Villain Cultivator

"Pok! Pok!? (Holy shit! How!?)

The abilities of Jia Shan surpassed Xu Miao's expectations. The old man could defeat 3rd-stage cultivators without Qi!

Jia Shan snickered, "As I said. Watch my movements carefully if you want to learn my swordsmanship. Well, do you know anything about sword intent or sword domain?"

"Sword intent!?"

As Jia Shan was lecturing Xu Miao and the girls, five more soldiers charged at Jia Shan.

"Kill the old man!"

"He's not normal! Kill him!"

Despite being rushed from the front, Jia Shan didn't stop talking.

"We, cultivators, gather Qi, so we can condense them into Essence droplets. Then, at the 4th-stage, we gather those droplets into a pond, then a lake, then a sea, then multiple seas. At the 5th-stage…"

*SWUA*

*SWUA*

Jia Shan walked backward a step, but two heads flew into the air even though they were 50 meters away from Jia Shan. Blood of the victims stained his broadsword.

"At the 5th-stage, we study and gather various elements, such as fire, earth, water, thunder, wind, wood, iron, gold, and many others to create an isle, then an island, then a continent, then multiple continents…"

*SWUA*

*SWUA*

Jia Shan took a step back once more. Two more soldiers dropped to the ground after two slashes severed their torsos in half. Again, they were 20 meters away. The old man's sword became crimson.

"At the 6th-stage, we search for dao and form pillars with them. The more pillars, the stronger the foundations we get. This is a stage where we determine our future growth if we can become an immortal or not."

*SWUA*

*SWUA*

The 5th guy managed to get close to Jia Shan, but his dominant hand with his sword was chopped off. Then, Jia Shan's sword pierced through the soldier's neck.

"Before we can transcend from the 6th-stage to the 7th-stage, we have to create a core on the top of all dao pillars. Depending on your achievements, enlightenment, dao, and experience, the color varies. The brighter the color, the stronger you are. The core will become an embryo of a new soul, a nascent soul, which is necessary for the 7th-stage and the later on."

At this point, Jia Shan revealed his sinister grin for the first time. He sneered at the surviving soldiers, whose legs were trembling and couldn't move forward.

The soldiers were panicking as they also listened to Jia Shan's words. From Jia Shan's tone, he distinguished himself as a 6th-stage or a 7th-stage monster since he was so knowledgeable.

"Once a nascent soul has been born, something trivial, such as pseudo aura barrier or body strengthening techniques, is meaningless."

A semi-transparent ghost with Jia Shan's face exited the old man's body. He wore the same robes as the host, and they had the same evil grin.

"What I attacked them … is this."

The ghost took Jia Shan's sword and stood in front of him. It swung its sword three times. Three of the soldiers were sliced like tofu even though they were far away.

The ghost swiped the blood from its sword. It swung again as if it was practicing a sword motion. The fourth soldier, who was still dumbstruck by what had happened, suddenly felt that his vision spun. He didn't even know that his head already rolled on the ground.

Jia Shan's action shocked every spectator. Xu Miao and Wei Yuan were certain that the old man didn't use a footwork technique or a fast-moving technique. Yet, once his sword moved, at least one soldier died.

The remaining soldiers shrieked in fear. They turned tail and ran.

"A nascent soul is different from the persona avatars that everyone can summon with essence. The avatars are nothing but a fragment of incomplete dao. They are, at best, only useful as a temporary strength boost when they are merged with their masters. However, Xu Miao, you must not discard those incomplete daos. After all, once you have a nascent soul, they can be useful."

Jia Shan's nascent soul waved its sword eight times, cutting nothing but air. However, the same slashes appeared behind 8 of 9 soldiers, slicing through their backs.

As for the last soldier, he stumbled and fell face-first to the ground, which was the reason how he didn't get cut from mysterious slashes from a distance. The last man slowly raised his head to look at Jia Shan, and he noticed a faint transparent dome.

Xu Miao also sensed the transparent dome as he was inside it as well. The air was chilly, yet sharp. His arms and legs were tingling as if a million sword tips were pointing at every pore of his skin.

"What I have done just now is called [Sword Domain]. It's something that all 7th-rank or stronger cultivators can use. Unfortunately, my nascent soul is still a lot weaker than top tier guys like Xu Lanying or Xia Dun. My domain is incomplete, and it has a short range. If a peak 7th-stage cultivator used it, the range and the power would have been more efficient than mine. They only need a glance to instantly kill those bastards."

Jia Shan's nascent soul pluck its sword to the ground, and a wound appeared behind the neck of the last soldier, who was 100 meters away.

After the last guy died, the soul went back to Jia Shan's body. He turned around and gave Xu Miao a warm smile.

"This is the demonstration of how a 7th-stage cultivator fights with his domain. If you can live long enough and reach the 7th-stage, be prepared for domain combat because they can attack you from any angle once the domains collide."

Seeing that all soldiers were dead, the group sighed and relaxed.

Xu Miao raised his hand. He showed the texts he had written on his phone, [But you don't have a dantian. How did you summon your nascent soul and use that domain?]

Jia Shan waved his sword several times to get rid of the blood on his blade, "Qi and essence are nothing more than fuel for various techniques, magic, spells, or martial arts. But for nascent souls, they don't need to consume essence or Qi from your dantian since they are fruits of dao that we've cultivated during the 6th-stage. They will grow into laws in the latter stages, but I don't have enough knowledge to teach you in that subject."

"???"

Xu Miao, Jiang Lan, Wei Yuan, and everyone's brains stopped functioning. The information was too abstract and too advanced that they didn't understand. Moreover, Jia Shan hadn't explained how nascent souls operated without Qi or essence.

