Chapter 16: Realm of The Blade
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Finally, Zhou Yan had fully understood his Sword's Way and was finally able to walk free from his mental shackles.
His unbridled power was further fueled by the unchained, extremely ferocious energy freely coursing and raging through two exceedingly unique meridians within his body.
Not only did that surge of such potent, powerful energy completely break through the fortress of the first rank of the Blade's Cardinal, it too had broken through the second layer of the same realm, hence shattering completely through and into the second rank of the Blade's Cardinal's Ocean of Qi.
Due to the change of two exceedingly unique meridians in his body, his own Qi Pillar began to mutate as well
What once was a single pillar of Qi was now separated into two intertwining, spiraling Qi Pillars. It resembled the double helix structure of a human's DNA, spiralling endlessly within his ocean of Qi!
One third of each segment of Zhou Yan's Qi pillar was completely identical to the structure of when he had first undergone the first change to his own Pillar of Qi.
This meant the volume in one of the two Pillars of Qi had seemingly increased by three folds. Two extra columns were added on top of his original Pillar of Qi forming a completely new Pillar.
However, this newly formed pillar was not a singular structure; it was also two spiraling structures!
This meant that the entire volume of his newly formed pillar of Qi, had been vastly increased by six folds from the original foundation!
Zhou Yan could clearly visualize this change!
The spiritual energy was boundless. It was mostly absorbed into his body, and yet it was only capable of breaking through two minute layers within the same realm!
It was as if the energy of Spatial Destruction that was within his body had finally found a place to inhabit. In addition to the infinite spiritual energy absorbed by Zhou Yan's body, the energy of Spatial Destruction was another contributing factor to the mutation of his Qi Pillar. Therefore, it was a combination of these two factors that led to any real changes within Zhou Yan.
In his heart of hearts Zhou Yan knew that the changes he had undergone were no coincidence. It was, due to the plethora of desperate conditions and events he had faced which had led to a state of bottleneck. ;Therefore, with the unique spiritual experience he had gone through, it served as the catalyst for the exponential growth of his body's potential.
If he had not gone through this chain of events that had transpired, it would have taken Zhou Yan's body to undergo any changes.
It was precisely the same Spatial Destruction energy which had emanated from his body to the area around him. However, the power of Spatial Destruction too was present within his soul, thus causing some change to occur as well.
The personal changes could only happen so smoothly because of the revelation that he had at this crucial hour. This revelation granted him the state of pure enlightenment which was similar to the state of union between man and the heavens.
If there was one regret that Zhou Yan had, it was that although he possessed the full knowledge of the Twelve Form of The Formless Destruction Fist and the peculiar knowledge of a realm simply known as Earth, he did not inherit any memories of combat from the ancient sage.
Zhou Yan knew any encounters of such a caliber would be impossible for his past self. However, after fully grasping the vast experiences and knowledge of the ancient sage, Zhou Yan knew he could finally be truly confident in any hardship he would have to endure.
It seemed there never existed even a single shred of information for combat from the will he inherited by the ancient sage.
Zhou Yan knew if this information had existed in the first place, his very own combat prowess would have increased by at least three fold. However, he was also grateful for the absence of any knowledge of combat, since he was able to pour his entire focus to understanding the intricacies in creating the Sword Art of The Formless.
This was a realm governed by the Sword's Way. Even since his own birth, his very soul was seared and branded by the mark of the sword. However Zhou Yan was not chosen by any skills or weapons, hence his avoidance in training any martial arts skills. Instead, he went ahead to understand the deep intricate meanings of the different martial art skills, in order to invent his very own way of the sword.
…
The entire process of his enlightenment took roughly two whole hours. Since the fabric of space was completely shattered due to the major scuffle earlier, the spot he stayed in was eerily quiet and not a single soul came by just yet.
As Zhou Yan stood up, through the cold sharp gaze of both his pearly eyes, what seemed like two glimmering rays of the sword seemed to emanate and fluctuate within them,then proceeded to gradually infuse itself to the deepest depths of both his eyes.
The tattered long greyish white robe that he wore felt loose in the past. However, as of his current state, this very same robe was a perfect fit! It was extremely obvious this time, Zhou Yan's body had grown stronger and bigger than before, he had made unprecedented progress..
"It seems my blade's essence is no longer unstable and without form and instead transcended itself to be the actual true essence of the blade. This means, I will no longer be shackled down in my ascension to the realm of the Blade's Essence!
