An early summer morning, the sky was dimly lit.
With a saber by his waist, Meng Chuan arrived at the Thousand Sabers Cavern alone.
Swoosh. Leaping 100 feet high, he entered the familiar cave. After passing several forks on the path, he took a few turns and walked nearly two hundred feet before stopping. The wind was far more intense here. The wind blades were faster and sharper. Ordinary Seamless realm experts could lose their lives if they were hit by the wind blades. However, Meng Chuan smiled as he took in this scene.
Every time he split the wind blades apart, he felt a sense of accomplishment.
The depth he traveled in the Thousand Sabers Cavern signified how brilliant his Heart Saber Stance was. He believed that he wasn’t too far from reaching basic mastery of the Heart Saber Stance.
Meng Chuan focused and slowly summoned strength from his body and Quintessential Essence. It was as if he was gathering his strength before pouncing on prey! His right hand suddenly moved without any warning. He held his saber hilt and unsheathed the blade. An aqueous saber beam streaked across the air. When it struck the wind blade, the strange force contained within the saber beams exploded with a bang.
He swung his saber continuously, producing ten arcing saber beams that fanned out beautifully. The saber beams glistened like water. When they struck their targets, a deep sound would ensue, dissipating the wind blades completely.
There were a few key requirements to gain basic mastery of the Heart Saber Stance. One needed to draw their saber quickly! The saber art required each slash to be connected without pausing!
Most importantly, it was a combination of Yin and Yang. The Yin represented the hidden strength converged within the saber. When the saber hit a target, the Yin would turn to Yang—the Yang was responsible for the eruption in strength! The Yin-to-Yang transformation produced a special explosive force. This Yin-Yang Blast was the essence of this move. With this explosive strength, one could quickly retract the saber as it transformed into Yin! When striking again, another Yin-to-Yang transformation would occur. This could go on perpetually.
Continuing the perpetual cycle of Yin-to-Yang transformations was the most difficult thing about the Heart Saber Stance. Without any intent guidance, it was hard to master the Yin-to-Yang transformation. The text-based descriptions in the manual were extremely vague.
Thankfully, Meng Chuan had a solid foundation. He had a lot of experience with the Saber Drawing Stance—which was similar to the Heart Saber Stance. This allowed his cultivation to be smooth.
Every day, he slashed at tens of thousands of wind blades. After half a year, he had grasped many of Heart Saber Stance’s secrets. The moment he consolidated all his knowledge into one, he would take that critical step.
Yin is concealment; Yang is explosive. Yin turns to Yang, and Yang turns into Yin. Yin and Yang spin perpetually, ensuring that the saber never stops. Meng Chuan executed his saber art constantly. Amidst thunderous booms, he blasted apart the wind blades.
There was no pattern to the wind blades’ attacks. Sometimes, ten wind blades would attack simultaneously. Sometimes, there would be a handful of wind blades, and they all had unpredictable trajectories.
However, as long as he struck out fast enough, he would be able to cleave through them with his saber!
Almost. Just a little bit!
He had executed the Heart Saber Stance many times. His strength and Quintessential Essence fusion had become instinctive as his Saber Force transformed slowly. He constantly pursued perfection. With his perception domain, he could identify the tiny flaws in his saber art execution.
Just a little more. Just a little bit more.
He pursued perfection with every slash.
Whoosh. When he finally struck out with his saber again, he finally reached his goal.
His muscles and bones underwent a magical fusion. He erupted with strength several-fold greater than normal. His Quintessential Essence began circulating with a unique rhythm. His Quintessential Essence perfectly merged with his body.
The saber beam’s speed suddenly increased. The saber beam flashed, turning blurry when it streaked across the sky. Following that, it struck a wind blade. With a deep boom—at the area where the wind blade had been struck—the air spherically distorted.
If that struck a newly-advanced demon monarch—even if their body could withstand the strike—the Yin-Yang Blast would shatter their organs, leaving them severely injured if not dead.
He could kill a newly advanced first Firmament demon monarch with ten strikes.
A peerless genius—who had comprehended Saber Intent and had also mastered a Black Metal Sutra move—could fight and kill a first Firmament demon monarch as a mortal.
Bam! Bam! Bam! The explosions left one trembling. The saber beam blurred because each strike was mind-bogglingly fast. They were like arrows. Once an arrow shot out, it would appear right in front of someone! As for its trajectory? It was impossible to track.
Meng Chuan’s Heart Saber Stance now had the traits of a sharpshooter’s arrow.
I’ve mastered it. I’ve mastered it. Meng Chuan stopped, and his face revealed excitement. I’ve mastered the Heart Saber Stance and have also comprehended the Heart Saber Stance’s Saber Intent.
The Heart Intent Saber had a total of eighteen stances. Each move had a different Saber Intent. This was why it was extremely difficult to master a Black Metal Sutra legacy. Even if one had reached the Realm of Intent, if the Intent weren’t identical to the one required for a certain Black Metal Sutra move, they would be unable to unleash the move’s true might. It would look good on the surface, but it had insufficient strength.
There was only one way to master a Black Metal Sutra’s ultimate technique! That was to cultivate one move for a long time. By doing this, one could reach the Realm of Intent. The condensed Intent would be the most for the move.
It was impossible to inherit a Black Metal Sutra legacy without an Essence Soul. Even Meng Chuan couldn’t inherit a Black Metal Sutra legacy due to his weak Essence Soul. Without an Essence Soul, all one could do was read the written descriptions.
It was too difficult to reach the Realm of Intent without intent guidance. Archean Mountain’s Heaven, Earth, and Man Godfiend techniques had intent guidance for knowledge impartation.
