The Four Realms of the Sword Dao

Fang Wuji clenched his fists tightly, so hard that blood seeped out.

"Steward Liu, this matter... let me think it over for a few days."

His voice sounded somewhat dry.

"Of course, of course."

Liu Chengyuan had already achieved his goal, and his smile grew ever more amiable.

"Take your time considering it, Fellow Daoist Fang. The Liu Family's doors will always be open to young talents like you."

After seeing Liu Chengyuan off, Fang Wuji collapsed onto the ground, his expression shifting uncertainly.

Gratitude, jealousy, unwillingness, and inferiority intertwined within him, finally converging into a stubborn thought: he had to fight for it.

He had to prove at the minor competition that he was no worse than anyone else.

The next day, Shen Qingzhou left Sword-Coming Peak and headed for the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, which the sect had established specifically for inner disciples.

The building floated on an island between the various peaks and was jointly managed by the sect's Steward Hall. Disciples could trade all kinds of cultivation resources here using spirit stones or sect contribution points.

People streamed through the building, most of them inner disciples hurrying along.

Shen Qingzhou went straight to the third floor, where all manner of spiritual materials were sold, and found a steward in charge of water-element materials.

"Senior Brother, do you have any spiritual materials from the Kan Water Lineage?"

The steward lifted his eyelids and sized Shen Qingzhou up. His expression was somewhat strange, then he grew languid.

"Kan Water? Do you mean Star-Seer Grass condensed from the power of the Kan constellation, or Heavenly River Sand? I've only seen that stuff once in this building in my thirty years since entering the sect, and it was traded away for an astronomical price."

He pointed to an empty shelf.

"There, that used to be where Kan Water spiritual materials were displayed. Now it's used for storing odds and ends. Junior Brother, you're new here, aren't you? Give up on it. The things from that path have long since been cut off at the root."

Shen Qingzhou felt no ripples in his heart. He had expected this result; Su Yu's words had received their most direct confirmation here.

The decline of a lineage did not merely mean that the road ahead had been severed. It also meant that resources in reality had dried up.

Su Yu and Chen Song were probably barely holding on through the sect's meager monthly stipends and whatever they had accumulated in their earlier years.

If he asked, they might well empty their coffers to help him, but that was not Shen Qingzhou's way of doing things. Asking others for help was always the last choice.

"Then can spiritual materials from the Wall Water Lineage be found?"

Shen Qingzhou abruptly changed the subject.

"Wall Water?"

The steward perked up.

"We have those. Though it is not a major lineage like Zhen Water or Winnowing Basket Water, its foundation is stable and its compatibility strong. What do you need? Cliffspring Stone for refining and purifying spiritual power, or Azure Jade Marrow for nourishing the qi sea?"

After a moment's thought, Shen Qingzhou felt that his Abyss-Hiding Sword Essence originated from Still Waters of the Abyss and emphasized profound stillness and heavy solidity. It was rather compatible with the solid foundation embodied by the Wall Water lineage.

Back then, a single Wall-Water Essence had greatly strengthened his foundation and allowed him to break through smoothly.

"Ten portions each of Cliffspring Stone and Azure Jade Marrow."

"One hundred and twenty low-grade spirit stones."

The steward quoted the price crisply.

Shen Qingzhou paid without hesitation. This almost used up half of the spoils he had received from Yellowstone True Person.

Money was meant to be exchanged for strength in the end.

After returning to his small courtyard with the spiritual materials, Shen Qingzhou did not immediately enter seclusion. He calculated his spirit stones and pills, confirming that they were enough for him to attempt Qi Refining, Fourth Layer, yet he did not feel the slightest ease.

Lu Chen had Elder Li and the resources of the entire Wèi Earth lineage tilted toward him, while Zhao Heng had the Zhao Family of Blackwater Peak behind him, sparing no expense in using pills to force his cultivation upward.

By the time of the minor competition, those two would likely have already entered Qi Refining, Fourth Layer securely, perhaps even reaching the fifth layer.

Using Qi Refining, Fourth Layer cultivation to contend against Qi Refining, Fifth Layer meant falling behind across the board in both total spiritual power and the purity of spiritual qi. No matter how exquisite his cultivation method was, it would still be like striking a stone with an egg.

If he could not catch up in cultivation head-on, he could only seek his chance of victory in the art of combat itself.

"Perhaps I can only return to the sword dao itself."

After thinking it over, Shen Qingzhou came to that conclusion.

The four realms of the sword dao were a broadly accepted understanding of sword cultivation in the cultivation world, a path from beginner to reaching the heavens.

The first realm was Sword Intent: heart and sword becoming one, intent controlling qi and turning it into sharpness. The vast majority of sword cultivators spent their entire lives tempering themselves in this realm. His current Tidal Sword Intent and Abyss-Hiding Sword Intent both belonged to this category.

The second realm was Sword Force. Mountains had mountain force, waters had water force. Force was not the sword's edge, but the extension of Sword Intent; before the sword was drawn, its force had already arrived.

