A Blade with Only Its Hilt Left, Conjecture

Who is the Sword Demon?

Twenty years ago, no one knew him, but he suddenly appeared out of nowhere and suppressed Wuwei Ke, who was ranked third on the Celestial Person Ranking at the time. From then on, he became famous throughout the world. In that battle, he displayed a strange and demonic sword technique and even cut a thousand-foot mountain in half with a single slash. He was then revered as the Sword Demon.

Although he ranks third on the Celestial Person Ranking, in the minds of many swordsmen, the Sword Demon simply has too few achievements; otherwise, he might have been able to directly claim the top spot.

pity.

After killing Wuweike, the Sword Demon disappeared again, vanishing without a trace.

Until recently, he returned to public life.

And he accomplished something significant right after emerging from seclusion.

Two weeks ago.

The Blade Demon appeared in Shizhou and fought against the Ice Soul Sword Maiden, who was ranked thirty-first on the Celestial Person Ranking. It couldn't even be called a battle; it was a one-sided crushing defeat. With just one strike, the Ice Soul Sword Maiden was already severely injured and forced to retreat. She was horrified and unable to face that demonic and solemn strike, and a shadow fell in her heart.

Then the Blade Demon drifted away, seemingly somewhat disappointed.

Countless swordsmen were in an uproar.

Since the sword and saber duel ended, the swordsmen had been somewhat humiliated and unable to hold their heads high. It wasn't until the recent internal battle between the two peerless swordsmen, Wenxin Sword and Heavenly Sword Real Person, that they felt a little better. And now, they finally have the right to rise up in glory.

"The Demon Blade has emerged from seclusion, surely for the glory of us swordsmen!"

"The swordsmen have been far too arrogant lately. It seems even the old master of the Blade Demon can't stand it anymore. Is he perhaps trying to provoke all the swordsmen in the world?"

"Wow, this is really exciting!"

Countless swordsmen eagerly awaited the arrival of the swordsmen.

But what happened next left all the swordsmen completely dumbfounded.

The Demon of the Blade has appeared in Yunzhou.

They sought out the Heart Knife Elder, ranked twenty-sixth on the Celestial Person Ranking.

It's the same as a single cut.

The Old Man with the Heart Knife was severely injured and forced to retreat.

But the old man with the heart-blade was over seven hundred years old. He was a renowned senior in the art of swordsmanship, with countless disciples. Even the most outstanding swordsmen ranked ahead of him had to give him face. Now, being treated so mercilessly, he found it hard to accept and couldn't help but make a few sarcastic remarks.

Unexpectedly, the Blade Demon showed no mercy.

With another slash, he killed the Heart Blade Elder, then descended the mountain and left.

That concludes the discussion.

The world was in uproar.

Only then did everyone realize that this sword demon was indeed deeply demonic. The swordsmen were all dumbfounded. They had originally thought that the sword demon had come out of the mountains to bring honor to the swordsmen, but now it seemed that he couldn't distinguish friend from foe and treated everyone equally.

The Blade Demon's challenges continue, almost every two weeks, and each time the challenger's ranking improves.

After removing the swordsman filter...

Countless people began to study the purpose of the Sword Demon.

Judging from his current actions, this matter is definitely not going to stop.

So why would the Sword Demon challenge the world's most powerful warriors?

The martial artists were all curious. Many searched through Ancient Books for answers, while others couldn't help but look for the origins of the Sword Demon.

finally.

Some people noticed something amiss.

"Have you noticed the hilt of the sword in the Blade Demon's hand? Twenty years ago, this was a broken demonic sword. I was fortunate enough to witness the battle between Wuweike and the Blade Demon back then, and the demonic sword was still half intact! I don't know if it's just my imagination, but after these challenges, the hilt of the sword in the Blade Demon's hand seems to be getting shorter!"

"Could it be that the Sword Demon intends to test his sword against the strongest warriors in the world? Then why doesn't he specifically seek out masters of the sword path?"

"There are rumors that the Blade Demon initially practiced swordsmanship before switching to the path of the blade. Judging from the powerful figures he has challenged so far, they are all swordsmen and blade users. This rumor may be true!"

It sparked heated discussions among countless people.

This is a long-term, significant undertaking.

Every two weeks there is a major battle, even if it's just a one-sided crushing victory by the Blade Demon, it's still a grand event.

Some busybodies have already deduced who the Blade Demon will challenge each time based on his movements and are lying in wait in advance.

