There was no stone door at the entrance to the sixth level of the Sword Tower, only a curtain of silver light. When Ling Yun stepped inside, the scene before him abruptly changed—no longer a cramped stone chamber, but a circular space made entirely of mirrors. The floor, walls, even the ceiling reflected his figure. Even the dark cyan blade of the Sky-Rending Sword and the grooves in its hilt were clearly mirrored, as though he stood within countless overlapping worlds.
"This is the trial ground for the Sword Intent Clone. The mirrors will condense a clone based on your sword intent. The clone's strength and sword techniques will be exactly the same as yours; it can even imitate composite sword moves you have only just learned." Sword Elder's voice carried a note of caution. "The most dangerous part is that the clone feels neither pain nor exhaustion. It will attack continuously in the most optimal manner. You must find its flaw before your Sword Qi runs dry."
Before his words had faded, the surrounding mirrors suddenly rippled. A figure identical to Ling Yun stepped out of a mirror, holding an identical "Sky-Rending Sword"—a replica condensed from the mirror. Cyan, brown, gold, purple, and light blue Sword Qi swirled around it, originating from the same source as his own. Even the aura of the sword intent pearl formed when he had just broken through to the Swordsman Realm was copied without the slightest discrepancy.
"Interesting." The clone spoke, its voice exactly the same as Ling Yun's, yet carrying a mechanical chill. "Begin."
The instant it spoke, the clone moved. Its figure swept out like a flowing wind, the replica Sky-Rending Sword drawing a pale cyan arc as the "Wind Chant" sword move tore through the air. Wind blades stabbed straight toward Ling Yun's chest—the angle, force, even the speed at which its Sword Qi gathered were exactly the same as when Ling Yun had used Wind Chant yesterday. It was as if he were fighting another version of himself.
Ling Yun's pupils contracted slightly, and he raised his sword to block almost on instinct. Clang! The two swords collided, and familiar force traveled through the blade, numbing his wrist—the clone had not only copied his sword technique, but had also replicated the load-bearing traits of his Chaos Sword Body. Had he not been prepared, that strike might have knocked his sword aside and exposed an opening.
"Don't respond conventionally! The clone's sword techniques are imitated from your past battle data, so there is an instant of delay!" Sword Elder called out urgently. "Use Clear Sword Heart to catch the gap when it draws its sword!"
Ling Yun immediately activated Clear Sword Heart, and the clone's movements instantly slowed before his eyes. He clearly saw that after using Wind Chant, the clone withdrew its sword half a beat slower than he himself would have. This was an inherent flaw in imitation—the clone had to first capture the trajectory of his sword intent before replicating it, so a time lag was inevitable. The gap was extremely brief, and without Clear Sword Heart, it would have been impossible to notice.
"Now!" Ling Yun seized that half-beat opening. The five-colored sword intent within him circulated wildly, and instead of defending, the Sky-Rending Sword followed the trajectory of the clone's withdrawing sword and unleashed Heaven and Earth First Form. This time, he did not merely borrow the momentum. He poured the ferocity of metal and the heaviness of earth into the blade, pale brown and pale gold Sword Qi wrapping around its body as it slammed into the spine of the clone's sword.
Buzz! The blade of the clone's replica sword bent slightly beneath the impact, yet it stubbornly counterattacked. Its left hand clenched into a fist, carrying the life force of the wood element as it blasted straight toward Ling Yun's dantian—this was the close-combat move Ling Yun had used against the puppets yesterday, and it too had been copied completely.
Ling Yun slid backward, avoiding the fist as his right wrist abruptly turned. The groove in the Sky-Rending Sword's hilt aligned with the three sword intent crystals of metal, earth, and wood he had acquired earlier. With three soft clicks, the crystals embedded themselves into the grooves. Ancient patterns on the blade lit up at once, and five-colored Sword Qi flowed along them, forming a closed loop. The previously scattered elemental sword intents actually formed a preliminary Five Elements cycle at that moment!
"Try the power of the Five Elements' circulation!" Sword Elder's voice brimmed with excitement. "Metal gives rise to water, water gives rise to wood, wood gives rise to fire, fire gives rise to earth, earth gives rise to metal. Let the Sword Qi circulate—the clone cannot imitate this dynamic balance!"
Understanding dawned upon Ling Yun. The sword intent pearl within him spun at high speed, and the five-colored Sword Qi no longer emerged separately, but flowed according to the sequence of the Five Elements' mutual generation—metal Sword Qi fused into the blade, multiplying the Sky-Rending Sword's hardness; earth Sword Qi sank beneath his feet, steadying his stance; wood Sword Qi repaired the meridians damaged when he had blocked earlier; water Sword Qi, light blue in color, gathered at the sword tip, adding nimbleness to his techniques; fire Sword Qi, from the residual fire seed he had absorbed before, lay hidden within the blade, awaiting its moment to erupt.
