Sword Heart. The sharpening of one's mind.
Sword Nurturing Pagoda. The nurturing of a "sword" (lit. Dao) with one's mind.
Thunder-Like Sword. Putting all of one's heart into a single sword.
Sword Light Refraction. Everything can be a sword.
Four realms. Each one of them is the culmination of the past. Similarly, the fifth realm of sword cultivation is as such.
Innate Sword Soul. The man and sword unites as one. One is a sword, as much as a sword is one.
Simply put, the cultivator's state of mind reached a point where every sword strike embodies his very self. Every blow is akin to a blow that gives their all. The biggest hurdle in this sword realm is to reach a very pure and high-level sense of self.
Fortunately…
This opportunity is enough.
My changes did not end there.
{Blade Mantra: True Form > ???}
The next stage to the Blade Mantra took form. I thought for a moment as the question marks were replaced with something else.
{Blade Mantra: True Form > Heart Intention}
The biggest changes came from its capabilities..
The fourth level, Taixuan, can unleash [Blade Eminence]. The fifth level, True Form, can unleash an ultimate attack stronger than that. It doesn't have a name yet.
Wait a minute. It has one now. I will call it the [Sword of Emptiness].
The sixth level, [Heart Intention], is a level above [True Form] when it comes to controlling imaginary energy. I can even do things beyond the comprehension of this world's natives… such as surviving in the Imaginary Tree with my bare body.
Scratch-!
Zoom-!
It felt like a long time had passed, but only five seconds did in reality. The breakthrough to [Innate Sword Soul] and [Heart Intention] occurred instantly.
The Herrscher of the End demonstrated a brand new power. The ink-black void was stained with white light. My physical body started to slow down. It became evident that she is using her authority over time.
Moreover…
Dharma Laws.
She used Dao Laws-level Herrscher Authorities when I used my Golden Core power. Now that I showed her the Nascent Soul power, she also began using it..!
My physical body could not resist it.
Sou-!
A loud, whistling sound rang across the vacuum space. I only had a moment to react.
The [Beginningless Sword] in my grasp glowed with bright white light. The power I called out from before—the willpower of every single person on Earth—assimilated into a sword strike.
The vastness of this power astounded even me. I only had a notion of trying, yet it succeeded. I did not hesitate to add [Heart Intention]'s unnamed ultimate attack.
Buzz-!
The void around us shook… literally. The field of white light shattered, and so did its time stagnation. The invisible attack headed my way broke down with ease. Honkai energy surged in all directions as they slowly turned into their rawest form, imaginary energy.
Calling forth ten thousand swords to merge as one…
I will show it today.
Hum-!
Swords do not pertain to physical items, but also the byproducts of one's will. Earth is a home ground of swords considering this.
One sword instantly turned into tens of thousands. They took up more than fifty thousand kilometers worth of space.
Their bodies are made of translucent white light as they rained down towards the Herrscher.
Zoom-!
She tried to avoid them, but to no avail. The [Innate Sword Soul] incorporates everything one could offer. This includes my understanding of the numerous Daos—Causality, Yin-Yang, Extremity, Five Elements, Sword, Ice, Clouds, and Enlightenment.
Their unique combination made it an attack on the causal level, unable to be avoided. Their destructiveness went off the charts with Yin-Yang, Extremity, Five Elements, Swords, and Ice. Their speed surpassed the speed of light with Clouds. They targeted the mind with Enlightenment.
It is the strongest attack I could muster as an immortal cultivator and honkai hybrid.
"Huff…"
Crunch-!
I bit several pills at once. My pale countenance turned for the better. The medicinal power they held turned into spiritual qi nourishing my entire body. The spiritual qi emanating from Earth surged towards my Golden Core, desperately making up for everything I consumed.
I stared at the Herrscher. Thousands of swords attacked her all at once. The sword projections did not just sever her physical body and mind. It also dispersed a portion of her honkai energy reserves, much like what the Throne of Selene did during the Previous Era.
[Heart Intention] had this effect, huh.
I anticipated her regaining consciousness, but it did not come to pass.
…
I underestimated the power of this strike.
It…
It immobilized the Herrscher in one blow.
*****
The fifth grade formation's protection was not lifted up. Shi Tian and Veliona returned from outer space.
"I could not do much."
"That's fine. That Herrscher is an anomaly."
Veliona's surge of emotions stabilized after being comforted. Only she knew that the Herrscher of the End wasn't the one that bothered her.
Unfortunately for her, Shi Tian's sharp senses noticed it immediately.
'Such a deep obsession… and it's targeted to me.'
He did not feel this sense of urgency from the Herrscher of the End. His assumptions were confirmed the moment he saw Veliona's soul age.
{Age: 316}
'...'
It was the same as Seele's current age.
An absurd realization struck him.
'So this is her opportunity..?'
Shi Tian gave them the technique that linked their souls. He is aware of the special functions it has. One of them is lifespan sharing. They can combine their lifespans together. This can be done by having an in-depth synchronization with each other. Memories, emotions, and even cultivation perceptions can be transferred over.
It is the true synchronization of this technique. The previous cultivation realm synchronization exists at a level below it.
Simply put, Veliona had already done the true synchronization with Seele. Everything she exhibited belongs to Seele as well. That was her 'opportunity'.
'...I'll save this for later.'
It took them five seconds to descend onto Mount Fuji. Another two seconds later, Kiana and Sirin returned.
'The two are still out. Well.'
Shi Tian knew about the two Xuanyuans' will to explore this world. He did not disagree, mainly because most of this world's dangers were taken care of.
Irredeemable people? They either surrendered or killed themselves.
Honkai beasts? The Beginningless Sword took care of them all.
Herrschers? What Herrschers are there besides the ones with Shi Tian? Oh. There was one, though she fought for humanity.
"The Herrscher of the End is immobilized for five days. I will continue watching over her just in case."
His gaze went over Kiana. He understood what the latter wanted to do.
A year ago, she asked for the [Nine Lives Burning Samsara Art]. He wanted to keep it to himself at first but ended up giving it to her in the end.
Ultimately, the combination of high grade spirit roots and forbidden techniques is terrifying enough to resolve the Herrscher of the End's crisis.
Golden Core cultivators live between 10,000 to 50,000 years.
For talented people, consuming a part of that lifespan is enough to temporarily reach the Nascent Soul Realm in one realm. If they use up more, they can even reach the Divine Transformation Realm.
It is the final trump card they currently possess. So long as they can break through the next major realm with their remaining lifespan, they can slowly recover their lost lifespans.
Perhaps due to their continued use of cultivation hacks, Shi Tian thought of something else:
'Can I use it to do something else..?'
*****
A/N: It's time to enter the unorthodox side of immortal cultivation again...