Unity of Heaven and Man, Heaven and Earth Sword!

As Chen Xin activated his Seven Kill True Body, the wind on the riverbank froze.

It was as if even the wind dared not move.

A faint blue light slid down Chen Xin's shoulders and back, all the way to the knuckles holding the sword, and gradually seeped into the Seven Kill Sword.

Chen Xin looked at the old man with white hair, his skin and hair were all fine, but the vitality of a living person was continuously sinking into the sword.

Once all that energy has sunk in, what remains on the spot is no longer a person, but merely a sword.

A sword that has come to life.

The Level 96 Soul Power rolled slowly inside the sword, so slowly it was frightening, like magma lying dormant deep underground, its churning invisible, while the pebbles on the riverbank floated up one by one, hovering at knee height.

This wasn't something held aloft by Soul Power; it was a vacuum created by the pressure of sword intent. Everything around it was locked in place by this force, leaving no escape.

Su Zui stood there, feeling as if he had been forcibly ripped away from this world.

Chen Xin hadn't even drawn his sword yet.

But Su Zui had lost control of his body; it was as if the riverbank itself was rejecting him.

This is the Seven Kill Sword Dao.

He transformed himself into a sword, suppressing all.

A sweet, metallic taste rose in Su Zui's throat.

Completely exposed to the Seven Kill Sword Intent, Su Zui felt as if fine needles were slowly scraping along his meridians on his chest.

His hand holding the sword trembled uncontrollably, and blood from his palm slid down the hilt, making it so slippery that he could barely hold it.

How exactly should he withstand this sword strike? A series of thoughts flashed through Su Zui's mind, as fast as the blink of an eye.

Then, one by one, they all shattered.

Sword energy? Or should I rely on my own speed?

Although the speed of 128 times was fast, the sword strike before him was impenetrable; the Seven Kill Sword had locked onto the entire surrounding space, leaving no room for evasion.

Explosive Flame Sky-Rending Claw? Using this to directly block the Seven Kills Technique Unity of Man and Sword is no different from reaching out to grab a red-hot iron.

Su Zui a sudden chill in her heart, and then she suddenly realized something.

He went astray from the very beginning.

From the moment he stepped onto the riverbank to the moment he began fighting, he had been doing one thing the whole time—trying his best to hold on.

He withstood the first sword, the second sword, the Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Origin, and the Seven Kill True Body.

He used the Great Luo Sword Embryo as a shield in front of him, piling his Soul Power layer by layer on top of it, the higher and thicker the better.

But Chen Xin's sword never cuts through the shield; it cuts through the shield itself.

No matter how thick a barrier is, it is still a barrier. It has boundaries and a form, and it will eventually be breached.

He cultivated his swordsmanship by constantly seeking knowledge externally.

The pursuit is for greater power, faster speed, and more ruthless killing moves.

He always believed that the ultimate goal of swordsmanship was to become "faster," "fiercer," and "sharper," so that no one could stop him. He was single-mindedly focused on polishing his sword to become more and more like a deadly weapon.

But the Seven Kill Sword before him told him a different answer.

Chen Xin stripped away all the fancy moves, leaving only one word: Break.

Undeterred and relentless, it shatters anything it encounters.

Where then is one's own way of the sword?

Su Zui gripped the sword hilt tightly, his mind buzzing as a jumble of fragmented thoughts uncontrollably surfaced.

It wasn't that I was deliberately recalling them; these insights just popped into my head.

He remembered the wild grass mentioned in the Grass Character Sword Art.

It grows in the cracks of rocks and is only about a hand's breadth tall.

A strong wind can overturn a towering tree, but it refuses to break.

It doesn't confront the strong wind head-on; when the wind pushes eastward, it bends down and hugs the ground; when the wind eases, it slowly bounces back.

Upon closer inspection, the edges of the grass blades are extremely sharp; if they were to scratch someone, they could easily cut their skin.

A single line, a blade of grass, can cut down the Sun Moon, and stars. When I read it before, I only felt it was incredibly heroic, like a boastful statement.

