Chapter 67 - 59: Unknown Sword Intent, Dao Entry Realm

Chapter 67: Chapter 59: Unknown Sword Intent, Dao Entry Realm

With Fang Heng regaining control of his body and making what he believed to be the right choice, the battle between Lu Chen and Chi Wei had basically come to an end.

In reality, Chi Wei, who had been preparing for a life-and-death struggle against Lu Chen, suddenly froze in place. It turned a blind eye to Lu Chen’s attacks, showing absolutely no reaction, as if someone had cast an Immobilization Skill on it.

Seeing this, Lu Chen knew his plan... had succeeded!

During their previous clashes, Lu Chen had repeatedly forced Chi Wei into a state where Fang Heng could fight for control of the body. However, because Lu Chen hadn’t pushed Chi Wei into a truly perilous situation back then, the Evil Sword still had enough Power of Outer Path remaining to suppress Fang Heng. As a result, Lu Chen was never able to completely defeat Chi Wei.

But this time, Lu Chen had used himself as bait, forcing Chi Wei to sever its own arm and suffer severely damaged Vitality. Then, drawing on the combat experience accumulated from their many bouts, Lu Chen entangled the enemy for a long time during the second phase, forcing it to go all out and release Poisonous Fog to compress Lu Chen’s dodging space. Through all this back and forth, Chi Wei’s own Power of Outer Path was heavily depleted. This, in turn, created the perfect opportunity for Fang Heng to seize back his body.

Therefore, in a sense, Chi Wei had never been fighting Lu Chen alone. It had been fighting both Lu Chen and Fang Heng the entire time!

After all, as a disciple of the Cyan Cloud Sect, Fang Heng would never accept living out his future as one of the Outer Demons. If that were the case, he would rather die. This was the choice Fang Heng had made.

BANG!

On the second floor of the Sword Pavilion, Lu Chen tore through the Poisonous Fog, arrived in front of Chi Wei, and struck with everything he had. The Sword Qi around his body expanded, condensing into a silver-white Flood Dragon. This Flood Dragon was remarkably lifelike, possessing an invisible Dragon Mighty.

A silver-white beam of light pierced through Chi Wei’s body. Aiming at the half-human torso protruding from the snake’s head, Lu Chen thrust his sword straight through its chest. This strike not only destroyed the Outer Demon Body that Chi Wei had manifested but also annihilated the Divine Soul lingering within Fang Heng’s body.

Fang Heng, now only half a body, looked at the Ink Flood Dragon Sword embedded in his chest with a very peaceful expression. In this moment, he felt no fear of death, only endless liberation.

CRACK...

As Lu Chen withdrew the Ink Flood Dragon Sword, a sound like shattering glass echoed through the air. In the next second, countless cracks began to appear across Chi Wei’s massive form. With a loud BANG, it exploded into a shower of red fragments that slowly melted away like ice and snow.

Lu Chen landed lightly. He looked up at the fragments drifting in the air, watching as if witnessing a silent curtain call. A crimson Broken Sword covered in cracks clattered to the ground amidst the falling debris. Ultimately, it crumbled into fine powder and completely vanished from the room on the second floor of the Sword Pavilion.

The Evil Sword Chiwei, which had hindered Lu Chen for so long, was finally gone. Disappearing along with it was Fang Heng, the Inner Sect Disciple of the Cyan Cloud Sect who had spent his entire life hiding.

Lu Chen watched the scene unfold. After a long silence, he sheathed his sword and bowed respectfully.

"Lu Chen, a sixty-fifth generation disciple of the Cyan Cloud Sect, is here to congratulate you on your Ascension, Daoist friend."

Although Fang Heng had hidden for his entire life, in the end, he had come to understand his true heart and made what he believed to be the right decision. Even if this realization came a little late, he had not tarnished the name of Cyan Cloud. For this alone, he deserved Lu Chen’s respectful treatment. It was just like the time when Lu Chen defeated Ye Chenglin in the Ancient Cultivator’s Tomb. Although the two men had vastly different personalities, their devotion to defending the Dao was equally resolute.

He thought, "Defending the Dao with their lives? To be able to teach all its disciples to reach such a level, the Cyan Cloud Sect is truly worthy of being the head of the Five Great Righteous Immortal Gates..."

Recalling the actions of Ye Chenglin and Fang Heng, Lu Chen felt inexplicably complicated. Although he had only viewed the in-game Cyan Cloud Sect from a third-person perspective, he had to admit that the atmosphere within the Sect made him feel very comfortable. The Sect treated its disciples exceedingly well, and the relationships among the disciples were harmonious. Though there was competition, it was mostly healthy and never damaged their camaraderie.

