Chapter 272: Levels of Sword Intent
When Jiang Yue retreated to study the formation inheritance, Yu Nianzhen left the ancient palace.
He originally wanted to also practice in the palace but he didn’t forget the mysterious innkeeper.
Now that Jiang Yue was retreating, Yu Nianzhen wanted to take the opportunity to find the person.
With that thought in mind, he left the cave and went to the inn’s reception building.
As luck would have it, the person he was looking for was already there and he smiled when he saw Yu Nianzhen.
"Does the young master need anything?" He asked.
When Yu Nianzhen heard the question, he was slightly taken aback.
He didn’t know how to answer the question but he soon thickened his skin.
"I still want to know if senior is a swordsman." He asked.
The man looked at Yu Nianzhen and then led him outside the building.
"A lot of masters are looking for the young master but you don’t look concerned." The innkeeper commented but Yu Nianzhen didn’t react too much.
He had always suspected that their identities weren’t hidden from the person.
Fortunately, the innkeeper didn’t seem to care for worldly affairs.
If not for this, Jiang Yue and Yu Nianzhen wouldn’t be assured to stay in the Fair Plum inn.
"The senior is merciful." Yu Nianzhen said and slightly bowed towards the person.
The man laughed but didn’t mention the matter of identities again.
"Your basics of swordsmanship are excellent." The person said and Yu Nianzhen’s heart skipped a beat.
"Thank you senior." He said and waited for the person to continue talking.
"My name is Zhen Cang. You can call me senior Zhen from now on."
"Thank you, senior Zhen." Yu Nianzhen repeated and Zhen Cang nodded.
"However, you seem to know nothing about sword intent."
When he heard that, Yu Nianzhen sighed.
Everything he knew about sword intent was pieced together from his experiences.
Although he managed to comprehend a powerful sword intent, his foundation was lacking.
Because of this, Yu Nianzhen suspected he would soon run into a wall.
"Please teach me senior Zhen." Yu Nianzhen said and bowed to the man.
However, Zhen Cang didn’t continue speaking.
Instead, he led Yu Nianzhen to a remote area of the Fair Plum inn and didn’t continue talking until after he erected a sword restriction to isolate them.
’Is this his sword domain?’ Yu Nianzhen wondered and tried to feel the restriction.
However, the restriction was ephemeral and seemed like snowflakes on a hot summer day.
No matter how he tried to catch the restriction, it escaped his grasp but always existed just beyond his perception.
’As expected, senior Zhen’s mastery is unprecedently high.’ He thought and looked at the man.
"What do you think of my restriction?"
"It’s skilful."
"Skilful..." senior Zhen chuckled but didn’t say more on the subject.
"You should know there are nine levels of sword intent?"
"I know this."
"The first level of sword intent is attaining a state of being one with the sword."
"In the state of being one with the sword, there is no distinction between the swordsman and the sword. This perfect unity breeds the conditions for comprehending the entry level of sword intent." Senior Zhen guided and Yu Nianzhen nodded in agreement.
He still remembered his epiphany while he was fighting sea beasts more than a decade ago.
At that time, he felt like he had become the wind and was able to perfectly execute the drifting wind sword style.
That was the first time that Yu Nianzhen entered the state of being one with the sword.
After that, he relied on his feeling from that time and cultivated his state of mind.
When he could freely enter and exit that state, he was able to comprehend sword intent and enter the first level.
"After accumulating enough sword intent, you should have condensed a sword seed and entered the second level of sword intent." Senior Zhen said and sighed.
He witnessed Yu Nianzhen’s sword domain during his fights in the martial contest.
From this, he could tell that Yu Nianzhen had not condensed a sword seed.
The only reason he could skip the second level and form a sword domain was because the tao concept of his swordsmanship was incredibly powerful.
Without that layer, Yu Nianzhen was still at the first level of sword intent.
"Sword seed?" Yu Nianzhen asked.
