"Senior Song, please be merciful." Ye Bufan clasped his fists and bowed to Song Mingqin.
Song Mingqin couldn't help but smile. "You're too polite. Although I'm at the half-step Core Formation stage, I'm still at the late Foundation Establishment stage. You possess the Sword Domain; it's you who should be merciful."
Ye Bufan was slightly taken aback and then smiled.
"Alright, let's begin." Song Mingqin became extremely serious in the next second. He stood still, and a whistling sound tore through the air, right next to Ye Bufan's ear.
Ye Bufan was greatly alarmed. He leaped up, searching for Song Mingqin's sword in mid-air.
The sound of flying swords whizzing past his ears continued, but Ye Bufan couldn't pinpoint the sword's exact location.
"Swish—"
The next second, Ye Bufan felt a sharp pain in his arm. His clothes were not torn, but blood was oozing from his arm.
"Huh?"
Ye Bufan looked at Song Mingqin in surprise. What was going on? Ye Bufan hadn't even seen the sword, yet Song Mingqin had already injured him.
"Although you've comprehended the Sword Domain, you're still stuck with a superficial understanding of the sword," Song Mingqin said to Ye Bufan.
Ye Bufan looked at Song Mingqin, feeling a sense of pressure. He then unleashed his Sword Domain, and Song Mingqin felt a powerful oppressive force.
"Is this the Sword Domain? It's truly extraordinary." Song Mingqin's eyes were filled with fervor.
"Was that sword energy just now?" Ye Bufan shook his head, formed a sword seal with his hands, and the remnant sword shot into the sky, slashing towards Song Mingqin.
Song Mingqin opened his palm towards the remnant sword. Ye Bufan smiled slightly. As the remnant sword flew in a straight line, it suddenly disappeared from its spot.
"Hmm?" Song Mingqin was shocked. His spiritual power instantly spread throughout Ye Bufan's Sword Domain, searching for the remnant sword's location.
"Break!" The remnant sword suddenly burst from the ground. Song Mingqin stomped his right foot heavily on the floor, and his entire body shot upwards.
The remnant sword vanished instantly, then pierced down fiercely from above. Song Mingqin was greatly alarmed, not expecting Ye Bufan to be able to freely control the remnant sword's position within the Sword Domain.
"Sword, come!" Song Mingqin dared not delay, summoning his own sword and clashing with Ye Bufan's remnant sword.
Ye Bufan manipulated the sword with hand seals, but Song Mingqin's sword moved with his thoughts, executing various sword techniques.
"Be careful?" Song Mingqin roared, vanishing from his spot and charging towards Ye Bufan.
Ye Bufan was shocked. The edge of Song Mingqin's body was enveloped by sharp sword energy.
"Hmm?" Ye Bufan's hands continuously formed hand seals. By the time Song Mingqin reached him, he directed the hand seals towards Song Mingqin.
But at this moment, Song Mingqin was like a weapon, a long sword. The hand seals Ye Bufan unleashed were all parried and deflected by the sword energy surrounding him.
Their energies canceled each other out. Ye Bufan wanted to recall the remnant sword, but it was already entangled by Song Mingqin's sword.
Vaguely, Ye Bufan seemed to understand something. It was as if Song Mingqin was telling him that one didn't need to hold a sword to wield a sword.
Seeing Song Mingqin closing in, Ye Bufan leaped again. The Purple Nether Cold Fire transformed into a purple fiery sword and charged towards Song Mingqin. They collided, to Ye Bufan's astonishment, the sword energy around Song Mingqin's body could actually repel the Purple Nether Cold Fire. The fire couldn't even get close to Song Mingqin's body to inflict any damage.
Ye Bufan marveled inwardly. Song Mingqin had already reached Ye Bufan. Finally, he thrust out a sword energy from his sword finger. Before it reached Ye Bufan, the sword energy vanished.
"Senior, I lose."
The Sword Domain dissipated. Ye Bufan was genuinely convinced. The words "Man and Sword as One" appeared in his mind.
Man could be a killing sword, and the sword was a killing tool.
Even without a sword in hand, as long as there was a sword in the heart, anything held in the hand, even a blade of grass, could be a sword of the Way of the Sword, a killing sword. This was Man and Sword as One.
Ye Bufan was not entirely enlightened, but the spar with Song Mingqin had made him understand some things. At the very least, his understanding of the Way of the Sword had deepened further than his comprehension in the ancient pagoda.
"Although you possess the Sword Domain, your sword is still a tangible sword," Song Mingqin said. "However, you are slightly better than swordsmen who rely solely on their swords. Those who use swords see the sword as their weapon. Thus, when the sword is present, so are they; when the sword is gone, they are gone. Without a sword, they lose their reliance and cannot fight."
"Moving further, there is the realm of 'no sword in hand, but a sword in the heart.' Your current state is in this phase. No sword in hand, but a sword in the heart. When fighting, you think about using the sword, how to use the sword. The sword is controlled by your thoughts; the sword moves with your heart."
Song Mingqin looked at Ye Bufan and continued, "My current sword-wielding realm is in the third stage. No sword in hand, no sword in the heart. The sword is me, and I am the sword. To me, all things in the world are weapons. Plucking a flower or a leaf can also inflict harm."
"Senior, are there any further realms beyond this?" Ye Bufan asked.
Song Mingqin looked at him as if he were a monster. "Yes. However, you shouldn't be unaware of it."
Ye Bufan was suddenly confused, not understanding what Song Mingqin meant.
"The fourth realm is 'no sword, no self; forgetting both self and world.' Your master, Senior Lin Xiaoyao, is like this," Song Mingqin said. "If he wanted to kill someone, a mere thought would suffice. It's somewhat like what happened at the very beginning just now."
"The very beginning?" Ye Bufan recalled that at the very beginning, Song Mingqin had stood still, yet the whistling sound of flying swords had constantly echoed in his ears, but he couldn't detect the sword's location.
Upon thinking of this, Ye Bufan was perplexed and took the opportunity to ask Song Mingqin about it.
"Senior, what exactly happened just now?" Ye Bufan asked.
Song Mingqin gave a mysterious smile. Suddenly, Ye Bufan felt a fluctuation in his spiritual power, and then Song Mingqin unleashed a spiritual pressure upon him.
"I understand!" Ye Bufan suddenly had an epiphany and grasped what was happening.
"I've only understood a superficial level," Song Mingqin said.
Although Song Mingqin only understood a superficial level, it was like a torrent of enlightenment for Ye Bufan.
Everything can be a sword, not just the money in hand, but any existing object. Spiritual power can also be unseen. Spiritual attacks deceive the senses, deceive the brain, making one feel as if struck by a sword, killing without a trace.
"Thank you for your guidance, Senior." Ye Bufan was overjoyed. With this level of understanding, his Way of the Sword and his Sword Domain would elevate his strength to a higher level.