Samsara Mind Part 1

Currently, Ace was sitting on a swinging bench in the garden. In his eyes, one could see loneliness that shouldn't belong to a youth.

Breathing in the fresh air, memories of their first meeting surfaced into his mind. It was an awkward first meeting, but even until now, that wasn't a memory he would forget.

"Young boy, if I had been rude towards you just now, please let me know the reason you rejected me before I even made the offer." The old man walked up to Ace casually as he sat down on the opposite bench, his feet making solid contact with the ground so that the bench wouldn't swing.

"It wasn't how you treated me, it was your mindset towards cultivation. From the moment you used age as an excuse for your progress being slower than it should be based on your words, you have already lost all qualifications to be respected by me." Ace replied, calming himself down with a deep breath.

The old man opened his mouth to speak, but closed it back up. Closing his eyes, he could sense spirit energy gathering around him, he was making a breakthrough to the third Great Saint realm which had stopped him for a thousand years.

His cultivation aura was surrounding him, forcing Ace to back away until he was a hundred metres away. The wrinkles on the face of the old man began to lessen, his face was full of energy, his once white hair was turning black again.

Only now, was he the sword master whose name had been recognised by the Sword Court until he started to think that he was already far too behind compared to others.

Why? Why did someone as talented as him actually use such a lame excuse to halt his own progress?

Opening his eyes again, the old man understood one thing, The only reason he managed to make this breakthrough today and fix his mentality, was thanks to this youth who had rejected his offer.

Walking towards Ace who had been watching him make a breakthrough for the past few hours, he felt apologetic for it.

"Senior, thank you for allowing me to spectate you making that breakthrough." Before the middle aged man could apologise, Ace had taken the initiative to thank this man.

Ace was being truthful about thanking the man, the help was minor, but this experience of making a breakthrough would definitely help him out in the future.

"I should be the one thanking you for those wise words. Since the both of us have already helped each other, why don't you allow me to guide you for the remaining half a month. I can't promise to help you improve tremendously, but you'll definitely see yourself in a new light." The man assured Ace as he thumped on his left chest.

"Very well, we shall see my progress half a month later."

Just like this, Ace spent the rest of his days preparing himself for the sword tower event.

In the meantime, Jay had finally managed to secure Arith's life for now. As the others left the room one by one, only Clarissa and Jay were left in the room after the last person who left closed the door.

"Clarissa, you want me to ask me what happened to Arith. Am I right?" Jay asked in a concerned tone as he sat on the wooden chair.

"Yes."

Jay hesitated for a moment, but after gathering his thoughts, he still decided to be honest.

"What he did there, was something that only those from the Iridescent family could do, it's just a conjunction of mine, but his true identity might be from the Iridescent family in the Holy Land of cultivation. If you want to save him, then you have the same goal as our sect master right now, dominate the Holy Land in five years to save your loved ones."

Clarissa nodded her head and said with determination, "I understand, thank you for your help Jay."

Jay then left the room as he closed the door softly, allowing Clarissa to spend some time alone with Arith who was still unconscious.

Fifteen days was short, but it was more than enough for changes to happen. In the far north of the fragmented cultivation world which the Nirvana sect was in, the ground was filled with cracks.

The barren grounds were devoid of life, the trees were devoured by the flames, the clear blue sky was replaced by ominous fog that blocked it.

A shadow could be seen rising from the ground, rising from the depths of the ground as it took on the form of a muscular man. To his side was a stallion that was burning with flames.

With each step the man took, one drop of tear would fall onto the barren ground. Each tear revitalized the ground which gave it life once again. Places that recovered, contained a mysterious energy within them. For places that didn't recover, they were transformed into a mysterious pool filled with spirit energy.

The man got onto his stallion as they left, tears falling onto the ground from a broken tap. Soon, the man and his stallion vanished, leaving behind with them their creation.

"Lord Orochi, please wait for my return." The shadow said in a sobbing voice filled with sorrow.

Now, cultivators were fighting to cultivate in that mysterious ground filled with mysterious energy while the major forces while securing the mysterious pools for themselves.

*Clang*

Seeing that his attack was blocked once again, Ace pulled back by dashing backwards, giving the man a chance to follow up with a stab.

"Senior, it seems that I'll be getting my first win." Ace said calmly as he used his sword to block the stab from below, swinging upwards while stepping forward with the momentum, he caused the man to stagger while advancing forward to render the man helpless against his sword.

Just like this, Ace managed to place his sword on the man's neck.

Feeling the cold touch of metal, the man couldn't help but laugh before backing off, "You're way too experienced in combat for someone of your age. Now that seven days have passed, it's about time I teach you the second way to cultivate your slaughter law."

"Yes."

The man then started to explain the second way of cultivating the slaughter law to Ace.

"The second way is to cultivate the slaughter law mentally. As for how to do that, all you have to do is cultivate something known as mental energy. While mental energy is mainly cultivated by alchemists and blacksmiths so that they can sustain through the entire process, it can also help to improve one's endurance and willpower which is of utmost use to people like us who cultivate the slaughter law."

"Close your eyes and let your guard down, what I'm about to impart to you next is a mental energy cultivation technique which I once found in the ancient ruins."

Ancient ruins again? Ace couldn't help but recall the Absolute Frost cultivation technique his master gave him. It was from the ancient ruins as well.

The next moment, information of a certain mental energy cultivation technique was implanted into Ace's mind.

Samsara Mind: See through the unknown the day you see through the cycles of life, hear the cries of those suffering in misery, taste the disgusting blood that corrupts the world, feel the hands grasping around your neck.

Opening his eyes again, Ace understood that this Samsara Mind was much more precious than what he had expected. It not only helps with cultivating the mental energy, it can even be used as a form of phantom attack.

With just a thought, he would be able to launch attacks at his opponents. Attacks as thin as a needle that pierces through the air without the slightest disturbance to it.

"I have nothing much to teach you now, if there's nothing else, I'll leave the room first." The man took his leave, closing the doors behind him.

Standing outside the door, he mumbled to himself, "There's a reason I only did it once…"