Chapter 165: Instant Kill Sword

Chapter 165: Chapter 165: Instant Kill Sword

Upon hearing Yi Xiaoyao’s request, the white-haired elder and the others were all stunned.

They quickly guessed what he was thinking and asked, "Could it be, young friend, that you’re interested in the Inch-Killing Swordsmanship on this statue?"

"Inch-Killing Swordsmanship?"

Yi Xiaoyao’s gaze flickered. He nodded and smiled. "That’s right. I do want to comprehend the swordsmanship hidden within the statue."

At his words, the men all began to chuckle, not out of mockery, but with a sense of resignation.

"Young friend, you may not know this, but our Washing Sword Sect was originally called the Inch Kill Sect. And this Inch-Killing Swordsmanship was the Inch Kill Sect’s ultimate swordsmanship!"

The scholarly-looking Cheng Fu sighed and said to Yi Xiaoyao, "Unfortunately, this swordsmanship was lost three hundred years ago. Even my master meditated before this statue for decades and failed to grasp the slightest bit of it. I advise you not to waste your time on such a futile effort."

The white-haired elder added, "Young friend, you dealt with the Evil Sword Soul for us, making you a great benefactor to our Washing Sword Sect. We would never keep anything from you. Our advice to give up on comprehending the Inch-Killing Swordsmanship is for your own good. Of course, if you have any other requests, we will do our utmost to fulfill them."

Yi Xiaoyao gave a faint smile. "I know you all mean well, Seniors, but I still wish to stay here and study it for a while."

Seeing that Yi Xiaoyao was insistent, they stopped trying to dissuade him and agreed with a resigned nod.

Then, with a light sigh and a shake of their heads, they departed, leaving Yi Xiaoyao alone in the underground chamber.

In their eyes, Yi Xiaoyao was doing nothing more than wasting his time.

How could they possibly know, however, that Yi Xiaoyao possessed the Sword God Bloodline? His talent in the Sword Dao was nothing short of heaven-defying.

He had once modified and created two new swordsmanship techniques in a single night. Comprehending the art hidden in this statue was not necessarily an impossible task for him.

Once the white-haired elder and the others had left, Yi Xiaoyao began to earnestly study the statue before him.

He imagined the statue before him was a living person. He watched as this person drew his sword. The blade emerged only three inches, and suddenly, he himself was dead—yet he had no idea how it had happened.

’Why? His sword isn’t even fully out of its scabbard, so how was I killed? How did he do that?’

This question plagued Yi Xiaoyao’s mind for a long time. He felt he was still standing outside a threshold, and to cross it, he first had to solve this puzzle.

For five full days, Yi Xiaoyao stood motionless, facing the statue. Over these five days, he had "died" countless times, each death as baffling as the last.

"I understand how he did it!"

Suddenly, after yet another "death," Yi Xiaoyao cried out, his face flush with excitement.

He had finally understood. The "three-inch sword" in the statue’s hand wasn’t a blade drawn three inches *out*, but a blade being sheathed with three inches *remaining*.

’The entire process—from drawing the blade, to killing me, to sheathing it again—was so fast that I couldn’t perceive it at all. That’s why I thought his sword had never left the scabbard. What allowed him to do that was speed. Extreme speed!’

’With that kind of speed, you could kill without a trace, leaving your opponent completely unaware of how they died.’

Having figured this out, he had finally crossed the threshold of the Inch-Killing Swordsmanship. But comprehending and mastering it from here would be no simple task.

After all, Yi Xiaoyao was trying to learn a profound form of swordsmanship from a stone statue that could neither move nor speak. The difficulty was immense.

...

「Washing Sword Sect. Outside the Main Hall.」

"What was the response after we explained the Sword Cleansing Pool incident to the outside world?"

The white-haired elder stood outside the main hall, gazing at the distant sky as he asked Cheng Fu, who was beside him.

"The response has been less than ideal," Cheng Fu replied. "After all, those who died in our Washing Sword Sect were all talented figures from various sects and clans. They’re not about to let the matter drop so easily. Fortunately, because we stand against the Cloud Transformation Sect, the Seven Kills Star Hall has offered us a degree of protection, so the situation is still manageable."

