Chapter 1918 - 1918. Bald

Sword Saint couldn't help but finding some sense in the woman's words. He had never been delusional, so he had always considered mistakes and flaws that could affect his belief. The sword's path was immense, and it could even appear endless at times, but the expert felt confident in his ability and dedication. He would reach the end of that path and embody the final blade.

His relatively smooth growth had also been one of the main reasons behind his firm belief. Sword Saint had needed help at times, especially during his meeting with Noah in the Immortal Lands. Still, he had always managed to overcome his bottlenecks, and those achievements had managed to bring him on the edges of the eighth rank. One step forward was enough to reach the next realm.

Sword Saint almost laughed at how easily his firm conviction could crumble. He had found materials that he couldn't cut throughout his life, but that difficulty always came from a sheer difference of power.

The nature of the materials didn't affect Sword Saint's ability to cut them. He could target every type of fabric with his immense knowledge in sword arts. Even existences that countered the true meaning of his law would eventually shatter once he found a technique capable of piercing them. Still, he had never experienced something so blatantly hopeless that didn't involve the difference between cultivation levels.

Sword Saint didn't let the cracks that had appeared in his existence put him down. His instincts told him that his efforts were pointless, but he disregarded them. He raised his ethereal blade and started deploying his sword arts in a precise order. It didn't matter if the process took millennia or eras. He would continue to attack until one of his techniques showed the slightest effectiveness.

The woman shook her head before silver light engulfed her. Cracks quickly opened in that energy, but more attacks fell on her and increased the size of the area affected by Sword Saint's slashes.

The expert didn't speak nor breathe. Sword saint had reverted to the mental state he usually used during his training. He transformed into a mere humanoid chunk of flesh whose only purpose was to perform all the techniques contained inside his mental sphere.

The woman didn't move. The slashes weren't hurting her, and Sword Saint could feel it. The sky slowly shattered due to the countless powerful attacks releasing their power in the same spot, but the chaotic laws couldn't fix them due to the sharp energy accumulated in the area.

Only Sword Saint and the rank 9 cultivator existed in the area. The slashes couldn't affect the experts. Sword Saint simply reabsorbed the sharpness that touched him, while the woman appeared impossible to damage.

A strange trend slowly became evident after countless exchanges happened. Sword Saint's attacks grew weaker every time they failed to hurt the woman, while the latter became stronger as she absorbed the flaws in those attacks.

Sword Saint couldn't confirm it, but the woman had been sincere in her evaluation. She wasn't attempting to steer her opponent away from his path. Sword Saint's laws had actual flaws that the ninth rank would never accept.

Sword Saint's weakening accelerated as more attacks flew out of his figure. He could see his cultivation level falling as his existence saw large cracks opening on its structure. His law was crumbling, and he couldn't do anything to stop the process. Only hurting his opponent would restore his belief, but nothing seemed able to leave a wound on his opponent.

The expert eventually had to interrupt his offensive even if he had gone through only a fraction of his knowledge. His falling cultivation level made him incredibly weak, and he ended up struggling to raise his arms to slash again.

"Are you done?" The woman asked when Sword Saint stopped and tried to muster his strength to resume his offensive.

The silver light that had accumulated in the area transformed into tiny shards that vanished after falling across the sky. The rank 9 cultivator became visible again and revealed how the relentless offensive didn't even manage to tear her white robe.

Sword Saint didn't listen to her. He had overcome everything in his cultivation journey through sheer determination and training. He would do the same during that challenge or die trying.

"I can give you a way out," The woman eventually suggested while inspecting the sheer determination shown by Sword Saint. "Forsake your law, let me absorb its flaws, and join Heaven and Earth. You'll gain access to the vastest collection of sword arts in the entire world. It actually suits your existence pretty well."

Sword Saint's hair and eyebrows fell as his existence continued to shatter. The ethereal blade in his hands transformed into a small knife due to the loss of power, but he managed to wave it, and a weak slash flew toward the cultivator.

The silver slash shattered before reaching the woman. She could only shake her head when Sword Saint's cultivation level grew even more unstable. It remained in the solid stage, but it barely felt worthy of the eighth rank at times.

"My name is Camille," The woman tried again, "Lady Camille for you. I can reserve a special place for you in Heaven and Earth's system if you desire. They can turn you into the most complete embodiment of the sword. They will make you touch a level of power that you have only dreamed."

"Are you important?" Sword Saint laughed as he went bald and his long eyebrows completely disappeared. "I thought you followers were nothing more than gears."

"Most are," Camille revealed. "Others have a special place in the system due to our unique laws. My ability to absorb flaws can help the rulers greatly in their path toward the tenth rank."

"And what will be of you once they succeed in the breakthrough?" Sword Saint laughed again, but a cough interrupted his action.

The expert didn't waste that chance to turn his cough into slashes that flew toward Camille, but they didn't produce any result. They only made the cultivator heave another helpless sigh.

"We will live as part of Heaven and Earth," Camille explained. "The rulers aren't monsters like you rebels believe. You only happened to appear while they were in the middle of completing their path."

Sword Saint saw pieces of his skin separating from his body and falling toward the incoming storms. His cultivation level still touched the peak of the solid stage at times, so the winds didn't kill him when they filled the area again. Yet, his time was running out. He could sense that his existence was on the verge of shattering completely.

"Why are you even trying?" Camille asked in an annoyed tone. "You couldn't hurt me at your peak. How can you do it now?"

"I need to try," Sword Saint weakly explained.

"I gave you a better path," Camille rebuked. "You can achieve what your law wants if you join Heaven and Earth. What's even holding you back? Honor? Pride? Is Noah Balvan's influence so powerful that you can't think on your own anymore?"

"That's not my field," Noah's voice suddenly seeped through the storms and resounded around Sword Saint and Camille.

Camille's eyes widened in surprise as she turned toward the source of the voice. She noticed how a massive figure moved through the storms and shattered them during his passage. The dark shape eventually cleared the area around the two experts and revealed itself in its entirety.

Sword Saint and Camille could see Noah sitting cross-legged on the brown giant's head. A chunk of that brown alloy was in his hands, and a series of huge holes filled the avatar's torso. The puppet was inactive, but his mental waves were keeping it in the air.

"So," Noah announced while taking a bite of the brown alloy and spreading crunching noises throughout the area, "Are you dying on me, Sword Saint?"

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Author's notes: One hour or so for the third chapter.