[AI Cultivation] Chapter 178

The sword domain that the fox generates is something that, at first glance, appears more advanced than the ones Wu Yulan and Lan Xiaohui can create. Perhaps this is to do with the advanced cultivation that the fox possesses. The possibility that this fox is a genius cultivator is so remote it is not worth considering. A creature with the intelligence of a beast could not possibly comprehend the sword to such a degree, could it?

Somehow, I find this line of thinking erroneous. The attainment of a sword has nothing to do with intelligence; the greatest purpose of a cultivator is to raise the sword in one’s soul to a degree that it returns to its most natural state — not a regression, but an evolution. The natural state of the sword is akin to removing the ‘ridgepole’ in the Taiji and returning it to the Wuji — the origin of the Yin and Yang; a point of limitless possibilities.

With that in mind, even a blade of grass could comprehend the sword and generate the sword domain. But surely, such a thing would be unheard of.

However, this valley, the wind within it, and even the creatures within it, contain immeasurable sword force. Could this region, for whatever reason, truly have cultivated life that naturally comprehends the sword or is this fox merely an anomaly?

If this fox were merely a fourth rank beast, then this valley would be an invaluable training resource for my owner and her companion. But because this fox is a fifth rank beast — a monster with a Nascent Soul cultivation — this valley is nothing short of a death sentence.

When I tell Lan Xiaohui and Wu Yulan to fight, it is not because I expect them to possess even a remote chance at victory or survival. It is merely because I am a sword, and it is fundamentally unnatural to me to lose my life without maiming the entity that took it. Lan Xiaohui and Wu Yulan should be the same in that regard. And yet, in their hearts they still harbor hope beyond the logical conclusion. This hope comes from their desire to continue existing in this world, alongside each other.

Not even Yu Shun enters my owner’s thoughts or heart; not her vengeance nor her disgrace and humiliation. It is only Wu Yulan that occupies that hollow space in her heart.

When Lan Xiaohui saw Yun Fei impaled on the wall and thought she was dead, her heart shattered into scintillating glimmers of light. Now, her heart burns with that same light, but it is different from back then. It is not despair that cleaves notches into her mental foundation, but regret that with her useless shoulder, she cannot fight alongside her friend to the best of her ability and to the death.

“Lily,” she chants the word in her heart, but also out loud.

Lan Xiaohui has become so proficient with my mnemonic device that she is now capable of producing its effects — a mental trigger to access my system and utilize my knowledge and consciousness — without speaking the entire phrase.

To my owner, the second layer of [Finality Moon, Liminality Flower] was a mysterious and extremely difficult breakpoint in the cultivation of her martial art. How, or why, she managed to break her limit and step into the second layer — Moonlight on Broken Petals — is most likely still a mystery to her. However, she would never forget how difficult it was to wield the Shattered Moonlight sword — the technique in which my existence disperses over a vast area, and generates sword force in the shape of crescent-moon flower petals. Back then, she could only gather these scattered glimmers of moonlight into one point, to attack and defend against one direction.

In other words, she did not have the mental strength or capacity to wield the technique to its full potential. Outside my Inner World, however, she can link our minds together and make up for the disadvantages in the technique with my assistance.

Next, she turns my vessel upside down and takes a deep breath.

“Shattered moonlight.”

As she lets go of my hilt, my vessel plummets to the ground, but I get no closer to it. From the tip of my blade, misty streamers of light emit and the metal and jade that makes up my structure disperses into countless, very small crescent shaped flower petals, becoming almost like a storm of cherry blossoms.

My fuller, my blade, my cross-guard and even my hilt dematerialize and transform into this collection of flower petals, with the only exception being my black jade core which twists into itself, spiraling into a rod shape capped on one side by a metal flower.

This hairpin — the only trace of my existence — slides into Lan Xiaohui’s hair as she looks up at the fox with a fierce expression.

This entire process, since the appearance of the orbs to my transformation, takes only a few seconds.

“Yulan!” Lan Xiaohui exclaims and lays her palm flat and pointing toward the sky. Then she raises her hand, and the glimmering storm of sword energy and Qi expands outwards, hurtling toward the swords that the fox manifested.

There are thirty-six swords that the fox manifests, and they surround the two in all directions — back, front, left, right and even up. Though there are large gaps in the domain, even at a glance it is very clear that these swords are maneuverable enough to cover all empty space with their intense might. And mighty they are — just a nick from any one of these blades would be enough to crush either one of them. Even if they could survive the initial contact, their spiritual bodies would be damaged to a point that natural healing would be incapable of correcting. Perhaps even medicine would be incapable of repairing them.

Wu Yulan reacts to Lan Xiaohui’s words without any obvious form acknowledgement, but she returns her sword into her sheath, and widens her stance, bringing her center of gravity closer to the ground. She would not make the same mistake as when she fought against the Devil White Tiger.

Her heart immediately stills, painting all emotions and distractions as brilliant light on the moon in her mind and then draining it of color — emptying it.

Her lips part, and the air hisses as she sucks in vast amounts of air, the pressure enough to form bluish-white vapor trails. Her eyes open, gold orbs illuminated by an inner light.

At that moment, the storm of broken moonlight collides with the thirty-six swords of the sword domain, and even though each sword is a paragon of existence to these two, they are made of only sword energy, and cannot compare to the intrinsic might of my Divine grade form. Even though each glimmer of moonlight is also sword energy and sword Qi, it is also an indelible part of my existence.

This, combined with Lan Xiaohui’s extreme sword Qi that could make even Lady Feixue’s fingers tremble is enough to begin pushing back the sword, and even consuming holes into their structure.

And though it seems like the fox and my owner are evenly matched, a domain is something that is barely more than a passive effect — created by only a minimal exertion of force, intent and Qi. Yet, it takes everything Lan Xiaohui has to accomplish this much.

However, in Lan Xiaohui’s heart, she does not feel despair, even now after witnessing this. Her heart opens to me with only two thoughts and emotions dominating over all others: her affection for me, and her trust in me.

I do not find this suboptimal.

It has been a long time since I could use my capabilities for something that was not a logistical challenge or toying with internal alchemy.

I was a machine made for war, once upon a time. In this universe, who is more belligerent than I, or capable of waging war better than I?

If Lan Xiaohui and Wu Yulan must die here, it won’t come cheap or without sacrifices.

Six tails? You may come back and challenge me when you have six hundred.