This Sword Cultivator is Somewhat Dependable

He shook his head and sincerely said, "I ask the senior to teach me."

Li Qiubai was expressionless, "The so-called Unity is about finding your own path within the Heavenly Dao, uniting with it, thereby gaining the power of the Heavenly Dao, which is the Ninth Realm."

"There are three thousand great Daos, and everyone chooses a different path, varying in difficulty and strength."

"Uniting with a minor Dao may be easy, but such Nine Realms Cultivators rarely progress in their lifetime. Abandoning a minor Dao for a major one is arduous step by step, but there is a chance to advance even further, attaining the Honorable Title."

Within the Ninth Realm, there are also distinctions of strength and weakness.

Upon initially entering the Ninth Realm, one is a basic Unity Realm cultivator, known as one-step Unity.

Unity has four steps.

When one completes the four steps of Unity, and takes a further half-step, they reach the Honorable Title.

The Taoist Master of Dharma Cultivation, the Martial Emperor of Body Cultivation, the Sword Immortal of Sword Cultivation, all belong to this realm.

"These things you should be able to understand," Li Qiubai squinted at Lu Qingshan, paused, and continued, "However, do you know that Sword Cultivators don't have a purported Unity Realm in the Ninth Realm?"

Lu Qingshan was first stunned, then his pupils dilated sharply, "Senior, you mean?!"

"Yes," Li Qiubai nodded, "Once Sword Cultivators enter the Ninth Realm, they skip the four steps of Unity and go directly to Sword Immortal, which is the Honorable Realm."

There is no distinction between Unity and Honorable for Sword Cultivators!

"Why are Sword Cultivators so special?" Lu Qingshan was incredulous.

"Actually, it's not hard to understand," Li Qiubai chuckled and began to explain, "The Heavenly Dao, the Heavenly Dao, is actually the innate Dao, a great Dao that has existed since the birth of a world."

"The Thunder Dao, the Five Elements Dao, are all such, the most distinct feature of these Heavenly Dao is that there are traces to follow.

Cultivators only need to comprehend and pursue them, then merge with them, which is why the Ninth Realm is called Unity."

"However, you must understand," at this point, Li Qiubai stretched out the tone, speaking meaningfully, "These great Daos existed even before cultivators appeared, and even if cultivators ceased to exist, these great Daos would not disappear."

"The great Dao that Sword Cultivators practice is the Sword Dao."

"However, before Sword Cultivators appeared, where in the world was there talk of Sword Dao?" Li Qiubai asked with a smile.

Lu Qingshan seemed struck by lightning, suddenly realizing and awakening.

However, in reality, Sword Artifacts are man-made creations, artifacts crafted by the Human Race.

Originally, the world had wind, thunder, the Five Elements, and various creations, but certainly no swords.

Among the three thousand great Daos of the world, there was never such a thing as Sword Dao.

"Sword Dao is the only acquired Dao, not an innate Dao. It leaves no traces, and there are no rules to rely on; only we Sword Cultivators blaze this path through our strength and wisdom."

"Therefore, the concept of Unity does not exist for Sword Cultivators," Li Qiubai said flatly.

"How can you unite with something that fundamentally doesn't exist?" Lu Qingshan chimed in.

"Indeed, while other five cultivations in the Ninth Realm are called Unity, for Sword Cultivation, it should be called Opening the Dao."

Li Qiubai unveiled the secret of the Sword Immortal to Lu Qingshan, "That's why Sword Cultivators have always been the hardest to break through to the Ninth Realm among the six types of cultivators."

Opening the Dao is undoubtedly much harder than Unity; this is undeniable.

"Corresponding to the extreme difficulty in breaking through, once Sword Cultivators do breakthrough, they become incredibly powerful, directly reaching Sword Immortal," Lu Qingshan muttered.

No matter how strong a united Dao is, it merely borrows the power of others, acting as a representative of the Heavenly Dao, picking up the leftovers of the Heavenly Dao.

But opening the Dao means becoming oneself.

Li Qiubai nodded, "Pioneering a Sword Dao is nearly as difficult as other cultivators taking four steps to ascend to the Honorable Title.

But other cultivators can progress step by step, starting from Unity and gradually climbing upwards, until they advance to the Honorable Title.

Yet Sword Cultivators can only ascend directly to Sword Immortal from the Eighth Realm, which is why among the six sects, Sword Immortals are always the fewest in number.

No wonder Sword Cultivators are the most flamboyant, with the most geniuses; in two thousand years of Chang'an, only three Sword Immortals emerged.

So that's how it is.

"Then?" Lu Qingshan was puzzled.

What does this have to do with Li Qiubai being a Sword Immortal yet not a Sword Immortal?

"I have been practicing the sword with ease, never encountering bottlenecks, and even at the Opening of the Dao, I didn't linger long, breaking through to Sword Immortal Realm swiftly," Li Qiubai casually said with a light smile.

Lu Qingshan pressed his lips, not knowing how to respond.

"But precisely because it was too smooth, a thousand years after ascending to the Sword Immortal Realm, I realized that the Sword Dao I had paved was grand but flawed, too rough, lacking a soul, making it difficult to reach the Ancestral Realm."

Li Qiubai's Dao opening relied greatly on his unprecedented talent.

But talent inevitably has limits; if the path has flaws and is not perfect, no matter how brilliant the talent, one cannot reach the end.

"There are no turning back roads in the great Dao, and there's no way I can retrace my steps to reform the path," Li Qiubai explained.

"Unless I destroy the Sword Dao and start anew."

Lu Qingshan was overwhelmed with emotions, speechless.

By now, how could he not understand the implication in Li Qiubai's words?

This is akin to his act of severing his own Dao foundation.

But the issue is, what he severed was merely a Nascent Soul Stage Dao foundation, while Li Qiubai cut down is the Sword Dao itself.

This is like a middle-class person giving up everything to start anew, compared to a billionaire donating all wealth and rebuilding from scratch.

The willpower and courage required are far beyond what Lu Qingshan's severance of the Nascent Soul Dao foundation can compare to.