Ninth In the World

“Heavenly Aqua is a good name. Show me your saber techniques.” As Qian Fenghua praised Di Jiu, he seemed to be a lot more alert and energetic.

Now that such a man was guiding him, Di Jiu did not hold back his abilities. The Heavenly Aqua turned into a green mist and struck with an aura that threatened to split open the space.

The space turned icy cold, and a strong, sinister saber intent aura exploded. All the obstacles in front of his saber would be utterly destroyed by this saber.

Di Jiu first used the Wind-Rustling Move, a saber move created from his own insight.

Bam! The saber slashed, creating a blue saber scar underneath the Night Star Sky Market. The saber aura stopped, yet the saber scar remained in the void, dispersing only after a long time had passed.

When Di Jiu withdrew the saber, he was very satisfied with this move. Before the blue saber scars in the void could fully disperse, Di Jiu cupped his fists and said, “Please advise me, sir.”

Qian Fenghua sighed. “That’s some good saber intent…”

After saying these words, he shook his head and sighed again. “It’s a pity that there is only scattered saber intent, but no real aura. If this goes on, it will be very difficult to condense one’s saber aura. The scattered saber intent is just like a firework. It’s only good to look at.”

Di Jiu was shocked. The Wind-Rustling Move, the Split-Wave Saber Move and the Sky Screen Saber Move were the three saber moves he was the proudest of. Even though he had not performed the latter two, the Wind-Rustling Move itself was representative of his highest level of Saber Dao insight. His saber intent insight was very strong. How could it be scattered?

Qian Fenghua was indeed much stronger than him. However, the difference in their strength was not related to one’s saber intent insight. Describing his saber move as scattered and comparing it to a firework was a derogatory act.

“Sir, please take a look at my Split-Wave Saber Move and Sky Screen Saber Move…” Di Jiu said, sounding unconvinced.

The Heavenly Aqua in Di Jiu’s hands was swiped out once again, transforming into a continuous blue wave. Waves followed one after another, one wave higher than the previous one, before eventually hitting the void and creating countless saber moves and waves. The saber intent exploded along with the saber waves, filling the entire place with a saber flare aura.

Di Jiu’s Sky Screen Saber Move landed before the Split-Wave Saber Move could disperse. The saber screen that fell from the sky looked like a waterfall that contained Law Aura. As it surged out, sounds of an explosion were heard, giving the feeling that anything underneath the saber screen would be ripped into shreds.

“What do you think of them, sir?” asked Di Jiu once again after executing the two saber moves.

Qian Fenghua looked at Di Jiu in a daze. After a long moment, he said, “You are the most talented saber warrior I have ever seen. You are a Dao cultivator with amazing insight and strong potential. You actually came across some Laws at the Essence Soul Realm? This is unheard of.”

Di Jiu felt proud of himself. However, he was aware that the underlying reason was not that he was cleverer than other people or very formidable. He owed this to the gray stone and that streak of golden lightning, which was naturally the origin of hundreds of millions of Laws.

Qian Fenghua let out a long sigh. “You could fight with cultivators at higher cultivation levels than you and defeat an average Void Spirit Realm Cultivator. This is all thanks to the condensation of your Spiritual Force and Quintessential Essence, as well as your few saber moves. It is unfortunate, really unfortunate…”

This was the second time Qian Fenghua seemed sad. Di Jiu immediately sensed that something was amiss. Qian Fenghua was an expert who could split apart a cultivation planet with one move. If such an expert said that his Saber Dao had some flaws, it had to be true.

“Please guide me, sir.” Di Jiu bowed hurriedly as he asked for advice.

“If my guess is correct, you have no master to teach you,” Qian Fenghua said with a solemn expression. “You have cultivated and gained saber intent insight, but do you even know what a saber intent is? When you executed this saber move, you tried to reply upon your aura and intent to condense the saber intent. Do you know what a saber aura is? In other words, if your Quintessential Essence had not been so condensed and your Spiritual Force had not been so powerful, your saber intent would have seemed like a childish joke to others. Your saber intent could only teach low-level cultivators from incomplete continents a lesson. Once you leave this continent, you will realize that you are nothing compared to true geniuses.”

Di Jiu’s facial expression changed. He knew himself well. His Quintessential Essence and Spiritual Force were condensed because he had cultivated the Galaxy Art and possessed a galaxy meridian. According to Qian Fenghua, he would have been no better than an ordinary cultivator if he had not cultivated the Galaxy Art.

When he sensed the change in Di Jiu’s attitude, Qian Fenghua said, “Don’t get discouraged. I have slightly exaggerated the seriousness of the matter. However, it is true that your saber intent is not much without a condensed Quintessential Essence and powerful Spiritual Force. Although you could jump around during a battle, the most you could do was fight with a seventh-stage Essence Soul Realm cultivator at the fourth-stage Essence Soul Realm. You would definitely not be able to do so outside the five planets close to the Night Star Planet. Now, tell me about the saber intent and the saber aura.”

“In my opinion, the saber intent is a form of intent mastery after the saber has left its sheath,” Di Jiu said seriously. “This allows one’s saber to merge with the surrounding environment and become a part of nature. The saber aura is a step below the saber intent and one’s Quintessential Essence that symbolizes the mastery of space.”

