Chapter 50: Half a Move of the Heavenly Blade

Upon hearing Li Changqing's words, even with Li Qi's steadfast will and formidable mental strength, his heart skipped a beat.

It was not because his composure was lacking, but because this was the Heavenly Saber!

Even if it were only half a movement, the sheer value of such an item was immeasurably high.

Moreover, in this world, the supreme techniques of the Sovereign of Yu were imbued with endless legendary and mystical qualities.

To put it bluntly, if this news were to spread right now, by tonight, Li Village might well witness a massacre night akin to that of a certain Uchiha clan.

As for the law, or the deterrent force of the imperial court, that depended entirely on what it was pitted against.

Naturally, he was crystal clear about the origin of the Eighteen Saber Techniques of the Fierce Tiger recorded in the ancestral genealogy.

According to the genealogy, in his youth, Li Changqing had acquired three incomplete movement techniques of the Seven Killings of the White Tiger.

In this world, the Seven Killings of the White Tiger was also a widely renowned martial art.

About three hundred years ago, there was a military aristocratic family surnamed Luo. The fifth son of that generation, named Luo Hu, was born destined to manifest the White Tiger. Because his natal fate carried an overwhelming murderous intent, his family, fearing he would die prematurely, sent him to the mountains to study Daoism and cultivate longevity.

However, that era was one of chaos, and the Luo family had fallen. Subsequently, Luo Hu descended from the mountains to avenge his family, single-handedly propping up a collapsing realm. With his peculiar destiny, even the longevity arts he practiced were forged into a boiling aura of slaughter.

Later on, he integrated the saber techniques passed down by his Luo family, cross-referencing them, and surprisingly managed to forge something extraordinary.

At that time, however, Luo Hu's realm was merely that of entering the Dao.

It was not until the troubled times intensified and the scourge of war raged unceasingly that Luo Hu, though commanding an army of his own, was inevitably swept into the struggle for hegemony.

The members of his clan dwindled with every battle, his troops diminished, until finally, he was driven into a desperate plight.

Amidst boundless agony and the desperate jaws of death, Luo Hu conceived the rudimentary form of the Seven Killings of the White Tiger. This saber technique burned away his vitality and lifespan, sacrificing everything combustible for the single character of "slaughter," which shockingly allowed Luo Hu to carve a bloody path out of the encirclement.

Following that, even a True Immortal personally intervened. With the cultivation of the entering-Dao realm and burning a lifetime of vitality, Luo Hu used the Seven Killings of the White Tiger to continuously injure two True Immortals. A saint who supported the dragon throne took a keen interest upon the sight and exchanged a single blow with him, after which Luo Hu exhausted his strength and died.

By all accounts, the Seven Killings of the White Tiger should have become an echoing swan song.

Yet a saint is a saint; relying on merely a single glance at that saber strike, he replicated the entire Seven Killings of the White Tiger and passed it down.

Later on, three incomplete movements fell into Li Changqing's hands, becoming the foundation of his rise.

The reality, however, was that half a movement of the Heavenly Saber was Li Changqing's true stroke of serendipity and fortune.

"Legend has it that the Heavenly Saber consists of nine strokes, each capable of harmonizing with the heavens as if wielding the authority of the Heavenly Dao. However, only by comprehending the tenth stroke that belongs exclusively to oneself can one truly grasp the Heavenly Saber."

"I contemplated this half-movement of the Heavenly Saber throughout my entire life, yet I never sensed any harmony with the heavens. Nevertheless, it undeniably contains extremely profound mysteries of life."

"In my youth, my ability to break through two major limitations and forge one major physique relied entirely on my comprehension of this half-movement of the Heavenly Saber."

"Moreover, this stone rubbing also holds profound mysteries. To the naked eye, it appears merely as a jumbled mass of lines; even with spiritual perception, it seems utterly ordinary. Only by continuously sensing it with one's mind, doing so for nine days straight, can one attain any insight."

