Rise of the Sword Lord

Chapter 6

Kai's expression turned grave as he absorbed the revelation. He hadn't anticipated that his life would be so tied to the sword.

Even when his Elixir Field was destroyed, he didn’t die but grew weaker. Now, he learned that if the sword depreciated to its last stage, his life would end too.

The mysterious woman left no room for confusion.

"Do not worry! There are two ways you can avoid this," she said, and Kai's heart was filled with hope.

She stated firmly, "The first solution is to constantly seek a new Spiritual Sword to strengthen the one within you. Consuming the new sword's Spiritual Qi will enhance your spiritual body."

Kai interjected, "And what about the second solution?"

She continued, "The second solution is to find a new common sword to replace the physical sword within your body. I understand you may not easily acquire a high-quality common sword due to your circumstances of financial struggle."

Kai lifted his head at this. "Why does the quality matter?" he inquired.

"The better the sword, the stronger your abilities will become," she clarified.

As the oracle explained the levels of swords and their impact, Kai wondered if this applied to all swords.

"The tree swords I saw at the top of the tower, do they also have different levels?" Kai asked.

The mysterious woman responded, "Those swords have no levels."

Confused, Kai questioned why the sword within him was distinguished into several levels.

The woman's response was stern. "Focus on the task at hand. Understand that without those three swords, your world would have been destroyed by now, so they are different from yours."

"Secondly, the sword within you should last for about a year, so don’t worry about replacing it immediately. Your priority right now is to practice using the sword," she said and Kai nodded.

Kai was stunned by this new information.

"How can I practice using a sword that's inside my abdomen?" he asked incredulously.

The woman laughed lightly before explaining, "You need to practice using it to kill! The sword is a tool for killing, and only through killing can you truly understand its power. Each time you need to use the sword, learn to summon it within your body."

Kai thought about what she said, and he realized he had no idea how to summon the sword.

"How do I summon a sword out of my abdomen?"

"You should use the same incantation you used to absorb the sword into your body," she advised.

Kai was stunned for a moment. He decided to practice what the mysterious woman had said.

He closed his eyes and stretched out his hands. As he opened his palms, a sharp light flashed within them.

Suddenly, he felt a sword materialize, suspended from his palm. It was the Celestial Ascendant Sword from his body, the sword belonging to the sword lord Li Wei.

"Wow! How is this happening?" Kai asked in awe.

What appeared in his hand wasn't the actual sword—the real one was still in his body, replacing his Elixir Field—but it felt incredibly real, like a perfect clone.

Kai marveled at the sensation. He decided to ask the oracle a question. "Can I summon the actual sword from my body?" he asked.

"Yes," the mysterious woman replied, "but you must never think of doing it."

Kai was puzzled. "Why not?" he asked.

She sighed. "If you use the actual sword for fighting, it might get destroyed. And if it is destroyed, you wouldn’t like the result."

Kai's curiosity piqued. "What would happen?" he began, but the woman interrupted.

"Your life is now bound to the Celestial Ascendant Sword in your body. If it is destroyed, so are you."

Kai nodded, the gravity of the situation sinking in. "When do I start training?" he asked.

"Right now," she replied.

Kai's eyes widened in shock as he watched a part of the shadow in the tower materialize into a huge, aggressive beastly figure.

"Whoa!!" Kai exclaimed in shock as the beast roared at him. He gulped, wondering how he would counter this.

The mysterious woman explained, "The shadow in front of you is at the same level as you, the Qi Varying Realm."

Realizing this, Kai knew the shadowy figure would not be easily defeated. The shadow fighter in front of Kai suddenly vanished. Or rather, it moved incredibly fast, too fast for Kai to follow.

His pupils shrank as he tried to track his opponent, but it moved from position to position with lightning speed.

The shadow attacked Kai with full force, and he dodged quickly. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he felt a sharp pain—his sword had cut him slightly.

He hadn't expected the sword to be capable of cutting him since it was just a copy of the real sword inside him. Blood spilled from his chest where the tip of the sword had grazed him.

The woman then told him, "The sword changes its trajectory automatically due to the position of your enemy."

Kai nodded, understanding why the sword had cut him without his direct command.

"But this is just practice. Why did you make the blade sharp enough to cut me?" he asked.

"And why didn't you teach me any sword skills before engaging me with this shadow warrior?"

The mysterious woman spoke calmly, guiding him. "The most powerful killing moves of a Sword Cultivator can never be learned by practice alone, but by killing. The shadow warrior in front of you is both your enemy and your teacher. If you are smart, it will teach you basic swordsmanship."

"How?" Kai asked.

"Injury is the best teacher," she replied.

Kai nodded, understanding. He slammed his right foot into the ground and rushed forward.

As he continued to fight the shadow warrior, he accumulated more and more injuries, but he didn’t give up.

He had never been afraid of fighting. As the Heir Apparent of Wang's Palace, he often represented the Wangs in life-or-death battles.

This experience had allowed him to resist the Great Elder Feng even when he was only in the Self-Striving Realm. He achieved his realm not by cultivating, but by killing.

Gradually, Kai began to learn the sword moves that the shadow fighter was using against him.

Every time he got injured, he understood why and how he could avoid injury in the future.

After three days of hard struggle, Kai's injuries gradually began to decrease.

While he hadn't mastered any specific sword moves yet, he learned critical lessons: when to draw the sword, when to hold back, when to block, and when to dodge.

These lessons, however, were paid for in blood. The sparring was brutal, but it was also the most effective training he had ever experienced.

Two more days passed…

Now, Kai was able to fight back little by little. As he started to fight back, he found that the defensive ability of the shadow in front of him was not just good but overwhelmingly superior.

Kai, exhausted, called out to the mysterious woman, "Oracle, aren't you going to give me any tips or techniques on how to defeat the shadow fighter? I’m exhausted!"

The mysterious woman gasped in dread. “Don’t ever use a cheat against the shadow fighter during training,” she said to Kai.

“Why? It is just training, why can’t I cheat by having you tell me the way to kill it?” Kai asked her, tired of fighting endlessly.

“The reason why I gave you a shadow fighter to train with is because you cannot get out of the fight by cheating, and in this way, I am sure you must learn,” the mysterious woman said.

“This is the way the shadow fighter works: the more you learn, the more it learns and becomes smarter,” she said, and Kai stopped.

“What do you mean, Oracle?” Kai asked with strained voice.

“If you gradually learn how to defeat it on your own, you will confuse it, so it will not be able to copy your method. But if you are told how to defeat it, it will copy and master the technique before you even think of implementing it,” she said.

“This means the shadow fighter will kill you the moment I tell you how to kill it!” she said, and Kai’s mouth dropped.

“Ahhh!” Kai charged towards the shadow with his sword, pushing all thoughts of finding cheats from his mind.

His sword clashed with that of the shadow fighter, and he fought with everything in him. Kai was aware that time had passed quickly.

He forgot about eating and sleeping, consumed by his practice with the shadow. During this time, his strength, speed, and reaction ability improved significantly. This discovery drove Kai to cultivate more and more intensely.

Kai suddenly heard the mysterious woman’s voice...

“You are almost there, you are getting stronger!” she intoned.

“Is this the final round?” Kai asked as he saw he was close to overpowering the shadow fighter.

“No!” the woman voiced. “There is a tougher challenge awaiting you.”