In IPOTE (I Pulled Out The Excalibur) swordsman fall into three major categories
Sword expert (Aspirant/sleeper) - can draw out sword aura
Sword Seeker (awakened/ascended) - can infuse their aura with intent or sentiment
Swordmaster (Saint/sovereign(?))- People who have reached the Apex of the sword. The author doesn't really go too in depth with it (If you guys find anything that contradicts what I think in the story, please tell me) but my interpretation of it is that a sword master is one that can manifest their imagery/concept into their swordsmanship. In the more recent chapters, NariaTa describes a swordsmasters swordmanship as something akin to cause and effect, and the fact that swordmaster Gerd is able to put Najin, the main character, in something like a domain expansion with his imagery is all I've really been going on when thinking of what a swordmaster is in the novel.
On top of this in IPOTE you gain power from obtaining "stars". I'm taking inspiration from ORV because I don't really fully understand what the stars do in IPOTE, so the stars will function similarly yet a little different from how Stories work in ORV. In IPOTE you only gain stars through achievements (Although there are still some weird inconsistencies like when Gerd gets his 8th star just by talking to Najin about his teacher) and when you use the power of your stars, it's kinda like a buff. In the recent chapters, Najin gets more powerful against a dragon type enemy because he has a star based on dragon slaying, and the stars that he gained through challenge and his indomitable will also helped him in battle. In this fic they're gonna function largely the same and give circumstantial buffs depending on the star that he uses (though I'm gonna lock most of his stars behind an aspect legacy that he'll slowly have to reclaim).
A big part of being a swordmaster in your swordsmanship. Transcendents each have a unique kind of swordsmanship that has some kind of concept imbued into it. It's because of this imbuing of a concept that it's a transcendent swordstyle in the first place. Our MC, no longer has his transcendent body even if he has the insights required to ascend, he lacks his stars. Najin, the MC of IPOTE is able to copy a transcendents swordsmanship to a certain extent, and I'll probably let our MC do the same to a degree. This nerf is gonna be similiar to giving a demon slayer asthma, they'll still be able to use their breathing style, but only to a limted extent.