Chapter 85: Terrifying Might of the Shadow-Splitting Flash
The courtyard lay shrouded in pale morning mist, the first rays of dawn piercing through like cautious blades testing the darkness. Su Tianhao sat cross-legged beneath the ancient oak, Shadowfang resting silently at his side like a faithful companion. His eyes were half-lidded, but his spirit blazed with fierce intensity that burned away any trace of fatigue.
Today marked the beginning of a new path.
The nine fundamental techniques were no longer challenges—they were instinct, woven into the very fabric of his being. The Realm of Perfect Edge had elevated him beyond mere form. Now, what lay ahead was not repetition, but creation. The first layer of the Nine Heavens Sword Scripture—Shadow-Splitting Flash—waited within his inherited memories, sharp and silent like a predator poised to strike.
He exhaled slowly, each breath measured and deliberate.
"Let's begin," he whispered to the morning air.
With those words, he closed his eyes completely, sinking deep into the Nine Heavens Sword Scripture within his inherited memories. The scripture began to unravel itself, revealing the profound truths hidden within its ancient verses like scrolls unfurling one by one.
Su Tianhao immediately skipped through the introductions, delving into the core of the technique without hesitation. Now that he had already understood and mastered the principles behind those introductions through his assimilation of the nine basic moves, he no longer needed to waste precious time reviewing them.
Soon he touched upon the Shadow-Splitting Flash. The technique parted like storm clouds yielding to wind, unveiling layers of profound insight that had once seemed obscured by impenetrable complexity.
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Shadow-Splitting Flash — Peak-grade Mortal Rank Sword Technique
A lightning-fast sword art that embodies the essence of speed and precision. This technique focuses on executing a single, devastating slash so swift that it cleaves the very shadow from its source of light. At its peak, the enemy is cut before they even perceive the blade's motion.
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Su Tianhao's heart swelled with quiet anticipation. He had read through the Shadow-Splitting Flash once before and understood its fundamental principles—but even so, he couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement coursing through his veins.
Without wasting time digging through preliminary knowledge as he had done in the past, Su Tianhao immediately resolved to master it through practice.
He had come to understand previously that the Shadow-Splitting Flash doesn't just rely on raw speed—it touches upon fundamental principles of the sword dao itself, principles that required true mastery to comprehend.
Now that he had perfected the nine basic sword moves to sword assimilation and touched upon the Realm of Perfect Edge, he was more than qualified to cultivate the technique properly.
Su Tianhao took a deep breath to calm his turbulent emotions—anticipation, excitement, satisfaction, and relentless determination swirling within like a storm threatening to break free.
His chest rose and fell with steady, measured breaths, his expression gradually becoming tranquil and serene. As he sat in perfect lotus position, it wasn't just his eyes that were shut off—all his senses were completely sealed away in his own world of comprehension.
Time drifted like falling petals in the wind—silent and unhurried. Within the stillness of the courtyard, Su Tianhao remained motionless beneath the ancient oak, his figure calm as carved stone. Yet within him, countless waves of comprehension surged—insights colliding, merging, and settling like stars aligning in a vast inner sky.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity compressed into mere hours, the Shadow-Splitting Flash unveiled its true essence before his consciousness.
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Shadow-Splitting Flash — A supreme sword art from the Nine Heavens Sword Scripture, embodying speed, illusion, and absolute precision. A sword technique born of lightless motion and seamless death. Mastery lies not in force, but in the silence between heartbeats.
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"Speed, illusion, and absolute precision," Su Tianhao's mind crystallized with understanding, each word resonating like struck bronze. "Mastery lies not in force, but in the silence between heartbeats."
As the thought took root, the first layer of the technique unveiled itself like moonlight rippling across a still lake—subtle, fluid, and impossibly clear.
The Shadow-Splitting Flash comprised five forms, each corresponding to the five realms of mastery.
Su Tianhao's breathing became slightly hurried as the First Form completely unveiled itself before his consciousness.
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First Form — Flicker Edge
A lightning-fast forward slash that moves at the edge of visibility. The blade seems to flicker between two positions—creating the illusion of striking from two angles at once.
Only by mastering this technique can one be said to have truly reached the Initial Mastery of the Shadow-Splitting Flash.
At this stage, practitioners can slay opponents an entire minor realm above themselves. With perfect timing and accurate precision, slaying opponents two minor realms above themselves is not impossible. And with a perfect ambush, one can even slay opponents three minor realms stronger than themselves.
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"As expected, the Shadow-Splitting Flash is truly profound. Just the first form tied to Initial Mastery is already this powerful?" Su Tianhao was inwardly taken aback, his mind racing through the implications.
What did that truly mean?
One had to understand: a cultivator capable of defeating an opponent a single minor realm above their own was already considered a rare genius worthy of attention. But the Shadow-Splitting Flash didn't speak of mere victory—it spoke of slaughter, of absolute, overwhelming lethality.
A 1st level Martial Disciple capable of killing a 3rd level Martial Disciple in a single strike was already unheard of—a feat that would shake any clan to its core. But with the perfect ambush, it even allowed the possibility of slaying someone at the 4th level.
But Su Tianhao wasn't an ordinary 1st level Martial Disciple.
Thanks to the Supreme Dragon Transformation Technique, his base strength was already on par with a 3rd level Martial Disciple—a foundation that transcended normal cultivation limits. Meaning with Shadow-Splitting Flash and proper timing, slaying a 5th level Martial Disciple was well within reach—and through careful ambush, even a 6th level Martial Disciple could fall to his blade.
