In the Divine Sword Mountain, sword aura hung in the air like a giant fog.
As Austin walked up, he felt it pressing down on him with every step he took. It was so dense that he
could barely see a foot in front of his nose.
The higher Austin went, the more pressure he discovered. It was becoming hard to walk upright.
Suddenly, a thin, old man in white appeared above him, blocking the path. He stared at Austin coldly
and said slowly in a domineering voice,
"Young man, please wait."
'It's the sword servant!'
Austin thought as his jaw slackened.
Sure enough, the sword servant appeared as he had expected.
The old man in white stood straight and stiff like a sword. His eyes were as sharp as two beams of
sword-light, which was extremely terrifying.
He looked dignified and indifferent.
"Sir."
Austin bowed respectfully to the old man.
At the same time, he released the auras of Master Sword's and his four disciples' spiritual souls. They
circled Austin before they condensed and turned into five figures. They stood on either side of him.
Austin had shown them on purpose.
The middle-aged man in the Ice Sword World had told him that
it would help him if he were to encounter the sword servants.
When the old man saw the figures of Master Sword and his four disciples, his face immediately
softened.
"Greetings, sirs."
He then bowed to the figures one at a time.
However, the auras of Master Sword's and his four disciples' spiritual souls were too weak to respond
to him.
The old man then shifted his gaze to Austin, shook his head, and said firmly,
"Young man, you are not a creature of our cosmos.
Since you are a friend of these elders, I won't make things difficult for you. But you must go back down
the mountain.
You can't come here."
Austin faltered.
"Sir, I was told to come here.
I hope you can excuse me and allow me to pass,"
Austin replied.
"Young man, say no more.
If you want to climb the top of the Divine Sword Mountain, you must meet two requirements. First, you
must be a sword cultivator, and second, you must be a creature of the Sword Cosmos,"
the old man replied as he shook his head, refusing to make an exception for Austin.
"Sir, I'm a sword cultivator.
And even if I'm not a native creature of the Sword Cosmos, the swordsmanship I'm practicing comes
from it."
Austin tried once more.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As soon as he had finished speaking, a bright flying sword shot out of his mouth and flew in circles in
the air above him.
"You're right. It does come from the Sword Cosmos,"
the old man said, nodding.
"Okay. I want to see more.
Remember, you can only use the swordsmanship of the Sword Cosmos against me,"
he added.
"Okay."
Austin nodded firmly.
In fact, the middle-aged man had already told Austin that he would encounter this obstacle.
The sword servant was the spirit of the Divine Sword Mountain.
The Divine Sword Mountain was representative of swordsmanship everywhere.
Therefore, the sword servants on the Divine Sword Mountain were the guardians of the
swordsmanship.
Only powerful swordsmen were qualified to climb the Divine Sword Mountain.
The weak were not qualified enough to even stand there.
If one wanted to climb the mountain, he had to pass the test of the sword servants.
Knowing this, Austin had already been mentally preparing for this test.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The old man waved his hand. In an instant, powerful sword aura was surging and rolling forward.
A moment later, the sword aura condensed into a sharp sword as thick as an adult's finger and slowly
slashed at Austin.
Although it was very small in size, the monstrous sword intent it released made Austin's face turn
white.
Under the control of Austin's mind, the sword aura he had practiced all his life also gushed out of his
body, causing the sword aura to cover his body.
Now, he looked like a glittering hedgehog.
Shoop!
The bright flying sword flew to meet the sword servant's.
Austin's flying sword was so bright that one had to momentarily shield his eyes if he were present. The
overwhelming energy waves made a loud noise and then turned into a vast sea of energy.
The sword servant's sword stayed steady, swimming towards Austin like a tiny fish.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The two swords collided,
creating loud sound.
It was a pure competition of swordsmanship,
without any other energy or secret skills involved.
As the two parties competed, the endless sword aura on the Divine Sword Mountain spread outwards,
shaking the air and creating ripples.
Austin didn't find this alarming.
Once they started fighting, they would definitely make a lot of noise.
However, the people of the four major forces stationed on the divine mountains around the Divine
Sword Mountain heard the commotion.
"Damn it! Someone has broken into the Divine Sword Mountain."
"Let's go and see what's going on!"
Many figures raced towards the trouble, ready to capture whoever it was.
"Young man, your swordsmanship is not natural enough.
It's true that you're good at swordsmanship
and it's safe to say that not a lot of sword cultivators can defeat you,
but your swordsmanship is too aggressive and sharp. That's its shortcoming.
In the real perfect realm of swordsmanship, one should control his sword from the heart in a flexible
and stable way.
Your swordsmanship is superficial, sharp, and insufficient. You don't have perfect control over it yet.
Can't you see it? You've alarmed so many creatures with one move,"
the sword servant explained.
"Sir, you are a master of swordsmanship. I'm nobody in front of you,"
Austin said with shame, slumping his shoulders.
"You can leave now.
You are not a creature of the Sword Cosmos and your swordsmanship is too superficial. My guess is
that you must have been too eager to advance and you didn't enhance every step of the way.
For the time being, you are not qualified to go further in the Divine Sword Mountain,"
the old man said as he waved his hand, denying Austin's access.
"Sir, thank you for your advice.
I will come back again.
I must climb up the Divine Sword Mountain!"
Austin bowed to the old man respectfully before he turned around and left.
"Well, even though he has some shortcomings in his swordsmanship cultivation base, he has a strong
will which is consistent with the true meaning of swordsmanship."
The sword servant looked at Austin as he retreated and nodded. Then his body twisted before turning
into streams of sharp sword auras.
Austin walked along a mountain road towards the foot of the mountain.
By now, groups of creatures had come to the foot of the Divine Sword Mountain and were blocking his
way.
Out of options, Austin used the Secret Reincarnation Skill to hide himself.
"Just now, I saw a fight on the Divine Sword Mountain!
Someone must have broken in!"
"Do you think that someone from the Blade Cosmos got in?"
"Everyone, be careful. We can't let the invader run away from us!"
the people of the four major forces of the Sword Cosmos shouted.
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