As he did his utmost while engaging in his swordplay, the sweat his body produced and the blood that boiled within him made him feel hotter.
It was already autumn, making it rather cold deep into the night. However, Qin Yun only felt hotter the more he engaged in his swordplay. His brain felt the hottest. With a beckon of his hand, another jar of alcohol flew out. Grabbing it with his left hand and wielding his sword in the other, he drank and continued with his unrestrained swordplay! He did not care for time nor bother what sword art he was using.
The sword flashes became more agile, wanton and joyful.
Gradually, Qin Yun immersed himself in his swordplay. Throwing the alcohol jar aside, his head no longer felt hot. The burning blood coursing through his veins slowly calmed down. However, his mind turned empty, without any distractions. He infused all his pleasure and joy into the sword art.
"My sword arts of the past were a little too cold. Humans have the feelings of pleasure, anger, sorrow, and joy. It is the same with sword arts. It too should have pleasure and joy." Qin Yun's sword arts were changing.
"Phew–"
The sword flashes gradually seemed to manifest a swimming dragon of mist. The appearance of the sword flashes seemed like misty dragons swimming around with unfettered flair.
The misty dragons gradually turned blurry and transformed into an indistinct phantom dragon formed from water droplets.
Woosh! Rip!
The sword flashes tore through the sky. They did not contain any Quintessential Essence but were produced from the most routine sword arts, yet they contained terrifying and unfathomable strength.
Qin Yun continued without regard for a while. Even the dragon phantom vanished along with the water droplets, leaving behind only an ordinary sword. However, when the sword flash shimmered, it would appear even more mysterious. The sword's speed alternated between slow and quick. When it was fast, it was faster than the flying sword's Rainbow Blooming Sword Beam yet it was done with ease.
Phew! Phew!
It was not only the sword. Even Qin Yun's motions would occasionally produce a burst of speed as though he was teleporting. Technically speaking, at certain speed thresholds, a sonic boom would result but Qin Yun moved like an elegant sword flash that was without sound.
Finally, Qin Yun reached a refractory state.
He naturally kept his sword and sat cross-legged on the yellowed grass. He kept the Intrinsic Flying Sword into his body which transformed into a sword ball in his dantian.
"Weng!"
He seemed ordinary sitting cross-legged but if a true expert were here to sense him, they would see that there was a horrifying amount of sword intent soaring into the sky. Even fifty feet around him was completely permeated with sword intent.
"This feeling sure is bewildering." Qin Yun sat cross-legged and was long able to release his psyche. But at that moment, every blade of grass, sand particle, or speck of floating dust in a fifty-feet radius, and even the soil deep beneath him, the water table, and gravel were enveloped by his sword intent.
In the past, the sword intent enveloped objects.
For instance, it was contained within the sword and could be blasted outwards. But now, the sword intent was so powerful that it naturally spread outwards. It even permeated every object in a fifty-feet radius.
"Sword Intent Unleashed, Naturally Formed Domain. My sword intent has already reached this state?" Qin Yun felt a faint sense of joy and satisfaction. "Tonight might be my luckiest day."
Following that, he did not continue thinking further. He focused and began to learn from the experience he obtained from the sword intent.
…
During normal cultivation, typically only at the Connate False Core realm would cultivators manage to perceive the heaven and earth, attaining Heaven Man Unity after nurturing their mind to a sufficiently high state! This was extremely rare even in the False Core realm. Of course, this was only limited to human cultivators. For fiendish demons, they might be strong in combat but they were much weaker at perceiving the heaven and earth when compared to humans.
One could only ruminate over the Heavenly Dao after attaining Heaven Man Unity. With the accumulation of time, there would come a day when one would gain enlightenment over the implications over the Heavenly Dao, however tiny it may be. If one was a sword immortal, this bit of insight could be transformed into sword intent.
Therefore…
Under normal circumstances, only a small number of Connate True Core realm cultivators could grasp that little bit of charm of the Heavenly Dao.
And at a higher state, long periods of cultivation would only constantly fortify one's insights into the Heavenly Dao's charms. Come one day, it would experience a qualitative change. The Heavenly Dao charms could even be projected outwards, enveloping a region. This was the so-called Sword Intent Unleashed, Naturally Formed Domain. This also represented the second realm! Even among Connate Golden Core experts, only a small number of them had the chance of approaching the second level after spending a long time in the Golden Core realm.
As for Qin Yun?
He was a sword immortal of legends!
When he was in the Postnatal realm, he did not even have Heaven Man Unity. Just through the cultivation of the sword, his heart aligned with the sword as he roamed the world. While risking his life in the northern borders, his life and his brothers' lives depended on the sword. Finally, he was enlightened with the Misty Rain Sword Intent on the battlefield. It was Expertise Nearing Dao, with his skill reaching a natural apex and through such an opportunity, he grasped sword intent with a special state of mind.
This meant that Qin Yun possessed a Heart of the Sword and he innately would pursue the true nature of the sword.
Without Heaven Man Unity, he could not perceive the Heavenly Dao; yet, he had managed to achieve that step.
