It was time to move, and I had to go and investigate the current matters, and that woman—I could attempt, or at least try to research her affairs—but not now, because there was almost no chance of finding any evidence about her. The important thing was to focus now on improving my refinement level as soon as possible and locating the old man to eliminate the White Phantom Gang leader and destroy him.
While I was thinking, Master Shiang entered and said, "My honored lord, could you go to the mountains and the cave haunted by our ancestors? I want you to check for the existence of certain plants I need." I agreed, carried my bag, and headed to the mountain. But something strange appeared—there were no creatures or animals, unlike usual. Could they be hiding in burrows? No, impossible. They haven't reached a sufficient level of intelligence for that, and even so, they couldn't vanish in a single day or night. I was here yesterday training Xing Yan and Xing Shiue, so this was not my concern—I could investigate it later after completing my mission.
I entered the cave, and suddenly I saw someone releasing Qi from his body at high speed. I dashed forward and pointed my sword at him. He said, "Your face is familiar. Are you the one who stole my information and took the guards' leader from me, and also helped the Tang family destroy me and steal my lands? I expect you will die today without the slightest doubt."
At that moment, he unleashed a barrage of attacks at me, but I blocked all of them and cut him in half. Even though he was still at the Sword Integration stage, or evolving—perhaps even to the mid-level of Sword Mastery—defeating him seemed reasonable. Suddenly, his energy shifted, and his refinement level evolved to the peak of the Sword stage, not just a late-stage Transcendence. No, he even surpassed that, reaching the pinnacle of the Transcendence realm.
Something strange happened—my Dan Tian seemed to fade, and he repeated, "You will die today, inevitably, vile wretch, even if I sacrifice my life to kill you, you scoundrel, though I will live for seventeen minutes, which will be more than enough."
The battle began. I observed Moshing's fist swinging through the air, heavy—each strike shaking the ground beneath me. I dodged, trying to move lightly, but the difference in power was obvious. Every time I tried to counter, he closed the distance and launched the next punch. He rushed forward with a speed that left no time to think. His first fist targeted my face—I bent. The second came at my ribs—I retreated. But the third and fourth followed relentlessly. I continued dodging, but he changed the rhythm.
Suddenly, he attacked me with a series of consecutive strikes: two high, followed by a low strike, then a straight punch toward my chest. I barely shifted my body to avoid it, but he spun and delivered a circular blow to my head, followed by a side kick, forcing me to jump back. He pressed me relentlessly. His fists tore the air, their sound preceding the impact. Heat rose in my chest, and I realized that if I did not find a gap in his momentum, I could not endure long, nor was there a way to win.
I raised my aura, releasing it around my body, trying to cut off his strike flow with my steps—but his fists were faster than my movements. He charged at an angle and struck my shoulder with force—I felt the bone crack. As I caught my breath, his second fist slammed into my ribs, spreading pain across my chest. I retreated, attempting to dodge, but he followed with a violent rush. His third fist came from below, striking my knee, bending it harshly, throwing me to the ground. I tried to rise, but his fists continued—one on my side, the other on my face—until I tasted blood in my mouth. Every attempt to escape was met with a faster step and a stronger strike than the previous.
At a moment, my body felt shattered, a sensation of defeat overwhelming me. I, who had been defeated countless times before, even millions, knew that no matter how far I reached a stage of defeat, I had to accept the taste of losing. Everyone experiences it eventually, even I, but surrendering to defeat itself is cowardice and contradicts reason. Whether he kills me or not, I would not surrender.
I surrendered my sword and began to fight him, releasing aura in a Water-like technique. I struck his arm, severing it. But then he vanished from my sight. I found myself in a pitch-black place, and a figure appeared—a black shadow with glowing white aura.
He said, "I know this may not help you much, but it's more than enough, and there is no time to explain what happened."
