Now that he had the Xuanyuan Sword (crossed out) Stars, Fu Hua led Ryn to find the memory feathers she had placed long ago.
In a secret room, rows upon rows of crimson feathers were neatly arranged.
"Didn't you say we were looking for memory feathers? Aren't they all neatly arranged here?"
"If I don't put them here, am I supposed to just throw them around?"
Fu Hua shook her head. These memory feathers were all her own memories; how could she just leave them lying around. What if some unlucky person broke the seal and was overwhelmed by her memories.
(Senti: Ahem, I just throw them around!)
Fu Hua took out a few feathers and re-comprehended the Taixu Sword Ki once more.
The immortal strokes my head, my hair is bound and I receive eternal life.
Fu Hua brushed Ryn's head with Fenghuang Down, imparting the True Chant of Taixu and her own insights to him, allowing Ryn to begin cultivating the Heart State.
(Not that True Chant of Taixu from Mafeima!)
The entry point to Taixu Sword Ki is the Heart State, which is also the most difficult state to master besides the Spirit state.
The Heart State has four levels: Still Water, Dustless, Bright Mirror, and Taixu.
Cultivating the Heart State requires the assistance of the Sword Heart Chant from the True Chant of Taixu. The Sword Heart Chant has no written record; it is just a mystical sequence of sounds, totaling four hundred and sixty-two tones.
The Sword Heart Chant is the modified "Divine Sound" by Fu Hua. It has fewer side effects than the original Divine Sound and will no longer stunt one's physical growth like it did to Fu Hua.
Fu Hua had Ryn empty his mind, while she recited the Sword Heart Chant beside him.
Ryn couldn't understand the Sword Heart Chant, but he could feel his mind being constantly drawn, condensed, and strengthened.
After Fu Hua had recited it in a loop several times, Ryn's consciousness sank to the bottom of his heart.
When his consciousness cleared and he opened his eyes, he was already standing in the middle of a lake.
A boundless ocean, without wind or sound.
The mindscape melts into water to form a lake. This is the heart-lake, which means he has reached the Still Water realm of the mindscape.
"Ryn's talent is very good, to enter the state so quickly..."
Ryn walked on the water, step by step. At this moment, his heart had never been so calm.
With every step, the surface of the lake would freeze into ice, transforming into a glacier. Before Ryn was flowing river water, and behind him was a frozen ice age.
Time in the mindscape lost its meaning. Ryn just walked on aimlessly. He forgot why he had come and why he was walking.
He walked until his hair fell to the ground... until he was skin and bones, walking with a hobble.
But at the moment of dying of old age, he transformed back into a child and began walking again.
Childhood, youth, middle age, old age...
He walked and walked, until the initial patch of glacier appeared before him again.
"When the heart-lake freezes, it becomes Dustless."
As Ryn took his final step, the entire heart-lake of the mindscape transformed into a complete glacier.
Opening his arms, Ryn lay down naturally.
Though it was solid ice, it was like flowing water.
The ice surface did not obstruct Ryn's body, allowing him to pass through the ice layer and fall into the body of the glacier.
The purpose of the Sword Heart Chant is to temper the practitioner's state of mind and forge their own sword heart.
The so-called sword heart, to put it simply, is to be able to empty one's thoughts at any time, relax the body, feel every subtle change in the body, and let power flow like water within the body, circulating endlessly.
Forging a sword heart was not a difficult task for Ryn, who had the inheritance of the Stigmata. Because he had already spent several years mastering God Kiana's "martial arts".
One method understood, all methods understood.
Ryn was immersed in the solid ice that flowed like water, for an unknown amount of time.
Gradually, a mystical feeling burst forth from Ryn's heart, and a strange energy radiated outwards from him.
The ice layer gradually became transparent, crystal clear. With a single glance, Ryn could see countless ice layers... countless versions of himself.
Finally, all the ice layers merged into one, becoming a whole, and each Ryn also overlapped.
Shatter the false, pursue the true self.
"When the heart-ice becomes transparent, it is a Bright Mirror."
Ryn raised his hand, and with a slight grip, Stars appeared in it.
The sword rises with the heart, the moves have no fixed form.
Swinging the heavy sword in his hand, each and every move unleashed a sword wind that tore through the sky.
The Form State has four forms: Guard, Neutralize, Initiate, and Open, totaling twenty-one techniques.
Although it is called the Form State, it does not get bogged down in forms. Whether it's a sword, a staff, or bare-handed combat, one can use the Form State.
But only when one has fully integrated the Form State and created their own "Form State" can it be considered mastery.
Ryn just swung Stars like this, re-enacting the postures and mysteries of the Form State in each move.
An unknown amount of time passed again. Ryn had gone through several more cycles of life, but the purple flames on the sword Stars had already dimmed.
The sword stopped, the wind ceased.
Ryn had completely mastered all the sword moves, transforming them into his own skills.
The heart-lake was also completely vaporized by the sword wind stirred up by his sword dance.
"When the heart-lake turns to gas, formless and illusory, that is Taixu."
Ryn sheathed his sword and sat down cross-legged.
Nurturing the sword, meditating.
Outside, Fu Hua stopped her chanting. Ryn was now exuding a sword aura, his presence like a devastating blade.
The Heart State was complete, and it seemed the Form State was almost there too.
Because Fu Hua had stopped the Sword Heart Chant, Ryn's thoughts strayed again, and his concentration broke.
Ryn quickly regained consciousness. He wanted to say something, but an endless wave of exhaustion washed over him, and he fainted directly.
——————————————
When Ryn opened his eyes again, he was lying in bed.
Fu Hua was quietly taking care of him by his side. On a table nearby, there were many nourishing supplements that Fu Hua had prepared.
"You're awake. Your mind is quite damaged right now, you need to rest well."
Fu Hua, her voice hoarse, saw that Ryn was awake and brought over a medicinal stew from the side to feed him.
After a few sips, Ryn patted his aching head.
"How long was I asleep... Fu Hua, what happened to your voice?"
"Not long. Including the time you were immersed in your mindscape, only a week has passed."
After speaking, Fu Hua pointed to her throat and continued in a hoarse voice:
"I told you before, cultivation cannot be rushed, it requires accumulation over time.
Breaking through realms consecutively is extremely damaging to one's mind! In order not to interrupt your breakthrough, I recited the Sword Heart Chant for six days and five nights straight."
"Hahaha... I just felt the inspiration coming, so I broke through them all at once..." Ryn stuck out his tongue in embarrassment. He really felt sorry for Fu Hua for this.
"It's fine. In the words of the ancients, what you experienced was an epiphany, something that can be encountered but not sought. As your guide, it was my duty to assist you with all my strength." Fu Hua shook her head, not minding. It was just exhaustion and a hoarse throat. In comparison, Ryn's mental damage was more severe.
"Hehe, my Heart State is now complete, and I've forged my sword heart! The Form State is almost there too!"
Ryn was now like a child who had won an award, happily telling his mother, hoping for her approval and praise.
Fu Hua's lips curled up, and she chuckled lightly, "Not just the Heart and Form states... Your heart and weapon are one, the sword moves with your thoughts, and your sword intent forms naturally. Ryn, you have also entered the Intent state."