TL: Etude
Ye Tian did not wait outside the War God Tower; that would have been too strange. He directly entered the War God Tower. The space within the War God Tower was vast, and he wandered around. The challenge by Feng Luxue did not last long; after two hours, his challenge ended.
"Ranked 37th on the Saint List: Feng Luxue (Battle Axe Mercenary Hall), crossed the 11th floor of the War God Tower, posessing Great Saint strength!"
This ranking sparked much discussion.
"People are saying Feng Luxue's rank is lower than Ye Tian's. I remember both Feng Luxue and Ye Tian were about to break through to the Saint level. Why is there such a big gap in their strength? Initially, Feng Luxue was ranked first in the King's List, while Ye Tian was seventh!"
"The rankings in the King's List don't matter much. The difference between first and seventh is not significant; they both have the strength of a seven-star King. Moreover, Ye Tian broke the record for the strongest attack. Perhaps his speed was slightly lacking, which is why his rank wasn't higher. In terms of attack power, Ye Tian is even more terrifying than Feng Luxue! It's said that after entering the Saint level, one needs to open deeper brain domains. Maybe Ye Tian obtained some treasure that helped him open his brain domains faster, allowing him to pass the 12th level of the War God Tower!"
"Yes, every 1% of the deep brain domain that is opened greatly increases one's strength! Regardless of Ye Tian or Feng Luxue, their journey at the Saint level has just begun. In the future, they will both enter the top few ranks of the Saint level list. Who's faster or slower now doesn't really matter."
Inside the War God Tower, Feng Luxue emerged from the virtual challenge space somewhat disappointed. During this period, he had been training in the Battle Axe Mercenary Hall and consumed many treasures that assisted in opening the brain domains, finally achieving a 3% opening. Hearing that Ye Tian had passed the 12th level of the War God Tower, he felt unconvinced and challenged immediately after ending his seclusion.
However, he was far behind! He passed the 11th level but was slain in three moves by the black-clothed warrior on the 12th level, unable to withstand the assault. Ye Tian, who could easily defeat the warrior on the 12th level, could also easily defeat him. Being surpassed and crushed by Ye Tian, a fellow seven-star King-level genius, left him feeling dejected.
"Hmph, Ye Tian must have obtained some extremely precious treasure in the divine space. Maybe he even elevated his pseudo-mystic grade strength talent to a mystic grade and acquired many treasures for opening brain domains, which is why he has such strength!" Feng Luxue thought, but he never considered that Ye Tian's strength talent was still at the pseudo-mystic grade. It was just that Ye Tian's sword talent was extremely powerful, and he had practiced two gold-grade sword arts, along with possessing many other talents.
Compared to Ye Tian, he was like an ordinary person to a genius. If Ye Tian wished, he could easily pass even the 13th or 14th levels.
Ye Tian saw Feng Luxue but did not expect him to stay. Instead, Feng Luxue entered the War God Stele space to comprehend the axe intent. With no other options, Ye Tian also entered the War God Stele space. Sitting on a stone slab in the space, Ye Tian pondered what he should comprehend.
Arrays? Although he could continue to comprehend them, he temporarily did not want to focus on arrays. He hadn't even copied Lin Yiyi's Morning Star-grade array talent. In the future, he planned to train Lin Yiyi as an array master and leave array matters to her.
"Comprehend sword intent, perhaps?" Ye Tian thought. His sword intent had already reached 100% completeness, but whether there were higher realms beyond sword intent was unclear.
However, Ye Tian guessed there were, given that his sword talent had reached the Morning Star grade. Perhaps there was even Moonlight and Dawn grade sword talent.
If top-level sword talent could only comprehend sword intent to 100%, wouldn't it mean that Morning Star sword talent could go past that? If not, what use would a Morning Star-grade sword talent serve then? Just for show?
Ye Tian thought that the reason Zhonghai Super Base had not proposed higher realms of sword intent was because they didn't have any Morning Star-grade sword talents.
"Since there aren't any, I'll comprehend it myself!" Ye Tian decided to comprehend further. Thus, he activated his triple time talent and, with the aid of the War God Stele, delved into the realm beyond the intent of swords.
A day passed. Then five days. And then ten days. Ye Tian seemed to have forgotten the existence of Feng Luxue, focusing solely on his comprehension of sword intent. His powerful Morning Star-level sword talent was a significant aid, leading to new insights. The fully mastered sword intent seemed to have given birth to a new force, opening a new door for Ye Tian.
Three more days passed. Ye Tian slowly opened his eyes, joy evident in their depths.
"I've broken through. There indeed exists a realm beyond 100% sword intent. Let's call this realm the Sword Dao Realm. For simplicity, 'Sword Dao' will do." Ye Tian murmured to himself.
Sword Dao encompassed the power of sword laws, an entry-level realm similar to the mystic-grade talent, representing a new level. However, entering the realm of Sword Dao was incredibly difficult, requiring at least a Morning Star-level sword talent. Aside from Ye Tian, no one in Zhonghai Super Base could achieve this.
The process of mystic-grade talent acquisition in Zhonghai Super Base was the following:
People could elevate their top-grade talents to pseudo-mystic grade with treasures and gradually comprehend higher realms with artifacts like the War God Stele. In this process, their Morning Star and Moonlight cultivation talents, combined with various treasures, allowed them to elevate their pseudo mystic talents to 70%. Then, during their transition from a King to a Saint, they could advance from 70% to mystic-grade talents.
Mystic-grade talents had a traceable path, but the birth of Sword Dao had no precedent. Ye Tian was the only warrior in Zhonghai Super Base to have comprehended Sword Dao. However, he had just grasped the basics, merely stepping into the threshold. It would take a few more days to truly enter the first part of Sword Dao.
Yet, this initial comprehension did not significantly boost his strength, as he still lacked golden-grade or higher sword skills. Once he created sword skills of golden-grade or above, Ye Tian's power would receive an unimaginable boost.
After four more days of comprehension, Ye Tian fully entered the realm of Sword Dao. He noticed that Feng Luxue was still comprehending the axe intent, evidently planning to remain in seclusion for a while longer. However, during the early stages of the Saint level, with every 1% of the deep brain domain opened, strength surged significantly. Feng Luxue surely understood this principle and wouldn't focus solely on cultivating axe intent.
As expected, on the eighteenth day, Feng Luxue left, and Ye Tian followed suit. When the two emerged from the War God Stele, Feng Luxue looked at Ye Tian suspiciously, even wondering if Ye Tian had intentionally left with him.
"Great Saint Ye Tian!"
"Great Saint Lu Xue!"
Shouts rang out outside the War God Tower.
Ye Tian seemed uninterested in Feng Luxue, as if his departure was merely coincidental. He walked in a different direction, while Feng Luxue, without greeting Ye Tian, headed towards the Battle Axe Mercenary Hall.
Unbeknownst to Feng Luxue, Ye Tian had copied his mystic-grade strength talent and even replicated his 40% pseudo-mystic-grade speed talent.