Heavenly Inquisition Sword Novel - Chapter 305
Episode 305. Infinite Preexistence and Object Attainment
Yeon Jeokha glanced sideways at Shim Tong, the Old Shim of the Nine Heavens.
Although his comment disrupted the atmosphere, it wasn’t wrong, so there wasn’t much to say.
Even so, how dare he contradict Namgung Yeon, the Incomparable Among Ten!
“Shim Tong, you’re always so negative. Try to see the world from a more positive perspective.”
“I used to be like that when I was your age, but the world doesn’t work that way.”
“That’s just an excuse.”
“An excuse? It’s fine to be optimistic and all, but what about those gray clouds? Will they disappear if we look at them with optimism?”
Finally, Shim Tong pointed at the gray clouds.
Yeon Jeokha murmured uncomfortably, unable to find a response.
“They might disappear. You need to stop thinking it’s impossible.”
“Sure, sure. They’ll disappear if we find the Three Immortals of Kunlun, who’ve gone adrift.”
Yeon Jeokha glared at Shim Tong.
“Shim Tong, are you a child of the Three Immortals of Kunlun? Why are you so fixated on them?”
“Are you asking because you don’t know? We need the Three Immortals of Kunlun because they’re the only ones who can use Divine Vision, also known as the Divine Eye Technique. If not for that, why would I bother looking for them?”
Shim Tong pounded his chest in frustration.
A child of the Three Immortals of Kunlun? It’s obvious why we’re searching for them, and yet, you’re still bothering me.
Suddenly, Yeon Jeokha looked up at the sky.
The comment that “it might be possible” was sincere.
He felt a tingling in his chest.
Although it seemed unlikely, for some time now, he had felt they could do it.
When he was trapped in the water, he heard a voice.
No, more accurately, it was an inspiration that felt like a voice.
-Wait with an empty heart. You can encompass heaven and earth.
-The core of the Nine Heavens Qi is the emptiness of the heart (虚心).
It could mean having an empty heart, but it could also mean an open and unbound heart.
“The primordial qi may be just a small seed, but it can encompass heaven and earth [包羅天地],” says the Manual of the Hidden Celestial Sword.
This is the essence of the sword art of the Hidden Celestial Sword.
“Emptying the heart” and “thinking purely” might be the same.
Why? Because they feel similar.
Both Ye Dongbin and the Mysterious Woman of the Nine Heavens were Taoist immortals, so their basic concepts would be similar.
Before, it seemed like nonsense, but now I don’t think so.
The next mantra is “From nothing comes something, from emptiness comes something.”
So, if you wait with an empty heart, pure thoughts [想] will naturally rise, and from nothing, things will emerge, like obtaining objects from emptiness [得物].
“Wait, pure thoughts rise, and you obtain things from emptiness?”
Suddenly, he remembered the Intent Sword Qi.
When swordsmanship reaches its peak, sword qi materializes according to your thoughts.
That’s what they call Intent Sword Qi.
The sword qi can take the form of a dragon or a tiger depending on the content of the mantra.
Sometimes, it turns into wind or lightning.
All of these are phenomena caused by Intent Sword Qi.
They seem real, but in reality, they are thoughts [意].
However, the Hidden Celestial Sword, also known as the Celestial Sword Technique, speaks of obtaining things.
Recently, he had heard something while spending time with the Taoists.
The ultimate goal of Taoists practicing magic is “object attainment” (得物).
Obtaining things from nothing is the ultimate goal.
In light of this, alchemy, medicine preparation, and tool forging lose their significance.
You can create anything you desire instantly.
“Is the Hidden Celestial Sword also about obtaining things?”
Sword qi, mental swords, and formless swords are all material manifestations of intention.
So, what is object attainment?
Could it be a level beyond the materialization of intention?
In the world of magicians, the answer is clearly “yes.”
But in the world of swordsmen, we don’t know.
No one has reached the level of “obtaining things” with a sword, so there’s nothing to compare it to.
Yeon Jeokha continued his reflection.
So, is the Hidden Celestial Sword about obtaining things?
The mantra “From nothing comes something, from emptiness comes something” seems to refer to obtaining things.
But why haven’t the Taoists been able to reproduce the Hidden Celestial Sword?
Taoists learn both sword arts and magic.
They should know more about obtaining things than I, who knows nothing about magic.
Even so, they haven’t obtained the Hidden Celestial Sword.
“Why?”
For a moment, Yeon Jeokha’s expression became hazy.
When Yeon Jeokha fell silent, Shim Tong glanced at him.
“Young Master…”
Shim Tong covered his mouth with his hand as he spoke.
To his surprise, Yeon Jeokha seemed to have entered a state of deep meditation while standing.
He looked at Namgung Yeon.
Namgung Yeon, who seemed to understand, raised her index finger to her lips.
It was a signal to remain silent.
Shim Tong swallowed dryly.
For a warrior, entering a state of deep meditation is a rare event that only happens when a great understanding is achieved.
Shim Tong was envious, but he also hoped that Yeon Jeokha’s understanding would help them.
No matter how great the understanding, if we can’t escape the formation, it’s useless.
Time passed, but Yeon Jeokha didn’t wake up.
Namgung Yeon looked around with a worried expression.
