Jiang Ding walked across the land.
He revealed his true form without concealing anything, crossing the Thunderflame Domain one step at a time. He looked closely at the clouds, the flowers and grass, the trees, and the travelers along the road.
Before the great battle, his heart was calmer than it had ever been.
He suddenly realized that these ordinary things in everyday life seemed to hold so much beauty it could leave a person entranced.
"Hahaha!"
Do I know my death is near, and instinctively cling to the mortal world?
Jiang Ding smiled.
He did not mind, nor did he fret over what he might gain or lose and sink into wild imaginings.
"Kill!"
"This sword..."
"You're courting death..."
All around him was chaos. Many cultivators were fighting, at least half of them sword cultivators. Sword cultivators who had comprehended sword intent—so rare that an entire kingdom might not have one—were everywhere here, as common as weeds by the roadside.
They were upper-realm sword cultivators who had come in the wake of the Thunder-Yang Heaven Sword Realm's inherited sword cultivators.
A life-and-death battle between high-level sword cultivators was an opportunity other sword cultivators could not afford to miss. An insight gained while watching could equal hundreds or thousands of years of bitter cultivation.
Moreover, with so many sword cultivators gathered here, opponents who were hard to find in ordinary times were everywhere.
When two sword cultivators met, things often went like this: they chatted about heaven and earth, discussed mysteries and the Dao, and exchanged their experiences in swordsmanship and the sword Dao. Both gained a great deal.
Then they acknowledged each other as opponents and drew their swords.
Most often, one died. The victor took the loser's bonded flying sword and left. Sometimes, both perished together.
That was