Eternal God Emperor: Only I Am Emperor One

Chapter 97 Questioning the Sword Heart
After obtaining the wordless sword manual from the old woman, Di Yi began to study it on his own.

The wordless sword manual is the highest inheritance of swordsmanship left by the Sword Ancestor. It has always been kept in the Sword Pavilion and is the most precious treasure of Tai Chi Dao.

The Sword Pavilion is currently located within the Two Elements Sect and is temporarily under the sect's supervision.

Although the Sword Pavilion is the most precious treasure of the Tai Chi Dao, any sword cultivator from the Kunlun Realm who has reached the level of a half-saint has the opportunity to participate in the once-in-a-century Sword Debate Conference and enter the Sword Pavilion to comprehend the wordless sword manual.

Therefore, the cultivation method of the wordless sword manual is widely spread in the Kunlun Realm, and it is something that every sword cultivator at the semi-saint level must comprehend.

The wordless sword manual contains only sword incantations, not sword techniques. Unlike any other swordsmanship or martial arts, it has no specific moves but represents a state of being, a lineage that points directly to the origin of swordsmanship.

Emperor Yi had practiced swordsmanship for many years and his skill in swordsmanship could be considered to have reached a high level. However, after comprehending the wordless sword manual, he felt as if he were a frog at the bottom of a well.

Sword One is a process of self-discovery, of understanding the meaning of the sword in one's hand. It is both the opening chapter of the wordless sword manual and the foundation for the future path of swordsmanship.

Inside the courtyard, Di Yi used the Crow Cry Sword to demonstrate all the sword techniques he had learned, from the Heavenly Heart Sword Technique to the Fish Intestine Sword Technique, and then to the Underworld King Sword Technique. He practiced each move and stance countless times.

After three days of this, he had mastered the first level of Sword One and officially embarked on the path of swordsmanship.

He practiced swordsmanship for three days, and the old woman in green quietly watched him for three days until Di Yi made some progress and stopped on his own. Only then did she speak.

"Your comprehension is not bad, but your sword is indecisive, neither righteous nor evil, and it feels awkward in every way. There are ten levels of swordsmanship. If you want to cultivate swordsmanship to perfection, the first thing is to understand why you are wielding the sword in your hand."

Di Yi, who had been feeling rather smug, was stunned by her question.

Why is the sword in his hand being swung?
This was a question he had never considered: Was it to kill the enemy? To protect himself? Or for something else?
For a moment, he felt somewhat lost.

He looked up at the old woman in green, who said that his sword was neither righteous nor evil, and that he was indecisive. For a moment, Di Yi was unable to refute her.

He was not a bloodthirsty person by nature. If he had a choice, he might not have wanted to become a member of the black market and be labeled as a member of the evil path.

He was quite fond of the Heavenly Heart Sword Technique, a righteous sword technique of the Yin-Yang Sect, and he also felt that he should cultivate the Underworld King Sword Technique, a heretical sword technique with strong black market characteristics, in order to demonstrate his own stance.

No one wants to live in the sunlight, but light cannot illuminate every corner. Where there is light, there will be darkness, which is a paradox in itself.

Am I really a heretic?

Di Yi examined his conscience, caught in a process of self-affirmation, and the light of the sword heart in his dantian gradually dimmed.

The old woman in green simply watched him quietly without uttering another word. To understand the sword, one must first understand the heart. If one wants to go far on the path of swordsmanship, this is a hurdle that must be overcome, and one can only rely on oneself; no one else can help.

All she could do was point out the potential dangers to Di Yi before they escalated into a major disaster.

If he can't overcome this hurdle, Di Yi will find it difficult to achieve great things on the path of swordsmanship in the future. But once he overcomes it, mastering swordsmanship will be no problem for him.

Half an hour later, the dim sword heart in Di Yi's sea of ​​consciousness once again shone with brilliant sword intent, even more brilliantly than before. It represented a further advancement in swordsmanship, reaching the peak of sword heart clarity.

With his breakthrough in swordsmanship, Di Yi's entire demeanor changed, as if he had transformed into an indestructible holy sword, cleaving through the confusion ahead.

Whether it's good or evil, it's just an outsider's perspective.

People judge heroes by their success or failure. How many people care whether a true strongman follows the righteous path or the evil path?

"It seems you've figured out why you're wielding that sword?" the old woman asked.

Di Yi came to his senses and nodded with a smile: "I think I've figured it out. I don't have the magnanimity to embrace all things, nor do I want to be a hero who can turn the tide and save the world. With the sword in my hand, I only want to be free and unrestrained."

