The Sixth Article: Nine Swords Compete for the Cauldron! Chapter 12: What is Tao? Fourth Update

  Bing Di heard this name, his eyes revealed shock, after a moment, his face only showed a hint of bitterness.

  He still hasn't forgotten that young man who stood in front of the Golden Hall and roared at the sky: I regret not being an immortal!!!

  These few words would appear in his countless dreams.

  That sorrowful and desperate gaze, he still remembers it now. He personally destroyed the dreams of this young man and got him entangled with a behemoth like Tianhe Sect.

  At this moment, however, this young man is participating in this sensational continental competition as a resident of the Cang Xue Empire!

  Bring supreme honor to the Empire of Snow!

  His expression was complex, and after a long time, he finally let out a sigh, as if he had aged hundreds of years in an instant.

  On this day, Tang Lin's name shook the entire Celestial Snow Empire!

  No matter how many years have passed, no one will ever forget that there was once a young man who emerged from this empire and made a name for himself across the entire continent!

  Tang Lin was once known only to the upper-class aristocrats, but now he is known to smugglers, small merchants and travelers alike, becoming a legendary figure that everyone talks about with relish after dinner.

  "Will he enter the top ten in the Nine Swords Assembly?" a Grand Marshal on the left side of the grand hall couldn't help but ask.

  "Top ten? How is that possible!"

  "Although he is fifth in the standings, it doesn't mean that he can enter the top ten in the final match! You know, there are still many geniuses hiding their strength."

  "Yes, thousands of years ago, it seemed that a young master of the Town Demon Tribe got first place in this elimination tournament. The result was just barely squeezing into the top 100."

  "This thing is too suspenseful, I hope so."

  Everyone was discussing it, when suddenly someone said: "You say, if Tang Lin becomes stronger in the future, will he take revenge on us?"

  "Revenge?" The rest of them looked at the speaker in puzzlement.

  "Everyone knows. At first, Tang Lin liked the Ninth Princess, but later for the sake of national security, he married off the Ninth Princess to the Young Master of the Tianhe Sect. This Tang Lin must have been harboring resentment in his heart, that's why he left the empire."

  Everyone fell silent at these words.

  The scene that took place in front of the Golden Throne Hall. Everyone still remembers it vividly, especially the young man's heartbreaking and desperate cry, which seems to still echo in my ears.

  In this silence, a cold laugh suddenly said: "Fart!"

  Only to see the speaker was a robust man, wearing general armor, he sneered: "If he would retaliate, why did he say on the Nine Swords Summit that he is from the Cangxue Empire? Now that he has made a name for himself, the prestige of our Cangxue Empire will spread throughout the continent. The three neighboring empires nearby, who originally had a good relationship with us, will now all try to curry favor with us."

  "You shouldn't be unaware of such a beneficial relationship, should you?"

  Everyone was stunned by the words of this burly man, and suddenly came to their senses. Those who were still worried had a complicated expression, with some shame in their hearts.

  Tang Lin was just a young man, but he had such a broad-minded and tolerant heart that completely won them over.

  ……

  Jiuxian Boundary

  In the pitch-black valley.

  Tang Lin was bathed in fresh blood, holding a golden and black sword. His body was like a whirlwind, killing demons left and right.

  With three thousand illusory bodies, Tang Lin's speed in killing demons and devils increased by three thousand times!

  With such a killing speed, if it were before, Tang Lin would be very confident and think that he is absolutely the first!

  However, after the Nine Swords Tower, he became more low-key and realized that there was a bigger world out there. At this moment, although he felt that his ranking would be very high, he still felt that he needed to work hard.

  After the first day's slaughter.

  Tang Lin didn't know how many demons he had killed, he was completely immersed in it, his swordsmanship improved greatly, and his body method quickly merged with "shrinking the earth to inches".

  At the time of slaughter, Tang Lin displayed the chaotic color energy flow in his body, quickly assimilating the surrounding energy and keeping his body at its peak state at all times.

  ……

  More than half a month has passed.

  The top floor of the Red Dust Inn.

  It's noon again, time for another ranking report.

  Tie Shi and the youth in white arrived on time, although from the first day, the ranking was basically already set, as long as those ranked above did not die midway, they would remain in their original ranking.

  Tang Lin has always been in fifth place.

  Although he knew there wouldn't be much change in the rankings, Tie Shou still couldn't help but come over to watch every day.

  Only to see the projection on the void began to report, the first person was still that person called "Ming", with a score of over 1.2 million.

  And second place is Gu Yue of the Zhenyao tribe, with a battle score of over 400,000.

  When the report reached fourth place, Iron Lion suddenly heard the two words "Tang Lin", and his eyes lit up immediately. After about 20 days of persistence, Tang Lin's ranking did not fall, but rose instead, indicating that Tang Lin had never relaxed.

  "This kid is pretty good." The young man in white smiled slightly at the corner of his mouth.

  The iron lion smiled and felt very happy in his heart.

  He knew that this young man in white was one who never boasted about himself and could be praised by him. In a thousand years, there wouldn't be more than three people like that.

  "It's on me today," said Iron Lion with a bright smile.

  "I won't be polite." The young man in white smiled and said.

  ……

  Jiuxian Boundary

  Tang Lin stood amidst a pile of demon corpses, his dual swords still in hand. Behind him lay countless more demon bodies, yet despite the intense battle he had just endured, Tang Lin's breathing remained steady.

