Hell on Earth

The longsword hovered in midair, level with Chu Fei's brow.

Between Chu Fei and the longsword, an immense yet invisible force flowed.

Chu Fei silently stared at the sword, utterly unchanged by the miraculous sight before him.

It was as though everything happening now was only natural.

At this moment, Chu Fei had entered a state free of thought and desire. Only his soul stirred, driving the Cosmic Brain to operate on its own.

It was a wondrous state. He appeared to be free of thought and desire, yet possessed absolute reason and absolute calm.

Some believed it was a state beyond the self. Others believed it was a realm of unity between man and heaven. Still others called it a heaven-bestowed state, and so on.

Taoism called it nothingness—nothingness is what gives things their use—while Buddhism called it emptiness. Many ancient schools of thought had studied this state.

Yet what exactly this state was remained difficult to explain. Every interpretation was somewhat mystifying.

There were even fearful theories: at such times, the "self" disappeared and was controlled by some external existence. This reminded people of game-controlled characters and led them to believe that their world was virtual. Such claims were widely popular!

But Chu Fei was not thinking about any of that nonsense. He remained immersed in that state beyond thought and desire.

Who knew how much time had passed before Chu Fei suddenly blinked. Then, a human light flashed through his eyes.

Chu Fei "awoke."

Looking at the hovering Flying Sword before him, a brilliant smile appeared on Chu Fei's face.

Chu Fei remembered everything that had happened in that earlier state with perfect clarity. This was not his first attempt at entering such a state, but this time, the results had been the best. It had directly