Duncan had read extensively on how a cultivator progresses in Sword Dao, due to his interest in it.
Especially after he had performed the sword light consciously for the first time, Duncan had tried to read as much as possible on the various stages of sword cultivation.
A sword cultivator can be differentiated in strength based on the stage at which his Sword Dao has progressed to. There are basically five stages of Sword Dao that are known to cultivators in this world.
The first stage is the Sword Light.
This is the stage Duncan was at. Duncan had already achieved this state due to his innate talent even before entering the Grotto Heaven. However, only during the fight with the Wang Clan Patriarch did he truly grasp and began controlling. The true mark of control for a cultivator is to manipulate the sword light in whichever way they saw fit.
Either by adding the concepts they have understood to it or by manipulating how the shape of the sword light came out, a cultivator can be said to have mastered the sword light stage. Duncan was currently at this level now.
The next one was Sword Qi.
When a cultivator manages to condense the light of their sword and compress it to a certain extent, he will be able to form a qi unique to his own sword style with it. This qi is called sword qi. The sword qi is not something naturally available. It was condensed from the understanding of a cultivator.
After Sword Qi comes the Sword Domain.
A sword domain is formed of the sword qi of a cultivator. A domain is simply a certain region. Inside that region, the cultivator is in control of everything. A sword domain will be formed of the cultivator's sword qi. That entire region will be filled with a cultivator's sword qi.
Next comes the Sword Intent.
This is where the cultivation focuses on the esoteric elements of the Sword Dao a lot. Like any martial arts dao, every technique, and every attack has its own intent in it. When a cultivator reaches the utmost perfection level in their understanding of the martial art or gains complete proficiency in the usage of a weapon, they will be able to recreate the intent of the original attack or the weapon it was based on.
This stage in martial dao cultivation is called the intent stage. The intent stage is where the wheat is separated from the chaff. While many people could obtain an initial understanding of concepts and gain some enlightenment on them, only the best amongst them would be able to completely understand anything, whether it be a martial art or a weapon usage.
The intent stage is also termed as the realm of simplicity.
Whether it be martial arts or weapons techniques, they will always start simple and then later become complex in their usage. However, in the final stages of any technique, the complexity will once again transform into simplicity. The goal of this transformation is to go back to the roots.
For any technique or weapon usage, the root that determines its potential is the intent from which it was created. Reaching this intent level is the stage that was known as the intent stage.
When a cultivator reaches the intent stage, their every action will carry the intent along with them. From mere looks to gestures, anything can be induced with intent and cause heavy damage. For sword cultivators, this stage is where the decent and extraordinary persons will be divided.
Unless a sword cultivator achieves sword intent, their Sword Dao will not progress further. This made the fact that it is required for the sword cultivators to achieve sword intent a very important eligibility to pursue the Sword Dao.
As an aspiring sword cultivator, Duncan knew about the importance of the intent stage very well. It was one of his goals in the path of cultivation to achieve sword intent.
The stage after one achieves the sword intent is called the Intent Domain stage.
From what Duncan had heard, Intent Domain is the highest realm of achievement anyone in this world had achieved with Sword Dao. In this stage, the sword intent is combined with a sword domain to create an intent domain.
Only Ascendant Beings were capable of achieving this feat. Hence, the opportunity to come across an intent domain is a very rare one. Especially, the intent domain of a sword cultivator can be said to be even more rare.
When Duncan realized that he was on the border and looking at an intent domain established by a sword cultivator, his heart throbbed in agitation. On one hand, there was this giddiness formed due to the pleasant surprise of running into such a rare thing.
However, on the other hand, he couldn't help but be afraid. He had almost stepped into an intent domain without even knowing about it. The intent domains of sword cultivators were known for their lethality. As the dao with a great potential for attack, an intent domain formed from a Sword Dao can deal easily thrice the damage of other intent domains.
Duncan felt incredibly lucky that he hadn't mistakenly stepped into this region. If he had done that, he would never walk out alive. It was a miracle that he didn't step into the region directly and only enjoyed the scenery from the border.
