Sword Heart Realm Sword Intent, Severed Cliff!

Gales suddenly howled around Li Guanqi as fierce sword qi slashed toward him in a crisscrossing barrage! Li Guanqi spread his arms wide, resisting solely with his own sword intent! In an instant, several deafening cracks echoed from the walls on both sides of the fissure, and the ringing clash of metal filled Li Guanqi's ears. The gathering crowd grew by the moment, and shock rippled through everyone as they saw sparks showering ceaselessly around Li Guanqi. *Gulp...* "Who is this guy?" "How dare he pick that sword intent! And isn't this his first time here?" "His sword casket is massive! And that sword... it's incredible!" Then the crowd noticed Zhao Ling nearby and gasped in admiration as well. "Senior Brother Zhao's sword intent is so formidable. It looks like he'll definitely comprehend the Frost sword intent this time!" "Are the two of them competing?" Both Li Guanqi and Zhao Ling were free of stray thoughts now, every shred of their focus locked onto the sword intents before them. Though Li Guanqi held Zhao Ling in contempt, there was no denying that the man was not only powerful, but far from mediocre in talent. A water heavenly spiritual root, already possessing a seed of sword intent—if he could inherit the Frost sword intent, he would ascend to heaven in a single leap, directly obtaining the Frost sword intent of the Sword Gall Realm! This was why the mightier a sect was, the stronger the disciples it could foster. Once Zhao Ling gained the Frost sword intent, he could likewise leave his own sword intent upon the rock face. The only difference was that future disciples would have to comprehend its true essence on their own; he would not be able to pass it on directly as an inheritance like the forebears had. Chilling air surged around Zhao Ling as the embryonic form of his sword intent manifested. The Frost sword scar before him also erupted in ripples of arcane fluctuations! Zhao Ling let out a small breath of relief and began organizing the insights that had just formed in his mind. Just one more time! Just one! He would fully fathom the essence of the Frost sword intent and claim its inheritance! Opening up his senses, Zhao Ling suddenly froze where he stood. *Why are so many people here? Even disciples from the inner sect?* *Could it be... they're all here to watch me compete with Li Guanqi?!* *Where did that fellow go?* His divine sense rippled in a flash, and only then did he notice Li Guanqi, covered in sword wounds large and small. Yet the youth had pushed more than ten zhang deep into that sword scar! Zhao Ling frowned, sneering inwardly in disdain. *Heh, truly courting death!* *Pushing deep into a sword scar to experience the sword intent's manifestation—people have tried that before and nearly died inside.* *That's a Sword Heart Realm sword intent... Releasing your own sword intent and walking right into it is no different from picking a fight with it!* *Courting death!* Sweeping his divine sense across the surroundings, he saw that nearly a hundred onlookers had gathered, packing the area tightly. At the thought of forcing that brat to admit defeat before everyone, Zhao Ling trembled with excitement. His prestige and renown needed a genius like Li Guanqi to serve as a foil! With this in mind, Zhao Ling instantly blocked out his five senses and poured his entire mind into comprehending the sword intent. He would prove before all eyes that he deserved to be the next Disciplinary Law Enforcer! *Boom!* An immense pressure erupted from Zhao Ling, terrifying water primal energy churning relentlessly. Yet his spiritual root was water, not ice, which was best suited to the Frost sword qi, making his comprehension considerably more arduous. Even so, the wills of the sect's forebears remained within these sword intents; if left uncomprehended, they would eventually fade away with the passage of years. That was why Zhao Ling returned again and again. Noticing the changes in Zhao Ling and looking up at the stirring Frost sword scar, the watching crowd broke into murmurs of admiration. "It looks like Senior Brother Zhao really will obtain the sword intent's inheritance this time. I'm so envious." "Yeah, but he's already been here so many times. To earn the chance to come down here, he's been taking on missions like crazy over the past few years." "Senior Brother Zhao truly is a pillar of the inner sect. Once he breaks through to the Void Refining Realm, he'll probably become an elder." "Who is that guy in white? He doesn't seem ordinary either!" Just then, in a corner, a youth with sharp eyes narrowed his gaze at Li Guanqi's back. He muttered softly, "White robe, black coffin... four-foot blood-red sword..." "'One dance of the Red Lotus shakes the world!'" "Great Xia Sword Sect's Li Guanqi!" "It's actually him!" Few here could recognize Li Guanqi, but anyone who kept an eye on outside domains would know his name without fail! Li Guanqi's fame in the Great Xia Domain was just like that of the Taixuan Sword Sect in Zhongzhou! At that moment, Li Guanqi had cast aside all extraneous thoughts, his Yanluo Sword Intent manifesting to the absolute peak! The dreadful sword intent shimmered with crimson threads of light amid swirling, chaotic sword intent and dense showers of sparks. Metallic clangs rang incessantly! Even as his body was cut by the manifested sword qi, he remained completely unfazed. He merely held Red Lotus tightly in his grip, without drawing upon it in the slightest. Had he wielded the sword, he could have easily parried every incoming strike of sword qi, yet he refrained. He intended to resist with the purest sword intent alone, to comprehend the other party's sword intent! As he pressed forward with unwavering resolve, he drew ever closer to the deepest recesses of the sword scar. Here, he gradually sensed a faint yet soaring sword intent! Fractured sword qi sliced his skin and whistled past his ears. Yet within the howling sword qi lay both solemn sorrow and unshakable resolve! Sorrow, because the sword intent's master had ultimately failed to take that final step, leaving indignation in his heart. Resolve, because even in death, he had been determined to leave a seed behind for the Taixuan Sword Sect! A sliver of possibility... to draw a blade against the heavens and tread the azure clouds. In a trance, Li Guanqi seemed to witness an elder in cyan robes laughing wildly in the face of a vast heavenly tribulation. Even knowing his lifespan had run its course, he drew his sword with unyielding pride beneath the heavenly lightning! The elder's long brows draped past his jaw, his features gentle and kind. Treading the firmament, he slashed thirteen times, until his strength was spent and he could no longer withstand the majestic might of heaven. Swaying on his feet, the elder suddenly looked back as if bidding farewell to the sect behind him, his eyes shining with a dying resurgence of brilliance! He turned and struck his sword toward the sect's earth! One strike fell, and the Sword Abyss was born. With the last vestiges of his life's power, the elder had carved out the Sword Abyss, leaving behind the very first sword scar within it. His eyes dimmed, and his lifeless body remained standing in the void, sword in hand. Through the haze, a figure in white suddenly appeared before the elder's cloudy eyes. The corners of the elder's mouth curved slightly, and the vision slowly shattered! Li Guanqi's eyes turned slightly red, and he murmured softly, "Sword Heart Realm sword intent... Severed Cliff." *Boom!* In an instant, the entire Sword Abyss canyon trembled slightly! Then, across the cliff walls of the Sword Abyss—over five hundred zhang deep—tiny wisps of lightning crackled into view! Deep inside the sword scar where Li Guanqi stood, a burst of dark purple lightning erupted, plunging straight into his body!