Qin Yun woke up after a short nap.
He sat up and looked at the effects of the howling mountain winds in a daze.
“I actually cried myself to sleep,” muttered Qin Yun. “I do not have the luxury of time to drown my misery in alcohol. I just needed to momentarily get it off my chest. I have to continue thinking of a way to obtain the last gauntlet.”
Qin Yun stood up and turned to return to the wooden hut he had built in the mountains. It was where he was residing during this period of time.
Even while he was traveling the Great Chang world or infiltrating the fiendcelestial-ruled Great Chu world, Qin Yun never stopped cultivating.
He practiced his sword, his calligraphy… As long as nothing held him up, he would persist every day.
Therefore, over the past ten plus years, his Sword Dao’s realm was constantly increasing. Six years ago, he created Bright Moon Cold Nights, the third move of his Dreamlike Sword. With that, his strength finally matched that of the peak third Firmament Essence Soul realm. Three years ago, he created the fourth move of the Dreamlike Sword, Waning Waxing Moons. It further enhanced his strength and with it, Qin Yun could even repress Old Master Chu.
“Hu! Hu! Hu!”
Qin Yun habitually practiced his swordplay every morning.
He stopped after two hours of sword practice. The, he cast his Eye of Lightning to observe the situation in the distant Fiendcelestial Jiwu’s cave abode. Following that, he would flip through many ancient tomes in a bid to find an opportunity for treasure.
In the afternoon, he would begin practicing his calligraphy.
Every stroke of his calligraphy corresponded to a sword move. His calligraphy practice was therefore another form of Sword Dao cultivation. Qin Yun would similarly practice his calligraphy for two hours a day.
…
On the twelfth day of Qin Yun taking up residence in the mountains, he began his daily calligraphy practice as usual.
As he wrote…
“Only he is left to fly over those solemn thousands of miles of clouds and snowy mountains alone!” After writing the poem, Qin Yun stopped.
Every stroke was a sword move and each word was an entire set of sword arts. There were eighteen words… Yet, they contained an extremely powerful sword intent that matched Qin Yun’s state of mind.
“Hum–”
The eighteen words resonated with one another as a sword intent was born. It even made the surrounding world faintly resonate in response.
Desolateness, coldness, lonely solitude…
A powerful sword intent froze on the sheet of paper. It was discernible to the naked eye as it influenced the surrounding world. Thankfully, the area was enveloped by the Two World Picture. The commotion was completely masked.
“This sword intent?” Qin Yun felt inspired as he strode out of the wooden hut. Flipping his hand, he grasped the Misty Rain Sword and began demonstrating his sword techniques.
Sword flashes swirled all around him. The sword moves were originally rather complicated but gradually they tightened up. The sword intent grew stronger and was even more perfect than the sword intent on the paper.
After practicing for ten minutes, his wits turned keener due to this run of luck. His sword moves completely amalgamated as one.
With a backhand, he thrust with his sword.
This strike had the solitary feeling of traveling alone.
The strike also contained immense indignation, wrath, sadness, and all sorts of other emotions.
This strike seemed like it could tear open the world, causing the world to submit to him.
Qin Yun withdrew his sword and stood there. He muttered, “Although the world is huge, where else can I go? This strike is indeed infused with the Sword Dao insights and feelings I have had over the recent years. Its strength is another level above the fourth move of the Dreamlike Sword. This strike can even repress the world itself. It has even gained an inkling of the charm of ‘A Sword Forming a Grotto-heaven By Itself.’ However, it is just slightly short of what it could be.”
“Once it truly reaches harmonized perfection, the Sword Dao will be complete and flawless. Only then will it form a Grotto-heaven of its own.”
“This strike of mine is too rich in hate and bloodlust. Although it’s powerful, there’s too much prejudice. However, it has come close to the level of a Skyimmortal. Once my Sword Dao reaches harmonized perfection, my realm will allow me to match a Skyimmortal! My Dao domain will also increase to span fifty kilometers,” thought Qin Yun.
It was indeed very difficult to expand a Dao domain to fifty kilometers.
