Chapter 349 — Weaknesses Everywhere
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
It cultivated the eyes above all; yet it was not the same as pupil arts—it refined the sword art into the pupils of the eyes, so that where the eye reached, the sword reached. It was called the Heavenly Eye, Sword-Heart Formula.
The strength of this sword art lay in this: it cultivated no primal weapon, no sword-core, nor anything of the kind, but made of one's own eyes a sword-core. What the eye sees, the sword points to—direct and clean.
Add to this its unique method: when the eyes became a great sun, the sword light was indestructible; when the eyes became starlight, they shone like a river of stars—star gleams and sword gleams, a myriad points, impossible to guard against. If one refined the sword-heart, then heart and sword became one, swifter and more terrible even than the sword-eye: wherever the thought reached, the sword arrived.
Long Yu had not yet reached that realm, but his sword-eye was already no small thing.
Yet the next moment, countless flying swords simply shattered his two beams of sword light. His sword light was vital essence transmuted, while Shen Mu's swords were treasures refined from the precious things the Nether Demon Cult had gathered; their very substance far surpassed the sword light he had forged.
Add to that a cultivation vast beyond measure, and his sword light was crushed to powder! Countless sparks of starlight burst from Long Yu's eyes; the starlight flew from them like a silver river to meet the transformations of the Dao Sword's fourth form.
The two sword arts seemed alike, yet at bottom they were fundamentally different. The Dao Sword built the stars of the whole heaven out of mathematics; its transformations had a mathematical structure.
The Heavenly Eye, Sword-Heart Formula followed the heart's desire, changing as the heart willed; in fineness it could not match the Dao Sword, but in the multitude of its changes it surpassed the Dao Sword by a hair.
Only, sword against sword, the substance of his sword light was far inferior to Shen Mu's flying swords.
Long Yu gave a stifled grunt. The silver river bursting from his eyes was extinguished; the eight thousand swords became a rain of blades that ground the silver river to pieces. As they came raining down, Long Yu heard the Hermit of Qingyou cry out: "Stay your sword!
" Then all the flying swords surrounded him, closing into a single enormous sword-core with him at its heart; the gleaming point of blade upon blade aimed at every corner of his body, until he could not help but wonder whether, when they fell, a whole corpse of him would remain. With a ringing clang the sword-core split apart and gathered into a long river of sword light that poured into the Taotie Pouch at Shen Mu's back.
Long Yu hastily felt himself all over, found himself still whole, and only then let out a breath. He wanted to thank Shen Mu, but his limbs felt weak and his throat was utterly dry; no sound would come. Mu Qingdai hurried forward with clean water.
Long Yu drank, and only then could speak: "Thank you, Human Sovereign, for your mercy.
But I did not lose in swordsmanship! You beat me by a single measure through your treasures!
" Shen Mu did not deny it. "Senior Brother Long Yu speaks truly," he said modestly. "I have not diligently cultivated the Dao Sword. In fact, I studied it for only ten days, and I am not skilled in it.
" Long Yu's face went black at once, and his throat grew dry again.
"Not skilled in the Dao Sword? " he rasped.
Shen Mu glanced at Li Zheng. "I cultivate the sword art under Grandpa Li Zheng.
The sword art he passed to me is too strong—I fear I cannot hold back my hand. My attainment in the Dao Sword is not high; you could still block it.
" Long Yu drank several mouthfuls of water in succession, yet his throat was still somewhat dry.
Mu Qingdai's eyes flickered. "Then could Human Sovereign Shen display your strongest sword art?
" Wang Muran's eyes too shone, and his face showed expectation.