Eastern Azure Dragon Continent, Sword Casting Villa:
Villa Master Jian Yi stood before a formation, watching w.a.n.g Tian and Ji Lanfang battle it out like mortals, using only pure swordsmans.h.i.+p. As he experienced this peak demonstration of skills, he remembered the first time he picked a sword, learning the basic moves of the sword.
'Is this why he's so better than me?' he asked himself. Over the years, he has cultivated basic swordsmans.h.i.+p, returning to the basics to reach higher realms. However, he was not as consistent as he should have been.
Instead, he focused on practicing and cultivating more powerful and unique sword techniques, hoping to find a way to surpa.s.s w.a.n.g Tian and avenge the humiliation of that generation.
Jian Yi has never forgotten that year. w.a.n.g Tian had just entered the Saint Realm, so he decided to build momentum for himself before the final battle. So, he left the Dao Opening Sect and challenged every swordsman with a decent reputation.
During this grand journey of swordsmans.h.i.+p, the Emperor Lineages, who focused on swordsmans.h.i.+p, suffered the greatest humiliation as w.a.n.g Tian suppressed the younger and older generations. During that time, many swordsmen broke their swords and swore never to touch a sword and practice' they cut off their Sword Path after seeing how high w.a.n.g Tian's swordsmans.h.i.+p reached.
'Back then, he did not have such a deep foundation and still suppressed a generation of swordsmen. Now, I cannot fathom how high he's reached,' thought Jian Yi with a look of desolation.
He took a moment to control his emotions before taking out his swords. It was blue similar to w.a.n.g Tian, but with clouds designed on them. This sword was the first sword he ever forged, and he used it as his Proving Dao Artifact. It was blue similar to w.a.n.g Tian, but with clouds designed on them.
At that time, he was young and inexperienced, so he gave the sword a simple and direct name: Blue Cloud.
Without saying much, Jian Yi practiced basic swordsmans.h.i.+p as he watched the two clash. In a few hours, his Sword Realm drastically improved, thus also increasing his overall strength.
Jian Yi exhaled deeply as he finally found a way to improve moving forward. The irony is the answer was simple: practice the basic. He shook his head with a wry smile before saying: "Someone, come."
"Villa Master," said a disciple who bowed after entering the room. Jian Yi paused after hearing these words as a more profound sadness enveloped him. Their Sword Casting Villa should have already elected a new Villa Master. Unfortunately, no one in the current generation is talented enough to take the post.
"Go bring Shuang'er," he ordered after calming down his emotions. The disciple was momentarily surprised, but he did not say anything else. A few minutes later, he escorted a handsome young man in a wheelchair.
Jian Wushuang sat in the wheelchair with a listless aura and no expression. Even though someone pushed him inside, even though he met his master, he had a blank look and was not responsive.
Jian Yi looked at his disciple with pain in his eyes. No matter what the villa tried, they could not cure Jian Wushuang. So, they understood that the latter needed to get out of this situation on his own.
A cunning light flashed in Jian Yi's eyes as he rolled Jian Wushuang's wheelchair before the formation, allowing him to experience this peak swordsmans.h.i.+p battle.
Meanwhile, w.a.n.g Tian and Ji Lanfang's battle continued in the Central Qilin Continent.
After the previous 81 swords, the two chatted briefly before continuing their demonstration. They waved their swords to create 90 swords before them. And this time, the power of law echoed from their bodies.
Despite the appearance of the Power of Law, this battle was still a display of pure skills. Technically speaking, a mortal swordsman could cultivate their swordsmans.h.i.+p realm to the level of controlling the laws.
However, such action would result in their death after one attack. And that's because, without sufficient cultivation realms, their souls and body cannot withstand utilizing such a level of power.
Of course, for a mortal to achieve such a feat, they must have a high talent like Sword Empress, w.a.n.g Tian, and Ji Lanfang. And they would need some level of luck or opportunity.
The 90 swords clashed together: Ji Lanfang's Absolute Speed Law and w.a.n.g Tian's Absolute Cut Law confronted each other, trying to determine which person has the most profound comprehension of Sword Law.
The sounds of swords howling echoed between Heaven and Earth. Potent Sword Energy shone through the sky, cutting anything in their paths. All laws in the domain were scattered, leaving room only for the Law of Sword to reign supreme.
