Chapter 130: Sword Qi, Sword Intent

Xu Xiaoshou headed eastward.

He had mentioned the west side just to mislead Yuan Tuo. That guy might come back looking for him, and if the information got twisted, they might not find the person in just three days.

Tianxuan Gate was still quite vast.

Humming a tune and singing along, Xu Xiaoshou occasionally pulled his fingers out of his palm to ease the sensation. He felt like he was getting used to the body's pleasures.

He tried not to numb himself with pain and fully withdrew his fingers from his palm.

“Uh!”

It was still a bit uncomfortable, and his body felt strange again.

Gritting his teeth against the discomfort, Xu Xiaoshou kept walking and stopped his earlier self-harming behavior.

The “Breathing Method” was a passive skill, and he would eventually have to deal with environments of high spiritual energy concentration.

This was just Tianxuan Gate; later, when he left Ling Gong and entered even more powerful secret realms, was he really going to refuse progress in cultivation just because the pleasure was too intense?

Impossible!

Resisting was pointless. Life couldn't always be about fighting against things; sometimes, you had to learn to accept and even enjoy them.

“Ah, that feels good.”

When he was alone, Xu Xiaoshou gradually let himself go.

As time passed, he evolved to the point where he could walk normally.

Most people, upon entering Tianxuan Gate, raced against the clock—either rushing to cultivate or hurrying to find a secret realm to cultivate.

Xu Xiaoshou was different.

His cultivation was always passive; even if he lay down right there in Tianxuan Gate, he would still be cultivating continuously, and the results might even be better than those who frantically pushed themselves.

But he didn't slack off. While heading toward Hei Luo Ya, he pulled out the “Shi Duan Jian Zhi.”

It was the legendary exclusive skill of the first genius of the five domains, the Eighth Sword Immortal Ba Zun An.

Knowing its origins made the jade slip in his hand feel even heavier.

He had no idea where Sang Lao had gotten the complete version, but obtaining it must have cost a significant price.

He hadn't had time to look at it before, but now he could finally check it out!

Pressing it to his forehead, his mind scanned through it, and a flood of information poured in.

As he expected, it was a special spiritual technique focused on the ten fingers, not requiring spiritual energy, and it contained traces of pure sword intent combat strategies.

“What's going on? Isn't this supposed to be sword intent embodiment?”

Xu Xiaoshou was a bit confused. “Pure sword intent combat” and “sword intent embodiment” seemed to be blended together?

Well, it wasn't entirely impossible...

Xu Xiaoshou had a moment of sudden enlightenment.

When it came to pure sword intent combat, besides himself, he could only think of that masked person from that night.

And now, this jade slip had similar traces... which made him recall once again what the masked person had said: “Your path has already been walked to ruin by others.”

Could it be that the Eighth Sword Immortal was a master of this path?

Without dwelling on it, he returned his focus to the jade slip's content.

Practicing “Shi Duan Jian Zhi” required strong finger skills, but his innate physical body should already meet that prerequisite. Even if not, he had “Sharpness” to back it up!

No big issues there.

The hurdle that blocked ninety percent of practitioners was easily overcome, and Xu Xiaoshou moved on to the second step:

Manifest sword intent and attach it to the body surface.

“What does that mean?”

“Isn't sword intent easy to manifest? Like my own sword energy...”

The more Xu Xiaoshou read, the more shocked he became. From the descriptions, sword intent and sword energy were completely distinguished.

After finishing the jade slip, he realized he might have been on the wrong path all along.

All his past techniques—like treating all things as swords, drawing sword techniques, and using sword energy to control enemies—were actually just basic applications of sword energy.

Not sword intent!

In other words, the path Xu Xiaoshou had been walking was strictly “pure sword energy combat,” not “pure sword intent combat!”

“This is interesting...”

“If the intent realm can't turn from abstract to tangible, how can it be effective?”

Xu Xiaoshou fell into deep thought, but soon, he remembered his “Draw Sword Style.”

It was something he comprehended after upgrading “Sword Mastery” during his fight with Zhou Tian Can—a technique of four ounces deflecting a thousand pounds, directly reversing his “Immortal Uprooting Mountain Style” and securing victory.

