Apotheosis

Silence reigned the walls of the cave the moment Zen began to focus on embracing the Godly Ways Blending Swordsmanship.

"Huh?"

Zen noticed something and turned his gaze up at the swords and blinked his eyes several times.

The many swords on the roof looked like stalactites hanging from the cave. All of them pointed at him. The intertwined sword intents gave off an unusual calming vibe as Zen felt his mind relax underneath them.

'It turns out that these swords are not only a test, but they can also have a soothing effect by intertwining the sword intents!' Zen thought to himself as he studied them from below.

He could not figure out how this was happening, but he could surely feel himself relax under the influence.

Feeling refreshed from the intertwined sword intents, Zen began focusing on cultivating the Godly Ways Blending Swordsmanship.

The Godly Ways Blending Swordsmanship comprised of three moves, each more complex than the last. The first one, being the simplest of them all, was called the Three Annihilation Strike. The "three" mentioned in the technique did not mean blending three Godly Ways; it was far complicated than that. It meant combining three layers of the Ways-blending Energy when the move was being used.

As he continued to focus and study the Three Annihilation Strike, his eyes flashed a bright color in response to his thoughts.

The worth of the Godly Ways Blending Swordsmanship far surpassed any other supreme swordsmanship manuals.

However, the Godly Ways Blending Swordsmanship had high barriers to entry—one had to at least be able to blend five hundred Godly Ways. It took a lot of time to cultivate so many Godly Ways in the first place. The tough obstacles to master so many Godly Ways discouraged many warriors from cultivating it.

But Zen was an exception. He had already mastered more than enough Godly Ways.

As a result, he didn't encounter difficulties in practicing the Godly Ways Blending Swordsmanship.

One day passed.

Three days passed.

Ten days passed.

Zen slowly stood up from the jade cushion. He reached his hand out and flicked his fingers. With his signal, a sword fell into his right hand and he clenched it tightly.

As the Ways-blending Energy began to flow out profusely, Zen marched forward with determined eyes and left the jade cushion.

Swoosh!

The moment he took a few steps ahead of the jade cushion, one of the swords on the roof fell off and came crashing down towards him.

Suddenly, Zen's reflexes were activated as his gaze became sharp.

He slowly lifted the sword in his hand. Soon as he did this, it reacted to his inner thoughts as a sword radiance emitted from its edges.

Before, Zen relied on his unstable Ways-blending Energy to activate the Ways-blending Strike, which was a formidable technique. However, the Three Annihilation Strike was different.

The sword radiance emitting from the sword

or Taiyi himself could not reach that level.

After learning the Three Annihilation Strike, Zen thought he was strong enough to beat these swords. However, there were so many swords in the cave, and even if he managed to use the Six Annihilation Strike, it would still be difficult for him to leave the cave.

In the end, Zen's attention was focused on learning the Nine-Flash Light-splitting Swordsmanship.

Zen had his reasons to prefer the Nine-Flash Light-splitting Swordsmanship over the Sword Texture Technique. The Sword Texture Technique was so impactful that it was capable of killing the target in one shot. However, the user had to have a high level of cultivation to perfect it.

Zen had already mastered the Ways-blending Strike; it was only natural he'd go for something else more challenging and valuable.

After all, only the best things attracted his attention. Nothing else was worth his time and effort.

In the next twenty days, Zen sat atop the jade cushion in the cave and worked on studying the Nine-Flash Light-splitting Swordsmanship. To him, the challenge of cultivating it far surpassed that of the Godly Ways Blending Swordsmanship. He was determined on emerging victorious from the cave after his thirty days ended. If he got confused over something, he'd morph himself into an avatar and practice in his inner world.

Time flew, and thirty days had passed in the cave.

Meanwhile, three days had passed outside the Sword Tower.

The old man glanced at the rooms in the Sword Tower. He paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, thinking Zen would soon get kicked out of his room. The old man disliked most of the young people because they would not listen to his advice. Thinking about Zen getting thrown out, he decided to mock him over not listening to him.

Suddenly, he heard a muffled voice. One of the rooms of the Sword Tower opened, and a warrior cultivating in the Sword Tower collapsed out of it.