Chapter 27: The Essence of Swordsmanship

At this moment, Lin Fan was radiating an overwhelming aura of battle, an endless surge of conviction piling upon him. It seemed that no matter how formidable the enemies ahead might be, even gods and demons, he would remain utterly fearless. There was only one way—cut them down with a single blade! Battle against the heavens, battle against the earth, battle against gods and demons! Fearless, intrepid, profoundly unafraid!

“This is the realm of intent?!” Xiao Shuihan and the others were struck by the intensity of Lin Fan’s fighting spirit. Their mouths hung agape, eyes wide with disbelief. Because what was manifesting on Lin Fan was indeed intent—a realm that was synonymous with absolute power.

What exactly was this realm of intent? It was the mark of the strongest. Fists had fist intent, spears had spear intent, swords had sword intent. Usually, only veteran masters who had devoted decades to a single path, reaching the deepest level of mastery, could touch this realm. And these veteran masters were generally those who had reached the River Realm; only then would their soul be powerful enough to immerse themselves in one path and sense intent.

On rare occasions, someone below the River Realm would attain intent, and such a person was destined for greatness—if they did not perish, they would surely ascend to the River Realm or even higher.

Cultivators ranked from lowest to highest: Body Tempering, Qi Induction, Qi Channeling, Vein Penetration, Stream Realm, and River Realm. In Xiao Beicheng, the strongest were merely at the Vein Penetration stage. Throughout Qingxue County, those at Vein Penetration were already considered supreme.

But the River Realm—what did that mean? It was the level of the top masters in the Ice and Snow Kingdom. Throughout the kingdom, only a handful, just over five hundred people, had reached this stage. That might seem many, but each city in the kingdom had at least tens of thousands, sometimes millions. The kingdom comprised hundreds of counties and thousands of cities, with a population exceeding ten billion. Yet, River Realm masters numbered only around five hundred—an indication of how rare and difficult this realm was.

The Ice and Snow Kingdom’s population surpassed that of Earth, yet only five hundred people had attained this realm. To put it in perspective, the combined total of emperors throughout history, from every dynasty and nation, was about the same. Such a comparison showed just how unattainable this realm could be.

Even setting that aside, merely stepping into intent made one invincible among peers. This was different from the Wind and Thunder Combat Technique Lin Fan had previously passed to them, which only enhanced their strength. In battles of intent, strength was meaningless among those of the same realm. It became a contest of spirit—no matter how powerful one was, without intent, they would be instantly crushed.

What appeared on Lin Fan now was his personal intent. But how could Lin Fan, so young, possibly step into intent?! If the world discovered that he had cultivated intent on his own, countless factions would scramble to recruit him and spare no effort in his development. Of course, those unable to win him over would do everything to eliminate him before he could grow.

After all, emerging intent was exceedingly rare. The kingdom’s most illustrious figure, Marquis Anwu Qiu Yang, had attained intent at twenty-four, still in the Qi Channeling stage. When this news broke, the kingdom was shaken; he was quickly brought to the heart of the kingdom for cultivation, leading to his current stature.

It was said that someone once reached intent in the Qi Induction stage, but before the kingdom could act, they were assassinated by spies from the Hulu Kingdom.

Within the kingdom, witnessing a cultivator independently reach intent was nearly impossible, save for River Realm masters; it might happen once every ten or twenty years.

There were rumors, of course, that the Four Great Sects and the Academy of Heaven’s Book could cultivate masters of intent. Young intent wielders existed among the sects, and the academy’s inner court supposedly had some hidden away. But the sects and academy vehemently denied such claims.

Bang! Just as Xiao Shuihan and the others were still reeling, there was a muffled sound. The blade Lin Fan had formed from ice and snow shattered, scattering into flakes across the ground. Lin Fan came back to himself, forced a bitter smile, dispelled his intent, and returned to his seat. “I wanted to practice a few more moves, but the blade was only ice and snow, couldn’t withstand the force. Forget it, let’s drink!”

Though he could shape ice and snow into a blade, it was never a real sword. He’d drunk too much and was carried away, forgetting this fact, causing the blade to explode. He didn’t feel like forming another one, so he called Xiao Shuihan and the rest to drink instead.

