Top-Tier Perception Starts From Basic Fist Techniques-Chapter 128.1: The Result Of Fourteen Years of Sword Crafting! (I)

The Heart Sword pierced Tian Xin like a bolt of lightning as pain shredded through his mind.

Tian Xin's mental fortitude had always been extraordinarily strong. Even when Sheng Yuanyi had struck him relentlessly with the Heart Sword, he had remained unshaken. Now, however, Tian Xin felt as if his mind was being torn apart.

"The Heart Sword?" Tian Xin's face shifted. He finally understood the terror of this technique. The fact that Sheng Yuanyi's Heart Sword had not overwhelmed his mind back then did not mean the technique itself was weak.

On the contrary, the Heart Sword was in fact extremely powerful. After all, the most valued secret technique of the Heart Sword Sect could not possibly be ordinary.

The problem lay with Sheng Yuanyi. His Heart Sword could not shake Tian Xin's mind, but Lu Changsheng's could. However, it wasn't because Lu Changsheng's Heart Sword had surpassed Sheng Yuanyi's. Rather, it was the combination of the Nine-Character Mantra.

Lu Changsheng initially used the Nine-Character Mantra to shake Tian Xin's mind. Immediately afterward, he unleashed the Heart Sword. The two techniques reinforced each other, becoming a terrifying power combination.

When Tian Xin's mind faltered, his Slaughter Intent collapsed instantly.

Buzz!

Lu Changsheng was swift to seize the opening. His three suppressed Intents erupted altogether, imbuing power into his saber technique. The sky dimmed once again. The red glow vanished as if it had only been an illusion before being replaced by a thin streak of crimson that flashed across the void.

At the very brink of annihilation, Tian Xin unleashed his Slaughter Intent once more. His aura surged violently as he proclaimed, "My will is perfectly unified! You cannot shake my mind!"

His voice roared beside Lu Changsheng's ear like thunder. The moment the words echoed, the three Intents within Lu Changsheng's saber were suppressed yet again.

Lu Changsheng's strike carried the force of six thousand cauldrons. It was terrifying, yet Tian Xin shattered it by pointing a single finger forward. The battle froze into a stalemate.

Tian Xin's Slaughter Intent was approaching Perfection, giving him an advantage that could suppress Lu Changsheng's three Intents. Lu Changsheng had a different advantage. The Nine-Character Mantra paired with the Heart Sword could create a brief instant of weakness to pierce Tian Xin's mind.

However, neither side could truly capitalize on their advantage to completely destroy the other.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

They collided head-on. Again and again, they exchanged blows, even though neither of their Intents could be fully unleashed. The fight became a clash of raw strength and secret techniques.

Lu Changsheng relied on the Third Transformation of the Divine Dragon and the Threefold Waves. Tian Xin matched him blow for blow with equally fearsome secret techniques. As the exchanges continued, Lu Changsheng noticed something wrong. Tian Xin's mind was becoming harder to penetrate.

Again and again, Lu Changsheng used the Nine-Character Mantra along with the Heart Sword to pierce Tian Xin's mind. Even so, he could not stop Tian Xin's mind from becoming even stronger. In fact, it felt like his attacks were helping Tian Xin instead.

An uneasy feeling arose in Lu Changsheng's heart as realization dawned upon him. Tian Xin had been using his attacks as stepping stones to greater power. By tempering his mind through battle, Tian Xin was pushing it to a higher level so that he could finally reach Perfect in his Slaughter Intent.

Whoosh!

Lu Changsheng retreated at once and widened the distance between them. He held back his attacks, as using the Nine-Character Mantra and the Heart Sword any further was pointless. It would only help Tian Xin perfect his Slaughter Intent.

Tian Xin smiled. "You finally figured it out, huh? Too late."

He looked at Lu Changsheng with an eerily calm expression. "The final flaw in my Slaughter Intent is gone at last. Your Heart Sword was excellent, and that secret technique you used to rattle my mind was even better.

"Without them, I would not have gained new insight. I should thank you. Because of you, I reached Perfection in my Slaughter Intent."

As he spoke, his Slaughter Intent spread outward of its own volition. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Lu Changsheng clearly sensed the changes. The Slaughter Intent around Tian Xin was transforming at an alarming rate.

Tian Xin was indeed on the brink of reaching Perfection in his Slaughter Intent, and the process could not be stopped. Tian Xin had entered a state of comprehension and had fully grasped his Slaughter Intent.

Once he reached Perfection in his Slaughter Intent, every gesture and every strike he made would contain overwhelming killing intent. Any Intent that had not reached Perfection would be completely suppressed in its wake.

At that point, Lu Changsheng's Nine-Character Mantra and even the Heart Sword would no longer be able to shake Tian Xin's mind.

"I will not be your stepping stone."

Lu Changsheng's eyes sharpened. He had intended to stack his three Intents and unleash thirteen thousand cauldrons of strength in a direct, head-on attack, but Tian Xin had never allowed it. From the very start, Lu Changsheng's three Intents were being suppressed and could not live up to their true strength.

But Lu Changsheng still had one last move. He inhaled slowly and began walking toward Tian Xin, one step at a time.

Tian Xin frowned slightly. Hmm? Why is Dao Shi'er still approaching me?

The void was now blood red. Tian Xin's Slaughter Intent had manifested physically, suffusing the skies. This was the Slaughter Domain. Inside it, all Intents were suppressed, and one's mind was being affected as well.

If one were lucky, one would be able to exert seventy or eighty percent of one's strength, but most likely, one would only be able to display half of one's strength.

This was the terror of a perfected Intent. Any Domain formed from one would be the same.

Boom!

The Slaughter Domain descended on Lu Changsheng.

He felt an endless killing intent pressing down on him, weighing down his every movement. His strength also dropped sharply, but he did not relent. Step by step, he continued toward Tian Xin.

"There is a sword I have been crafting for over ten years and have never shown to anyone. Today, I will use this sword to kill you," he said, sounding both calm and resolute.

"A sword?" Tian Xin showed no emotions. Everyone knows Dao Shi'er uses a saber. Now, he claims that he's going to use a sword, and one crafted over more than a decade? Whatever. No matter what tricks Dao Shi'er tries to execute, they are all useless against my Slaughter Intent.