Sovereign of Stars-Chapter 8 – Guidance

Outside the True Martial Pavilion, hundreds had gathered, including Su Yuning, all intently watching the tower lights on the black tower.
When they saw even Yuan Qing, the manager of the Crimson Dragon Tower, being alerted, they realized that the person challenging the True Martial Pavilion must be doing something extraordinary.
Sure enough, they saw one tower light after another light up.
The ninth floor, the tenth floor, the eleventh floor...
In the end, even the fourteenth floor's light lit up.
Everyone was stunned.
The vast square fell silent, enveloped in an unprecedented shock and disbelief.
"The... the fourteenth floor..." Su Yuning murmured.
She had initially thought that Su Xin took quite a while to pass the eighth floor, subconsciously believing he wouldn't make it past the ninth. But who would have thought...
What she didn't know was that before Su Xin reached the twelfth floor, he hadn't been serious at all, merely toying with the battle puppets, which is why it took him a bit longer.
"A True Martial Realm cultivator passing the fourteenth floor of the True Martial Pavilion indicates his skills are comparable to or even surpass those of an ordinary Void Shattering Realm expert. Such a genius in skill, there might not be another like him in the entire Heavenflame Dynasty," someone nearby exclaimed in shock.
At this moment, the fourteen tower lights on the True Martial Pavilion extinguished simultaneously, and the tower door opened.
"
Look quickly!
"
"
He's coming out!
"
Everyone's gaze instantly turned towards the direction of the tower door.
Whoosh!
A figure descended from the void, landing directly in front of the tower door.
As Su Xin stepped out of the True Martial Pavilion, he immediately sensed countless fiery gazes.
These gazes were indeed 'fiery,' filled with undisguised shock, awe, and envy.
A True Martial Realm cultivator passing the fourteenth floor of the True Martial Pavilion was simply unbelievable.
"Greetings, young friend." A white-haired Yuan Qing stood before Su Xin, smiling warmly. "I am Yuan Qing, the manager of the Crimson Dragon Tower in Yongning Prefecture."
"Manager Yuan Qing." Su Xin nodded.
"May I know your name, young friend?" Yuan Qing asked.
"Sword One," Su Xin replied.
He had decided on this alias before challenging the True Martial Pavilion.
"Sword One?" Yuan Qing's heart stirred, immediately understanding it was just an alias, realizing Su Xin didn't intend to reveal his identity, so he didn't press further.
"You've passed the fourteenth floor of the True Martial Pavilion, which qualifies you for a 'Earth Level' token from our Crimson Dragon Tower." Yuan Qing handed a gilded token to Su Xin, with the words 'Crimson Dragon' elegantly inscribed on it.
"
Earth Level, huh?
" Su Xin raised an eyebrow.
The Crimson Dragon Tower had four levels of tokens: Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow, representing different levels of authority within the tower.
The 'Yellow Level' token had the lowest authority but could still request the Crimson Dragon Tower to handle minor matters.
The highest 'Heaven Level' token granted significant authority; typically, its holder could directly request entry into the Heavenflame Dynasty's highest 'Genius Concentration Camp' for training and receive abundant resources from the dynasty.
However, obtaining a 'Heaven Level' token was extremely difficult, requiring passing the fifteenth floor of the True Martial Pavilion or the third floor of the Dragon-Seeking Tower at the Sea Transformation Realm. Such geniuses might only appear once every several years or even decades in the entire Heavenflame Dynasty.
Though Su Xin's achievement of passing the fourteenth floor was astonishing, it still fell short of the 'Heaven Level' token requirements.
"The Earth Level token is more than enough." Su Xin accepted the token, feeling quite pleased.
"According to the rules, with the Earth Level token, you have significant authority within our Crimson Dragon Tower. If you need our assistance or resources, feel free to ask. As long as it's within your authority, we will fulfill it," Yuan Qing smiled.
"However, we won't interfere in your growth. If you encounter danger or enemies, we won't intervene."
"I understand," Su Xin nodded.
The Crimson Dragon Tower indeed wouldn't interfere with the growth of geniuses. In fact, they believed that some appropriate dangers or potential enemies could serve as valuable training for these geniuses, so they wouldn't get involved.
"I do need some Supreme-Grade Spirit Gathering Pills," Su Xin said.
"Supreme-Grade Spirit Gathering Pills?" Yuan Qing chuckled.
Due to their high grade and low refinement success rate, Supreme-Grade Spirit Gathering Pills were extremely precious and rare. However, they were only useful to True Martial Realm cultivators and had limited use for those above the Sea Transformation Realm.
Therefore, in the eyes of high-level experts in the Heavenflame Dynasty, these pills weren't considered particularly valuable resources. With Su Xin's current 'Earth Level' authority, obtaining some Supreme-Grade Spirit Gathering Pills was naturally no problem.
"How many do you need?" Yuan Qing asked.
"Twenty," Su Xin replied.