  "After killing for so long, my footwork and swordsmanship have only become more proficient, but haven't improved." Tang Lin held his twin swords and continued forward.

  Every day when he hunted and killed demons, he would think of the swordsman he faced in the Nine Swords Tower.

  "That ninth-level swordsmen has already attained the 'Tao' realm in his martial arts."

  "Way..."

  "What is Tao?"

  "At first in the Celestial Snow Empire, I had already touched upon the 'Way', although it was only a faint and subtle feeling, but somehow I understood."

  Tang Lin walked alone on the desolate land, with only the corpses of demons and devils at his feet, lost in thought.

  "The boundary of martial arts is the unity of heaven and man. After transcending the ordinary and entering the sacred, there is this 'Tao'."

  "By understanding the unity of heaven and man, one can utilize the rules of nature to merge their body into the universe, where sword moves are omnipresent, with no sword in hand, but a sword in heart."

  "Transcendence into sainthood. Capable of forcibly defying heaven, sailing against the current, and opposing heaven and earth."

  "What is the Way?"

  "Go up another level. How should I cultivate?"

  Tang Lin's eyebrows were tightly furrowed as he sat down on a hillside, gazing up at the dark clouds filling the sky. He inserted the pair of swords in his hands into the ground in front of him.

  "After such a long and bitter struggle, accumulating battle points, entering the top ten thousand should be no problem, but to make progress, one must still comprehend the 'way'."

  The mountain wind blew gently over Tang Lin's body, his head full of black hair stained with fresh blood, fluttering slightly in the wind.

  "As Iron Lion said, those who have passed the ninth level are only a dozen or so. In other words, only about a dozen people have attained the Tao."

  "There are many geniuses across the vast continent, and wise people are as numerous as fish crossing a river." Tang Lin clenched his fists, "I will never admit defeat!"

  He looked up at the sky.

  The distant sky is so intangible.

  Tang Lin pondered "what is the way" in his heart, slowly. Suddenly he thought of his deceased second sister, his wandering older brother, his missing father, and his mother who was far away in the Man God tribe.

  Then Tang Lin thought of Xiao Nian Feng again.

  "It's been so long since she's been here, I don't know if the six-eared leopard has treated her well. Given her milk to drink. With Black Magic watching over her, it should be fine."

  Tang Lin gazed up at the dim sky, with a hint of desolation and loneliness on his face.

  "Father, where did you disappear to? Now second sister is dead, big brother is wandering outside with no news, why have you all disappeared?"

  Tang Lin's eyebrows furrowed tightly, and suddenly his eyes lit up as he thought of Master Iron Lion. He must have a cultivation base in the Heavenly Machine Boundary, and if he asked for his help to calculate it, he should be able to find out where his father and brother were.

  "As soon as I go out, I'll ask Master immediately." Tang Lin thought to himself.

  At once, Tang Lin gathered his thoughts and began to ponder "the Way".

  Road! Road! Road!

  Tang Lin's mind is full of "Dao"!

  "My father used to say that there are thousands of big roads and tens of thousands of small roads in the world, and reading books is one of the big roads! What's the biggest thing in the world? The truth is the biggest! What readers read is the way and the truth!"

  "Does talking about reason refer to the rules of nature? If so, can understanding and grasping 'reason' be understood as grasping the rules of nature?"

  Tang Lin's eyes suddenly lit up, and in his heart, it was as if a large door had been opened all at once.

  "There are many rules of nature, such as flowers blooming and withering, water flowing downwards, and people growing old and dying. These are all the rules of nature, which cannot be changed."

  "Heaven and man united, is using rules!"

  "Transcending into sainthood is against the rules!"

  "The Way's boundary should be embodied as rules!"

  "I am the rule, and the rule is me. This isn't just a matter of utilization! It's like how one person uses a sword to fight, but I myself am the sword, and the sword is me!"

  Tang Lin suddenly enlightened, excitedly trembling slightly.

  "So that's how it is." Tang Lin's eyes lit up and he said, "Although I have reached the realm of transcending the ordinary and entering sainthood, I still haven't grasped the Way, and I myself am not a rule!"

  "There are a thousand major paths and ten thousand minor paths in the world. What is my path?" Tang Lin's mind was once again bewildered.

  Although I understand what Tao is, there are countless Tao in the world. How can I transform myself into Tao?

  Tang Lin fell into deep thought once again.

  ……

  Time is passing day by day.

  The top floor of the Hongchen Inn, the iron lion came to check the rankings as usual every day, but found that Tang Lin's battle points had not moved and were surpassed by the fifth place behind him, returning to fifth place.

  Three days passed again.

  Tang Lin's ranking points remained unchanged and dropped to eighth place.

  Tie Shi frowned and muttered, "Did something happen to that kid in there, or does he think he's already the best, so he's too lazy to fight again?"

  His idea makes sense.

  After all, geniuses are always arrogant.

  ……

  Fourth update, Lao Gu continues to code for the fifth update!! There are still two hours left, and the situation is unpredictable. With only a difference of seven votes, it's about to be overtaken by those behind, this small gap makes Lao Gu really uneasy, so he's begging for 13 monthly tickets again, which would basically make things stable.

  The later it gets, the greater the fluctuation in monthly votes. Writers will go all out to canvass for votes, asking brothers to let their monthly votes surge forward and directly pull open a 20-vote gap!!!

  Lao Gu continues to code for the fifth watch, hoo hoo!!!!!! (......)