But later, this style rarely came into play.

It was because of too many limitations, no fixed form, and it had been repeatedly forgotten by Xu Xiaoshou, replaced directly by the “Draw Sword Style.”

Only after reading this jade slip did he understand that, out of everything he had, this was the only technique that truly involved sword intent combat!

All the later efforts to deliberately comprehend and solidify intent realms into forms were actually inferior approaches.

Although it completed the shift from intent to form, continuing like that would lead him astray.

“True sword intent combat is formless and substanceless, without fixed techniques or styles—one sword is ten thousand swords, and without a sword, it breaks ten thousand laws.”

Reading those words in the jade slip stirred massive waves in Xu Xiaoshou's heart.

The concept of “one sword is ten thousand swords” instantly opened his mind, and the following “without a sword, it breaks ten thousand laws” was like unlocking a whole new world for him.

It was said so well!

This was exactly the realm he had always dreamed of!

Indeed, figuring it out alone made it easy to go astray!

Wait...

That phrase sounded familiar.

He suddenly remembered that the masked person had seemed to fight in his style that day and said something similar after the fight.

“True sword intent has no levels, doesn't care about form or substance, and uses the enemy's way against them.”

Yes, that was it!

It was what the masked person said after controlling Xiao Qi Xiu's sword and striking back!

Ever since Xu Xiaoshou's “Perception” ability appeared, his memory had been excellent. After a moment of reflection, he recalled it clearly. He even remembered how the masked person had emphasized...

Innate level!

Innate-level “All Things as Swords,” innate-level “Man as Sword”...

And so on. Back then, he thought the masked person was just showing off, but now, thinking back, it was truly impressive.

“Was he guiding me?” Xu Xiaoshou suddenly realized, stopping in his tracks and sinking into deep thought.

Who was that masked person?

Could it really be the Eighth Sword Immortal?

Oh my god, that's impossible—Sang Lao said he had fallen!

Wait, if he fell...

Maybe the fall of a genius just meant he was no longer considered a genius?

Suddenly, Xu Xiaoshou's pupils contracted as he thought of Xiao Qi Xiu!

That guy had been stabbed in their fight that day, but afterward, he was extremely excited. Now, thinking about it, that was totally abnormal!

Who gets thrilled after being stabbed? And that expression—looking back now...

It was just like how a fan acts when they meet their idol!

Xiao Qi Xiu... a fan...

“Ugh!” Xu Xiaoshou shuddered.

He suddenly felt that even if the masked person wasn't the Eighth Sword Immortal, he must have some connection to him—maybe a disciple or something.

“Whoa.”

Still a bit shocked, Xu Xiaoshou steadied his mind and carefully put the jade slip away. Now he knew it was a real treasure!

Good thing it pointed him in the right direction; otherwise, he might have had a hard time turning back on the path of creating his own spiritual techniques.

After all, the power of the “Draw Sword Style” was pretty overwhelming!

But if he gave it up, what big moves would he have left?

“Hmm, I'm overthinking it...”

Xu Xiaoshou only hesitated for a moment before recovering.

Of course, he would continue on the sword intent path, but who said creating his own spiritual techniques had to conflict with it?

“Heh, I'm such a genius!”

Xu Xiaoshou looked toward the horizon, his eyes burning with intensity.

If before reading the jade slip, he had a casual attitude toward “Shi Duan Jian Zhi,” now it had completely changed.

Something the Eighth Sword Immortal took pride in must have its shining points. Just one sentence in it had given him such deep insights—if he truly mastered it...

It might add an incredibly terrifying combat style!

Target: Hei Luo Ya!

With a powerful kick, his leg created a huge pit in the ground. Using the rebound, Xu Xiaoshou shot up into the sky.

When he landed, he was already several hundred meters away.

Bang!

Another huge pit, and he shot out again...

This bouncing forward was even faster than innate-level flight!

“Huh?”

“Why does this scene feel so familiar?”

As Xu Xiaoshou kept jumping, he suddenly sensed something off.

If his skin were a bit greener and his build a bit bulkier, wouldn't he be just like...

“The Hulk?”