Chapter 1135: Raising a Sword Lin Feng remained silent, he understood what the old man meant. Zun cultivators of the same level had different understanding abilities of abstruse energies. It was like abstruse crystals, at the same level, they had different levels of efficiency. For example: a normal abstruse crystal of high quality and an abstruse crystal of high quality with a spirit were different, the latter was a lot more expensive. “Do you know how to evaluate if a Zun cultivator is a genius or not?” asked the old man smiling at Lin Feng. It seemed like he had completely forgotten about why Lin Feng was in there, the sacrifice and so on. He was fascinated by swords and their cultivation. Lin Feng was also becoming captivated by the topic. The old man was offering him priceless advice on cultivation, after all. “Those who understand several types of abstruse energies and who have a high understanding of abstruse energies.” replied Lin Feng. “Kind of, but not only. It’s not about understanding as many types of abstruse energies as possible, control is essential too. Even at a low level, geniuses can release strong abstruse energies. Ordinary people, even at a high level, cannot release powerful abstruse energies. Therefore, some Zun cultivators are old, but remain at a low level. Of course, we can’t underestimate low-level cultivators. Some people are strange too. Some people study abstruse energies for a hundred years, but don’t see a rise in level. They don’t show how strong they really are, but sometimes they can amaze the world with a single brilliant feat.” “For example, I heard about someone who understood life and death abstruse energies. He had meditated for a hundred years studying just those energies. When he came out, he had only broken through to the second Zun Qi layer, so everybody despised him. However, he could kill medium-level Zun level cultivators easily. He could even fight cultivators at the top of the Zun Qi layer. That was because he had a level eight life and death abstruse energy. With only one thought, he could steal people’s lives. Besides, when he started fighting, he also started leveling up very quickly. He quickly became an emperor. It was as if nobody could stop him anymore. That’s what a genius is!” Second Zun Qi layer, level eight life and death abstruse energy. The he went straight to becoming an imperial level cultivator! “Unfortunately, Jiange’s people don’t understand swords. They don’t even try to understand the sources of strength. Sometimes, they even do counterproductive things like trying to find extremely powerful sword spells and techniques or incredible swords. Even that thing with the sacrifice, it’s the opposite of what a real sword cultivator should do.” said the old man shaking his head and sighing. He looked grave and said, “Back then, Emperor Wu Tian Jian studied how to control swords for three years, then he studied sword energies for seven years, and then he learnt how to raise swords for ten years. Then, someday, he used his swords and amazed the world!” Three years to control swords, seven to study their energies, ten years to raise swords, what did that mean? Lin Feng didn’t understand, but the old man continued, “Emperor Wu Tian Jian was a real genius. He studied how to handle sword for three years, during which he learnt spells and techniques. In just those three years, he learnt a myriad of sword skills and techniques. After that, he decided to give up swords and studied only their energies. He didn’t touch a sword for seven years. After seven years, he decided to touch swords again, but not to kill people. He wanted to learn how to raise swords, so he did that for ten years.” “How to raise a sword?” asked Lin Feng. He was captivated. “You need to understand things related to the Zun Qi layer before you can understand that. When you break through to the Zun Qi layer, the path of cultivation doesn’t become broader. It becomes narrower because Zun cultivators must rely on their understanding abilities. They must know how to control abstruse energies. Some people only understand basic abstruse energy, such as fire abstruse energy, so they need other things to fight, such as tools. That kind of cultivator is weak. Even powerful external sources have their limits..” “Then, some people understand several types of abstruse energies. Their cultivation is less limited and they can resort to more way of fighting.” “Sword cultivators have terrified people since the antiquity, therefore, many people want to become sword cultivators. But really strong sword cultivators are rare. In the last five thousand years, Emperor Wu Tian Jian is the only who has amazed Ba Huang. Even though he left his legacy in Jiange, there are no strong sword cultivators here, quite the opposite.” “People have always feared sword cultivators because the sword is the king of weapons. You’ll see that swords act rarely like other holy weapons. You’ll realize that holy marks, which contain abstruse energies, are not as numerous or as dazzling on swords. Swords don’t have special powers either, the most important thing for a sword is its soul, like your demonic sword which has a demon soul.” Lin Feng was lost in thought. Indeed, his sword was different from his other holy weapons. “Swords don’t need special powers.” repeated the old man, before adding, “Just try and use that sword!” The old man wanted Lin Feng to use the emperor’s sword...? “Little boy, go and see him!” said the old man to the sword. Lin Feng was speechless. Little boy? The sword buzzed and went towards Lin Feng. Lin Feng’s mouth twitched as he stretched his hand. The sword turned around him which scared Lin Feng to death. Luckily, it didn’t try to invade his body. It then slowly fell into his hand. Lin Feng suddenly felt extremely confident, it was as if he held all the strength of the universe. “How scary.” thought Lin Feng. His heart started pounding. That sword was incredible and gave him an incredible feeling. Besides, he also felt like he was close to that sword. It was probably because it had swallowed his demonic sword. “Don’t you feel invincible? You can release an incredible strength with that sword. Try and release thunder abstruse energy to attack.” said the old man smiling. Lin Feng stretched out his hand and thunder abstruse energy suddenly emerged from the sword. It was purple and dazzling to the eyes. Lin Feng’s stomach contracted as he then immediately recalled the energies. “How scary. I can release thunder abstruse energy?” Lin Feng was in disbelief. He knew it wasn’t his own abstruse energy of course. “Try to release ice energy!” said the old man. Lin Feng frowned and tried. Suddenly, ice energies surrounded him. Lin Feng knew he didn’t have to try anymore. That was ice abstruse energy, capable of freezing the Earth and sky. “Don’t you want to try to release other types of abstruse energies, for example empty space abstruse energy?” said the old man smiling. “No need.” said Lin Feng shaking his head. He knew that he could release all sorts of abstruse energies with that sword. “You understood?” asked the old man. At that moment, the sword left, leaving Lin Feng smiling wryly. “Swords contain all sorts of abstruse energies, therefore, there’s no need to do anything special to them.” The old man nodded and said, “Indeed, those holy weapons with special powers are powerful, but they only contain one kind of power. Swords are different. You can use swords to release any kind of abstruse energy, but for that, you first have to understand those abstruse energies. That’s why real sword cultivators are terrifying.” “Those abstruse energies found in swords don’t belong to the swords themselves though, right?” asked Lin Feng. The old man loved swords and loved talking about them. He considered swords as the emperors of weapons. “That’s why Emperor Wu Tian Jian spent years learning how to use swords, how to use skills and techniques, and how to raise swords.” said the old man with admiration. “He learnt how to raise his sword using five types of abstruse energies, including: empty space abstruse energies and lightning abstruse energies. You can raise your swords with other kinds of abstruse energies if you want, but the most important thing is that you understand those abstruse energies as much as possible first. And when you master that aspect, then your sword can raise you and teach you how to use even more types of abstruse energies.”