Chapter 2044: Sword Heart Shaken
The Dragon Clan is the only surviving beast clan of the Abyss, relying on their powerful Dragon God bloodline to tenaciously resist the erosion of Abyss Dust until now.
The Abyss Dragon Clan reveres the Ancestral Dragons, and Hua Qingying is familiar with the auras of those strongest Ancestral Dragons. When Yun Che's dragon breath and dragon soul manifested, she was naturally extremely shocked.
One after another, anomalies beyond her understanding appeared on Yun Che. At this point, even at Hua Qingying's level, she dared not imagine what kind of divine being—or how powerful an ancient remnant soul—was the "master" who bestowed all this upon him.
When the words "ten years old" and "over a hundred years have passed" entered her ears, Hua Qingying's brow slightly twitched.
The simultaneous matching of age and time... instantly made her think of a person, and the major event that had shaken a vast divine kingdom back then.
But this thought passed in an instant, not enough for her to truly delve deeper.
"You... actually..."
It took Hua Caili a while to finally suppress the astonishment in her heart. Her voice slightly hurried, she said, "How could I blame you? This is your secret after all; you don't have to tell me... and you must never let anyone know, otherwise it might bring unpredictable danger."
Hua Caili didn't blame him; instead she showed concern, which visibly relaxed Yun Che's expression. "Sister Qu, rest assured. I have never wished to disobey Master's instructions. Whether it's the Light Profound Force or the Dragon Soul, since I entered the world, I have only ever revealed them in front of Sister Qu."
This trust was not only exclusive but also unconditional, even directly concerning Yun Che's fate and safety... Even though Hua Caili was inexperienced, she fully understood how precious such trust was.
Her heartstrings were touched again, still unfamiliar, yet different from every previous time. Almost subconsciously, she asked, "Why... do you trust me so much?"
"..." Yun Che was stunned, a hint of confusion even appearing on his face, as if he himself didn't know why.
His lips moved very lightly. "Perhaps... this is what Master once called 'unable to help oneself.'"
"..." Hua Caili parted her lips, a ripple in her eyes that she herself was unaware of.
As soon as he murmured that, Yun Che seemed to immediately realize it was inappropriate. He quickly half-turned and hastily changed the subject, "Speaking of age, I still don't know how old Sister Qu is..."
"Don't... don't ask!"
Hua Caili's reaction was unexpectedly intense. She directly turned her face away. "You... you... you... Your Master must have taught you that asking a woman's age is rude behavior. Anyway, calling me 'Sister' Qu is enough."
Her posture was tsundere, and upon closer look, a faint blush crept to her ears.
"Alright." This reaction was somewhat unexpected, but Yun Che quickly agreed, raising his hand to promise, "I guarantee I will never ask again... There are three Abyssal Beasts approaching from the right."
"Leave it to me!" Seeming to take the opportunity to escape this awkward atmosphere, Hua Caili's figure turned, and the Glazed Cloud Sword flew out with a jade light, the light trail dazzling but miraculously without any sound of cutting through the air.
Ding!
With a faint sound so light it was almost imperceptible, two Abyssal Beasts that hadn't yet approached were cut in half, the sound of their falling bodies strangely loud in contrast.
The sword light circled back without touching the third Abyssal Beast at all. But just as the jade-white sword blade lightly floated back behind Hua Caili, that Abyssal Beast suddenly split into over a dozen pieces in midair, the breaks as smooth as a mirror.
Before the Abyssal Beast could even let out a roar, its parts scattered and fell, then dissolved into spreading Abyss Dust.
It had only been a short time since Hua Caili comprehended the first sword of Heaven-Breaking, but she was progressing remarkably fast, increasingly approaching the state of soundlessness and formlessness.
In the Mist Sea, even a slightly louder sound could bring danger, which undoubtedly made this the most suitable place for Hua Caili's current training.
She kept thinking that if she could reach minor mastery of the first Heaven-Breaking Sword before the end of their training, it would surely greatly surprise her Father God.
"So amazing."
