Chapter 876: Slay God

Dugu Ancestor furrowed his brow slightly. "Cultivating the sword must follow a gradual sequence; you cannot aim too high."

Ink Painting nodded and said, "Ancestor, you are right, but you also said that the path of the sword must have a beginning and an end, a starting point and an endpoint. Only then can there be direction."

"What I cultivate every day now is sword qi, which is the starting point of the sword path. The sword moves that transform divine thought are the endpoint. With a beginning and an end, I have a direction for learning the sword."

Dugu Ancestor was startled.

This child spoke clearly and logically, one idea following another. He was different from all the disciples Dugu Ancestor had taught before. This child had a clear Dao heart, was sincere in his interactions, and had a natural temperament. Although he also respected Dugu Ancestor, he wasn't timid, cautious, and overly restrained like other disciples. Previous disciples, even Xuan'er, revered and feared him as an Ancestor. When he taught them, they didn't dare to speak much. Let alone asking a pile of strange and odd questions like Ink Painting and even making small requests from time to time...

However, what he said was also right. While it's important to lay a good foundation in cultivating the sword path, the goal and direction are equally important. He must ultimately know what he is learning for.

Dugu Ancestor nodded. "Alright, I'll just explain it to you simply."

Ink Painting's spirit lifted. He quickly said, "Thank you, Ancestor!" Then he sat up straight and listened attentively.

Dugu Ancestor pondered for a moment and slowly said, "Starting from sword weapons, cultivating sword qi, transforming sword intent, and only then comes the divine thought sword style."

"There are four moves in the divine thought transformed sword style: Transform Sword, Shock God, Break God, and Chop God. These four styles are not independent but progress gradually from shallow to deep..."

"The Transform Sword style is the foundation and the entry point. It is the process of further manifesting sword intent, shaping the sword form, going from real to virtual, and then from virtual to real again."

"Although this move seems fundamental, it contains profound meaning in the path of the sword. From this, the virtual 'sword intent' then has a real 'sword form'."

"But the essence of this 'real' sword form is still 'virtual' sword intent."

"Virtual and real interweave; it is both virtual and real. You cannot comprehend this now, but in the future..."

Speaking here, Dugu Ancestor paused, suddenly realizing that he hadn't taught foundation-building disciples for a long time and had spoken too broadly. The way of virtual and real is an insight of the Cave Void realm; telling this child now was too early... But he turned his head to look and saw Ink Painting's bright gaze, listening with relish. He didn't know if he was truly listening or pretending to understand.

"These things... you will understand them when your cultivation reaches a certain level in the future." Dugu Ancestor then continued:

"The Transform Sword style is the foundation and entry, but it is ultimately too weak. Even after transforming the sword, it still needs careful nurturing and cannot be easily used, much less used to chop people..."

"Therefore, if the divine thought transformed sword is to be used in actual combat, the next level of sword style, the Shock God style, must be used."

Hearing this, Ink Painting couldn't help but be momentarily stunned. He had initially comprehended the "Transform Sword style" and then excitedly went on a killing spree. Up to now, he had used the "Transform Sword style" to kill who knows how many demons and evil spirits, and he had even chopped down an evil god. Yet, at this moment, the Ancestor told him that the "Transform Sword style" was fundamentally not for chopping people... This thing was actually just an "embryo" to be carefully nurtured...

Ink Painting's mood suddenly became very complex.

Dugu Ancestor didn't know Ink Painting's thoughts and continued to explain to him: "The Shock God style is to further integrate the sharp sword intent that a sword cultivator has refined for dozens or even hundreds of years into the 'Transform Sword style', and then, through the divine soul, attempt to 'leave the body'."

"As long as your sword intent is strong enough and refined sharply enough, the more terrifying the deterrence to others will be when the sword intent leaves the body."

"Even cultivators with pure sword hearts who cultivate the 'Shock God Sword' to the extreme only need to reveal a trace of sword intent during battle, and it is enough to make the enemy lose their courage upon hearing the news and fear battle."

"Sword enters, containing killing intent; sword emerges, shocking ghosts and gods." This was considered the formal practice method of the Shock God Sword.

Ink Painting nodded. Although the cultivation of the divine thought sword was stained with the two characters "divine thought," when investigating its foundation, all methods still began with "sword," entering the Dao through the sword, and deterring opponents with powerful sword intent. His "Shock God Sword" was actually a bit like "taking shortcuts." His sword path was not good, so he referenced and adapted the "refining evil" method of the Gui Water Gate. Therefore, when he displayed pupil techniques to deter the enemy, it was not purely sword intent deterrence but relied more on the heart image of the Dao Prison and the pain of the criminal prison to conduct deterrence, causing people to feel fear.

