A single sword strike shattered Yaoguang.
Chen Xin took a single step forward, appearing instantly a few meters before Li Zhexian.
His white hair moved without wind as he gazed at the young man in the white shirt whom he had once regarded as his successor.
"Zhexian, the path you walk is wrong.
Using all laws as your foundation may appear all-encompassing, but in truth your roots lie in the myriad laws, not in the sword itself.
External powers may lend you momentary strength, but they cannot build a Sword Tower that reaches the heavens.
The sword must be pure; the heart must be singular.
Beyond that, all is a false path."
Blood seeped into the hilt from the split skin between Li Zhexian's thumb and index finger.
His once-pristine shirt were in tatters, and a streak of bright, glaring red hung from the corner of his lips.
Chen Xin's path of "A Single Sword to Break Ten Thousand Laws" had already reached the realm of perfection — a level far beyond what Li Zhexian could currently touch.
Yet.
In those youthful, jet-black eyes…
There was not the slightest trace of confusion — only a sharpness and clarity that burned like flame.
Li Zhexian leaned on the Qinglian Sword, slowly straightened his back, wiped the blood from his lips, and spoke in a slightly hoarse voice, his breath still turbulent from the clash.
"Senior Chen Xin's sword is truly peerless.
To shatter my Yaoguang in but a moment — this junior concedes.
But on what grounds does Senior assert that my sword, which draws upon starlight and commands ice and fire, is a false path?"
In Li Zhexian's eyes, it seemed as though a galaxy revolved and ice and fire intertwined.
With his bloodstained hand, he pointed toward the vast sky of stars, then toward the wind and greenery of the courtyard.
"Senior says: the sword must be pure, the heart must be singular.
May I ask, Senior…
What is purity? What is singularity?
In my eyes…
isn't this vast galaxy, with its revolving paths, the most magnificent and intricate sword marks in all of existence?
Isn't the conflict and cycle of life and death between ice and fire the most fundamental and violent sword intent in the universe?"
Li Zhexian's voice suddenly rang with steely resonance.
The Qinglian Sword in his hand hummed ceaselessly, resonating with its master's sword path.
"My all-encompassing sword path is not a reliance on external power!
It is to take my body as the sheath, my heart as the guide, and fuse all the Dao and principles of the world into a single sword!
The flickering starlight is no illusion — it is the cosmic order reflected in my sword heart!
The entwining of ice and fire is no mirage — it is the law of yin and yang stirred by my sword qi!
What Senior has broken is not my delusion, but the gap that exists because I have yet to perfectly fuse all phenomena into one sword!"
Li Zhexian's momentum only climbed higher.
Pain seemed to turn into fuel, igniting a deeper understanding.
He met Chen Xin's unfathomable gaze head-on, his own brimming with unrestrained edge.
"In Senior Chen Xin's eyes…
Starlight is merely starlight, ice and fire merely ice and fire — obstacles to be severed.
But in my heart, they are all incarnations of the sword, steps toward a higher realm.
Senior cuts down the myriad with the singular!
I, however, will prove the singular through the myriad!
My path is not to build a castle upon sand, but to gather a hundred rivers into the sea, to fuse ten thousand stars into a divine blade!
Today you can break my incomplete sword — but how can you be certain that when I fully comprehend and unleash the sword of 'All Phenomena Return to One,' your 'singular' sword will still be able to cut it down as you have today?!"
Li Zhexian drew out the Clear Spring Wine Gourd from his back and drank deeply.
Before Chen Xin's faintly astonished eyes…
A Spirit Ring rose up beneath Li Zhexian's feet — a ring glowing with multiple elemental lights, imprinted with twelve fierce sword-feather marks.
Twelve Qinglian Swords linked together in an instant, forming a solemn sword formation that enclosed him within.
Li Zhexian's voice grew solemn.
"Though my All-Encompassing Sword Path is yet incomplete…
However, I can borrow the power of my Spirit Ring and Spirit Bone to temporarily unleash a fraction of its sharpness!"
Chi—!
