Birth of the Demonic Sword

The rank 9 cultivator's words barely affected Sword Saint. Every expert who approached the ninth rank would have doubts about the path ahead or face events capable of shattering beliefs. A statement from one of Heaven and Earth's followers didn't even come close to make his existence shake.

The sharpness that was keeping the area devoid of storms converged toward the rank 9 woman. Silver light flashed, and an explosion followed. Sword Saint's iconic radiance hid the cultivator's figure, but no satisfaction appeared on his face.

Sword Saint started to create an ethereal silver sword a few seconds before the arrival of cracks among the sharp light that had covered his opponent. The rain of shards happened, and the rank 9 woman reappeared, revealing how she had managed to avoid injuries again.

"This last attack of yours had the power to hurt rank 9 existences," The woman announced, "But it doesn't make you worthy of the ninth rank. Many experts before you have crossed the gap among stages before failing during the breakthrough. It's almost sad."

Sword Saint didn't speak. His ethereal blade flickered as it destroyed the gales that had returned in the area with its sole aura. The weapon created a zone devoid of chaotic laws on its own, but even the winds in farther areas crumbled when it started moving.

Multiple sword arts unfolded at the same time. Sword Saint seemed to perform a simple slash, but his blade morphed and created countless ethereal afterimages that generated different attacks. Hundreds of techniques happened in the span of a single second, and everything turned silver.

Sword Saint didn't usually rely on attacks with a large area of effect. He had deployed countless sword arts during his last technique, but they had mostly generated single slashes that carried different features. None of them discharged its power on the sky. The silver halo that filled the area and cleared a vast chunk of the sky came from the sharp shockwaves that the impact with the rank 9 cultivator generated.

The discharge of energy was massive. That attack carried the same power that had managed to leave a mark on the middle tier cauldron. It went beyond what normal gaseous stage cultivators could handle.

Still, the sharp silver energy crumbled and transformed into a rain of bright shards that dispersed as they continued to fall toward the storms far away. The rank 9 woman reappeared, and Sword Saint finally accepted that something was off when he saw that she didn't suffer any injury again.

"You don't get it, do you?" The cultivator sneered while checking her hair.

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"Your existence is peculiar," Sword Saint commented while lifting his long eyebrows to study his opponent with his white eyes. "Are you similar to Defying Demon?"

"Please," The rank 9 woman laughed. "Noah Balvan is a flaw, so it's in his nature to steer others away from the paths that might make them end in Heaven and Earth's system. Yet, that's just an innate feature that he has transformed throughout his growth. It's not a proper law."

"You must be blind to say that," Sword Saint responded while shaking his head.

Sword Saint had actually started to consider the cultivator's previous words after witnessing how easily she had stopped his last attack. Nevertheless, her statement about Noah's power made him accept that she was delusional.

"I think you misunderstood me," The woman added while placing a hand under her chin. "Noah Balvan's ability to affect flaws concerns the inherent potential. It can force techniques and living beings to go beyond what their imperfect original ideas can generate. His destruction carries some of those features, but it doesn't rely on it, not completely at least."

"You are forcing your argument into your speech," Sword Saint scoffed. "Nitpicking on what his power affects makes no sense."

"He can destroy because he is a destroyer," The woman continued, uncaring of those critiques. "He doesn't study the true nature of flaws. He only knows how to find and trigger them, but that's just a barbaric application that his ambition manages to bring on the same level of proper laws."

"So, you admit that he can match you without relying on his law," Sword Saint laughed.

"I feel no shame in doing that," The woman announced. "He would have forced me to ask for counters from the sky, but the same goes for Xavier Elbas. You can't do that."

"I suppose that has something to do with your existence, right?" Sword Saint guessed as a broad smile appeared on his face. "What do you do? Do you enhance innate flaws? You might have just become the perfect training dummy then!"

Sword Saint's determination in his search for perfection was boundless. It was hard to define how happy he felt to have found someone capable of showing flaws that he didn't see. He couldn't wait to exchange a few more blows against his opponent and find ways to improve even more.

"Please," The woman corrected. "I don't enhance flaws. I feed on them. Perfection is an unreachable state. You can always find something to improve as your rank increases. Those mistakes are necessary, which is why techniques crumble when I absorb them."

That explanation seemed to go against what the cultivator had previously stated. She had said that Noah and King Elbas would have made her rely on Heaven and Earth to counter, so there had to be a weakness in her law.

"I'm taking you seriously in case you were wondering," The cultivator continued. "Other experts would manage to hit me before I complete the absorption. That doesn't happen with you."

Sword Saint slowly realized how to connect the woman's initial words to her latest explanation. She had spoken about perfection, which was what he strived for when it came to the sword arts. He wanted to seize completeness in that field, but the rank 9 cultivator believed that to be an impossible state.

"Using your powerful defenses won't make me waver," Sword Saint grunted before raising his ethereal blade and preparing himself to launch another attack.

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The woman didn't move from her spot. She waited for that attack to arrive without the slightest trace of fear in her eyes. Her aura carried pure confidence that the incoming blow wouldn't be able to hurt her.

Sword Saint prepared himself to make his blade descend, but his immense experience told him that the attack would fail. He checked multiple times whether his instincts had fallen under the effects of an external force and played many simulations inside his mind. Still, everything led to the same conclusion. He felt unable to cut his opponent.

"Do you understand now?" The woman asked. "You search for something that can't exist. Maybe you are talented enough to study everything that the sword has to offer, but one day someone else will develop something that you didn't know. The same is true for stronger beings. They will still be able to improve your techniques due to their higher power."

Sword Saint's eyes widened, but his belief continued to hold strong. Yet, the woman added something that made the crumbling of his existence start. "You have wasted your life chasing after perfection. Your efforts have been remarkable, and the same goes for your cultivation level, but this is your limit."