Blade Slashing the Six Paths

Qianshan Huo was feeling a little down. He left the Dream God Realm and saw his master and junior sister looking at him with concern.

"Senior Brother, did you advance?"

Qianshan Huo nodded, his voice listless.

"What's wrong? Did you run into a worthy opponent?" Mortal World Blade King asked, seeing right through his disciple's thoughts.

Qianshan Huo nodded and clenched his fists. "I ran into some guy today. He was pretty strong, but far too arrogant. If he hadn't gotten lucky, he'd be dead for sure."

"Luck is a kind of strength, too. Besides, how do you know he was arrogant?" Mortal World Blade King asked.

"I used Severing the Mortal World." Qianshan Huo's words made Mortal World Blade King's expression turn grave. He knew how talented Qianshan Huo was. Though only at the middle stage of Marquis-Sealing, he had already touched the Heavenly Blade Artistic Conception and grasped the essence of Severing the Mortal World. Mortal World Blade King reckoned that if his disciple weren't a step behind in cultivation, he could absolutely have become a seeded competitor.

Yet he had never expected that, in the very first preliminary match, Qianshan Huo would run into an opponent he couldn't defeat even with Severing the Mortal World.

"Now you understand that there's always a sky beyond the sky, and a person beyond every person," Mortal World Blade King said, suppressing his astonishment.

"But that guy was just too arrogant. He actually tested my blade with his own body. It was infuriating. If I run into him again, I'll make him pay."

Qianshan Huo was still angry and unwilling to accept it.

Mortal World Blade King shook his head. "This world is full of geniuses. You must not grow arrogant in victory or lose heart in defeat. Go. I'm sure you gained plenty of insight from that fight. Surpass yourself, and you'll be able to surpass others."

Qianshan Huo nodded, calmed down, and began to enter seclusion to reflect on what he had learned.

Qianshan Huo wasn't the only one. As the first day of the First Martial Arts Tournament came to a successful close, nine-tenths of the three billion contestants were eliminated in a single day, leaving only three hundred million.

After that terrifying elimination rate, countless people began exchanging views in the Dream God Realm, and many renowned senior experts weighed in on the day's matches.

Lin Huang didn't care about any of that. He left the Dream God Realm, still feeling somewhat conflicted, but soon settled down. He walked out of his room and headed for Three Holy Mothers' Jelly Noodle Shop.

"You're here."

"You've gained a lot."

"You've understood a great deal."

Lin Huang nodded and glanced at Three Holy Mothers, remaining silent.

"You've gained something."

"Go and reflect on it."

"Go fight."

Lin Huang laughed and nodded. "So, I need a blade and a whetstone."

After speaking with Three Holy Mothers for a while, she gave Lin Huang a blade and a person.

Lin Huang carried the blade, casually picked up an elephant mask from a child eating jelly noodles, and shot off like a rainbow toward the Prefecture Lord Mansion.

Prefecture Lord Chen was reviewing official documents. With the First Martial Arts Tournament underway, Daqian Prefecture was caught in a storm of activity. The preliminary matches had just ended that first day, and many eliminated contestants had gotten drunk and started causing trouble. Prefecture Lord Chen had just signed an order for a joint curfew with the Law Enforcement Department. He was about to review the next document when something suddenly felt wrong.

It was quiet. Far too quiet.

The Prefecture Lord Mansion handled the affairs of an entire prefecture and had never been this quiet. The attempted assassination of a prefecture lord a few days earlier flashed through Prefecture Lord Chen's mind. His guard went up, and when he looked up, he saw a man wearing an elephant mask, holding a blade, standing in the doorway.

Prefecture Lord Chen narrowed his eyes and slowly rose. Though he couldn't see the visitor's face, he could tell from the hand gripping the blade that the young man was young.

The man had slipped into the Prefecture Lord Mansion without making a sound. Prefecture Lord Chen was astonished by his strength.

"Young man, don't bring trouble upon yourself. Trespassing in the Prefecture Lord Mansion is a grave crime."

Wearing the elephant mask, Lin Huang raised his blade and pointed it at Prefecture Lord Chen. "Fight."

As the words fell, Lin Huang swung his blade. This strike was Fire-Slaying!

If Qianshan Huo had seen this, he would have been utterly horrified and unable to believe his eyes.

Lin Huang's Fire-Slaying wasn't as precise or weighty as the version Qianshan Huo had honed through countless refinements, but it had an elegance of its own, infused with Lin Huang's personal understanding. It was just as dazzling.

Prefecture Lord Chen's pupils contracted. He reached out and caught Lin Huang's strike head-on.

Clang!

Fist and blade met with the sound of metal striking metal.

