Casting aside all selfish desires and distracting thoughts, Xiang Yang devoted himself wholly to the newly acquired True Understanding of the Heavenly Saber. His thoughts churned as he studied with painstaking focus, utterly absorbed, sparks of wisdom bursting forth.
At the foot of the empty mountain, amid the tranquil green woods, Xiang Yang seemed to have turned into a stone statue. Before he knew it, a little bird flapped its wings, cocked its adorable head, and landed on Xiang Yang's shoulder as though it were resting upon a tree trunk.
At this moment, Xiang Yang's Essence, Qi, and Spirit had completely drawn inward and contracted. On the surface, he was no different from the trees and rocks, every shred of his focus poured into the True Understanding of the Heavenly Saber.
Martial arts, martial techniques, the martial path—summed up, they came down to a single word: martial. The advancement of one's foundational strength could be divided into realms such as Acquired, Innate, Celestial Being, and Attaining the Dao.
Yet the means of wielding that foundational strength also had all manner of realms.
For instance, in swordsmanship there was the unity of man and sword; or only when emotion reached its utmost could one reach the utmost in swordsmanship; or grass, wood, bamboo, and stone could all become swords. In fist arts, there was the union of heart and strength, strength and qi, qi and intent; or the fist arriving before intent, one punch severing the soul...
Saber arts likewise possessed different realms: the unity of man and saber; no saber in hand, yet a saber in the heart; or no saber in hand, no saber in the heart, no saber and no self, leaving no trace to follow.
Among them, the realm of the Heavenly Saber could be called the