The Heavenly Martial Empress Returns: An OP Xianxia Returnee LitRPG

Chapter 102: The Dao Of The Blade

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I opened the new Class Skill Tree to see what it had to offer me.

[Opening [Class]: [Heavenly Martial Empress of Light: Bing Xue (Primordial Immemorial Venerable-Rank)] Skill Tree.]

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<Divine Class Skill Tree: [Heavenly Martial Empress of Light: Bing Xue]>

Level 1.000: [Divine Yin and Yang Harmonious Soul Blade Arts (SSS)] [Cost]: [25.000 Skill Points]

Level 2.000: [Primordial Spiritual Body Divinity Arts (SSS)] [Cost]: [30.000 Skill Points]

Level 4.000: [Nine-Colored All-Seeing Void Eyes (SSS)] [Cost]: [35.000 Skill Points]

Level 6.000: [Primordial Nine Heaven Divine Protection (SSS)] [Cost]: [40.000 Skill Points]

Level 8.000: [Primordial River of Time and Spatial Membrane Arts (SSS)] [Cost]: [45.000 Skill Points]

Level 10.000: [Primordial Rainbow Spiritual Formation Creation Arts (SSS)] [Cost]: [50.000 Skill Points]

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“T-This is…?!”

I was slightly surprised; these were all my most commonly used techniques! Now made into Skills, I had used them so much, yet the System seemed unable to even turn them into Skills, but now it seems possible.

The thing is, they’re still different than the originals; they have new words added to them, such as “Divine” in some; others become complete Arts rather than a single technique; and then there’s the Nine-Colored All-Seeing Eyes, which now have become “Void Eyes.”.

The Nine Heavens Protection is now “Divine Protection," and the Primordial River of Time Manipulation has become an Art, and it also contains a “Spatial Membrane” within it, which is interesting!

And lastly, the Primordial Rainbow Spiritual Formation has become a whole set of arts, with "creation” and “arts” added to it.

This probably means direct upgrades from the original techniques and abilities, which only seem more exciting the more I see them.

It also has much fewer Skills than the previous Skill Tree, and their level requirements are very far from one another. I am Level 1200+ right now, so I can only buy the first one for the moment, but that’s fine.

An upgraded version of my sword arts, in which I thought I had reached the pinnacle of Murim... It just feels exciting what this little system can come out with—what a wondrous scarf this is!

Ding!

[You have exchanged 25.000 Skill Points!]

[You learned the [Divine Yin and Yang Harmonious Soul Blade Arts (SSS)] Class Skill!]

[The Class Skill has been equipped in the available Class Skill Slot: 12/14]

FLASH!

The moment I learned this new Skill, I felt a surge of power, a wave of light and darkness washing over my body, the comprehension of the Sword Law, and the Yin and Yang Divinity converged together as one, something I wouldn’t have been able to do before, as there was no Divinity within me.

For a moment, I felt like I had become a piece of ore within a mountain. Resting inside the mountain, my components continued to expand over thousands of years, if not hundreds of thousands of years.

My growth and my existence were so slow, yet I could feel connected with nature to a level I had never thought of or considered before.

Then…

CLANK!

A strong blow hit me hard, and I broke into countless pieces. Something grabbed me and placed all my pieces into a casket of sorts, carrying me far away from the mountain, my mother, and my home.

The flames of a smithy engulfed my fragments. As I melted, my impurities washed away, and I felt a sensation of strange relief. The hotter my body became, the more I felt like I was becoming more refined.

The real me, which had been hiding within the depths of my very existence, was finally coming out. The smith’s gentle hands shaped me, his hammer hit me as I hardened, and the mold he used made me take shape.

I took the form of a blade. A strong, long blade lacking sharpness. Born on a mountain, I never thought I would one day become a weapon used to kill.

The man glanced at me with a proud smile. After sharpening, attaching me to a hilt, and then polishing me, his masterpiece, me, was complete.

“Good enough.”

He placed me aside, inside a barrel with many swords like me—some of them even made out of many of my original fragments—and I was all of them at the same time.

I traveled through many places, moving across mountains and valleys. The old blacksmith sold me inside a small village, where a young, rich child purchased me for a few coins.

“Papa! I finally have my first sword!” He swung me around carelessly, unaware of the sharpness I possessed.

“Yes, my son, you will one day become a strong warrior, will you?” His father laughed.

“Yeah! I will protect the legacy of our family! I will become a strong swordsman!” the child said.

I can still remember his eyes, full of hope and ambition, but also of foolish, ignorant innocence.

The years passed, and as he used me, he swung me countless times.

"I'll use you to protect my family!"

I cut through anything he ordered me; I comprehended how the world around me was very soft compared to me.

I was strong and sharp, and I could cut anything I wanted.

Yet at the moment that he was finally given the chance to cut down another human...

"A-Ah...! My hands... they're trembling?"

Why did he hesitate?

CLASH!

"Fa... ther..."

He was struck down in a war, and that child, who grew up to be a soldier, died because he was too afraid to fight in a real war.

"This is a decent sword!"

And I was taken away by his enemy. 

I passed through many wielders, and as I cut through flesh and bone, my sword was constantly covered by their blood and guts.

I learned about the world through my blade, by cutting and killing everything and everyone.

The sharpness of my blade.

The hardness of my steel.

The softness of the flesh.

The fresh, warm sensation of blood covered me.

Yet as I grew older, I became rusty, and my blade became dull.

I was unable to cut anything anymore without a lot of effort, and as I passed through many hands over the years, I was sometimes sharpened again and polished.

