The First Volume of Shen Zhou's Great Land Chapter 133: True and False, Real and Unreal (Part One)

  Step by step, Xuan Tian advanced in the Three Stages of Sword Intent, towards the mountain cave, getting closer and closer.

  In the depths of the mountain cave, it was the source of the sword's intent, with an intensity that grew more and more fierce.

  The closer he got to the cave, the more Xuan Tian could feel the terrifying power coming from ahead.

  Although the sword intent is only an illusory spiritual power and cannot produce substantial attacks, it can also cause warriors to suffer substantial damage, even mental collapse, go crazy, reverse blood flow, and explode to death.

  So, the intensity of the sword intent is strong enough to be as terrifying as a physical attack.

  Moreover, the attack of the sword intent is a direct confrontation of spiritual willpower, and all substantial defensive means are ineffective. It can strike directly at the heart, and without strong willpower, even if one's true energy is extremely thick and they possess extraordinary skills and divine weapons, facing an attack of sword intent would be futile.

  In some ways, the attack of Ki is more terrifying than a physical attack.

  Xuān Tiān condensed his mind and spirit, his will, after being tempered by the three stages of sword intent, became even more firm and strong, like an ancient giant mountain, no matter how the external world changed, I remained unmoved.

  No matter how strong the sword intent transmitted from the void, no matter how intense or terrifying it was, Xuan Tian maintained his heart with the sword intent, just like a lone boat walking in the stormy rain, stubbornly moving forward.

  At last, Xuántiān took his final step and arrived at the entrance of the cave. One more step forward would take him into the depths of the mountain cave.

  Xuantian felt the intensity of the third-order sword intent, which had reached a critical point at its peak. His body was constantly enduring the pain of being chopped by thousands of knives and pierced by tens of thousands of swords, his body instinctively trembling with fear, but his strong will suppressed his body's instinct to retreat, and he did not back down.

  He paused for a second, took a deep breath, and stepped forward again. He entered the cave.

  This step was taken. Xuan Tian immediately felt that the intensity of the sword intent in contact had suddenly exploded again, and at least it had been raised to one level. It reached the fourth stage.

  At this moment, the feeling of being cut by a thousand knives and pierced by ten thousand swords. Suddenly disappeared, in an instant the body was extremely comfortable.

  However, Xuan Tian didn't have time to savor this feeling of relaxation. His pupils suddenly constricted.

  The space in front of him suddenly split into two, a sword tip emerged from the depths of the mountain cave.

  The sword's speed was as fast as lightning, striking in an instant. Even with Xuan Tian's speed being one of his strong points, he found it hard to react to this incoming sword strike.

  Xuantian instinctively drew out 'Zhongyue Sword', swift as lightning.

  However, when the sword was only halfway out of its scabbard, the sword's tip had already pierced through Xuan Tian's chest, right at the center of his heart.

  A chill ran from the front of his chest to his back, a sharp pain shot from his heart to spread throughout his body.

  Xuantian's heart suddenly contracted, almost instantly shrinking and tightening up. The true energy and fresh blood in his body instinctively surged towards his heart, almost bursting Xuantian's chest.

  The left hand without holding a sword suddenly grasped towards his chest.

  "Hmm! No wound." At the moment when his hand grasped at his chest, Xuan Tian's spirit suddenly shook.

  Another illusory sword attack.

  In an instant, Xuan Tian reacted and forcefully restrained his body from flying backward, taking only half a step back before stabilizing himself.

  But that heart-wrenching pain was incredibly real, and the fact that the vital energy and blood had flowed in reverse to the heart just now was absolutely true.

  Although Xuantian had restrained his body and not exited the cave, the compressed True Qi and blood in his chest almost caused him to explode. If it weren't for Xuantian's extremely strong physique, even if his body didn't explode, his heart would have burst and he would have died long ago.

  Just as the will was stabilized, countless true energies, blood, and fresh blood spread out again according to the original method. In an instant, one smooth and one reverse, one shrinkage and one dispersion, let the entire chest of Xuantian transmit a kind of meridian fracture pain, and even some places extended to the limbs and brain.

  "Wow——!" Xuan Tian opened his mouth and a blood arrow shot out, with several drops of thick, red, and sticky fresh blood.

  This is the heart's yuan essence and blood, one of the most abundant fresh blood in the body.

  A drop of heart's blood is worth more than ten drops of ordinary fresh blood.

  Xuantian didn't leave the cave, but the attack from the 4th stage of Sword Intent just now had injured him.

  "What a terrifying fourth-stage sword intent." Xuan Tian's feeling was still shocked by the illusory sword tip that pierced through the void just now.

  Just now, that sword aura was not only felt by Xuan Tian, but also seen with the naked eye. Although it looked real, in reality it was an illusion and had no actual attacking power. However, the extremely realistic feeling made Xuan Tian think his heart was really being pierced, and his body's instinctive reaction caused him to suffer injury.

  Fortunately, Xuantian understood the sword intent and had a firm will, so he quickly distinguished between reality and illusion. Moreover, his physical body was strong enough to avoid serious injury. If that six-layered black-robed old man in the Pre-Heavenly realm were suddenly attacked by the fourth-stage sword intent, he would absolutely think he had been stabbed to death, and in an instant, his heart would burst, causing him to truly die.

