Zongwang: Unspeakable fear!

Chapter 957 Teaching Swordsmanship and Arriving at the Realm of Oblivion (4K, Requesting Monthly Tickets~)

Beneath the boundless starry sky, surrounded by countless stars, a floating city is rapidly flying through the air.

Starlight shone through the protective shield and illuminated the interior of the floating city.

Under the dim blue light, Gao Yang sat cross-legged on the ground, with You Miao and the cat spirit Phil sitting side by side opposite him.

Both of them stared intently at Gao Yang, listening attentively to every word he said.

"I once told You Miao about my own understanding of the way of the sword. In short, it can be summed up in one sentence: the way of the sword is actually about your own will."

If your will is firm, your sword will be invincible; if your will is flexible, your sword will be exceptionally agile; if your will is weak, your sword won't even be able to cut through tofu.

Gao Yang slowly began to speak to the two opposite him, a faint glint of sword light flickering between his fingertips.

"What you show is what your will is like. What you call a sword or a knife is just an extension of your will."

If I wish, I can transform the sword's aura into a blade's aura, a spear's aura, or even many other diverse weapons.

As he spoke, the sword light at his fingertips began to transform, sometimes into the shape of a knife, and sometimes into the shape of a whip. But no matter what shape it took, the sharp killing intent emanating from it remained unchanged.

You Miao listened attentively. He had already received Gao Yang's teachings and had a direction for his own cultivation, so he quickly accepted Gao Yang's philosophy.

On the contrary, Phil, the cat spirit, had a cold cat face that would sometimes furrow into a frown and sometimes relax.

After a moment, the sword energy at Gao Yang's fingertips disappeared. He tilted his head slightly to look at Phil and casually asked, "Phil, do you have any questions?"

Phil took a deep breath, memorizing all the information Gao Yang had just given him, before looking up at Gao Yang, bowing respectfully, and saying:
“Sword Master, what you said is easy to understand, but Phil still has some questions.”

"Let's discuss it," Gao Yang said, looking at Phil with a smile.

It's good that Phil has his own ideas. If he fully accepts his own understanding of kendo, it only means one thing: Phil has never truly come into contact with kendo, or even formed his own understanding of it.

Only those who have no stance at all will act like a blank sheet of paper, allowing others to write their thoughts and feelings on it.

Phil lowered his head and thought carefully for a moment before slowly speaking: "Sword Master, my understanding of the way of the sword is to use the sword in my hand to cut through all obstacles encountered. In my understanding, the sword is a very important factor."

In fact, the sword is the very foundation of the path.

But why do you seem to see no difference between swords, knives, and spears, and no distinction between them in terms of superiority or inferiority?

Hmm~ that's a question~

Gao Yang glanced at Phil, whose eyes were now resolute, showing only his determination to follow his own path.

After reviewing what he was about to say in his mind, Gao Yang said, "Actually, everyone's understanding of swordsmanship can be different. Let me explain it to you from your perspective."

As he spoke, Gao Yang flipped his hand, and a thick dragon scale, half a meter square, appeared in front of him.

"This is a dragon scale; it's very hard and has excellent defensive capabilities."

As Gao Yang spoke, he looked at Phil and said, "Use the sword in your hand to slash at this dragon scale."

Phil didn't hesitate either. He immediately stood up, two sharp glints flashing in his cat eyes. The longsword behind him was instantly drawn, and with a flash of light, it struck the surface of the dragon scales.

With a crisp clang, the dragon scales remained unmoved, and Phil's longsword flew back into its scabbard behind him.

Gao Yang turned to You Miao and said, "You should try it too."

Upon hearing this, You Miao produced a slender, slightly curved, dark red longsword in his hand. The blade flashed through the air and struck the dragon scales with a single stroke.

Undoubtedly, You Miao's strike also failed to pierce the dragon scales, leaving only a slightly deeper cut.

Gao Yang raised the dragon scale in his hand and said, "This is a dragon scale from a legendary dragon. Facing this dragon scale, the effect of the knife or sword in your hand will not be much different."

