As he stood there on a ground blanketed in snow Will had a sudden thought, an epiphany if you will. Killing intent was the aura his body released when he intended to kill a bit. The more he intends to do so, the more killing intent his body would release. It was because of this that Will came upon an idea.
Killing intent is for when you want to kill something. Swords were made to kill. In other words, sword intent should not be much different from killing intent, right? Ah...wait...no it can't be that simple. Killing is the connection, but sword intent itself has to be unique.
As Will's mind kept going through a multitude of thoughts, he released the restraint he had placed upon his killing intent. Due to the fact that he was still unfamiliar with such actions, Will couldn't control how much killing intent leaked out, but this was merely for a fraction of a second. This was not his intention, but it was very beneficial for him because it stopped the movements of the Helios Warhawk.
Looks like it's afraid, well I can't really blame it, even I'm afraid of myself.
Now then I don't just want to kill this bird, I want to cut it, so doesn't that mean sword intent is a sharp killing intent? Let's try this out.
As Will tried it out, he carefully observed the Warhawk for any sudden movements. He was relieved to see it temporarily retreat, giving him time to adjust himself.
Sharp. Sharp. Sharp. Sharp. Sharp. I need it to be sharp!
Many ideas popped through the young man's mind, but one seemed to stick out above the others at that moment. Will didn't quite know why, but he felt like he was being guided by an invisible hand. He decided to follow his gut and started focusing on that idea, or rather that memory.
It was the memory of the first time he had attempted to do a Suijin no Ikari. At that time all he could remember was feeling the water. Making it thinner, faster, and imagining it as sharper.
This time he tried to apply a slightly different approach. Instead of water, he was feeling out his killing intent, as if it was something tangible.
Something he could control.
Slowly but surely, second by second, Will could tell his killing intent changing from being a blunt form of suppression to being what he wanted; sharp.
As he looked down on the snow below Will would spot hundreds of micro cuts forming all around the snow around him. At first, he was surprised, and then this surprise quickly turned into excitement.
The manual had said I should be close to death. That means the Dao of the sword itself is close to death. Sword intent is merely another form of killing intent!
This valuable insight changed the way Will saw the Dao of the sword. In the past, one could say Will treated his sword like a tool with no purpose. It was just there to help him cut. Now his sword was burdened by glorious purpose, now his sword had a reason to exist; now his sword had a Dao, and that Dao was to kill.
Will started to cultivate as he stood, he had technique, he had intent, he was confident he had qi. Now all he needed to do was to try it out.
You have to risk it to get the biscuit. Breathe Will.
"Huuuu."
As soon as the Warhawk saw Will breathe, its instinct told it that something was not right. By reflex, it decided to bring out its strongest attack. A fireball unlike any other before it started forming in front of the bird. However, instead of just firing it, the Warhawk decided to shrink the ball and concentrate the power of the flames. The sphere shrunk until it was only four meters in diameter.
Although it was smaller than the others, it was clearly much more dangerous. Its color was much more vibrant and it gave off an intensity, unlike anything Will had ever felt before. Nevertheless, Will did not give up; in fact, one could say this only served to motivate him.
Once more ice platforms formed around Will as he leaped from the ground. Leaping from platform to platform, Will felt as if he was ready to fight for his life, there would be no bloodlust, no radiant energy to save him. Either he succeeds or he dies.
After a few leaps, Will arrived near the bird. At this moment the fireball was launched with incredible ferocity. Will immediately kept to the side after predicting the trajectory and avoided it.
He completely ignored the sounds of explosions behind him and even used the concussive force to push him further. The Warhawk was somewhat stunned by Will's incredible athletic display, yet it did not budge. The Warhawk knew that its head was the hardest part of its body and it was confident in its ability to block off anything Will could dish out.
So once Will was right in front of it the hawk did not try to run but instead flew forward, in an attempt to ram into Will.
One more platform formed in front of Will. This was his final one as he lifted up his sword, to do what he had done millions of times already. Except now there were two factors. His intent was sharp and he was cultivating with all his might!
"Arhhgg!"
With a shout, Will swung his sword. As he swung he felt the energy leave his body throughout his pores and cover his sword. He focused all his intent on his blade and swung with all he could!
After his swing, he met with no collision. Nothing touched him, all he could feel was heat passing by his sides, as the bisected corpse of the bird fell by his side. At the corner of his vision, a '1' finally formed, proving that he had
finally done it.
He had finally performed a true strike!