"Above force lies the Domain. Gather force, condense it into form, turn the void into reality, and open a patch of heaven and earth belonging only to oneself. Within the Domain, I am king; my words become law."

"Above the Domain may lie the legendary Heart. With the heart as the sword, it cleaves through falsehood and reaches the Great Dao directly. Yet this realm can no longer be described by words, nor attained by human effort. It is the path of a sword immortal..."

Shen Qingzhou slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, but stormy waves churned within his chest. Every generation had one or two disciples who comprehended Sword Intent.

But Sword Force was almost unheard of. If one could comprehend Sword Force during the Qi Refining stage, it seemed there would be some benefits when breaking through to Foundation Establishment.

Thinking of this, he rose to his feet and came to the courtyard with the Ripple-Pattern Sword in hand. What was force? The night wind in the courtyard was cold and clear.

Shen Qingzhou stood still with the Ripple-Pattern Sword in hand, his entire being immersed in a mysterious contemplation.

He had already grasped Sword Intent. Whether it was the broad and sweeping Tidal Sword Intent or the restrained, weighty Abyss-Hiding Sword Intent, both used his own spiritual power as their guide.

They relied entirely on driving the sword weapon to release sharpness, a release from within to without.

But force was different. If Lu Chen's Sinking Mountain Sword Intent were to condense into force, it would surely draw upon the power of the earth to form crushing pressure.

That was the force of a mountain, suppression from without to within. Then what would his water's force be?

At a thought from Shen Qingzhou, the Abyss-Hiding Sword Essence in his dantian slowly circulated. An invisible sense of heaviness spread outward with him at its center.

The bamboo leaves in the courtyard stopped swaying, and even the surrounding air grew viscous, as though it had sunk into a deep-water bog.

This pressure was several times stronger than when he had previously practiced swordsmanship, enough to make an ordinary Qi Refining Third Layer cultivator struggle with every step.

Yet Shen Qingzhou frowned slightly. No, this was still only the extension of intent and the radiation of his own power.

The range was merely larger, and the power merely stronger. Its essence had not changed.

A mountain's force suppressed because the mountain was there, with all things beneath it. How, then, should his water be?

Shen Qingzhou withdrew his Sword Intent and closed his eyes. Scenes flowed through his mind.

There was the dead-silent abyss he had glimpsed when he first obtained the Abyss-Hiding Sword Essence seed. There was also the cycle he had realized while debating the Dao with Lu Chen in Wind-Listening Hall: water did not belong solely to earth, but could also rise to reach the nine heavens.

There was also the Heavenly River's broken flow that Su Yu had spoken of, and the endless sorrow of its withered source.

Water was the abyss, but it was also rivers. It could become tides, and it could become rain connecting heaven and earth.

Water's strength lay in flow, in drawing things along.

River water could sweep away all things, and the rising and falling tides connected the four seas. Beneath deep water lay undercurrents and whirlpools; anything that fell in would be dragged toward deeper places.

Shen Qingzhou understood.

He raised the Ripple-Pattern Sword again. The blade hummed once, and a ring of invisible ripples spread around its tip.

Nothing in the courtyard changed. The wind still blew, and the bamboo leaves still swayed.

Within this force, any attack from an opponent would be weakened layer upon layer by this sinking power, eventually dragged and twisted out of shape.

Abyssal Descent Momentum had formed.

At the instant he comprehended Sword Force, the long-absent panel unfolded before his eyes.

Profession: Sword Disciple, level: Sword Force Newly Formed, passive profession ability: Swordheart Clarity.

This ability greatly enhanced his insight into sword principles. When executing swordsmanship, spiritual power consumption was reduced by thirty percent, while power increased by fifty percent.

He could more easily see through the flaws and points of exertion in the moves of sword cultivators of the same realm. The Sword Disciple profession level had leapt from Swordsmanship Newly Understood to Sword Force Newly Formed.

The proficiency cap had surged to one thousand, and Swordheart Clarity's effect had received a terrifying increase. The reduction in spiritual power consumption and the boost in power had both directly doubled.

This meant that with the spiritual power of Qi Refining Third Layer, he could unleash swordsmanship far more powerful than that of an ordinary Qi Refining Fourth Layer cultivator, and his endurance would be stronger as well.

This was not the end.

Shen Qingzhou noticed that the icons for the four professions—Scripture Master, Qi Collector, Talisman Master, and Sword Disciple—were no longer displayed separately.

Several faint, illusory golden threads had lit up between them.

One thread connecting the Scripture Master and Qi Collector had already condensed into substance.

At the end of that thread was the fusion ability, Source Tracing.

And at this moment, several other illusory threads flickered faintly with light. One connected the Scripture Master and Talisman Master, while another connected the Qi Collector and Sword Disciple.

Shen Qingzhou's heart suddenly hammered.

He had always thought the appearance of Source Tracing was passive, the product of a fortunate coincidence. Now it seemed that was not the case.

His golden finger—the profession panel itself—possessed both growth potential and the ability to fuse.

When the cultivation of two professions reached a certain level, or when their Daos held a logical connection, a fusion path would be unlocked.

And now, he could actively choose to attempt a fusion.