AI Cultivation: Reborn as a Sword

Chapter 49: Zhu Xuelian (5)

The words from Lan Xiaohui are filled with such a dark and fierce intent that even they contain sword Qi, and they cut deep into Li Fengs heart figuratively and cause him to tremble. Now, Li Feng battles the opposing forces of regret and ironclad pride that he no doubt cultivated by relying on this mysterious Li family.

It is very likely that Li Feng has never met any real opposition and this is made even more obvious by having such followers like Zhao Wei who praise him and hold him in high regard. This is how Li Feng raises his head above the clouds on the praise of others even though his rightful place is nowhere near such a lofty achievement.

His foundation is deep and strong; his Dao is advanced; his treasures are expensive; his experience is solid. But his arrogance is a double-edged sword. Anyone can be domineering and fierce against a weaker opponent.

Yet how many times has Li Feng fought to the death against someone who could be his equal blow for blow?

Lan Xiaohui is different. Compared to Li Feng, only her foundation is lacking. Yet she has fought for her life against stronger opponents, and even spared the weaklings.

She has sharpened her Dao to the point where even her words can cut the inner heart.

Li Feng is only a stepping stone in her eyes. Li Feng is only a transient shadow a cloud passing beneath the sun; leaves falling in the autumn.

Li Feng shouts and pours his Qi into his damaged treasure, he even burns his life essence to do so and inadvertently reverses his cultivation in the process for a brief moment. I understand why. This may damage his future, but if he dies here, he will have no future left.

I feel an ember of excitement build within me. Whether it is mine or Lan Xiaohuis, I cannot tell. Perhaps both.

[Heaven - Sword] North Star Radiance

[Analysis: Learned [North Star Sword Formation]. Heaven Grade martial art. Mastery: 1% ]

I am surprised that I manage to comprehend the martial art that Li Feng practices after only seeing three moves, but when I consider how deep my Dao is, it is not that strange. I do not care for it. It is a style that is not suitable for Lan Xiaohui and I cannot use it.

The Qi inside Li Fengs sword bubbles up and out of the chip in the blade, falling onto the ground like a gelatinous blob of black mass. I cannot imagine that a technique with such an auspicious name like North Star Radiance would produce such an ugly side-effect. Whether Li Feng himself notices it or not is unclear to me. All I feel from him is rage and disbelief, and an insatiable desire to kill Lan Xiaohui.

Her eyes are still closed, yet she can see everything through me. She sees all the weaknesses in Li Feng and now, with my further understanding of his martial art, I point out the root bone of his stance.

The [Heartless Blood Lily] sword method is a profound technique with a strong affinity for Yin energy. It yields when it must yield. It nourishes when it must grow. The blood lily is an inextinguishable existence that drinks blood and bathes in the moonlight for it exists in a place where neither sun nor rain will nourish it. Over a thousand years, its petals become like swords and sever the lily from the cycle of life and death.

I know that Lan Xiaohui has been practicing this method for a long time, seeking a way to employ the techniques it contains. But in order to learn them, she had to sharpen her sword Qi her intent and her soul force. Every day, she processed corpses with nothing but her weak sword Qi and she struggled to survive in a harsh environment without relying on anything but herself and her sword. Just like the lily.

She picked a good name for herself.

As Li Feng jumps into the air, Lan Xiaohui lowers her stance once more, reducing the area that Li Feng can strike. As he approaches, I can see why the technique bears such a name, because his sword energy blankets the sky above in white and blue, while the tip glows with an intense brilliance like the North Star!

Sword Qi bursts from my vessel and forms a layer across my metal and jade skin, scintillating and pulsing with incredibly compressed sword Qi and sword energy.

Lan Xiaohui brings her sword up and places her hand against the middle of my fuller and braces herself for the impact.

Li Fengs sword strikes the tip of my vessel square on, and the shroud of Qi and sword energy washes out from the blade, billowing out like dragons breath. Yet it cannot reach Lan Xiaohui neither the energy, nor his sword.

Then, Li Fengs sword slides off my tip and casts brilliant sparks as it cuts across my surface on the opposite side of Lan Xiaohuis hand.

The blow is so powerful, Lan Xiaohuis feet sink slightly into the ground.

Li Fengs eyes widen.

Heartless Blood Lily, Lan Xiaohui whispers. Autumn-Severing Petals.

In the burst of energy and sword Qi that takes the shape of black and red lily petals, Li Fengs severed head appears briefly and is then annihilated by the surrounding cluster of sword Qi. The top of his body is torn to shreds by such forces that it appears as if it is melting away under Lan Xiaohuis horizontal slash.

My aperture opens at that moment, and I do not resist it. I want to devour a living cultivator.

Immediately, I feel an influx of powerful life essence as Li Fengs body properly melts away this time, disappearing like black smoke within my gleaming black jade. I feel a sensation similar to enlightenment or insight, and distant memories rush through my sea of consciousness as Li Fengs is devoured.

[ Life consumed: 2,351 BP ]

[ Life Devourer (Trait - Emperor) ->World Eater (Talent - Immortal) ]

Many things happen at once.

A new array appears on my core but before I get a chance to divert my attention to it, Li Fengs ring falls to the ground, trembles, and then spills forth a sea of materials, manuals and various treasures. Immediately, all of these begin to float towards my open aperture, passing through the new array on my core. They are instantly annihilated and besides the black blob that appears inside my sea of consciousness, I also feel improvements to my soul perception, sea of consciousness and even my [Critical Analysis] talent.

At the same time, Zhao Wei shouts: Demon! Demonic arts! You are a but before he gets to finish the sentence, Lan Xiaohui pierces his throat with my vessel.

This time, even with my aperture open, his body does not dissolve or turn into blood points. The spatial ring I once compared myself to is ripped to shreds, and flows into my aperture. Good. How dare it be higher grade than my array?

I can tell that deciphering all of this will likely induce another headache, so I go ahead and purchase the [Nooparallelism] talent so I can leave the headache part to a sub-process.