To reach the Realm of Intent without any intent guidance would take ten to twenty years. With intent guidance, it perhaps took a year or two.
After wasting a lot of time and energy on a Black Metal Sutra, many geniuses eventually chose Heaven-level Godfiend techniques when they realized that there was no hope. If one cultivated a Heaven-level Godfiend technique to a profound level, it was not much weaker than a Black Metal Sutra.
Thus, that begged the question. What should he choose?
Meng Chuan had a great affinity with the Heart Intent Saber Art. If he had cultivated the Lightning Devastator Saber or the World Roving Dragon Saber, he would’ve probably spent six years comprehending Saber Intent. The Heart Saber Stance was just too suitable for Meng Chuan.
Back at Eastcalm Prefecture, he cleaved apart eight thousand flying arrows every day, and now, he did the same with wind blades. With all these similarities, his accumulated experience was what helped him with his swift mastery of the Heart Saber Stance.
With his hundred-foot perception domain, he could sense each of his strikes clearly. He understood his flaws and where he could improve; thus, his cultivation efficiency was high.
Hence, he had achieved Saber Intent and grasped Heart Intent Saber’s fundamental move—Heart Saber Stance—within a year.
In fact, most Godfiends only mastered a few of a Black Metal Sutra legacy’s moves. For example, King Calm Sea’s fifth son—Xue Feng—had mastered three moves. Jiang State’s Xiao Yunyue had mastered only one move. This was because they had limited time, and their cultivation realm wasn’t high. Typically, Godfiends would’ve mastered one Black Metal Sutra move once they became a Darkstar Godfiend.
As long as he trained one move to unimaginable heights, he could rule the world!
A peerless mortal genius—who had comprehended Saber Intent—could fight a first Firmament demon monarch. A peerless mortal genius—who mastered a Black Metal Sutra move—could kill a first Firmament demon monarch easily.
The Heart Saber Stance’s Saber Intent? Meng Chuan stretched out his palm, and an illusory saber appeared. Saber Force condenses into Saber Intent. Saber Intent is corporeal and visible to the naked eye.
The illusory saber that appeared on his palm was black and white. It was extremely sharp.
To achieve Saber Intent, Saber Force had to undergo a qualitative change. Even if an expert at the Realm of Force wished to become a Godfiend, many obstacles would hinder them.
The Realm of Intent typically corresponded to Indestructible Godfiends. For example, those who cultivated low and middle-grade Godfiend bodies could easily become Indestructible Godfiends if they had reached the Realm of Intent.
The requirements for high and transcendent-grade Godfiend bodies were naturally more stringent.
However, one was destined to become a Godfiend if they reached the Realm of Intent.
If I were back in my hometown, I would still be slashing at the arrows constantly. If I didn’t have the Heart Intent Saber manual, who knows when I would’ve comprehended Saber Intent. Meng Chuan sighed inwardly.
On Archean Mountain, he could choose a suitable Black Metal Sutra freely. Where else could one enjoy such benefits?
I’ve attained Saber Intent. I’m not far from becoming a Godfiend! Meng Chuan smiled. Time to find Qiyue. I promised to show her my Saber Intent.
...
At Bright Scenic Peak.
“Junior Sister, Junior Sister!” A yellow-robed man shouted from outside Liu Qiyue’s cave abode.
The servants at the door blocked the yellow-robed man. Without the cave abode owner’s permission, people were forbidden from trespassing. Liu Qiyue was able to enter Meng Chuan’s cave abode easily because Meng Chuan had already instructed his servants to allow her in.
“Senior Brother Qian?” Liu Qiyue went to her cave abode entrance in puzzlement. “Senior Brother, please come in.”
After all, he was her senior brother. She couldn’t keep him outside.
“Senior Brother, why are you here?” asked Liu Qiyue.
The yellow-robed man smiled as he looked around the cave abode. “Junior Sister, you’ve decorated your place rather elegantly.”
Liu Qiyue smiled. “Senior Brother, why are you here?” she asked again.
“Isn’t Master going to test our archery tonight?” said the yellow-robed man with a smile. “That’s why I’m here to compete with you in archery.”
“Senior Brother, you’re already an Indestructible Godfiend. I’m still a mortal, and I barely managed to comprehend Force. I haven’t even reached the Realm of Intent. How can I compete with you?” Liu Qiyue shook her head. She was a disciple of Marquis Heavenstar. Several sharpshooters on Archean Mountain were Marquis Heavenstar’s disciples. Senior Brother Qian Yu was also one of his disciples.
“Haha. Junior Sister, you have awakened your phoenix bloodline, so your archery is naturally extraordinary.” Qian Yu laughed. “I’ve been on the mountain for ten years. I believe I can guide you. By helping each other, our archery skills can improve faster.”
Liu Qiyue shook her head gently. “There’s no need.”
Qian Yu was stunned.
“Senior Brother, forgive me. I have a strange quirk,” said Liu Qiyue with a chuckle. “I like silence and loneliness. I don’t like others coming to my cave abode. Senior Brother, please forgive me.”
Qian Yu’s expression changed slightly. She didn’t like others coming to her cave abode? Was she chasing him away?
“Qiyue, Qiyue.” Meng Chuan walked in with a face full of joy. The stewards at the door didn’t stop him. They even greeted him respectfully, “Lord Meng Chuan.”
They didn’t stop him? Qian Yu’s expression changed slightly.
He knew that Liu Qiyue and Meng Chuan were childhood sweethearts, but to be unobstructed when entering her cave abode meant that they weren’t just close!
Meng Chuan could enter without permission even if she was asleep? Just how close are they?