Chapter 372: Paragon
Translator: Swammped Editor: Hitesh_
At this moment, Ye Chen didn't have a body. In the world of wills, there was no body, while in the real world, he merely stood motionlessly in place, looking at the Iron Sword King's sculpture. Traces of cracks began to appear and expand on the sculpture. They were quite small, but were already indicating its imminent collapse.
Feeling his own will's image forming, Ye Chen's five senses were heightened. He could see things and sense mysteries that he couldn't before. He was quite clear that he was only able to condense his will image because of the pull from Iron Sword King's will. In reality, he was still quite far off.
Trying to counteract Iron Sword King's Destruction Sword Will, Ye Chen's will image gradually turned indistinct, wishing to return back to reality.
Just at this moment, the storage ring on Ye Chen's finger faintly flickered, and the broken Battle King Rapier started uncontrollably vibrating.
"Iron Sword King, it's been a while."
In the world of wills, another will image appeared. It was a two meters tall, and staunch figure, standing perfectly straight as if he could support the heavens by himself. His expression was cold and resolute, looking at Iron Sword King in the eye. In his right rand was a sword, the complete Battle King Rapier.
Battle King's will image had appeared!
"Eh, Battle King? Didn't expect you to leave a wisp of your will on this kid's body." Iron Sword King's brows raised, seeming quite astonished.
Battle King glanced at Ye Chen's will image and said, "He is not my successor, yet can be regarded as my successor. He only shares the connection of a broken sword, that's all."
The two hadn't said any words, and neither could they hear any words. This was the interaction of wills.
"For you to appear at this moment, you wish to have a duel of sword wills?"
"That's right."
Battle King didn't merely have a sword intent, he had a sword intent that had broken through the shackles of heavens and earth.
Iron Sword King revealed a "thought so" expression, "I'm already dead. This will is my final attack. I hope I'll be able to enjoy your immortal sword intent to my heart's content."
"Draw your sword!"
Their sword dao was separated by several centuries. Although it was merely a confrontation of wills, it was still not something ordinary people could see. Who had a bigger accomplishment in sword dao? This question was about to be answered for the world. Ye Chen's breath stopped as he unblinkingly watched the two wills.
Clank!
Blazing flames soared to the horizon, making it basically impossible to see the two's movements. In almost an instant, Battle King and Iron Sword King had exchanged blows, putting their entire strength into their swords.
"Roar!"
As Iron Sword King roared, his gaze seemed even more frightening than sword qi.
"My accomplishments have surpassed yours long ago. Give up!
One had to admit that Battle King's immortal sword will was frighteningly abnormal. Regardless of how the Destruction sword intent attacked, it kept itself intact. On the other hand, the former was gradually wearing down, causing Iron Sword King's will image to quickly fade.
"Destroy!"
Iron Sword King again roared. Blending his body into the sword will, he fiercely chopped at the Battle King. The power of his will, which could destroy everything, turned the heaven and earth into primal chaos.
"I'll let you see the true essence of immortal sword will."
A boundless sword intent erupted fiercely, covering the sky itself. It was like a vast water body, never-ending, wave after wave. Before this sword intent, which was even more frightening than before, the Destruction sword intent could only launch futile attacks and wear down.
'Powerful! Your sword dao is truly above mine."
Amidst countless dispersing specks of light, fluctuations from the Iron Sword King's will became increasingly weak and finally dissipated.
Retrieving his sword, Battle King turned around.
"Your immortal will is different from mine. Do you understand?"
Ye Chen didn't expect that these would be Battle King's first words to him. After pondering for a while, he slowly said, "I understand." Every individual's will was different, because everyone had different dispositions. Copying someone else's path would only make one put shackles on oneself.
"To be able to comprehend your own immortal sword intent from mine, no wonder you can reach what you're today." Pausing for moment, Battle King continued, "I couldn't leave behind anything to you, so let me pour all my experiences of sword dao into your brain and help you advance one more step!"
Raising his right hand's two fingers, Battle King pointed it towards Ye Chen's forehead.
Buzz….
Boundless chaotic information poured into Ye Chen's sea of soul, almost making his sea of soul crumble.
Ye Chen was appalled. Such a method simply defied reason. The former could actually transfer his experiences of sword dao into another person's brain.
"No need to be surprised. My sword intent is the immortal sword intent, and my experiences similarly have an immortal nature. It would be impossible for others to do it even if their strength was higher than mine."
After saying these words, Battle King's will image crumbled apart.
…
After an unknown amount of time, Ye Chen opened in his eyes in reality.
"Dual Sword King, Iron Sword King, and Battle King…many thanks!"
Ye Chen had gained a lot from Dual Sword King's Slaughter sword intent and Iron Sword King's Destruction sword intent, though he was currently unable to convert these gains into true battle strength. On the other hand, Battle King's Immortal sword will had allowed him to directly experience enlightenment. Once his sword intent reached perfection, he would advance by leaps and bounds.
