He stood up, his right hand grasping at the void.
The Eight Extremities Holy Sword manifested in his palm, the blade flowing with deep-blue light.
He swung the sword slowly, the sword light leaving a pale blue trail beneath the aurora.
Where the trail passed, the falling snowflakes instantly froze into ice crystals, hovering in mid-air.
With a flicker of his thought, those ice crystals shattered simultaneously, turning into countless tiny shards of ice that drifted away in the night wind.
“Very good.”
Loren’s voice came from behind him.
Jiang Lin turned to see that Loren had appeared at the entrance of the pavilion at some point.
“You have consolidated your strength quite well.”
Loren walked to his side and looked out at the distant aurora with him:
“What are your plans for the next step?”
Jiang Lin thought for a moment and replied:
“Disciple wishes to cultivate here for a period to thoroughly master the ice soul power.”
He paused and continued:
“After that, disciple needs to go to a few places to complete some tasks.”
Loren did not press him, only nodding slightly:
“That is fine.
“Although you have merged with the ice soul, your application is still rough and needs time to be polished.”
On the ice terrace, the aurora fell like a waterfall.
Jiang Lin sat cross-legged, eyes slightly closed, his body wreathed in pale golden holy light and deep-blue ice soul energy.
The two forces blended like milk and water, forming a perfect cycle within him.
Seven days had passed since he fused with the Eternal Ice Soul.
In these seven days, he had not taken a single step away from Frostblade Peak, spending his days consolidating his foundation through breathing techniques and learning from Loren how to wield this newfound power.
“The ice soul power originates from the Eternal Ice Soul’s ultimate control over the soul and ice elements.”
Loren’s voice was as cold and clear as a spring, echoing across the ice terrace.
He stood three steps in front of Jiang Lin, his ice-blue robe glowing faintly under the aurora.
“Although you have fused with it, your usage remains crude.
“It is like a child holding a divine weapon; you possess a sharp tool but do not know how to unleash its true edge.”
Jiang Lin opened his eyes, a flicker of deep-blue light vanishing within his golden irises:
“Please, Master, guide me.”
Loren nodded, raising his right hand and curling his fingers into a claw.
A deep-blue ice crystal the size of a fist condensed out of thin air in his palm, the light inside the crystal rotating slowly as if it were alive.
“Watch closely.”
He flicked his wrist, and the ice crystal flew from his hand, carving a deep-blue trail through the air.
Where the trail passed, the air condensed into fine frost, and even the falling snowflakes were forcibly locked in place, hovering in mid-air.
The ice crystal flew thirty zhang away before suddenly exploding.
Countless ice needles, fine as ox hair, burst forth like a blooming ice lotus, covering every inch of space within a ten-zhang radius.
The needles did not fall to the ground; instead, they slowly rotated and wove together in the air, finally forming an exquisite ice crystal cage.
Inside the cage, the temperature plummeted to the point where even light began to distort.
“This is one of the basic applications of ice soul power: Condensation.”
Loren withdrew his hand and stood with it behind his back:
“Use intent to command ice, use ice to manifest form.
“The shape can change according to your will; swords, spears, shields, cages... all exist within a single thought.”
He paused and looked at Jiang Lin:
“You try.”
Jiang Lin nodded and took a deep breath.
He spread his right hand, sinking his consciousness into the blended power within his body.
In his dantian, the holy light magic essence and the ice soul had already become indistinguishable, like deep-blue starlight flowing through a golden river.
He attempted to guide the ice soul power with his intent.
At first, it was somewhat sluggish.
Although the ice soul power had merged with him, it had once been an independent fragment of a holy object, and its response to his intent was not as fluid as his own magic essence.
Jiang Lin was not impatient.
He closed his eyes, carefully feeling the “pulse” of that power.
Like a heartbeat, like a breath.
Once, twice, three times...
Ten breaths later, a faint thread of deep-blue light finally emerged above his palm.
The light thread was as thin as hair yet radiated a bone-chilling cold.
Jiang Lin shifted his thought, and the thread began to spiral and coil, gradually condensing into an ice crystal the size of a grain of rice.
“Not bad.”
Loren nodded slightly.
He walked over to Jiang Lin and tapped the tiny ice crystal with his finger.
“But it is not pure enough.”
Ice-blue light flashed from Loren’s fingertip, and the internal structure of the crystal suddenly became clear to Jiang Lin’s perception.
It was woven from countless fine threads of ice soul power, but the connections between them were not tight, leaving many gaps and weak points.
“The key to Condensation is ‘density’.”
Loren withdrew his finger:
“Every strand of power must be perfectly fused; there can be no lapses.
“Otherwise, no matter how beautiful the form, it is merely a facade that will shatter at the slightest touch.”
Jiang Lin pondered.
He dispersed the ice crystal in his hand and started again.
This time, he slowed his pace.
As each strand of ice soul power was drawn out, he meticulously combed through it with his consciousness, removing impurities and straightening the pathways.
