203: Chapter 202 The Sixth-Order Destiny is Within Reach!!

The pressure was so strong, fierce, and domineering that his Divine Sense was instantly knocked back three zhang!

He grunted, a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

But he didn't open his eyes.

He just locked onto that sword mark, those seven flowing lights, and deep within that light, that flickering—

Sword Intent brand.

Deep within his Sea of Consciousness, the Heart Blade vibrated gently.

On the dark-gold blade, those winding, dragon-like patterns suddenly lit up!

The Heart Blade turned into a dark-gold stream of light, streaking out from the Sea of Consciousness to protect his Divine Sense, weakening and neutralizing the pressure surging from the sword mark layer by layer!

Simultaneously, deep within his Dantian, that three-colored flame slowly ignited.

Dark gold, dark red, and invisible—the three colors intertwined, slowly approaching the sword mark under the guidance of his Divine Sense.

Samadhi True Fire.

He wanted to use the Samadhi True Fire to trigger the Sword Intent brand within that sword mark.

The flame drew closer and closer, until finally—

Contact.

At the moment of contact—

The seven flowing lights abruptly stopped rotating!

They suspended there quietly, as if sensing something, confirming something, waiting for something.

And then—

Those seven lights lit up simultaneously!

Crimson, azure, brilliant, emerald, earthy yellow, pale white, and dark—the seven-colored lights erupted at this moment, illuminating the entire sword mark as if it were broad daylight!

Deep within the sword mark, that flickering Sword Intent brand finally emerged.

It was a phantom.

An extremely illusory, blurry phantom that was barely more than an outline.

It was the outline of an old man.

He stood with his hands behind his back, surrounded by seven-colored lights that intertwined and spiraled, condensing into a massive sword shadow behind him.

The sword shadow was ten zhang tall and completely transparent, its surface covered in countless fine patterns, each flowing with a different True Intent.

Sword Intent brand.

A trace of a brand left in the sword mark by the Sect Founding Ancestor.

The brand slowly turned around and looked toward Jiang Hanzhou.

Those eyes, though illusory and merely a trace of a lingering thought, made Jiang Hanzhou's Divine Soul tremble violently!

In that gaze, there was no killing intent, no pressure, not even any emotion.

Only calmness.

A calmness like looking at a stone, a tree, or a cloud.

But it was this very calmness that made Jiang Hanzhou realize what a true—

Gap was.

It was a fundamental gap, like an ant looking up at the sky, or a stream facing the ocean.

His Samadhi True Fire, before that Sword Intent brand, was like a firefly before the bright moon.

But he did not retreat.

He only pushed his Samadhi True Fire, making it burn more fiercely and the three-colored light more brilliant.

The Sword Intent brand looked at him and remained silent for a long time.

Then—

It raised its right hand.

That right hand was as illusory as smoke, yet it condensed an indescribable power.

It extended its index finger and tapped lightly.

The moment that finger tapped—

Seven lights surged wildly from its fingertip!

Crimson, azure, brilliant, emerald, earthy yellow, pale white, and dark—the seven-colored lights intertwined and transformed into a rainbow sword light, streaking toward Jiang Hanzhou!

The sword light wasn't fast; one could even say it was slow.

Slow enough that Jiang Hanzhou could clearly see its trajectory and perceive its every momentary change.

But it was this very sword—

That left him with no way to evade and no way to block.

Because that sword sealed off all his retreats and all his possibilities.

No matter which direction he dodged, that sword would strike him with precision.

No matter how he tried to block, that sword would easily pierce through his defenses.

This was a crushing force from a higher dimension.

He could only watch helplessly as the sword light drew closer and closer—

And then, it pierced into his forehead.

At the moment of penetration—

There was no pain.

No sensation at all.

Only countless images flooded into his Sea of Consciousness like a tide!

They were memory fragments of an old man.

He was born into insignificance and grew up in a chaotic world; he lost his father in childhood, his mother in youth, his wife in young adulthood, and his son in middle age.

A life of hardship, a life of loneliness.

But he never gave up.

He cultivated the way of the sword, starting from the most basic sword moves, tempering every stroke and stance a thousand times over.

He comprehended True Intent, starting from the simplest entry-level, repeatedly pondering every intent and realm.

He fused various methods, starting from the simplest attempts, moving forward with difficulty, step by step.

One hundred years.

Two hundred years.

Three hundred years.

It took him three hundred years to finally condense the first sword light of Fused True Intent.

In five hundred years, he fused three types of True Intent.

In eight hundred years, he fused five types of True Intent.

In a thousand years, he fused seven types of True Intent and stepped into the Peak of the Mysterious Glimpse Realm.

Within those memory fragments were his insights from every Fusion of True Intent, his joy at every Breakthrough of a Bottleneck, his determination when facing powerful enemies, and his struggles when on the brink of death.

Those insights, those experiences, those truths of the way of the sword condensed over a thousand years—

At this moment, they were madly flooding into the depths of Jiang Hanzhou's Sea of Consciousness!

His body was trembling.

Not because of pain, but because—

It was too much.

Too much.

So much that his Sea of Consciousness could barely withstand it.

Just then—

A line of text that only he could see suddenly appeared before his eyes:

[host's Martial Arts Comprehension accumulation increased by: 3,000 years.]

[Current Martial Arts Comprehension accumulation: 5,400 years / 6,000 years.]

The moment that text appeared, the images flooding into his Sea of Consciousness abruptly stopped.

Those images, those memory fragments, those insights into the way of the sword—they had now completely merged into the depths of his Sea of Consciousness, becoming a part of his own comprehension.

He understood.

He understood the methods the Sect Founding Ancestor used to fuse seven types of True Intent, his choices during each Fusion, his adaptations when facing different enemies, and his resolve at the edge of death.

Those methods were not Cultivation Techniques or Secret Manuals, but the true "Dao."

They were the truths of the way of the sword condensed from a thousand years of cultivation.

And he was currently standing before that threshold.

Just one more step and he could touch that door—

The door to the Fusion of True Intent.

He opened his eyes.

Seven lights shot out from his eyes and struck the cliff wall in front of him, leaving seven deep holes.

Those seven holes flickered with crimson, azure, brilliant, emerald, earthy yellow, pale white, and dark light respectively.

The seven-colored lights flashed and vanished in his eyes.

He looked down at his hands.

His hands were still intact, but he could sense that the memory fragments that had just merged into the depths of his Sea of Consciousness were slowly fusing with his three types of True Intent.

The Fusion process was extremely slow, so slow it was almost imperceptible.

But it was indeed fusing.

He looked up at the twenty-third sword mark.

Deep within the sword mark, the seven lights had returned to calmness, flowing quietly as if everything that had just happened was merely an illusion.

But the Sword Intent brand had disappeared.

It had fulfilled its mission.

Passing down a thousand years of the way of the sword to a descendant.

Jiang Hanzhou stood up and gave a solemn bow.

"Thank you, Senior."

Then, he turned and walked down the Lijian Cliff.

Behind him, the twenty-third sword mark still stood quietly, shimmering with a faint seven-colored light under the sun.

It was the light of Legacy.

And the light of hope.