A bone of chilling sword intent burst through his clothes from his back, stretching out like a dragon.
One Qinglian Sword shimmered with starlight; another breathed ice and fire — both hovering behind him, exuding fierce sword intent.
He stepped into the formation's core.
In an instant, the light and shadows within the sword formation twisted and shifted, conjuring two more Li Zhexians, each carrying a different sword intent.
Several distinct yet interconnected sword intents clashed violently within the formation, creating a scene that was bizarre and terrifying to behold.
Chen Xin's gaze sharpened.
He raised the Seven Kill Sword, transmitting his Dao through his blade.
Pure sword intent surged forth to meet the three Li Zhexians and the two differently attributed Qinglian Swords.
The clash of metal rang out, rapid as a storm!
Faster and louder — until finally…
A single, pure sword light swept across.
The formation, the phantoms — all were obliterated.
Li Zhexian staggered back, his blood surging.
Yet his eyes remained as bright as the stars, his fighting spirit unextinguished.
"The All-Encompassing Sword Path…
These Spirit Abilities and Spirit Bones…"
Chen Xin sheathed the Seven Kill Sword, his right hand clasped behind his back as he turned away from Li Zhexian. His tone was layered and hard to read.
"At your age, I was far inferior to you.
"Zhexian, your ambition is vast, your talent extraordinary—two sword intents already taking form.
But human strength has its limits. When will there be an end?"
A sword path that encompasses all phenomena?
Difficult! Difficult! Difficult!"
Gazing at that white-robed back, a complex light flashed in Li Zhexian's eyes.
After a long silence, he spoke softly.
"Life is finite, but knowledge is without end."
He swore upon his life to pursue the ultimate truth of his sword path.
Chen Xin's figure flickered, turning into a streak of brilliant light speeding eastward.
From afar…
A voice carried on the wind.
"In one month, I will return to see you.
If you remain convinced this path is viable, you may walk among the Upper Three Sects and Lower Four Sects.
There, you might find what you seek."
Facing the direction where the light vanished, Li Zhexian bowed deeply.
"Thank you… Senior Chen Xin, for your guidance."
After a pause, he asked:
"May I ask, Senior — beyond the Third Realm 'cuts the night,' what lies ahead?"
There was only silence.
Just as Li Zhexian thought Chen Xin had gone completely, a single cool plum blossom petal drifted down onto his shoulder.
At the same time, Chen Xin's distant voice seemed to sound right by his ear.
"When you reach it, you will understand."
That night…
Li Zhexian sat alone beneath the plum tree, drinking under the moon.
The chill of the wine could not still the endless churn of his thoughts — the mysteries of the Fourth Realm of the sword, and his memories of Chen Xin.
...
Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
In decades of friendship, Ning Fengzhi and Gu Rong could not remember the last time they had seen Chen Xin laugh so freely.
That day—
At the break of dawn—
Chen Xin returned.
He drank a strong wine he had abstained from for decades, his laughter ringing out loud and clear, shaking the courtyard.
"My path is not alone!"
"My path is not alone!"
From that night on…
Li Zhexian entered secluded cultivation.
He relentlessly honed every Spirit Ability and sword technique he had learned.
A few days later, when he emerged, he found his friends all busy.
The Continental Spirit Master Tournament was fast approaching. Before the official start, several top academies had sent their seeded competitors to Heaven Dou Imperial Academy for exchange matches.
This matter was personally overseen by Crown Prince Xue Qinghe, with the Emperor Battle Team undergoing intensive training.
For the time being, Li Zhexian found himself with rare leisure.
On this day, in utter boredom—
He went alone to a noodle stall he often frequented.
Across from him, the storyteller was still spinning his tales with a lotus-flower tongue.
Li Zhexian cradled a bowl of noodles, listening with genuine interest.
And then—
The air, which had been cool and refreshing, suddenly turned stifling hot without warning.
Sensing something, Li Zhexian instinctively looked up.
A group of young men and women strode into the small stall, their steps brisk and confident.
Around them swirled an aura utterly out of place with the common bustle of the streets.
The lively stall fell silent.