Chapter 58 - Is The Path Of Sword Necessary?

"The Swordsman I will be telling you all about is a very unique person, from the time the world came to know about him, he has shaken the very beliefs of many swords cultivators, any sword cultivator no matter their cultivation stage will feel inferiority by looking at him, of course, a swordsman who can cause such intense emotions in the hearts of man wasn't looked upon favorably by anyone in this continent, of course, there were admirers, but there were those too who just wanted to see him in ruin, and the fact that he was a resident of the slums was more of a reason for being one of the top enemies of the whole continent, tell me kidzz would you like to know more about him", asked the dirty looking haggard old man with a wide smile.

Of course, listening to such a mysterious story of the old man about the swordsman woke intense reactions from the crowd, especially Li Jie, as he was wondering just what was special about using swords when you can also use other weapons to achieve your goal, as he was thinking about this, a small girl asked, "Old sir, was the swordsman too handsome and good looking that the other swordsmen felt inferior to him".

Another boy shouted, "Old sir, is it because he was too strong for them to fight against him".

"HeHeHeHe, all of your answers are wrong no, he wasn't the strongest, he wasn't the fastest, he wasn't the most good looking one, nor was there anything special about him that would place him different from others, heck he never even had the proper talent to learn the way of the sword as for his bloodline, it was just a low-level bloodline, after all, he was one of you abandoned in this hell of a place".

"What!!!, but old sir if he didn't have either of those, then how did he get so strong and how did he become such a famous swordsman, and why would others feel inferior looking at him", asked one of the kids.

After which the whole crowd nodded as they had the same question, to which the dirty old man just smiled and took a pipe after smoking which he said, "Isn't it natural for others to feel inferior if what they have been striving to get all their life is right in front of them and that too the person in front of them never even had to put much effort it, heck he even made that cold princess of the Imperial Fu clan fall head over heels for him, such was his strength, such was his looks but most of all it was his sword arts, which released flower petals when used and that too of different kinds".

"One more thing I forgot to mention, just because his sword arts showed flower petals doesn't mean they were only for show as a matter of fact they were extremely deadly, just the very sight gave shivers to his enemies, his blade would kill the opponent instantly without any resistance, it was the perfect sword art ti kill, which he created by himself".

Everyone was shocked by the sudden revelation that someone who lived like just like how they are living, came out of the slums and challenged everyone and anyone who blocked his path.

As for what the old man said about other sword cultivator feeling inferior towards this swordsman, the whole crowd just felt upset by the old man's unclear answer, they just shook their heads, instead of trying to understand it, Li Jie was the only one who was trying to find the meaning behind what was said by the old man.

The old man just snickered witnessing the crowd's reaction, "Well let me make it easy for you to understand sweet little kids, the sword cultivators and there are also some families who have been teaching and learning about the way of the sword for generations, but none of them had the capability to even come close to it, the mysterious sword intent, which can only be used by a true sword cultivator, and only such a sword cultivator can be called as a swordsman, while others, they just simply wave their sword around, which is nothing special".

The whole crowd gasped after hearing such a proclamation, but the one who was most shocked was none other than Li Jie, "How did this old man know about sword intent, is it known by other people of this continent too and this is "The Slum", which is considered garbage for the whole continent, but then why does an unassuming old man of "The Slums" have such information, I should not take this story lightly, looks like this is not a simple make-believe story, there might be true elements to it, when I get back home, I will try finding out about the "Sword Of Flowers"

Then Li Jie asked, "Respected Old Sir, what is the difference between a sword cultivator having sword intent and one who doesn't have".

"Well, aren't you a smart one, the difference between one who has and one who hasn't is as simple as the difference between heaven and heart, Tell me kid can you understand what and how those immortals feel and think, can you tell the difference between them!!!, no right because you don't have it so you will never be able to understand even if it is right in front of you", said the dirty looking old man with a solemn expression.

Everyone who was listening to the words of the old man was shocked, it's true what do they know how the immortals think or feel being mortals themselves, thought almost everyone.

But Li Jie was restless, he didn't know why he couldn't understand it just what was happening to him, why was he so drawn towards this story of the old man, why was he doubting his own goal, his own ambition, didn't he promise his master that he will become a swordsman and reach the peak of swordsmanship, but why was it a sword, why not any other weapon, and it's true that he does admire sword, but not to the extent nor does he have any kind of special love or feelings towards the sword, he had often heard about many who love or have some special feeling towards the way of sword, but he couldn't understand just why did his master chose the path of swordsman for him, and why did he agree out of impulse, it's not like he was forced, then why didn't he chose that powerful bloodline, which would have solved all of his problems, thought LI Jie with regret. 

Unbeknownst to Li Jie himself, there was a battle going on inside him where the dark-looking substance was ever increasing and wasn't stopping.

Mr.Teacher who was drinking his tea leisurely felt something, "Hah another failure, Looks like this is the end of the way of the sword for him, {sigh}", even the tea felt bitter for Mr.Teacher, as can be seen from his sad expression, "I have been waiting for so long, even the last bit of hope I had is crushed", sighed Mr.Teacher.

While In a certain area of the slums, the dirty looking old man who was telling his story, looked at the boy who asked him about the difference between someone having a sword intent and someone not having a sword intent, before he didn't look at the boy's face clearly but when he looked closer at the boy's face, he noticed his face which was different from those born in the slums, his face had something which reminded him of someone, and also the twisting expression on Li Jie's face reminded the dirty looking old man about something, especially someone special he knew, his heart turned warm for certain reason when looking at the boy, but for some reason, he knew that the boy was mentally tensed at the moment due to some reason, so he asked while looking at Li Jie warmly, "Hey boy".

Li Jie noticed right away that the old man was calling him, he couldn't understand why the old man was calling him, but he looked at the old man's face which even after looking dirty felt like there was warmth in it, the face showed no kind of negative expression, only a warm expression, which would make one feel like they are on a beach on a sunny day, looking at the old man, Li Jie didn't know why but he felt calm, he felt serene and unbeknownst to him the dark substance which was increasing with full force stopped, without even a single movement, it couldn't move no matter how it tried, it was in the same position.

While at the same time where Mr.Teacher was sighing with sadness, suddenly stood up, he couldn't believe what was happening, he was shocked beyond compare, "Just what is going on".

While at the same time the old man who looked at Li Jie warmly asked, "Tell me, kid, Do you like the sword".