So, if a divine-grade battle blade were placed before you, would you insist on using your own sword or choose to use the divine blade to pierce through the dragon scales before you?

Phil frowned, and after a struggle with his mind, he looked up at Gao Yang and said firmly, "I will not give up my sword. I will work even harder to cultivate and cut through this dragon scale in the shortest possible time."

"A very good belief."

Gao Yang nodded in agreement, but then immediately asked again, "If you don't shatter this dragon scale now, will you and everything related to you be destroyed?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a chilling killing intent emanated from his body, pressing down on Phil.

Phil's hair stood on end, and he seemed to see mountains of corpses and seas of blood before his eyes. The bodies of his parents, grandparents, and even his cousin were part of that mountain of corpses and seas of blood.

"Then tell me, will you take up the divine weapon sword or continue using the sword in your hand?"

Gao Yang's voice seemed to press down from the heavens, each word carrying immense weight. With each word, Phil's straight back bent slightly.

His pupils trembled violently, and after a few seconds, he roared, panting heavily, "Divine weapon sword! I will save them! I will allow them to die!"

The moment the words left his mouth, the murderous aura vanished, as if it had all been an illusion.

Phil looked at Gao Yang with lingering fear and mixed feelings, because at that moment, he really wasn't sure if Gao Yang would have killed him and his family if he had chosen to use the sword again.

Gao Yang still had a faint smile on his face and said, "You see, what you use is not a necessary choice at all. On the contrary, the decisive role is played by your will in this process."

If you don't want to save your loved ones, you can still insist on using the sword in your hand, and that's fine too.

But if your will is to save your loved ones and yourself, then the choice is obvious.

Gao Yang put away the dragon scales, took out two ice-blue Chloe fruits and handed them to the two, then continued, "Of course, I'm not saying that using a sword or a knife is the same. If you replace the divine weapon sword with a divine weapon longsword, the effect will not be different."

The weapon itself is important, but the will of the person wielding the weapon is equally important.

Those who value the instrument over the intention will find both instrument and intention lacking; those who value intention over instrument will destroy both; only by balancing intention and instrument can one achieve true mastery.

"Intent and weapon in parallel? Sword Master, what does 'intent and weapon in parallel' mean?"

Phil looked at Gao Yang, his eyes filled with obvious doubt.

"Simply put, you need to have a firm will to accomplish everything you want to do with the sword in your hand. At the same time, you also need to have a powerful enough weapon to help you achieve this goal."

This weapon can be a sword, a knife, or anything in the world; it all moves according to your will, it's that simple.

Gao Yang thought for a moment and then added, "Of course, it's best not to change weapons too often."

Phil nodded solemnly, then continued to ask Gao Yang questions.

Gao Yang listened attentively and offered his own understanding of swordsmanship. After half an hour, You Miao and Phil each left to begin their own training.

Gao Yang watched the two leave, and then continued his own cultivation.

Time passed day by day, and half a month had gone by in the blink of an eye.

During this time, Gao Yang also modified a meditation method for Phil to suit him. The practice of meditation helps to improve willpower and is very helpful for the path of swordsmanship.

On this day, Gao Yang did not cultivate, but stood above the floating city, looking at the distant star realm void.

In his hand, he held a token that was neither gold nor wood, which was the pass to the Realm of Oblivion.

At this moment, the token was emitting a dim light, but as the floating city continued to advance, the light on the token gradually intensified.

After Gao Yang's will merged with the token, he was able to vaguely sense that there was a "door" in the void in front of him, and the token in his hand was the key to open this "door".

The floating city gradually slowed down and eventually came to rest in an empty starry sky.

Gao Yang waved his hand, and a crack appeared in the magical shield in front of him. He flew out from it and stood in the starry sky.

Then, he pressed the token towards the void in front of him.

"Wow~"

The previously empty void rippled like water as the token fell.

In just a few seconds, a frosted, semi-transparent film appeared in front of Gao Yang.

You can see inside through the membrane, but not clearly.

Gao Yang withdrew his gaze, realizing that this was the location of the Forgotten Realm.

He turned around and returned to the floating city.

