The powerful sword aura deeper within the sword tomb started to push his eternal sword rule to its limits, as there wasn't just one sword at the level of half-step transcendent level but thousands or tens of thousands.
All of those combined swords' rules were terrifyingly powerful, but they also presented an opportunity for him.
But Apollo did not retreat.
This pressure was exactly what he needed.
Rather than resisting blindly, he opened himself fully to it—allowing the innumerable sword rules to collide, overlap, and grind against his own Eternal Sword Rule. Where another swordsman would have shattered, Apollo refined his eternal sword rule.
He did not copy them. He did not submit to them. He tempered himself against them.
Time lost meaning.
Minutes, hours, days—he could not tell. Only the endless confrontation remained, a silent war between his eternal sword rule and the legacy of countless near-transcendent swordsmen.
Then—
It started to change.
At first, it was subtle.
