Where was he?

Lu Yuan found himself atop a high mountain. Looking around, he seemed to have arrived in an utterly unfamiliar territory. Nearby, there were trees? He reached out a tentative hand, and the tree instantly dissolved into ash. Glancing at the surrounding foliage again, he saw that these trees did indeed exist, yet they possessed no trace of vitality whatsoever.

It wasn't just the trees; Lu Yuan realized there wasn't a single breath of wind in this entire world.

Having mastered the Wind Sword Intent, he was acutely sensitive to the presence of wind. He knew that no matter the location, as long as there was atmosphere, wind existed—even if faint, it was present. But here, there was absolutely no movement of air.

What was going on?

No atmospheric flow?

Lu Yuan surveyed his surroundings once more. No matter where he looked, even down to the city nestled at the foot of the mountain, there was no sign of life. Turning his gaze, he spotted a river winding on the north side of the mountain. Though the riverbed was there, its waters were frozen in their flow.

This is it! The world within the Sword Scroll.

He had been drawn into the world contained within the scroll.

How could this happen?

Lu Yuan couldn't help but be astonished. This was something his senior brothers were supposed to explain to him later. Qin Shuangcheng had planned to divulge the details only after they entered the palace of Sword Extremity Mountain. Who could have anticipated that upon entering the palace grounds, a chain of conflicts would erupt, culminating in Lu Yuan effortlessly defeating the Star of Sword as if crushing a mere dog? Everything had been so shocking that Qin Shuangcheng and the others had momentarily forgotten about the scroll.

At that moment, a line of characters materialized before Lu Yuan: "Having gained recognition from the Great Desolation Sword Scroll, a fragment of the Sword World, you may enter the scroll. However, you are permitted to remain here for only twenty-four hours. Forty-nine for the Great Evolution, Heaven leaves one line of life. The Lesser Thousand World contained within the Great Desolation Sword Scroll is a realm of utter silence. Should you exceed the twenty-four hours, you will be assimilated by this Lesser Thousand World and perish within."

So, he had entered the Sword Scroll, and moreover, he could cultivate his insights here.

This was truly a fortuitous event. To be able to seek enlightenment within a shattered world of the sword was clearly far more beneficial than merely studying a painting scroll.

Confirming his location, he noticed the environment around him was intensely hot. It wasn't the fluctuating heat of a normal climate, but a stagnant, fixed heat. To put it simply: this mountain must have been situated during the peak of a scorching summer, and then the entire world collapsed, freezing everything in place—even the weather itself was static. Summer!

Even Summer was frozen!

What constituted Summer?

There is a season between Heaven and Earth characterized by intense heat, which may be termed Summer.

But what was the purpose of the Summer Sword Intent itself? What was its Great Dao?

Lu Yuan observed the vestiges of Summer here and saw numerous flowers and trees caught mid-bloom, now frozen solid.

Under normal circumstances, these flowers and trees would likely have burst forth in exceptionally vigorous bloom.

He understood. In that instant, inspiration struck him like lightning, and he grasped the essence of the Summer Sword Intent.

The objective of Summer was not to scorch, but to bestow maximum vitality upon the myriad trees, allowing life force to explode forth, culminating in a vibrant, teeming summer. This was the Great Dao of Summer, and thus, this was the Summer Sword Intent.

The forty-first Sword Intent was achieved. This one seemed to have been grasped incredibly quickly, yet it still took about three hours. Comprehending a Sword Intent inherently required significant time; this was only fast because the Sword Scroll facilitated the reduction of that duration. Lu Yuan recalled that when he first started, grasping a single Sword Intent often took months, and even later, as his swordsmanship progressed, the shortest time required for a new intent was around three or four days.

Cultivating insights within this Sword Scroll was indeed extraordinarily rapid; learning a Sword Intent became easily achievable.

Furthermore, this Summer Sword Intent was inherently connected to vitality. By intuition, he sensed that this achievement would also serve as a crucial aid in grasping the Life Sword Intent, laying an incomparably solid foundation for its comprehension.

He had managed to grasp four Sword Intents in this flurry, but over the subsequent hours, he found no further opportunities for immediate enlightenment. Lu Yuan wasn't anxious. Clutching his wine gourd, he began walking along the mountain path, moving as he pondered, hoping that perhaps enlightenment might arrive unexpectedly. As he relaxed his mindset and ambled along, he found himself arriving at the riverbank.

The river water had long ceased flowing, and spanning the river was a broken bridge.

Broken!

What was the Broken Sword Intent?

What was the original intention behind 'breaking'?

Heaven can be broken, Earth can be broken, Water can be broken, Fire can be broken—as long as one possesses sufficient power, anything can be severed. The Broken Sword Intent, in essence, reflected this concept; it held few profound underlying meanings. It was a Sword Intent devoid of excessive complexity, yet grasping it still consumed two hours of Lu Yuan's effort. Had he been in the outside world, comprehending the Broken Sword Intent would undoubtedly have required far greater investment.

Forty-two Sword Intents.

His tally of Sword Intents was soaring!

Lu Yuan continued his measured pace, noticing numerous seeds scattered across the ground. However, the vital essence within these seeds had been completely destroyed. Life force again! It seemed his current venture through the Sword Scroll was deeply intertwined with concepts of vitality. The River Sword Intent, the Flow Sword Intent, and the Summer Sword Intent—these three were all related to the Life Sword Intent. Moreover, at the Sword Gate, he had already laid an immensely solid foundation for comprehending the Life Sword Intent.

Perhaps he should attempt to grasp the Life Sword Intent right now.

