Divine Intent

"Divine Intent!"

Qin Lian violently wrenched himself free.

The next instant, he controlled his field of vision and his body, rising higher and higher.

As his viewpoint rose, ever more slaughter, destruction, darkness, and death flooded his perception, relentlessly battering his mind and reason.

Deep within his consciousness, a voice seemed to scream madly...

Slaughter!

Destruction!

Slaughter everything!

Destroy everything!

Only by thoroughly cleansing this world could he find true inner peace!

Only then could the countless beings of this world truly escape slaughter and suffering like those of an endless hell!

But...

Qin Lian guarded the sanctuary of his mind throughout, maintaining his clarity as he kept raising his thoughts and pushing his vision beyond its limits.

There were no gales of the nine heavens.

There was no pure yang lightning tribulation.

This illusion originated from the erosion caused by the Demon Sword, yet it was also influenced by his own understanding, bearing a partial reflection of his personal consciousness.

Thus, as his thoughts and vision rose without limit, he soon left the troposphere, then the stratosphere, and finally...

Reached outer space beyond the ionosphere.

The endless Great Void, as Qi-Refining Grandmasters and Spirit-Refining True Persons understood it.

And when Qin Lian truly reached this position, all he could see was boundless depth and boundless darkness.

Within this darkness, so infinitely deep that it seemed capable of swallowing everything, only a single azure planet, a phantom of the "world" as he understood it, floated silently beneath his feet.

Compared with the entire planet, slaughter between individuals was meaningless.

Compared with the entire stellar system, destruction between peoples was meaningless.

Compared with the entire starry universe, even the complete destruction of the world beneath his feet was meaningless.

Humans lived on such a tiny planet, within such a narrow stretch of heaven and earth; slaughter, destruction, darkness, death...

Compared with the universe and its galaxies, they were all merely a grain in the vast sea.

Never mind comparing it with the universe-even compared with the Milky Way where he lived, Blue Star, home to billions of humans, hundreds of nations, and countless species, was so tiny that it did not even qualify to occupy a single pixel.

This world before him...

Although it was no longer the Blue Star he knew, presumably, compared with the vast, boundless universe...

The boundless Great Void as people understood it...

It, too, was a speck of dust too insignificant to count even as a grain in the vast sea.

At this moment, a passage suddenly flashed through Qin Lian's mind.

"Heaven and earth were without benevolence, treating all things as straw dogs."

The next instant, the slaughter, destruction, darkness, and death madly battering his soul, mind, and understanding all receded.

Whether birth or extinction.

Everything was merely part of the workings of order.

"My Great Void Sword Intent is boundless and limitless, infinite and inexhaustible... embracing everything, transcending everything, and standing above everything!"

Qin Lian opened his eyes.

The sword was still that same sword.

The man was still that same man.

Yet as he sensed heaven and earth again at this moment, he felt that everything within them had become utterly different.

It was a perspective in which the world had shed its filter, and observation began with "me" at its center.

It was a fundamental transformation from passivity to initiative.

Like a muddleheaded creature that could only drift with the current, suddenly escaping that state of confusion, awakening, and beginning to view the outside world and its own life through its own subjective perspective.

The most immediate difference this change brought...

He could control every measure of his strength more precisely, and even perceive every minute change in the outside world more clearly.

Divine intent.

Understanding dawned in Qin Lian's heart.

This was the wondrous use of divine intent.

He had comprehended divine intent.

"I've attained Second Grade."

There was no earth-shaking upheaval.

Nor was there any phenomenon of purple qi coming from the east for three thousand li.

Silently.

The transformation was completed as naturally as water flowing into a channel.

He entered the second grade divine intent grandmaster realm.

Of course...

This process had not exactly been easy for him.

Immediately afterward, his gaze also fell upon the peerless divine weapon in his hand, covered in patterns of starlight...

Without anyone introducing it, he had already guessed this sword's name.

"The Heavenly Extreme Demon Sword."

A demonic divine weapon that could effectively help others temper their divine intent, and even perceive the mysteries of creation and fathom the great secrets of the human body.

"I sensed its wondrous ability to temper divine intent..."

Qin Lian paused briefly.

That feeling of being swallowed by slaughter, destruction, darkness, and death...

