Li Hui's heart was racing, his face turned red, and he breathed heavily, almost immediately thinking of sitting down to practice the "Five Elements Cycle" method!

  He's too aware of the heaven-defying nature of this technique! This is essentially turning a useless Spiritual Root into an existence that surpasses even the Heavenly Spiritual Root! Only someone as arrogant as Yuan Huan True Person could create such a heaven-defying technique!

  Holding the jade slip in his hand, Li Hui's hands trembled slightly, as if he saw a bright future ahead! After a long time, his breathing slowly returned to normal. Li Hui suppressed his excitement and put down the jade slip, then picked up another one and stuck it to his forehead.

  "I have devoted my life to the way of the sword, studying with a famous master from a young age. By the time I was twenty, I had already surpassed my teacher and set out on a journey across the land, learning from various schools and seeking out famous swordsmen to challenge. It wasn't until I was thirty that my skills were fully developed..."

  This jade slip records Yuan Hua Zhenren's lifelong study of the sword path, divided into three chapters: "Yu Jian Pian", "Fa Jian Pian" and "Xin Jian Pian".

  "The Treatise on Sword" discusses how to use a sword, integrating the understanding and perfection of swordsmanship by Yuan Huang Zhenren over thousands of years, adopting the strengths of various schools, and forming a method of wielding a sword based on personal experience and feeling.

  Yuán Huáng Zhēnrén believes that the Tao is simple, and the highest state of swordsmanship is the "no sword" state. This doesn't mean having no sword in hand, but rather that all changes in swordsmanship are clear in one's mind, and swordsmanship is no longer limited by the variations of moves. One sword is equal to ten thousand swords, and ten thousand swords return to one sword.

  To achieve the state where all swords are in your chest, without being restricted by a single move or style, you must start from practicing one move at a time, from simple to complex, and then again from complex back to simple. Only then can all swords return to one, with the sword and intention connected, and the mind reaching the intention.

  However, this is still not the ultimate change. The ultimate goal is to achieve "the sword follows the mind", where the intention precedes the sword's release. Only when facing an enemy can one truly reach the realm of being unpredictable and leaving no trace.

  Yuán Huáng Zhēn Rén will merge his lifelong learning into one hundred and eight swords.

  From simplicity to complexity, the first level is thirty-six swords. After mastering all the variations of the thirty-six swords, a new set of variations emerges based on these thirty-six swords, reaching the second level, learning seventy-two swords.

  After mastering all the changes in the 72 swords, enter the third level and learn 108 swords.

  After mastering the 108 swords to the extreme, the 108 swords evolved into countless changes. When there is no more change, then go to the true and store the true, condensing the 108 swords again into 72 swords, entering the fourth level.

  The fifth level, the seventy-two swords are condensed into thirty-six swords. The sixth level, the thirty-six swords are refined into nine swords. The seventh level, the nine swords transform into one sword. The tenth level, enter the realm of no sword!

  Yuan Hua Zhen Ren reached the state of no sword at the age of thirty, and there was no one in the world who could match him. Due to the limitations of his physical energy, he could no longer break through. It wasn't until he came into contact with a cultivator that Yuan Hua Zhen Ren suddenly realized that the state of no sword was only the beginning of true sword control!

  The energy inside the body of a cultivator is completely different from that of a secular martial artist. When a secular martial artist reaches the highest level, known as the Pre-Heavenly Realm, it is merely equivalent to reaching the lowest level of the Qi Refining stage in the eyes of a cultivator!

  The realm of no sword, in the pre-heavenly boundary, has indeed undergone no more changes. With the power of a worldly martial artist, this has already reached the ultimate of swordsmanship.

  Those who cultivate the truth absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth for their own use, and when they reach a high level, they have the ability to move mountains and seas, and change the weather.

  However, after entering the Cultivation Realm, Yuan Huaozhen discovered that cultivators looked down on sword techniques and considered them to be trivial skills of secular warriors. In the eyes of cultivators, secular warriors were like ants, who could be easily trampled or swatted away with a mere hand gesture.

  It is said that one power can defeat ten skills, and in the face of absolute strength, any skill is useless. Therefore, cultivators discard such trivial tricks and pursue even greater power and more profound techniques.

