"Why are you so certain?"
Moonscar smiled unhurriedly. "Nothing is impossible in this world.
"However, wanting to reach the true realm of 'Taixu' is extremely difficult.
"That is not a realm one can touch merely through diligent cultivation."
Moonscar felt that the Honkai Impact 2 version of Taixu, within the Star Rail Galaxy Universe, might share some philosophical conceptual overlaps with certain Paths.
Merely touching upon it or using it was enough to allow her to contend with an Emanator. Just how strong one would be after completely mastering Taixu, Moonscar really couldn't say for sure.
But just as she said, this was not a realm one could ascend to through hard work alone. It required the 'Taixu Sword Heart,' this idealistic organ, to be thoroughly reborn and sublimated to a profoundly mysterious degree.
Man and Heaven united as one, the Dao sensing all things. This process can be called—Feathering.
It is not the Feathering from a Herrscher to a Herrscher of Human, but the Feathering from a human to an Immortal.
This was a stage Moonscar had summarized and speculated upon based on the empathetic feedback between her and Li Sushang. It looked exactly like cultivating immortality.
Cultivating immortality in the Xianzhou civilization—there's nothing wrong with that!
Currently, although Moonscar herself was still a newcomer to sword art, teaching theoretical knowledge regarding Taixu was no problem at all.
"With your aptitude for the way of the sword, if you cultivate the Taixu Sword God, your strength might be able to step into the Emanator level."
Her slender, scallion-like finger tapped lightly on her chin. Moonscar smiled gently, looking like a big sister holding a lollipop to tempt a little loli.
Of course, there were gaps between Emanator levels, with a massive difference between the upper and lower limits.
If Jingliu could master the Sword God and the Power of Taixu, hacking apart an Emanator of Phantylia's level should be no problem. The Sword God even had a counter-effect against energy lifeforms.
But if she were to face Emanators of the level of Zephyro or Irontomb, she definitely wouldn't be able to win.
Jingliu fell silent.
Subconsciously, she didn't believe Sushang's words. A cultivation method where the final realm could make one comparable to an Aeon—that sounded too inconceivable!
She had lived for one thousand eight hundred years and had never heard of such a thing existing in the universe. It would be more reliable to say she could become an Emanator on the spot.
But...
Her crimson eyes observed the brown-haired girl's expression from start to finish. Jingliu actually gave birth to a feeling that Sushang was stating the truth.
If everything Sushang said was true—cutting away the Mara-struck state, attaining longevity and vision, increasing combat power, and peeking into a higher realm of the sword way—even with Jingliu's mental fortitude, she couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion.
But, the premise was that everything Sushang said was true.
The azure stone floor reflected the cold moonlight. The two stood facing each other, their clothes fluttering without wind. Sword Intent and the aura of frost intertwined in the air, seemingly causing even the flowing clouds and mist to stagnate.
"Wanting to be my teacher won't be that easy."
Jingliu took a step forward. The green leaves by her feet were instantly covered in frost, withering into ice crystals.
"Please, Sister Sushang, demonstrate to me first what 'Taixu' is!"
previously at the Slanted Moon Pavilion, Jingliu and Sushang had only briefly revealed their Intent, stopping before going too far. She could sense the profundity of the Taixu Sword Intent, but it was still far from what Sushang had just described.
To understand Taixu further, the simplest and most convenient way was—the Sword!
Jingliu's figure instantly became blurred. An ice-blue crystal sword, wrapped in biting cold, slashed through the night sky toward Moonscar.
"Alright."
Saying so, Moonscar flicked her wrist, and an ancient sword, entirely azure and aquatic blue, fell into her hand.
"Then let the swords speak. If you lose, take me as your master."
The sword's body was glittering and translucent, as if a clear spring flowed within it. A deep blue dragon shadow coiled around the water-blue Dragon Ball on the sword guard, winding its way up the blade.
Ruoshui God—this was the sword's name.
Herta had researched the Water God Pearl and one-thousandth of the Herrscher of Domination's core enough. After losing interest, she easily combined the Water God Pearl with Ruoshui.
She sent it back to Caelus via Interastral Express delivery.