The flow of the river was diminishing.
It was a sign that the formation was changing.
A quarter of an hour?
No, perhaps the change would come sooner.
The formation changed every half hour, so Yeon Jeokha had to wake up before then.
“Jeokha, you need to wake up soon…”
If she shook him to wake him up, it would only disrupt his rare meditation.
Finally, the river flow dried up, and the riverbed was exposed.
It was the same state they were in when they arrived.
Namgung Yeon felt her mouth dry from the tension.
She wanted to give Yeon Jeokha more time, but it seemed she couldn’t.
The ground began to tremble slightly.
“Haa!”
Namgung Yeon sighed inwardly.
If the Three Immortals of Kunlun were here, at least they would know their position, but now they were blind.
Shim Tong looked at Namgung Yeon with eyes asking what they were going to do now.
She sighed lightly and reached out toward Yeon Jeokha.
“I’m sorry.”
Just as her hand touched Yeon Jeokha’s shoulder, he woke up like a child who had been asleep.
Namgung Yeon felt confused for a moment.
She couldn’t tell if she had woken him up or if he had woken up on his own.
Either way, it was time to move.
“Jeokha, the formation is changing. We can’t see the key points, so we can only run aimlessly.”
At that moment, Yeon Jeokha smiled slightly.
“Didn’t you say that if we clear the clouds, we might see?”
“Yes, I did. Can you do it?”
“I don’t know.”
The ground cracked like torn fabric, and from afar, the fissures began to slowly spread.
At that moment, Yeon Jeokha extended his hand towards the sky with a sword finger.
Will it really work?
Can we reach the level of object attainment without knowing magic?
He wasn’t sure, but strangely, he didn’t think it was impossible.
He recited the mantra of the Hidden Celestial Sword as if he were a magician.
“Empty the heart and think purely…”
He felt his mind was filled with words.
Suddenly, he thought, “Is this similar to a spell?”
When he thought of a sword cutting through the sky-filled clouds, his voice was filled with power.
“…From nothing comes something, from emptiness comes something!”
Hidden Celestial Sword, appear!
The Hidden Celestial Sword didn’t appear, but the Nine Heavens Qi in his dantian began to stir.
Something was still missing.
Boom!
The ground crumbled, and earth, stones, and trees swirled around them.
The vortex had a diameter of about thirty meters.
It was a strange phenomenon that transcended weight and size.
The ground within the swirling vortex didn’t crack or sink.
It seemed as if an invisible barrier was protecting the interior.
Boom! Boom!
Thunder rumbled continuously from the sky.
Shim Tong, who was alternating between watching the strange vortex and the sky, let out a gasp.
In the air, there was a gigantic sword whose magnitude couldn’t be measured.
When Yeon Jeokha moved his sword finger, the sword in the air also moved.
The thunder rumbled continuously following the sword’s trajectory.
Shim Tong looked at Yeon Jeokha’s waist.
“Huh? Is there a sword?”
At first, he thought it was some kind of sword control technique.
But Yeon Jeokha’s sword was quietly hanging at his waist.
“Of course, Jeokha’s sword isn’t that big.”
Shim Tong looked back up at the sky.
Thirty meters? No, a hundred and fifty meters?
It was hard to measure precisely because it was so high in the sky, but it was enormous.
No one on earth could wield such a sword.
“Is that why they hid it in the sky?”
Shim Tong, who didn’t know about the Hidden Celestial Sword, misunderstood the situation, thinking the sword had grown by Yeon Jeokha’s will.
Infinite literally means without end.
It could be as small as a seed or as large as to cover the sky.
Boom!
The great sword cut through the horizon and then disappeared.
Yeon Jeokha smiled broadly.
“This is object attainment!”
Boom!
The earth, stones, trees, and rocks that had been swirling about thirty meters away fell to the ground.
The cracks in the ground began to spread rapidly.
Like torn fabric, the dark sky opened between the clouds, revealing a dark sky.
Although it wasn’t a starry night, there was something valuable.
Just as Namgung Yeon had said, the key points of the formation were finally visible.
Long white banners with red characters hung from poles about three meters tall.
Namgung Yeon, upon seeing the characters, laughed coldly.
“Hmph! Invoking the gods of the Six Directions and Six Armors, calling upon Ja-cheonggong and Myungwondeok!”
“Sister, are the characters on the banners the names of gods?”
“Yes. Do you see those three banners in front and the two on the sides?”
“Yes.”
“This indicates we are in the Earth Formation. It corresponds to ‘Kun,’ and the Earth Gate is here.”
“The Earth Gate? One of the Eight Gates?”
“Yes. Passing those three banners, you’ll see three more rows of banners to the left and right. We must go through the center of those banners to find the Earth Gate and destroy it.”
Namgung Yeon quickly explained the way to the Earth Gate without pausing for breath.
Confused by her complex words, Yeon Jeokha scratched his head.
“I’ll just follow you, Sister. Tell me when we get to the Earth Gate.”
“Ah, yes. Let’s go.”
Namgung Yeon, curious about the technique Yeon Jeokha had used to cut the sky, decided not to ask for now.
She ran like the wind toward the banners.
There was no time to dawdle if they wanted to reach the Earth Gate before the clouds covered the sky again.
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