"Vajra Divine Body at minor mastery, perfected." Lin Huang's eyes were sharp. With just one exchange, he recognized that Prefecture Lord Chen had cultivated the widely available Vajra Divine Body, and had reached the perfected minor-mastery stage.

The Vajra Divine Body was said to grant an indestructible body once fully mastered. Though Prefecture Lord Chen had only reached perfected minor mastery, he could still take a blade head-on. Lin Huang's strike couldn't even leave a mark on Prefecture Lord Chen's fist. A body cultivated to such a level was nothing short of terrifying.

But Lin Huang didn't care. He reversed his grip and struck again.

From his brief exchange with Three Holy Mothers, Lin Huang had deliberately sought her advice and learned that, due to the limits of their soul strength, the six cultivators at rank eighteen had each reached the peak of their cultivation in the Six Paths in One. Anyone who cultivated one of the Six Paths in One to the peak of its rank was a peerless genius. Anyone who could surpass that limit was a supreme genius capable of sweeping aside their entire generation.

Prefecture Lord Chen was a King Rank expert, yet his Divine Body had only reached perfected minor mastery. He was still far from the great-mastery Divine Body that marked the limit of King Rank.

But Lin Huang soon thought of how he'd gone around calling himself a Great Sage despite his own Divine Body being only at minor mastery. His expression darkened, and the blade in his hand danced wildly, each strike faster than the last.

Earth Severing! Water Severing! Fire-Slaying! Wind Severing! Yin-Yang Severing!

Blade Slashing the Six Paths burst forth in an instant. Compared to Qianshan Huo's version, it lacked that domineering, peerlessly overpowering force that could cleave through all Six Paths in a single strike. Yet Lin Huang's understanding of the Six Paths was deeper. One slash sent the Six Paths turning, remade Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind, opened Yin and Yang, and sealed space and time. It was flawless, dazzling to the extreme.

Prefecture Lord Chen was horrified. Facing this strike, he couldn't think of any way to block it. He could only grunt, guard his vitals with both hands, and drive the Vajra Divine Body to its limits.

Clang, clang, clang!

The sound of metal striking metal rang out without end. Prefecture Lord Chen staggered back three steps, his whole body aching. A closer look showed that his perfected minor-mastery Vajra Divine Body was covered in blade marks, like cracked porcelain.

"You're a genius. A pity that a genius is still only a genius." Prefecture Lord Chen's expression darkened. Completely enraged, he swung his arm around and threw a simple punch. This was Mountain Crushing Fist.

Lin Huang neither dodged nor retreated. His blade moved even faster as he struck, Severing the Mortal World.

The mortal world rolled on, and one blade cut it off.

Compared to Qianshan Huo's Severing the Mortal World, Lin Huang's strike lacked the Heavenly Path Artistic Conception of having nothing but the blade itself. It had the shape, but not the spirit. Still, it carried Lin Huang's own understanding. After all, he had nearly survived the Human Tribulation, and he had his own understanding of cutting off the mortal world.

Unfortunately, he still hadn't formed an Artistic Conception of his own or attained enlightenment in the mortal world. This strike was therefore weaker than his earlier Blade Slashing the Six Paths.

Prefecture Lord Chen gave a soft exclamation. He, too, felt Lin Huang's strike had fallen far below its previous level, but he didn't care. He raised his palm, then brought it down. This was Mountain Moving Palm!

His formidable physique erupted with power, shattering the void. The force of a mountain moving beneath his palm crushed everything before it, instantly breaking Lin Huang's Severing the Mortal World.

The blade in Lin Huang's hand shifted. He knew that Severing the Mortal World was so powerful because Qianshan Huo had infused it with his own Artistic Conception. In a direct comparison of their understanding of the Six Paths, however, it was far inferior to Blade Slashing the Six Paths.

He wasn't in a hurry to seek enlightenment now. He simply abandoned Severing the Mortal World and used Blade Slashing the Six Paths alone, again and again. With each strike, his understanding of the Six Paths deepened a little. With Prefecture Lord Chen's pressure, he gradually incorporated the insights he had gained from the Sages of Zhongnan into the blade.

After exchanging blows for more than a dozen rounds, Lin Huang spat out a mouthful of blood. His Divine Body was on the verge of collapse. He glanced at Prefecture Lord Chen's grave expression, withdrew his blade, tapped the ground with his foot, and turned to leave.

"Trying to leave? You're not going anywhere!" Prefecture Lord Chen laughed in fury and unleashed a violent surge of power, but his attack struck empty air. Looking closely, he saw that Lin Huang was nowhere to be found. He was so shocked that he almost thought it had all been a dream.