"Unrestrained and carefree?" The old woman sighed and shook her head. "It's easier said than done. There are always higher heavens and more capable people. Rules are everywhere. Who can truly be carefree? Even the way of the sword itself cannot escape the constraints of rules. In my opinion, your vision is no simpler than embracing all rivers."

"Rules or shackles, since they exist, there must be a way to sever them." Di Yi's thoughts were clearer than ever before. He was not Zhang Ruochen, nor the Spirit of Heaven, and he had no grand ambition to save all living beings in the myriad worlds. If Hai Na Bai Chuan cultivated the sword of heaven and earth, the sword of all living beings, then the freedom and unrestrained ease he desired was cultivated through the sword of his own body. He sought to sever the shackles and chains with a single sword, so that heaven and earth could be free from all constraints.

"Now that you have come to understand yourself, this old woman doesn't have much more to teach you. You can study Jianyi's sword technique on your own. I will come to guide you once every ten days." After saying this, the old woman in green walked out of the courtyard and disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.

Di Yi sheathed his sword and stopped practicing Sword One. After realizing his true nature, he had many insights and some ideas about his future cultivation. He needed to sort out his own martial arts path.

Upon closer examination, he discovered that he was now cultivating quite a few sacred paths.

The claw path corresponding to the Hell Demon King's Claw.

The palm technique corresponding to the Dragon Elephant Prajna Palm.

The Dark Martial Soul corresponds to the Dark Path.

The Flowing Light Flying Rainbow Escape Technique corresponds to the Flowing Light Path.

The primordial Dao corresponding to the Divine Lotus and the 'True' inheritance obtained from the Heavenly Gang Yuan Chen Token.

Darkness, origin, and truth all belong to the ancient path. If one can comprehend the corresponding sacred rules and integrate them into one's martial soul during the Fish-Dragon Realm, it will bring unimaginable benefits to future cultivation. One must never give up easily.

The Way of Flowing Light corresponds to movement speed. After obtaining the Wordless Sword Manual, the Way of the Sword became Emperor Yi's strongest martial arts offensive method.

In comparison, the methods of claws and palms seem less important.

However, every sacred path cultivated by the Emperor has its important value, and it would be inappropriate to lack any one of them.

After some thought, Di Yi made a decision.

"For the next period of time, I will mainly focus on comprehending the wordless sword manual and improving my cultivation. Once I reach the fourth transformation of the Fish-Dragon, I will be able to open the Yuan Chen Sumeru World-Stabilizing Banner and have twelve times the cultivation time. At that time, I will have more time to comprehend the other sacred paths and cultivate martial arts."

The fourth transformation of the Fish-Dragon is called the Yinqiao Sacred Vein. As the name suggests, it involves opening up a sacred vein within the body, connecting it to the Qi Sea, and transforming martial arts true qi into sacred qi, thus truly beginning to step into the realm of the sacred path.

It can be said that only by stepping into the fourth transformation of the Fish-Dragon can one truly break free from the limitations of mortals.

Opening a sacred vein is a difficult and dangerous task. It is usually guided by a semi-saint or a saint to help the next generation open their first sacred vein.

Emperor Yi was born with the Five Elements Sacred Body, possessing five sacred veins within his body. However, as his sacred body was sealed, these five sacred veins also became hidden.

Therefore, the cultivation of the Sacred Body in the Fish-Dragon Realm is much easier than that of the Mortal Body. Only after entering the Fish-Dragon Realm will the Sacred Body's power gradually begin to be revealed.

……

In the time that followed, besides studying the first sword technique, Di Yi refined the Golden Divine Mushroom, attempting to break through to the fourth transformation of the Fish-Dragon.

In his spare time, he also began to ponder the divine script of the character '真' in his sea of ​​consciousness.

Even with the help of the True Source Demon Eye, Di Yi could only see the most superficial part of this divine script and comprehend some of the simplest ways to use it.

He tried to control the true energy in his body to condense into the shape of the divine character '真' (zhen, meaning true) and was surprised to find that the speed of the circulation of the true energy in his body, the martial arts skills he used to perform, and even his own comprehension all increased several times in a short period of time.

This single word, "truth," acted like a universal enhancer, temporarily boosting every aspect of Emperor One.

The seemingly simple effect was truly extraordinary, which made Di Yi even more convinced that the divine script of the character '真' contained a lineage of truth.

(End of this chapter)