An Unusual Sword Art

Night fell.

Stars speckled the sky.

Xu Xiaoshou had slept only half the night before waking naturally.

Mm, it definitely wasn't because he was nervous about tomorrow's semifinals. Definitely not!

Sword in hand, he stepped into the courtyard and stood quietly.

Amid the chirping cicadas and croaking frogs, the wind was faintly forlorn, and he was even more so.

"A fine time to practice swordsmanship..."

Xu Xiaoshou began reviewing the sword arts he had comprehended over the past few days.

Sword Mastery was truly different from his other passive skills. Unlike Sturdiness and Sharpness, which were simply handed to him for free, it gave him more in the way of insights.

And those insights required Xu Xiaoshou to sort through and summarize them himself.

He slowly closed his eyes.

At that moment, everything in the courtyard seemed to tremble faintly.

The rockery, the spirit pool, the newly built house...

In his mind, he recalled Chao Qingteng's Great Cold Without Snow. Of all the techniques he had seen in the competition thus far, this one had left the deepest impression on him.

Not because of the spiritual technique's power, nor because of its skill rank.

But because it was the first time Xu Xiaoshou had seen someone detach sword intent from their own body and entrust it to snowflakes.

This manner of wielding sword intent had truly broadened his horizons.

Yes, he was stealing a master's skills now.

Stealing Chao Qingteng's Great Cold Without Weapons! Though he had no falling snow, if sword intent could be entrusted to snow, could it be entrusted to the myriad things of nature as well? The cold wind brushed past him. Xu Xiaoshou seemed to become one with heaven and earth, and the little stones on the ground began to tremble rapidly.

Clatter!

Clatter!

Xu Xiaoshou abruptly opened his eyes. The gravel shot into the air like drifting snow, sword intent rising from it.

"Ha!"

He swung his sword. In his mind, an immortal scene of rolling snow mountains unfurled, as though this single strike could cleave heaven and earth apart! Before his eyes, the gravel shuddered violently, then pattered back to the ground.

Mm...

That was it?

Xu Xiaoshou's face darkened. Why was there even the slightest discrepancy between this and what he had imagined? "Phew!"

Good thing no one had seen that...

Otherwise, he would have embarrassed himself beyond all measure.

He calmed down slightly and realized that stealing a master's skills was not so simple.

Still, this sword art of letting sword intent inhabit all things seemed to hold great promise. "Fundamentally speaking, this is also a way of fighting with sword intent..."

Xu Xiaoshou paced with his sword in hand, his thoughts scattering into the night.

This cultivation method greatly resembled the combat style he had previously pondered—one that used no spiritual techniques, relying purely on sword intent.

"Moving as the heart wills, traveling as the blade goes?"

In his mind appeared the sight of fallen leaves rising and ten thousand people perishing, followed by the scene of one sword coming from the east as ten thousand swords returned to their origin.

Perhaps if he continued down this path, he could reach such a realm? Xu Xiaoshou was tempted. He knew his talent was not particularly good; after three years of cultivation, he had only mastered a single form of the White Cloud Sword Technique.

Yet his comprehension of sword intent had improved with the appearance of Sword Mastery.

Since that was the case, could he try walking this path? The mainstream path of sword cultivators was to combine sword intent with spiritual techniques and unleash terrifying destructive power.

But his idea was to fight using sword intent alone.

This was destined to be a path completely different from the masses. He simply did not know whether it would lead him astray, or whether he would carve out his own style amid the mainstream.

"Ah!"

Xu Xiaoshou shook his head. The latter was far too difficult. He should simply take one step at a time!

"First, I should think about how to fight tomorrow's semifinals..."

His innate physical body had already been exposed, and everyone knew about it. As long as they kept their distance from him, he would lose half his advantage.

The only thing left that could influence the battle was this Hidden Pain...

Xu Xiaoshou wore a strange expression. How had he gone in circles and ended up back at sword intent again?

He sank into deep thought.

The form Leisurely White Clouds had been played in many different ways under the amplification of sword intent.

Sword Net Form, Sword-Drawing Form, Reversing Sword Form...

The first two were fine; they were merely preliminary applications of sword intent. But as for Reversing Sword Form...

Xu Xiaoshou looked at Hidden Pain in his hand.

That flash of inspiration during his battle with Chao Qingteng, in that moment of danger, had been more about combining sword intent with the sword itself.

