Absolute Choice 6

by Pear Lands In The Autumn Spring

  Heartless had 'activated' his Sword Truth, [Heartless], making him enter a realm of emotional voidness.

  Sword Truth seemed like a vague term, but in fact, its existence was very real, real and powerful.

  Shi Xiaobai had previously understood Sword Truth from Sunless. Her Sword Truth was [Fanaticism], with swords being the only thing in her head. She only had eyes for the sword, and even her heart was for the sword!

  Sunless was a sword fanatic. She was constantly having her Sword Truth [Fanaticism] 'activated'. She did not 'deactivate' it when she was sparring with Shi Xiaobai in their subconsciousness. Sunless's Sword Truth had already become 'one with the sword' with her body itself.

  Therefore, Shi Xiaobai had suffered an abject defeat in the consciousness sparring. At the beginning, he only knew sword techniques and lacked sword intent. Hence, he could not even last a strike. Gradually he gained insight into sword intent, allowing him to use Beginner Sword to enter a deadlock with Sunless for more than ten rounds.

  The power of Sword Truth was obvious.

  The reason why Heartless was considered to be the second best sword prodigy among rookies was because he had managed to create his Sword Truth at the age of fourteen. The possession of a Sword Truth was the benchmark criteria if a swordsman was excellent or not. For example, whether one possessed Sword Truth, or if the Sword Truth was strong, or if the Sword Truth could allow the person to become one with the sword, etc.

  "Come on, let This King experience your Sword Truth!"

  The fighting spirit in Shi Xiaobai's eyes ignited again!

  Heartless had a deadpan expression as he silently walked towards Shi Xiaobai with sword raised. The stance he had was a heaven and earth difference from before.

  Shi Xiaobai put aside all the distractions in his heart. Sword techniques were never his most powerful skill. It was even the combat skill that he had only just begun practicing. However, he would only use a sword for this battle.

  Just as Heartless said, swords were their only way of communication!

  Heartless closed the gap and suddenly slashed over!

  This strike was simple. It was not even in the form of a sword technique, it was just a simple slash!

  But this strike was as domineering as fire and as fast as lightning!

  Instead of retreating, Shi Xiaobai advanced and slashed out in a similar manner!

  "Boom!"

  This was a clash of swords, the explosive skirmish of sword beams. It was a competition between sword intents!

  There was no victor from this clash, but Shi Xiaobai was completely at the disadvantage.

  Heartless slashed out once again!

  No, it was not a single strike this time. In this strike that appeared like a single strike, it contained three sword intents!

  Shi Xiaobai managed to parry the first two sword intents, but was no match for the third sword intent. He had not choice but to retreat!

  Heartless' attacks would not take a break because of Shi Xiaobai's retreat. He slashed out with a stronger strike!

  Heartless did not use the Homecoming Sword or the Heaven Shrouding Eclipse, nor did he use the lower form of the Kun Peng. He just simply slashed forward, but such simple strikes seemed to contain the shadows of the three sword techniques.

  This was the concentration of Heartless's sword techniques!

  His Sword Truth, [Heartless], froze all his emotions. Hence, his every strike did not give him excitement, fear, nervousness or softheartedness or other emotions that would affect him. His every strike was simple and direct, directed straight at vital body parts!

  Shi Xiaobai faced with with the sword, but the battle became more and more taxing on him. He could only retreat again and again.

  Finally at the thirteenth round, Shi Xiaobai's psionic sword was shattered. He retreated in time, but a gash had appeared across his clothes. It had nearly slashed out a gaping bloody wound.

  However, Shi Xiaobai did not feel fear during this period of time. Nor did he have time to feel frustrated or disheartened from every failure in each clash. This was because Heartless's next strike was already slashing at his throat!

  "Clang!"

  Heartless' sword was blocked!

  Shi Xiaobai's eyes were shining like the hot sun. Boiling fighting spirit seemed to burn everything!

  Having fear in the heart?

  Feeling disheartened because of defeat?

