"A ninth-level warrior, buried in the belly of a Shadow Demon Panther..." Although some of them had gone to Firefly Forest to temper themselves, none had dared venture deep into its core region.
"Of course, I'm only saying this to remind you not to rush ahead recklessly." Seeing the unusual looks on everyone's faces, Luo Ao immediately changed tack. "However, if you want to become truly strong, tempering yourselves through life and death remains essential."
"All right, next I'll give you a general overview of my insights into cultivation." At Luo Ao's next words, the dozen or so elite students immediately began listening with rapt attention.
"I won't go into detail about the levels before the ninth. They mainly involve tempering your body and accumulating battle-qi. Once you've accumulated enough battle-qi energy, you'll naturally break through." Some of the warrior instructors listening nearby could not help twitching their mouths at Luo Ao's words.
Only this genius Sword Saint could make it sound so easy, as though breaking through to the ninth level were simply a matter of water flowing into a channel once it was ready.
In reality, quite a few formidable warrior instructors, such as Ladar, were still only eighth-level warriors.
"Once you reach the ninth level, especially the peak of the ninth level, breaking through to the Saint level requires you to continually refine your battle-qi until it undergoes a transformation, then guide your body to transform along with it. That is how you attain the Saint level." It could be said that Saint-level experts were transcendent beings in the truest sense.
"So how do you make the battle-qi in your dantian transform? Besides accumulating sufficient battle-qi, the most crucial point is that you must comprehend the 'force of the heavens and earth.' 'Momentum' is a special realm. Hard cultivation alone is useless; you must rely on an epiphany brought about by a chance convergence of circumstances." In fact, most warriors at the peak of the ninth level who risked their lives challenging powerful enemies did so to break through this bottleneck.
Tempering oneself amid mortal danger did indeed offer a greater chance of gaining an epiphany, though most people did not meet particularly pleasant ends.
"The reason Saint-level experts and ninth-level warriors are as far apart as heaven and earth is not just the strength of their battle-qi energy. Most importantly, it's because they have comprehended the 'force of the heavens and earth.'" Luo Ao continued explaining momentum, and every student listened intently.
"After comprehending 'momentum,' a Saint-level expert's attacks can resonate with heaven and earth. Even a casual strike can draw upon their power to bolster the expert and restrain the enemy. Naturally, their strength is entirely different," Luo Ao continued in an unhurried voice.
"Look. This is the force of the heavens and earth." As he spoke, Luo Ao drew the Azure Nightmare Sword and pointed it toward a spot ahead and to his left.
With a rumble, a large stretch of hard ground ahead and to Luo Ao's left was actually pressed down, leaving a deep depression at least ten meters in diameter.
"So powerful! Is this a Saint-level expert's 'momentum'?" This was the first time the boys and girls in the crowd had directly witnessed such inconceivable power. Each was filled with astonishment and envy. Who knew whether any of them would break through to the Saint level in the future?
"The best way to cultivate toward comprehending momentum is to spend more time close to nature, and thereby achieve resonance with heaven and earth." Luo Ao sheathed his sword and continued, "However, directly comprehending 'momentum' isn't so simple."
"My view is that you should first build a solid foundation with the weapon you practice. Once your foundations are perfected, progress toward realms such as 'wielding heavy things as though they were light,' 'Wielding light as though heavy,' 'Seemingly fast but actually slow,' and 'seemingly slow but actually fast.' Such realms allow you to wield your strength with perfect fluency and control."
Wielding heavy things as though they were light was easy to understand. It meant being able to use a heavy weapon as effortlessly and freely as an ordinary weapon.
Wielding light as though heavy took the opposite approach. It meant achieving the effect of a heavy weapon with a light one, as though an immense force weighing a thousand jin had been applied to it.
The subsequent "seemingly fast but actually slow" and "seemingly slow but actually fast" worked on the same principle. They were all realms that allowed one to bring one's strength into perfect play; they merely suited different weapons.
Upon reaching this realm, the same amount of strength could sometimes produce as much as two hundred percent of one's own power. Yet human strength had its limits, while the power of heaven and earth was inexhaustible.
Thus, in the end, embarking on the path of cultivating the laws was still the proper course.
"Next, spread out and wield the weapons you're best at to unleash your strength. Let me see your martial foundations." Luo Ao looked at the students. Now that they had reached the practical demonstration, every one of them was brimming with motivation.
This enormous martial training hall also had a dedicated place for storing weapons. Moreover, it was spacious enough for a dozen or so people to spread out and practice without accidentally injuring anyone else.