"As of my current state, I have ascended to the realm of a rank three Blade's Cardinal. It seemed I achieved stability within this realm and now I'm only one step away from ascending into the realm of the Blade's Essence! No matter how gifted Zhou Lingyi's natural gifts were, she has only ascended to the highest peak of a rank three Blade's cardinal; if I were to cross paths with her once more, with my current abilities, I am more than certain I will able to strike her down instantly with a single move!"
Zhou Yan mumbled unconsciously.
This realm, the very goal he had given himself a moon's cycle worth of time to achieve; never did he expected to reach this very goal at such speed.
However, he never felt any form of emotion for this progress. It seemed to him that the pace of his progress was a natural thing to happen. Hence his lack of reaction.
With his head held high, his gaze fixed upon the distant horizon. Zhou Yan noticed in the distance, there were several rays of glimmering blade's light, slashing the very edge of the horizon, scaring the very heavens above with splashes of white light as it pierced through layers of clouds, extending from a far distance.
It seemed, this place would draw plenty of attention from powerful foes, since this spot remained completely still and silent for a good long while.
Staring into the distant land, Zhou Yan raised his eyebrows then proceeded to gently tap at Sorrow's Breaker that was hanging at the side of his waist. In response, the sword morphed into a dim ray of blade's penumbra, after spiraling in the air, it landed directly in front of him.
With a single leap, Zhou Yan landed on the body of Sorrow's Breaker. And thus, just like that, stepping on the blade, he made haste for the distant land ahead.
Within the realm of the Blade's Essence, one would be able to steer one's sword with pure Qi alone. This could be done when a person's heart is completely one with the blade, within that state of mind, the very sword would gain the ability of flight, carrying its wieder on its back.
It was an excruciatingly complicated process, however, and this was something every rank three Blade's Cardinal, practitioner of the Way of The Sword had to be accustomed to.
And it was this process that had trumped even the most skilled geniuses. Since it mattered not how skilled and gifted their natural gifted were, they severely lack the mastery of control and body coordination.
However, Zhou Yan need not endure such a process, since his control over his body, and his sheer will made this task to be exceedingly simple.
The dim blade's penumbra beneath his feet instantly morphed into a shining ray of Blade's light and thus, he used his Blade's Essence alone to propel himself forward. In addition to extra training for his mastery over his Blade's Essence, he was also able to leave that spot at a much faster pace.
This was a land of conflict, it would not be wise to stay for an extended period of time.
…
After four hours, evening arrived.
Zhou Yan had crossed a vast forest and had made his way into a mountainous terrain that was dubbed the 'Mountain of Heavenly Prophecies'
Finally, he rested by a clear lake. He hunted a wild hare with only the use of his Blade's Essence, then proceeded to roast his catch.
At this moment, the setting sun painted the sky with a dusk that was toned red. It was an amazing sight to see. However, while he feasted on his catch, he recalled a similar scene in the past.
Even though he had shattered the shackles of his past personalities, and had morphed into a reckless and carefree person; he greatly missed the strong and confident presence of Ning'er and yearned for the coquettishness of Ping'er.
If both maidens were present by his side at a moment like this, feasting merrily on his catch while cuddling up with him; the young man assumed it would be the greatest joy in the world.
While he got lost in deep contemplation, he could not resist the urge to look at his fingers, to his surprise… he noticed something odd; it was a mystery to him as to when exactly did an extra ring appear around his finger.
He was unsure of when exactly a special transparent, colorless ring had appeared without his knowledge.
If it was not for his exceedingly sensitive sixth sense, he would not have noticed that ring at this moment.
Zhou Yan was curious and exceedingly suspicious, however, he then suspected it was done by the Lady of The Jaded Palace of Snow, since she was the only person reasonably capable of pulling off such an act without being detected by him.
A sinister grin grew on his face as he thought about how frustrated she was when she stomped her feet and gave her waist a twitch while she left.
Thus,Zhou Yan focused his mind in sensing the nature of this ring. However, the instant he sensed the ring, his entire body violently trembled as an indescribable feeling overwhelmed his entire body.
He felt as if he was brought to a hidden, abandoned land. He was unsure of...what had just happened.
"Do not be alarmed and do not wonder, this is only the realm of the blade. The main purpose of me bringing you here was because I had something to tell you."
