Chapter 488 - 415: Heart Control
Chapter 488: Chapter 415: Heart Control
At this thought, Chen Li’s resolve hardened, and with a flip of his hand, he recalled the azure Flying Sword.
Then, he took out the Jade Sword he had acquired in the trade.
The sword was seven inches long, pure white, and as smooth and lustrous as fine suet jade.
Within the blade, a faint light seemed to swirl as if it were a living thing.
A wisp of the Power of his Primordial Spirit reached out, cautiously seeping into the Jade Sword.
The instant his Primordial Spirit touched the Jade Sword...
"BOOM!"
A world-shaking Sword Intent suddenly erupted.
The Sword Intent blazed like a great sun in the sky and bit like the frosts of the highest heavens. It carried an uncompromising momentum, capable of annihilating all creation and shattering all laws, as it ruthlessly slashed down toward Chen Li’s Primordial Spirit.
Chen Li’s expression flickered.
The power of this strike, the sheer intensity of its Sword Intent, far surpassed the fleeting glimpse he had caught during his initial probe.
He was certain that even someone who had already passed through Guiyuan Pass, if caught unprepared by this sudden, world-shaking strike, would suffer greatly. Damage to their Divine Sense would be inevitable.
And if it were merely a Void Transformation Grandmaster whose Divine Embryo rashly entered... it would likely be annihilated by this peerless Sword Intent in moments, their life and Dao extinguished on the spot.
’No wonder they were so confident about trading this item.’
Chen Li realized, sneering inwardly. ’So this was their plan.’
In fact, they wouldn’t even have to get their hands dirty to double-cross their target.
As long as their trading partner was truly a Void Transformation Grandmaster desperate for a True Intent of Martial Dao to achieve a breakthrough, they would surely be eager to send their Divine Embryo into the Jade Sword to comprehend it the moment they got it.
The moment they did, they would be walking right into a trap. It meant certain death, with no chance of survival.
All they would have to do is retrieve the Jade Sword afterward—a clean and simple process, done without anyone ever knowing.
’They probably never guessed that I would need to use a True Martial Dao to awaken the Spirituality of my Second Primordial Spirit.’
After all, by conventional wisdom, the only ones desperate enough to comprehend a True Martial Dao to break through their bottleneck are Void Transformation Grandmasters.
’What a clever scheme.’
Yet, facing a world-shaking Sword Intent powerful enough to gravely wound or even kill the Primordial Spirit of a Grandmaster Guiyuan, Chen Li was utterly unafraid.
With a mere thought, the Qiankun Ruyi Staff was already in his hand.
"Break!"
His Primordial Spirit let out a soft cry. The dark, heavy staff in its hand met the terrifying, descending Sword Intent with a single, simple strike.
There were no flashy moves, only the crushing force of absolute power.
"BOOM!"
The seemingly invincible and destructive Sword Intent quickly dissolved and crumbled under the Qiankun Ruyi Staff, dissipating into motes of light.
With the barrier of Sword Intent broken, the true scene within the Jade Sword unfolded before Chen Li’s eyes.
He looked up to see a vast and boundless ocean. The water was not real but was instead formed from the convergence of countless tiny, glittering motes of Intention.
Above the ocean, a longsword floated silently in the void.
This sword was not a physical object, but rather an image formed purely of Sword Intent, emitting a brilliant yet gentle light.
’Sword of the Sea of Suffering...’
Chen Li’s Primordial Spirit stood at the edge of this sea of Intention, astonished by the wondrous sight.
He had never seen anything like it.
However, with his current level of Cultivation, he quickly noticed something unusual.
His Primordial Spirit slowly crouched down, reaching out a hand to touch the azure water.
The moment his fingertip touched the surface...
In an instant, a torrent of countless chaotic and complex emotions, like a bursting flood, surged madly into his Primordial Spirit through his fingertip.
Joy, anger, sorrow, pleasure, greed, hatred, delusion, fear, love, aversion, desire...
The full spectrum of human feeling, all the flavors of life—countless strange and powerful emotions instantly overwhelmed him, threatening to drag him down into the endless ocean.
Chen Li held fast to his true self. His Primordial Spirit flared with brilliant light, forcibly repelling and severing the invading, chaotic intentions.
He quickly pulled his hand back, flinging off the few drops of "seawater" clinging to his fingertip. The surging emotional tide receded along with them, and clarity returned to his Primordial Spirit.
’So it really is a sea of suffering.’
Chen Li’s brow furrowed slightly.
And that longsword, hanging high above...
He looked up. The sword’s light was brilliant, yet it exuded an uncompromising will—to sever all attachments and transcend the mortal world.
He fell into thought but did not act rashly again. His Primordial Spirit withdrew from the Jade Sword and returned to his body.
When he opened his eyes, the sky was already growing light. The eastern horizon glowed with the pale white of dawn; a new day was about to break.
Chen Li opened the Flying Sword Skill Secret Manual he had obtained from the buxom, white-robed woman.
He had only given it a cursory glance during the trade at Hongyan Pavilion the night before. Now, reading it carefully with a calm mind, he gained a new level of understanding.
The Secret Manual’s opening laid out its core principle: "Control the sword with the heart; clarify the heart with the sword. The highest realm is not the sword controlling the skies, but the heart controlling the self."
Reading this, Chen Li’s gaze sharpened.
The actual swordsmanship techniques and forms were secondary in this Secret Manual. Its true core was the Path of Sword Mastery it expounded upon.
The Secret Manual divided Swordsmanship cultivation into three realms.
The first realm was Sword Control. In this initial stage, a practitioner is cautious and fearful, worried that the sword might drop or veer off course. Every move must be performed meticulously, strictly according to the rules.
The second realm was Sword in Hand. Once one’s Swordsmanship becomes proficient, their understanding deepens, and their movements become fluid and free, harmonizing with the Cultivator’s personality as they begin to comprehend Sword Intent. But this is also the stage where it is easiest to lose one’s way. The stronger their swordsmanship, the more easily they can be controlled by the sword, unknowingly becoming a Sword Slave.
The third realm, Sword Mastery, was Perfection. A master of the sword must first master their own pride, fear, delusion, anger, and other worldly desires. The edge of the blade is not pointed to kill enemies, but to cut away the dust from one’s own heart, revealing the free and true self within.
Having read this far, Chen Li’s gaze swept over the two unconscious, white-robed women in the corner of the temple.
’The Celestial Sword Sect...’
He softly uttered those three words, a flash of understanding in his eyes.
He just didn’t know what status these two women held within the Celestial Sword Sect.
The buxom, white-robed woman was already a Grandmaster Guiyuan, a rare existence. Perhaps she was a Supreme Elder of the Celestial Sword Sect.