Eternal Life Begins with Taking a Wife

Palace Master Yan said frankly, “I naturally hope that Marquis Zhenbei can stay in Seeping River Academy for a while. In a while, it will be the Sword Dao Exchange Festival between the Seeping River Academy and the Sword Whisper Tower. At that time, all the swordsmen in the world will rush to the academy. Even the Monarch Mountain, the Heavenly Sound Temple, and the Sea Moon Cliff will send envoys to participate. I believe the Marquis of Zhenbei will be interested in such a Festival.”

Shen Ping shook his head. “If it’s just a Sword Dao Exchange Festival, I’m not too interested.”

Palace Master Yan glanced at Shen Ping and saw that he was indeed not interested in this matter. She hesitated for a moment and said, “Do you know why His Majesty sent the women of the country to my Seeping River Academy and asked the Marquis of the Zhenbei to come personally?”

For that matter, Shen Ping was indeed very curious. “Palace Master Yan, please enlighten me.”

“Marquis of Zhenbei, please follow me.”

Palace Master Yan turned around and left. Shen Ping followed closely behind. The two of them quickly soared into the air and turned into two streams of light that landed on the peak of the highest mountain in the academy. This mountain was also the place where the densest sword intent that Shen Ping had seen before converged.

They came to a quaint house. Palace Master Yan pushed the door open. There were wooden tokens placed in the room, as if they were memorial tablets for the deceased.

“On these tablets are the past Palace Masters of our academy.” Palace Master Yan paid her respects to the memorial tablet. Shen Ping was puzzled. He did not know why this Vice Palace Master had brought him to such a place.

At that moment, Palace Master Yan opened a hidden room in the room. This made Shen Ping even more puzzled. Was it appropriate for an outsider like him to come to such a secret place?

The furnishings in the dark room were simple. Only a few paintings hung on the wall. It’s a landscape painting. At first, he did not think much of it, but after Shen Ping took a few more glances, his true soul power was immediately pulled into these paintings. He saw monstrous mountains and rivers roll up layers of waves. The mountains seemed to have come to life and pressed down on Shen Ping.

But he stood his ground and did nothing. When the mountains and rivers covered it, it suddenly changed into another painting. Cliffs and ranges, mountain winds whistled, and waves of sharp aura were like the sky. Not long after, it changed again. Just like that, there were a total of five paintings.

Until all the paintings are done, he breaks free with his true soul power.

Palace Master Yan smiled and said, “What do you think of these paintings, Marquis Zhenbei?”

Shen Ping said seriously, “Every painting seems to contain a kind of sword intent. This sword intent is endless and contains all things, evolving into thousands.”

As he spoke, he was extremely shocked. What level was he at? He had stepped into the realm of the Sword Dao. Although these paintings were not dangerous and were purely sword intent, he was pulled into them. Clearly, the person who drew these landscapes had surpassed him in the realm of the Sword Dao.

Originally, he thought that the Sword Dao surpassed all sword intent. He no longer thought so. Every sword intent had its own uniqueness, and the so-called Sword Dao was the convergence of endless sword intent. Even if it was a sword intent, when it reached the extreme, it was still the Sword Dao.

To put it simply, there was no difference in sword intent. Whether it was the Snowflake Sword Intent, the Water and Fire Sword Intent, the Mountain Sword, or even the Love Sword or the Heartless Sword, they were all pursuing the Ultimate Realm of the Sword Dao.

There was always someone better.

Shen Ping put away his contempt.

Palace Master Yan said, “The Marquis of Zhenbei is indeed talented to be able to comprehend the essence of the Sword Dao through these paintings. To be honest, His Majesty asked you to come to Seeping River Academy for these paintings.

“Other than Monarch Mountain, the other four forces have a long history. Each force has a few paintings, some more, some less. Among them, our academy has the most paintings. But the Monarch Mountain is the fifth largest faction since the establishment of the Yuhua Shen Dynasty, so they really want these paintings.”

She looked at Shen Ping and continued, “The person who left these paintings is a legendary ninth realm expert. It’s said that whoever can comprehend the mysteries of the Sword Dao from the paintings can follow the footsteps of this expert and break through the ninth realm to become a legend.

“Every once in a while, the four forces would spar with each other and compete for these paintings. Our academy has never kept them for ourselves. As long as they have talent in the Sword Dao, we would bring them here to look at the paintings. Unfortunately, no one, including the previous Palace Masters, could comprehend anything from the paintings after so many years.”

Shen Ping was enlightened. “In that case, Palace Master Yan wants me to try and see if I can comprehend something?”

Palace Master Yan nodded. “The path of the sword lies in communication and learning. Although I despise the Heartless Sword Dao, the Heartless Sword also has its own unique points. Only by improving each other can we pursue the ultimate of the Sword Dao.”

These words made Shen Ping feel deep veneration. “Okay, I’ll stay for a while.” He was indeed interested in these paintings. There were not many things that could make him feel inferior.

They left the darkroom. Palace Master Yan continued, “Marquis of Zhenbei, please bring those women out of the academy and arrange for them to stay in Lijiang City. As for this place, you can come and watch at any time.”

She handed Shen Ping the key to the secret room. Shen Ping couldn’t help but ask in surprise, “Palace Master Yan, aren’t you afraid that I’ll take those paintings away and give them to His Majesty?”

Palace Master Yan laughed. “Those paintings are actually not important. What’s important is the inheritance of the sword intent.”

When she left, Shen Ping came back to his senses after a long while.

Fine. The paintings really don’t matter.