed in life. The only testament this poor lad had of his participation in the intricate cog works of life’s distant past were the windows of his soul. The gaze in his eyes read wisdom as deep as the trenches, the husks that were once his eyes were completely devoid of life.

Observing the chaos, this man’s hands once again started to tinker with the block of steel. This lad took a deep breath as a full jug of ale appeared in the grasps of his hand out of nowhere. Tilting his head back, the lad chugged with haste, seemingly drowning the feelings of extreme desperation.

The poor lad’s expression morphed from a flushed, distraught state to a ghastly pale face as it reflected the fleeting life from this lad; due to his hasty actions.

Alas, his gaze met Zhou Yan as he waddled in his drunken state after he had drained every last drop of ale in that jug.

The gaze was one with concern. It was the first time Zhou Yan had felt that gaze. It was not one of ignorance for this very gaze was filled with actual concern. It felt like one had experienced a full cycle of reincarnation.

In short, a simple gaze felt like a millennium!

Zhou Yan was troubled with intense feelings of doubt for his father, the prodigy who shouldered the good name of his family and an unparalleled genius with none to match!

However, with mysterious reasons, the life of this man was reduced to nothing, but one spent with his carvings.

A life spent with the same routine of carving and drowning in ale — nothing else.

This meeting was per usual, as only once a week would Zhou Yan be granted the opportunity of receiving any form of guidance from his father.

Before this current meeting, it was fated that Zhou Yan could never grasp the knowledge that was graced by his father.

However, in light of his enlightenment and heightened senses, Zhou Yan noticed buried in the deepest depths of his father’s eyes was a flash of light as ferocious and bright as a shower of meteors.

“This hand-carved effigy was not a crude piece of art. It was carved on its body with two different sets of the way of the sword, which are ‘The Way of The Sword Through Bond and ‘The Way of The Sword Through Despair.’ Choose only one path to follow, child!”

As pathetic as his father, may be, the only thing that baffled Zhou Yan was the ability of his father to conjure a carving out of thin air with the simple flick of his wrist.

This carved effigy too, however, was a carving of a woman’s back. It was one with hesitation, for it portrayed the indecisive nature of turning its back.