Swallowing the Stars: Heart of the Martial God

Chapter 121 The Blade Intent of Life and Death

Ling Xuan arrived at a primordial star again. At this time, the cosmic lords of various forces had also failed in their attempt to besiege the Lord of the Northern Prison.

After toying with the powerful figures of various forces, the Lord of the Northern Prison still managed to leave unscathed, which deepened the hatred of the powerful figures of various forces in the universe. They all vowed to search the entire universe to find the Lord of the Northern Prison and tear him to pieces.

Ling Xuan traveled on the Primordial Star aboard the Eight Desolations Pagoda, the pagoda transforming into a stream of light as it moved steadily forward.

He sat with his eyes closed inside the tower, digesting the insights gained from the battles of the past few days. Several fierce battles had deepened his understanding of the sword.

When he created "Breaking Illusion" before, he followed the sharpness of the sword intent to explore its origin. But now, he always feels that the way of the sword should have a different world.

In his meditation, the vast sword intent of the Heavenly Blade still echoed in his Heavenly Eye. He ignored the environment around the Heavenly Blade and focused only on capturing the faint "aftertaste" left behind when the sword intent swept past his consciousness.

The lingering effect was different from the unstoppable sharpness of "breaking through illusions," instead carrying a peculiar sense of "convergence."

Just as countless stars in the universe will eventually return to some ultimate nothingness, no matter how brilliant they are, there is always an ultimate destination.

He carefully felt this sense of convergence, as if he himself had transformed into a star, slowly falling into that void, experiencing the process from splendor to silence.

At first, he tried to incorporate this sense of control into his swordplay, but the sword he swung always felt stiff and unresponsive.

Either the contraction is too hasty, the blade shrinks before it can even unleash its full power, like a star that has already extinguished before it can shine; or the contraction is too slow, the sharpness dissipates and all that remains is weakness, like a meteorite that has lost its power and is drifting aimlessly in the universe, far removed from the ideal of "contracting without stagnation, restraining without weakness" in one's heart.

"If breaking through illusion is 'opening,' then this move should be 'closing'?"

Ling Xuan sat atop the Eight Desolations Tower, muttering to himself.

He opened his eyes and gazed at the ever-changing starry sky on the Primordial Star outside the window, his mind filled with countless thoughts.

The beginning of all things is "opening," like the splendor of the Big Bang; the end of all things is "closing," like the silence after the stars have burned out.

This opening and closing is the natural order of things, and so is the way of the sword.

He recalled that when fighting against a powerful enemy, sometimes victory could not be achieved by simply launching a strong attack. If one could draw out the opponent's offensive and then counterattack, it would often be twice as effective with half the effort.

The key to a new sword technique may lie hidden between this "leading" and "closing".

He closed his eyes again, sinking into meditation, replaying the battle scenes in his mind, analyzing each offensive and defensive transition, trying to find the perfect point of convergence between "leading" and "combining".

In the days that followed, he spent his days meditating and practicing his sword.

Before each swing of the sword, he would first allow his mind to sink into a state of "extreme emptiness and stillness".

In this state, he seemed to transform into an endless void, letting the sword intent streak across like a meteor, but not chasing the meteor's trajectory, only feeling the all-encompassing grandeur of the void.

He quietly felt the rhythm of the universe's fundamental fluctuations, synchronizing his breathing and heartbeat with it, as if he were a part of the universe, breathing and sharing its fate.

During one of his sword practice sessions, a meteorite broke through the clouds and crashed down. Under the terrifying pressure of the primordial star, its speed was astonishing.

Ling Xuan remained calm and parried with his sword.

The moment the blade collided with the meteorite, he did not take the hit head-on. Instead, he slightly spun the blade along with the meteorite's force, guiding it with a strange and mysterious force. The meteorite seemed to be guided by an invisible force, grazing the blade and flying into the distance, eventually disintegrating into powder in the distance.

Destroying a meteorite would be easy for a realm lord, but that would require immense power.

Ling Xuan's strike was different. He didn't apply any power to it; he simply destroyed the meteorite with his sword intent.

"That's the feeling!" Ling Xuan suddenly opened his eyes, a sharp glint in them.

That's not a weak retreat, but a kind of "going with the flow" guidance, just like the void accepting the stars, not forcibly taking them in, but letting the stars find their own home through its vastness.

