Chapter One Fainted

  That night, Xiao Zhan's mind was filled with Xie Yanyan's image, and he couldn't help but fall into a state of infatuation. Now that their relationship had made substantial progress, although he felt perplexed by the absurd and inexplicable agreement, and uncertain about whether he could fulfill it and ultimately become Yanyan's man, he still felt very happy and blissful.

  He lay in bed, doing nothing, his mind full of memories of every detail with Zhan Yan.

  The next day, Xiao Zhan got up very early and started practicing swordsmanship instead of boxing. He came to the courtyard, holding a sword manual and carefully read it, occasionally using his hand as a substitute for the sword, lightly drawing it. After about an hour, he finished reading a set of sword moves, but his eyebrows were furrowed.

  This sword technique is called "Listening to the Rain Sword Intent", as the name suggests, it's related to rain. The moves of the sword technique are not difficult, but what's difficult is the state of mind required. Of course, Xiao Zhan furrowed his brow, not because of this, but because he discovered that besides the sword moves, there was also a corresponding mental mantra. In these eight years, he had been practicing "Gathering Star Fist", opening up independent acupoints, and had never specifically practiced the meridians. Although the meridians in his body were all unblocked, the internal energy was only equivalent to that of a late-stage first-grade cultivator.

  This set of "Rain Sword Manual" is paired with a mental method related to the meridians, and it's a water-attribute sword manual. The entire sword technique is divided into three layers, each layer has thirteen moves, the moves are not difficult to practice, but to master it, one must understand the true meaning of rain.

  After watching each sword technique, Xiao Hui didn't rush to practice, but instead hurriedly called out Little Honey and asked: "Little Honey, this sword technique is coordinated with internal skill and heart method. Every time you practice a set of sword techniques, you need to learn a set of internal skills and heart methods. What if the attributes don't match and lead to going crazy?"

  Xiao Mi said: "What the master said is not wrong, indeed, attributes that don't match can easily lead to conflicts. If there isn't a set of neutral heart methods, it's easy to have problems. However, the master cultivates not internal energy, but independent acupoints. Why not try to see if you can display these sword moves without going through the meridians?"

  Xiao Zhan furrowed his brow and said, "Is this okay?"

  Xiao Mi said: "The master only needs to grasp the essence of swordsmanship, like this set of 'Listening Rain Sword Intent', the master only needs to master the sword moves, and then understand the true meaning of rain from it. As for internal skills and mental methods, they can be ignored."

  Xiao Zhan was still puzzled: "But this is a water attribute technique, isn't it okay to cultivate like this?"

  Xiao Mi smiled and said, "Not cultivating internal energy, but specializing in sword moves, although it can't achieve the best effect, it's still better than practicing a set of internal energy techniques. If there was a technique that could transform different attributes, that would be great, so that during cultivation, the best effect could be guaranteed."

  Xiao Zhan couldn't help but ask, "Isn't there such a technique among the nearly ten thousand secret books?"

  Xiao Mi regretfully said: "No."

  As soon as the words fell, she suddenly said: "The war clan, as the strongest clan since ancient times, has an existence that is difficult to estimate, and from the fifth great war alone, it has a history of nearly 200,000 years. It's likely that countless martial arts secrets are preserved. Why don't you go find your mother and ask if she has any such secret books?"

  Xiao Zhan was shocked and said: "Didn't my mother leave Wargrove?"

  Xiao Mi giggled and said, "Didn't the master agree to be her own son last night? How could he forget so quickly? Hehe! The mistress is the head of the war clan, she should be clearer about this matter than anyone."

  Xia Zhan put away the secret book and headed towards the small building where Zhan Yan lived.

  In the small building, Xiang sat beside a tea table, one hand holding a book volume and the other lightly pinching a pastry, slowly bringing it to her mouth. As she savored the aroma, her cheeks moved subtly, chewing slowly and swallowing, her expression extremely relaxed. Her deep eyes focused on the book in her hand, and her dense eyelashes fluttered, adding a hint of enchantment to her gaze.

  At this time, the sunlight outside penetrated through the window and entered, a censer on the tea table, light smoke rose slowly, faint fragrance spread out, the whole small building was quiet and peaceful.

  Suddenly, a burst of footsteps broke the silence of the small building, and soon the footsteps came to the outside of the house. Without looking, Xiang Yan knew who it was, and a faint smile appeared on her jade face as she looked up at Xiao Zhan, who pushed open the door and entered.

  She stepped inside and saw Xiang'er sitting beside the tea table. Xiao Zhan sweetly called out, "Mother, I've come to see you."

  When she heard his intimate call, Zhan Yan's smile became even more gentle, and the loving color in her eyes was so thick that it couldn't be opened. She only heard her voice say with concern: "Zhan Er, did you sleep well last night?"

