Chapter 133: Terrifying Sword Pointed

Xu Xiaoshou was startled by his own brilliant idea. He took a deep breath, calming himself, and began to recall everything he knew about "Sword Mastery." His sword intent had originated from this knowledge, and he wondered if he could still gain some crucial insight from "Sword Mastery" at this very moment.

"It's a pity," he mused, "if only I could upgrade it, even just one level. With a targeted approach, the problem would likely resolve itself immediately!" Each upgrade of "Sword Mastery" brought a wealth of knowledge, providing answers to almost every problem he encountered at his current stage. He could only absorb a small portion of it at a time, but it had always been sufficient. Unfortunately, "Tier 2 Skill Points" were still grayed out, making them unavailable for purchase, and thus preventing any shortcuts.

Xu Xiaoshou didn't lose heart. He spent a good half-day cross-referencing, and while he didn't find a direct solution, he also found nothing in his existing knowledge that contradicted his new idea.

"Perhaps, an 'inside-out' approach is indeed a new path!"

"Let's do this!"

Leaping into the Blackfall Waterfall once more, Xu Xiaoshou didn't immediately activate his sword intent. Instead, he fully immersed himself, carefully experiencing the white sword energy as it struck him. As the fine sword energy sliced down, one streak unexpectedly seemed to miss its mark, veering off to the side. Then came the second, the third... Soon after, a dense barrage of sword energy rained down from above Xu Xiaoshou, yet it crisscrossed and deflected, completely unable to harm him in the slightest.

Xu Xiaoshou's eyes remained tightly shut, but he could barely contain his joy. This was sword intent! He had only subtly employed a hint of the "Parry Sword Style" concept, and already, the sword energy couldn't touch him! Indeed... The masked man had been right; no one would dare to use a sword against someone who had truly mastered sword intent. Because "your sword is my sword"!

Suppressing his elation, Xu Xiaoshou, having now experienced the true power of intent, realized that "intent" might indeed be far more potent than the "form" of fixed techniques. He attempted once more to project his intent, from within his body to its surface. Yet, that short distance, from inside his body to his skin, seemed to become an insurmountable chasm at that moment. Xu Xiaoshou sighed inwardly, realizing he had become too greedy.

He once again deflected the white sword energy, ensuring it wouldn't distract him, and continued his comprehension. The immense pressure of the Blackfall water returned, but without the disruption of the sword energy, Xu Xiaoshou swiftly entered a profound state of enlightenment. It felt like an instant, yet also an eternity. He saw a serene illusion of white clouds, the same scene he had witnessed when he first comprehended his acquired sword intent.

"My intent!"

As the gentle white clouds reappeared, Xu Xiaoshou felt incredibly light. Despite bearing the immense weight of the water, he felt as if he were floating among the clouds. With a thought, "Hidden Suffering" whistled forth!

"Whoosh—"

The entire Blackfall Cliff trembled violently, like a tiger provoked, its boundless rage manifesting as an instantaneous deluge of white sword energy. *Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!* All missed!

Xu Xiaoshou's eyes snapped open, and he ascended rapidly. In that instant, heaven and earth quaked, the void hummed, spiritual energy roared like dragons, surging directly into his Qi Sea. His sword intent, meanwhile, emerged lazily, like silk and mist. White wisps of energy began to emanate from Xu Xiaoshou. He seemed to glimpse the Grand Dao, yet as all paths converged, only a black sword remained in his vision.

His pupils refocused, and the scene returned. He saw the enraged Blackfall Cliff relentlessly unleashing sword energy at him, but his "White Cloud Intent" simply swept it up, holding it suspended for a brief moment. The white, silken mist emanating from his body diffused across his skin, gradually blurring, and then vanished.

Xu Xiaoshou, however, was overcome with wild joy.

"Mind Power!"

"Pah... just ordinary mind power! It's here!"

Xu Xiaoshou shot out of the Blackfall Waterfall, halting in mid-air, and held up two fingers. Mind Power... This was something invisible, yet unmistakably palpable. These were just two ordinary fingers, yet when Xu Xiaoshou traced them through the air, a magnificent and terrifying sword energy sliced across the void, a power comparable to his "Sword Drawing Style"!

"Boom!"

The sword energy cleaved into the Blackfall Waterfall, parting the heavy water, which was held suspended in the void for a breath before finally falling again.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!..."

Xu Xiaoshou's ten fingers tore through the air, striking upwards, miraculously causing the Blackfall Waterfall to reverse its flow, and it was quite a while before the water curtain finally resumed its downward plunge.

"Holy moly!"

"No wonder they say you don't need fixed sword techniques! Once this sword intent takes shape, what need is there for set moves? Any random flick of a finger becomes a 'Sword Drawing Style'!"

Xu Xiaoshou felt he had made a significant breakthrough in his understanding of the Sword Dao. Yet, strangely, while his realm of Innate Sword Intent hadn't advanced, his comprehension of the "Dao" itself had deepened profoundly. He recalled the masked man's repeated emphasis on the "Innate Level" that day. Perhaps, he truly hadn't been lying? True innateness meant integrating with heaven and earth! And true Sword Finger meant the finger was the sword, and the sword was the finger!

Xu Xiaoshou took "Hidden Suffering," and with a casual swipe, a sky-rending sword energy vanished into the clouds. He then checked his Qi Sea. After so many attacks, he only felt a slight mental fatigue; his spiritual essence... hadn't diminished in the slightest! Ecstasy, shock, and a whirlwind of other emotions surged through him.

It was then that Xu Xiaoshou realized: the path of true "pure sword intent combat" required no spiritual essence at all. His earlier uses of "Sword Drawing Style," which had depleted his spiritual essence, had actually been a deviation, yet he hadn't realized it at all. He hadn't recognized the true path, simply because he was immersed within it!

Xu Xiaoshou marveled, retracting "Hidden Suffering" and gazing at his ten fingers. It was only upon cultivating the "Ten-Segment Sword Finger" that he finally understood: what he called "ordinary mind power" was in fact a unique form existing between intent and sword energy. It was equally formless, yet possessed substance! Its substance lay not in its posture, but in its manifestation.

Simply put, it was like the attacks he had just performed... When his mind was still, sword intent was sword intent, and his ten fingers were merely fingers. But with a single thought, sword intent transformed into mind power, and his ten fingers became swords. And the manifestation of this "mind power" was, in fact, "qi"! His previous path had not only confused "intent" and "qi," but it had also completely bypassed the intermediary "mind power." The consequence was that "intent" and "qi" drifted further and further apart, unable to reconnect.

He flicked his fingers, marveling aloud. To think that mere "ordinary mind power" could possess such terrifying power! In a sense, his ten fingers, imbued with this "ordinary mind power," were already sharper than "Hidden Suffering."

"This 'Ten-Segment Sword Finger' is incredibly powerful!"

"But the truly stronger one is the Eighth Sword Immortal! How much imagination and genius does it take to conceive and successfully implement something so formidable?"

Xu Xiaoshou sighed in humble admiration, then instinctively lowered his head, intending to land. Land on the ground? "Holy crap, I'm airborne?!"

Xu Xiaoshou was utterly stunned. It was then he noticed that the spiritual energy gathering around him from heaven and earth was no longer gentle as before, but had coalesced into a spiritual cocoon. It was like moths relentlessly drawn to a flame, desperately surging into him! He seemed to grasp something significant, and the situation didn't last long, confirming his intuition... His Qi Sea trembled, and his spiritual essence seemed poised to condense into a core!

"Has... has Innate arrived?"