Only now did he understand that this sentence was never about how domineering power is, but about a way of life.

I will not fight head-on, I will not bend my back, I will live and never bow my head.

Su Zui's breathing gradually slowed down.

Scenes from his past life flashed through his mind.

A sentence suddenly appeared in Su Zui's mind: Heaven and earth are born together with me, and all things are me.

Are swords only meant for killing?

When this question came up, even Su Zui himself was stunned.

From the day he obtained the Great Luo Sword Embryo, all he could think about was how to make the sword stronger. How to increase its destructive power, how to infuse it with the full power of his Soul Spirit, and how to unleash the most devastating blow in the shortest amount of time.

He never stopped to ask himself, "What exactly is a sword?"

Thinking of this, a layer of cold sweat seeped down my back.

He finally understood the gap between himself and Chen Xin. It had nothing to do with the difference in Soul Power or the chasm of cultivation Level 96.

Chen Xin had long since settled down in the world of swordsmanship, while he stood outside the door, knocking loudly, but no matter how loudly he knocked, he remained an outsider.

Su Zui's eyelids drooped gradually, and one thing after another sank into the depths of her heart, into a place she could not see.

It's not that he stopped thinking about it, it's just that he stopped clinging to these things so tightly.

It's like carrying a heavy burden for a long journey; put it down and rest for a while.

Then, he tried to let go of himself.

This step is the most difficult and also the most mysterious.

Letting go of oneself is not about disappearing, but about erasing the clear dividing line between oneself and this riverbank.

Before, when he stood here, Su Zui was the only one standing on the riverbank. The person and the riverbank were clearly distinguishable.

Now, he tries to be indistinguishable from others.

The sand underfoot Sisi and slightly damp, the fine sand rubbing against the soles of my shoes, each grain pressing out a tiny indentation.

The river flowed steadily behind him, meandering past the rocks and brushing against the grass roots. The sound of the water was clear, and he could tell which sections of the water were rushing against the rocks and which sections were calm.

The wild grass on the bank was pressed down by the invisible sword intent, and the tips of the grass swept across the sand again and again.

The twilight was pressing down on the clouds, which moved very slowly, almost imperceptible unless you looked closely, but they were definitely drifting eastward.

The sounds of wind, flowing water, and the soft rustling of grass blades against the sand.

Before, these were all just insignificant noises in my ears; I heard them all along but never paid them any mind.

At this moment, every sound, clear and distinct, penetrated into my senses.

Su Zui vaguely felt an invisible thread.

It's not something you see with your eyes, but something you feel after your mind and soul are immersed in it.

Mountains rise and fall, rivers flow, plants wither and flourish, clouds gather and disperse; all things do not operate independently, but share the same vital energy.

We share the same breath.

In the past, when he used his Soul Power to mobilize the power of heaven and earth, he always said he was borrowing the power of mountains and rivers. That one word, "borrowing," determined that he was an outsider.

He was originally a part of this world; why would he need to borrow anything?

Having figured this out, Su Zui felt a sudden emptiness in her heart.

It's not the emptiness of loss, but the emptiness after a jar full of clutter has been completely emptied. Only when it's empty can vital energy flow in.

A sword is not a weapon for slashing.

The sword is a thread.

One end is held in a person's hand, and the other end is connected to heaven and earth. By following this line, one can communicate with heaven and earth.

Su Zui slowly opened her eyes.

There was no murderous intent or desperate fighting spirit in his eyes; they were clean and clear, like someone waking up and looking out the window.

The wild grass on the riverbank stirred.

There was no wind, yet the blades of grass swayed gently on their own, tilting slightly in the same direction, like underwater plants being pushed by the undercurrent.

The pebbles suspended in the air began to slowly rotate, forming a very slow loop around Su Zui.

The ripples on the river surface were no longer chaotic; they spread evenly from the bank towards the center of the river in concentric circles.

Su Zui did not activate any of his Soul Power.

He stood quietly, breathing in harmony with the world around him.