  However, Genpou Shinjin, a secular martial artist, believed that absolute power is relative, and in the case of equal strength, technique becomes extremely important.

  In the eyes of Yuan Huaoren, the sword-controlling technique of a cultivator was nothing more than using magical power to propel flying swords, crudely and violently tossing them about, with occasional variations that were no more sophisticated than a child's tantrum.

  Yuan Hua Zhenren combined his understanding of swordsmanship with the magical powers and divine abilities of a cultivator to create the true art of sword control, allowing him to sweep aside cultivators of the same rank and even challenge those above him.

  "The Sword Scripture" is about how to combine swordsmanship with the divine powers of a cultivator to form the divine power of controlling swords.

  Li Hui secretly sighed in his heart, this Yuan Huan was indeed a heaven-born genius, doing things without being bound by conventions, and only then could he achieve such an astonishing sword-controlling technique.

  "The Fa Jian Pian" is about Yuan Huo Zhen Ren's understanding of swordsmanship.

  The sword is a very hard and strong object, what is referred to as "hardness and softness complementing each other" is of course not the sword itself, but rather the art of using the sword.

  Mundane warriors cultivate swordsmanship to the point where they can supposedly "pluck flowers and leaves, all of which can harm people", but in the eyes of Yuan Huai Zhenren, this is just a joke.

  When a strong man faces a child, he can easily knock the child down with his bare hands. However, if the child is holding a short knife, there is a risk of being injured, and if the child is holding a long sword, the possibility of being killed is also very high.

  Similarly, a martial artist who has reached the realm of Innate can easily "pluck flowers and leaves to harm people" when facing an enemy much weaker than him. If two people with equal skills face each other, one person using "plucking flowers and leaves" against an opponent wielding divine weapons would be courting death.

  Yuán Hào Zhēnrén believes that any weapon is merely an extension and supplement to one's own strength. The enhancement of human power has no end, and the improvement of weapons also has no end. Giving up the pursuit of material objects is equivalent to a fierce tiger cutting off its sharp teeth and claws.

  At this point, Yuan Hua Zhenren highly praised the method of refining instruments for cultivators, believing that cultivators were indeed formidable in terms of refining and casting magical artifacts.

  So "Fa Jian Pian" mainly introduces some methods and experiences collected by Yuan Huo Zhen Ren about the practice of flying sword magic.

  Li Hui saw "The Sword of Law" and admired Yuan Huo Zhenren even more.

  Whether it is invincible in the secular martial arts world or entering the Xiantian realm without being discouraged by the abandoned spiritual root, creating the "Five Elements Reincarnation Technique", or ridiculing the sword control method of Xiantian practitioners, it can be seen that Yuan Huan Zhenren is a person with extremely high intelligence and proud loneliness.

  And yet he was able to avoid using his own biases to cover up the entirety of the great way, humbly studying the magical methods and alchemical techniques of those who cultivate the truth.

  Jian Dao San Pian, "Yu Jian Pian" and "Fa Jian Pian", one is about the spiritual power of sword control, and the other is about the art of sword refinement. Li Hui continued to read on.

  Relying on the "Five Elements Reincarnation Technique", Yuan Huan Zhenren's cultivation during the Qi Refining stage to the Tribulation Crossing stage was unmatched by anyone of the same rank, his magical powers were exceptionally profound.

  They say that one power can subdue ten gatherings. Yuan Huaozhen's true person, in terms of his own cultivation, was already unmatched within the same rank. Adding to that his unpredictable and mysterious sword technique, it was truly a case where no one could withstand the point of his sword. During the Tribulation period, he even achieved the legendary feat of facing seven great experts' siege, killing six Tribulation experts, and severely injuring one Great Completion expert.

  However, in that war, Yuanhao Zhenren himself was also seriously injured and failed to cross the calamity, and only Yuanying escaped to become a loose immortal.

  The path of the scattered immortal is even more perilous, with nine calamities of the scattered immortal, each one more formidable than the last. If you can't get through it, you'll be reduced to nothingness, without even a chance to enter reincarnation, and are considered the road of no return for cultivators.

