Cultivator from the Modern World

"I just used some spiritual techniques to make him tell the truth. It's nothing fancy, and you can probably learn it too. It seems like Luo Qingben really was tortured, and his brain was slightly damaged. Well, my spell could hypnotize him, and forcefully make him tell the truth. His mental illness isn't too severe; it can probably be treated with some simple medicine."

Shen Long felt a sense of relief as he figured out what just happened. He was furious as he spent the last day taking care of him like a proper babysitter. He was mentally exhausted as he had to comfort him, accompany him, even help him to wear his clothes. If all of that was a prank, Shen Long would get a mental illness himself. He would definitely turn into a psychopath.

"Are you still going to step out of this matter, Master? Don't you think that the Justice Department is taking it too far? I can't stand to watch any other disciples from suffering anymore! Look at Qingben. Even though his mental illness can be cured, he still suffered physically from their torture. This isn't fair!" Shen Long agitatedly asked.

"Yes, I am not going to interfere with the daily functioning of the palace. As a Peak-Celestial Immortal, how embarrassing would it be, for me to personally oversee every matter in the palace? I will admit that the Justice Department did go a bit overboard this time. They do deserve their punishments. I would- " Daoist Fireblade was interrupted before he could finish his sentence.

"You would make an exception this time!? On behalf of every disciple, I thank you for being selfless. You're such an admirable Master! Although you seem tough and harsh on the outside, you are actually so soft on the inside! I knew you would help us out this time!" Shen Long excitedly praised.

"Emm... that's not what I was going to say. Actually, you should be the one who is going to save every disciple here. Think about it this way, right? You are my personal disciple, so it would only make sense if you do this spectacular job. If I do it, that will be too easy, and people won't be that impressed. But if you are the one who fixes the corruption issue, can you imagine how many disciples would admire and respect you?" Daoist Fireblade said as he coughed wryly.

"Don't you want to be admired by all the disciples here? Imagine them saying this when you walk past them in the morning. Actually, imagine an extremely pretty female disciple saying this. Senior Brother Long! You are so righteous! I really admire you. Can you please teach me how you manage to have such high moral standards?" Daoist Fireblade continued as he spoke in a female voice for the last bit, imitating the "female disciple" that he mentioned.

"Oh yeah!!!!!! That sounds like an extremely good plan. Master, you really are smart. Only you can come up with such legendary plans. So not just that I would have avenged Luo Qingben, win the respect of all other disciples, I would prevent you from losing face! That's a win-win-win-win situation! Haha! Genius plan! Genius plan!" Shen Long praised as he imagined the future.

After seeing Shen Long's approval, Daoist Fireblade started chuckling as well. His plan worked flawlessly, and he had successfully shifted the responsibility of this matter to Shen Long. Shen Long suddenly "woke up" from his imaginations as he asked another question.

"How am I meant to avenge them? There still is no proper evidence... I still can't guarantee that I will definitely triumph over that Zuo Qifeng. What if I fail to beat him in a 1-on-1 duel?" Shen Long asked as he realised how impractical his Master's plan was. Although Shen Long was quite easily swayed, he would still think about the matter thoroughly as he couldn't risk failing.

"Well, all you need to do is just beat that Zuo-guy. After all, you have me as your master, so winning should not be a problem." Daoist Fireblade said as he seemed to be slightly unsure himself.

"As long as you master the second stance of the [Melodies of the Nine Sole Swords] and reach Mid-Demigod in terms of Qi... You should win against him..." He continued to speak as his volume started decreasing. He seemed more and more unsure. He decided to change the topic immediately as he didn't want to dawdle on this matter.

"Why are you thinking about losing already? This is precisely why you may lose against him. Why are you already so discouraged before you even fight? Confidence is everything. Stop thinking about the worst scenario. Man up! Don't let your mind affect you. You can't lose your spirit! Think about winning instead!"

"Now, let's not waste time on speaking. You should use this time wisely, to prepare yourself for the upcoming fight. Let's go into training immediately!" Daoist Fireblade quickly said as he dragged Shen Long to the weapon rack area.

Shen Long demonstrated the first stance - Melody - of the sword art to Daoist Fireblade. As he had already mastered it this morning, he was extremely confident. The swords were perfectly in balance, and an elegant melody could be heard as his Master watched his demonstration. Master nodded in approval, praising him after Shen Long finished.

Without giving Shen Long another chance to speak, Daoist Fireblade instructed him to memorize the second stance of the Manual.

[Second Stance: Harmony]

[Congratulations on mastering the first stance. If you have yet to perfectly master the first, you shouldn't be reading this. The second stance is a supportive stance for the first. As mentioned previously in the manual, the first stance is the most important. Every other stance revolves around the first, to strengthen and maximize the prowess of that melody.

Harmony plays an extremely important role in a song. Without the supporting chords, the melody will sound plain and monotonous. This is the same case for the sword art. This stance will support the first, and this will drastically increase your prowess. On its own, this stance is rather useless as it is based off the first. The first stance is the proper offensive stance, and this is just a "supplement". You should only train in this after you thoroughly master the first.

Remember this clearly. Even though the harmony's purpose is to decorate the melody, they cannot be separated. They are equally as important.]

Shen Long then read on and committed all the words into his memory. Without a doubt, the second stance seemed a lot more complicated. The second stance was also much longer, so it took Shen Long quite a bit of effort to memorize it.

After finishing, Shen Long decided to ask a question about his Qi before trying the second stance out. This question bothered him a lot for the past few days as he never figured out the reason behind it.