Yun Che's soft sigh sounded in Hua Caili's ear. His gaze turned back from where the Abyssal Beasts' aura had dissipated and landed on the Glazed Cloud Sword behind her. "Sister Qu, I've always been curious—what kind of sword path do you practice?"
"The sword power and sword intent released by your sword seem not only to cross space, but also to deceive... or rather distort perception?" Yun Che's face was full of undisguised wonder. "I also practice swordsmanship, and Master has explained many sword paths to me, but none of them have such a miraculous realm as Sister Qu's."
Hua Caili's lips moved, momentarily at a loss for how to respond.
Faced with Yun Che, who had given her unreserved trust time and again, her deception would undoubtedly bring layers of deep guilt.
But if she said the words "Heaven-Breaking Sword," her identity would likely be exposed.
"This is... a sword art unique to my clan, and it is indeed different from other sword paths." Hua Caili could only answer like this. "I have only achieved a little; I still have a long, long way to go compared to my father and aunt."
Yun Che did not press further. His eyes slowly narrowed as he mused, "Crossing space, distorting perception, killing enemies at a loss and without sound... such sword intent makes one cannot help but yearn for it. I wonder if my sword can also glimpse its threshold."
Hua Caili quickly shook her head, afraid he would waste his effort on it. "Such sword intent requires many fully mastered sword intents as support, guided by a special sword art. It is absolutely not something that can be touched by ordinary cultivation and comprehension."
As she finished speaking, she found that Yun Che had actually closed his eyes, completely unresponsive to her words.
His arm lifted, and the Heaven-Defying Demon-Slaying Sword, which had appeared at some unknown time, released a vermilion divine light.
Hua Caili raised her jade hand slightly, but seeing him so focused, she ultimately did not stop him.
After a moment, Yun Che's brow moved, the sword body trembled slightly, and sword intent was suddenly released.
Boom!
As perception reached, sword power along with sword intent flashed straight to ten zhang away, and also exploded ten zhang away... no deviation from perception.
Hua Caili wanted to advise again, but found that Yun Che had once again closed his eyes in concentration, as if deeply obsessed.
She could only helplessly purse her lips.
To cultivate the Heaven-Breaking Sword, one must first cultivate the Questioning Heaven Sword, the Leveling Heaven Sword, and the Soaring Heaven Sword. Only after achieving great mastery in all of them does one become qualified to comprehend the Heaven-Breaking Sword... but even that is just qualification. To truly touch the Heaven-Breaking Sword Intent, besides extremely high talent and comprehension, one also needs a great fortune.
One breath, two breaths... ten breaths.
Yun Che suddenly opened his eyes, the Heaven-Defying Demon-Slaying Sword trembled lightly again, sword intent flowing.
Boom——
In his perception, a contracted sword intent directly enveloped the area three zhang ahead... but the roar of sword power erupted in the air above at a distance of three zhang.
The sword power was very small, not enough to break stone, but it shocked Hua Caili so much that her beautiful eyes widened and she was completely stupefied.
Hua Qingying, high in the sky, had her skirt hem swaying, and the tip of her foot actually dropped half an inch, nearly causing her aura to overflow.
"Hoo——" Yun Che lightly let out a breath and said, "It is indeed a bit difficult... Huh? Sister Qu, what's wrong?"
Her wide eyes were like two full moons no longer stingy with their glow, embodying the extreme of worldly beauty and purity... but such an expression on the Zhe Tian Divine Maiden seemed rather undignified.
After a full few more breaths, the Zhe Tian Divine Maiden finally returned from the shock that had nearly shattered her cognition. Her lips opened and closed several times before she said with great difficulty, "You... how did you do it?"
At the same time, Hua Qingying also murmured softly, "How can this be..."
Although, that was just an extremely forced, very weak, very light strand of sword intent, completely unusable in actual combat.
Yet it was a genuine Heaven-Breaking Sword Intent in that instant!
Hua Fuchen, the current Divine Venerable of the Zhe Tian Divine Kingdom, spent four hundred years cultivating the sword before he realized the first wisp of Heaven-Breaking Sword Intent.