The group turned stiffly to look at Lin Fan’s helpless expression, mouths open but lost for words. Finally, unable to hold back, they asked, “Brother Fan, you just reached intent! Aren’t you at all excited?”

“What’s there to be excited about? I reached it ages ago,” Lin Fan replied, utterly unconcerned. He couldn’t understand their astonishment—wasn’t intent nothing special? In his previous life he’d been called the Blade God, had entered the Divine Domain; how could mere intent be remarkable?

Besides, not only blade techniques, but fist, spear, sword—he could manifest intent in any of them. These things were nothing but martial arts reaching a certain depth, transcending the confines of technique, attaining the realm of intent, and beyond that lay the realm of heart, the domain, and so on.

His cultivation was currently limited; although his soul was powerful, he could only use intent for now.

“What’s there to be excited about? I reached it long ago!”

Xiao Shuihan and the others repeated Lin Fan’s words, staring at his indifferent expression, imagining a stampede of wild horses thundering through their minds. This was infuriating!

They’d thought Lin Fan had inadvertently stepped into intent while practicing his blade. They were shocked, moved, excited, their thoughts racing towards the River Realm, towards Marquis Anwu, and so on! Yet the man himself didn’t care at all, and it wasn’t a recent breakthrough—it had been achieved long ago.

How long ago? Surely not just seven or eight days? Before, Lin Fan was still in the Body Tempering stage—had he reached intent back then?!!!

Their minds conjured yet another wild stampede, chasing after the previous herd.

“Negative emotion value from Xiao Shuihan, +666!”
“Negative emotion value from Li Ji, +666!”
“Negative emotion value from Shangguan Feihong, +666!”
“Negative emotion value from...”

They’d always considered themselves geniuses, but compared to Lin Fan, they could only raise their thumbs inwardly. They weren’t even worth dung!

Watching their dazed, crushed expressions and the negative emotion values flashing in his mind, Lin Fan shook his head and smiled at them. “Alright, nothing to be so surprised about. Intent isn’t hard to reach. If you want to attain it, I can guide you in the future.”

“Really? Brother Fan, are you serious? Isn’t intent something you have to comprehend yourself, impossible for others to guide?” They couldn’t care about their disappointment now; their eyes widened as they stared at Lin Fan.

“Who says it can’t be guided? While intent must be comprehended personally, the techniques leading up to it—blade, spear, fist, sword—can be taught.” Lin Fan’s voice was cool. “To touch intent, you need to reach a certain depth in one path. I can get you to that level, so you’ll be able to sense intent. Whether you break through depends on yourselves.”

“Moreover, I can release intent at any time for you to experience. That will help you break through as well. With your talent, reaching intent isn’t difficult!”

“That’s wonderful! Brother Fan, please start guiding me!” Ou Hu shouted with excitement, Xiao Shuihan and the rest all looking invigorated, hoping Lin Fan would instruct them right away.

Lin Fan observed their eager faces. “You want me to teach you now?”

“Mm, mm, mm!” Xiao Shuihan and the others nodded fiercely.

“Very well then...” Lin Fan’s smile faded slowly. He raised his palm, his fingers turning, and a strange aura began to emanate from him.

Seeing this, the group’s eyes grew wide, not wanting to miss a single detail.

Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop...!

Suddenly, Lin Fan acted. He curled four fingers, and with his index finger, tapped each of the six on the shoulder—twice apiece.

Xiao Shuihan: “???”
Li Ji: “???”
Shangguan Feihong: “???”
......

The six looked completely bewildered. Nothing seemed to have happened physically; their minds held no sudden insight.

After pondering for a long moment, their faces darkened. This was guidance—literal guidance! Lin Fan had just poked each of them twice.

Big brother! We wanted you to guide us, really guide us! Not just poke us!

Did you even understand what guidance means? Did you?

“Negative emotion value from Xiao Shuihan, +999!”
“Negative emotion value from Li Ji, +999!”
“Negative emotion value from...”

This was outrageous. Who played games like this? Could they still be friends?

Were it not for the fact that even banded together they couldn’t defeat Lin Fan, they’d have beaten him until he couldn’t care for himself. This was infuriating!

If you weren’t going to guide them on the spot, fine—but did you have to tease them so?