For inmove, Patriarch Yi and Patriarch Zhongli, who were both peak third Firmament Essence Soul realm existences, were trapped at that bottleneck. To truly attain perfection in their Dao was very difficult. It had to do with culminating their insights regularly and also the cultivation path they took. For example, some cultivation paths were sidetracked from the beginning! To attain perfection and become a Skyimmortal on such a deviated path? It was not impossible as the Heavenly Dao would always leave behind a tiny opportunity. However, the likelihood was very, very small.
Qin Yun was the kind that was perfect the moment he stepped into the Dao. His foundation was flawless.
Bright Moon Cold Nights, Waning Waxing Moons, and the newly created strike all reached the peak third Firmament Essence Soul realm. It was a slow progress to strengthening them. And now, with the newest strike coming close to that of a Skyimmortal, his strength could repress the world. The destructive force was extremely powerful and it was not far from forming a Grotto-heaven by itself.
His cultivation met no obstacles due to his perfect path.
Of course, it was relative.
It was easier cultivating early on but the cultivation would only become more difficult later.
…
Qin Yun waved his hand again and released his flying sword, practicing the strike he had just figured out.
He wanted to improve it to make it even more perfect.
He could use this opportunity to have a strength that reached the Skyimmortal realm. But after practicing for another two hours, the sky gradually darkened. Qin Yun also came to a stop.
“I’ll name the fifth move of the Dreamlike Sword Traveling in Solitude,” muttered Qin Yun softly. “I wish for a day when I no longer need to travel in solitude.”
“Since I have created the fifth move, I should take a risk.”
Qin Yun’s eyes flickered with a keen beam. “Just this fifth move alone will not be able to kill Jiwu in a short period of time. I have to rely on the Grotto-heaven Sword Calabash!”
He flipped his hand, producing the Grotto-heaven Sword Calabash.
“I will switch all the Sword Qi contained in the Grotto-heaven Sword Calabash to the Sword Qi from Dreamlike Sword’s fifth move, Traveling in Solitude,” thought Qin Yun. “If I do that, once the million Sword Qi inside the Grotto-heaven Sword Calabash is switched… the power it can produce will nearly double. It’s already very powerful so if it doubles… it will be like the final straw that breaks the camel’s back. I should have a chance of killing him in one shot.”
“I wouldn’t dare say for sure but I’m thinking it’s a seventy percent chance of success.”
“I’ll risk it.”
“If I succeed, I can leave with the treasure.”
“If I fail… I can only escape to my homeworld and wait till my strength improves again before I make further plans,” thought Qin Yun. He knew that if he failed in his attack, the enemy would likely hand over the gauntlet to a particular Skyfiend Monarch! If that happened, even if his strength improved greatly in the future, the chances of obtaining the gauntlet would be very low.”
Therefore, this might be his only opportunity.
“To switch all the Sword Qi in the Grotto-heaven Sword Calabash, I will need a year.” Qin Yun looked at the calabash and thought, “Perhaps my strength will improve again within a year’s time? I might actually match the Skyimmortal realm?”
******
Clearly, the Skyimmortal realm was not that easily attained.
Although he came infinitesimally close, he was ultimately a little short of harmonious perfection because he only had deeper insights.
However, Qin Yun understood that he was constantly improving. There would come a day when he would achieve it naturally.
Over the next year, Qin Yun resided in the mountain and constantly infused Sword Qi into the Grotto-heaven Sword Calabash. The Sword Qi was that of the Dreamlike Sword’s Traveling in Solitude. Of course, just Sword Qi alone was lacking in strength. But with the addition of a million Sword Qi, the number was a massive one. Furthermore, it combined with the array formation within the Grotto-heaven Sword Calabash, causing a qualitative change.
Although he prepared that one strike for a year, it was Qin Yun’s most terrifying attack.
The seasons passed and in a blink of an eye, it was autumn once again.
Qin Yun had spent more than a year in the Great Chu world.
Whoosh! Sword Qi flew out from Qin Yun’s body. It contained the sword intent of Traveling in Solitude, every bit of it containing a horrifying might! It constantly flew into the bronze calabash in front of Qin Yun and was taken in by its internal array formation.
“The accumulation is done.”
Qin Yun finally stopped as he looked at the bronze calabash in delight.