  "I slept so soundly, I woke up early and after practicing some kung fu, I came to see Mother especially."

  Xiao Zhan smiled and sat down in front of Zhan Yan, seeing the desserts on the coffee table that had just been served, he didn't hesitate to pick up the whole plate and directly grab it with his hands and put it into his mouth.

  Looking at his wolfing down food, Zhan Yan frowned and said: "Zhan Er, didn't you eat anything this morning?"

  Xiao Zhan nodded vigorously and said, "I've eaten already."

  Zhan Yan snorted: "Then why are you as hungry as if you haven't eaten for several days?"

  Xiao Zhan chuckled and said, "I saw that no one was eating the pastries, so I specially helped Mother solve the problem. Mother doesn't need to thank me, this is my duty as a child."

  Zhan Yan shook her head and smiled: "Speak, what brings you to find your mother this time?"

  Xiao Zhan smiled and said, "Last night I bid farewell to my mother, and the child was thinking of her especially. Today during cultivation, my heart was hard to calm down, so I came to see my mother, to let my own heart calm down."

  Zhan Yan snorted: "Don't be poor-mouthed with me, every time you come to see me it's always for something, this time is no exception."

  "Mother, what I just said wasn't a lie. Today, I was revising my swordsmanship, but I found it difficult to cultivate. Now, I want you to take me to see the secret collection of our clan's treasured skills and see if we can find a solution to my problem."

  "Changing sword techniques? War son's fist is fine, why suddenly want to change sword techniques?"

  Xiao Zhan explained: "The child's ideal is to be a great swordsman, practicing boxing is just for physical training. Now that the boxing skills have reached a bottleneck, the child thinks it's time to practice swordsmanship."

  Zhan Yan smiled slightly and said: "Mother also practices swordsmanship, if Zhan Er has any doubts, he can ask Mother, perhaps Mother can enlighten him."

  Xiao Zhan said, "The swordsmanship that the child needs to learn is different from ordinary people. In order to condense the sword heart, at least a thousand sets of swordsmanship need to be mastered. Each set of practice may encounter troubles due to attribute problems, so I want to find a skill that can freely transform attributes."

  "Thousand Sets of Sword Techniques? What is Concentrating the Heart of the Sword?"

  Xiao Zhan said with some distress: "Jian Xin doesn't understand either, he just knows it's the foundation of swordsmanship. To have a heart of sword, one needs to condense countless sword techniques' essence. If you can't grasp it, then your future cultivation will be impossible."

  Zhan Yan thought for a moment and said, "There is indeed such a technique, which has been stored in the Wu Ge all along. Unfortunately, no one has ever found it in thousands of years. As for whether there are other techniques suitable for Zhan Er, you can only go to the Wu Ge to find out."

  "What kind of skill is this?"

  "That's the supreme treasure of your War God lineage, the 'War God Record' created by the War God himself. The 'War God Record' records a powerful mental method that can supposedly transform the properties of all energies in the world."

  Xiao Zhan's eyes gleamed brightly, and he exclaimed excitedly: "This is a technique tailored specifically for my son! Mother, quickly take my son to the Wu Ge, just because others can't find it doesn't mean my son can't. Who knows if this opportunity has been waiting for my son all along, as the only male heir of the War God lineage in a thousand years?"

  Zhan Yan smiled and said, "This is no need to worry about, coincidentally the Zhan family's annual young generation martial arts competition has just ended. The top ten can go to the Wu Ge, choose a suitable technique for themselves. When Zhan Er arrives, he can go with them to the Wu Ge, see if they can encounter good luck and find that 'War God Record'."

  "When?"

  "It's tomorrow."

  Xiao Zhan thought for a moment and said: "The child did not participate in the martial arts competition, it's not very appropriate to go to Wu Ge together."

  "It wouldn't work for anyone else, but Zhan Er's situation is different. Because Zhan Er has the privilege of entering Wu Ge at any time, others can't interfere."

  Xiao Zhan's eyes lit up and he exclaimed: "Is this really happening?"

  Zhan Yan smiled and explained: "This is Qin Bo's personal order, and no one in the Zhan family dares to disobey it."

  Unexpectedly, the old and venerable Qin Bo's prestige in the war clan was actually this high, which made Xiao Zhan overjoyed. He couldn't wait to say: "When can we go to Wu Ge, I don't want to wait a single moment longer?"

  Zhan Yan smiled and said: "Tomorrow morning, Zhan Er will come here, and at that time, Mother will take you there herself."

  Although he had to wait until tomorrow, Xiao Zhan was somewhat disappointed, but it was only a day's time and he could still afford to wait. For the time being, he stayed behind, chatting with this beautiful mother who made him dare not look straight at her, until after eating the lunch she personally prepared, he left the small building.