Hua Qingying, known as the "Sword Immortal," whose swordsmanship talent far surpassed Hua Fuchen's, took seventy-seven years.
Hua Caili, the first in Zhe Tian Divine Kingdom's history to possess a Perfect Divine Rank, and whom Hua Qingying called the one with the highest sword talent in history, took nine years... And these nine years were a miracle that would surely shake the ages and forever be etched in Zhe Tian Divine Kingdom's history.
And Yun Che...
He was not a person of the Zhe Tian Divine Kingdom. He did not have the Questioning Heaven Sword, Leveling Heaven Sword, and Soaring Heaven Sword as foundation, and it was even more impossible for him to have touched the Heaven-Breaking Sword Art...
Yet...
Yet...
Hua Qingying had never been so unable to believe her own perception.
And for the first time in her life, her sword path understanding—which she was most proud of, most familiar with, almost seamlessly fused with her life—experienced a violent turbulence enough to spread cracks.
In response to Hua Caili's extreme shock, Yun Che also appropriately showed surprise. "This... doesn't seem too difficult. Sister Qu, is there... something strange about me?"
"Not... too difficult?"
Hua Caili shook her head vigorously, momentarily incoherent. "But... but... you haven't... you haven't cultivated... you... you don't even have a sword art... How could... how could you possibly..."
"Sword art?" Yun Che shook his head, his eyes clear and bright. He said seriously, "My Master never taught me sword arts, and never allowed me to cultivate any sword arts."
Li Suo: "?"
Hua Qingying: "?"
"Why...?" Hua Caili asked subconsciously, with boundless confusion.
Yun Che replied, "Master said that sword arts are dead, while sword intent is alive. If one uses a dead sword art to drive sword intent, what is swung will only be a stiff, dead sword."
"But, without a sword art, how can one develop sword intent? And how can one cultivate the sword?" Hua Caili murmured.
Yun Che raised his arm, the Heaven-Defying Sword flashing a faint light again. "Sword intent should be born from the heart, born from the body, born from the sword, and does not need to be born from a sword art."
"..." This theory of sword path, Hua Caili had never heard before.
Let alone Hua Caili, even the Sword Immortal Hua Qingying had never heard of it.
After all, it was all fabricated by Yun Che.
Deep in his soul sea, Li Suo let out a faint sigh.
She finally understood why Yun Che had asked her to tell him the Heaven-Breaking Sword Art earlier.
Sure enough, it was another somewhat despicable tactic.
And Hua Caili's extremely strong reaction undoubtedly showed how successful his scheme was.
Facing Hua Caili, who was not enlightened but even more stunned and bewildered, Yun Che further explained, "The sword path taught by my Master is indeed rather peculiar. It took me many years of comprehension to gain a slight understanding."
"After barely touching the 'harmony' realm that Master spoke of, I can, after glimpsing and sensing the sword intent exerted by others, transcend the sword foundation and sword art they require, and exert it in harmony with my own sword heart, sword body, and sword physique."
"That is what just happened."
Hua Caili could not understand, and vaguely felt that it was too profound, too profound for her to touch.
If someone else said the same thing, she would not even listen. But just now, at this very close distance, she had witnessed with her own eyes Yun Che releasing that wisp of Heaven-Breaking Sword Intent.
"The sword I use on ordinary days is all about wide, sweeping moves, following my heart freely, never bound by sword arts." Yun Che continued, "The sword intent that Sister Qu cultivates is mysterious and unfathomable, breathtaking, but it is obviously not suitable for me. It is better suited for a graceful, fairy-like woman like Sister Qu."
He spoke calmly and casually, carefree, completely unmindful of the girl opposite him whose sword heart was collapsing.
"Clear your heart!" Suddenly, Hua Qingying's voice sounded in Hua Caili's ear.
Like jade falling into an icy spring, Hua Caili's soul sea and gaze instantly became clear.
"He is an extraordinary person; his sword path being different is only unique to him. Do not let this shake or doubt your own sword heart."
The divine voice entered her soul, quickly dispelling all of Hua Caili's distracting thoughts.
But it could definitely not dispel her repeatedly accumulating amazement at Yun Che.