Moonscar held Ruoshui God, her smile free and easy, and shouted in her heart: "I'm counting on you, the other me!"
Auto-battle, ON!
[Yes, yes, yes, I really can't do anything with you.]
Sensing the control of the body returning to her hands, Li Sushang's figure moved with elegance. Her white wrist raised lightly, and Ruoshui God blocked the fleeting ice-cold sword light in space.
In this instant, Jingliu's willow-leaf brows raised slightly. She could feel that Sushang's temperament had changed again.
It wasn't as obvious as the difference between the goofy Sushang and the Sushang before her eyes, but a change that only top-tier swordsmen could discover during combat.
"Eldest Disciple of the Peerless Freedom Sect, Li Sushang. Please!"
Li Sushang laughed heroically, slashing Ruoshui God horizontally against the ice sword.
"Please!"
Jingliu responded politely, the attacks in her hands ceaseless.
The ice sword was wrapped in a biting cold wave. Frost energy sprinkled toward Li Sushang like moonlight. The white-haired beauty's figure was like lightning, her sword moves like an avalanche of ice and snow, every strike carrying a chill that penetrated deep into the bone.
Wherever the sword light passed, frost rose in the air, and water vapor condensed.
Li Sushang did not yield an inch, the Shape of Taixu changing effortlessly.
Form of the Stout Bamboo: the sword moves were rigid and straight, striking directly at vitals, stable, accurate, and ruthless.
Form of the Ink Chrysanthemum: the sword opened like an ink chrysanthemum, steady and heavy, hiding its sharp edge.
Moonscar, in the body's background, even threw Seele's body control rights to 'White' Seele, letting that part of Seele's consciousness focus on this battle between top-tier kendo masters to experience the flow and changes of the sword moves.
Moonscar was like a sponge meeting water, frantically absorbing combat experience and the variations of sword moves.
This was one of the reasons Caelus's sword skills progressed at god-like speed.
Wholeheartedly and detailedly experiencing the realm and methods of a sword grandmaster—who else but him could use such a cultivation method?
The two figures flickered above the ruins, lights of sabers and shadows of swords crisscrossing.
Li Sushang and Jingliu were currently not using energy, merely comparing sword moves.
Judging from the current results, it was six of one, half a dozen of the other.
Li Sushang's advantage lay in the profundity of the Taixu Sword Art, while Jingliu's advantage lay in the long cultivation time of a long-life species. For the time being, it could be seen as a clash between mechanics and stats.
"Flowing Shadow!"
The more Jingliu fought, the hotter her scarlet eyes became.
Path energy condensed into dozens of prismatic ice crystal swords floating behind her, each refracting a fierce murderous intent.
"Good timing. Sword Activation · Chaotic Thunder."
Ruoshui God glowed with azure-blue light. As Li Sushang waved her sword, sword qi condensed into an equal number of Ruoshui God sword shadows in the void, dissipating all the incoming ice crystal swords into nothingness.
"Ancient Mirror Illuminating Spirit."
In an instant, the entire spacetime seemed to be dragged into the freezing hell of the Nine Underworlds. A bone-chilling blizzard whipped up within a radius of a hundred zhang centered on Jingliu.
Ice crystals spread immediately. The battlefield seemed to transform into a Profound Ice Ancient Mirror, the moonlight scattering to refract a thousand rays of frost.
The Mara-struck and Abundance Spirit Beasts attracted to the edge of the domain by the commotion stopped abruptly. The cold wave climbed up their bodies like a living thing, turning them into ice sculptures of various postures.
"Soul is for the furnace."
The azure stone floor tiles frosted over inch by inch. Li Sushang tapped her toes lightly and leaped backward. Ruoshui God drew a semi-arc horizontally; the dragon shadow on the sword body was awakened, letting out a roar.
The control of the wind and snow blowing toward her was stripped away, and then, the flying snow condensed into sharp edges.
"Nine Wilds Horizontal Sword!"
Over a hundred sword shadows pierced into the ground, forming a sword array. Amidst the tremors of the sword blades, the cold wave receded, melting the frozen earth and ice prisms within fifty zhang into a lake.