"You can all begin together. I can keep track of everyone." At Luo Ao's instruction, they immediately spread out and began vigorously displaying their swordsmanship, saber techniques, or spear techniques.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh-" Among the dozen or so students, the first person Luo Ao focused on was naturally Lansi. Lansi was not particularly tall or large, and his weapon was a war blade. His saber foundations were quite good, and his fundamentals were very solid. Luo Ao nodded at the sight.
Only then did he turn his attention to the others. Among them, one girl's swordsmanship surprised him somewhat.
She was a tall, slender, silver-haired girl with exquisitely delicate features, like an elf in a painting. What drew Luo Ao's attention at that moment, however, was her swordsmanship.
"Princess Alexia, correct? Your swordsmanship is already close to perfect. Did you learn it from a master of the sword?" Luo Ao walked over to the second princess.
In all fairness, her sword techniques were already almost flawless. Even if Her Highness the Second Princess was a genius of the sword, she had probably still needed the attentive guidance of a grandmaster swordsman.
"In answer to Your Eminence, Luo Ao, I learned this swordsmanship from Lady Shuleihe." Seeing Luo Ao suddenly approach him, the silver-haired princess immediately grew somewhat nervous. Her voice was quite pleasant to hear.
"Shuleihe?" Although Luo Ao had only just advanced to the Saint level, he was no stranger to that name.
Before he was born, this commoner girl should actually have held the title of the Darren Empire's foremost genius Sword Saint.
"Even having studied under Miss Shuleihe, Your Highness must possess extraordinary talent to have acquired such exquisite swordsmanship." Luo Ao was not deliberately flattering her. After all, Her Highness the Second Princess was only about his age.
With such accomplishments at her age, she had at least an eighty or ninety percent chance of breaking through to the Saint level in the future.
"You praise me too highly, Your Eminence, Luo Ao." Although she was already accustomed to the world's praise, being complimented to her face by a Sword Saint was naturally an entirely different matter, especially when it was this legendary genius Sword Saint.
Although Luo Ao was even younger than she was, he was someone worthy of her admiration.
He wore nothing more than a simple white shirt, yet he looked so outstanding. His eyes shone like stars, and his features were almost excessively handsome. Even the faintest trace of a smile on his face could give one a warmth like basking in a spring breeze.
Luo Ao nodded to the silver-haired girl, then turned and headed elsewhere.
He had only come over to ask because he was curious about the second princess's sword instructor. In the time that followed, he also picked a few other students at random to correct and instruct, while answering some of the difficult questions they had encountered in their cultivation.
Among these students, Lansi, the "lucky one," was undoubtedly rather conspicuous, as Luo Ao spent quite some time giving him special guidance. Even the emperor and Headmaster Kaslo on the raised platform gradually began paying attention to the young fellow.
Time passed quickly, and before they knew it, afternoon had arrived.
"Your Eminence, Luo Ao, may I venture to ask what cultivation realm lies beyond 'momentum'?" Seeing how amiable this genius Sword Saint was, Lansi mustered the courage to ask.
In truth, he had wanted to ask earlier, but feared appearing too presumptuous. However, he was simply too curious, and if he missed this opportunity, he did not know whether he would ever have another chance to receive an answer.
"Lord Luo Ao, we'd like to know too..." Quite a few people spoke up in agreement with Lansi this time. Although practically none of them would reach the realm beyond "momentum," that did not stop them from being curious about this secret.
"Very well, I'll tell you about it." Luo Ao understood that even Darren Student, reputed to be the best in the empire, kept a tight grip on cultivation materials concerning the Saint level and beyond. Apart from the second princess and a few others, most of them probably knew nothing about this.
"The realm above 'momentum' is comprehending the laws. These laws must likewise be comprehended through heaven, earth, and nature. Furthermore, once your comprehension of a particular law reaches a certain degree, you become a god." Luo Ao did not explain the profound mysteries of the laws in detail, merely mentioning them briefly.
Even so, his words shook them to their cores. Luo Ao's final remark, in particular, sent their imaginations wandering.
"Once your mastery of the laws reaches a certain degree, you become a god..." they murmured to themselves. In this world, gods were not merely beings from legends and stories. They truly existed.
Moreover, there was far more than one god on the Boya Continent. Leaving aside religious powers such as the Church of the Fire God and the Church of the Earth God, the founding emperor of their own Darren Empire was a god! A true god who had already lived for at least ten thousand years!
The Boya Continent's population was truly immense, and Saint-level experts were especially numerous. At most, Saint-level experts qualified to establish a kingdom or a duchy. Only true gods could found an empire that flourished unfailingly for ten thousand years.