Which was superior or inferior, Ink Painting was not good to say. But his pupil technique was definitely "improper." However, since he had learned it, it was impossible to abandon it halfway. Moreover, the orthodox "Shock God Sword" did not conflict with his seven-soul "sword pupil" technique. On the contrary, if he learned the orthodox Shock God Sword well, his pupil technique would become stronger. In his heart, Ink Painting already had a general outline for the advancement of the Shock God Sword.

Dugu Ancestor had spoken about both the Transform Sword style and the Shock God style. Ink Painting had a rough idea in his heart and then asked again, "Ancestor, what about the Break God style?"

Dugu Ancestor said in a deep voice, "The Break God style and the Chop God style are vastly different. The Transform Sword style is the entry, the Shock God style is the opening of orifices. Only by cultivating to the Break God style can the divine thought transformed sword be considered a minor achievement. Only by cultivating to the Chop God style can it be considered a major achievement and can you graduate and go out to chop demons and eliminate evil."

"Oh, oh!" Ink Painting's gaze was full of expectation.

Dugu Ancestor's gaze condensed. "The Break Sword style condenses sword intent and gathers it at one point. Its killing power is not considered great, but its penetrating power is strong."

"Some demons and evil spirits in the world have innate abilities. Evil thoughts possess themselves, and evil fiends transform into armor, making their outer skin as hard as iron."

"Only by breaking their armor can their souls be injured."

"On the contrary, if the armor cannot be broken, then no matter how much sword qi there is, it cannot injure them in the slightest..."

"When the Break Sword style is cultivated to a profound level, it can break the armor of all evil spirits and demons."

Ink Painting was slightly startled. Break Sword style... breaking armor? Did demons have armor on their bodies? He recalled slightly and only then remembered that among the countless demons he had killed, a small portion seemed to wear "armor." This "armor" looked very primitive. Some were like ordinary rough iron, and some were more like the demons' own hair and scales. And when he strangled these demons, these "armor" felt indeed relatively hard. But in the way of divine thought, he could "break all laws with one force." No matter how hard the demon armor was, a few more hammers and fists from him would thoroughly shatter it. If it weren't for the Ancestor mentioning it, he wouldn't have realized that this "armor" actually had another meaning.

There were indeed quite a few intricacies within the way of divine thought...

And at this moment, Dugu Ancestor finally spoke about the last move.

"Chop God Sword..." Dugu Ancestor's gaze revealed a hint of sharpness. "It is the move that achieves great success in the true formula of the Taixu divine thought transformed sword, and it is also the most powerful move..."

Ink Painting's spirit was stirred, and his ears perked up.

Dugu Ancestor continued, "...Its power is the greatest. Similarly, it is also the most difficult to learn."

"The Chop God Sword, if you want to chop people, chop demons, chop evil, and finally chop gods, you must first chop yourself."

"Use sword intent to constantly quench your life soul until finally, they merge as one."

"Sword is life, and also soul."

"Thus, the divine soul will also have a sword form and can chop and kill all divine thought things."

"This is the process of a sword cultivator completely fusing their own sword, their own Dao, their own life, and their own soul into one."

"This process will be very painful and must be extremely cautious."

"Especially in the process of quenching the soul with the sword, the harm of sword intent to the divine soul will be very great. If you are slightly careless, the Chop God style will not be cultivated successfully, but your own divine soul will be chopped off..."

Dugu Ancestor's expression was extremely solemn. Obviously, examples of cultivating Chop God and suffering self-chopping were not exceptions in the history of the Taixu Gate.

Ink Painting, however, was moved and couldn't help but ask, "Ancestor, how exactly do you cultivate quenching the soul with the sword and self-chopping the divine soul?"

Dugu Ancestor said silently, "This is the highest secret transmission of the divine thought transformed sword. I cannot tell you now, and telling you now will only harm you."

Ink Painting was unwilling to give up. He thought for a moment and then said, "Will you teach me later?"

Dugu Ancestor pondered for a moment and slowly nodded. Since he had promised to teach Ink Painting the divine thought transformed sword, he naturally wouldn't go back on his word. If conditions allowed, he would naturally teach it. Even though the divine thought transformed sword was now listed as a forbidden technique of the Taixu Gate. And this "quenching the soul with the sword" method of the Chop God style was the most "forbidden" method within this forbidden technique.

"That is to say, you will teach it to me sooner or later?" Ink Painting asked again.

Dugu Ancestor thought for a moment and nodded. "Yes."

"Since that's the case," Ink Painting said, "you will teach it to me sooner or later. Why not just tell me now so I can be psychologically prepared?"

Dugu Ancestor frowned. "What psychological preparation do you need?"

Ink Painting said, "Just, the psychological preparation that I can learn the 'Chop God style' sooner or later!"

