Chapter 145: Sword Clash Part 2
"Sword Force! Come on!"
Tyler gritted his teeth, channeling more of his sword energy and reinforcing it with his Sword Intent.
Xue attacked him, destroying his sword energy and a small part of his sword before she controlled her strength and pulled her sword away.
"You are integrating your sword intent after you release your sword energy. That’s not right!"
"Sword Energy must merge with Sword Intent the moment it leaves your body. Your intentions are not aligned with your actions. Do it right!"
Xue’s coldly spoke as she continued swinging her sword. Each slash was aimed at his vital spots.
Every time Tyler blocked it with his sword, she would stop before her sword destroyed his.
Slowly but surely, his sword was losing all of its sharp edges. But this was good.
At least this would sharpen his sword intent.
She wanted him to achieve forty percent of Sword Intent before leaving the pagoda.
Suddenly, she started going faster. Her strength and Sword Force remained the same.
But her speed increased, leaving him with almost no choice but to rely on his feelings.
Her attacks were so fast and random that he didn’t have the time to think about merging his sword energy with sword intent.
Every time she attacked, he would only rely on his feelings to block the attack, leaving him with no options to counterattack.
This was overwhelming him.
But strangely enough, every single time he moved his sword, the sword energy and sword intent were fusing with better results.
His sword energy, which was incapable of blocking her sword energy, was slowly becoming capable enough.
His Invincible Sword Intent was better than hers. Since it would get stronger after each destruction, it was constantly getting stronger.
Xue’s eyebrows rose. She realized her tactics were working.
Tyler had complete faith in his sword path, but his mind was always planning, always thinking.
That created a delay in the merging of his sword energy with sword intent. That delay was then interrupted by her attacks.
This led to his sword energy always breaking in front of her attacks.
Xue wasn’t playing unfairly. She was only using 0.5 percent of her strength, using Sword Intent at the same level as his, and still came out on top.
One could say she had more experience, but that shouldn’t be the reason behind the chipping of his sword.
Just because cultivators could rely on sword energy for attacks didn’t mean the sharpness of the real sword didn’t matter.
The real sword would always remain as a foundation for a swordsman. It would never be replaced by an energy sword.
That’s why Xue was teaching him to keep his sword safe.
Against the opponents outside, Tyler didn’t need to worry. None of them had the firepower to break through his sword energy.
But here, every attack Xue launched could tear apart his sword energy, causing him to get better at reinforcing it.
When his sword energy began merging with sword intent without conscious thought, his sword energy didn’t break immediately.
Although the first ten strikes still led to the destruction of his sword energy, the latter attacks withstood her sword energy.
The Invincible Sword Intent wasn’t called invincible for nothing.
Its uniqueness was that its enhancement would always be stronger than any other kind of Sword Intent.
Even if Ruthless Sword Intent was extremely powerful, its enhancement was still not at the level of his Sword Intent.
This allowed him to slowly fight Xue on equal grounds. He no longer had to use both of his hands to block her attacks.
His sword force was also growing stronger.
Sword Force was similar to normal force except it was generated by the sword energy.
Sword Force determined the power of the sword technique. Swordsmen use this term to measure the power of their sword energy and sword intent.
"Finally, your sword force is at lv7."
Xue muttered as she suddenly increased the power of her sword energy and destroyed his sword energy coating.
But when Tyler increased his sword energy to match her strength, her sword energy suddenly disappeared, leaving only her sword intent.
The clash between sword energy and sword intent released a massive shockwave.
Crack!
Tyler’s sword energy was destroyed as the sword intent attacked his sword.
His sword energy quickly regained its form and kept moving towards her before being blocked by her sword energy.
This was so baffling that Tyler immediately withdrew his sword.
"What’s going on? What did you do, teacher?"
Tyler asked confusedly.
Xue put down her sword and calmly explained.
"Different energies have different usages. Sword Intent is your faith being manifested. My Ruthless Sword Intent would destroy you at any cost."
"But because it is not supported by my sword energy, it was also destroyed by your sword energy."
"When sword energy is combined with sword intent, it gets a form and power. But without one or the other, it will only possess one thing."
"Sword Energy maintains form while sword intent gives power. That’s why my Sword Intent was able to tear apart your sword energy."
"But even with that condition, it was able to maintain its form and attack my sword."
"This is what I want to teach you. Sword Intent can enhance the power of the sword energy, but it will always be superior in its raw form."
"Even though I was only using sword energy, I was still able to block your sword force."
"That’s the true defense of sword energy. Sword Force is powerful, but out of level seven, four levels of power are added by your sword intent."
"On the other hand, sword energy only adds about level three. This seems like a good thing, but Sword Intent only consumes soul energy."
"When you reach the Soul Sublimation Realm, you can constantly strengthen your soul and increase your soul energy."
"So, you need to be creative with your attacks and defense. Using sword energy for defense and sword intent for attacks."
"Of course, Sword Force has one unique power. It merges seamlessly with other kinds of power."
Hearing that, Tyler snapped his fingers and said.
"That’s right! My Burning Heaven and Earth Sword Technique combines the Sword Force with the heat of those flames."
Xue nodded her head.
"If you are using simple sword attacks, use sword intent. If you are blocking with a sword, use sword energy."
"But if you are using another kind of power, you should use Sword Force."
Hearing that, Tyler nodded and asked.
"Teacher, my Sword Force is at level seven, right? Then, why are you able to block my attack with just sword energy of level three?"
Xue paused for a moment and condensed her mana into the sword energy in her palm.
Boom!
The next moment, she channeled that sword energy into a ball of energy and threw it towards the ground, causing a loud explosion.
Seeing the sword energy cause an explosion, Tyler was stunned.
But Xue didn’t stop there. She condensed a long sword light of sword intent and threw it towards the ground.
Crack!
It pierced through the ground, creating a ten-meter-deep hole before disintegrating into the soil.
Then, she turned towards Tyler and asked.
"What do you understand?"
Tyler helplessly rubbed his head.
"Sword energy can cause more damage than sword intent?"
Xue shook her head.
"I already said this before. Sword Intent provides power to sword energy’s form."
"So, why can it cause this kind of explosion while sword intent can only create a hole?"
Tyler paused for a moment before his eyes lit up.
"Sword! The answer is sword and the nature of energy."
Xue paused and smiled.
"That’s right! You are not a fool to see through this. Sword Intent, regardless of its power, is only used for one purpose."
"Its sharpness! On the other hand, sword energy is still just energy. If it is used to maintain form, it can be condensed into different forms with different purposes."
"I created a ball out of my sword energy because I was constantly smashing different strands of sword energy together, creating a lot of heat and pressure."
"So when it left my hand and collided, it received the exact outward force to cause a massive vibration into that ball."
"Without my spiritual sense controlling those strands, the heat and pressure released outward like an explosion."
She pointed at sharp lines formed in the explosion site and said.
"Of course, it is still sword energy, so it can cause sharp attacks as well. From this perspective, sword energy doesn’t need sword intent, right?"
Tyler quickly shook his head.
"No, no, it doesn’t work like that. The purpose of the sword is to tear through opponents’ defenses and attacks."
"Although sword energy could probably do the same, it would require more energy for stronger attacks because it lacks the sharpness of the Sword Intent."
Xue smiled and nodded.
"That’s why Sword Intent is very important to a cultivator. After all, a sword is made to cut."
"Sword Intent allows that with the highest level of efficiency for a cultivator."