  Shi Xiaobai would not experience such emotions. At the instant his psionic sword was shattered, other than dodging the fatal strike, he had immediately constructed a brand new psionic sword!

  He would not waste time to regret failure.

  He only had one thought on his mind.

  Give This King such failure another ten thousand times!

  ...

  ...

  In front of a crumbling wall, there was a young boy about six years old, holding a small knife carved from wood. He was constantly stabbing at the wall.

  On closer look, there was a very tiny hole in the wall. And the boy's thrust of the short knife was aimed at that tiny hole in the wall.

  However, the hole was just too small, and was just slightly larger than the knife's blade tip. It had to be precisely aligned in order to thrust the knife into the hole. However, the boy's stabbing actions appeared to be deliberately magnified. Every thrust needed him to throw out half his body. This prevented him from being able to precisely stab the hole.

  The boy's knife would stab around the surroundings of the hole, but every strike was stabbed at an extremely fast speed and with great strength. This caused his hand to go numb from the recoil after each thrust.

  The boy frowned and, with a tear stricken face, he repeated the thrusting at the hole.

  Ten times, a hundred times, a few hundred times, more than a thousand times...

  From noon to dusk, he had only managed to thrust the knife into the hole fewer than ten times.

  The autumn's dusk was dark and cold. As the air seemed to turn into frost, the boy's hand turned slightly red from the cold, but he did not stop.

  "Xiaobai, it's time to eat."

  A gentle voice was heard as footsteps approached from the other side of the wall.

  The boy's eyes lit up and he immediately stopped. He jogged towards the other side of the wall and saw a black-haired teenager walking towards him slowly.

  "Brother!"

  The boy exhaled lightly before running towards the black-haired teenager's side.

  The black-haired teenager crouched down and stroked the boy's head. He held the boy's tiny right fist.

  "Si..."

  The boy let out a tiny cry of pain.

  The black-haired teenager lowered his head and saw the boy's white palm already red, to the point of it turning purple. The black-haired teenager's heart ached for him as he said with a sigh, "Man, don't you know how to skive? I purposely brought Dad away so that you could rest, but you...Sigh. Why don't you stop practicing the Pig Slaughtering Knife?"

  "No!"

  The boy rounded his eyes with a stare as he said while shaking his head, "Dad said that if the pig slaughtering knife is not stabbed in accurately, the big white pig will feel a lot of pain, much more painful than me. So, I need to diligently practice so that I can stab it accurately! Brother, leave me alone. It's not that painful. I'm no longer a three or four-year-old. There's no need for Brother to be worried!"

  The black-haired teenager gave a wry smile as he stroked the boy on the head and said, "Yes, yes, yes. You are five this year, so you must pay attention to your safety and health, got it? Dad might look very strict, but he is actually secretly feeling the pain in his heart. As for you, there's plenty of time left. You can slowly practice the Pig Slaughtering Knife!"

  When the boy heard this, he fell into a moment of thought. Suddenly he shook his head resolutely and pursed his lips to say, "No! I'm too stupid. I can't stab that tiny hole. Dad said that without diligence, I'm hopeless with my stupidity. Furthermore, Brother previou
sly said that, failure is the mother of success. The more you fail, the earlier Baby Success will be born."

  The black-haired teenager gaped and was at a loss as to what to say. He had said so in the past to console the young boy who had suffered numerous failures. He never expected the boy to take his words to heart, to the point of using it to encourage himself.

  Was such a matter good or bad?

  The black-haired teenager could only say, "Let's go. It's time to return for our meal."

  The boy's eyes immediately lit up as he nodded his head vigorously. He was very, very hungry at that moment.

  The black-haired teenager walked to the other side and held the boy's left hand, as the two headed home.

  "I like Mother Failure!"

  As the boy walked, he suddenly looked up and asked, "Oh right, Brother, when is Mother coming back? I still haven't seen her!"

