The Blade of Earth 12

While Sophie slept after our afternoon fun, I was in the kitchen, sipping some instant coffee. “Disgusting,” I muttered even as I took another sip from the dark liquid. It tasted just as bitter as I remembered from childhood. 

Yet, I couldn’t help but take another sip. It was a beautiful contrast compared to the essence-infused teas that the sect was obsessed with, some taking hundreds of years to properly mature. The simple, horrible bitterness of the instant coffee was the exact opposite of the complex, harmonious taste of the tea, inferior in every single category. 

Yet, I couldn’t help but love it. Different was good, reminding me that, for the moment, I was away from the strictness of the sect. 

I closed my eyes, focusing on the present … well, the present, and the very recent past, particularly when I had a certain sexy blonde on me, sharing a beautiful moment. I let the moment wash over me, not just the physical part of it, but also the shine of her aura, one that shone beautifully with the truth of her soul. 

I couldn’t help but wonder just how good of a saber cultivator she would have made if she had the potential to cultivate — however, I still had trouble such similar weapons represented required wildly differing philosophies and methods — her unique sense of justice and bravery driving her forward. 

I could even imagine her fighting method. Something that relied on overwhelming momentum, perfectly fitting with her recklessness and her haste to sacrifice herself — a fact that I had already witnessed twice, once metaphorically by sacrificing her career, once literally by refusing to ask for help until it got too late. 

I closed my eyes, imagining her naked, holding just a saber as we sparred in a private room, my sword dancing against her saber, my attacks dancing around hers like the wind, each hit chipping down her aura…

Just like that, I was lost in the moment, my mind churning moves one after another, endless variations blooming in my mind as I focused on what kind of style I would have used facing her if she was a cultivator stronger than I was…

A light around my sword, shining with an equal sense of purpose, mixed with flexibility…

My feet free as the wind, ethereal and ephemeral… 

My heart unfettered with pointless concerns, focusing only on the next move…

As my mind danced on those possibilities, I was barely aware of my coffee, getting colder and colder in my grip, the room getting darker and darker. 

Until, I let out a gentle breath, one that was tinged with sword essence, purer than anything I managed to conjure in my life. The cup in my hand was cut in two … and along with the kitchen counter. A thin, perfect line. 

An impossible cut.

“T-that…” I muttered, feeling like I had just woken up from a dream, and froze, realizing the impossibility of what had just happened. An impossibility. A miracle. 

I had just had an epiphany.

One that allowed me to touch the impossibility that was Sword Intent, the first mark of a true swordsman, the deep, impossible gulf that separated the true genius from the ordinary, the harshest requirement of a core disciple. 

Even in the Heavenly Sword Sect, Sword Intent had a legendary status, an endless number of outer and inner disciples spending incomprehensible fortunes on treasures, even throwing themselves in danger in the hopes of somehow touching that realm, but to return empty-handed … if they returned at all.  

Yet, I had just an epiphany that let me touch that realm while sitting on an uncomfortable stool, drinking one of the most disgusting beverages the human mind could come up with unless it was designed for actual torture. 

Fascinating. Unbelievable. Absurd.  

I couldn’t help. I just laughed. 

It was a full-belly, unrestricted laugh, the kind that I didn’t even remember letting out … well since I was nine. 

“I-is everything okay?” 

The question finally pulled me out of my daze. I looked, only to see Lana at the doorway, even more determined to avoid my gaze than usual. 

Not that I blamed her. She probably followed my crazy laugh, only to find me standing in the middle of her ruined kitchen. It was already remarkable that wasn’t running away. 

“Everything is amazing,” I said, realizing how deep was the giddiness in my voice. 

She paused for a moment, surprised, even making eye contact despite her fleeting shock. “Are you … drunk?” she asked hesitantly. 

