Chapter 469: 444 Going All Out

When Tang Zhao went to make contact with that strand of Sword Intent, he felt quite apprehensive in his heart. It was not just because it was the Sword Intent of the legendary Immortal Sword, the Jinwu Sword, but also because this was not the time when he was in his best state, his best mental condition, or when his Sword Heart was at its most stable.

In fact, let alone being at his best, it would not be an exaggeration to say this was the worst possible moment.

Since becoming a Sword Guest, he had never been so estranged from his sword.

Although it is said that the Sword Heart is something mysterious and indescribable, Tang Zhao also had his own insights. By referencing some predecessors' methods of categorizing Sword Heart stages, he also used his own set of metaphors to describe his feelings toward the Sword Heart.

At the very beginning, when he first comprehended the sword, he felt the Sword Intent drifting around him; he could see it but could not touch it, and he had to desperately try to make contact, much like sincerely pursuing a beautiful woman. When he pursued it sincerely and passionately, this earnest emotion moved her, and she stopped and stood in place, allowing him to lean in, and the two finally held hands. This node is called "Gold and Stone Open."

Sincerity can open gold and stone.

This is the Sword Guest's one-sided sincerity; the sword only does the accepting.

Reaching this stage, the sword has accepted the Sword Guest, and both parties are in a period of contact and adjustment. The bond is fragile and very easy to break. To take the relationship a step further, what is needed is emotional exchange—an exchange of heart and intent.

Compared to communication between people, communication between a person and a sword has greater obstacles, because at the start, the Sword Guest cannot even find where the sword's "heart" is, so naturally, they do not know how to communicate. Therefore, the usual clumsy methods are: one, to call out the Sword Image and use time as a cost to cultivate tacit understanding; and two, to self-cultivate the Sword Heart, lean toward the Sword Intent, and then attempt to obtain a clear response from the sword.

It is like knowing a woman you admire is standing in the distance, but there is a mountain and a layer of fog between you; you cannot get across, so you can only shout loudly, attempting to get a response from her.

Until one day, you suddenly receive a response and hear her voice. This means she has understood your call, and you have understood her answer. With this call and response, the two parties can truly communicate, and from then on, the relationship will naturally advance by leaps and bounds.

According to experience, once one has obtained the sword's active response, one has already crossed the most important threshold to becoming a Sword Hero, which is the so-called "bearing of a Sword Hero." As long as the Sword Heart does not have any major lapses, advancing further is only a matter of time.

Once reaching this stage, it can be considered a period of high-speed growth for the Sword Heart, and further increasing the Sword Heart suddenly becomes simple—even simpler than communicating with a lover.

After all, no matter what, a lover is also a person, and human hearts are separated by skin; saying you have walked into her heart is just a metaphor. But for a sword, one can truly use spirit, emotion, and will to walk into it; one can achieve a physical-level fusion.

A massive infusion of heart and intent binds the two parties tighter and tighter like a rope. At the same time, the Sword Guest's consciousness possesses initiative, sufficient to intuitively feel the subtle feedback of the Sword Intent, allowing the Sword Heart to find a more accurate direction.

When the Sword Heart and Sword Intent are fused often, there remains an extremely high level of tacit understanding even after separating. That kind of tacit understanding, reaching the point where a single thought arises and both act in unison, is the second stage of the Sword Heart: "Heart-to-Heart Connection."

This process sounds easy, but the key is that while in the midst of it, the Sword Guest themselves finds it hard to define which step they have reached, let alone conduct reasonable communication and cultivation. After all, Sword Intent does not come with a skin, you cannot see a progress bar, and it does not even come with labels. Just getting the Sword Heart to lean toward the Sword Intent is already difficult, let alone having to balance the principle of "better for the guest to offend the host than for the host to bully the guest," while having to be close, reserved, and still grasp the initiative—whoever tries this knows how difficult it is.

Take Tang Zhao himself, for example; even now, he cannot be sure if he has ever received a response from the sword.

What is certain is that compared to the beginning, his tacit understanding with the Sword Image has increased. When commanding the Sword Image, he no longer needs a true "order"; a thought arises, and perhaps before the thought has even transformed into a concept, the sword has already moved as he wished. Does this not count as a tacit understanding of acting in unison?

Tacit understanding must, of course, be mutual. If one has to wait for Tang Zhao to turn a thought into a plan, for the plan to organize an order, and then for the sword to act according to the order, that is not called tacit understanding; at most, it is obedience, which even A Xiao could do.

But if measured against communication between intelligent beings, Tang Zhao feels something is still missing; that kind of "you speak, I listen, you come, I go," clear and meaningful exchange has never appeared.

Perhaps his requirements are too high, and he is too impatient?

Precisely because of this, although people often affirm his rapid progress, and Xiangyangzi also says his Sword Heart is stable, he still feels insecure when encountering such a major event of life-and-death choice that relies on the Sword Heart to succeed.

Since he feels insecure, he must use his full strength.

Previously, when he adjusted the light to imitate that high-level Rune Formula, he had once poured his will into the Sword Intent with all his might; at that time, he was still without burden, and the pouring was relaxed and easy. At this moment, however, he was bearing the multiple suppressions of the Zhugong, and had the pressure of "succeed or die," as if wearing shackles weighing thousands of catties, making it extremely difficult to mobilize his Spirit.

