Super Gene Ⅱ: Evolution

"First to pay respect, and then to strike, truly a courtesy as complete as can be," reflected Lin Shen upon hearing Dao speak of The Three Reverences Sword Skill, which seemed to coincide with the mysterious charm of the Twenty-Eight Fists he had learnt.

When killing, the Twenty-Eight Fists only required two strikes, the first punch to warn, the second to kill.

Unfortunately, the version of the Twenty-Eight Fists that Lin Shen had learned was corrupted, failing to embody the essence of killing with two punches; for him, the more punches, the better.

Dao chuckled, "Complete courtesy? Maybe not, it's just that I find it troublesome, I'd rather not take action if it's not necessary. The blade I intend to forge must be able to match the realm of The Three Reverences Sword Skill.

The method of forging comes from the Xuan Ling Forging Skill of the Mysterious Clan, capable of forging a blade that can slash through all matter in the world, possessing spirit and nature, invincible to all."

At this point, Dao sighed, "It's just that I've forged countless blades here, yet I've never been able to forge one with spirit."

As he spoke, Dao picked up a blade he had forged earlier and casually said, "This scrap of a blade may form its body and edge on its own, but it ultimately lacks spirit, and it does not possess the concept of The Three Reverences Sword Skill."

Dao inserted the blade to one side and picked up another long sword, saying, "This blade, though peerlessly sharp and able to feed on blood, seems spirited yet has veered into the path of evil, succumbed to inferiority, still a failed product."

Dao inserted it aside as well and took yet another blade, introducing each to Lin Shen in turn.

To Lin Shen, each blade seemed extraordinary, but in Dao's words, they were all mere scrap, none were the blade he sought.

The blade he sought was not only to have spirit, but also to embody the ethos of The Three Reverences Sword Skill.

A blade needed to have the bravery to slay the ghosts and gods of the Ten Directions, the demons and Buddhas across the sky, and everything under heaven and earth, or else it was ultimately just rubbish.

The so-called Ten Directions Ghost God Slaying Blade was actually just a casual name coined by Dao, and even the order of the words in this name was mistaken.

If arranged according to his preference, the blade should be called the Soulslayer Blade that slays the ghosts and gods of the Ten Directions, which was not quite convenient to say.

Lin Shen, puzzled, then asked, "Creating a spirited blade is already an extremely difficult task, yet you seek to imbue it with the ethos of your own blade technique, isn't that a bit far-fetched? Surely you don't intend to perform a Blade Technique before forging it, hoping it will comprehend the blade's ethos and then craft it into a blade, do you?"

"Who said I wanted to imbue it with the ethos of my own Blade Technique?" replied Dao. "No, no, that's not it, The Three Reverences Sword Skill is not my own creation, but rather the work of a Peerless Blade Guest from the Mysterious Clan in ancient times."

With a strange expression, Lin Shen said, "Not your own Blade Technique, and one you don't even know how to execute, how can you possibly infuse its ethos into a blade?"

Dao explained, "Even though I do not know The Three Reverences Sword Skill, I have seen the recordings of that Blade Guest's Technique. Despite countless generations having passed, I can still feel the unmatched heroism and peerless ethos of that Blade Guest from those recordings, hence I am determined to forge a divine blade worthy of The Three Reverences Sword Skill."

"Really? Just like that?" Lin Shen was dumbfounded, thinking it audacious that just by watching someone else's Blade Technique recordings, Dao was intent on forging a divine blade worthy of it.

"Why not? I've spent half my life forging blades. Even though I don't know the Blade Techniques, I can empathize with any kind of blade's spirit just by a glance. It doesn't matter that I haven't met him, even if countless generations have passed, I can know him, understand him, know what kind of blade he needs, and know what kind of blade is worthy of his technique – that's enough."

"Even if you manage to forge that blade, is there anyone in this world still worthy of wielding it?" Lin Shen retorted.

He had heard from Manager An about the decline of the Mysterious Clan; it was doubtful that such a Blade Guest would emerge from them again.

If there were still blade masters like that, [they] wouldn't have failed to even rank amongst the Ten Thousand Cosmic Clans.

Upon hearing Lin Shen's words, Dao immediately shook his head and said, "It's precisely because there are no longer such blade masters in the world that I am even more eager to forge that blade. As long as this blade exists, people will know there were once such blade masters and such blade techniques in the world."

Lin Shen stared at Dao, suddenly feeling that what Dao said actually made a hell of a lot of sense.

"Alright, since you want to cast such a blade, I'll help you. But first we need to clarify what The Three Reverences Sword Skill is really like. Can you tell me about it, or show me that section of the blade technique recording?" Lin Shen said.

"The recording was something I chanced upon, not a recording that was made, but rather the blade intent of a blade master during a terrifying great battle. The blade intent was so strong, it left an imprint in the flow of time, and at a certain time and place, it was activated by some special reason and appeared once again after countless generations.

It would be difficult for it to appear a second time, even if I wished to see it again, it would be impossible," Dao said with a shake of his head and a wry smile.

"Sigh, then tell me about that blade master's story," Lin Shen wanted to know what kind of existence that blade master was, to make a weapon forger of later generations willing to dedicate half of his life to creating an unmatched blade for a deceased person and a lost blade technique.

As soon as the topic was raised, Dao became animated, spraying saliva as he recounted the deeds related to that blade master.

The era of The Ancient Realm King could be considered a rare glittering golden age in the universe, where countless clans gave birth to heavenly prideful beings akin to gods. Heroes of unparalleled strength emerged, fighting across the starry sky, competing for that supreme title of king.

It was an incredibly brilliant era, with geniuses from many races who, in any other era, might have been able to draw lines in the sky, punch through the cosmos, and be crowned kings among the peerless powerful ones.

Yet in that era, in the end, only The Ancient Realm King suppressed all the peerless individuals and attained the title of king.

The most exceptional talent within the Mysterious Clan was that unnamed blade master whose The Three Reverences Sword Skill had hardly faced defeat since its advent.

Countless Immortal sages from various clans fell beneath The Three Reverences Sword Skill.

Alas, he ultimately could not withstand The Ancient Realm King and even the Peerless Blade Guest met with a fate of obscure demise, gradually forgotten in the endless river of time.

Legend has it that in that final battle against The Ancient Realm King, a single swing of his blade cleaved through the eternity of the cosmos, causing The Ancient Realm King to yield ground, daring not to forcibly receive that blade which could slay all life in the world.

Regrettably, that strike was the pinnacle work of the Peerless Blade Guest, and after that single strike failed to slay The Ancient Realm King, he could no longer match The Ancient Realm King, and ultimately he was vanquished and perished amidst the boundless starry sky.

"Now, there are not many in the world who still remember the name of this blade technique," Dao lamented.

"What a pity," Lin Shen also sighed.

With his spirits lifted, Dao casually picked up a blade and began to wield it. As he swung the blade, Lin Shen suddenly felt as if there was nothing left between heaven and earth but that blade.

Where the blade's edge passed, it seemed as though it split heaven and earth itself, and Lin Shen actually had the sensation that he had nowhere to hide, nowhere to escape as if he himself would be cleaved to death by that blade.

Lin Shen stood on the spot, motionless, as cold sweat instantly soaked his body.

It wasn't that he didn't want to move, but under that blade, he simply couldn't move, nor did he know how to move. With heaven and earth split asunder, how could a mere human withstand the might of that strike? To block or not to block made no difference whatsoever.

Couldn't block it, had no time to block, and didn't know how to block.