The Sword Dao's "Confusion," the System's "Solution"

The night deepened.

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong stayed awake all night.

Ji Juechen did not sleep either.

He sat cross-legged on his dormitory bed, no sword in hand, merely closing his eyes as he replayed every detail of that evening's battle over and over.

But this time, his mind held no longer cold data streams, but an unprecedented... confusion.

Why?

For the first time, this question arose in his heart.

His sword pursued the ultimate "one." It abandoned everything for the sake of thrusting out the purest, most supreme sword strike. This was the conviction he had never wavered from since first setting foot upon the path of the sword.

Yet today, he had won. He had won with effortless ease—so easily that it could even be called defeating the enemy without fighting.

But he felt no joy at all, only emptiness.

What he had used was not his sword.

It was data, logic, calculation. That thing called the "system" had dismantled everything about his opponents into quantifiable "programs," and then all he needed to do was find the bug and click delete, like an excellent programmer.

Was this... still a sword?

If the end of the sword dao meant abandoning the sword and relying instead on this all-knowing "cheat," then what had his more than twenty years of persistence amounted to?

System, what exactly are you?

[I am the 'Complaint Feedback System,' dedicated to helping the host travel further upon the path of the sword by analyzing all things.]

"The sword dao?" A ripple stirred within Ji Juechen's heart. "What you gave me was a shortcut, an answer. But the sword dao requires seeking, it requires the process. You deprived me of that process."

This was the first time he had felt rejection toward the system.

[Ding! Detected that the host has developed 'Bewilderment of the Dao Heart.' The system is generating a solution... Solution generated.]

['Enlightenment Mission' activated: Please conduct a 'Self-Deprecation' regarding your own combat method today. Mission reward: Unlock new function, 'Clear Sword Heart' (Beginner).]

Ji Juechen froze.

"Self-Deprecation?"

[Yes. Please dissect, in the sharpest and most merciless manner, the 'ridiculous aspects' of 'your' 'sword' in today's battle.]

Ji Juechen fell silent.

He could criticize his opponents. But mocking his own sword was no different from denying his own faith.

He tried to compose the words in his heart.

"My sword... today... was like a calculator."

The instant those words left him, he felt a stabbing pain from his sword heart.

[The criticism is not sharp enough. Please continue.]

Ji Juechen frowned. He recalled Huo Yuhao's complex yet resolute gaze, and Wang Dong's magnificent, prideful attacks.

My sword today was like a coward hiding behind a screen, too afraid to face my opponents' light and heat head-on, daring only to use cold data to ambush their "connection points." My so-called victory was merely watching a recording whose ending I already knew, then putting on a show and swinging my sword once. This was not a battle at all. It was... deceiving myself.

As those words took shape in his heart, Ji Juechen felt as though his soul had been viciously lashed by a whip.

But immediately afterward, a cool, pure energy slowly rose from the depths of his sword heart and flowed through every limb and bone.

[Ding! 'Self-Deprecation' complete! Mission evaluation: Excellent!]

[Congratulations, host. New function unlocked: 'Clear Sword Heart' (Beginner)!]

[Effect: During battle, the host may initially fuse the data analyzed by the 'Eye of Insight' with their own sword intent. Every attack will carry the 'Law-Breaking' trait.]

Ji Juechen abruptly opened his eyes!

He understood.

The system was not trying to replace his sword. It was meant to become part of his "Sharpening Stone." What it provided was not answers, but a "question bank." And "criticism" was his method of solving those questions!

By criticizing his opponents, he saw their "confusion."

By criticizing himself, he saw his own "confusion."

Confusion was a flaw. A flaw was a door leading to a higher realm!

At that moment, Ji Juechen's rejection of the system vanished like smoke, replaced by an unprecedented desire for control. He was not the system's puppet—he was the system's "user"!

"Knock, knock, knock."

A soft knock sounded at the door. It was Jing Ziyan's voice.

"Juechen, are you asleep? I made some tea."

Ji Juechen rose and opened the door.

Jing Ziyan walked in carrying two steaming cups of clear tea. When she saw the spark in his eyes, she could not help but pause.

"You... seem to have figured something out?" She keenly sensed that the emptiness around Ji Juechen had disappeared, replaced by a more restrained yet even sharper presence.

"Mm." Ji Juechen accepted the teacup but did not drink.

"I heard that you defeated Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong... quite thoroughly." Jing Ziyan chose her words carefully. "Do you feel that a victory like that was not what you wanted?"

Ji Juechen raised his head and, for the first time, looked seriously and directly at Jing Ziyan.

"Why would you think that?"

Jing Ziyan's face grew slightly warm beneath his gaze, but she still gathered her courage and said, "Because your sword is proud. What it longs for are the sparks that erupt when it clashes with the strong. Not something like today... something like a calculation."

Ji Juechen fell silent.

He realized that this woman could always effortlessly see through feelings within him that even he himself had never noticed.

System, analyze Jing Ziyan.

[Target: Jing Ziyan. Analyzing... This target possesses extremely high emotional insight regarding the host. Her words can effectively stabilize the host's 'Dao Heart.' Recommendation: Maintain and deepen this connection.]

Ji Juechen set down his teacup and suddenly asked, "If my sword can both see my opponent's flaws and sever them in the proudest possible manner, would that count as... the true sword dao?"

Jing Ziyan was stunned for a moment, then broke into a radiant smile, like violets shining brilliantly after the rain.

"Of course it would! That isn't calculation—that is God's Hand! It is the wisdom of a chess player who sees the endgame before placing a piece!"

"God's Hand..." Ji Juechen savored the words, and an unprecedented gleam burst from his eyes.

At last, he had found the perfect point of fusion between data and the sword dao!

He looked out the window, toward Huo Yuhao's dormitory.

Huo Yuhao, thank you. You are the first whetstone of my Clear Sword Heart. Tomorrow, I won't let you see the "blueprints" again.

"I will let you witness with your own eyes how my sword severs all your 'miracles' beneath the edge of logic!"