Supreme Emperor of Swords

Chapter 717 An Evil Weapon? A Holy Weapon?

Ever since he got the Devil Saber, Ding Hao only fully exerted its power a few times.

This time, however, because his Hell Ice Qi had been suppressed and the Rusted Sword could not exert its power, he used the Devil Saber instead. And this strange thing happened. The saber had revived on its own, devouring the essence and blood of the Black Wolf Demon’s body and recompensing them to Ding Hao. Ding Hao was pleasantly surprised, and could not help but ponder.

The origin of the Devil Saber was mysterious.

The Saber Master and the Sword Master had speculated that it might have been the weapon of a True Primordial Devil. It was abandoned in the primeval world of the Sage Battlefield, and comparable to the Rusted Sword. Both were forbidden-level weapons.

Even now, Ding Hao had not fully understood its power.

So he was feeling a little nervous.

Should he limit the number of times he used the Devil Saber? He would try not to use it as far as possible, since Ding Hao realized that the Devil Saber could trigger the murderous intent in his heart, like a tempting demon encouraging him to sin. If he wielded it too many times, the Devil Saber would end up controlling him. He would become a murderous psychopath enslaved to the saber!

“You don’t have to worry about that.” The voice of the Saber Master suddenly resounded in his mind.

Ding Hao’s eyes lit up and he quickly said, “Immortal of the Saber, please advise me.”

“Wow, hahaha, Little Chap Ding, you’re becoming a smooth talker.” The Saber Master was obviously very satisfied with Ding Hao calling him the Immortal of the Saber. She laughed and said, “I’ve lost count of how many divine sabers I have seen in my life. In my opinion, although this broken saber is evil and can trigger the murderous intent and evil nature in men’s hearts, it is not, I believe, an evil saber. The ability to devour the essence, blood, and flesh of martial experts does not mean that it is evil. It can remove impurities and refine its demonic power, turning it into the purest primeval energy to recompense you. This is a legendary magical power only the most sacred weapon can confer.”

Ding Hao was overjoyed. “So this saber isn’t an evil weapon, but a holy one?”

The Saber Master replied, “Well… I can’t be sure about this at the moment, but I’m certain you can use this saber without any worries. Even if it triggers the murderous intent in your heart, you can still use your Mind Essential of the Invincible Fighting Method to suppress it. After all, the Invincible Fighting Method is a wonderous ancient technique, and the Mind Essential the foremost method to cultivate your Divine Senses and mind. So you won’t find it too difficult to suppress your inner demons.”

The Saber Master’s words allayed Ding Hao’s fears somewhat.

Since the Hell Ice Qi in his Lower Dantian had been suppressed, the Rusted Sword was basically useless now. Hence, it was even more imperative that Ding Hao could unleash the Devil Saber’s power.

If he met a high-level Martial Emperor or Martial Sage that Ding Hao could not defeat with only his strength, the Devil Saber would be his final trump card.

The ability to fully activate the Devil Saber would enable Ding Hao to reach the final stage of this adventure.

He discussed the Devil Saber with the Saber Master for some time more. Only then did Ding Hao put the saber back into his Storage Ring.

Sitting cross-legged on the Saber Intent Rush Cushion, Ding Hao immersed himself in the starry world of Saber Intents.

He had cultivated many times in such a way.

Ding Hao had already comprehended the Four Saber Intents: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. Moreover, he had integrated and adapted them, and was fully adept at their execution. Although Ding Hao had always displayed his sword techniques and Sword Intents, rarely using his Saber Intents, he was in fact just as accomplished in his saber techniques and Saber Intents as in his sword.

The Saber Intents and Sword Intents were wonderful, their profundity resembling the Power of the Rules, with myriad variations. They were the supreme magical powers of the Devil Saber and the Rusted Sword. Most people could not ever grasp their profundity in their lifetime. Ding Hao had both the Saber Intent Rush Cushion and the Sword Intent Rush Cushion, and he had the constitution of the Saintly Being of Saber and Sword. Hence, he found it very easy to cultivate them.

Even now, Ding Hao did not dare to claim full mastery of the Saber and the Sword Intents.

The more he comprehended these two divine weapons and immersed himself in them, the more he felt they were profound and extensive. He seemed to be manning a small boat in a vast ocean, unable to see the ocean’s entirety. If he even relaxed a little, the boat would capsize and sink under the billowing waves.

Therefore, Ding Hao never dared to slacken his cultivation of the Saber and the Sword Intents.

In particular, each time Ding Hao executed the Rusted Sword or the Devil Saber, he would benefit even more from the rush cushions, probably due to the fact that his physical strength had been completely depleted.

It took two whole hours before Ding Hao woke up from his meditation.

He had gained a lot thanks to the Saber Intent Rush Cushion.

Ding Hao tried to merge the Four Saber Intents—Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter—and create his own Saber Intent. He was at the exploration stage, and still very far from success.

As his strength improved, Ding Hao pondered more and more about how he should proceed with his cultivation.

The Saber Master and the Sword Master had once told him about the cultivation path of the Divine Emperor of the Saber and Sword. They had not said much. Ding Hao had a vague goal in his mind, and was working hard to achieve it.