"The sword seed is the condensation of your swordsmanship. It is condensed by sword intent and links your swordsmanship to the way of heaven."
"There are many roads that lead to the great tao and swordsmanship is one of them. However, only those who have condensed the sword seed can seek the tao through the sword."
Yu Nianzhen was shocked when he heard that.
He had a sword origin and had refined his body and soul into swords.
However, he didn’t expect that these things were not enough to help him seek the tao through the sword.
"Do you understand?" Senior Zhen asked.
"This junior understands." Yu Nianzhen immediately said.
His tone was more respectful than before and his heart was full of sincerity.
Although his master had taught him a lot about sword intent, Yang Xu was after all not a swordsman.
His knowledge was limited and his perspective couldn’t grasp the nuances of swordsmanship.
"After the sword seed level is the sword domain level." Zhen Cang continued.
"You should have already felt that your sword domain is incomplete?" The man asked and Yu Nianzhen nodded.
Originally, he thought it was because he had just comprehended the sword domain and wasn’t familiar with it.
However, he now realised that the problem was more serious than he thought.
"Your sword intent bears a powerful concept but it hasn’t been linked to the great tao. Because of this, your sword domain doesn’t blend perfectly with heaven and earth."
At this, Yu Nianzhen recalled senior Zhen’s restriction and couldn’t help using his divine sense to feel it again.
He probed it lightly and realised it was blended with heaven and earth.
It existed as part of heaven and earth but also independent of heaven and earth.
This state of existence was extremely mysterious and Yu Nianzhen couldn’t help but yearn for it.
"Do you understand what you need to do?"
"I know." Yu Nianzhen said and nodded solemnly.
Before he talked about the sword domain, he needed to condense the sword seed first.
Only after he had a sword seed could he create an existence that was similar to senior Zhen’s restriction.
"Good." The man said and continued to talk about the sword seed and sword domain.
From his words, Yu Nianzhen learned how to condense a sword seed and develop a sword domain.
After making sure he understood the process, he asked about the other levels of sword intent.
Since he was about to enter the Nine Treasures secret realm, Yu Nianzhen wanted to make sure he was prepared.
He didn’t want to make another wrong turn and walk down the wrong path.
If he did, he couldn’t guarantee he would have a chance to correct himself without damaging his cultivation and his tao.
"You are right to think so." Zhen Cang said and nodded in approval.
He approached Yu Nianzhen because he saw his potential as a swordsman.
For such a good seedling, Zhen Cang wanted to guide him carefully and give him the foundation to grow into a towering tree.
In this way, his idea was the same as those elders from the sword sect.
When they saw a good seedling, they couldn’t sit still even though the person wasn’t from their sect.
"The fourth level is the domain sword."
"Domain sword?"
"During the third level of sword intent, you can form a sword intent domain. However, this domain can only be used to pressure and restrict the opponent."
"That’s the case." Yu Nianzhen agreed.
Although his sword domain was incomplete, it had the characteristics of the actual sword domain.
"In the fourth level of sword intent, you can turn everything within the domain into a sword. Even the heaven and earth can be used as a sword."
When Yu Nianzhen heard that, his heart skipped a beat.
This was the kind of power he desired and he was suddenly very motivated.
"Most importantly, a domain at the fourth level can be fixed in place."
"Like a formation?"
"Exactly. The more powerful the sword intent, the longer it will last." Senior Zhen informed.
"The intent can also be combined with a formation to strengthen the power of the formation."
Yu Nianzhen hadn’t expected an intersection between sword intent and formations.
However, he was happy to learn of it.
He always liked to do things with Jiang Yue and this could be a thing they did together.
"What about the other levels?" Yu Nianzhen asked.
"The most powerful swordsman in the Cangxing world is only at the fourth level." Zhen Cang said and his brows creased with sadness.
However, he quickly put away his sadness and looked at Yu Nianzhen.
"You can come back to find me after you achieve the peak of the fourth level."
