“It’s seen through my sword dao!” Lu Yun gasped with shock as the specter of death loomed over him. His mind remained fixed on surprise, rather than the fear he should more logically feel at impending doom. The soldier had obtained a solid grasp on his sword dao!
Second stroke: Dragonsoar!
The second stroke was a precursor to the meaning behind the third stroke—he’d used the will of the third stroke to defeat the last enemy standing from the earlier round. To think that the soldier would reappear and this time, dismantle the move entirely!
Lu Yun shook, flaring cerulean light from his hand and shattering the blow aimed at his neck. He darted rapidly backward and deployed the Stellar Sword’s keen light to sweep away all soldiers in a whirlwind of death.
The Stellar Sword was so sharp that almost nothing could withstand more than one blow from it. Just it alone more than doubled Lu Yun’s strength.
He stood in the middle of an empty clearing, his expression flickering rapidly.
“What the heck was that… Are these soldiers actually alive? I used that stroke to pull myself from the jaws of defeat the first time around, but when that soldier appeared a second time, it knew how to counter my move!”
He’d been headed for certain death just now. Once the attack hit his neck and decapitated him, the light within would’ve certainly pierced through his nascent spirit and ended him where he stood. There would be no chance for survival.
He’d lost. To a soldier.
Setting aside the possibility of all one hundred and eight soldiers charging him at the same time, he didn’t have any hope of winning against that one soldier alone.
“Where do these soldiers come from? Are they purely formed from the rules of this treasure, or are they real beings?” Lu Yun looked around blankly. “No wonder cultivators who train in the Army Pagoda either come out as a stunning expert or never emerge again…
“Since I used the edge of the Stellar Sword to defuse danger this time, that soldier will probably come back with a similar level weapon.” He shuddered and quickly put the treasure away. Honestly, using the Stellar Sword here was too close to cheating.
The Hongmeng was endless without end and its treasures too many to be imagined. If he owned the Stellar Sword, then there were certainly others who possessed a similar level of treasure.
Only one’s personal strength was the true foundation of everything.
“I can’t think so highly of myself anymore. One hundred and eight soldiers appear at the same time—who knows what other surprising characters lurk among them? I don’t lack for encounters of life and death, I only want to temper my sword dao and gain more battle experience.”
Ten half step king soldiers appeared in front of him as he mused over his thoughts. This was the lowest level trial of the Army Pagoda.
Lu Yun cleared his mind of everything and refrained from rushing to kill them. He focused more on observing their methods and techniques, using his sword dao, instead of brute force, to defeat their combat arts.
He was much more at ease in his third attempt compared to before and improved at a rapid clip. The meaning behind his third stroke of sword dao also began to crystallize.
He’d used less than a hundred breaths to kill all hundred and eight soldiers the first time, but he’d ended the round covered in wounds and almost on death’s door. He’d needed less than ten breaths and a quick brandish of the Stellar Sword the second time, but he’d also completely lost the round.
This time, he used two hours to defeat the soldiers one after another. In the end, they raised cupped fist salutes at him and uniformly vanished into the Army Pagoda.
“So the exploration of sword dao intent doesn’t just mean pure slaughter.” Comprehension dawned on Lu Yun. Swords were used to kill, but the honing of sword dao intent was to scrupulously abide by one’s conscience and heart, so that one wasn’t lost in indifferent slaughter.
Lu Yun’s first attempt had summoned one hundred and eight soldiers for an epic massacre. That was the training of deranged fanatics and would lead one down the wrong path. If he continued in that vein, he would eventually lose himself to senseless killing.
“No wonder the pagoda sent out a soldier like that to stop me from continuing further,” Lu Yun gave a long exhale of understanding.
“Again!”
A second wave of ten soldiers appeared. They were likewise half step kings without the slightest change in strength, but their combat arts and techniques were more profound than they’d exhibited to date. Incredibly, they tailored their attacks for Lu Yun’s sword dao and began to piece together a complete answer for it!
Dragonrise—perfect and infallible in Hua Fengwen’s eyes, proved unable to stand up to the ten soldiers!
First it was Dragonrise, then it was Dragonsoar!
By the time the third set of ten appeared, the soldiers could perfectly counter Lu Yun’s two greatest moves. As he abstained from killing them, so did they not make a move on him. They raised cupped fist salutes once more after dispelling Lu Yun’s two sword techniques and vanished upon the wind.
He sat down cross-legged, deep in contemplation.
“I’d always thought that my Dragonrise was at the heights of perfection, that it was flawless and reigned unchallenged. But those ten soldiers were able to disperse the move—not through superior strength or cultivation level, but simply because they found the flaws in my sword technique!” Lu Yun inhaled deeply. “If there are that many flaws in my first move, then there are even more in my second and third moves. I’ve been rushing through things too quickly.”
Dragonrise showed that it was riddled with holes when deployed against the ten soldiers. The second stroke and yet unformed third stroke were all derived from the first. If the foundations were shaky, then the entire building would collapse.
With that, Lu Yun gently reached out and crushed Dragonsoar out of existence. He would first perfect the first stroke and then recreate the second!
“The senior who refined the Army Pagoda is absolutely a great expert. If I don’t bear the intent to kill, the soldiers in here won’t seek my life either. This is the true way of cultivation.” He took a deep breath and braced himself.
Under ordinary circumstances, cultivators used the pagoda to summon soldiers for target practice and to enhance their own strength with the soldiers’ power after death. Since Lu Yun had abstained from doing so from the very beginning, he’d gradually shifted into a prime cultivation mindset and extinguished his flames of bloodlust. When he didn’t focus on killing soldiers, the true path of training in the Army Pagoda revealed itself.
He also learned to let go of cocky self assurance that’d crept in after all this time. Since these soldiers looked to be real cultivators, then they were certainly based off of real people in the Hongmeng. He was far inferior to their true selves—all of them were only half step kings who weren’t even worthy of a title, but they could beat him through combat arts alone.
Lu Yun wasn’t even invincible among his peers, much less approaching the peak of the third realm!
……
Another ten soldiers appeared with a quick thought. He no longer paid attention to their moves, instead focusing on himself and the Dragonrise technique. He noted the flaws and openings that the soldiers had detected and gradually improved upon them.
He was defeated again after two hours.
After a slight round of reflection, he summoned another ten soldiers and held on for three hours before defeat. This time, he greeted his defeat with a wide grin. He’d finally identified the greatest weakness of his sword technique!