Dugu Ancestor was a bit speechless. This child couldn't even crawl yet and was already thinking of flying.

"Your sword qi is too weak, and your foundation is too poor. You are still far from being able to learn the Chop God Sword. I cannot teach you now," Dugu Ancestor still refused.

Ink Painting tried his best to persuade him, but no matter what he said, Dugu Ancestor remained unmoved. Ink Painting sighed, his expression somewhat lost. Dugu Ancestor looked at Ink Painting's dispirited appearance and suddenly felt a little sorry for him. Although Ink Painting's sword path aptitude was poor, he was very diligent, and his desire for knowledge was also very strong. More importantly, he was currently the only "sole seedling" in the Taixu Gate who was still cultivating the divine thought transformed sword. He couldn't suppress his enthusiasm too much.

Dugu Ancestor's tone revealed a hint of warmth that he himself didn't detect. "You are still young now, and it is too early to learn this. There is no need to rush. Quenching the soul with the sword is too dangerous and too profound; it is not something you can learn now."

Ink Painting saw that Dugu Ancestor's tone had softened and immediately said, "I'm not learning it, just researching it."

"Research?" Dugu Ancestor was startled.

"Yes," Ink Painting nodded. "I'm learning sword qi too slowly. At this rate, I don't know when I'll be able to learn the true divine thought transformed sword. There's no other way. Learning the sword is not a matter of one morning or evening, but..."

"My sword path foundation is weak, but my divine thought foundation is very strong."

"Since that's the case, why not research from the perspective of divine sense first and ponder the principles of the divine thought transformed sword at the divine thought level."

"This way, sword qi and divine thought can advance in parallel without delaying each other."

"When my sword qi is successful, I will also have done some research on the changes in divine thought transformed into sword. Thus, learning it will definitely yield twice the result with half the effort..." Ink Painting spoke with sound reason.

Dugu Ancestor was silent. Ink Painting's words were not without reason... Moreover, this also reminded him. Why was he willing to teach Ink Painting the divine thought transformed sword? Besides the cause and effect with Xuan'er, the main reason was that Ink Painting's divine thought was strong and he was walking the path of "proving the Dao with divine sense." His sword path was too weak, and his divine thought was too strong. This way, perhaps he couldn't be taught according to conventional methods, following a gradual sequence. Letting him contact some divine thought sword path methods ahead of time might not be a bad thing.

Just... Dugu Ancestor looked at Ink Painting. "Are you really just researching and not practicing?"

Ink Painting nodded repeatedly. "Absolutely! I'm not a fool; how could I possibly practice now?"

"Moreover, I haven't even cultivated sword intent, and I don't know the fundamental Transform Sword style. Even if I want to practice higher-level sword styles, I fundamentally cannot learn them." Ink Painting's gaze flickered slightly.

Dugu Ancestor immediately frowned. Based on intuition, he felt there was something wrong with this sentence of Ink Painting's. His words seemed insincere. But where was the "insincerity"? If these words were false, it meant that if he cultivated sword intent and learned the "Transform Sword style," he could also learn higher-level divine thought sword styles? This was even more impossible.

Dugu Ancestor looked at Ink Painting and finally nodded slowly. "Alright, if you just want to research, I can give you... the secret scripture of the Break God style first."

"What about the Chop God style?"

"Only the Break God style. The Chop God style is not allowed." It was too difficult, and its power was extremely great, and its killing nature was also heavy.

Ink Painting asked in a low voice, "Can I have all of them?"

Dugu Ancestor almost laughed in anger. "What are you thinking?"

"Then I want the Chop God style!" Ink Painting persisted. He didn't really need the "surprise attack" move of the Break God style in the way of divine thought. He needed one sword to break all laws. What demons, ghosts, evil fetuses, evil gods, he would chop them all with one sword! Since the Ancestor had finally relented, he had to be thick-skinned and persist to the end. Otherwise, if he missed this opportunity, it was very possible he wouldn't have another chance. He just wanted the Chop God Sword!

Dugu Ancestor saw Ink Painting's stubbornness and really had no other way. Finally, he said helplessly, "Then just the Chop God style..." Anyway, he was giving it all, so there was no difference between the Break God and Chop God styles.

Ink Painting was overjoyed. Dugu Ancestor drew a line with his finger, breaking open the void, and took out three bamboo slips from inside. But he thought for a moment and threw two back, only taking out the first one and handing it to Ink Painting. "This is the method of quenching the soul with the sword."

Ink Painting's expression was solemn. He received the bamboo slip and found that the bamboo slip was blank without a single character. Only a sword was carved on it with ancient and crude knife strokes. Ink Painting was a bit bewildered. "Ancestor, what does this mean?"

