Chapter 63: Dharma Enlightenment

Chapter 63: Dharma Enlightenment

After a moment, Lan Xiaohui closes her palm and the mote of sword Qi disappears, releasing one final wave of force that disturbs the surface of the water.

In its absence, the waters tranquil surface becomes more chaotic, producing natural motion and waves that I can only barely detect with my absolute perception.

It was not that the sword Qi only produced waves, but it also stilled the water while it was extant.

Show me again, I tell her while trying to enumerate all the possibilities behind the strange nature of that sword Qi.

Perhaps, I reason, it is a reflexive action brought about by Lan Xiaohuis near-death experiences like a survival instinct that she has learned to control. A physical sword may become weaker after being reforged countless times, but the Dao of the Sword only gets sharper with each tempering.

This may also be why Lan Xiaohui is so gifted at cultivation or comprehending the Dao of the Sword her shattered cultivation has made her uniquely suitable to cultivating this Dao.

Once broken, twice powerful.

I doubt the explanation is that simple.

Lan Xiaohui once more summons her sword Qi, and this time I follow suit, calling up mine. Her sword Qi forms a wreath of night sky darkness above and behind her within which red and white stars pulse. To me, it appears like the milky way galaxy that spans the entirety of the world behind her, but that is merely the physical manifestation of the phenomena that is sword Qi. Sword Qi is a field of energy that is virtually always present around Lan Xiaohui like an aura and it certainly does not span the entire world, but only her immediate surroundings.

My sword Qi is by far more potent than hers and to Lan Xiaohui it might appear as a constellation of swords glittering black and gold, like miniature copies of my vessel. I immediately collapse my sword Qi field into a single point ahead of me, and the physical manifestation of a single, thin sword appears.

Lan Xiaohuis heart immediately wavers and her shoulders slump as she leans slightly back, as if bracing herself like I am about to strike her. I have no intention of harming Lan Xiaohui but her reaction is not that mysterious.

My consciousness infused with [Tyranny] gives rise to my sword Qi, and when I refine and compress it to a single point, it no doubt must appear to her like a sword that could bring about the extinction of all life especially compared to her shallower Dao.

Proceed, I remind her.

As if remembering how to breathe, Lan Xiaohui sucks in a breath, furrows her brows, and then nods.

She nods. Do you remember that Yin-Yang Grass that comprehended sword Qi?

The Yin-Yang Grass did not comprehend sword Qi, it only temporarily likened itself to the Sword, allowing it to create sword Qi.

After a pause, Lan Xiaohui continues. It is kind of like that. The Sword is in everything. It is everywhere. I can reach out and wield it.

As she says those words, the sword Qi in her hand collapses into a single point that contains the Sword Law.

[ Obtained: Deep Insight into the Dao of Sword. ]

[ Sword Law (First Glimpse) ->Sword Law (Domain First Stage - Dharma Enlightenment) ]

I understand, I tell her.

Her explanation is adequate, even though it is terrible. There must be a field of sword Qi that encompasses all of creation it is what quantum physics is to chemistry. Law refers to the very function of the universe itself. Someone with a glimpse of the Sword Law can bring their sword Qi closer to the essence of the perfect sword.

Judging by the test I performed earlier, it is also far more powerful than ordinary sword Qi.

Lan Xiaohui smiles at me, seemingly happy that she could help me understand the sword. I am grateful, of course, but the enlightenment still leaves me unsatisfied.

It is clear that we both possess the same trait now which allows us only the first glimpse into the Sword Law until we reach the Dao Palace Formation realm.

Maybe things arent so bleak. Perhaps the talent version of that trait has nothing to do with cultivating Sword Law, and has, instead, some other effect like the evolution of my Life Devourer trait, which became the World Eater talent, and formed a black sphere in my sea of consciousness.

I dont need to tell Lan Xiaohui to keep practicing it. Even if there is a limit to how deeply we can comprehend Sword Law before Dao Palace Formation, it will be an advantage in combat.

Naturally, its focused form is largely unusable in battle that would require precision and reflexes that I am not so certain I could provide to Lan Xiaohui even with the mnemonic device assistance. However, if she is able to infuse most of her sword Qi with this Sword Domain, the benefits could be unthinkable.

Without hesitation, Lan Xiaohui activates the Inner World Sphere array with her consciousness, emitting a very happy: I will go practice it!