If someone could not rely on divine intent to break free, this will would truly erode them completely, turning them into a murderous fiend devoid of reason.

But...

"Fathoming the great secrets of the human body..."

Qin Lian had discerned nothing.

Nor had he "seen" what exactly that Demon God was, or how he demonstrated the mysteries of life's creation.

"No!"

The next second, he seemed to realize something.

He...

Had seen it!

That Demon God...

As his entire field of vision kept rising, he had vaguely seemed to see the whole land clearly.

That land...

Seemed not to be land as ordinary people understood it at all, but the body of a terrifying creature.

That Demon God!

All the slaughter, destruction, death, and despair he had "seen" were the so-called creation demonstrated by that terrifying Demon God.

At this moment, a horrifying conjecture seemed to surface in his mind.

"Endless slaughter, endless death, endless destruction... until one completely transcends life and death, only then can one penetrate the great secrets of life and death within the human body, defy heaven, change one's fate, and live another life!"

Qin Lian's scalp prickled.

Cook Ding carving up an ox!

Could a living being that had killed trillions upon trillions of creatures, repeatedly tearing apart and pulverizing lives like its own, gain sufficient understanding of the essence of human life?

Absolutely!

From an anatomical standpoint, this was quite reasonable!

But if someone truly penetrated the great secrets of human life and death through this method, even if they really lived another life...

Would they still be themselves?

What would the endless slaughter within the illusion have twisted their mind, consciousness, and understanding into!?

Rather than a human, they would be a Demonic Beast wearing human skin!

"Demon Sword! Demon Sword!"

Qin Lian finally understood why person after person called the Heavenly Extreme Sword the Heavenly Extreme Demon Sword!

It was far too sinister.

Of course, these were only his conjectures.

Yet even so, he developed a deep wariness of this Demon Sword.

He quickly stripped off his clothes and wrapped the sword in layer upon layer, no longer allowing himself to look at its patterns of starlight.

That illusion...

Was evidently triggered by these patterns connecting with a person's mind.

"Breaking through to divine intent this time really was a case of the ignorant knowing no fear."

Qin Lian had not recognized this as the infamously fearsome Heavenly Extreme Demon Sword at all.

Others would probably be affected by a single glance at the patterns on the sword, hurriedly averting their eyes to do their best to digest the experience.

But he had actually leaned closer of his own accord, even concentrating on examining them...

How was this any different from someone who could not swim voluntarily jumping into a river?

"Luckily, through Supreme Elder Shanhui's Dream-Wedding Technique back then, I had already seen the path toward Great Void Visualization Diagram perfection clearly. I only needed time to refine it to full maturity... otherwise..."

Qin Lian visualized in his mind, focusing his attention on the golden light within it.

[Great Void Visualization Diagram perfection, the endless Great Void, vast and boundless, guiding the spirit to roam, heaven rewards diligence, comprehension +3, filling omissions and mending deficiencies, trait activated-Wandering the Great Void (1/1)]

Comprehension +3!?

"Comprehension?"

Visualization methods taxed the brain, so an increase in comprehension made perfect sense.

Qin Lian shifted his mental focus.

[Comprehension: 39 → 42 (top-tier)]

His comprehension had risen straight from superior to top-tier!

He carefully examined the experience...

"No wonder, when I originally thought I hadn't 'seen' the great secrets of the human body demonstrated by that Demon God at all, I suddenly pierced through his so-called mysteries of creation... it must have been the change brought about by the transformation of my comprehension."

He then reflected on the Liuhe Duzun Sword Art and the Chasing the Wind and Pursuing the Sun movement technique, neither of which he had yet perfected...

And actually gained new understanding of both.

Although it was only an increase of three points in comprehension, the improvement it brought was the difference between superior and top-tier comprehension.

Especially since there was also that trait...

Or rather, spell.

"Wandering the Great Void."

Qin Lian concentrated slightly.

Soon, he had already grasped the wonders of the Wandering the Great Void spell.

"In the form of a soul, become the Great Void, encompass all things, and cross ten thousand li in an instant..."

This was a method of spirit wandering!

And judging by the speed at which this spell allowed the spirit to wander ten thousand li, and the various marvels of the protection its Great Void form afforded the soul...

It was at least a "right law"-level spell!

Perhaps even...

Above right law.

"A Profound Mystique-level Spell!"