Dugu Ancestor only said, "The way of chopping God is in it. Comprehend it yourself. If you can comprehend it clearly, it means you can understand it. If you cannot comprehend it clearly, it means you still do not understand."

Ink Painting's scalp felt a little numb. As expected of an Ancestor, this opportunity was like hitting something but not hitting it... But he carefully pondered and felt that it seemed to make sense. If he could understand it, then even if the Ancestor didn't say it, he could understand it himself. If he couldn't understand it, it meant his attainment was not deep enough and the time was not ripe. Then he shouldn't talk about "breaking god" or "chopping god." He should be honest and continue to practice from the lowest level of sword qi.

However... Ink Painting asked again, "Ancestor, weren't there three bamboo slips?" He had sharp eyes and saw the Ancestor take out three bamboo slips from the void.

Dugu Ancestor's face darkened. "Only one piece."

Ink Painting stared at him.

Dugu Ancestor's face sank like water.

Alright then, one piece it is... He had already gotten a bargain; he couldn't be greedy. The Ancestor giving him this one bamboo slip was already a great grace. He couldn't ask for more.

"Thank you, Ancestor!" Ink Painting said gratefully.

Dugu Ancestor didn't know why, but he silently breathed a sigh of relief. "Remember what I told you. You can look, you can think, but don't practice." Then Dugu Ancestor instructed again, "Also, keep this bamboo slip safe. You cannot let outsiders see it, and you definitely cannot lose it. Return it after you are finished looking..."

Ink Painting promised profusely. "Ancestor, rest assured, I remember everything!"

It was getting late. After Dugu Ancestor finished, he sent Ink Painting back to the disciple residence. After returning to the disciple residence, Ink Painting basically didn't sleep. He almost immediately took out the bamboo slip that Dugu Ancestor had sent, or rather, temporarily lent him. The bamboo slip was very rough, as if someone had picked a bamboo branch and casually shaved it into shape. But in its simplicity and unadornedness, it revealed a hint of the natural greatness of the Dao, returning to simplicity and truth. On the bamboo slip, there was a sword carved with ancient and crude marks, full of interest. Ink Painting focused his gaze on the sword mark.

Half a day later, he still couldn't see anything. The divine thought transformed sword was not only difficult to learn, but even the inheritance was made so obscure. Ink Painting shook his head. However, no matter how difficult it was, this was a matter of the divine sense level. And as long as it was related to divine sense, Ink Painting had enough confidence and experience to deduce and research it point by point. Forgetting to eat and sleep, he pondered for about two days and finally got some clues. This sword path bamboo slip was essentially similar in its wonderful effect to the "Water Prison Forbidden Box" of the Gui Water Gate. This was a kind of "class" visualization diagram. Although it wasn't a visualization diagram, it relied on the "diagram" to engrave the inheritance, and the cultivator obtained the inheritance through visualization.

"Should I learn it?" Ink Painting was a bit conflicted. The Chop God style was very strong, but quenching the soul with the sword and self-chopping the life soul were equally extremely risky. Moreover, he was now essentially "skipping levels" in his learning. He was skipping the Taixu orthodox "Shock God Sword," skipping the "Break God Sword" that condenses sword intent and breaks evil fiends, and directly beginning to learn the final "Chop God Sword." But if he didn't learn it, it also seemed impossible. The evil fetus resided in his life soul, like a thorn in his back and a fishbone in his throat. Ink Painting truly could not be at ease without eliminating it.

"Let's try it first..." At midnight, Ink Painting burned incense and bathed, sat in meditation, calmed his mind, then took out the bamboo slip, preparing to quench his soul with the sword and practice the Chop God sword style. He focused his eyes on the bamboo slip, visualizing the ancient and crude sword mark on the bamboo slip. At first, nothing happened. Ink Painting didn't feel anything either. But gradually, as his mind became more peaceful and he visualized for a longer time, the sword mark on the bamboo slip also gradually changed. This sword mark seemed to be slowly transforming into a sword. This sword was formless and formless, containing a trace of ancient and majestic sword intent, and in a trance, it had the power of yin and yang dividing and judging, and the rotation of Taixu. And Ink Painting's divine thought communicated with this sword. The tip of this sword also pointed towards Ink Painting. Ink Painting was startled, and then his expression suddenly became clear. His gaze was slightly cold. He bit his teeth, hardened his heart, and silently recited in his heart:

"Chop!"

The sword intent instantly broke through the air, passed through Ink Painting's eyes, directly broke into his sea of consciousness, and chopped towards his life soul. A wave of extremely violent pain transmitted. An extremely shrill cry sounded along with it. This cry came from Ink Painting's mouth, but it was not Ink Painting shouting. At the same time, Ink Painting's face turned pitch black and evil, transforming into that evil infant, shrieking:

"Ignorant little ghost! What are you doing? Do you want to die?!"