The whole world was in an uproar, and most of the attention was drawn to this matter.

Even Ning Qi, who was at the Dao-Seeking Courtyard, had heard about it.

Luo Wentian came specifically to tell him this, and it was somewhat related to Ning Qi.

"A sword with only the hilt left?" Ning Qi asked, somewhat surprised.

He roughly guessed the Blade Demon's purpose.

"That sword is his way of the sword. When even the hilt disappears one day, that will be the supreme realm where everything can be a sword. The Sword Demon intends to use the world's strongest as whetstones to help his way of the sword complete its final step?"

"Could it be... that he intends to use this to break through the bottleneck of Martial Saint?"

Ning Qi raised an eyebrow.

A powerful figure like the Blade Demon must have already reached the Perfection Celestial Person Realm, and perhaps he has been stuck there for many years. This is the method he came up with to break through the realm. However, Ning Qi is not optimistic about it. His Sword Dao realm has long surpassed the Celestial Person Realm. He has long since reached the realm where everything can be a sword, but it is unlikely that he can use this to break through the bottleneck of the Martial Saint.

However, he didn't jump to conclusions; perhaps the Blade Demon had other plans.

He was simply curious, and if possible, it would be best if they could exchange ideas.

Luo Wentian, however, was somewhat worried:

"Little Nine, judging by the route the Blade Demon is taking, it won't be long before he comes to True Martial Mountain to challenge you. Are you confident?"

Many eyes across the land were drawn to the matter of the Sword Demon, but they were unaware that undercurrents were surging throughout the various states of the Great Flame, and that a power struggle was taking place in various places between the imperial court and the southern border of the Demon Sect.

The Heavenly Sword Real Person has never been defeated, which is a great deterrent to the Demon Sect and the Southern Frontier.

If he were to be defeated by the Blade Demon, his deterrent power would be greatly reduced. He feared that the Southern Frontier of the Demon Sect Demonic Sect might take other actions as a result, since the True Martial Sect had been secretly assisting the imperial court these days, and the conflict with the Southern Frontier of the Demon Sect had reached an irreconcilable point.

Ning Qi smiled faintly, comforting Luo Wentian:

"Don't worry, senior brother. We'll deal with whatever comes our way."

Two or three months have passed.

Ning Qi's strength has improved further, and he is getting closer and closer to the Celestial Person Realm.

He can now be considered invincible in the Celestial Person Realm.

As long as the Blade Demon is still at the Celestial Person Realm, he has nothing to fear.

If the Blade Demon had acted more slowly and waited until he reached the Celestial Person Realm before challenging the opponent, there would have been no suspense whatsoever.

but.

He was actually looking forward to meeting this sword demon, hoping it might offer him some inspiration.

Luo Wentian listened.

The worry on his face gradually disappeared, and he was somewhat amazed, gaining a deeper understanding of Ning Qi's strength. Since his ninth junior brother had said so, he must be confident.

"In that case, I'm relieved. I'll keep a close eye on the Blade Demon's movements and let you know as soon as I have any news," Luo Wentian.

Ning Qi nodded:

"Senior Brother, how are the operations against the Demon Sect and Southern Border going?"

Luo Wentian and said:

"Recently, our True Martial Sect disciples have begun to reduce their numbers, with most of them cultivating on True Martial Mountain, while a small number of elite disciples have been sent out to participate in the imperial court's operations. In just a few months, we have indeed made some progress."

"Several strongholds in the Southern Frontier were secretly destroyed, but with the assistance of the Demon Sect, the Southern Frontier was on alert and did not discover any trace of the Blood King Gu."

"As for the Demon Sect, based on the clue of the Mutant Beast cores, the imperial court has traced several Demon Sect strongholds through Black Market auctions and other channels. It is highly likely that the Demonic Sect's method for achieving Demon Sect Martial Saint status is related to this. However, the Demon Sect is very cautious, and most of the Mutant Beast cores may have already been transferred to the Hundred Thousand Mountains."

Ning Qi pondered.

The results were neither significant nor insignificant; they slowed down the progress of both sides to some extent, but there were no crucial gains.

but.

He had guessed it too.

The Demon Sect's millennia-long scheme must have been extremely cautious. Moreover, they have been entangled with the Great Flame for so many years, their relationship intertwined, so it won't be easy to deal with them.

"The Demon Sect is troublesome. Perhaps we can try to get as many as possible from the Southern Frontier. If possible, we should try to obtain one or two Blood King Gu," Ning Qi said softly.