When Milofina saw Gao Yang return, she asked, "Gao Yang, have we arrived?"

Gao Yang nodded slightly and said, "That's right, we have arrived at the Realm of Oblivion, and we will now proceed to this plane."

After speaking, he looked at You Miao and Phil beside him and asked, "Do you plan to cultivate in the floating city, or go to the Forgotten Realm together?"

"Can we go together, Sword Master?" Phil asked, wagging his tail excitedly.

Gao Yang smiled and nodded, saying, "Of course, reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. Going to different planes and seeing different scenery and life will also help in understanding the way of the sword."

Upon hearing this, Phil decisively replied, "Then I'll go with you."

Yu Miao also expressed his opinion, saying that although cultivating in the floating city was a good choice, being able to stay by Gao Yang's side was the more correct choice.

Seeing that the two intended to go together, Gao Yang didn't say much. He just gave Ovi some instructions, then waved his hand, enveloping the two in his battle aura, and flew out of the floating city towards the location they had just been.

Then the token flashed, the translucent membrane gradually thinned and finally disappeared completely, and Gao Yang and the three of them merged into it and vanished.

"Network Notification: You have arrived in the Realm of Oblivion. It has been detected that the player has not mastered the language. 3000 Network Disaster Coins have been successfully deducted from the player. The multilingual translation system has been successfully activated."

"Network notification: Because you possess the Forgotten Realm Token, related permissions for the Forgotten Realm are being activated."

"Network notification: Permission activation successful. You now possess the identity of a native of the Forgotten Realm (disguise). Current disguise count: 4."

"Meow~ Is this the Realm of Oblivion?"

Against the backdrop of blue sky and white clouds, Milofina perched on Gao Yang's shoulder, curiously looking around.

Looking at the integrated network prompt that appeared in front of his retina, Gao Yang suppressed his doubts and nodded, saying, "That's right, this is the Realm of Oblivion."

"Where are we going now?" Milofina turned to look at Gao Yang.

Gao Yang looked down at the land below. Although he had not yet landed on the land, he could sense wisps of divine energy spreading throughout the earth below.

This means that the land below is a place of worship for a god.

At the same time, this is not a place where one can stay for long.

Gao Yang turned his eyes to look into the distance and said, "Let's leave here first, make contact with the people of the Forgotten Realm, and then inquire about relevant information."

After saying that, he led the group down from the clouds and plummeted toward the distant earth at an extremely fast speed.

Just minutes after Gao Yang and his group left, a divine light pierced through the sky.

As the light faded, a long-haired man clad in silver armor closed his eyes, carefully sensing the atmosphere of the place.

A few seconds later, he opened his eyes, and golden light shot out dozens of meters away from his open eyes.

“An ominous aura. The oracle was not wrong, but why is there no trace of aura left here?”

Report this matter to the authorities; hopefully it won't affect our lord.

The doubtful voice dissipated with the wind, along with the man in the silver armor.

Meanwhile, atop a snow-capped peak in the Realm of Oblivion, within a temple built of piled rocks, a gray-white humanoid stone statue trembled slightly.

Then, the statue opened its eyes, revealing a pair of pure scarlet eyes.

Clearly, this is not a stone statue, but rather the result of dust accumulating on the body of a person who has knelt here for many years.

The stone statue opened its eyes, and the crimson light in them suddenly intensified. After a moment, the blood-red light subsided, replaced by a low laugh like that of a night owl.

"You should have just died sooner. You endured all these years, but you still couldn't outlive me, hehehe~"
I can sense your resentment, but I can also sense that the fruit has ripened. Once I swallow this fruit, I can escape this place forever!

A hoarse, owl-like cry emanated from the temple, causing spiderweb-like cracks to appear in the snow crust outside.

After a moment, the hoarse laughter suddenly stopped, replaced by a heart-wrenching, unwilling growl.

The roar echoed, and the snow on the mountaintop began to slide down, eventually forming a rolling avalanche that surged down.

Amidst the roar of the avalanche, a crimson aura shot into the sky from the summit of the snow-capped mountain, disappearing into the horizon in an instant.

(End of this chapter)