Li Sushang leaped lightly to the top of a sword shadow. Her skirt hem fluttered like crane wings. The array of long swords beneath her feet rotated slowly following the guidance of her sword incantation, each one reflecting the golden inscriptions of the Taixu Sword Art.
"This is... a Sword Array Domain."
Jingliu could perceive an invisible gravitational force wanting to drag her into the center of the sword array.
The Ancient Mirror Illuminating Spirit domain did not achieve the effect she imagined against the opponent.
It was quite a coincidence; both the Jade Knight and Jingliu were Ice attribute~!
Same-attribute damage reduction~
"Not bad!"
Jingliu became increasingly delighted; it was the excitement of meeting an opponent with comparable sword skills after a long time.
"Intercepting Cloud Edge!"
Li Sushang raised her sword fingers. Sixty flying swords shot out in response, the sword shadows dragging ice-blue trails as they pierced toward Jingliu.
Jingliu wore a look of madness. The ice sword in her hand danced wildly, shattering the sword shadows one by one.
"Sharpness of Thunder."
Riding the Void, Li Sushang's figure fluttered like an immortal. She drove the sword shadow beneath her feet to attack Jingliu with the momentum of a thunderbolt.
"Good array method."
The aura of frost around Jingliu increased steeply. She held the sword backhanded, her wrist swirling lightly. The sword body dragged out traces of frost as it sliced out.
Flawless Flying Light!
This was Jingliu's sword method, and also the honorific title the Xianzhou people gave her when she was one of the legendary High-Cloud Quintet.
A crescent-shaped sword qi ten zhang long blasted apart the sword shadow, halting Li Sushang's thunderous thrust.
"Is this the powerful swordsman of this world?"
Ruoshui God held horizontally before her chest, Li Sushang blocked a strike of Flawless Flying Light, flashing as she landed on a sword shadow.
"Sure enough, so strong."
Ordinary stat suppression.
"This young lady is going to start getting serious!"
The excitement of meeting a powerful martial arts opponent wasn't exclusive to Jingliu; Li Sushang, who had admired xia (heroes) since childhood, also liked to make friends through martial arts.
"Sword, Rise!"
Letting out a slightly hyper shout, the girl spun her body and hung upside down. As she leaped up, a phantom of a giant sword condensed, and Sushang landed nimbly on the sword shadow.
Sword Control.
Buzz buzz buzz~!
Accompanying the spread of invisible Taixu Heart Qi, the Qi of heaven and earth seemed to be mobilized. Ink-blue sword shadows condensed one after another in the space surrounding the battlefield, filling the sky and covering the earth.
"This!"
Jingliu was only slightly moved at first, but after sweeping her gaze over the number of sword shadows, she stared wide-eyed in astonishment.
It wasn't that her strength was insufficient, but that she was startled by the scene Sushang had created.
According to the judgment of the Cloud Knight Martial Scriptures, being able to divide one's mind to command six flying swords in a single breath, with free control, was something the Chief Instructor of the Cloud Knights might not be able to accomplish even after practicing for another hundred years.
Although the difficulty of commanding flying swords was different from using Qi to manifest swords and then commanding them, the quantity before her eyes was a bit too outrageous!
"Try this move."
Li Sushang raised her arm. Ruoshui God lifted up. The sword shadows constituting the sword array detached from the ground. Together with the newly manifested sword shadows, they gathered behind her like hundreds of rivers returning to the sea, forming a sword wheel that penetrated heaven and earth.
"Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Heart!"
Amidst the explosive shout, the sword wheel shattered with a boom. Hundreds and thousands of sword shadows surged toward Jingliu like a tidal wave.
"Good!"
The tips of the sword shadows revealed their sharp edges. The chill around Jingliu became even denser. Her black veil fluttered without wind, and her eyes suddenly became even more crimson. Moonlight and cold radiance flowed on the ice sword.
Gloom-blue rosy rays surged outward continuously, like a giant ice sword facing a crashing colossal wave.
Her slender arm and wrist waved dozens of times in an instant, breaking the air yet remaining silent.
The contact between the two did not result in a heaven-shaking loud noise. Countless sword lights burst forth like a storm of pear blossoms, tearing through the void and emitting wails.
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