At that time, he had felt that Hidden Pain had come alive! "A sword gaining spirit?"

This also seemed to be a method of entrusting sword intent to another object. It was simply that Hidden Pain was closer to him, which was why it had succeeded.

Xu Xiaoshou's mind suddenly turned. He could entrust sword intent to Hidden Pain and use it to counterattack in reverse, but did that truly have to be its only application? No! Light burst from Xu Xiaoshou's eyes. If he could perfectly control Hidden Pain through sword intent, would he not be able to achieve the legendary Sword-Flight Technique?!

Perhaps even...

Sword flight?! Flight was the privilege of the Innate realm! He was only at the eighth level of Spirit Refinement. If he could fly on a sword, would he not make everyone's jaws drop?

"Let's try it!"

Xu Xiaoshou recalled the afternoon's battle and poured sword intent into Hidden Pain's blade.

"Bzzz..."

With a long hum, Hidden Pain trembled.

Xu Xiaoshou was startled. He truly felt that the black sword in his hand no longer resembled a dead object, but seemed to possess a trace of intelligence.

Excellent!

This meant he had already formed a bond with it.

Xu Xiaoshou threw Hidden Pain out, then raised two fingers.

"Rise!"

He seemed to see the black sword soaring into the sky. Yet after it was thrown out, it simply fell to the ground in the most ordinary manner, like a very ordinary sword.

Clang, clang, clang! Xu Xiaoshou's face turned black as charcoal. The black sword was like someone had forced itself upon it; after falling to the ground, it kept struggling without end.

That wasn't right. It hadn't been like this in the afternoon!

Could it be that he had not thrown it hard enough?

Xu Xiaoshou picked up the sword, poured sword intent into it once more, and hurled it fiercely.

Whoosh! Flames licked along the blade as it shot toward the horizon! Xu Xiaoshou shouted in delight that it could work. Before long, he felt that excited sword intent again and immediately summoned it back.

With a swish, a black dot appeared on the horizon and plunged straight at Xu Xiaoshou.

Xu Xiaoshou jumped in fright. Fuck, he didn't have an ice sculpture covering him right now. If that sword came down, wouldn't he become the second Chao Qingteng? Thinking of this, he hurriedly leaped up, intending to stand atop the blade and ride it through the air.

But Hidden Pain flew too quickly. It swept beneath his feet and instantly tripped him.

Bang! Clang!

Both sword and man crashed to the ground together, and the scene fell into utter, unparalleled silence.

"Damn it, I refuse to believe this!"

"Again!"

Xu Xiaoshou tested the sword again. Tonight, he simply had to cultivate the legendary Sword-Flight Technique!

The result...

Bang! Clang!

"Keep going!"

Bang! Clang!

Persistence was poison, and the night stirred sorrow.

Who knew how long passed before Xu Xiaoshou finally realized that when he threw the sword, the black sword was not actually spiritually connected.

The moment it truly became excited was when it reached the furthest point and he summoned it back.

That was the "reversing" of Reversing Sword Form. Only in the process of reversing did the black sword truly gain spirit.

This discovery left Xu Xiaoshou silent for a long time. He could not understand what exactly was different between being thrown out and flying back.

Yet he could find no reason for it.

"This damned Reversing Sword Form..."

"I should've named it Sword-Flight Form from the beginning!"

Xu Xiaoshou simply discarded the step of throwing the sword. He pointed its tip at himself and poured in sword intent.

"Bzzz!"

The sword blade instantly grew lively, and Xu Xiaoshou immediately sensed life within it.

He reversed the sword tip, aiming it toward the horizon.

"Bzzz..."

That vitality was reduced to the barest thread.

He turned it back again.

"Bzzz!"

Then turned it again.

"Bzzz..."

Xu Xiaoshou: "..."

What fucking principle was this? Did it have to point at him to possess intelligence?

It looked like it wanted to devour its master! Xu Xiaoshou refused to believe it and kept turning it over.

"Bzzz!"

"Bzzz..."

"Bzzz!"

"Bzzz..."

Black lines fell across Xu Xiaoshou's forehead. Furiously, he threw Hidden Pain out. What the fuck was wrong with this sword?!

Whoosh! The black sword shot back toward him.

Xu Xiaoshou: "..."

Curse received, Passive Value +0!