AI Cultivation: Reborn as a Sword -
Chapter 64: Fundamental Swordsmanship
Lan Xiaohui’s first attempt at utilizing Sword Law in her sword Qi yields no results — the single mote of sword Qi is difficult to wield, and her strategy of layering sword Qi over her body is entirely unsuitable to her current ability with this Sword Domain technique — the grander category of fusing Sword Law with sword Qi.
Because of the nature of this Sword Domain, the effect is such that it would be more useful to utilize her entire sword Qi instead of just this single glimmer of Sword Domain as if the two were exclusive. Either she did not yet know how to use both, or it was flat-out impossible.
Even from my perspective, I know that it would be difficult for me to use both if I had a single mind to operate it, but with [Nooparallelism] I know I can use both. Though I am not certain if that helps me avoid the physical limitations of Sword Law itself, or if it merely gives me an advantage in what is actually possible.
But Lan Xiaohui does not give up. She tries time and time again to get a miraculous parry with that one mote of Sword Domain and each time it ends in catastrophic failure.
However, after a full day of getting pummeled to scrap by Wukong, it is not her Sword Law that improves, but the fundamentals of her swordsmanship.
The more I watch her exchange with Wukong, as predictable as it is, the more I see Lan Xiaohui’s improvement and the more I become aware of the profound nature of Wukong’s superiority.
Wukong does not practice martial arts, therefore, it would be easy to attribute his fierce power to the depth of his body cultivation, but as time goes on, the more I become aware of how wrong this perception is.
The martial arts exist as a way for those practicing them to channel their Qi and produce effects that can amplify the strengths of the user and diminish the weaknesses. The Heartless Blood Lily for example helps the practitioner focus their mind, calm their inner sea of consciousness, cultivate their heart, and most importantly, use the Yin energy to great effect in combat.
However, everyone who practices a form of combat can use the principles of softness or fierceness, or utilize footwork for the same goal.
Even a simple punch can contain great fierceness, even if it is not shrouded in flames, lightning, or some other form of Qi energy.
Wukong, who never practiced martial arts, has also reached a profound depth in something as simple as a punch. His fist contains the weight of countless monsters it has killed, and though it does not contain a strict and ordered Qi — from a martial art technique — it does contain an incredible force.
The ultimate mystery of this First Layer of the Inner World Sphere becomes apparent to me at the same time that Lan Xiaohui intuitively grasps it as well. It very well may be that this First Layer is designed to test the ability to utilize force — in Lan Xiaohui’s case: sword force. It may be that because of this it had inadvertently also enlightened her towards grasping the first principles of Sword Law, though I suspect that is not the case.
After a day of practicing against Wukong — which is a dozen days in the world outside the Inner World Sphere — Lan Xiaohui returns to her former method of defense, by layering her sword Qi in a small space across her body and using her deepening understanding of sword force to enhance it further.
If the Sword Law is an expression of the ultimate sword — sharpness, power, righteousness — then sword force is the principle of the sword’s existence: the motion itself.
Sword force is not something new — Lan Xiaohui has been using it since the moment she began practicing the sword. Each time Lan Xiaohui swings her sword, her Qi becomes sword force. Though it can be separate from sword Qi, all sword Qi contains and exerts sword force, it is what allows sword Qi — the manifestation of Intent — to cut creatures or crush mountains.
Every time Lan Xiaohui refines her sword Qi, she is consolidating and enhancing this sword force. Between cultivators of a sufficient level, it is not the one with the greater amount of sword Qi that is superior — but the one with the stronger sword force.
Each time Wukong pulverizes her organs, Lan Xiaohui comprehends force, and on each subsequent attempt, her sword Qi becomes stronger and sharper even though her total capacity does not change or improve. And though this is normally a natural consequence of improving one’s Dao and refining the sword Qi, Lan Xiaohui is copying Wukong’s profound comprehension of the most fundamental technique: the simple punch.
After hundreds of crushing defeats, Lan Xiaohui steps forward once more to attempt the test.
Wukong appears in the distance in a flash of brilliant light, and the white-furred leader of the demonic ape society rushes toward Lan Xiaohui with a bestial howl.
Lan Xiaohui is so practiced at using her sword Qi that her defensive posture and the formation of the defensive layer are nearly instantaneous. She becomes shrouded in the sword Qi that appears to me like the milky way galaxy, and this time, the profoundness of her Dao and martial art causes black and red lily petals to fall from this “night sky”.
Lan Xiaohui steps forward to meet Wukong’s charge head-on, and though she takes a single step, in that time, Wukong has crossed thirty. In a real battle, Lan Xiaohui would stand no chance at even escaping with her life, not to even mention the possibility of winning.
Then, Lan Xiaohui flicks her hand upward, tossing me out of her grip in such a way that my vessel begins to spin rapidly while hovering in mid-air. Here, the sword Qi coalesces over my vessel, forming a protective sheet of sword Qi and a glimpse of Sword Law. The Sword Law itself is weak and barely perceptible, but when it appears, I feel a stilling shock wave emanate from my vessel.
Just as Wukong throws out a punch, Lan Xiaohui presses her hand into the back of my vessel to brace for the impact.
Wukong’s force pummels through my vessel, crushing my insides to a degree that would be sufficiently worrying outside of this simulation — but as a Divine grade treasure, the damage is not catastrophic.
Lan Xiaohui on the other hand is not a Divine grade vessel. Her arm snaps into pieces at the moment of impact, and her soft stance absorbs a significant chunk of the force while dispersing the rest. She immediately coughs up blood and is blown away by the punch, while my vessel is sent flying off to another side.
There is stillness for several long seconds, where neither my sub routines nor the announcer's voice signals the end of the simulation, and even Wukong stands frozen in place.
Then, Lan Xiaohui presses her one remaining functional arm to the floor and slowly pushes herself up to her knees. She is bleeding and broken, and survival from this damage seems extremely unlikely, but she is still alive.
[ FIRST LAYER: FINAL LOAD TEST COMPLETE. FREE PRACTICE MODE AVAILABLE. LAYER TWO UNLOCKED. ]
Once she hears those words, Lan Xiaohui’s presence disappears from my Inner World Sphere, likely having expired right after the announcement.
In the Spring Basin Grotto, Lan Xiaohui is in no mood to celebrate her achievement, as a deep terror grips her heart.
I am also not in the mood to congratulate her achievement in an encouraging manner, and instead, I begin to quickly calculate how many Blood Points Lan Xiaohui must be worth now. If it is based only on her cultivation depth, it can’t be many, but if Sword Law and basic attribute grade — like her Physique or Spiritual Roots — are allowed, then it cannot be a small amount.
The reason for this sudden shift is that, despite my absolute perception, we are no longer alone in the hot spring basin and I did not even notice this change.
Sitting across from us is a middle-aged woman with black hair and green eyes. Her lips are curved into a hint of a smile.
“Did you enjoy my grotto?” she asks with a voice that is as clear as crystal and melodic, as if aware that we are suddenly mentally present.
Her cultivation depth is so inconceivable that I cannot even begin to guess at what realm she is in, but I know that if she faced Wukong, my former owner would not survive for long enough to even regret crossing paths with this mysterious person.
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