```
Just like that, he kept stabbing, kept leaping.
Gradually, Li Pan forgot what he was even doing. It was just leaping forward to stab, leaping forward to stab, without thought, without purpose, simply thrusting his sword out, mechanically repeating the motion, as if he was no longer himself.
He was not a general, not a monkey, but a sword, his arms, his torso, his meridians.
Everything was an extension of the sword, everything was a part of the sword.
It was not he who wielded the sword, but the sword that sought to thrust forth from its shell.
And so, slowly, a sword intent began to emerge from his very bones.
It was like a lit torch, igniting the Nine Yin True Qi within his viscera, fiercely blazing.
It seemed as if from these flames,
something,
wanted to unsheathe...
"Stop practicing."
A sudden cold shout, as if a bucket of ice water poured over his head, penetrated to the marrow, extinguishing the flames that had just flared within Li Pan's innards.
"Ah, what?"