I chuckled. “Not unless your instant coffee is laced with something,” I said, which didn’t help her to calm down. I took a deep breath, clamping on my emotions, so I sounded merely happy rather than crazy. “Have you ever had a moment when a difficult problem that you have been trying to solve for months just clicked?” I asked. 

“Yes,” she said, her voice still non-committal as she pulled her cardigan nervously. 

“That just happened to me about a cultivation skill, but it had been troubling me for years,” I explained, trying to put on my most innocent and friendly smile, but her hesitant expression told me that I wasn’t too successful. 

“Oh. And, um, the counter?” she asked. 

From the hesitancy in her voice, I understood what she was asking. “Don’t worry. You don’t have to walk around carefully around me. It’s not some kind of murder trance,” I said, which was true. In that sense, an epiphany was closer to being drunk. 

“Good,” she muttered, her tenseness fading.  

“Don’t worry, I’ll replace the counter myself,” I said. “And, I might even give you a share if you let me sell the remains,” I said. 

“Sell it? It’s a broken cabinet.”   

“Let’s just say there are certain collectors,” I said. It was a great understatement. I had seen disciples killing each other for pieces of rock that were ten thousand years old but still carried some hint of Sword Intent. While the counter didn’t have a complete mark, it would still earn quite a bit. 

I could probably sell it for its weight in gold, and the buyer would think it was a bargain. Not that it would work. I had yet to see any of those collectors succeeding, but sect-born could be weird about such a thing. 

“If you say so,” she said. My claim that the broken remains of her kitchen would be worth selling didn’t encourage her about my mental stability, but she was too shy to linger on that. “I managed to break through the encryption of the phones,” she said.  

“Anything substantial,” I asked. 

“That, I don’t know. There’s not a lot. They are not using their phones very much, mostly messages. I was going upstairs to ask Sophie, when…” 

When she heard me laughing like crazy. “Why don’t you go and call her, while I clean the kitchen somewhat,” I said. 

She sighed. “No need, just go take some fresh air while we go through the findings,” she said. 

I nodded, which relaxed her significantly. I walked out, giving her the space to discuss the presence of a man who had just cut through her kitchen cabinet. 

At least I didn’t mention I didn’t even use a blade for it. 

I left readily because Lana wasn’t the only one who needed some time with a familiar face. Sophie needed someone to talk to as well, and considering she risked her life in a literal death trap to prove she didn’t need any heel, I doubted she would open up to me about anything. 

Not that I expected her to open up to Lana immediately, but I wanted to give her some space in case she needed it. 

And, if I was being honest, I needed some time as well. The garden was a good target. The trees needed some trimming, and the flowerbeds wouldn’t say no to some weeding. I decided to start with the trees, but instead of searching for a ladder, I just jumped. 

I could have used my blade to trim the trees easily, but I couldn’t resist the temptation of using my discovery. I dragged my finger near a branch that needed to be removed, and it fell, only the barest of sword essence appearing. 

“Incredible,” I said, unable to keep the fascination in my tone, followed by another giggle. I imagine the faces of my self-appointed rivals if they saw me carefully trimming a tree. I could imagine them trying to cut a mountain to show off instead. 

What I had been using wasn’t Sword Intent, but an ordinary blade of essence, but after managing to touch the border of the Intent, it was both sharper and smoother. 

It felt good using my new ability, but it wasn’t about the importance of the sword intent to the sect. That had been true for all the ancestral techniques I had been taught, and most of the time, I learned them rapidly enough —  hence the annoying number of self-appointed rivals — but none of them brought such satisfaction. 

Once I finished with the trees, I piled the branches in the corner and started pulling the weeds. For that, I didn’t use any of my abilities, even if I could probably finish all the work in a few seconds. Sometimes, it was more fun to do things the slow way. 

I was about to finish with the weeds when the door opened, revealing Sophie. “Stop playing with dirt and come in. We have work to do,” she said, which would have been annoying, but the darkness wasn’t as effective as she might think to hide her blush from my gaze.

“You’re the captain,” I chuckled and followed her.