Then, he used his intent to guide them in weaving, coiling, and fusing.
The process was several times slower than before, but the consumption of power was actually lower.
A quarter of an hour later, a deep-blue ice crystal the size of a soybean slowly rotated in his palm.
The crystal was completely clear, the deep-blue light within it flowing like liquid, with fine frost patterns faintly emerging on the surface.
“Hum!”
The ice crystal vibrated gently, emitting stable waves of cold.
“Very good.”
A hint of approval flashed in Loren’s eyes:
“To be able to practice Condensation to this level within three days is quite remarkable.”
He paused, then changed the subject:
“But Condensation is only the foundation. True combat requires you to integrate this power into your sword.”
Jiang Lin looked up:
“Please, Master, teach me.”
Loren turned and walked toward the ancient sword, Frostblade, which was stuck into the ground in the center of the ice terrace.
He did not draw the sword but stood three feet in front of it, pointing his fingers like a sword at the blade.
“Sword intent is the manifestation of a swordsman’s realization of the ‘Way’ of the sword.”
His voice was calm yet carried a power that pierced the heart:
“Some enter the sword through slaughter; every strike must see blood. Some enter the sword through protection; the sword guards the peace of a region. Some enter the sword through freedom; the sword follows the heart, unrestrained.”
“And your sword intent...”
Loren’s fingertips lightly brushed across the body of Frostblade.
“Hum!!”
The ancient sword emitted a low hum, and fine ice-blue patterns appeared on the surface of the blade.
“I have seen many things in you.”
Loren turned around, his purple eyes fixed on Jiang Lin:
“There is the warmth and holiness of holy light, the aloofness and coldness of the ice soul, the desire for power, and the persistence toward the path ahead... but these are not yet your ‘sword intent’.”
Jiang Lin was stunned:
“Not yet?”
“They are part of you, but they are not your ‘dao’.”
Loren shook his head:
“Sword intent is the ‘origin intent’ condensed by a swordsman who has fused their own beliefs, insights, and experiences into the sword.”
He raised his hand, and an ice-blue longsword condensed in the void.
The blade was as transparent as crystal, its edge as thin as a cicada’s wing.
“Watch closely.”
Loren swung the sword.
It was a simple, straightforward thrust.
But the moment the sword was unleashed, Jiang Lin’s pupils contracted!
He ‘saw’ it.
Not with his eyes, but with the perception of his soul.
In that strike, there was an indescribable ‘intent’.
It was the calm of one who had returned to peace after weathering a thousand storms; it was the persistence of one who continued to move forward after seeing through life and death; it was the return to simplicity after melting ten thousand sword paths into one furnace.
The sword light swept past, and an ice pillar thirty zhang away split silently.
The cut was as smooth as a mirror, and fine frost flowers condensed on the cross-section.
Even more bizarrely, the internal structure of the ice pillar seemed to have been completely altered, changing from ordinary ice into some strange substance between crystal and metal.
“This is...?”
Jiang Lin walked forward and reached out to touch the cut.
It felt ice-cold yet carried a tough texture, as if he were touching not ice, but tempered steel.
“I integrated my sword intent into the attack.”
Loren sheathed his sword, and the blade dissipated:
“Sword intent is not just an idea; it is a power that can truly change matter.”
He looked at Jiang Lin:
“Your sword intent has just appeared, but it is still at the level of ‘idea’ and cannot truly act upon external objects.
“What you must do next is to ‘solidify’ it and integrate it into every one of your attacks.”
Jiang Lin pondered for a moment and asked:
“How do I solidify it?”
“Practice.”
Loren’s answer was simple and direct:
“Use the sword, use your heart, use time.”
He pointed to the hundreds of ice pillars piled up at the edge of the ice terrace:
“Starting today, swing your sword three thousand times every day. Every strike must condense your will, attempting to integrate the sword intent into it.”
“Three thousand times...”
Jiang Lin looked at the ice pillars, each of which required two people to wrap their arms around.
“Do you think it is too many?”
Loren glanced at him indifferently:
“Back then, I swung my sword ten thousand times a day for a long time before I could solidify my sword intent.”
Jiang Lin said solemnly:
“Disciple understands.”
He walked to the ice pillar and grasped at the void with his right hand.
The Eight Extremities Holy Sword condensed in his palm, the blade a blend of white-gold and deep-blue.
Jiang Lin took a deep breath, raised the sword, and slashed down.
He controlled it to prevent the sword qi from overflowing, instead letting the so-called ‘sword intent’ leave the sword.
The first strike was unremarkable.
A shallow mark was left on the surface of the ice pillar, less than an inch deep.
Jiang Lin did not stop; he raised the sword and slashed again.
The second strike, the third, the fourth...
He began to deliberately recall the feeling of the strike Loren had just performed.
It was not about imitating the move, but about experiencing the flow of that ‘intent’.