Furthermore, he also realized what about this region hooked his interest. As a sword cultivator, he could intuitively feel the pure sword energy in the region. This pure sword energy formed from the intent domain was what hooked him in. It was the source of his attraction towards this place.
After realizing this, Duncan let go of any thoughts related to testing himself against the region.
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As time passed, Duncan's apprehension towards the intent domain in the region slowly vanished. His natural curiosity and interest towards the intent domain dominated his mind causing him to spend time meditating on it for a long while.
As Duncan continued to meditate on the intent domain in the region, his understanding of the Sword Dao was also beginning to see improvement. Duncan had already reached the threshold of creating a domain. But, his cultivation towards it wasn't extensive or orthodox.
Duncan's innate talent and bloodline might have facilitated his mindset to reach that stage, but his knowledge of Sword Dao was really not that extensive. Moreover, the time he had cultivated is also very little.
One year ago, Duncan wasn't even a cultivator. Now, he was at the stage of sword light. This in itself is a tremendous achievement. However, Duncan wasn't the only one to do so. There are geniuses all over the world who were able to achieve this feat.
However, only a very few were able to progress further within a year.
Every stage is like a plateau when it comes to dao. Every time a cultivator reaches a certain stage, they will need to spend a lot of time and energy to step into the next stage. The progress during the initial stages might be fast, but with every stage, the time and energy spent will only increase exponentially.
Duncan's good fortune is that he was able to progress through the initial stages of Sword Dao very quickly. His bloodline was tilted towards slaughter and combat. This gave him a unique advantage when it came to understanding his chosen weapon. This made Duncan progress very fast till the threshold of the sword domain stage.
However, due to his lack of systematic knowledge or orthodox cultivation, Duncan's knowledge was filled with a lot of holes. Hence, he wasn't even able to enter the sword qi stage despite reaching the threshold of the sword domain stage in ability.
This lack of knowledge can only be taught from a master to a disciple. If not, it will take several years and the right opportunities for someone to progress with their own self-realization.
Devouring books and records regarding this subject won't be much of a help either. A cultivator will need to experience the change for himself and walk the path by himself. If there was a caring master or a mentor, they might guide a cultivator through the minefield of detours and eliminate the possibility of traveling through a wrong path.
If not, one can only rely on themselves.
However, where there is a disadvantage, there will also be advantages. Achieving sword qi through one's own self-realization will make it more powerful than achieving it through someone else's guidance.
Cultivation is a journey of self-exploration and self-improvement. What one realizes and achieves is what stays with that person the most. The impact of such things is deeper and will have more profound changes in a person.
If someone guides another person, by taking no detours, a cultivator might reach the destination faster, but their understanding will be a lot more shallower than the person who explored it by himself. That's why, the mark of a good teacher is always the ability to balance these both aspects.
This is also the reason why a loose cultivator who had understood his own sword dao will always be far more powerful than generic sect-produced geniuses. There are exceptions to this as well. But, the general trend is like this all over the world.
Duncan's situation was a little different than the other sect disciples. Even though he had a master, his master didn't have any interest in guiding him. That almost made him similar to a loose cultivator who explored things by himself. Only, he had the resources of the sect to back his cultivation, unlike a loose cultivator.
So, in terms of understanding, Duncan was more similar to a loose cultivator. The gaps in his knowledge can only be filled if he finds a rare opportunity. And right now, one such rare opportunity was in front of him.
Naturally, Duncan didn't let go of it.
As Duncan meditated beside the intent domain enveloping the region, the gaps in his knowledge began to get filled. Time passed without much change. Duncan forgot himself entirely and immersed himself in understanding the Sword Dao with the intent domain near him as a reference.
Days passed by in a blur.
On one fine day, Duncan's body began to emit sharp radiance all over. Sword qi emanated from every pore of his body as his understanding of the sword rose by leaps and bounds.
Duncan's dress turned into shreds unable to bear the sharp qi that was emanating from his body. Duncan remained completely unaware of everything. Despite having broken through to the next stage in Sword Dao, he wasn't done.
He was directly aiming to reach the sword domain stage.
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