Chapter 59 : Mastery of Sword Intent
Chapter 59: Mastery of Sword Intent
“My Sword Heart… what should it be?”
Li Yunqing kept her eyes tightly shut, questioning herself again and again within her heart.
“Buzz!”
With each question, the Sword Intent within her heart suddenly erupted. A wave of cold spread outward with her as the center.
The temperature around her body began to drop, and the air started to congeal.
Wisps of frost and snow drifted down like flower petals.
“This is Sword Intent!”
Seeing the girl in purple robes sitting upright as frost and snow fell around her, Hall Master Liu, Lu Xingzhou, and Sword Saint of Cangshan were all startled.
Each of them saw shock in the others’ eyes.
At fifteen years old, she had comprehended Sword Intent—and it was far beyond mere entry level, almost reaching minor mastery.
“As expected of Innate Sword Bones!”
“And with such a clear and pure heart!”
Hall Master Liu and the Sword Saint of Cangshan seemed to understand each other’s thoughts at a glance.
Meanwhile, Lu Xingzhou stared directly at Li Yunqing, his eyes filled with amazement.
The girl wore purple robes, her beauty unrivaled, her figure graceful, her expression gentle and serene. With frost and snow drifting around her, she resembled a breathtaking painting.
For a moment, the entire courtyard fell silent enough to hear a pin drop.
“What should my Sword Heart be?”
Li Yunqing questioned her own heart, recalling everything in this life.
Scenes of betrothal gift ceremonies and engagement flashed before her eyes.
She had not shown it—not because she felt nothing, but because she knew there was no use in showing it.
Accepting everything did not mean her heart had not suffered. It was only that she lacked the power to resist, and everything had been buried deep within.
“My sword shall sever all shackles!”
“My sword shall cut through all chains of this world!”
“My sword shall shatter this very order!”
“I care not for demons, evil gods, or monstrous spirits!”
“I care not for imperial authority, rules, martial paths, or immortal paths!”
“Beneath my sword, all beings are equal!”
“With one sword, all things perish!”
Within this cycle of questioning and answering, Li Yunqing seemed to find what she sought.
In this world, the only things that made all beings equal were death and destruction.
Extreme heat could burn everything to ashes.
Extreme cold could freeze all vitality and erase all existence.
Since she could not burn everything—
She would use ultimate cold to freeze all life in the world.
With one sword—heaven and earth would fall into deathly silence!
“Buzz!”
At that moment, the temperature around Li Yunqing dropped even further. The frost expanded from around her body to over a zhang in radius.
Snowflakes drifted like petals, cold to the bone.
Carrying the intent of freezing everything—the death and destruction that made all beings equal—it sought to overturn this world and the shackles placed upon her.
Sensing the artistic conception within that Sword Intent, Hall Master Liu and the Sword Saint both twitched at the corners of their mouths.
“This girl… her heart is wild.”
“She wants to overturn everything—break all the rules!”
The two exchanged a glance, both seeing the same mental realm within that intent.
Let alone this young girl—even they would never dare claim to overturn the entire world.
Imperial authority, hidden sects, demons and evil gods—each was a supreme force.
There was even that existence which had annihilated the immortal path. The secrets of this world were sometimes beyond human reach.
With her current strength… wasn’t this simply courting death?
Yet at that very moment, the conviction within Li Yunqing seemed to converge.
It condensed into a small, illusory, transparent sword—piercingly cold—and merged into her brow.
“She condensed a Sword Heart!”
The Sword Saint suddenly widened his eyes, shock filling his expression.
A Sword Heart required tempering.
Only by maintaining one’s original heart through endless hardships and trials could it truly be forged.
But this girl was only fifteen.
Hadn’t she never even left her home?
Where had her tempering come from? How had she condensed a Sword Heart?
Even with a clear mind and Innate Sword Bones, this was far too monstrous.
“In a single day… no, not even three quarters of an hour—she actually condensed a Sword Heart?”
Hall Master Liu’s beard trembled, his face full of disbelief.
When he learned of Li Yunqing’s Innate Sword Bones, he had already regarded her as a genius—a genius of the sword path.
When he saw her Sword Intent, he was shocked.
But now, seeing her condense a Sword Heart in such a short time, he felt numb.
That was a Sword Heart—the very foundation of a Sword Saint.
Once condensed, the power of sword techniques became unstoppable.
