Evan and Herbert had walked into the house to visit Austin, but as they stepped into the yard, they
were almost whipped in their faces by the sword-lights. It scared them enough to turn around and run
out of the house as fast as they could.
Hiding behind the doorway, they craned their necks to look at the wondrous sight that greeted them.
Feeling emptiness at his hairline, Herbert touched a spot on his forehead. He was astonished to find
that it was clear of hair. The hair had been there minutes ago. But Austin's sword had made sure to
sear off the hair and the scalp from there.
"Oh my God! What kind of martial arts is Austin practicing? He would have killed me if I'd been any
slower to dodge the sword! I'm never coming to his house again, I swear, no matter how badly I'm
threatened," Herbert positively howled.
"You know what Tin is like. He practices like the devil, so engrossed in what he is doing that he doesn't
see anything else. It's just him and his practice. And nobody can help him out of that state but himself,"
Evan said helplessly as he peeked yet again into the yard. Lights were still flashing. Austin was still
brandishing and striking the sword.
After what felt like a long time, and no one really knew how long it was, Austin finally paused. He
stopped swinging his sword and stood there silently, lapsing into a state of meditation.
He occasionally raised his head to look at the skyline. The sun had just started rising, its golden rays
lighting up the Earth and bringing every creature back to life from their deep slumber. Before Austin had
known it, the night was gone, replaced by a welcoming, brand-new day.
Austin smiled, not caring about how much time had passed.
A few days of practice brought Austin a vague idea about how the swordsmanship worked. He didn't
know why, but he sensed that something was going to dawn on him. His mind was going to see a new
life bloom from within. But there was a thick layer of membrane that stood in its way, and whatever was
coming, it only needed a little push to break out of its thin shell. Once the shell broke, something
related to the swordsmanship would appear in his mind.
Austin didn't want to stop at such a critical moment.
The attainment of insights on swordsmanship had much to do with the practitioner's state of mind, a
lucky coincidence, environment and the mood. Now that he had finally come to the stage where he
could gain some insight, he did not want to let all his previous efforts go to waste. If he gave up now, he
didn't know when again he would come this close to comprehending the secrets of this wonderful
swordsmanship.
A smile finally crossed Austin's face. He seemed to have understood something.
Without warning, a mysterious light flashed across his eyes.
A crisp sound rang out in his soul. Pop!
Just the way a new life comes into existence as an egg hatches.
The crisp sound was accompanied by his body spasm, but it wasn't uncomfortable. The feeling was
beyond expression, popping into Austin's soul out of nowhere.
This was followed by Austin's eyes shining like sword lights, sharp and cold like nothing else had ever
been. His eyes seemed to have gained the ability to cut through everything.
At the same time, the aura around Austin had changed quietly, as if he had remolded himself
thoroughly and become a new man.
His entire figure seemed like a treasured sword pulled out of its sheath, its brilliant radiance ready for
everyone to see, and its momentum ready to kill an army of thousands of soldiers. When an idea
crossed his mind, his pupils would brighten and flash lightning-shaped lights.
Was this the sword intent?
Did this mean that he had understood the sword intent?
Austin was no stranger to the sword intent that some warriors possessed. He had fought with several
warriors who had comprehended it. And he had once watched closely how Scott, one with a level three
blade intent, fought.
So as soon as he noticed these changes to his body and mind, Austin knew what was happening.
He was still standing in the same position, sword in hand.
His eyes flickered like two swords. A dark shadow shot out of his eyes and launched itself into the sky.
On its way back down, it cut a tree into two pieces. The cut left on the tree was smooth as a mirror.
Austin stood there, striking a magnificent presence. The momentum that Austin's sword produced
resulted in the surrounding space connecting the vital energy in the air between heaven and earth. And
suddenly, the intangible sword intents were formed, without prior indication. Austin could feel that he
had the ability to control at will the sword intents that gathered around him, and even drive them to
attack his enemy!
He gave a command through the mind power and immediately, the sword intents began a wild dance
around the yard, dashing to their targets and slashing everything they could touch. Formless as they
were, they were unimaginably invincible and sharp.
At the same time, Austin felt that the Violet Royal Sword that he was holding and his soul had become
one. His body had become an integral part of the sword, and the sword seemed indiscernible from his
body.
Austin continued to command his sword intent to destroy the trees and plants around the place. Soon,
he had ravaged the yard, strewing it with broken twigs, torn leaves, and crushed flowers.
As time passed, Austin found that he became more and more skilled at employing the sword intent.
Feeling like he was an extension of the Violet Royal Sword meant that the formless yet powerful sword
intents could attack his enemy even if just his will commanded it.
The sword intents were constantly changing with every movement of the Illusory Swordsmanship. As a
result, the place was enveloped in clouds and mists. What a mysterious scene!
Sword intent!
The mere thought of this excited Austin indescribably.
He was lucky enough to understand everything there was about the sword intent.
And this was level one!
Warriors who had achieved understanding of the sword intent could reach a different realm of
swordsmanship from common swordsmen. To them, their swords were like their arms, and they could
command them to attack opponents in the way they wanted, as person and sword were united as one.
At long last, Austin put the sword back into its sheath. Standing against the wind, sword hanging at his
waist, his pupils occasionally flashed glimmers. It was now his moment to shine. He looked like an
experienced master of swordsmanship who had practiced the art for many years.
He had taken a leap and made a breakthrough. His confidence had taken a massive boost as he, much
to his surprise, cultivated level one of sword intent the very first time he had practiced Illusory
Swordsmanship. It looked like he had some talent in martial arts after all. The growing confidence
made him even more determined to scale the peaks of martial arts.
"Tin, are you done yet?"
"Tin, are you alright?"
Evan and Herbert popped their heads in and looked at Austin. They had checked on Austin multiple
times, to see how he was doing.
And this time, they caught Austin withdrawing his sword, indicating that he might be taking a break.
Fearing that Austin would start another round of practice the next moment, they cried out in concern.
But they still weren't courageous enough to step into the house.
And the scalded part on Herbert's head was still bald. No change there.
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