This was ‘Carp Leaping Through Dragon’s Gate’, 鯉魚跳龍門!

The act of transcending one’s physical boundaries; To enter a state that which allows one to perform inhuman feats a mortal could not hope to replicate. A long time ago, a wandering scholar witnessed a duel between two Peak-Nascent Realm Swordsmen. One had achieved ‘Carp Leaping Through Dragon’s Gate’, whereas the other had not. During his lifetime, the scholar put together a record of the many experiences throughout his travels. To this day, the scholar’s work is still a point of great reference for contemporary students as it is one of the only written works documenting the effects of ‘Carp Leaping Through Dragon’s Gate’. The work in question had this to say about the duel:

Whereas both men could sweep oceans and part waves*, their differences became more apparent over time. Of the two, one consistently performed movements that seemed to defy the laws of physics. No, it seemed to defy causality and effect itself! The man’s blade moved without rebound*, his footwork without pattern. He could walk on air and cut through space without any semblance of qi.

It is one of the five pillars separating a mortal from heaven*. To break through the pillar of ‘physique’ is to go against heaven’s law. It begets the first step into cultivating from man to immortal. A man flies far enough into the sky and he will burn to ashes under the sun’s fury. A man who walks beyond the star* itself earns himself a place among celestials*. To destroy a pillar limiting man’s potential and go beyond begets tribulation. Of course, it is only one of the five pillars, one of five paths leading to immortality. The pillar of ‘physique’ is considered to be one of the more difficult pillars to topple. As such, it is rare see.

In the end though, this doesn’t matter in the slightest. A power level of one million when compared to a power level of one hundred can be considered a difference of heaven and earth, however when comparing a million and one with a million and one hundred, there is hardly a difference. Fǎ Shù, Wǒ Bìxū Lā Shǐ, and Shénqí Lǎorén were all considered titans in their own regard. This show of temperament and strength did not faze Wǒ Bìxū Lā Shǐ in the slightest. With one sweep, his spear divided into six parts! His attacks continued to match Fǎ Shù’s fists in the same intense manner.

Meanwhile, from beyond the swirling mass of glass blades and splintering winds, Shénqí Lǎorén had broken through Fǎ Shù’s sword array. He flicked his wrists and sent forward two daggers coated in poison. Fǎ Shù immediately turned around to intercept the attack, however these daggers instead coiled and twisted into two black serpents. The two serpents slithered up the elder’s arm, preparing to sink their fangs into his neck, however, as if though they had passed through a pressure cutter, their heads suddenly vanished as they had slithered past his left shoulder! The reality was that Fǎ Shù had used the flat side of his blade to crush their heads at such breakneck speed that not even a mist of blood had remained! Not only that, this was all happening as Wǒ Bìxū Lā Shǐ had sent in two of his six spears. With one fell sweep of the blade, Fǎ Shù simultaneously used the sharp edge of his blade to defend against Wǒ Bìxū Lā Shǐ’s attack while using the flat side to smash the serpents’ heads clean off!

Shénqí Lǎorén snickered and lunged at Fǎ Shù with a dagger’s hilt in hand. The hilt itself had no blade, however Fǎ Shù was not one to be so easily fooled! Right as the hilt approached the elder’s being, the two headless snakes wrapped around Fǎ Shù’s arm turned into a black powder. This black powder sunk into the hilt and formed a poison-tipped dagger. The toxin coating Shénqí Lǎorén’s dagger was potent to use as it was dangerous to its user. The mere presence of this visceral poison corroded the air around. Shénqí Lǎorén’s hand was slowly succumbing to a numbing sensation from simply holding the dagger.

This was ‘Kodoku’ 蠱毒, a branch of alchemy pertaining to the study of ‘Gu’, that is, poisonous insects! To create the ‘Kodoku’, an alchemist would seal several poisonous insects inside a jar, allowing them to kill one another until only one survived. The fluids of this insect would then be used to create a poison so deadly that its fundamental nature would be considered that of a ‘curse’, rather than an ‘affliction’. Simply doing the background research necessary to write this exposition gave the author Coronavirus! That’s how potent it really is!

The battle was approaching its climax. Shénqí Lǎorén summoned his fate palace and threw his dagger toward Fǎ Shù. An ocean of black appeared beyond the horizon. Countless black serpents flew toward Fǎ Shù’s like an unstoppable tide. Inside this sea of serpents, Shénqí Lǎorén’s dagger twisted and transformed into a black snake. It was no longer possible to distinguish which serpent was the true dagger!

The ocean of black crashed into Fǎ Shù. Wave after wave of demonic snakes were hacked into pieces. Shénqí Lǎorén knew that the same trick would not work twice! He had used this skill once before to little effect. Fǎ Shù’s supreme sword array had made short work of his stream of serpents. But now it was different. The elder had used the majority of his qi maintaining his sword array. His true blood was burning out trying to maintain the ‘Carp Leaping Through Dragon’s Gate’.

At last, a of the serpents got through and sunk its fang into Fǎ Shù’s clavicle. At the same time, one of Wǒ Bìxū Lā Shǐ’s spears pierced the elder’s left side. Countless snakes and spears came in all at once as the elder was at his weakest. All two-hundred and eighteen of Fǎ Shù’s bones were broken. His body was riddled with stab wounds, cuts, and marks. A searing poison seethed throughout his seemingly lifeless body. Wǒ Bìxū Lā Shǐ withdrew his six spears and let out a sigh. Just like that, the battle had ended.

All it took was one attack; one fell strike that broke through the defenses. It didn’t matter how great one’s exploits and accomplishment were. In death, none of this mattered. One’s strength, one’s character. In death, great leading monarchs were no different from the common man.

But Fǎ Shù’s time had not yet passed. A tattered corpse of a body, bleeding from every facial orifice slumped its body upward, refusing to accept even death itself. Just as Fǎ Shù’s body took one step forward, it suddenly dropped its sword and fell from the sky.

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