AI Cultivation: Reborn as a Sword

A multi-colored blossom impacts my edge and crumbles apart, sliced into dozens of smaller pieces. It releases a small mote of gold light as it disappears — pure sword Qi!

Lan Xiaohui dashes forward, her footsteps cracking the black rock beneath wherever she steps under the influence of [Vanishing Moon Steps].

Wu Yulan also dashes forward, bursts of pristine white Qi appearing around her feet as she rushes to meet my owner head-on, their collision course no longer avoidable.

Black and white energy swirls into the air as their swords collide producing a high-pitched plink sound, like two crystals impacting each other. This is followed by the sound of metal grinding against metal.

Sparks shower between them as they lean against each other’s force, swords locked together in a cross shape. Wu Yulan’s bun unravels and comes undone as the combined sword energy creates powerful vortices in the air around them.

The black rocks, as if resonating with this sword energy, begin to glow brighter and change colors.

Wu Yulan’s sword Qi is so pure and powerful that even I find it impressive — it is levels beyond Lan Xiaohui’s control level and hers is already advanced enough to be considered an elite; as Hu Yan put it: worthy of being a Core Disciple in any sect on this continent.

There is a look of elation on both their expressions as they measure each other’s strength with that first exchange of strikes.

Who is Wu Yulan? How is her sword Qi so profound and powerful? The same questions arise in Lan Xiaohui’s heart, but that is not all that glows in her heart. There is now only one way to learn more and my owner is eager to learn; my flower is eager to converse with Wu Yulan through her swordsmanship.

At the same time, they lean back, gaining a step of distance from each other. Lan Xiaohui’s swordsmanship is by far superior to Wu Yulan’s and she puts it to use by immediately striking three times in quick succession at her opponent — each one from difficult angles.

White and blue energy shrouds Wu Yulan, and each time my vessel plows through the field of energy, my velocity stalls just enough for the white-haired girl to parry each strike. This overwhelming sea of sword Qi and energy is impressively thick, but I can taste its finer details on my edge as I part through the veil. It is not just thick, but incredibly precise and fine; each particle of Qi is crafted from a powerful Dao and Intent.

Wu Yulan, despite her looks, is strong!

The white-haired girl shifts her footing, even as she is forced back by Lan Xiaohui’s staccato of quick strikes, and then thrusts her sword forward when she spots an opening.

Lan Xiaohui smiles when Wu Yulan falls for her trap; sword cultivators do not have openings, only lethal gambles.

Wu Yulan’s sword tip is stopped by a tiny mote of black and gold light on the tip of Lan Xiaohui’s index finger. When the tip and mote collide, it produces another high-pitched plink noise. Wu Yulan’s eyes widen when she realizes what just stopped her sword.

Sword Law.

Lan Xiaohui swats Wu Yulan’s sword away with her bare fingers and knuckles — the sword failing to produce an injury on Lan Xiaohui’s Physique.

Then the mote of black and gold light expands and the surrounding light from the rocks and moon swirls around and through it in a manner that is very reminiscent of the gravitational lensing around black holes. This strange warping effect of Lan Xiaohui’s Sword Domain comes to anchor itself behind Lan Xiaohui’s head like a halo of distorted light.

The moment Lan Xiaohui’s Sword Domain comes into being, the scattered blossoms are all simultaneously cut apart by an invisible sword.

Wu Yulan stands at the edge of Lan Xiaohui’s Sword Domain, and a constant swirl of white and blue sword Qi demonstrates her fine control as she defends herself from the constant onslaught of Lan Xiaohui’s Sword Law.

Then, Wu Yulan’s smile grows even wider.

For a brief moment, the moon disappears behind the clouds and in the faint light, only Lan Xiaohui’s silhouette and luminous red eyes can be seen.

Suddenly, Wu Yulan’s gold eyes also become luminous as she raises her sword towards the sky, edge straight and pointing towards Lan Xiaohui. A similar mote of white and gold light appears on the tip of her sword and then also expands, scattering a field of cold.

Wu Yulan has also comprehended Sword Law!

The cold that Wu Yulan’s Sword Domain radiates only very slightly affects the ambient temperature, but the Qi itself becomes colder. The suppression that develops from this is similar to that Formation which Lan Xiaohui and I experienced at the center of the forest.

It is difficult to breathe in the Qi of Heaven and Earth, and it is difficult to move Qi or get it to perform work. Almost like entropy. Qi Entropy.

When the two domains clash and cancel each other — their outputs perfectly matched and even — the ground beneath them emits an even brighter light, and while the two stare at each other with renewed interest and appreciation, I notice something out of the ordinary.

They notice it as well.

All around us, glowing motes of sword Qi swirl in the area, falling from the stones and rising out of the lakes and waterfalls. Each mote is a hint of a supreme being’s sword, ancient and profound, awakened and resonating with two warriors who have comprehended Sword Law.

Suddenly, without my desire to do so, my core opens — the [World Eater] talent activating — and connects directly to my circuits as it absorbs the Qi in the area and then automatically produces sword Qi which disperses into the air.

Lan Xiaohui draws in a deep breath with her Emptiness Prana method, also devouring the Qi in the area; with a single breath, she consumes thousands of liters of air causing mist to appear in the air around the low-pressure front that is created by her breath.

Wu Yulan also suddenly bursts with an incredible amount of sword Qi after consuming a massive amount of air and glowing motes of profound sword Dao.

As the two fall into a state of enlightened trance, I feel it then. In the air, there is something like currents of Qi that are the guidance of that same supreme being.

This Ancient Sword Graveyard is not a monument. It is a legacy.

I see and understand it clearly now; each island, each cliff face, each spire, they are all the expressions of a profound martial art and immutable Sword Law. They are slashes and thrusts performed by an enlightened cultivator.

This proto-formation — if it is a formation at all — is dormant because it is not powered by the Qi of Heaven and Earth; it is powered by sword Qi and energy.

And it is in no small amount either; it takes all three of us — with my contribution vastly superior to the two of them — to activate this proto-formation.

[ Obtained: Transient Sword (Martial Art - Immortal) ]

[ Analysis: Gained Deep Insight on the Dao of Sword after obtaining <Inheritance: Law of Transience> ]

The rocks pulse with the brightest light yet, and the two — in a state of trance — turn toward each other.