Chapter 1781 - 456: Lone Spark, Sword Dao Cang Xuan (2)

Chapter 1781: Chapter 456: Lone Spark, Sword Dao Cang Xuan (2)

Cang Xuan finally raised his head, his gaze firm, and looked at his grandfather:

"Grandfather, I’m not going to the Spiritual Ability Academy."

He put down his bowl and chopsticks, tightly gripping the Iron Sword beside him, his tone calm yet resolute:

"I want to stay, inherit the martial arts school, and make the ’Cang’ Sword Dao flourish."

"Nonsense!" The old man raised his voice, filled with the pain of a bitter disappointment:

"Flourish? With what? Look at it now, who wants to learn something so thankless and difficult? Outside is the world, the future, and you’re holding onto an abandoned city and a broken wooden sword. What’s the point?"

Cang Xuan pursed his lips, stubbornly silent.

Seeing his grandson like this, the old man’s entire fury eventually turned into a powerless sigh.

He collapsed back into his chair, gazing out the window at the distant night sky interwoven with dreamlike brilliance, muttering:

"Xuan, it’s not that your grandfather’s Sword Dao is useless; it’s... times have changed. No matter how hard the fist, can it outrun the thought? No matter how sharp the sword, can it cut through the technological steel giants?"

Cang Xuan followed his grandfather’s gaze out the window, the sky’s prosperity contrasted with his solitude, as if they were two worlds.

He retracted his gaze, looking back at his grandfather, speaking resolutely:

"I don’t know if a fist can be faster than thought, or if a sword can cut through steel, but I know that if even we give up, then martial arts would truly be dead... I want to try again."

Inside, a prolonged silence fell.

The old man looked at the unyielding flame in his grandson’s eyes, finally letting out a long sigh.

As time passed, the figure of the young man swinging his sword at the wooden post grew taller.

Spring turns to autumn, and his grandfather’s sighs still echo beside him, yet the front of the old martial arts school was gradually overgrown with weeds.

The old man, in the end, couldn’t see how far his grandson’s "attempt" would go, and peacefully rested, leaving this empty martial arts school and heavy heritage to Cang Xuan.

Now, Cang Xuan has grown into a young man.

He still practices swordsmanship every day, cleans the martial arts school, guarding a promise he made when young that no one understands.

Martial City grows increasingly withering, and he became one of the few still breathing the "air of the past" in this ancient city.

But the flood of the era won’t stop for personal perseverance; instead, it sweeps in a way none could anticipate.

This day, Cang Xuan was practicing swordplay in the courtyard like usual.

Suddenly, all places in the city were forcibly cut into a signal simultaneously.

A voice, filled with uncontainable excitement, broadcasted through the ubiquitous Dream Net, resonating in every corner:

"Urgent broadcast! Great breakthrough! The Chief Dream Weaver team has successfully anchored a new coordinate in the ocean of deep subconsciousness."

Cang Xuan stopped his sword, raised his head.

On the broken screen ahead, displayed the vast Star Sea and countless complex shapes, a scholar was waving excitedly:

"It’s a vast unbounded Big World, whose resources are abundant, energy levels high, far surpassing our wildest imaginations. Preliminary observations show that this world contains Infinite possibilities for our Dream Weaving Civilization to achieve Ultimate advancement."

"We have named it: Land of Dreams."

"Comrades, a new Era for Dream Weaving Civilization is about to start. Our future is limitless."

The entire Dream Weaving World fell into unprecedented fervor.

Cheering erupted in Floating Cities, and countless people immersed themselves in this new future.

In the decaying Martial City, the remaining residents also took to the streets, discussing the world-shaking discovery.

Only Cang Xuan stood quietly in the dilapidated martial arts school courtyard, once again firmly gripping his sword, continuing to practice.

The sound of the Iron Sword slicing through the air, and the cheers from afar, seemed to come from two entirely different worlds.

After this, the immigrant wave began.

Every year, inspiring news poured in like snowflakes through Dream Net:

"The first batch of pioneers has successfully established an outpost city: New Hope, in the Land of Dreams."

"Spirit Marrow Crystal Ore, unique to the Land of Dreams, proved to greatly amplify Dream Power purity, ushering in a new round of technological explosion."

"The Genetic Path team used samples of Otherworld creatures and successfully discovered new Evolution paths..."

Every year, tens of millions of hopeful Dream Weaving Clan residents traveled to the future city flowing with hope, via giant Dream Teleportation Gate. ℴ𝗆

Martial City grew emptier, and even the last few neighbors sold their possessions, joining the immigrant wave.

Cang Xuan’s street was entirely left with only him.

The last neighbor to leave was an old woman who watched him grow up.

She staggered to the martial arts school door, pushed a small bag of sun-dried fruit he loved as a child into his hands, her eyes full of affection and reluctance:

"Xuanzi, everyone has left... I won’t persuade you anymore. You must take care of yourself."

Cang Xuan held the still-warm dried fruit, watching the old woman board the spaceship leaving the city, turning into a black dot on the horizon.

He stood for a long time before silently turning around and closing the creaking door of the martial arts school.

Shortly after, even the infrastructure maintaining city operations ceased working.

Water and electricity were cut off, and once energy glimmered pipelines and lines became cold fixtures.

Fortunately, Martial City was nestled near mountains and waters, not far from a clear lake that had nurtured the ancient city for millennia.

Cang Xuan, in the backyard of the old martial arts school, relying on the farming techniques he learned from his grandfather in memory, cleared a small piece of land.