  The black-haired teenager's footsteps came to a halt as he turned his head gently to the side. As though he was hiding something, he said softly, "Mother? She went to a very, very far place. I don't know when she will be back as well. However, she is always very concerned with Xiaobai. She must definitely wish to see Xiaobai."

  The boy gave an "Orh" and did not speak further.

  The evening glow cast long shadows of the two. The shadows of the hands were bound together, as though they would never separate.

  ...

  ...

  "Failure is the mother of success."

  With this thought in mind, Shi Xiaobai constructed another psionic sword.

  In a short span of ten minutes, his psionic sword had shattered more than twenty times. His clothes were riddled with holes and there were bloody wounds on his body.

  When it came to sword techniques, Shi Xiaobai truly was unable to compare to Heartless, who had activated his Heartless Sword Truth. Without any suspense, he was defeated and retreated in a sorry state. The amount of psionic power and stamina he had was greatly drained. If not for 'Unleaking Turtle Aura', which forcefully allowed him to persist on, he would have long suffered true defeat from his exhaustion.

  However, Shi Xiaobai was still persisting on. Despite having lost in the sparring of sword techniques for more than twenty times, the battle had yet to end.

  Heartless did not show any mercy, nor did he hesitate. After Shi Xiaobai retreated, he would draw close once again. It was as though he would only end after obtaining true victory.

  "The next strike shall end this duel."

  Suddenly, Heartless, who had been silent for a long while, spoke. His voice was calm and cold, as though he was an emotionless machine stating an objective fact. His auric pressure increased once again.

  "This King thinks so too."

  Shi Xiaobai nodded in approval and said, "For with the next strike, you will be defeated by This King's Sword Truth!"

  ...

  -------

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  Chapter282 Excalibur

  "For the next strike, you will be defeated by This King's Sword Truth!"

  The moment Shi Xiaobai said this, points of near-transparent golden dots of light floated up from the ground as they rapidly surged towards Shi Xiaobai.

  The golden points of light gathered and merged into Shi Xiaobai's body. A translucent golden light enveloped Shi Xiaobai in a membrane.

  Two golden vortices appeared in his black eyes.

  "This King's Sword Truth—Excalibur!"

  There was a sudden hint of divinity in Shi Xiaobai's voice.

  Shi Xiaobai had been defeated by Sunless six hundred and fifty-three times in their consciousness sparring. He went from only knowing sword techniques to grasping sword intent. He was also extremely close to creating a Sword Truth that was unique to him.

  And at this moment, against Heartless, who had activated his Sword Truth, [Heartless], he had suffered one defeat after another, to the point of being powerless to resist. But through this, Shi Xiaobai completed another metamorphosis.

  Growing from failures, that was Shi Xiaobai!

  He had created a Sword Truth that belonged to himself!

  This Sword Truth was born out of failure, so Shi Xiaobai wanted to call it Success, but he suddenly thought of a sword technique which the loli sword spirit had previously mentioned to him. It was a sword technique that left a deep impression on him—Excalibur!

  Hence, the thought of naming his Sword Truth [Excalibur] could not be stopped.

  Victory born out of countless defeats. Wasn't that exactly the most persistent and resolute victory?

  For victory, he was willing to steadfastly progress forward despite thousands of failures. This was...Excalibur!

  This was a symbol of Shi Xiaobai's divine kingship, and it was also Shi Xiaobai's Sword Truth!

  Near-transparent golden light enveloped Shi Xiaobai. His aura soared to its maximum as he 'activated' his Sword Truth!

  Heartless was deadpan. He had frozen all his emotions. Even though the scene in front of him was horrifying and thrilling, he would remain indifferent!

  However, his aura was similarly soaring. This was because he wanted to end the duel with the next strike!

  Black gasses emitted from the ground as they circled Heartless's psionic sword.

  Heartless raised his sword high as black mist shrouded it. Slowly, a gigantic black sword projection appeared.

  "Heaven Shrouding!"

  Heartless yelled as he held his sword with both hands. From more than ten meters away, he slashed at Shi Xiaobai!