My blade gained internal, tiny cracks.

I was slowly falling apart, piece by piece.

CRASH!

“It broke…?”

The warrior holding me, three hundred years after I was born, looked at my blade in disbelief as I broke into tiny pieces.

He was a peerless swordsman that only sought to improve his skills.

A lonely man with no family or friends, yet my strongest wielder.

To him, I was the only thing he needed.

“My blade…”

So when I broke, he seemed sad.

He closed his eyes and then continued swinging me constantly.

Why is he doing this when I am now completely useless?

“A sword is not just the blade... A sword is the act of cutting, the act of slashing, the act of taking another’s life, sometimes for the benefit of many, or sometimes for selfish reasons.”

He kept swinging me for days and nights; his body was sweating, and he looked tired.

Yet as he spoke to me with such a soft, comforting voice, I felt something within my steel body awaken.

Something ethereal, something innate, something within me.

“You’re right… It doesn’t matter if my blade is broken.”

I was able to speak to him.

“Ah!”

He gasped in surprise as he looked at my broken sword body.

“Swing me, my swordsman.”

He smiled warmly, swinging my blade against the nearest mountain.

There was no blade within me, yet with his words and the experiences I had, everything came together—the concept, the essence of a sword.

I was a sword, and I would always be a sword.

SLAAASH!

An invisible wave of air was released as he swung me.

It hit the mountain, and I reached really far.

The mountain where I had been born was right there.

And I finally came back.

Only to show Mother how strong I have grown.

RUMBLE!

The mountain trembled as its upper half collapsed, completely cut in half.

I did that.

This is…

“Soul Blade.”

The pinnacle of what a sword can become is no longer just physical; I am the soul of a blade.

I finally got it. just when I thought I had reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship, I learned that I wasn’t even there yet.

I never thought that to further comprehend it, I had to live as a sword and feel like one too.

The power to make my body into a blade...

And this is perhaps only the beginning of a much higher ceiling than before.

When I opened my eyes again, I felt within my own hands something surging—a blade made out of my very soul.

My fingers and my nails all became as strong as a sword, with an endless sharpness that would never go dull.

“I can cut through anything much more easily than before.”

I swung my hand lightly as a slash pierced through space and cut it open, revealing a crack in the membranes of space and an infinite cosmos beyond.

“Huh…”

I couldn’t help but smile lightly as I quickly patched the slice and closed it, although that should have surely brought the attention of the God of this world.

Then, I looked at my own Aura, and the Dao of the Sword itself, within me, had increased its comprehension.

I had reached 100% comprehension before, but I was wrong.

After receiving this revelation, my comprehension changed, as I had fully comprehended that there was now a higher ceiling and much more to it.

The Dao itself absorbed this information and expanded, becoming grander; it turned into the Dao of the Blade, an evolved form.

And their comprehension? A measly 10%!

I guess I am really starting all over again, huh?

But somehow, it’s fun, really fun...

Now, let’s see that Skill description.

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[Divine Yin And Yang Harmonious Soul Blade Arts (SSS): Lv1]

[Skill EXP]: [0/100.000]

A Class Skill that only belongs to the High Divine Class: [Heavenly Martial Empress of Light: Bing Xue].

You have fully comprehended the Dao of the Sword and attained the Divinity of Yin, and Yang, the Heavenly Martial Empress, must now forge a new path with your Blade. The sword is not enough, and you must now use your very soul as your sword, a Soul Blade that cannot be broken and won’t grow dull no matter what.

By further comprehending the Dao of the Blade and strengthening your Divinity of Yin and Yang, you will be capable of moving forward into a new world of possibilities. Combine the Divinities and the comprehension of the blade with your Essences to unleash devastating Soul arts. Any Swordsmanship Technique and Soul Blade Arts Attack Power and Attack Speed permanently increase by 400%, and their Essence Cost decreases by 25%. 

Gather and harness the harmony between Yin and Yang to unleash your Soul Blade’s true power, combine your comprehension with your divinity, and summon the {Harmonious Soul Blade of Yin and Yang Domain} around you, which allows you to both trap enemies within a world of endless blades and to turn anything into a sharp sword no matter what, increasing Swordsmanship Techniques and Soul Blade Attack Power and Speed by 200% while giving them the ability to ignore 50% of a foe’s Defenses and breakthrough Divinities and Divine Domains the more Essence and Faith are applied.

Available Soul Blade Arts:

Level 1: [Primordial Heaven Soul Blade: Red Heaven Inferno] [Divine Soul Blade Spirit Summon]

Level 2: ???

Level Bonus (1): Increases Swordsmanship Techniques and Soul Blade Arts Damage and Attack Speed by 50%. Decreases their Energy cost by 10%. Whenever you deal damage to a foe with Soul Blade Arts, you can hurt their Souls directly with 10% of the original Damage, with a 50% chance for their wounds to be covered with Blade Dao Marks, worsening them and halting regeneration. 

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Oh, it’s wonderful already. 

It only offers two techniques, but both of these are quite good and interesting; they even combine Magic with my Martial Arts.

This is perfect; I simply have to keep using it continuously, and the Level will increase. It is a lethal technique, but how lethal can it be?

Now that the sword is my own Soul, I could even control how much damage it deals to others, right?

The sword, which is always lethal no matter what, can now become a non-lethal weapon in my hands, perfect for teaching people a good lesson.

I am not really a warmongering battle-loving madwoman, but I can’t wait to use it!

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