The energy flowing between heaven and earth spontaneously gathered towards him; it wasn't that he forcibly absorbed it, but rather that this world accepted him.

Holding the Great Luo Sword Embryo in his hand, the once dazzling golden light did not surge; instead, it gradually dimmed until it was almost invisible.

The sword is still the same sword, but it is no longer a weapon poised to strike; it is more like a pole standing in the sand, receiving the flowing energy.

A sentence settles quietly in my heart, without a roar, as light as a leaf falling on the water: When there is no self and no sword, all things in heaven and earth are swords.

Just then, the Seven Kill Sword moved.

There was no fancy opening move, no build-up of momentum, and no sense of impending doom.

Simple and straightforward, it hits straight at you.

Before the sword even touched him, Su Zui's clothes were torn apart by the sword energy.

It wasn't the sword's edge that cut through; it was the sword's energy that squeezed the air, tearing a gap with a hissing sound as the cloth ripped from the shoulder all the way to the waist.

The first area to feel pain was the cheek.

It felt like countless tiny needles scraping across my skin at once; not deep, but very dense, making my whole face burn.

The sand beneath my feet kept sinking.

It wasn't his own weight that pressed down, but the downward pressure of his sword intent that caused the sand to sink layer by layer, piling up a raised edge.

Su Zui clearly understood the true meaning behind that sword strike.

It wasn't to prove that Chen Xin was stronger, nor was it to deliberately make things difficult for him.

There's only one word: broken.

A straight road, breaking through everything that stands in its way. Mountains block the way, so it breaks through mountains; people block the way, so it breaks through people; even heaven and earth block its way, it will break through.

When the Seven Kill Sword Dao reaches its ultimate state, it becomes simple and pure, leaving only the Dao of Destruction.

Su Zui did not raise his sword to meet the attack head-on.

He held the Great Luo Sword Embryo horizontally in front of him, his posture relaxed and casual, not like he was blocking or taking a direct hit, but more like he was lifting it up.

The surrounding energy of heaven and earth spread along the sword, dispersing onto the sand beneath his feet, onto the river behind him, and into the patches of wild grass on the bank.

One layer, and then another.

Unseen and intangible, yet the moment Chen Xin's Seven Kill Sword Intent struck, it collided with this flowing momentum.

It wasn't a head-on collision.

Like a sharp knife, plunging into a rushing river.

Even the sharpest blade can part the river, but once the blade has passed, the water will flow back together.

The sword keeps pushing forward, but there is always a continuous flow of fresh water ahead.

The indomitable sharpness of the Seven Killers was slowly dissipated here.

The sword intent rushed to within three inches of Su Zui, then silently dispersed. There was no explosion, no blinding light, only a low, distant hum, like someone gently plucking the strings of a zither in the distance.

Chen Xin's sword continued to push forward.

The sandpit beneath Su Zui's feet grew deeper and deeper, his boots mostly buried in the sand, and the hem of his clothes was whipped wildly backward by the sword wind. Fine stinging pains on his cheeks slowly drew out shallow bloodstains.

But he didn't retreat an inch.

His body leaned slightly backward, his posture natural, like a willow branch bent by a strong wind. The branch was bent, but it was rooted in the soil and did not move.

Chen Xin, hidden within the sword light, suddenly felt a jolt in his mind.

His sword has slain countless opponents and blocked countless paths. Never once has the sword's edge suddenly lost its target midway through its advance.

Su Zui was right in front of him.

But the individual entity "Su Zui" seems to have vanished.

He transforms into riverbanks, into flowing water, into wild grass. When you cleave down with your sword, you strike the entire world. The world will not vanish because of a single sword strike, and he will naturally not fall.

The sword's edge lost its target.

This thought popped into Chen Xin's mind for the first time; it was strange.

He cultivated the Seven Killings technique his entire life, adhering to only one principle: the sharper the sword, the better; the more resolute the will, the better; forge ahead without hesitation, never looking back. He never imagined that the way of the sword could be cultivated to such a degree.

