It had already been 46 days since Kent entered the tower to prepare for the impromptu challenge he had thrown out in order not to lose face.
On the outside, however, only 46 hours had passed, meaning Kent had only 2 hours before the trial began. In fact, the arena was already filled with people seated and eager to witness yet another downfall of an unfortunate sword genius.
That is what they all are expecting…
Everyone knew that whenever the Trial of the Sword was open, the one being challenged never managed to make it through unscathed.
For this particular trial, people were furious and ready to boo and hurl insults at Kent for raising the stakes—making it 100 Grandmaster challenges instead of just 50 Masters and Grandmasters.
News of his challenge had already reached the ears of everyone in the Divine Palace Sect. Both Outer, Inner, and Core disciples were aware of Kent’s audacious display.
Everyone wanted to see him crash and burn.
Meanwhile, as the crowd anticipated his inevitable failure, Kent was hard at work inside the Sword Tower.
For the past 40 days, he had been tempering his body with the herbs he had acquired at the Green Gate Bazaar.
His plan was to follow Vexthra’s method and become a body cultivator, which would significantly enhance his Sword Body, according to her.
Right now, Kent is only at the Fledgling stage of Sword Body. However, if he manages to become a body cultivator, his Sword Body and real body will transform into a Copper Body, which, according to the goddess, will elevate his stamina to a new level.
Kent spent 40 days solely tempering his body. At first, there was no progress at all. His body absorbed every last herb, but nothing seemed to happen.
Thirty days later, his last herb was used up, so Kent had to resort to using the poisonous herbs he had. Of course, he couldn’t use them outright. Before doing so, he first purchased some items from the tower store.
Fortunately, he had enough Tower Points.
He then resumed his tempering, this time using the poisonous herbs. The process was excruciating, but it proved worthwhile, as he managed to become a body cultivator on the 38th day.
In fact, when he awakened his body, he felt a surge of powerful energy fill him, enhancing not only his stamina but also his physical and mental strength.
It was a great boon that made him grow even stronger than the strongest Root Grandmaster or even a Root Saint.
As he had expected, the Body Tower opened, but he didn’t waste time exploring it. Instead, he immediately focused on mastering the remaining sword techniques. He had exactly 48 days, which was equivalent to 2 days in the outside world.
After spending 38 days becoming a body cultivator, Kent dedicated the remaining time to grinding hard on the remaining sword moves.
These techniques were some of the most complex, but thanks to the boons provided by the Sword Tower, the process wasn’t overly time-consuming.
Additionally, with the upgrades to both his stamina and mental strength, he became much more resilient on both fronts—mental and physical.
He then dived into the 10,002 swordplay mastery…his main objective after becoming a body cultivator…
He didn’t allow himself even a second of rest as he relentlessly swung his sword, drilling the techniques into his very bones.
Although he didn’t fully understand why he needed to learn and master all 10,002 swordplay techniques and styles from the beginning, as time passed, he began to realize the deeper purpose.
Not only was it giving him an unparalleled understanding of the sword, but it was also boosting all three of his core aspects.
It felt as if his Sword Body was being sharpened. His body, when wielding the sword, seemed to have become more refined and perfectly attuned with the sword.
He could see how sharp his sword intent and aura had also started to become. When he finally managed to grasp the 10,000 Sword Moves, he felt it.
He could tell that the moment he finished mastering the last two moves, which would complete the set, something significant would happen, and he couldn’t afford to waste time.
In fact, Gaia and Akira used a strand of their consciousness to appear in the Sword Tower just to witness his awakening as a Grandmaster Swordsman.
On the 46th day, Kent mastered the final sword move, and everything turned chaotic.
A powerful gust of energy burst out of Kent’s body at once.
This energy wasn’t ordinary; it was so chaotic that if an expert were to witness it, they would immediately recognize it as one of the strongest energies in the cosmos—Chaos Energy.
The entire place descended into chaos, but that lasted only a few minutes until Kent’s sword qi stepped in and literally turned the air sharp.
It made everything so sharp that when Gaia moved a training doll on the same level as a Peak Sword Grandmaster into the air, it was sliced into countless pieces in ways no human or beast could withstand.
Then his Sword Intent entered, and everything spiralled out of control. In fact, forget a Sword Grandmaster— even a Sword Saint wouldn’t walk away unscathed unless they had a sword body and a deep understanding of sword qi.
Gaia looked at Akira, and the two giggled when Kent, without even realizing it, reduced a battle doll to shreds using just his sword qi and intent.
“The Genesis Sword Path…” they muttered simultaneously, watching the sharpened air around Kent grow even sharper.
A few hours into the breakthrough, Kent’s body began emitting flickers of lightning. Soon, however, lightning started dancing all over his body.
It extended to his sword, and before long, his body and the lightning became one. It was a mesmerizing sight to watch golden lightning dance around him.
Kent, seated in a lotus posture, remained in that state for a day and a half, holding his sword. When he finally opened his eyes, he swiftly sheathed his sword, and in an instant, both the sharpened air and the lightning vanished.
“Congratulations on your breakthrough, Master,” Gaia said, appearing immediately in front of him. Akira wasn’t far behind.
“Thanks, Gaia, but it seems I now have a much more difficult path to walk,” Kent said, his gaze fixed on the massive [Sword of Enlightenment].
He could tell he had received yet another task, but he wasn’t ready to tackle it just yet. The most important aspect was understanding the path he had to walk, and so far, he had managed to grasp a small part of it.
He looked at the sword sheathed into the sword sheath and smiled.
“So this was why you wanted me to get a sword sheath, huh? It was to contain the sword qi and intent I would release through my sword,” Kent said with a smug smile.
“Yes, Master. The Genesis Path is the most difficult sword path, but it also has no equal. In your current state, if you don’t plan on killing your opponent, never draw your sword,” Gaia said with a proud smile.
“On the bright side, you can always be arrogant and say things like, ‘The moment I draw my sword is the moment you die,’ or ‘You’re not worth me drawing my sword,'” Akira chimed in like a spoiled child.
“When you put it that way, I would indeed look cooler. Thanks, ladies. Now, care to tell me what’s happening outside?”
“Everybody is gathered to watch your downfall, Master,” Gaia said.
The three of them looked at each other, and like best friends from a distant past, they burst into laughter, holding their stomachs.