  Later, Yuan Huan Zhenren reflected on that battle. Six Da Jie period masters and one Da Cheng period master attacked him together. At that time, his cultivation was in the middle of Da Jie, once he passed the dispersing immortal tribulation, he would be in the late stage of Da Jie. When the spiritual energy inside his body began to transform into Xian Yuan energy, he would enter the Da Cheng period.

  It can be said that the gap between the Tribulation and Great Completion stages is not as obvious as other major stage gaps. Moreover, the Great Completion stage cultivator at that time had just reached the Great Completion stage, while the other six Tribulation stage experts were only in the early stages of Tribulation.

  Adding one's own true strength can absolutely sweep through the Tribulation Period and directly threaten the Great Completion Period. In this way, one's past achievements are not brilliant at all, and even compared to being able to kill Tribulation Period experts in the late Yuan Ying period, it is still inferior.

  The reason lies in the swordsmanship that he relied on to dominate the world. As his realm improved, his advantage became smaller and smaller.

  A Tribulation Period Master, will attract Heavenly Tribulations because they have already touched a thread of the Heavenly Way!

  The so-called heavenly way is unpredictable, and at this time, the heavenly calamity will be lowered to punish these cultivators who go against heaven. If they can pass through the heavenly calamity, then they can continue to pursue a higher and more profound heavenly way.

  In a battle where one is more in tune with "the way", mere sword-fighting skills no longer hold such a great advantage.

  The so-called Great Way is simple and straightforward, all things return to the Way! Whether it's cultivating immortality, Buddhism, Taoism, or demonic cultivation, the ultimate pursuit of the Great Way is the same.

  Yuan Heng realized that he had reached a high point in his pursuit of the sword path, and it was difficult to make any further progress. In other words, he had encountered a bottleneck, which could no longer be broken through by simply sitting in meditation, taking elixirs, or practicing cultivation. This was a bottleneck encountered in the process of pursuing the Heavenly Path. If one wasn't careful, they would stray from the path and ultimately lose their chance at enlightenment.

  In the following long years of Xian's wandering, Yuan Huan Zhenren painstakingly explored what was the true sword path.

  Cultivators pursue the Way of Heaven, hoping to transcend life and death and escape reincarnation, so they refine and transform the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, achieving many inconceivable magical powers. To truly transcend reincarnation, one must cultivate oneself.

  In this regard, Yuan Huan Zhenren made some comments on the entire Xiu Zhen school.

  There are countless Dharma gates, all of which can lead to the attainment of the Great Way. Therefore, cultivators of the truth are divided into three sects: Cultivating Immortals, Cultivating Buddhahood, and Cultivating Demons.

  Yuán Hào True Person believes that cultivators of immortality focus on refining their energy, practicing divine techniques and magical powers that penetrate heaven and earth, ultimately achieving the Great Way and transcending life and death. However, cultivators often neglect to cultivate their physical bodies, relying too heavily on external objects; although they may achieve the Great Way, they cannot avoid being deficient in martial prowess.

  The cultivator of evil is extremely cunning and deceitful, resorting to every trick in the book, attempting to achieve rapid success by practicing some heretical and unconventional methods, appearing invincible on the surface but actually beset with endless troubles.

  For example, self-mutilation and surrender to evil spirits can lead to losing one's true heart. On the surface, it seems like a pursuit of nature, but in reality, it is getting lost in oneself, taking an evil path, and ultimately transcending life and death with only a stinky skin bag left behind, and perhaps even losing sight of one's original appearance.

  Buddhists emphasize cutting off worldly attachments and eliminating desires, which indeed has its unique advantages in terms of physical asceticism and spiritual elevation. However, merely practicing asceticism and annihilating desires also inevitably goes against human nature. Moreover, isn't becoming a Buddha itself the greatest desire?

  Overall, the achievements of Xian practitioners in terms of magical powers are high, but they neglect their physical bodies; Mo practitioners have strong combat power, but lose their original heart; Buddhist practitioners cultivate their Dharma body through ascetic practices, but suppress human nature.

  So what is the Sword Immortal's Way that he has been pursuing?

  ……………………

  Sweat...... Normally, it's updated in the afternoon, but something came up this afternoon and I went out for a bit. Just got back now, forgot to post a chapter when I left. New book seeking collection! Big updates ahead.