This is the Primordial Star, the closest place to the origin of the universe. Ling Xuan emptied his mind to feel the fluctuations of the universe's origin.

Feel that sense of birth and death.

The intent of the Breaking Illusion Blade is to break through everything, directly pointing to the very source of life.

The new move should be annihilation. As Ling Xuan continuously adjusted his state and emptied his mind, only the sound of his surging heartbeat remained within the Eight Desolations Tower.

dong dong~
The sound of his heartbeat grew louder and louder, beating at a strange frequency. Unconsciously, Ling Xuan felt that his heartbeat was in harmony with some kind of strange fluctuation.

He felt a subtle connection established between himself and the fundamental fluctuations of the universe, which was the work of the Heart of the God of War.

He began to try to incorporate the insight of "breaking through illusions" into this fluctuation.

First, use the concept of "breaking through illusions" to understand the opponent's offensive strategy, just as you can see the road clearly in the fog. Then, guide the movement along this fundamental fluctuation of the universe, just as you can build a bridge in a turbulent river, clearing away obstacles without blocking them.

But he soon realized that this was not enough; after the pull, where should that force go?

This presented a new challenge, causing him to fall into deep thought.

He gazed into the depths of the universe, where the profound darkness seemed to devour everything, countless substances being sucked into it, yet never able to fill that void.

"This is the final destination..." He suddenly realized that the void was the ultimate destination of power.
Like a black hole in the universe, it can devour all matter and energy, turning them into part of itself.

He swung his sword again, first using the "Breaking Illusion" sword intent to lock onto an ancient tree in the distance. That ancient tree had grown exceptionally thick in the special environment of the primordial star.

Then the blade shifted its momentum, no longer slashing, but swirling upwards like a vortex.

The cosmic energy surrounding the ancient tree was drawn by the sword intent, flowing along the blade as if forming an invisible "river".

He could clearly feel the flow of these energies, as if he were sensing the breath of the universe's origin.

When the spiritual energy gathered to its peak, he flicked his wrist, and the sword intent suddenly contracted inward—the ancient tree did not fall or shatter, but instead, starting from its roots, it transformed into specks of spiritual light, as if swallowed by a black hole, and finally dissipated into the universe, as if it had never existed.

"Not thorough enough." Ling Xuan shook his head, a hint of dissatisfaction on his face.

What he wanted was not "dissipation," but to return everything to its most fundamental "nothingness," as if it had never existed.

He knew that he needed to further comprehend the mysteries of the universe's origin in order to perfect this sword technique.

He began to incorporate the concept of "chaos" into his swordsmanship.

Before the chaos was created, there was neither yin nor yang, neither birth nor death; it was the origin and destiny of all things.

Before each swing of his sword, he would first let his inner energy simulate the stillness before the beginning of chaos, a deathly calm containing infinite possibilities.

Once the sword's momentum is unleashed, use the concept of "breaking through illusions" to discern the target's true nature, and finally, use a state of chaos to completely "assimilate" it.

Day after day, month after month, countless days and nights have passed.

Ling Xuan's swordsmanship gradually improved through continuous practice and comprehension, and his understanding of the origin of the universe also became more and more profound.

He could clearly sense every subtle change in the fluctuations of the universe's origin and integrate them into his sword intent.

When he swung the sword again, a faint aura of chaos emanated from around the blade.

The aura seemed faint, yet it possessed a strange suction force, slowly drawing in dust and even light wherever it passed.

He could feel the suction force increasing, as if it were trying to suck the entire universe into it.

When the blade touched a stubborn rock, there was no earth-shattering collision. Instead, ripples appeared on the rock's surface, like a stone being thrown into a calm lake.

Then, like melting ice and snow, it gradually transformed into the finest particles and was swallowed up by the chaotic energy.

A moment later, the chaotic energy dissipated, leaving only emptiness in the place, as if the stubborn rock had never existed there.

Ling Xuan felt the sword intent flowing within his body. This sword intent was as profound as chaos, as vast as the void, and ultimately returned to the most fundamental nothingness, forming a wonderful resonance with the sharpness of "Breaking Illusion".

He uttered two words softly: "The intent of birth and death—return to nothingness."

(End of this chapter)