He was thinking.

If we could obtain another Blood King Gu, could we use it to sense the locations of other Blood King Gu and, following the clues, wipe out the entire Southern Frontier?

He had previously obtained two Blood King Gu, but at that time his strength was insufficient, and he was worried that the Southern Border would come looking for him, so he chose to refine them as soon as possible. But now, he hopes to find the place in the Southern Border that cultivates Blood Emperor Gu.

The tide has turned; that's all there is to it.

The best defense is to attack instead of defending.

But no matter how strong you are, if you can't find the enemy, you're just punching thin air.

Luo Wentian nodded solemnly:

"Alright, I will convey this to General Shenyu and the others."

He didn't ask Ning Qi why; since Ning Qi had said it, it must have been useful, so he chose to believe him.

Without lingering on Ning Qi, Luo Wentian briefly recounted the recent situation before departing.

He knew that everything the True Martial Sect was doing now was merely to assist Ning Qi; the real key lay with Ning Qi.

Ning Qi watched Luo Wentian's retreating figure, then shook his head slightly, dismissing the little incident.

The matter of the Sword Demon is indeed exciting, but even if he really comes to True Martial Mountain, it won't affect him.

The most urgent task now is to advance to the Celestial Person Realm as soon as possible.

Ning Qi activated the secret technique of the Celestial Person, instantly resonating with the power of heaven and earth to form a great grinding God Forging.

Even today.

For Ning Qi, the secret technique of the Celestial Person and man was as simple as breathing and drinking water. After he stepped into the Yuan Pill Realm and began to God Forging, he discovered that the stronger his "spirit" was, the more abundant the power of heaven and earth he could mobilize through the secret technique of the Celestial Person became. This was the reason why Ning Qi's strength had been increasing.

While God Forging, Ning Qi pondered his cultivation path after reaching the Celestial Person Realm.

If he wants to maintain the same ability to transcend realms after reaching the Celestial Person Realm, it won't be that simple; he'll need to put in a lot of hard work.

"The reason why my strength is now far beyond that of Celestial Person in the same realm, and I can easily defeat Celestial Realm cultivators, is firstly because my own foundation is too solid. Both my physical body and my Gang Qi are beyond the reach of ordinary people. The second key point is the secret technique of the Celestial Person, which is equivalent to allowing me to control a portion of the power of the Celestial Person Realm in advance, so that I can partially level the playing field among the Celestial Person Realm."

"But it will be different once I advance to the Celestial Person Realm. The Celestial Person Unity Technique will no longer offer any advantage. What I can rely on is my own immense foundation and a series of powerful secret techniques."

"But at that time, would I be able to fight against Martial Saint, or even kill Martial Saint, while still possessing the physique of the Celestial Person Realm?"

Ning Qi had a question mark in his mind for the time being.

Without a doubt, after he advances to the Celestial Person Realm, given his own foundation, the power of heaven and earth he will resonate with will be beyond imagination, allowing his combat strength to skyrocket. However, whether this can bridge the gap between the Celestial Person Realm and the Martial Saint remains to be seen.

"The Martial Saint's refinement of the power of heaven and earth for his own use represents an absolute leap in the essence of power. To bridge this qualitative gap, a massive amount of power is required."

"Therefore, my approach should be to maximize the amount of heaven and earth power I can control. If I can control ten, a hundred, or even a thousand times more heaven and earth power than someone at the Perfection of the Celestial Person Realm, why should I worry about overwhelming them with sheer numbers?"

A series of flashes of inspiration rose in Ning Qi's mind.

This is the direction he's been contemplating.

"The secret technique of the Unity of Celestial Person allowed me to control the power of heaven and earth ahead of time. After reaching the Celestial Person Realm, can I further refine it and combine the 'intangible Root Bone ' and 'tangible Yuan Pill ' within my body to exponentially increase the amount of heaven and earth power I control?"

This is feasible.

Ning Qi has already been deducing various paths, and is just waiting to advance to the Celestial Person Realm so that he can begin creating his own techniques.

Besides the secret technique of Celestial Person.

He was also pondering the cultivation of the Celestial Person Realm and constantly perfecting the Myriad Manifestations Secret Record.

"Cultivation in the Celestial Person Realm involves condensing three flowers: the Flower of Essence, the Flower of Qi, and the Flower of Spirit, also known as the Three Flowers of Heaven, Earth, and Man. In fact, this is based on certain principles: the Flower of Essence corresponds to the Body Tempering Realm, the Flower of Qi corresponds to the Gang Essence Realm, and the Flower of Spirit corresponds to the Celestial Person Realm."

