Chapter 22: Chapter 22

The sword Qi glitters in the air, hovering over each blade of grass and leaf like a brilliant star in the night sky. It is a pale white color, with hints of pale, icy azure and blood red. But mostly white. There is a reason why I call this the [Yin-Yang Sword Galaxy Formation].

Indeed, each cluster of these motes of sword Qi remind me of the galaxies I once saw and admired from an unfathomable number of kilometers away.

They cluster together and sway in the breeze — like lilies that grow tall and strong. They cluster together to form shapes in a fractal manner; the sword Qi from grass forms shapes of grass or flowers; the sword Qi from the trees become roots and branches.

Though it looks abundant, this sword Qi is not very potent. It is commonly known that someone who produces sword Qi in the Foundation Establishment realm of cultivation is already considered a peerless genius. The potency of this sword Qi would be extremely weak, but it would be an accomplishment. Only someone who enters the Golden Core realm of cultivation would be capable of producing sword Qi that is potent and dangerous.

But this is not related to the depth of cultivation — at least not directly. One who lives long enough to enter the Golden Core realm has comprehended the Dao to a level where they understand that all things cultivate Qi and aspire for perfection and immortality — even the sword. Such a cultivator, through the profoundness of his Dao cultivates not only his spirit, but also his sword, and manifests his Dao Heart and intent through the sword — as sword Qi.

The sword Qi in this area that now clusters together to form a continuous river in a circle around the edge of the formation is not the sword Qi that the enlightened vegetation itself has cultivated. It is my sword Qi.

This area contains three years of my lifespan’s worth of Essence which, in turn, contains the profoundness of my Dao. It is able to flow through the Yin-Yang Grass because of the profoundness of my Dao, and the duality nature of the Yin-Yang Grass. As such, even things that only liken themselves to a sword are able to produce it, like the grass and the leaves.

My Dao is not at the level of a Golden Core cultivator. It is at the level of a cultivator who has entered the Nascent Soul realm. A cultivator of that realm, even with his cultivation base broken or reduced to the Qi Refining realm would be able to produce sword Qi.

After all, I am an enlightened sword in this life. It is natural that my Dao is so deep. Even in my past life I was called the sword of Humanity. Perhaps, this is what I was always meant to be. In this life, too, I pursue the purity and perfection that only a tool can attain.

Still, the absence of a directive hurts. A tool without a certain purpose is meaningless.

I observe Lan Xiaohui for a brief moment and I consider the possibility that she is my purpose. Her goal to kill the Black Tiger is a purpose, but what lies beyond that? After her revenge is satisfied, will she merely recede into the corners of the world and disappear? Will she continue to pursue the Dao with me?

Even now, approaching her bottleneck, I can feel her Dao Heart waver. Her demons are obvious to me — she once walked this path with someone else and now that entity is no longer here. In a previous life, this Black Tiger helped her overcome this challenge by offering a helping hand. Now, in her Dao Heart, the Black Tiger leads her to the precipice like a lamb to the slaughter.

If her Dao Heart breaks here, at this stage, then Lan Xiaohui is useless to me.

I can neither be the master nor the tool of someone who has no ambitions.

But what do I know? I am just a sword. I am a machine that pursues perfection. A deep Dao cannot grant me a Dao Heart.

Ultimately, I am heartless.

Slowly, I begin to consume the life in the area. This is a small trickle of vitality that only slightly hinders the growth of the area around me. My cracks fuse together over the course of several hours. My rust disappears as my blade becomes pristine again. My black jade turns a deeper, darker black and the bright red luster returns to it.

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I cannot recover the three years of my lifespan, nor does this grant me Blood Points, but I do recover my Essence over time.

The Blood Core is different from my Black Jade Blood. My blood was compressed and folded ten times in order to refine it. My Blood Core is not a continuation of that process, nor the accumulation of more Essence.

It is the refinement of Essence into an even higher, and purer form. The Essence I am forming here is the catalyst of future transformation. A cultivator that is in the Body Refinement realm — equivalent to my own Vessel Refinement realm — can make his eyelids or liver as strong as steel. But in the next realm, what he cultivates is his internal body to begin to resemble the Dao.

In other words, my Blood Core is the crystallization of the Dao contained within my Essence. The same Dao and Essence that now forms interconnected rivers resembling the Milky Way above the [Yin-Yang Sword Galaxy Formation].

I know what I have to do.

I open my aperture — it is the best description I have — as if I am about to breathe in the Qi of Heaven, and the sword Qi begins to float towards me, becoming absorbed within my black jade core.

Immediately, I can feel my Essence responding to this influx of sword of Qi which also begins to form a river within me. My Essence shudders and then moves with its inexorable inertia, flowing along with the river and revolving within my vessel.

Unlike when I broke through into this stage, this time, I am not compressing the blood and my vessel is too tough to be damaged by it. It still manages to move me potently, causing me to shudder and cut into the stone slab I am embedded in.

Slowly, my purified Essence begins to separate from the impure Essence, and collects in a small clump in the very center of my internal body, where this abstract aperture also exists.

It is one drop at first. Then it becomes two separate drops. Then it becomes three.

By the time there are ten drops, they clump together like rice to form one bigger drop. I watch this, like molecules assembling into a perfect crystalline lattice shape. This process is fascinating to me, as it is different from the method I am supposed to use.

Normally, I would have to revolve my blood like this and expel the impurities until only this remained. But fused with sword Qi, which is already in its purest form, the process is much quicker.

The Blood Core that is forming is not a pitch black like the Essence it comes from, but a pure white with hints of gold streamers and azure sparks of lightning.

It is a Heavenly Jade Core.

By the time I form three big drops of purified essence, two weeks have passed.

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