2285 2285. Gentle

Sword Saint didn't say anything. The old man's revelation made sense, but his actual limits remained unclear. Testing them in battle was Sword Saint's only option.

King Elbas, Noah, and even Alexander would have come up with various plans to take down the old man. Still, Sword Saint didn't have such a flexible world. His devotion came from the firm belief that a blade could cut anything and anyone.

"Did my determination leave you speechless?" The old man asked while raising his arms to prepare for the next attack.

"I was only thinking," Sword Saint responded. "The sword path is boundless. I know it contains a blade that can cut through perfection. My understanding is simply too poor to draw it during this battle."

"So?" The old man asked. "Are you giving up? I'm sure Heaven and Earth would welcome back all the understanding you stole."

"What a pointless question," Sword Saint sighed. "I'll pursue the only approach in my power."

"Which is?" The old man questioned.

"Unleashing everything I have," Sword Saint stated before his figure exploded with blinding silver light.

The old man had to bring his arms before his eyes since his eyelids couldn't protect them from the sharp light radiated by his opponent. Yet, he soon found out that his flesh didn't provide much help either.

Sword Saint's aura was surging with enough power to turn everything coming out of him into sharp blades. His very existence was transforming into an attack that the old man struggled to block.

Of course, the privileged cultivator only spent a few seconds in the middle of his surprise. He quickly mustered his strength and started moving his arms to summon one of his unique techniques.

The old man's eyes started to bleed due to the sharp light piercing his eyelids. Two red lines fell from his closed organs and tainted his face, but he didn't stop his gesture.

His arms moved slowly to perform odd gestures. They seemed to turn ethereal and multiply as the technique continued, and the river of light falling on them soon started to shrink back.

No barrier had appeared to stop Sword Saint's energy. His light had begun to fly backward under the effects of a technique that he didn't understand.

The two waves of energy inevitably clashed to create an explosion that gave birth to a silver rain. The privileged cultivator almost disappeared behind that bright event, but Sword Saint didn't let him off the hook so easily.

Sword Saint had merely unleashed his aura. The power contained by that gesture was strong enough to pass for an attack, but he had yet to begin his offensive.

The old man only saw a silver light flashing at his right before a torrent of energy engulfed him and dragged his figure away. He tried to use his legs to perform the same strange technique as before, but his limbs vanished under those sharp currents.

That obviously wasn't enough to take down a privileged cultivator at the peak of the ninth rank. The old man let the river pierce his skin and sever his extremities for a few seconds before a shockwave came out of his figure.

The shockwave destabilized the silver river and allowed the old man to start flying out of it. Yet, a new wave of sharp energy trapped him before he could reach a safe area.

The event naturally surprised the old man. He had studied the attack and had come up with a countermeasure, but his efforts couldn't completely free him.

An explanation arrived quickly. The old man noticed something odd in the energy around him. Its nature wasn't steady. It slowly changed and transformed to create a different attack.

"Feeling overwhelmed yet?" Sword Saint's voice resounded as he teleported next to the privileged cultivator.

Sword Saint could swim freely among the silver energy even if it carried intense destructive properties. That sharpness couldn't hurt him.

"Accept the sword inside you," Sword Saint announced. "Worship it!"

"This is indeed a great display of power," The old man said as the silver river removed all the skin from his face, "But it's far from enough."

The old man let the river cut the entirety of his skin. He transformed into a humanoid gory mess that continued to suffer injuries, but his mind contained no fear.

The privileged cultivator began to join his hands, but the sharp river severed those limbs away. Still, his bleeding eyes remained closed as he played that gesture in his mind.

An ethereal version of the old man's hands suddenly appeared before his chest. Their connection generated a humming noise that spread throughout the whole river before unleashing its effects.

Sword Saint's survival instincts forced him to fly away before the humming noise could touch him. He stopped only when he reached the void, and the event that followed left him speechless.

The river stopped flowing. Its energy froze and turned solid before cracks started to spread through its structure. The whole attack crumbled into a rain of shards, but the exchange didn't end there.

The rain of shards started spinning on its own before converging toward the old man. The attack transformed into pure energy that restored his missing parts and fixed his injuries. Once everything stopped, the privileged cultivator appeared even stronger than before.

"That was quite the technique," The old man praised. "I bet you have far more like them."

"Obviously," Sword Saint declared.

"Maybe I should stop defending then," The old man exclaimed before his figure disappeared.

Sword Saint waved his arms forward to release a cross-shaped slash, but a figure flew right through them. The impact destroyed the attack, leaving the old man and the Sword Saint in front of each other.

"I can't deal with the entirety of the sword path," The old man announced as his arms snapped upward and bumped on Sword Saint's chest. "However, you are only an avatar."

Sword Saint instinctively tried to snort, but his body didn't answer to his will. He felt frozen in his position, unable to move even the tip of his fingers, and the old man used that chance to tap on his chest again.

The gentle tap flung Sword Saint away and forced him to fly until he landed on the sky. The expert regained control of his body after the impact, but his glow seemed to dim as his world became aware of his injuries.

"You can hurt me," Sword Saint whispered.

"Rank 9 cultivators are their world," The old man explained while teleporting in front of Sword Saint. "Our flesh is merely an expression of our power, and the same goes for our attacks. I can handle your offensive. Your body is no different."

Sword Saint raised his arm to point it at the old man, but the latter promptly shouted. "Freeze!"

Sword Saint almost couldn't believe his eyes. The very flow of energy inside his body had stopped at that word. He couldn't move again, and the old man was free to get even closer to him.

"I wonder if your devotion will suffer now that your very existence is turning against-," The old man stated, but a wave of silver light suddenly came out of Sword Saint and engulfed him.