Outside, after pushing Moshing (the White Phantom Gang leader), my body stood upright, my head lowered to my chest. In a moment, black aura emerged from my body, mingled with slight white, and I regained part of my awareness. My sword transformed to a color resembling Yin and Yang, and the metal seemed to fade, becoming like complete will.
Moshing shouted in disbelief, "Impossible! A Sword of Will! How did you obtain it? Only those who reached Transcendence or beyond can attain it. Even I did not acquire it!"
For some reason, I could see all the white threads—unknown but connected to my sword. I stood, gasping, blood flowing from the side of my mouth. Moshing approached, but inside me, my core had not extinguished. My body screamed in pain, but the aura in my depths exploded like a spiral interwoven with white threads, symbols of Yin and Yang. When I grasped my sword, I felt its weight extend to my soul. My eyes no longer saw only his body but thin lines extending in the air, breaking any prediction. Fate and foresight no longer worked; he had to rely on instinct.
I dashed. I saw his fist rushing at me, but before it could touch me, the path was cut by my sword—once, twice, three times. Every motion of his was severed mid-air, as if attacking the void itself. Despite his strength being nearly equal to mine, he could not catch my rhythm. Whenever he attempted to strike back, I had already moved elsewhere, leaving him to attack his own shadow.
But it did not stop there. I moved at full speed—my figure completely vanished from his sight. He saw dozens of images of me simultaneously, each carrying a strike, each leaving its mark on him. At the last moment, everything froze around us. Then, a circular hole appeared in his chest, as if my sword pierced his heart. At the moment of his death, my sword returned to its normal state. My aura dissipated, and cracks appeared in my Dan Tian.
I glimpsed a spirit entering my mind. I screamed in pain as it tried to invade my mental realm, but a strange entity began shattering my mind, causing me to faint. Within my mind, a foreign entity attempted access to the consciousness realm, but something unusual appeared. By merely manifesting its presence, it wiped the entity from my mind.
The entity said, "Hmm… seems like remnants of another consciousness. Ugh… who corrupted my solitude? I had to complete the seal of the mind, the young one, or Absolute Will. The time has not come for him to know. Anyway, he has not reached the 'Updater' stage. If he could, he would even surpass his mental limits."
After fifteen minutes, Tian Shi awoke. Xing Yan and Xing Jin had already arrived and found him bleeding. I finally awoke, though my body ached everywhere due to the malicious consciousness, which was resisted and destroyed. Moshing was defeated in all cases. This was good. Two men helped me stand. I looked at Moshing's corpse—it had already begun to decompose, including his Dan Tian and the core of his heart.
I took the scrolls in the place he had sat, including rare herbs and pills he possessed. We left after a few minutes. I told them to leave me. My body could still stand, but the upper and middle Dan Tian were partially cracked, and my muscles somewhat torn. Yet, my body could still move due to the aura in my lower Dan Tian. The other two Dan Tian would gradually merge themselves. I instructed Xing Yan and Xing Jin to deliver the plants to Master Shiang. I went to the room and lay down.
Regarding that matter and the unknown phantom—I did not know its identity. After a short period of merging with it, the result of the battle shifted in my favor, though our powers were comparable. A strange ability appeared; the threads gathered in my head, increasing my sword mastery just by entering my mind. However, I felt that I could not maintain my original aura and power for days at least. It was as if I had discovered temporary enlightenment—but I had not developed it. It was like finding a dim light, not yet a full path to ascend. Could it be the will of the sword? What did that old man mean when he said that if I reach the pinnacle of the Peak World, could I reach the pinnacle of Transcendence or even surpass it?
It seemed clear—I temporarily reached the pinnacle of the Transcendence realm due to fleeting enlightenment, but it was temporary. I had not built a strong enough foundation for that pyramid. A weak base caused me to fall. This was just an approximate summary.
Now, I must focus on my mental realm and investigate what happened there. I entered the mental realm and found a person with long gray hair, a pale body, and nearly average stature, standing before me. He said, "It has been a long time, young one."