"Excellent saber technique!"
Furylo gazed up at Butcher, who shone brilliantly in midair, unable to help but exclaim, "What a superb saber move! Even in an age when the Dao and divine arts are broken and incomplete, Kaihuang Heaven still produces such outstanding figures. Truly a remarkable place!"
Seeing Butcher's saber technique only made Furylo desire the Great Ruins even more.
Compared to him, Butcher was quite 'young.' Although he hadn't received a complete cultivation system, he had still attained saber-into-dao—a realm that many gods and demons in Taihuang Heaven and the demon race had never reached.
Furylo could see that if Butcher managed to patch up his shortcomings in the future, he might well become a True God. To have such skill at such a young age—this must be the influence of Kaihuang Heaven!
"He never taught me this move..."
Libationer Barrett gaped, his voice booming like thunder, and turned to Quinn Shepherd: "Did the teacher teach you this move?"
Quinn replied honestly, "He did, but my cultivation isn't high enough to use it yet."
Libationer Barrett grumbled, "That old man is so biased! This move is way too strong... way too strong..."
Butcher wasn't really biased. Back when he first crawled into Oldridge Village, most of his time was spent half-mad, cursing the heavens and threatening to kill the sky, and when he was lucid, he was silent and withdrawn.
Back then, Butcher suffered—not because he was left with only his upper body, but because he couldn't slay the heavens, avenge his friends, or wash away his blade's hatred.
To fight Lord Sunstar and the other gods above, he kept training madly, inventing countless saber techniques, yet none could break the gods' divine arts.
The reason for his madness was simply that he thought too much.
After Granny Sue found Quinn Shepherd by the riverside, Butcher's crazed heart was gradually soothed by this little child—he finally had something to anchor himself to.
From then on, Butcher's fits of madness became less frequent. He had driven himself mad with endless thoughts before, but after Quinn arrived, his heart settled, and he gradually integrated all his past ideas.
When his saber technique reached dao, he created the ninth Heavenblade form—Blade Opens the Bright-Moon Ring.
That strike marked his entry into saber-dao, making him a peerless grandmaster of the blade.
Libationer Barrett had learned the eight forms of Heavenblade, but Butcher truly disliked him and always kept his distance. Only recently did Barrett finally catch up to him, but this move hadn't been passed down yet.
Besides, Blade Opens the Bright-Moon Ring demands not only immense cultivation but also profound mastery of saber technique. Libationer Barrett has already gone down the path of merging battle methods, so he can't reach saber-into-dao—even if Butcher taught him, he might not learn it.
Lord Sunstar's blood rained down from the sky, turning a hundred-mile radius into a sea of fire. His blood was golden crow blood, infused with solar essence—wherever it landed, flames erupted and burned without end.
Suddenly, a blazing sun crashed down from the sky, shaking the earth and turning the impact site into a sea of fire.
Young Master Cyrus Qi frowned briefly, then his expression relaxed.
Lord Sunstar's death was no loss to him. Lord Sunstar had been summoned to help him on this mission, and since the sun god lingered in the lower realm, he was familiar with the local terrain.
The reason Young Master Cyrus Qi had brought Lord Sunstar was to use him to locate Quinn Shepherd. Now that Quinn was found, Lord Sunstar's fate no longer mattered.
Butcher strode forward, shouldering his long saber. Lord Sunstar's blood splattered on him, setting his body ablaze, but as a Vermilion Bird spirit, such injuries were no real threat.
"That felt good!"
Butcher's chest split open, revealing his heart beating beneath his ribs. Clearly, his battle with Lord Sunstar had left him badly hurt, but he laughed: "Centuries of madness, split open with one cut—damn, that felt good!"
Apothecary rushed over, inspected the wound, and frowned: "You butcher, you almost got yourself killed! Your wound still contains traces of Lord Sunstar's divine arts—I can't purge it, you'll have to do it yourself. Be careful not to burst your heart; you're not Starr, who could survive a heart transplant. You may have enjoyed that kill, but you nearly lost your own life. Don't be so reckless."
"Saber technique isn't like sword technique, with endless variations. True saber arts are simple—one strike decides life or death. If you can take it, you live; if not, you die. It's that simple!"
Butcher sheathed his saber, then roared. Countless fine blade-lights flashed from his chest wound, erasing the remnants of Lord Sunstar's divine arts. He said gravely: "My old saber arts were all about subtlety and complexity, but after reaching saber-dao, everything became simple. Moves like Night Battle in the Storm-Lashed City and Sun-Tide Thousand-Wave Slash were too complicated. Now, Long Saber Hangs the Moon Soul and Blade Opens the Bright-Moon Ring are pure simplicity."
Furylo looked around at the demon race spellcasters and said, "Remember his words—they make sense. All skills, spells, and battle techniques must eventually move from complexity to simplicity. But he didn't say everything. Simplicity comes from complexity; you must first master complexity, which is a necessary path. Without it, you can't grasp simplicity. True simplicity is when all force and dao are focused into a single line."
The demon spellcasters nodded, some understanding, some not.
Quinn Shepherd heard this and couldn't help but admire, "Furylo's insight truly is extraordinary—a great grandmaster, worthy of being a True Demon, a Sovereign King. When I created the first form of the Sword of Calamity, it was also from complexity to simplicity. Simplicity isn't actually simple; sword technique may look simple, but it mobilizes all one's power and carries dao-rhythm, making it tremendously powerful."
Ordinary spells can mobilize only a fraction of one's true strength. For example, your right hand and left hand may each have a hundred pounds of force, and your legs the same, but when you punch, you can't unleash all four hundred pounds.
For spellcasters, the body's power is even more complex—there's strength from blood and qi, from tendons and meridians, from circulating yuanqi, from the primordial spirit, from hidden divine treasuries, and from rune imprints.
To unleash all these powers—that is true divine art.
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A great divine art can mobilize five or six tenths of one's strength, which is already impressive. Only self-created arts, tailored to oneself, can bring out even more power.
But when you comprehend a dao-level divine art, you can tap into nearly all your power—almost nothing is left unused.
Complexity is the process of discovering all your strengths—it's essential.