One had to know—even the Raging Dragon Fist at Perfection, which granted a tremendous seventy percent boost in base strength, only allowed him to defeat a 6th level Martial Disciple at most, not kill outright. His full strength with the perfected Raging Dragon Fist amounted to six thousand eight hundred pounds, while a 6th level opponent wielded a complete seven thousand pounds of base strength. In truth, even defeating such an opponent would only be possible thanks to his superior combat experience drawn from his inherited memories.
"The Shadow-Splitting Flash... is already more powerful than the perfected Raging Dragon Fist?" Su Tianhao's lips twitched slightly as the full implications settled into his consciousness like heavy stones dropping into still water.
"Truly terrifying..." he muttered, sweat beading along his temple despite the cool morning air. "No wonder Mother valued the Nine Heavens Sword Scripture so much. And this… this is only the first layer!"
But in truth, Yuexin hadn't treasured the Nine Heavens Sword Scripture simply for its overwhelming might or devastating techniques.
No—what made it irreplaceable to her was sentiment.
The technique had been a gift—bestowed upon her by none other than Tunlong Chenyuan, Su Tianhao's father. A precious relic discovered in an ancient ruin of the Immortal Realm, hidden away for countless millennia. Though Chenyuan lacked the natural affinity for the sword and could not cultivate it himself, he had passed it on to her as a token of love and lifelong commitment.
That was why Yuexin had cherished it so deeply, protecting it like a treasure beyond price. And that was why she had left it for her son.
So that one day, their legacy would live on—through the edge of Su Tianhao's sword.
Su Tianhao was naturally unaware of this touching history. That discovery would only come when he awakened the latter layers of his inherited memories. Right now his mind was consumed with one thing—the relentless determination to comprehend and thoroughly perfect the First Form, officially stepping into the Initial Mastery of the Shadow-Splitting Flash.
As Su Tianhao dedicated his complete focus to the technique, time continued to flow like a living river. Minutes turned to hours, and in the blink of an eye it was already midday.
The sun hung high above, illuminating the world with brilliant golden light. The oak branches fluttered gently, sending leaves drifting lazily across the courtyard, some even falling upon Su Tianhao's stone-still form.
At that precise moment—his eyes snapped open, golden irises flickering with a profound sharpness that seemed to pierce through the very air itself.
"Shadow-Splitting Flash... Initial Mastery!"
Su Tianhao said coolly, his expression calm, but the clenched fist at his side betrayed him completely. The excitement was obvious despite his composed bearing.
Su Tianhao gracefully rose to his feet, hands now gripping the sheathed Shadowfang with focused intent. His eyes gleamed faintly, reflecting the sunlight.
"Time to test out the might of this technique," Su Tianhao muttered, his gaze locked on the two-meter-tall bronze silhouette standing beside the massive oak tree—the Adept-level training dummy gifted by Su Huiqing, said to resist the attacks of anyone below the Martial Adept Realm.
Su Tianhao's body shifted subtly—shoulders relaxed, breath steady, eyes calm like still water reflecting the sky. His hand hovered lightly over Shadowfang's hilt.
No stance. No flourish. No wasted movement.
Only silence.
Then—
Shing!
A draw too swift for the eye to catch.
Shadowfang flickered—not once, but twice—as though it had slashed in two different directions simultaneously, defying the laws of physical motion.
One strike.
Two afterimages.
A ghostly illusion hung in the air for a breathless instant—then vanished like morning mist under harsh sunlight.
Across the courtyard, the two-meter-tall bronze dummy stood motionless, seemingly untouched... before a faint click echoed through the silence.
Clang!
A diagonal line appeared across its torso, followed by a second—a fraction of a hair's width apart, crisscrossing the first like a phantom echo etched faintly on the dummy's reinforced surface.
Su Tianhao exhaled slowly, his hand resting on the now-sheathed Shadowfang.
"That… was Flicker Edge."
It wasn't just raw speed—it was an illusion of duality born from perfect technique. The blade flickered as though existing in two places at once, creating a visual paradox. One fluid motion. One slash. Two distinct impressions carved into reality.
"The edge of visibility…" he murmured. "A blade that cuts before it's seen—and leaves behind a shadow of its own killing intent."
Though the Flicker Edge was fundamentally a single draw slash, it was far from simple in execution.
The technique relied on drawing the blade with such explosive speed that it shattered the eye's natural ability to follow its path. The flicker wasn't because the blade moved twice—it was simply too fast to track with normal perception. The moment the slash began, the eye caught it in one position—then suddenly, it appeared somewhere else entirely.
This gap in perception created the illusion of two slashes crossing each other in a ghostly pattern on the target's surface.
But it was all a carefully orchestrated trick of speed, angle, and timing.
By subtly adjusting his wrist at the final moment of the draw, Su Tianhao shifted the blade's trajectory just enough to carve a second faint line overlapping the first—enough to convince the senses that two strikes had been executed in perfect unison.
In reality, the opponent would never perceive either strike coming.
One strike. Two afterimages.
That was the terrifying might of the First Form of the Shadow-Splitting Flash: Flicker Edge.
"Now that I've reached Initial Mastery... it will probably take some time to reach Small Success..." Su Tianhao thought inwardly, a calculative glint flickering in his golden eyes as he assessed the path ahead.
"Now that I've achieved my goal, it's time I start cultivating seriously again..." Su Tianhao mumbled to himself, his expression growing more focused. "No matter what, cultivation is still the ultimate foundation of all strength."
As the thought solidified in his mind, his consciousness drifted back to the Supreme Dragon Transformation Technique—the foundational cultivation method that made him so different from ordinary cultivators.
"The second layer of the Supreme Dragon Transformation Technique... I wonder what surprises it will bring me." Su Tianhao's eyes lit up with a dazzling glow, making him look like a treasure hunter gazing upon a chest overflowing with ancient gold and priceless artifacts.
"Time to unlock the secrets of the second layer..."