After attaining Heaven Man Unity and killing Water God, he experienced tumultuous changes. He improved at an exponential rate! There were improvements every day and the daily insights accumulated. This was also the reason that great fiendish demons would hunt down legendary sword immortals the moment they were exposed! For him to gain insight into sword intent without attaining Heaven Man Unity was truly an occurrence that appeared once in several centuries. After attaining Heaven Man Unity, he naturally could soar to the nine heavens!
At the age of twenty, he had gained insights into the Misty Rain Sword Intent on the battlefield.
At the age of twenty-one, he attained Heaven Man Unity, allowing him to slay Water God.
At the age of twenty-two, having attained Heaven Man Unity for about a year, his hard work under the full moon allowed his sword intent to finally experience a qualitative change. It stepped into the second realm of sword intent—'Sword Intent Unleashed, Naturally Formed Domain'!
******
Sword intent raised one's strength in every aspect.
For example, the nurturing and cultivation of an Intrinsic Flying Sword took even shorter amounts of time. Even the quality of the materials was lowered. Back when Qin Yun first grasped the Misty Rain Sword Intent, he was able to shorten the time to cultivate an Intrinsic Flying Sword by ten times. However, the requirement for the materials remained the same. And if he reached the second realm of sword intent, the time needed for the cultivation of his Intrinsic Flying Sword would be halved. The number of materials required would be greatly reduced as well.
If he could truly grasp Sword Dao as depicted by legends, he could refine an ordinary weapon into a Dharma treasure simply with the nourishment of the Sword Dao even without any materials!
Sword intent was the nurturement of the soul. It enhanced one's Quintessential Essence cultivation, dantian, and meridians in every aspect. Especially with the breakthrough he just had, the all-rounded enhancement left Qin Yun immersed in it.
…
He sat cross-legged in the yard till it was bright. Qin Yun opened his eyes as he basked in the warm sunlight.
"It's the second day. I'll have to accompany Yi Xiao to have some crabs at noon today." Qin Yun stood up immediately. "I have to make some preparations and get the biggest and best crabs."
Immediately, he prepared for lunch.
When it was almost noon, Qin Yun landed outside Yi Xiao's inner courtyard.
"Young Master Qin." The maidservants outside were rather polite. There were a few who let out uncontrolled giggles as they had seen Qin Yun come often.
"Knock. Knock. Knock." Qin Yun knocked on the door.
"Yi Xiao! Yi Xiao, it's me!" Qin Yun shouted.
After a while, the door opened as Yi Xiao, who was dressed in pale red robes, walked out. The clothes accentuated her red cheeks as she shot a glance at Qin Yun.
"Let's go and have some crab." Qin Yun said warmly.
"Alright." Yi Xiao nodded.
The duo walked out together.
As they watched the couple leave, the maidservants in the courtyard began murmuring.
"This Young Master Qin frequently visits Missus. Why do I think that they are a lot closer today? Look at them standing side by side. Their shoulders are almost touching." A fat maidservant said in a hushed tone.
"I also think something isn't right. Look at the way Missus looks at him. Wow, even I feel my heart palpitating." A petite maidservant said immediately.
"Do you think it's possible that Young Master Qin and Missus have already…" A maidservant touched her index fingers together.
"Cut it out. Do you have a death wish to say something like that?"
"Speak less. Don't be heard or we'll be chased out."
******
Yi Xiao cultivated in the Lightning Dharma and she too had her pride. However, when her heart recognized the one, she would become a lot milder. The both of them met almost daily and not like every other day or two of the past.
One day, Yi Xiao walked alone on the street and browsed the stalls. She stopped in front of a stall that sold old books because she knew Qin Yun liked them. Of course, it referred to old book collections that contained sword arts.
"This book." Yi Xiao was naturally knowledgeable. She picked up an ancient book and browsed through it. She felt that the sword arts demonstrated in the book seem to keenly impose palpitations within her heart. Of course, such sword art books could not be sold for a lot. After all, Qi Refinement and the knocking open of the gate of immortality were the foundations. Weapon art books were common when Qi Refinement techniques proliferated the world. Even villages had several who practiced Qi Refinement.
"It looks pretty extraordinary. Qin Yun should like it." Yi Xiao's face suffused a faint smile.
"I want this book. How much is it?" asked Yi Xiao.
"Miss, this is obtained from our Grand Dominance's Sword Immortal Manor's Qin Manor! My second uncle's cousin was a servant at his place…" The hawker began boasting.
"Tell me the price." Yi Xiao looked at him.
The hawker raised up five fingers and said, "Five taels of silver! That's an honest price!"
"One tael of silver, and I'll take it," bargained Yi Xiao.
"Alright, one tael of silver it is." The hawker smiled immediately. The price of such old books was susceptible to wild speculation. A tael of silver was his income after two months of hard work! He originally believed that selling it for two to three-tenths of a tael of silver would be quite a great sale. This was only because the book itself was considered a valuable item.
After putting down one tael of silver, Yi Xiao kept the book.
Just as she turned to leave, Yi Xiao saw a figure in the distance.
Far ahead, there was a man and woman that looked like a married couple. It was only because Yi Xiao was a Connate False Core realm cultivator that she was able to notice at a glance. Furthermore, that figure had appeared in her dreams numerous times, so how could she forget it?
"Father?" Yi Xiao's expression changed.
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