Do not be aggressive, and do not take the initiative to break through.

No matter how hard you try to chop it, you can't split it open.

He vaguely recalled the days long ago when he had just taken up his sword.

Back then, he also asked himself, what exactly is a sword? Later, after many battles, the answer naturally became ingrained in his bones—a sword is used to break through stalemates and slay enemies.

Today, this young man, standing beneath his sword, brought up this long-standing question again and gave him a completely different answer.

"Unity of Heaven and Man..."

The four words floated out along with the sword light, the sound so soft that only he could hear them.

The two swords remained locked in a stalemate on the riverbank, shrouded in twilight.

On one side is destruction, complete destruction. On the other side is fusion, fusion to nothingness.

No one can take another step forward.

Time seemed to stretch out. The river was still flowing, but it sounded abnormally slow; the wild grass was still swaying gently, its movement almost still.

I don't know how much time passed, maybe just a few breaths, maybe half an incense stick's time.

The azure sword light began to recede, flowing from the tip of the sword to the hilt, then along the blade, returning entirely to Chen Xin's body. As the azure light dissipated, the white-haired old man stood once more on the riverbank, the Seven Kill Sword hanging askew, its tip glistening with a speck of fine sand.

The wind that had been locked by the sword intent on the riverbank began to flow again, and the suspended pebbles crashed down onto the sand with a crackling sound.

The terrifying, suffocating pressure had completely dissipated.

Chen Xin stood still, without saying a word.

He stared at Su Zui for a long time.

A surge of emotions welled up in his eyes—admiration, but mostly bewilderment. The principles of swordsmanship he had upheld his entire life were now being laid out before him by the young man's alternative path, leaving him speechless for a moment.

He had seen too many sword cultivators who were trapped in the Unity of Man and Sword their entire lives, only concerned with honing their sharpness, and never able to take the next step until their death. He himself was the one who reached the pinnacle of this path.

He always thought that the only way to do swordsmanship was to slash forward.

Only today did I see another direction.

It is not about charging outwards, but about returning inwards to the universe.

As Su Zui's aura dissipated, he instantly lost all strength.

His knees buckled, and his body slumped downwards. The Great Luo Sword Embryo plunged deep into the sand, barely holding him up. He knelt on the riverbank, his shoulders heaving violently, his breathing heavy and labored, like a broken bellows.

Cold sweat trickled down Su Zui's chin, splashing onto the sand and forming small, damp spots.

The clear and serene state of mind I had just experienced vanished completely. After the energy of heaven and earth was drawn away, the backlash struck me hard. It felt as if my meridians were filled with boiling water, and the burning sensation spread from my wrist all the way to my chest.

But his eyes were bright.

It wasn't the exhilaration of victory that made him bright, but the clarity and purity of mind that came from understanding something profound.

"Unity of Heaven and Man."

Chen Xin repeated it softly, speaking very slowly, as if he were carefully savoring those four words.

"I've cultivated the Seven Killings technique my entire life. My whole life has been spent figuring out how to sharpen the sword to make it even sharper, to cut through everything in my way."

He looked down at the Seven Kill Sword in his hand.

"You're different. You don't try to split anything, nor do you seek to split anything open. You just stand there quietly, accepting the power of heaven and earth."

He looked up at Su Zui.

"Interesting."

It took Su Zui a while to catch her breath; her throat was dry and hoarse, and her voice was rough.

There is more than one path in the way of the sword.

He raised his hand and wiped away the blood that had spilled from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Your sword, sir, cuts through all difficulties. My sword merely borrows the breath of heaven and earth. Which is stronger, I cannot say. In the end, it all comes down to the sword."

Chen Xin looked at him quietly without saying a word.

His eyes suddenly became blank. He pulled out the Seven Kill Sword stuck in the ground and looked around.

"I have spent my whole life pursuing the strongest swordsmanship. I thought my swordsmanship was the strongest in the world. But now, it seems that the strongest path is laid out before me. What should I do? Could it be that the path I have been pursuing all along is wrong?"