"Presumably, this is the means of a saint—simply unimaginable."

"In the future, carry it close to your person and contemplate it from time to time; you will certainly gain from it."

As he spoke, Li Changqing produced a hemispherical pendant. Twisting its mechanism, he inserted the flat, round stone inside, and it fit together with absolute precision.

Li Qi understood Li Changqing's intention. Wearing it as a pendant meant he didn't have to fear losing it, and the reason was simple: martial arts experts were extraordinarily perceptive. If someone could truly take the item from his neck without his knowledge, they could just as easily take his head.

When things reached that point, whether this item was lost or kept would no longer matter.

Furthermore, the material used to craft the pendant was exceptionally unusual; the fine cord alone possessed a tensile strength capable of hoisting a truck.

Yet the moment Li Qi accepted the pendant, a ripple surged across his interface. Li Qi glanced at it and maintained his composure.

At the same time, Li Qi marveled at the old man's boldness—entrusting such an item without a second thought. With such resolute judgment, it was no wonder the old man had been able to carve a bloody path out of the chaotic world of the past.

Yet even a figure of such caliber could not escape the ruthlessness of the passing years.

...

Afterward, Li Qi returned home. He had already contacted someone to arrange for a complete renovation of his room later on.

The walls had been stained to such an extent that simple cleaning could no longer restore them. Fortunately, the house had plenty of rooms and spare beds, so it caused no real disruption.

Upon returning home, Li Qi went straight to the quiet chamber. On one hand, he hadn't practiced his saber techniques this morning, and making up for it now wasn't too late; on the other hand, he wanted to investigate the changes in the interface.

Just moments earlier, upon coming into contact with the fragment of the Heavenly Saber, his interface had unexpectedly generated something new.

A pop-up window had appeared on his interface.

*Martial arts Dao resonance discovered. Do you wish to record it?!*

With the old man present at the time, it hadn't been convenient for him to examine it, but now that he was alone, he naturally could.

Just like the old man, who had waited until the very end to entrust him with half a movement of the Heavenly Saber, his interface carried even greater implications; even in death, he could never allow anyone else to discover it.

Now, with no one else around, Li Qi deliberated for a moment and selected the option to record without the slightest hesitation.

Immediately afterward, a ripple of spiritual energy manifested around the pendant on Li Qi's chest, though the pendant itself remained entirely unchanged.

Instead, a brand-new column had been added to his interface.

*Martial Dao Scroll: The Fifth Stroke of the Heavenly Saber (Gold/Color) (21%) (3/3) (+)*

When Li Qi tapped the plus sign, an interface instantly popped up.

*Do you consume 100 points of destiny to increase the completion rate by 1%?!*

Seeing the figure of one hundred destiny points, Li Qi fell silent.

This meant that fully restoring this item would require a staggering seven thousand nine hundred destiny points, and this was merely a single stroke out of the nine.

If they were to grant him this much destiny at once, wouldn't dumping it all into his foundational roots send him soaring straight to the heavens?

Still, it was truly worthy of being called the Heavenly Saber, as it had unexpectedly manifested a quality Li Qi had never seen before.

Based on what was currently known—white, blue, purple, gold, color—the so-called gold/color existed somewhere between the two.

He just wondered if there were any other qualities existing between purple and gold.

Moreover, the old man's claim that the rubbing contained half a movement was clearly a misconception; this plainly amounted to only one-fifth.

Yet considering that this item was a rubbing carved by a later saint rather than the original work of the Sovereign of Yu, that seemed entirely reasonable. Perhaps that saint had only comprehended half of it, and thus carved half; and of that carved half, only half remained—wasn't that precisely "half a movement"?

Straightening out the logic, Li Qi felt it made complete sense.

So, what exactly was the use of this Martial Dao Scroll?

With this thought in mind, Li Qi tapped his mind against the (3/3) located right after *The Fifth Stroke of the Heavenly Saber*, and instantly witnessed a terrifying scene.