Kent set the sword down and went into a meditative posture.
He was using the Sword Mind to comprehend the clarity he had received. The fusion of sword intent with Sword Qi is the first step toward something much bigger.
So, he was making sure his understanding at the foundational stage was solid. This is why, instead of doing trial and error, he was using the Sword Mind to create a foundation he would build upon.
A couple of hours passed, but he was merely thinking and creating countless scenarios in his head. This continued until a day passed inside the garden.
That was when he opened his eyes and took his sword again.
This time, instead of just swinging it, he held the hilt of his sword with his right hand and the sheath with his left hand and closed his eyes.
His intent surged, and the Qi danced across the sword.
Then suddenly, his eyes snapped open, and he pulled out the sword into a swing, returning it to the sheath less than a second later.
It was a quick attack that was just too fast to comprehend, yet 100 sword arcs flashed out, decimating a part of the garden.
It healed back the next second.
“Damn, that’s what I’m talking about!” Kent jumped into the air, beaming with happiness. He had executed his first attack with intent and sword qi fused together.
The attack was as he wanted it. Of course, it was just the initial stage, but it was progress nonetheless.
It was an achievement worth celebrating.
“But comparing this to that of the clone, I need to improve 80% more and add 220 more arcs to my 230 arcs to be able to counter his attacks the next time we face off.”
“I won’t lose in the next challenge even though the difficulty has been raised by 1”
Kent resolved himself and started practicing the sword even more. The more he practiced, the better he got. Four hours into the second day, he was able to improve to at least 80% of the clone’s standards.
He then went back into the meditative posture and began comprehending this process even further. The feeling coming from each swing was just too enticing, so he was doing everything possible to handle this task well.
His motivation came from the fact that Jest wasn’t able to create a presence for sword intent like he was now thinking of doing.
Jest, the same Jest he remembered, his past self was a genius with the sword.
Comparing the current him to his former self was like an insult. But he was the same person, and that genius gene ran through them.
So, something that was started by his past must be completed well. This means all the genius of Jest was now with him, and that is being assimilated into his own genius.
From what he had sensed so far, the more he wielded and practiced the sword, the more he grew.
So Kent wasn’t holding back; he wanted to gain something at least so he and the gate master could have something to obsess over when he trusted her enough.
Of course, his intentions are anything but pure.
…it’s always the endgame that counts.
If only the gate master knew she was being used as motivation by a certain purple-haired brat, she would probably expel him from the sect.
Kent was now seeing the allure of having multiple women all linked to his tower. Aside from the intimacy, his strength never seemed to lack. He kept receiving something from them.
So now, if he was going to walk this path, then he would walk it with naked bodies filling his bed.
An orgy session here and there wouldn’t be a bad thing at all.
Ten hours into the second day, Kent opened his eyes and started practicing again. This time, he was much more experienced with swinging his sword.
He wasn’t just randomly swinging it… this shows he was growing.
In the 12th hour, he executed the first perfect Rapid Sword strike, and it was beautiful.
[Congratulations, Master. Your understanding of the sword has increased by 10%.]
Kent smiled upon seeing this. He was rather happy he was able to do something like this within a day and a half.
However, he never expected a boost from that.
Yet, his mind had opened even more, causing him to understand something finally.
“The more sword arcs I create from here onwards, the more my understanding will expand. This begs the question: is 450 the max for the sword arcs, or is it much more than that?”
Kent seemed to have gained another clarity; this time, he wanted to see it through to the end.
He began swinging his sword, causing sword arc after sword arc to rain down. The more arcs he created, the more his understanding of the technique seemed to grow.
Kent was elated, so he never stopped and kept going for hours until Gaia suddenly reminded him he had only 5 minutes before he would be kicked out.
He stopped and sighed.
Then he took one last swing, sending 380 sword arcs flying. A smile tugged at his lips. He had come for enlightenment, but instead, he was leaving with something much more profound.
In a way, he had been enlightened on how to walk the path he had envisioned.
He now understood how to fuse intent into sword qi—even if he was only at the initial stage.
“The next step would be to fuse an element into it. This will give me two fields to study, and from there, I can figure out a way to create a presence for it.
Though it’s not going to be easy—simply because it hasn’t been achieved yet—I will walk this path and make it a reality. This way, I will once again become a progenitor.”
Kent smiled.
What he was planning to achieve was fusing a law into his sword.
He may have seen it as wanting to fuse it into the sword intent, but in reality, he would be fusing it into the sword itself…
So, in a way, with a swing, if he manages to infuse the law of time into his sword, he can either slow down the space around his opponent or speed it up.
In a way, Kent was thinking of the impossible—something that had been abandoned by some of the greatest swordsmen to have ever walked this path and those who still walk it.
But if he were to achieve that, it would be both genius and deadly. Instead of relying on skill, he would now be relying on a law—or laws, if he learns more than one.
‘Imagine a sword intent imbued with the power of death,’ Kent thought, smiling as he was teleported out.