Lu Chen put himself in their shoes. If he had truly been born and raised in a Sect like this, he might have also fought for the Sect to the bitter end. After all, the much-talked-about coldness of Cultivators mostly stemmed from the passing of countless friends and family over a long span of time, not because Cultivators were born ruthless and unfeeling. Cultivators were human too; they also hated partings and death.

But that was the situation in the secular world, not within a Sect Sacred Land. In the Mortal World, by the time you finished a single session of Seclusion, your family and friends might already be gone, the world having moved on without them. But within the Sect, when you emerged from Seclusion, most of the people you knew would still be there. You wouldn’t feel abandoned by the world.

He mused, "No wonder people always say that immortals and Mortals are different. It’s not because Cultivators are truly cold-blooded and refuse to interact with Mortals.

"It’s simply because Mortals have limited lifespans. Cultivators have had enough of partings, so they don’t want to experience such things again."

After his moment of reflection, Lu Chen immediately looked at his game interface. The moment he defeated Fang Heng, he instantly sensed numerous changes. These changes were reflected not only in his game data but in other aspects as well.

[You have defeated the Foundation Establishment Stage Magic Corpse/Outsider Sword Demon: Fang Heng. You have gained 5,000 Experience Points. You have obtained Soul Crystal Fragment (Green) x2. You have obtained Unknown Sword Intent x1.]

[Soul Crystal Fragment (Green) Quantity: 3]

[Talent Divine Techniques (67/100): Unawakened]

[Current Experience Points: 6,792]

Compared to the Foundation Establishment First Level Ye Chenglin, the Foundation Establishment First Level Fang Heng provided a full two thousand more Experience Points, as well as an additional Soul Crystal Fragment (Green). Lu Chen deduced that this was because he hadn’t just defeated Fang Heng; he had also defeated Spirit Sword Chiwei, which had been corrupted by the Power of Outer Path. The extra Experience Points and Soul Crystal Fragments were undoubtedly provided by Chi Wei. Therefore, while it seemed like he had only defeated a single Dungeon boss, he had actually defeated two. It was a very bountiful harvest.

As of now, the number of Soul Crystal Fragments was enough for him to complete the awakening of his Talent Divine Techniques. However, Lu Chen wasn’t in a hurry to awaken his Talent Divine Techniques. He was currently studying the unexpectedly acquired Unknown Sword Intent.

[Unknown Sword Intent]

[Effect: Upon use, you can undergo a special Sword Intent comprehension. It is recommended to use this after a Swordsmanship Skill reaches ’Entering the Dao’ to avoid negatively affecting your own Sword Dao.]

After Breaking Realm comes Entering the Dao?

Through the Effect Description of the Unknown Sword Intent, Lu Chen gained an unexpected piece of information. He had previously been curious: if ’Breaking Realm’ meant Cultivating a Skill beyond the scope of a mere ’Skill’, then what lay beyond Breaking Realm? Now, this question had an answer. The Realm after Breaking Realm was Entering the Dao. And this Realm could be understood literally.

He concluded, "No wonder even after Cultivating Water Dragon Roar to Breaking Realm, I still failed to Cultivate the Sword Intent that Sword Cultivators speak of. Realm-Breaking Level is the limit of a Skill, but it’s not the limit of the Dao. Or rather, Breaking Realm represents standing right at the threshold. As long as you can take one more step forward, you can completely glimpse the level of the Dao.

"No wonder some Sword Cultivators spend their entire lives unable to Cultivate Sword Intent. A Dao Entry Level Sword Skill truly isn’t something that can be achieved just by spending time; it requires astonishing Comprehension and a bit of Luck.

"It’s a good thing I can use Experience Points to upgrade Skills, and there are no so-called bottlenecks when leveling them up. Otherwise, I really don’t know what kind of unimaginably brilliant genius it would take to balance Cultivation while simultaneously elevating their Technique to a Dao Entry Realm. To have one’s cake and eat it too, you truly have to be an absolute monster...

"Since the game suggests I comprehend Sword Intent after Entering the Dao, I shouldn’t waste time on Sword Intent for now. Let’s see what Talent Divine Techniques I can awaken first."

Heeding good advice never hurts. Lu Chen didn’t think the game’s suggestion was baseless. If it advised him this way, there was definitely a good reason for it. With this in mind, Lu Chen took out two Soul Crystal Fragments (Green)...

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