The more one is bound, the more one must struggle fiercely.

Tang Zhao used almost the most powerful willpower of his life, desperately pouring it into that strand of Micro Light in his hand. He was forcing himself, using the courage and boldness of a desperate gamble and an indomitable spirit to throw his entire being into the final inch of the Sword Image.

If a person does not force themselves, they do not know how great their potential is.

Tang Zhao utilized the method of training the Spirit from the "Great Sun Divine Carriage Scripture," as if he wanted to treat his own heart and mind as firewood to be burned, sparks and lightning flying as he charged into the Sword Image.

Concentrate, concentrate, concentrate!

At a certain critical point, he suddenly entered the mental visualization world of the Great Sun Divine Carriage.

When he trained his Mental Power in the past, he had entered that world many times. There, the world was full of light; he stood on the ground, looking up at the divine carriage carrying the sun patrolling the firmament, and could only see the white horse passing the crevice.

But when he entered at this moment, heaven and earth were overturned.

He was not on the ground; he was in the sky.

He had already transformed into light.

Although there was no vast brilliance of the Six-Dragon Chariot returning the sun, he had indeed transformed into a ray of light, shining in the sky.

Even Tang Zhao himself could feel that the light was so dazzling, so glorious.

Just like his Sword Intent—"Brightness."

He was no longer a person, but had become the embodiment of his own Sword Intent!

Becoming the Sword Intent, he seemed to no longer be himself, yet he was still himself; perhaps because it was an extreme investment, his autonomous consciousness was far greater than in any previous mental training.

Even when transforming into light, he still had a "self."

It was light, and it was also Tang Zhao.

As Tang Zhao, he could think, make decisions, and feel curiosity.

As light, he was omnipotent.

In this world, as long as it was related to the "Brightness" Sword Intent, there was nothing he could not do.

Within the brightness, he could be brilliant, he could be gentle, he could shine, he could flicker, he could illuminate the earth, he could illuminate a single person; everything warm, bright, and radiant belonged solely to him.

This was him, an existence where the Brightness Sword Intent and Tang Zhao were fused.

He enjoyed the brilliance of the light and also felt the authority of the Sword Intent; his consciousness was constantly exploring the critical point of the combination of Tang Zhao and the Sword Intent, hoping to perfectly fuse his two parts at this moment into one.

At a certain moment, he succeeded.

He had almost completely grasped the intent of brightness, and was also completely the Soul of Tang Zhao; he did as he pleased, and with a wave of his hand, he made light appear everywhere in heaven and earth, leaving not a single Shadow. He still felt it was not enough, wantonly releasing brightness, as if he wanted to use up the light and then cover it with another layer, even more aggressive than the Six-Dragon Chariot that had passed through the sky.

At this moment, although no one saw it, Tang Zhao was filled with pride and satisfaction.

In this world, it was a world of brightness; in heaven and on earth, there was only light.

Until he saw the opposite shore.

The opposite shore seemed to be Luse.

The light turned and saw the end of its own world, the starting point of another world.

At first glance, it was a patch of Luse—new green, grass green, emerald green, deep green, all kinds of greens intertwined into one.

But looking closely, it was not just Luse there; there were also red, purple, and yellow, those colors common in Spring, as well as brown and gray, the colors of trees often seen in nature. Looking even closer, there was the blue of the sky, the cyan of the water, the yellow of the fruits...

The more he looked, the more colorful and full of temptation that world became.

It was a world full of vitality, where all things grew.

It was a world completely different from the world covered by brightness.

But it is also a lovely world.

If there were not such a strong sense of Tang Zhao's own consciousness within the world of light, then the light would never engage in such complex thinking; at most, it would be mere instinct, a muddled choice—can I approach, or can I not approach?

Yet Tang Zhao can decide, and can even actively provide the reasons for his choices; it is a world that can be drawn close to, and essentially, it is harmoniously matched with his own world.

By drawing close, not only will there be no repulsion, but there can also be mutual benefit.

Light, move closer!

The intent of light was already under his control, so it naturally moved closer.

While moving closer, he was also adjusting his posture.

This is another benefit of having a clear consciousness; while moving closer, Tang Zhao was already actively thinking about what posture he should adopt to approach.

First of all, the two sides are not enemies.

He had consciousness at this moment, but his memories were blurred; he could not recall the matter of the Sword Intent from the Waijie, yet he could realize one thing—his approach here was not for confrontation, but to establish a connection.

It was just that there seemed to be room for choice in how this relationship should be connected.

Should it be equal, or dominant? Should it be distant, or intimate? Should it be direct, or ambiguous?

This was not a matter of doing whatever he wanted; what he had to consider was what kind of relationship would be reasonable and have the highest success rate.

If two worlds can be connected, what is the logic that serves as the connecting line?

He pondered, and suddenly, the surrounding light shone brightly, as if it had obtained extra power out of thin air, the light shining as bright as the sun.

That's right, I am the sun!

I bring light, I bring energy, I soar in the sky, and the world opposite can only experience such Growth under my Shine.

That colorful and beautiful world is entirely a gift from me!

In that case, I am its source, and also its master.

Then I shall tower above it; I am like the heavens that are unkind and the Dao that is heartless, indifferent to the vitality of all things within it, while it thirsts for my light and is filled with reverence for me.

Understood.

I am the superior; light, press down upon it!