The clone attacked again, this time imitating the composite Sword Qi vortex Ling Yun had used on the fourth level. But as the clone's replica sword gathered intertwining cyan and brown Sword Qi, Ling Yun had already swung his sword to meet it—the Sky-Rending Sword carved a five-colored arc through the air. Its Sword Qi was no longer a simple spiral, but formed a circulating halo that instantly drew in the clone's Sword Qi vortex.
Five Elements Flowing Slash!
Ling Yun shouted lowly. The five-colored Sword Qi within the halo nourished one another and grew ever stronger. The moment the clone's replica Sword Qi touched the halo, it was dismantled and assimilated by the power of the Five Elements cycle, turning into pure spiritual energy that the Sky-Rending Sword absorbed. A flash of "confusion" passed through the clone's eyes. Clearly, it could not comprehend a sword move beyond its imitation data, and could only instinctively use Wind Chant again in an attempt to widen the distance.
But this time, Ling Yun gave it no chance. Borrowing the force of the Five Elements' circulation, he moved thirty percent faster than before. The Sky-Rending Sword cut in along the trajectory of the clone's sword move, its tip stopping precisely before the clone's brow—that was the core where the clone's sword intent had condensed, and also the weak point of the mirror's imitation. Once the core was shattered, the clone would disperse.
"It's over." Ling Yun lowered his wrist slightly, and the sword tip condensed from five-colored Sword Qi lightly tapped the clone's brow.
Boom!
The clone instantly turned into countless silver motes of light and merged into the surrounding mirrors. After one final ripple, the mirrors returned to calm. Only the remaining, assimilated Sword Qi lingered in the air before being automatically absorbed by Ling Yun's Chaos Sword Body, making the sword intent pearl in his dantian a little more solid.
The cold mechanical voice sounded as expected: "Sword Intent Clone trial, passed! Reward: one Sword Intent Resonance Stone, capable of enhancing compatibility with divine artifacts; authority to access the entrance to the seventh level, the Sword Intent Stele, unlocked!"
An milky-white crystal the size of a goose egg fell from the air, and Ling Yun reached out to catch it. The instant it landed in his hand, it resonated with the Sky-Rending Sword. The three sword intent crystals in the hilt grooves lit up, and the five-colored glow flowing through the blade's ancient patterns grew richer—clearly, this resonance stone could accelerate the Sky-Rending Sword's awakening, making it more compatible with his Chaos Sword Body.
He raised his head toward the mirrored wall. In the deepest mirror, he indeed saw Murong Shuang's sword mark. This mark was deeper than those on the previous levels, and pure composite wind- and wood-element sword intent swirled around it. A line of small words was carved beside it: "The mirror image is not real; the sword heart is real. If one clings to imitation, one can never surpass."
"The sword heart is real..." Ling Yun murmured, tightening his grip on the Sky-Rending Sword. His battle with the clone had made him thoroughly understand that the True Meaning of the Way of the Sword was never copying others or repeating oneself, but breaking beyond the past in every battle and creating sword moves that belonged to oneself—just like the Five Elements Flowing Slash just now. Without combining the Fragment of the Five Elements Sword Manual with the traits of the Chaos Sword Body, he could never have defeated a clone that imitated him.
"The Sword Intent Stele on the seventh level contains the inheritance of Basic Sword Intent left behind by ancient sword cultivators." Sword Elder's voice carried anticipation. "You now possess the strength of the Swordsman Realm and have mastered Five Elements circulating sword intent. This is the perfect chance to comprehend Basic Sword Intent and lay a foundation for your future breakthrough into the Sword Master Realm. Remember, when comprehending sword intent, do not deliberately pursue it. Simply empty your mind and let the Sword Intent Stele's power naturally merge into your sword heart."
Ling Yun nodded and turned his gaze toward the center of the mirrored chamber—there, a staircase leading upward had appeared. Pale gold Sword Qi swirled around it, purer and heavier than the sword intent on the previous six levels. It was clearly the aura emitted by the Sword Intent Stele. He could sense that the aura contained the power of "intent," as though it could draw upon the Sword Qi between heaven and earth and form a domain of his own.
"The seventh level, the Sword Intent Stele..." Ling Yun drew a deep breath and tucked the Sword Intent Resonance Stone into his robes. The Sky-Rending Sword trembled softly in his hand, as though it too looked forward to touching the Sword Intent Stele. He stepped onto the staircase, his figure vanishing amid the pale gold Sword Qi—this time, he would not only pass the trial, but also comprehend Basic Sword Intent, advance toward a higher realm of the Way of the Sword, and take another step closer to his goal of revenge.
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