Taking advantage of his time within the Sword Scroll, Lu Yuan sat down cross-legged, meticulously recalling the insights gained while observing the characters at the Sword Gate. He contemplated the three Life-related Sword Intents—River, Flow, and Summer—and even reflected upon the Death Sword Intent, hoping to deduce the Life Sword Intent by reversing the logic of its opposite.

For a moment, a sensation stirred in his mind, but the concept designated as one of the Ten Most Difficult Sword Intents in the world would not yield so easily.

Just as he was deep in contemplation, a piercing torrent of sword energy swept toward him. Lu Yuan reacted almost instinctively, leaping away to evade the strike. That blow carried an astonishing weight of power! Since he was being attacked while in his meditative state, the process had to cease. Lu Yuan turned back to face the assailant, eager to identify the source.

Could it be the Star of Sword, or perhaps Shangguan Sha? Upon clearly seeing the monstrous entity before him, Lu Yuan was genuinely startled. This creature stood over two meters tall, possessing a vaguely humanoid shape, yet not entirely so. Most astonishingly, its entire form was composed of various types of swords. A short sword formed its head, slightly longer swords served as its arms, a broad, heavy sword constituted its torso, and long, slender swords acted as its legs.

It was a monster constructed entirely of blades.

Lu Yuan stroked his chin. He considered himself well-traveled regarding monstrous entities; he had seen divine beasts like Dragons and Phoenixes, and countless demonic beasts. But he had never encountered anything like this. This creature was incredibly unique, and he had no idea what it was. The sword-being then spoke, its voice sharp: "One from the Sword Gate?"

"What are you?" Lu Yuan inquired.

"What am I? I don't even know what I count as," the sword-shaped monster replied, its voice extremely grating, like the friction of metal against metal. "This Lesser Thousand World is a shattered realm of the sword. My birth came from the fusion of countless Sword Intents; at least ninety-nine intents merged to create me."

"Of course, I possess more than ninety-nine now. Within this Lesser Thousand World Sword Scroll, I currently house one hundred and one Sword Intents," the Sword Intent Monster declared proudly, clearly brimming with self-satisfaction at wielding such a multitude of intents.

Lu Yuan finally understood entirely what kind of entity this was: a monster born from the amalgamation of numerous Sword Intents. In this world, artifacts developed spirits, and elixirs gained sentience—any sufficiently high-grade artifact or pill would develop its own intelligence. He had found this notion unbelievable upon entering the Central Tianlong Dynasty, but he had since grown accustomed to it.

As for Sword Intent, if it had a master, it would not develop consciousness. But without a master, too many Sword Intents coalescing together could indeed give rise to a degree of sentience.

The Sword Intent Monster cackled, "You people from the Sword Gate always seek to draw Sword Intents from the scroll. I am the destined Lord of the Sword Scroll! All the myriad Sword Intents within this scroll should belong to me; none of you deserve any."

Lu Yuan asked curiously, "How long have you been born? Sword Intent Monster..."

"I have not been born for many years; perhaps only a few decades. Initially, I approached you cautiously, slowly learning about your Sword Gate and recognizing the terrifying existences within your ranks. But only later did I realize that those terrifying figures in the Sword Gate cannot enter this Sword Scroll. Hahahaha! This Sword Scroll truly was meant for me by the Heavens."

"Hahahaha! Heaven intends to raise me up, but I will strike you down and kill you for daring to steal the Sword Intents here! All the intents here are mine! I will seek out others too, and strike them all down!" the Sword Intent Monster shrieked maniacally, its voice utterly unpleasant.

Lu Yuan now fully comprehended. This Sword Intent Monster had not existed long, and initially, it had been exceedingly cautious, realizing that the true terrors of the Sword Gate could not access the scroll. Only then did it grow bolder, perhaps becoming arrogant only within the last decade or so. It explained why he had never heard rumors of this monster before.

The monster’s rate of accumulating intents wasn't exceptionally fast—only two new intents in several decades. Moreover, its intellect was rather simplistic; it revealed everything it knew without reservation.

The Sword Intent Monster moved its hand, sending a surge of sword energy hurtling forth—an intent Lu Yuan had never encountered before, intensely and uniquely cold.

Lu Yuan felt no fear and retaliated with his own thrust.

This Sword Intent Monster also appeared to possess formidable magical power, perhaps equivalent to a peak Ninth Layer of the Great Dao realm. It casually unleashed a barrage of assorted Sword Intents. Lu Yuan had never faced a creature wielding so many intents simultaneously; it effortlessly summoned limitless intent—the intents he knew, such as Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Cloud, and so forth, were all produced at will. A monster wielding one hundred and one intents!

Facing such an opponent, Lu Yuan deployed the Iron Rule of Reincarnation, but the Sword Intent Monster possessed superior magical power and a far greater arsenal of intents, pushing Lu Yuan completely onto the defensive.

This was even considering that the Sword Intent Monster had not yet mastered any Iron Rule. If it managed to cultivate even one Rule, it could easily reduce Lu Yuan to a miserable state.

Lu Yuan inwardly lamented. Fighting this monster was futile, and he could only flee.

Immediately, he unleashed the White Emperor Sword Dao!

The Sword Intent Monster showed no urgency, merely smiling faintly. "Trying to escape? Not so easily done. Speed Intent, Urgency Intent, Swiftness Intent." Three intents manifested, bolstering its own power as it pursued Lu Yuan. Its speed was not the least bit slower than Lu Yuan's. Man and monster clashed, fighting as they fled.