Sinking his consciousness into his sea of soul, Ye Chen browsed through that unfamiliar information.
Saw the first sword manual at the age of seven, started training in sword at the age of nine and qi at the age of ten; defeated a Condensing Reality martial artist with a seventh layer Mortal Realm cultivation base at the age of twelve... Stepped into Condensing Reality realm during the same year, created a basic three-styled sword move, and defeated young elites in several hundred li around him... Left home at the age of thirteen and joined a small faction, gained enlightenment of sword intent amidst a life-and-death battle, and became the faction's head; stepped into Clasping Yuan realm at the age of sixteen and was considered a paragon in the realm by seventeen... Stepped into Astral Reaching realm at the age of nineteen, then began roaming the continent, polishing his swordsmanship and sword will through countless battles with sword artists all around... Became unrivaled among the young generation of the continent by twenty two; ascended to the Sea of Soul realm relying on his solid background, transcending many of his seniors… Became the most outstanding sword artist of the Sea of Soul realm by thirty, becoming a sword ancestor… Comprehended the meaning of life and death by thirty seven, and became the youngest Life and Death King over the last several centuries, titled as Battle King.
Time flowed like water as Battle King's entire life flashed inside Ye Chen's mind. Ye Chen was undoubtedly incomparable to Battle King when the latter was the same age as him, and experience was precisely what Ye Chen lacked. Without sufficient experience, he couldn't perfect his sword intent. This was completely unrelated to talent and perception- it was purely a kind of perfection of the soul.
Perfect sword intent and larger success sword Intent hardly had any difference in terms of might. But, imperfection was, after all, imperfection. It represented holes and gaps.
Battle King's experiences of sword dao filled in for Ye Chen's lack of experiences. In the depths of his heart, a shattering sound resounded as his sword intent cried out in joy, as if it had been liberated.
"So, this was perfection all along."
Ye Chen could feel that his sword intent had become smooth and full, devoid of any holes or gaps. Henceforth, the only disparity would be of strength.
"After perfection is condensing a sword soul. The reason for my Sword Soul Embryo to exist even though I didn't have a perfect sword intent must have been the Immortal Sword Intent." Having the vast experiences of Battle King's sword dao, Ye Chen's knowledge of sword dao wasn't inferior to any Sword King. So, he now knew that the longsword above his Sea of Soul was actually a Sword Soul Embryo. Of course, other martial artists could also condense martial souls, for example Shen Tujue.
Sword Soul was related to attack power, whereas the Martial Soul was comprehensive.
It was hard to say which of the two was better. The crux of the matter was how one utilized them.
"After attaining perfection, sword intent still needs a long time to condense sufficient will into sword soul embryo. I am unlike other sword artists, as my sword intent involuntarily condensed into Sword Soul Embryo even before attaining the required realm, allowing me to save a big step in my progress. In that case, let me keep on striding ahead!"
Condensing a Sword Soul Embryo required huge reserves of will. Fortunately, Ye Chen had refined four blood evil stones, and among them, one was from a quasi evil beast, which was equivalent to four ordinary blood evil stones, allowing him to have sufficient will reserves for advancing one step further.
Above the Sea of Soul, silver mist poured into the longsword. The longsword trembled while issuing clanking sounds, gradually gaining a strand of dim silver color.
From strands to wisps, the absorption speed of longsword became increasingly higher. Every now and then, fierce sword intent came leaking out of his Soul Sea.
Rumble!
All of the silver mist had been swallowed clean, and the longsword had expanded by several folds in size- from a finger long to three fingers long. Rich sword intent condensed, tightly held inside while Ye Chen, the master of this sword soul embryo, felt unprecedentedly strong.
"If it had been a normal sword artist, he ought to have condensed a real sword soul at this moment. But, I am still at the realm of sword soul embryo. To condense a real sword soul, the will I need would be enormous. However, in terms of the amount of sword intent alone, my sword soul embryo is several folds above ordinary sword artists equivalent to real martial souls. On this point, I've surpassed all Astral Reaching sword artists and almost reached the same as ordinary Sea of Soul realm sword artists."
Pointing out with his index finger, he shot a streak of Green Lotus Sword Qi.
Puff!
Puff!
Puff!
Sword Qi pierced the nearby rock and continued to pierce three more rocks nearby. On the wrist-sized holes, the undispersed sword intent could make one's blood go cold.
"My might has doubled!"
If Grand Elder Chen were to hear Ye Chen's words, he would certainly be stupefied. Ye Chen was already a paragon of Astral Reaching realm. For his might to double, it could no longer be described in words. Would there be anybody left in Astral Reaching realm who could defeat Ye Chen?
In other words, it seemed like the iron rule of Astral Reaching paragons would be crushed henceforth. Previously, there weren't any battles happening among the Astral Reaching paragons. At most, there were fights of gaining superiority, but there was no possibility of death. But, who could have imagined that a monster like Ye Chen would appear? As for the paragons, henceforth, there would only be one Astral Reaching paragon.