  "Eclipse!"

  A humongous black sword projection fell from the sky as it shrouded the heavens. The sword projected was like a gigantic black mountain as it crashed down at Shi Xiaobai!

  This black sword projection nearly covered every inch of the arena. Surging sword intent emanated from the sword projection as countless sword beams stirred, as though it was tearing apart space itself!

  Shi Xiaobai could not avoid it!

  But he would not avoid it as well!

  With sword in his left hand, the golden points of light around Shi Xiaobai's body surged towards the psionic sword. The white psionic sword emitted a dazzling golden light, as though it was a treasured sword made out of gold.

  All the psionic power in Shi Xiaobai's body spewed out at the instant. It was constantly being gathered, compressed and converged to a single point. The golden psionic sword's sword tip immediately burst out a light more glaring than sunlight!

  Why was it Excalibur?

  By using all his strength, exhausting his everything, concentrating his commitment to victory, he would slash out the final strike with absolutely no regrets!

  This was the Excalibur Shi Xiaobai understood. He may have not seen this strike before, but he could create it himself!

  He recalled the moment when the blond woman with coiled hair produced that strike that made him possess the thought of "This King wants to learn swords". He then used the line of thought with how Turtle-speed Divine Punch constantly compressed psionic power, and the inspiration from compressing all his strength through the use of One Second Shura. By combining three factors together, he created a sword technique that belonged to him alone!

  This strike was Shi Xiaobai's full strength. It was meant for victory, leaving no room for escape!

  This was the finale strike!

  This strike was Excalibur!

  More and more golden points of light gathered towards the sword's body as psionic power that was continuously compressed made the sword's edge appear even more dazzling!

  Suddenly, a gigantic golden sword projection rose to the sky!

  At the same time, the black sword projection of Heaven Shrouding Eclipse that Heartless had slashed out came crashing down like a mountain.

  The golden sword projection went past the black sword projection, as though sunlight tearing through the haze!

  Shi Xiaobai's eyes grew brighter as though they were shimmering stars!

  "Excalibur!"


  Shi Xiaobai roared as he slashed out!

  The gigantic golden sword projection slashed vertically, splitting the black sword projection into two!

  "Boom!"

  The golden sword projection exploded as though a star had gone supernova. The golden light burst out, filling the world. The fragments of the black sword projection were instantly engulfed!

  The golden light enveloped everything, as though gold was the only color in the entire world.

  Shi Xiaobai's psionic sword shattered and the glow from his body dimmed. His mind went blurry as his feet went limp. He nearly fell backwards. Through the expedient use of Unleaking Turtle Aura, he prevented himself from fainting.

  He had created his own Sword Truth, and from the foundation of his Sword Truth, created a sword technique that belonged to him!

  This strike was named Excalibur by him!

  Although this strike did not possess the terrifying power that came from using 'One Second Shura', Shi Xiaobai had used all his mental efforts in an instant to create such a strike.

  This strike could only be used once in a short period of time. There was no turning back. It was truly the finale strike!

  The dazzling golden light filled the world for a few moments before it slowly dissipated. And Heartless, who had been enveloped by the golden light was slowly revealed.

  At this moment, Heartless was already lying on the ground. His clothes were torn and the upper half of his body was naked. His eyes were closed, but he was still breathing slightly. It appeared as though he had fainted.

  An authoritative voice immediately resounded above the arena.

  "The duel is over with Shi Xiaobai emerging victorious. The victor will be sent to the fifth level in ten seconds and the loser will be sent out of the training ground!"

  Upon hearing this, Shi Xiaobai revealed a smile. He struggled to take a few steps towards the black and white swords.

  The two swords simultaneously issued crisp sword hums.

  When Shi Xiaobai neared the two swords, he frowned and discovered a problem.

  His right hand had been sealed by the Absolute Choice's punishment. He temporarily could not use his superpower in his right hand, preventing him from transforming the two swords into energy to store them.