"Still a tie," commented w.a.n.g Tian with bright eyes.
"Indeed," replied Ji Lanfang with a slight surprise. He thought his friend's realm would be tainted after losing his "purity" after tempering his body. But so far, there are no indications of such a thing.
"Then, let's continue."
"As you wish," nodded Ji Lanfang as he condensed 99 Swords before him. And as soon as they appeared, Heaven and Earth changed. Ji Lanfang took complete control of the laws of the surrounding environment. At that moment, he was Heavenly Dao and determined how the Sword Laws of Heaven and Earth operated.
And w.a.n.g Tian did not fall behind. He deployed his Sword Domain which manifested in the form of 99 swords.
The domain suddenly separated into two. If a swordsman stood by Ji Lanfang's side, they would discover they could only use fast swords. They could not use slow sword techniques, elegant sword techniques, variations sword techniques, or deceptive techniques.
And if they were on w.a.n.g Tian's side, they would discover they could not stab, parry, sweep, or evade–they could only cut.
The two forcibly bend the laws of reality in their surrounding, forcing their Swords' Path on the world, forcing Heaven and Earth to acknowledge their Sword Dao as the "correct" rule of the universe.
Bang!
The 99 Swords clashed, creating devastating power. The vortex of energy produced by their clash is enough to kill 1 or 2 Leaf Immortal Venerable.
Many people became scared after seeing the aftermath–especially members of the older generation; they did not imagine w.a.n.g Tian would reach such a level. The current generation–who previously looked down on the former because of the lack of people who broke the barrier between Mortal and Immortal–finally showed some respect.
Swordsmen throughout the Myriad Emperor had complicated emotions. They were proud as w.a.n.g Tian showed the world why they were considered the type of cultivator with the greatest attacks.
Simultaneously, they despaired as they realized the immense difference between them and the pinnacle of swordsmans.h.i.+p. Most gave up as they saw what the pinnacle looked like, but a few became motivated and decided to follow w.a.n.g Tian's path to death–even if they could never reach such a level.
w.a.n.g Tian secretly sighed after the aftermath of their confrontation ended. He lost by a slight margin in the confrontation–just like Ji Lanfang did during their clash with Sword Essence.
"It's a tie again," said Ji Lanfang this time around.
"True."
"Then, it seems we need to decide the final victor with an actual battle," he added. Previously, they only tested their realm. But an actual battle involved myriad things like their soul, energy quant.i.ty inside their bodies, control of laws, battle experience, and tactics.
"No, you have already lost," w.a.n.g Tian declared boldly.
"What do you mean?"
"Sword Domain is not the highest realm of swordsmans.h.i.+p, and there are not only 11 realms, but twelve."
In the previous battle, the two displayed all the realms or stages a swordsman would experience throughout their lives. Everyone began with learning and mastering basic swordsmans.h.i.+p before entering the first stage: sword slash. There are four levels of sword slash, and each realm requires more skills.
The fifth realm is Sword Heart: the swordsman is no longer limited by the sword in his hand. In this realm, a piece of wood, hair, or a string of gra.s.s can be a sword.
Afterward is the Soul Sword or Mind Sword. In this realm, the swordsmen's attacks are no longer limited to physical aspects and can touch ethereal or nonreal concepts like the soul.
The seventh stage is when swordsmen begin to control the power of Heaven and Earth. In some cultivation systems, the swordsman has to comprehend Sword Intent before slowly reaching the stage of controlling the Power of Heaven and Earth. In others, they directly do it.
The eighth stage is Sword Essence, which requires swordsmen to gather the essence of countless sword techniques and incorporate it into their own, thus strengthening their foundation. The ninth stage condenses all these Sword Essences into the manifestation of a swordsman's path–their Sword Will.
The tenth stage is to control the Law, and the eleventh stage is the Sword Domain, where a swordsman has absolute control of the law, imposing his own Sword Dao on the world.
These stages are not all the swordsmans.h.i.+p realms, and depending on the cultivation systems, some swordsmen will not follow a linear path when cultivating these realms. For example, some people will condense their Sword Will first before nouris.h.i.+ng it with their Sword Essence.
And many swordsmen will skip the fourth level of Sword Slash or would cultivate it after reaching higher realms.
"I call this realm Sword and Sword Unity," said w.a.n.g Tian with a smile.