Dimensional Keeper: All My Skills Are at Level 100

Max remained still.

The middle-aged man stared at him with a grave expression. ”That is why the heavens reject it. That is why ancient forces sealed records of it. That is why sword lineages that discovered fragments of this path either destroyed them or buried them in forbidden grounds. Emotion Severing Path can become one of the strongest severing forces in existence, but it can also create a swordsman who is no longer truly alive. A blade without attachment. A will without warmth. A being who can sever worlds without hatred, without joy, without regret, and without stopping.”

He lifted his sword slightly.

”When such a person appears, the cosmos itself treats him as a calamity.”

Max looked at him and asked, ”Did that happen to you?”

The middle-aged man’s expression did not change, but the silence after the question was enough of an answer.

After a long time, he said, ”Almost.”

Max’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The middle-aged man looked into the endless darkness of the chamber, and for the first time, the calmness in his eyes seemed to carry a trace of old regret.

”I was truly on the verge of creating the Cosmic Path of Emotion Severing Path,” he said. ”But I never crossed that bridge. Or perhaps I should say, someone stopped me from crossing that bridge.”

Max’s eyes narrowed as he heard him and a figure appeared in his mind.’

”Was it the Sword Saint?”

The middle-aged man turned his gaze back toward Max and nodded.

”It was the Sword Saint.”

The name caused the chamber to become even quieter.

”One day, he appeared before me,” the middle-aged man continued. ”There was no warning. There was no aura. There was no grand arrival. He simply stood in front of me, as if he had always been there. Then he told me to give up the path of Emotion Severing. He said it was one of the few forbidden cosmic paths and that if I truly completed it, I would not be creating a sword path. I would be creating a calamity.”

Max listened silently.

The middle-aged man gave a faint bitter smile.

”But back then, I was too arrogant. I respected the Sword Saint. In fact, I looked up to him. Every swordsman of my era did. But respect and obedience are two different things. I had already reached the final step of my path. I could see the bridge before me. I could feel the true Cosmic Path waiting beyond it. How could I turn away when I was already so close?”

His grip on his sword tightened slightly.

”So I refused him.”

Max’s gaze sharpened.

”That did not sit well with the Sword Saint,” the middle-aged man said. ”He gave me one final chance. He told me that some paths could be pursued through talent, some through madness, and some through defiance. But Emotion Severing Path was different. He said this path contradicted the nature of the world itself.”

The middle-aged man paused for a moment.

”I still refused.”

The darkness around them trembled faintly, as if even the chamber remembered what happened next.

”In the end, we fought.”

Max’s eyes narrowed. ”And?”

”I lost.”

The middle-aged man’s answer was calm, but the weight behind it was terrifying.

”In one sword.”

Max’s expression changed slightly.

The middle-aged man did not seem ashamed as he said it. Instead, he sounded like someone stating an absolute truth that had long since settled in his heart.

”I had spent my life creating the strongest severing path I could imagine. I had severed fear, hesitation, killing intent, hatred, courage, loyalty, obsession, and countless invisible threads that other sword paths could not even touch. I believed that even if I could not defeat the Sword Saint, I could at least make him draw out his true strength.”

He lowered his eyes.

”But I was wrong. His sword fell, and everything ended. My sword intent, my path, my ambition, my body, and the bridge I was about to cross were all cut apart in one strike.”

Max remained silent.

The middle-aged man looked at him and continued, ”I died there without ever knowing the true potential of the path I wanted to follow. I never truly completed the Cosmic Path of Emotion Severing. I only stood before it.”

The chamber grew colder.

”But before my consciousness truly disappeared, I heard the Sword Saint say something.”

Max looked at him seriously.

The middle-aged man’s voice became low.

”He said Emotion Severing Path is the one path that truly contradicts the nature of the world. Because of that, he would appear every time someone starts to create the Cosmic Path of Emotion Severing Path.”

Max’s expression finally changed.

”What does that mean?” he asked, clearly shocked by those last words. ”Does that mean he is not dead and has been alive all this time?”

”I do not know,” the middle-aged man said, shaking his head.

Max frowned.

The middle-aged man continued, ”The Sword Saint, even in my time, was one of the most mysterious individuals in existence. Nobody knew which force he belonged to. Nobody knew where he came from. Nobody even knew what he truly looked like.”

Max’s eyes narrowed further.

The middle-aged man said, ”Some claimed he was an ancient existence who had lived through many eras. Some said he was only a title passed from one supreme swordsman to another. Others believed he was not a person at all, but a will left behind by the sword itself. No one could prove anything.”

He looked directly at Max.

”But one thing I am sure of now.”

Max did not speak.

The middle-aged man’s expression became solemn.

”He will come after you.”

The words fell into the darkness like a blade.

Max’s grip on Dragonheart tightened.

The middle-aged man continued, ”You have already formed the Pseudo Cosmic Path of Emotion Severing. You have not crossed the bridge yet, but you are walking toward it. The stronger your path becomes, the clearer your existence will appear to him. And if you truly reach the edge of creating the Cosmic Path of Emotion Severing, the Sword Saint will appear before you, just as he appeared before me. He will take your sword into his tomb just like he did with me and many others.”