He sank his heart into the sword, attempting to inject his own beliefs, insights, and will...
Everything related to the ‘sword’ into every swing.
At first, he had no clue.
The sword remained a sword, and the ice pillar remained an ice pillar.
But Jiang Lin was not discouraged.
He closed his eyes, no longer looking at the ice pillar, and swung the sword purely by feeling.
One strike after another.
Time passed in the monotonous swinging.
The aurora flowed across the sky, turning from pale purple to deep blue, and then from deep blue to silver-white.
Jiang Lin did not know how many times he had swung the sword.
His arms began to ache, the web between his thumb and index finger cracked and bled, only to be quickly healed by holy light.
Yet, his concentration grew more intense.
Gradually, he ‘heard’ the voice of the sword.
It was not the whistling of the wind or the tearing of the air, but the subtle humming of magic essence flowing within the blade, the resonance when the ice soul power blended with the holy light.
He ‘felt’ the ‘breathing’ of the sword.
With every swing, the sword responded to his will.
Although faint, it truly existed.
At the thousandth strike, Jiang Lin suddenly had a realization.
He no longer deliberately ‘injected’ his will but let it flow naturally.
Like breathing, like a heartbeat.
The sword moved with the heart, and the intent followed the sword.
“Chi!”
He slashed down.
On the surface of the ice pillar, a sword mark three inches deep remained.
At the edge of the cut, a layer of pale ice-blue frost flowers condensed, with golden light points faintly swirling within them.
Jiang Lin sheathed his sword and stared at the mark.
He clearly felt that this strike was different from the previous ones.
A trace of faint ‘intent’ remained within the sword mark.
It was a projection of his state of mind when he swung the sword.
A longing to become stronger, to break through, to reach higher ground.
Although it was still faint and scattered, it truly existed.
“Very good.”
Loren’s voice came from behind him.
Jiang Lin turned to see that Loren had appeared at the edge of the ice terrace, carrying an unknown ice field beast in his hand.
“Rest for a moment and eat something.”
Loren threw the beast’s corpse onto the ice, his fingertips sweeping with sword qi to remove the fur and internal organs, revealing the bright red meat.
He snapped his fingers to ignite a flame; the ice-blue fire ignited beneath the meat without melting the ice surface.
The flame’s temperature was extremely high, and in less than ten breaths, the meat was roasted to a golden, oily finish, emitting an alluring aroma.
Only then did Jiang Lin feel the hunger in his stomach.
He walked over, took the beast leg Loren handed him, and took a large bite.
The meat was tender and fresh, carrying the unique sweetness of an ice field beast; it melted in his mouth, turning into warm energy that surged into his limbs and bones.
“The solidification of sword intent is divided into three stages.”
Loren tore off a piece of meat for himself and spoke as he ate:
“Initial Solidification: Just like you did just now, you can attach your will to your attacks and leave a trace.”
“Intermediate Solidification: Sword intent condenses into substance, capable of leaving the body to harm others and altering the essence of matter.”
“Completion: Sword intent reaches the divine; a single thought gives rise to ten thousand swords.
“At this level, sword intent is no longer ‘attached’ but has become the ‘origin’ of your attacks.”
Jiang Lin swallowed the meat and asked:
“What lies beyond sword intent?”
Loren glanced at him:
“After sword intent reaches completion, if you can go a step further and perfectly fuse your soul with your sword intent, you can condense a ‘Sword Soul’.”
“Sword Soul?”
“The Sword Soul is the sublimation of sword intent.”
Loren put down the meat in his hand, and a miniature ice-blue sword shadow appeared in his palm:
“Sword intent is still an external object; although it can be used, there is still a barrier.
“But the Sword Soul is the thorough refinement of sword intent into the soul, making it a part of your soul.”
The sword shadow rotated slowly in his palm, emitting a lively aura as if it possessed life.
“Those who possess a Sword Soul are the sword themselves; the sword is me, and I am the sword.
“Every gesture can be a sword, and everything within my gaze can become a blade. The most critical point is...”
Loren flicked his finger, and the sword shadow shot out, carving an arc through the air before flying back to his palm:
“The Sword Soul can leave the body to fight independently, like an external avatar.
“Furthermore, as long as the Sword Soul remains, the swordsman does not die.
“Even if the physical body perishes, as long as the Sword Soul persists, there is a chance to re-condense the body.”
Jiang Lin was shaken to his core.
The Sword Soul possessed such power!
“Is there a higher realm beyond the Sword Soul?”
Loren nodded:
“Beyond the Sword Soul lies the ‘Sword God’.”
He put away the sword shadow, his tone becoming more solemn:
“But that is no longer something reachable by human power.
“According to ancient records, the realm of the Sword God requires using the Sword Soul as a foundation, fusing with the laws of heaven and earth, and ultimately transforming the body into a sword; the sword becomes the law.
“At that level, a single strike can sever mountains and rivers, slash the sun and moon, and reverse time and space.”
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