Seeing that his students were confused, Jia Shan pointed at the Crimson River, "Do you know that the river contains the wills of the Rooster God?"

Everybody nodded, "Yes."

"Then, do you know that the river doesn't have Qi or Essence?"

Xu Miao and others glanced at each other, but they began to understand what Jia Shan implied, [It doesn't have Qi, but it can affect our mental state.]

"Correct. When you reach a dao of something, you can BORROW its intent. And that intent is a lot stronger than simple techniques with Qi or essence as fuel. Unless you have an essence sea with a strong mental defense, you can't protect yourself against an attack by the dao intent. In my case, I've reached the dao of swords, so I can use the sword intent without using Qi."

The students' eyes gleamed. They began to connect the dots.

"The domain I created was the manifestation of dao, an advanced form of sword intent. Well, I have to remind you again that it's incomplete. The real domain is more domineering than my version. A simple glare should have killed all my enemies."

The group, including Wei Yuan, had goosebumps. The dao and its intent were so profound and deadly. They got scared of facing a 7th-stage monster in their current strength.

Meanwhile, Kang Yan paid attention to every detail of Jia Shan's lecture. As a sword practitioner and a swordfighter, she was interested in this subject. She raised her hand, "You said "Borrow" when you mentioned its intent earlier. So, you're not the owner of the dao, right?"

Jia Shan nodded at Kang Yan. He found her admirable that she noticed the small hint, "Yes. Reaching a dao doesn't mean that you've mastered the laws of dao. If you don't come up with a dao on your own, you can only borrow it to use."

"Then, is it possible that we can't borrow the intent?"

"Yes. It depends on our soul domain. If the domain is weak or you lose your self-confidence during combat, we won't be able to borrow the intent. That's why, children, get rid of all your heart devils as soon as possible. Whatever traumas you have, face it, solve it, cleanse it, or destroy it before you reach the 6th-stage. Or else, in a life-and-death battle, you can be susceptible to a mind-attack, and your dao intent will be neutralized."

"Senior. If we can't control the dao intent, then who owns the daos?"

Jia Shan revealed a bitter smile, "Usually, gods who possess the laws own the daos."

"Laws? Gods?"

Jia Shan gazed at the sky. His eyes longed for the face of the handsome god, who wielded a lunar crescent halberd had a crimson nightmare as his steed, "The gods are governing dao and laws. We're simply begging them to use their power. However, this is something I heard from Immortal Fengxian, so I don't know if it's true or not. He said that if you want to contest against gods, you must search for your own dao, not following or borrowing dao of someone else."

Jia Shan turned to Xu Miao, giving him an important lesson, "In my case, I took a shortcut and practice the dao of swords of a sword god. It limits my growth and my cultivation progress since I'm relying on others to get stronger. Therefore, Xu Miao, I will only teach you my swordsmanship skills. For dao of the sword, you have to search and come up with it yourself. Never study someone else's dao, or you'll become a slave of that dao god forever!"

As if lightning had struck Xu Miao's mind, memories of various novels flashed. The hardship that all MCs went through to achieve their dao and became gods resonated with Jia Shan's teaching.

In many stories, protagonists struggled to reach the top of the food chains by acquiring all skills, dao, and laws of the universe by going through enlightenment, heaven tribulations, hellish punishments, and fortuitous encounters. They crafted unique skills, magic, and dao, tailoring for their sole usage. None of them bowed their heads to others to borrow someone's power to get stronger.

Jia Shan could have brought out Xie Tian's potential had the two met, changing the protagonist's mindset. As a result, it would have triggered more adventure arcs as Xie Tian would begin searching for his dao.

In short, Jia Shan could have inspired Xie Tian to be a unique cultivator, who could ascend to godhood in the later story. But now, Xu Miao and Xie Tian switched place, and the former obtained this knowledge.

Realizing Jia Shan's role, Xu Miao cackled.

"POKPOKPOKPOK! (HAHAHA! SO THIS WORLD HAS THAT PLOT, EH!? YOUR GODHOOD INSPIRATION IS MINE NOW, XIE TIAN!!)"

Jia Shan and everyone tilted their heads as they couldn't understand a chicken language.

Xu Miao stopped laughing, but the exhilaration in his eyes was visible to everyone. He knelt on his knees and groveled before Jia Shan. Then, he slammed his forehead on the ground three times. It was a customary kowtow when someone paid respect to their parents or a benefactor.

Xu Miao's forehead bled. Yet, Jia Shan had a faint smile on his face.

"Junior Xu Miao kowtows to master Jia!"

Due to the determination and emotion, the Rooster God's will dispersed. Xu Miao regained his speech as a human.

Although Xu Miao jumped the gun, Jia Shan didn't mind. He liked it when his new disciple was decisive and bold.

"Well, we have a deal that I'll teach you the skills, and you will return the favor after you're strong enough. Since you're fired up, let's finish this little ceremony," Jia Shan walked toward Xu Miao and raised him up. He grasped the disciple's hands, "Anyway, it's good that you can speak normally again. As your master, I vow that I shall do my best to impart all my swordsmanship knowledge to you!"

*WHOOSH*

As if heaven acknowledged their master-apprentice relationship, the wind blew toward their direction. Dried leaves circled around Jia Shan and Xu Miao. White clouds covered the sun, but the bright light still got through several holes of the cloud, creating rays of sunlight under the cloudy sky to the rain forest.

Then, for the first time, the system gave Xu Miao an eerie message.

[[The Sword God, Kunwu, is watching you.]]