Qian Fenghua nodded his head. “Your understanding of the saber intent is indeed very deep. However, I need to tell you that your saber intent has only gained a rudimentary mastery at best. As your cultivation level increases, it will get harder for your saber intent to improve. When the day comes that you have to leave this place, you will realize that your power is limited and you do not belong in the ranks of the true galaxy experts.”

“According to my understanding, saber intent can be categorized into rudimentary mastery, initial success, large success, and perfected and condensed force stages. Your saber intent is scattered, so it has only attained the rudimentary mastery stage. This is not your fault, as you have no master to guide you and no true systematic knowledge of Saber Dao magic techniques. You’ve discovered all your knowledge and experiences on your own. No matter how talented you are, you will not be able to reach the same conclusion as numerous generations of cultivators.”

“I understand.” When he heard what Qian Fenghua had said, Di Jiu felt enlightened. There was no order in his learning experience, as he would immediately gain insight on any good magic techniques he found and merge any intent he sensed into his Saber Dao. He had absolutely no idea how much he needed to cultivate to be considered sufficient, nor did he know how to proceed and cultivate in a proper sequence. Qian Fenghua was offering him guidance the same way a master gave their disciple advice. Di Jiu’s respect for Qian Fenghua came from deep within him.

“I’m not experienced in the Saber Dao and have no saber techniques to impart to you,” Qian Fenghua added. “However, all intents in the universe are similar, including saber intent, spear intent, sword intent or even five elements intent.”

“Do time and space both have intent, sir?” Di Jiu quickly asked. He had never had a master to guide him along.

Actually, the questions he asked could not be answered even by the strongest expert in the Polar Night Continent.

Qian Fenghua shook his head. “I have heard an old man say that space and time are intents of a higher level. I will tell you what space and time intents are when you understand the true saber intent completely. You should conduct research here for a month. Then, you can execute your few saber moves again for me and I will point out your flaws.”

“Yes.” Di Jiu dared not hesitate. He found an empty space and sat down. His Spiritual Force landed within the Heaven Saber Sect’s Sutra Depository.

Qian Fenghua could not guide him in the Saber Dao, so he had to search for information on it in the Heaven Saber Sect’s Sutra Depository.

As expected, Di Jiu found some information a few days later. However, the highest stage of intent stated in these sutras was perfected. There was no mention of the condensed force stage Qian Fenghua had talked about.

Meanwhile, Di Jiu also found various saber techniques and Saber Dao cultivation techniques. After viewing them, he started to feel embarrassed about his six saber moves.

The first and second saber move of the Di Clan could at best be considered methods to use the Quintessential Essence. However, they could not be considered saber moves, let alone saber techniques.

The third saber move, which was called the Cyclone Saber Move, could be considered a saber technique. However, the Cyclone Saber Move was incomplete, so it could only be executed at a superficial level.

Just as Qian Fenghua had told him, his saber intent had indeed only gained a rudimentary mastery. It was scattered, so its strength fluctuated.

Qian Fenghua stood aside and watched as Di Jiu kept trying various saber techniques. The blue mist exuded from the Heaven Aqua Saber endlessly gathered slowly until it formed a blue line. It had evidently attained order. This was only possible after mastering the saber intent to a certain extent. Qian Fenghua was impressed. Di Jiu truly had no master to guide him along. That was why he lacked the most basic knowledge. From that day on, Di Jiu’s future would be full of possibilities.

A month later, Di Jiu stopped swinging his saber. After sheathing it, he closed his eyes and started to go through what he had gained after a month’s efforts.

The six saber moves had been condensed into three. The first was the Wind-Rustling Move, the second was the Split-Wave Saber Move and the third was the Sky Screen Saber Move.

The first four saber moves had merged into one move that was called the Wind-Rustling Move. This saber move was no longer a one-on-one saber technique, but a group-attack technique that would shoulder on when it was executed. When this move entered an enemy crowd, the saber intent would transform into a Saber Qi whirlpool that would wreak havoc and carry a devastating aura.

The second saber move, which was the Split-Wave Saber Move, and the third saber move, which was the Sky Screen Saber Move, remained unchanged. The saber intents of these two moves had previously been scattered. However, after Di Jiu relearned them, the two saber intents became condensed. When this happened, Di Jiu felt his combat power and Saber Dao potential increase dramatically. The increase of his combat power was nothing compared to that of his potential, which pointed him in the right direction.

The saying “a single conversation across the table with a wise man is worth 10 years of studying books” applied perfectly to this situation. If it had not been for Qian Fenghua’s guidance, he would only have decided to research his own Saber Dao after suffering a great loss. Then, he would have learned this knowledge slowly.

“Please look at my three saber moves, sir.” After bowing before Qian Fenghua, Di Jiu once again executed the Wind-Rustling Move, the Split-Wave Saber Move and the Sky Screen Saber Move.

This time, when the three moves were executed, the saber intent was condensed. Now that it was not scattered, it indistinctly formed a saber aura. Meanwhile, the blue mist was everywhere, as though an actual saber flare was slashing across space.