The sky in this place was featureless and entirely white. There were no clouds or stars; there was no singular light source, but the entire sky emitted white light all the time. The ground was a sheet of black glass, opaque and fathomless, with a few glimmers of light resembling stars trapped in the sheet of glass.

  It made Zhu Xuelian think of a nascent proto-world before the sky and earth would be created. She didn’t think that was the case, but that is what this place made her think of. At least, what she had heard of the various creation myths, and how the Ying and Yang came from the Taiji.

  She wasn't that interested in trying to study this place and its similarities to creation myths.

  She was interested in the perfect replica of herself, standing some one hundred steps across from her.

  Zhu Xuelian had spent a long time chasing the perfection of this replica but was unable to ever achieve it, or perhaps even come close to it. Even remembering it made Zhu Xuelian feel demoralized, and they had not even begun yet.

  Not a million deaths could prepare Zhu Xuelian for the utter defeat she suffered at the hands of her replica.

  It possessed no arrogance, battle lust, or joy. It stood there, seemingly disinterested. Killing intent, in general, was vulgar and ugly, but the one clinging to the replica was casual, pure, and boundless. It was unrestrained violence—hatred without heart, wrath without emotion. A million souls could perish under her sword and not a single tear would fall.

  Its skill and energy quality were peerless. If that day it was her replica instead of Zhu Xuelian facing those elders, she could've killed them all in ten moves.

  At some point in the past, Zhu Xuelian realized that this replica was not a perfect version of herself. It was a perfect version of the martial art she wanted to comprehend — Fractured Sword in this case — in human form. If all the principles and laws within Fractured Sword were transformed and translated into a human being, then this replica, Zhu Xuelian thought, would represent this.

  Fractured Sword was a Celestial grade martial art, one grade below Divine — the absolute pinnacle. In other words, her replica was one step below perfection itself.

  Yaoyue told her that the purpose of the Secret Sword Realm Nexus was most likely a mechanism to induce forced enlightenment. Back then, Zhu Xuelian did not quite understand the meaning of this and fought with all her might to attempt to overcome her opponent. Back then, she was trying to comprehend Empty Moon Prana, which was another unapproachable martial art. This world took on features of that martial art, and she and Wu Yulan were able to comprehend it, thanks to this, and in only twelve hours.

  She was hoping she would have a similar result here.

  But now, seeing her replica, Zhu Xuelian felt that she misunderstood how this formation worked. The goal was not to overcome her replica but to understand what it meant for a human to comprehend a martial art. The moves, and the way they connected, described the principles of Fractured Sword; its interaction with sword energy, killing intent, and harmony with the world.

  Maybe Zhu Xuelian wasn’t meant to defeat or match her replica — though she had tried her best, in the past — but to become like it, in her own way.

  Back then, this was not possible for Zhu Xuelian. Back then, Zhu Xuelian knew many martial arts, internal techniques, and other manuals that raised the complexity of the task.

  Now, Zhu Xuelian did not have any martial arts other than Salvation Ashes. She had a perfect Foundation but was otherwise like a blank canvas.

  For a brief moment, Zhu Xuelian even allowed herself to believe that perhaps, like this, she stood a chance, and could maybe even defeat her replica — with some luck.

  This truly was a very, very brief moment, because the moment that her heart trembled at the possibility, her replica recognized this as a weakness to exploit and leaned forward.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Craters appeared in the glass with each step that her replica took, crushing glass under her heels as if she were stepping on disintegrating clouds. The force of each step made Zhu Xuelian’s heart freeze because she was certain that even if she struck the glass with her sword, she would not leave even a scratch on it. Not only this, but the sword force that pulsed out from each step crashed into her "perfect" Foundation and crippled its operations, completely suppressing her.

  Zhu Xuelian waved her hand, and a spiritual sword appeared in her hand. It was forged out of the sword qi clinging to her body in a defensive posture and was unaffected by the suppression.