Recently, Ding Hao began to realize that although he was practicing saber and sword techniques, and had comprehended the Saber and Sword Intents, he still could not fully fuse them as described by the Saber Master and the Sword Master, whenever he wielded the weapons together.

Whenever he wielded the saber and the sword at the same time, the power of his moves would increase, but this was simply because he was a Saintly Being of Saber and Sword. He was simply using them at the same time. It was not a true integration.

“Maybe I haven’t mastered a combat technique that can truly merge the saber and the sword? The cultivation and combat techniques I practiced are all distinct and separate—saber for saber, and sword for sword…”

Ding Hao was deep in thought.

Although he had undergone many adventures, and the techniques of the Heaven Saber Peerless Sword Tower were advanced combat skills from the Archean times, he still regretted the fact that the saber techniques of the Saber Tower and the sword techniques of the Sword Tower were distinct and separate. There was nothing in common between them.

Moreover, from the words left on the wall, he could deduce that although the two masters who created these cultivation methods were in love, they also fought each other all their lives. So it was most unlikely their cultivation methods could be integrated.

If he truly wanted to emulate the Divine Emperor of the Saber and Sword, as proposed by the Saber Master and the Sword Master, he must fully integrate the saber and the sword techniques, and find a unique path of his own.

Having figured it out, Ding Hao suddenly felt relieved.

He put this question aside for the moment, and began examining inside his body.

Since the Devil Saber had recompensed him, the fiery Qi in Ding Hao’s body was at this moment extremely powerful.

He could feel the Heaven Fire Qi in his Middle Dantian surging. He could sense vaguely it would be almost impossible to suppress, so he simply continued his meditation and began breaching the “Zhibai” acupoint—the first Belt meridian acupoint within the Six Strange Veins of his Middle Dantian.

The Zhibai acupoint was the tenth acupoint of the Belt Meridian.

It was also the first acupoint of the six extra-channels at the Martial King Realm. Once it was unsealed, Ding Hao would become an expert at the one-apertured Martial King Realm. This would mean that he had become a real Martial King, many times stronger than his previous attainment at the half-level Martial King Realm. He could start practicing many combat techniques and cultivation methods that were denied to those under the Martial King Realm.

He had received enough primordial power on the 95th floor from the Devil Saber, and his Bi Fang’s Fire had not been suppressed in this celestial tower. It was very easy for Ding Hao to unseal the Zhibai acupoint.

There were no bottlenecks or Heaven Disaster for the Saintly Being of Saber and Sword in this Qi realm. Hence, after about half an hour, a starry crimson light shot out from Ding Hao’s pauldron, like a strange and wonderful supernova shining in the universe.

He had succeeded in unsealing the acupoint!

Ding Hao could not help but smile.

He had advanced to the next realm by a minor level.

It had only been less than ten days since his last advancement. His increase in strength was truly horrific. Ding Hao had achieved it in record time, and he felt extremely satisfied.

The six extra-channels of his Middle Dantian had attained the one-apertured Martial King Realm. If he wanted to advance any farther, he had to make the Twelve Meridians of his Lower Dantian reach the one-apertured Martial King Realm as well, so that they would complement each other.

However, since Ding Hao’s Hell Ice Qi in his Lower Dantian was suppressed by the Towering Buddha Pagoda, it was basically impossible to advance any farther. This meant that, barring any farther adventures, Ding Hao could no longer advance in his Qi cultivation.

He could only make farther progress if he left this celestial tower.

Ding Hao did not insist on doing that. He directed his fiery Bi Fang’s Qi 64 times around his six extra-channels, consolidating the realm, before slowly coming to a halt.

He now realized another thing.

As his Divine Senses swept through the Storage Ring, a thought flashed across Ding Hao’s mind. A scarlet bead appeared in his hand.

It was a top-grade Heaven-Earth Blood Bone.

It was given to him a few days ago by the spiritual manifestation of the Three-headed Heavenly Hound, while she was entrusting her pup to him. It was rare and extremely precious. Ding Hao did not integrate it into his body at that time, since Uncle Tianshu was hurrying him.

“I don’t know what unique magical power this blood bone contains, but since it comes from the body of a sovereign beast from the Archean times, the Three-headed Heavenly Hound, it must be extraordinary. It will definitely increase my strength if I integrate it into my body.”

Ding Hao thought for a while, then opened his mouth to swallow the Heaven-Earth Blood Bone.

Since he was lured to the Towering Buddha Pagoda by Uncle Tianshu, Ding Hao did not want to return empty-handed. He wanted to compete with the Emperor-level and Saint-level experts for the three great divine weapons—the Sands of Time, the Heavenly Samsara Disc, and the God-suppressing Seal.

Ding Hao must seize every opportunity to improve his strength.

The moment the Heaven-Earth Blood Bone entered his mouth, it turned into a warm current.

It was just what Ding Hao had expected.

He had integrated into his body many Heaven-Earth Blood Bones before.

But what happened after this was completely beyond Ding Hao’s expectation—

When he swallowed a Heaven-Earth Blood Bone in the past, a heat current would flow into his chest down his gullet. It would then stream into his limbs and bones, driven by his Qi, finally integrating into his body. Ding Hao would then obtain all the powers the bone contained.