Unfortunately, the Nine Tribulations Battle Emperor was not the same as Lu Yuan.
Lu Yuan could fight without restraint.
The Nine Tribulations Battle Emperor could not.
That was why he used a horizontal slash rather than a cleaving strike.
A rising slash and a cleaving strike were actually similar in terms of how their Blade Qi spread.
Both were vertically narrow and elongated.
Both pursued compressed power.
The only difference was that a rising slash moved upward.
Thus, the trajectory of its Blade Qi often tilted upward.
It carried an upward-lifting force as well.
Moreover, it was often used as an unexpected move.
During the upward motion, its power increased with every inch it rose. But once the opponent seized the opportunity, they could usually interrupt it while it was gathering strength, forcing it to transform into another move.
A cleaving strike, meanwhile, moved downward. Since it naturally conformed to the principles of mechanics, every cleaving strike possessed overwhelming force and weight. In other words, if a cleaving strike could not suppress the opponent through sheer strength, then that attack had failed. It would be riddled with openings, nothing more than a waste of stamina and aura.
No matter what weapon was used.
Whether it was a longsword or a saber.
Whether it was a spear or a great axe.
In short, every move had distinct strengths and weaknesses. The common belief that swords favored agility while sabers favored heaviness was based on their materials and the nature of those moves. It did not mean that a sword could only thrust straight or make level cuts, while cleaving moves were unusable. In fact, as long as one wished, any swordsman could execute textbook-perfect cleaving strikes with a sword. The problem was that such textbook cleaving strikes could not bring out