  Compared with the third-order sword intent, the fourth-order sword intent is obviously much stronger, and it has undergone a very significant change.

  Before the fourth-order sword intent, the first, second, and third-order sword intents were all invisible and intangible, and could not be seen with the naked eye. They could only be sensed by the mind, so opening one's eyes allowed one to distinguish between reality and illusion.

  And the fourth stage of sword intent, not only can the spirit feel it, but the formed sword edge is also visible to the naked eye, making it impossible for people to distinguish between reality and illusion.

  The first, second and third stages of sword intent can only produce spiritual illusions, while the fourth stage and above not only produce spiritual illusions but also substantial illusions.

  Eyes, a double spiritual touch, making people feel more real, can't defend against.

  The fourth-order sword intent is on the same level as the martial will of the mid-term Earth Realm, and even the strong in the early stage of the Earth Realm dare not look directly at it, let alone the warriors of the Pre-Heavenly Realm.

  Xuān Tiān is currently only at the Second Heaven Realm's cultivation, but if he can comprehend the Fourth Stage Sword Intent, it would be enough to sweep across the entire First Heaven Realm. Once the Fourth Stage Sword Intent is unleashed, even late-stage or peak experts of the First Heaven Realm would be unable to withstand it, unless their martial will could reach the strength of the Earthly Realm.

  Xuantian stepped back half a step, exited the cave and returned to the area shrouded in the Three Stages of Sword Intent. He swallowed an ordinary healing pill and stood outside the cave, treating his injuries.

  Just now it was just the reversal of qi and blood, suddenly spreading out, causing the heart and meridians to swell instantly, with some minor damage. After more than a hundred breaths of recovery, Xuan Tian quickly recovered, adjusted his state again, and reached the peak speed, taking another step forward, and stepped into the mountain cave shrouded in the fourth-order sword intent.

  With the previous meridian, Xuantian's will became even more determined. However, facing that seemingly real and space-piercing sword tip, his body still had an instinctive reaction, but it was much milder than the first time.

  This time, Xuantian also suffered some damage, but it was much lighter than the first time.

  Withdrew to the outside of the mountain cave, Xuan Tian took ordinary wound-healing medicine again, restored his damaged injuries, adjusted his state, and continued to step into the mountain cave.

  After repeating this process more than a dozen times, it took nearly half an hour. Xuan Tian's understanding of the sword intent advanced another small step, reaching the extreme limit of the first stage peak. His firm willpower finally allowed him to control his body's reaction under the attack of the fourth-stage sword intent.

  The fourth-order sword intent, although it looks 'real', is ultimately not real but illusory. As long as Xuan Tian can calm his mind and ignore everything with a strong willpower to control his body, he can walk in the fourth-order sword intent.

  The sword intent is similar to the will of martial arts, but it also has its own characteristics. The will of martial arts is all-encompassing, while the sword intent has a particularly prominent feature in terms of attacking power. The sword intent can easily cut off all negative influences, and compared to the will of martial arts, the sword intent is more resolute in terms of spiritual intensity.

  Therefore, Xuantian only grasped the first level of sword intent and was able to enter the regions shrouded by the second, third, and fourth levels of sword intent. However, the black-robed elder from the Innate Realm's sixth layer could not do so because his martial will was far inferior to Xuantian's sword intent in terms of intensity.

  Step by step forward, Xuantian walked slowly in the mountain cave.

  The resistance of the sword intent in front is several times stronger than that in the third-order sword intent. Xuan Tian feels like he has a giant stone weighing tens of thousands of catties on his back, making it almost impossible to move forward. Every step forward requires him to exert the greatest strength.

  In the fourth stage of sword intent, there is no feeling of being constantly attacked by thousands and tens of thousands of swords. It's precisely because of this that one's spirit cannot always be in a state of utmost vigilance. When that illusory sword attack comes, it feels extremely sudden.

  Every five to ten steps forward, a virtual sword tip would appear in front of him, exploding and stabbing towards Xu Tian, piercing through his chest or slicing him into two halves with one slash. Because the sword tip was virtual, no matter how Xu Tian used "Heavy Mountain Sword" to defend himself, it had no effect.

  So, after Xuan Tian used 'Zhong Yue Sword' to block more than a dozen times, he simply stopped resisting these illusory attacks, focused on firming his will, controlling his body, and not being affected by these illusions.

  In front of the cave, winding and twisting, Xuantian stepped forward step by step, walking more than 300 steps, and after turning another bend, suddenly, Xuantian's eyes widened in surprise.

  Only in front of tens of meters away, five skulls were lying there.

  These five corpses have been dead for at least over ten years, with only a skeleton left.

  Next to the five skulls were five long swords, each shining brightly, all of them being Xuanji treasure.

  "It seems that I am not the first to enter this valley, these dead warriors must have also grasped the sword intent in their lifetime." Xuan Tian thought to himself, while increasing his vigilance.

  These five swordsmen, who can enter the cave, indicate that their understanding of sword intent is probably not under Xuantian. However, they all died here, and the front may contain a huge killing machine.