Just from how the Sword Saint, at the peak of the Qi Realm, could contend against a Profound Realm Demon King, one could understand the terror of the Sword Heart.
Hall Master Liu suddenly felt that if Li Yunqing were to become famous one day—and if the Mingyu Sect learned she had once cultivated in his Martial Hall—he might very well be hunted down.
“A Sword Heart? She condensed a Sword Heart?”
Lu Xingzhou snapped out of his daze, his eyes filled with disbelief.
It had taken him ten years of hardship and suffering to forge a sincere Sword Heart.
Yet Li Yunqing had merely glanced at the sword canon—and within moments, she had condensed one.
And she was only fifteen.
The gap was simply too great.
“What kind of suffering did she go through to form a Sword Heart?”
For some reason, the moment this thought arose, Lu Xingzhou felt a sudden ache in his heart.
The gentle and serene girl before him—what torment had she endured?
Though she appeared calm and pure, he had never truly seen her inner world.
Such a beautiful girl—shouldn’t she have been cherished and protected?
Who could have caused her to endure such suffering?
For a moment, Lu Xingzhou’s eyes filled with concern as he looked at Li Yunqing, unable to bear it.
Only those who had experienced it could understand the pain of forging one heart over ten years.
And thus better comprehend the suffering she had endured.
“Buzz!”
At that moment, the cold around Li Yunqing intensified further.
The frost grew denser, nearly turning her glossy black hair white.
The icy Sword Intent surged higher, sharper, more exposed.
In the next instant, under the gaze of the three, Li Yunqing suddenly opened her eyes—her pupils filled with cold.
A cold that froze everything.
She slightly raised her right hand, forming fingers into a sword, and gently slashed forward.
“Buzz!”
The surrounding frost and cold converged at her fingertips and then burst outward.
“Chi!”
A tearing sound split the ground, leaving behind a neat crack.
Like it had been carved by a sharp sword—a straight, thin line over a zhang long.
Around the crack, frost instantly spread.
Though it was only a thin layer, the flowers and grass beneath it lost all vitality in an instant.
As the frost slowly melted, the plants dissolved with it.
It was as if all life had been extinguished by that single sword gesture.
“Mastery of Sword Intent!”
“She condensed a Sword Heart and directly elevated her Sword Intent to mastery?”
“What terrifying comprehension and mind!”
“So this is Innate Sword Bones?”
The Sword Saint, Hall Master Liu, and Lu Xingzhou were all shaken.
Once Sword Intent reached mastery, upon breaking into the Qi Realm, one could directly step into the Middle Tier of the Qi Realm.
Even if her martial talent were average, taking one or two years to temper her body—
Then opening her dantian and condensing True Qi—
She would still be a Middle Tier Qi Realm expert at sixteen or seventeen.
Such talent, even in hidden sects or imperial clans, would be considered a peerless Heaven’s Chosen Prodigy.
“This is bad… I might really get hunted in the future…”
Hall Master Liu stood there in a daze.
A sixteen- or seventeen-year-old Middle Tier Qi Realm expert—even the great hidden sects would treasure such a person and bind them tightly to their sect for cultivation.
Yet he had failed to recruit her.
If a sect learned of this, the consequences would be unimaginable.
“Once she grows, she will be an excellent opponent!”
The Sword Saint of Cangshan showed delight. His lips moved slightly as a strand of True Qi carried his voice into Lu Xingzhou’s ears.
“If you have time, spar with her more.”
“Help her comprehend the Sword One to Sword Nine that I created.”
After speaking, a trace of anticipation flashed in his eyes.
“I hope to see something different.”
Hearing his master’s instructions, Lu Xingzhou’s eyes lit up.
“Master, rest assured. I will teach her well.”
Li Yunqing slowly came back to her senses. The words before her eyes were still flickering.
“Cangshan Sword Canon Minor Completion, trait derived: Clear Sword Heart.”
“Frost Sword Art and Cangshan Sword Canon are both sword path techniques and have automatically fused.”
“Frost Sword Canon (Mastery 2058/5000) Traits: Innate Sword Bones, Clear Sword Heart.”
“Frost Sword Intent: Entry (72%) → Mastery (1%)”
Looking at the mark on the ground, Li Yunqing’s eyes shone.
“Frost Sword Canon… it actually rose to the level of the Medicine King Scripture!”
“And… so this is the power of mastered Sword Intent?”