He didn't intend to ask for more. Twenty Supreme-Grade Spirit Gathering Pills were enough for him to use freely in the True Martial Realm. Once he broke through to the Sea Transformation Realm, they would be of no use.
Yuan Qing immediately instructed the Crimson Dragon Tower's steward.
"Please wait a moment, young friend. I've already sent someone to prepare them, and the pills will be delivered shortly," Yuan Qing said.
"Thank you," Su Xin smiled slightly.
At this moment...
"Excuse me, sir." A graceful figure approached.
"Ning Sister?" Su Xin's expression turned peculiar; it was Su Yuning.
"Su Yuning of the Su Family humbly requests your guidance, sir." Su Yuning clasped her hands around her sword and bowed deeply, her posture extremely humble.
A commotion arose around them.
Everyone couldn't help but admire Su Yuning's courage.
After all, the mysterious swordsman 'Sword One' before them had just passed the fourteenth floor of the True Martial Pavilion. His swordsmanship was unmatched in the True Martial Realm across the entire Heavenflame Dynasty, while Su Yuning couldn't even pass the ninth floor. The gap between them was immense, spanning several levels.
With such a vast difference, one would typically only look up in awe, yet Su Yuning dared to step forward and request guidance.
...
Su Yuning remained bowed, her beautiful face biting her lip gently.
She knew her approach was somewhat abrupt, but she mustered the courage.
After all, she was also a swordswoman, and the opponent's swordsmanship was the highest she had ever seen. At least within the Su Family, there was no one with such high swordsmanship. She didn't want to miss the opportunity to seek advice in person.
Su Xin looked at Su Yuning with a peculiar expression, then nodded after a moment, lowering his voice, "Alright, I agree."
Su Yuning was immediately overjoyed.
The surrounding crowd, including Yuan Qing, was taken aback.
They hadn't expected the obviously distinguished 'Sword One' to actually agree to offer guidance.
"
PHEW!
"
Su Yuning exhaled softly, first retreating a certain distance, then drawing her long sword, "Sir, your cultivation is at the eighth level of the True Martial Realm, so I will also suppress my strength to that level."
"Go ahead," Su Xin replied casually.
Whoosh!
Su Yuning struck, a dazzling sword shadow appearing, as if snowflakes were falling in the surrounding air.
"Drifting Snow Sword Art?" Su Xin chuckled.
Su Yuning was using the Su Family's Drifting Snow Sword Art, which Su Xin was very familiar with.
Sword shadows, like drifting snowflakes, came at him one after another. Su Xin simply stood there, casually swinging his sword without using any particular sword art, just simple slashes, yet each one struck the 'snowflakes' at their weak points, causing them to dissipate.
"
Amazing!
"
Su Yuning exclaimed in admiration, then immediately executed the strongest move of the Drifting Snow Sword Art... the Snow Slashing Style!
The Snow Slashing Style consisted of nine strikes, each faster than the last.
Having practiced this sword art for years, Su Yuning could already unleash eight consecutive strikes.
She knew the terrifying swordsmanship of 'Sword One' before her, so she went all out, unleashing all eight strikes.
Yet, Su Xin remained standing in place, not taking a single step, still using simple sword swings. With a few clashing sounds, the eight incredibly fast sword lights were all blocked.
"Just like that, he blocked my eight Snow Slashing strikes?" Su Yuning was incredulous.
"Use your strongest sword art," Su Xin said.
"Sir, be careful."
Su Yuning's face flushed slightly, then she leaped up, her beautiful figure like a phoenix descending upon the world, her long sword slashing down with a burst of light.
"
So beautiful!
"
The onlookers were somewhat entranced.
"Phoenix Descending Sword?" Su Xin's eyes narrowed slightly, "Unfortunately, it's only the first move."
CLANG!
A sound of clashing swords rang out, and Su Yuning's sword flew from her hand, while a sharp sword edge was already at her fair neck.
"Defeated already?" Su Yuning felt the coldness at her neck, her heart shaken.
Su Xin, however, spoke coldly, "
Crude, too crude! The sword art itself is strong, but from your hands, it's a mess, focusing on form over intent, emphasizing the form of the sword moves while forgetting the essence of the sword art. It looks beautiful and mesmerizing, but it's useless!
"
"
Think it over!
"
With that, Su Xin sheathed his sword and turned to leave.
"Form over intent? Focusing on the form of the sword moves while forgetting the essence of the sword art?" Su Yuning's mind buzzed as if struck by lightning.
After a moment, she regained her composure and respectfully bowed to Su Xin, "Thank you for your guidance, sir!"
Hearing this, Su Xin, with his back to Su Yuning, couldn't help but touch his nose, a playful smile appearing on his face.
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He remembered how, as a child, Su Yuning would often pat his head, saying how she would guide him in the future. But now...
"If Ning Sister knew that the 'sir' she spoke of was the little guy she used to pat on the head, I wonder what her expression would be," Su Xin thought to himself.
Proofreader & Editor: Lyra