Duncan completely forgot about the mortal peril his life was in inside the garden region.
He only cared about creating his own sword art as time passed. By slowly perfecting his own findings, Duncan began to form an embryonic sword art of his own creation.
In this, he began integrating all the insights and knowledge he had learned so far. Duncan wanted to create a sword art that would shine as the pinnacle of the Sword Dao. Even though he knew that it was a tall order for him to accomplish, Duncan didn't hesitate at all.
He wanted to create a sword art that only contained concepts of swordsmanship in it. A pure sword art that didn't integrate anything from other daos. A pure sword art made by a heart that had the pursuit of the ultimate of sword dao as his ideal.
For that, he even abandoned the insights he had in slaughter and only focused on integrating sword principles that he had come to understand in sword dao. He used the basic moves of the sword as a foundation and tried to create a sword technique that only contained the concepts in regards to the way of a sword.
"I shall name this sword art <Pure Heart Sword Art>. Only those who want to understand the way of the sword with no reliance on other concepts will be able to learn this," Duncan mumbled with his eyes burning brightly.
"I know that this sword art might not contain all the concepts of Sword Dao in it presently. But, one day, learning this sword art alone will be enough to traverse the way of the sword to its pinnacle."
"I will slowly and surely refine this sword art as my understanding and cultivation grows. From the basics to the pinnacle of Sword Dao, this sword art will contain everything. This sword art I create will one day shake the entire universe," Duncan said loudly with burning passion in his heart.
Right now, Duncan knew his cultivation and insights were limited. However, his desire to pursue the Sword Dao to the ultimate level can be seen from his declaration at this moment.
Earlier, Duncan was like a rootless lotus floating through the cultivation world without much aim. Even though he wanted to be free and powerful to do what he wanted, Duncan never had a particular goal in his life when it came to cultivating dao. Hence, his dao heart always came up a little short when compared to other aspects of him.
For a cultivator to obtain a strong dao heart, they must pursue the dao to the ultimate. Very few cultivators are able to attain this. Most cultivators get lost in the lure of power, freedom, lust, mortal emotions, and other such things on their cultivation journey.
Duncan didn't have a particular goal until he started creating his sword art. His aim of living freely, roaming wherever he wanted to go, and doing whatever he wanted to do came from his desire to get rid of the shackles he had experienced in his life. His desire for power was also a reflection of it.
But, right now, at this moment, Duncan truly took a step into the cultivation world with his own goal. A goal that was purely related to a dao. Right now, Duncan's heart was very dedicated to pursuing the Sword Dao.
To state simply, Duncan was like a casual drinker who got hooked on a rare wine and wanted to be a drunkard for the rest of his life. Whether he would sober up and give that up as a lost cause is unknown. But, his appreciation of the wine at this moment was at its peak.
In this scenario, the intent domain was like the rare wine that hooked Duncan into pursuing the Sword Dao to the pinnacle. As he was intoxicated and enthralled by the countless principles he sensed inside the intent domain, Duncan wanted to explore them to the utmost.
Duncan didn't entirely understand all the principles that enveloped the intent domain. He has yet to form his own sword domain even. But, it didn't stop his heart from yearning to learn everything about the way of the sword and create an unparalleled sword technique at this moment.
As they say, a young calf knows no fear. Those who don't truly understand the immensity of a thing will boldly try to learn everything about it. Duncan was like a young calf. He had no fear or doubts inside him at this moment.
While others may think of him as mad to put out such a declaration, it was a rare thing to achieve such a state of mind. Duncan's heart had been lit and the fire of ambition had been ignited in him.
Till now, Duncan wasn't that different from other cultivators. He wanted to become powerful and do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. There were countless other cultivators in the world who had the same desire as him.
Their reasons may vary. Some might want to become powerful due to hunger for power. Some for greed. Some for revenge. And some like Duncan will want to be powerful because they want to be free of all the shackles. But, their pursuit was the same – become powerful.
This was the state of the cultivation world in general.
Any cultivator who steps onto the path of cultivation will have such an ambition. Some might soon lose them due to circumstances. Some might hang on to them more tightly and do everything they can to make it become real. It all depended on how deeply they wanted to fulfill that desire.
At this moment, Duncan had truly stepped onto the path of the pursuit of dao at all costs. Having such a grand ambition was the first step one needed to do to hone their heart to pursue the dao. Without such an ambition, even without any blockades, their cultivation will come to a stop at one point or another.
On the other hand, those who have such ambition will never settle for it. Their focus is not on cultivation stages. They only care about dao. With such pure devotion, they will somehow find a way to reach higher cultivation levels in the pursuit of their ambition. This was how powerhouses were truly made.
Duncan didn't know all these nuances.
He was currently immersed in creating his own sword art.
"Then let the first move be based on the first sword concept I grasped," Duncan stated vigorously. "Swordcut was the first sword-based concept I grasped. I had already created a sword technique based on it. With the new insights that I have gained, I can combine the old sword technique I had created with the insights and create an even more outstanding sword technique…"
Duncan's mind whizzed as he thought about the old sword technique he had created on his own. The Absolute Severance Slash was created based on the Swordcut concept by imitating the <Absolute Cut Sword Art>. As new insights poured into his mind, Duncan altered the <Absolute Severance Slash> drastically to accommodate his new insights as well.
"This move shall be named Severance. It is both apt for the concept of Swordcut and it will also pay homage to my old technique," Duncan mumbled as he tested out his new sword move on a distant rock.
The moment Duncan attacked, a light brighter than his previous sword attacks emerged from his sword and cut the rock cleanly into two. The rock didn't even shift or collapse. The cut went through it like a knife through butter without any hindrance.
Even his old Absolute Severance Slash didn't have this much of a clean cut. There were no blemishes or even indications that an attack had been performed. The rock looked as it was before Duncan performed the attack.
Duncan nodded in satisfaction and walked towards the rock. He gently touched the rock to confirm that his attack had indeed landed. The rock split into two halves and collapsed on either side making Duncan smile brightly.
"Severance is more powerful than the Absolute Severance Slash. If I had this technique when I faced that late-stage Violet Palace cultivator whose arm I chopped off, I would have been victorious with a single attack," Duncan said to himself proudly and beamed down at the two pieces of cut rock before him.
"Moreover, the sword qi is more powerful than the sword light as well," Duncan mumbled to himself exploring the edges of the two pieces of the rock he had cut down. "It surely packs more punch on contact. The penetration power of the sword qi is completely different than the sword light I possessed earlier. I can only imagine what a sword intent will do."
Duncan sighed and looked towards the intent domain wistfully.
"Let's not get ahead. I had already created a new sword art based on my comprehension of the sword dao with the blessings of this intent domain," Duncan shook his head and looked at the sword in his hand.
"What is severance? It is the process of cutting everything in existence and severing it completely. Ideally, this sword attack of mine should be able to cut the myriad things in existence and even other esoteric concepts like karma, time, and space. But, this sword attack is not at that level yet."
"It doesn't matter. It will one day reach that realm. I will hone it slowly. As my cultivation and insight into the sword dao increases, I will be able to accomplish such a feat. If something exists and can be manipulated by other cultivators, then I can also cut them with my sword."
Duncan looked determined as he said that. Mad ambition burned in his eyes at this moment.
"Let's not stop here. Let me try to meditate on the intent domain a bit more and try to see if I could comprehend either the sword domain or the concept of Swordslash. Both will help me come up with another move for my sword art," Duncan said with determination in his eyes and walked back to his original spot to meditate again.
Soon, Duncan once again entered a meditative state and tried to gain more insights into the way of the sword with the help of the intent domain that existed before him.