  Her replica did not summon a sword made of pure qi. Instead, a black, featureless orb appeared in front of her.

  Second layer… of Fractured Sword! This monster…!

  Zhu Xuelian spent the better part of her new life trying to comprehend the first layer of Fractured Sword unsuccessfully, but here, her opponent already mastered the second layer — Primal Star.

  Zhu Xuelian stepped forward, her mind racing to try to figure out the best way to approach her opponent, but it was all useless. A sapling cannot stand in the light next to the great tree.

  Several plumes — wedge-shaped objects formed of black jade-like qi — shot out from behind her replica and surrounded Zhu Xuelian in an instant. They formed the pillars of a formation, and a moment later, an incredible force of gravity crushed Zhu Xuelian into the ground, grinding her bones to dust. She coughed out blood, or rather, more precisely, it was crushed out of her.

  Her replica came to a stop in front of her prone and restrained form, and without wasting a beat, crushed Zhu Xuelian’s head with the same force that her steps blew holes into the floor earlier.

  Unlike the Killing Field, Zhu Xuelian did not feel the moment of her death. She simply found herself standing in her original position, with her replica one hundred steps away, and without the orb summoned — the so-called Primal Star.

  [ Comprehension phase. ]

  Zhu Xuelian blinked. She remembered that the Secret Sword Realm Nexus consisted of one Comprehension phase and one Attainment phase. During the Comprehension phase, Zhu Xuelian could cultivate the purified principles of the cultivation law she wanted to learn, and during the Attainment phase, she would fight her replica.

  But this was backward.

  The sky became dark, and fine threads of silver light descended from the firmament. Within the light, Zhu Xuelian noticed dust-like particles, and she knew, from experience, that these were created of pure sword force. Even just touching them carelessly could obliterate her body.

  Her replica sat down, cross-legged, and began to cultivate.

  This was different from how Zhu Xuelian remembered things, but she followed suit and also sat down.

  The advantage of the Secret Sword Realm Nexus is that she felt every move her replica performed as if she performed the moves herself. The pathways her energy took, and how it was shaped and transformed — Zhu Xuelian was aware of all these things, but even so, replicating it was extremely difficult.

  However, Zhu Xuelian did not have the option to fail. If she wanted to follow Yaoyue’s blueprint — to form the same Gold Core that she had before — she had to master the first layer of Fractured Sword, even if she couldn’t use it in battle.

  She tried not to think about the brutal defeat she just suffered at the hands of an opponent who was identical to her in cultivation.

  She focused on the sword qi particles in the silver beams of light and manipulated them with her sword qi. She formed a crystallized particle of sword qi, launched it at the dust in the thread of light, and studied the impact.

  The way the dust particle reacted; the way it vibrated; the ways its motion changed — it all held insights into the Fractured Sword martial art. Beyond that, each release of energy contained the deep principles within the natural laws that the martial art operated on, and Zhu Xuelian could even cultivate them directly, extremely similar to her essence breathing method.

  She didn’t know how many hours passed. Before long, she even forgot about her replica. She was completely engrossed in studying the motes of sword force falling from the sky, created by the Fractured Sword martial art. She even became able to infuse her sword qi with the same essence and come close to their perfection.

  After all, she once wielded the Fractured Sword martial art and used it to kill Yu Shun, though it came at the cost of all her martial arts and cultivation.

  [ Attainment phase. ]

  Zhu Xuelian blinked. Again?

  As she opened her eyes, she found her replica standing right before her.

  Softly, her replica uttered: “Star Burial.”

  As far as Zhu Xuelian could remember, this was the first time in her new life that she flinched.

  In the wake of the sword that plowed through her body, glittering, collapsing stars appeared which obliterated all that remained of her, and caused the place where she was sitting to collapse into itself and form a ravine, while simultaneously falling toward the sword her replica wielded.

  [ Comprehension phase. ]