"When all three flowers Perfection, one reaches the Perfection of the Celestial Person Realm. Only by cultivating all three flowers simultaneously can one hope to reach the Martial Saint Realm."

"However, in an era when Martial Saint did not appear, many Celestial Person Realm experts, in pursuit of greater combat power, abandoned the simultaneous cultivation of the Three Flowers and focused on cultivating only one realm. For example, Wang Quan, the patriarch of the Qingzhou Wang Clan, specialized in cultivating the Flower of Essence."

"While the manifestations of specializing in one particular path may differ to some extent, the essence remains the same: to leverage even more immense power of heaven and earth."

"For example, the Flower of Essence involves using the power of heaven and earth to refine the physical body, ultimately resonating with the power of heaven and earth through the physical body, resulting in extremely strong close-combat abilities. Buddhist Arhats and Vajras are examples of this. On the other hand, some martial artists among swordsmen and saber-wielders specialize in the Flower of Divine Power, which allows them to resonate with the power of heaven and earth through Sword Intent and saber intent, making them extremely lethal."

"Cultivating only one realm is a shortcut, but I certainly cannot do that; cultivating all three realms is the right path."

"However, there are specific methods to cultivate the Three Flowers faster. My physical body is incredibly powerful, unmatched before. Perhaps I can use the Heavenly Thunder Technique to condense the Essence Flower..."

Ning Qi thought and thought.

Countless inspirations then flowed into my mind.

Although he has not yet reached the Celestial Person Realm, the Celestial Person Realm no longer holds many secrets for him. This is partly due to the secret technique of the Celestial Person, and partly because Ning Qi has obtained many Celestial Person Secret Records, which contain detailed information for his reference.

Time passed slowly.

The turmoil caused by the Demon of the Sword is escalating.

Countless gazes converged.

In front of Mount Luofu.

Countless people had been lying in wait here in advance. If the Blade Demon appeared here next, it would mean that their prediction of the Blade Demon's route had been successful.

The Sword Master of Luofu looked extremely grim.

The more Heavenly Sword Real Person's reputation soared during this period, the more distressed he became, because the matter of borrowing a sword from True Martial Mountain had made him the background figure for Heavenly Sword Real Person, and he was always seen as a clown whenever the topic was brought up.

And now.

They are about to face the challenge of the Demon of the Blade.

Facing this terrifying sword demon, it would be impossible for him not to feel fear. He had even planned to temporarily avoid the limelight, but now that everyone was gathered here, he could no longer have that thought, otherwise he would never be able to hold his head high in the world again.

He took a deep breath.

We can only hope that the Demon of the Blade doesn't come.

But unfortunately...

He was destined to be disappointed.

Amidst excited shouts and uproar, all eyes were drawn to one spot: a disheveled old man walked barefoot, a knife hilt at his waist.

The Sword Master of Luofu looked grim.

He took a deep breath, preparing for battle.

But what met them was a terrifying blade of light, carrying an extreme demonic quality that made them fall into its trap.

Without a doubt.

The Luo Fu Sword Master, ranked twenty-first on the Celestial Person Ranking, was defeated, and defeated miserably, unable to withstand a single strike from the Blade Demon.

Fortunately, he restrained his anger; the fate of the Heart-Knife Elder was still fresh in his mind.

That concludes the discussion.

The power of the Blade Demon grew increasingly terrifying.

The swordsmen were all in an uproar.

It sparked heated discussions among countless people.

They were all wondering who could withstand the Demon Blade's second strike.

Ranked nineteenth on the list of Celestial Person.

eighteenth.

sixteenth.

Two months passed in the blink of an eye.

One by one, the powerful warriors were defeated and fell from their horses.

Still, no one could stop that strike.

But no one relaxed at all; on the contrary, they became even more enthusiastic and had an unprecedented level of anticipation.

Simply because...

Following the route taken by the Blade Demon.

Next up is Heavenly Sword Real Person!

Previously, Heavenly Sword Real Person had killed Wenxinjian, thus automatically taking Wenxinjian's place in the rankings, ranking fourteenth.

The fifteenth person on the Celestial Person Ranking is not a swordsman or a knife-wielder.

Therefore, there is no doubt that the Blade Demon will be facing his next challenge.

This has been verified multiple times.

Countless people gathered towards True Martial Mountain.