That was the voice of the Lady of The Jaded Palace of Snow. However at this moment, not a single emotion could be felt through the echoes of her voice. This felt similar to a pre-coordinated illusion, following her own set of procedures.
"It was only through the full mastery and enlightenment of the Blade's essence will you be conscious and aware within the realm of the blade. Hence gaining the ability to comprehend the knowledge I will be gracing you with."
"I am the Lady of The Jaded Palace of Snow, Jiang Yushuang and the true name of Ning'er is Jiang Yuning… and she is my sister. However, perhaps the fate of our lives were different, and thus we both had to walk different paths.
"However, I wished nothing more but a blessed life for her, she found herself after leaving you, however, she wasn't as happy as I thought she would be…"
"Us, as maidens of the City of Frost, do not often shed tears, since it was viewed as an extremely disgraceful and insulting act for us. However, she cried for your sake."
"Hence my return. However, upon returning I noticed you were in an extremely rare state of enlightenment, an extremely difficult state to enter even by top tier geniuses. And thus, I've gathered all kinds of different energy from both the heavens and earth of this realm and infused them in your body, helping you breakthrough and progress further.
"I then created this realm of the blade with haste, then helped you murder several foes who were intruding this realm; and had also gathered all of their belongings and placed it in this Spatial Ring of Infinity.
"On the other hand, this blade, Sorrow's Breaker was my gift to your father back then, I never expected it to be in such a broken state...I had also fixed it, and within the blade, I had hidden three spectres of the blade's soul, you may invoke the spectres, and it is capable of saving your life three times."
"Your natural gifts are indeed outstanding, it was a shame I was absent to witness the change your body went through, however, to be worthy of the title as a 'true genius'; although it would not be a difficult thing for you to achieve, your skills were still exceedingly lacking."
"I will not be leaving you with any form of edicts of scriptures this time. However, I will gift you with the 'Manuscripts of the Frosted Blade', you may study it, this is a god tier skill, its teachings and practices is sufficient enough until you've ascended to the real of a Blade's Soul, this manuscript is amongst the most sacred and powerful in the Jaded Palace of Snow."
"The City of Cang Lan is way too small, do venture out of this tiny city if you were graced by such an opportunity. Since even the highest realm of the strongest person in this tiny city is merely within the ranks of a Blade's Menace, how disappointingly weak.
"We view anyone with the rank of a swordsman as an outsider when training with the way of the sword. In order to be initiated as one of our pupils, one must reach the realm of the Blade's Cardinal. However, the real training begins when one had ascended to the realm of the Blade's Essence.
"One begins in the realm of the Blade's Essence, proceeding that would be the realm of the Blade's Enforcer then proceeding that even further would be the realm of the Blade's Menace then the realm of the Blade's Heart."
"Although I am aware of how challenging this task is, you must be willing to do whatever it takes to reach the realm of the Blade's Menace before you are sixteen years of age! It matters not if you become a practitioner of the dark arts! As long as you've ascended into the realm of the Blade's Menace when you are sixteen years of age, only then will you have a glimmer of hope!"
"Or else, even if you were the reincarnation of the Founder of The Blade's Art, it will be completely meaningless."
"I will leave you with a hundred top tier Spirit Crystals, a thousand mid tier Spirit Crystals and ten thousand low tier Spirit Crystals. Do not worry too much about your spiritual training, work hard...This entire year!"
"There is one more thing, you little perverted b*stard, it's bold of you to lust after me? Don't assume that I was oblivious to your perverted intention when you thought about 'repaying my grace with the complete submission of your body', however you held your tongue. However, you have my word, as long as you achieved the creation of the Soulblade of Three, like you so boldly claimed you would, I will take your intentions into consideration!"
"One final note, heed my warning you arrogant b*stard. This does not mean I recognize your potential, it was all due to the high expectations my sister has for you, hence, I chose to trust my sister. Don't you dare disappoint Ning'er"
…
Upon receiving these messages, Zhou Yan was baffled and shocked by the coquettish tone and behavior from the Lady of The Jaded Palace of Snow.
It seemed, the truth for his exceedingly amazing progress was aided by the help of the Lady of The Jaded Palace of Snow, she truly was Ning'er's sister; it seemed family was all the same; she had a soft, warm heart but a cold, hard facade.
-- Gift
received