The mention of the Seven Kills Star Hall reminded the white-haired elder of someone. "Has he come out yet?" he asked.

Cheng Fu shook his head, then said with some concern, "I just went to take a look. That Yi Xiaoyao is still just staring blankly at the statue. He hasn’t become obsessed, has he?"

"I doubt it’s an obsession. However, the Hall Master of the Seven Kills Star Hall has sent people to ask about Yi Xiaoyao several times now. It seems he places great importance on him."

Finally, the white-haired elder said with resignation, "After all, it’s been more than two months."

It had now been a full two months since Yi Xiaoyao’s arrival at the Washing Sword Sect.

A lot had happened in those two months. Aside from the Washing Sword Sect’s dealings with the major sects, another event had garnered immense public attention.

This event was the update to the Hidden Dragon List rankings, which caused a massive sensation.

Cheng Fu chuckled at this. "With a monstrous genius like Yi Xiaoyao, how could the Seven Kills Star Hall not place great importance on him?"

He had heard, in fact, that the entire sensation surrounding the new Hidden Dragon List rankings was because of Yi Xiaoyao’s placement!

The white-haired elder nodded. "He is indeed a genius, which makes it a real pity for him to be wasting his time here. No wonder their Hall Master is so anxious."

As he spoke, the white-haired elder said to Cheng Fu, "Come, you’ll accompany me. Let’s go try to persuade Yi Xiaoyao."

The two of them set off for the Underground Stone Palace as they spoke.

Along the way, Cheng Fu asked the white-haired elder, "Master, what’s the story behind that statue?"

"It’s a long story," the white-haired elder explained. "Back then, the eighteenth Sect Leader discovered that the ’three inches’ of the Inch-Killing Swordsmanship was not its true limit. So, he carved a stone statue of himself and meditated before it, seeking to comprehend the ultimate form of this swordsmanship. In the end, however, he suffered a catastrophic qi deviation."

Cheng Fu grew even more curious. "So what is the ultimate form of the Inch-Killing Swordsmanship?"

"Leaving only one inch of the blade within the scabbard! If one could master that one-inch limit, its power would reach that of a high-grade Earth Tier swordsmanship!"

The white-haired elder’s eyes glinted slightly. A high-grade Earth Tier swordsmanship, after all, was something that didn’t exist in the entire Great Shang Dynasty.

Cheng Fu gasped. Then he chuckled and said, "A swordsmanship of that level... No wonder you gained nothing from it, Master, even after meditating before the statue for decades."

"Exactly. I know this better than anyone. It is absolutely impossible for that Yi Xiaoyao to comprehend the Inch-Killing Swordsmanship from it!"

The white-haired elder finished with another chuckle. "And that is why I’m having you come with me to persuade him to abandon this foolish path."

Chatting and chuckling, the two arrived at the Underground Stone Palace. But in the next moment, they both froze stock-still.

Before them, Yi Xiaoyao stood perfectly still, yet a massive crack had abruptly appeared on the stone wall in front of him!

And the longsword in Yi Xiaoyao’s hand had not left its scabbard at all—not by an inch, not even by half an inch!

"I’ve finally done it!"

Yi Xiaoyao looked at the astonishing gash before him and broke into a satisfied grin.

In truth, he had already mastered this swordsmanship a month ago. However, he had discovered that "three inches" was not its true limit.

So, for more than a month, Yi Xiaoyao had been in pursuit of that ultimate form, and today, he had finally unleashed this slash.

With this slash, the blade had not left the scabbard in the slightest, yet the entire process—drawing, killing, sheathing—had happened at the pinnacle of speed.

’No flash of the blade, an invisible, instant kill!’

’Therefore, it’s no longer fitting to call this Inch-Killing Swordsmanship. I’ll call it the Instant Kill Sword!’

Yi Xiaoyao muttered to himself, christening the technique with a more fitting name.

...