@Mike1792252 (Sorry for the late reply), if you die at any any point, you still keep your progress, and the upgraded swords will also be kept. You only lose progress if you leave the game.
For those who those who struggle with Illumina lunging, or on mobile here's an easier method of getting to WoodReviewer for the Sword Fights on The Heights Secret (SFOTH) badge.
@Radical687767 Touchstone saving you from void just prevents you from having to get Illumina every time you fail, so basically trial and error till you get in. I know when I was playing however, it wasn't respawning, so you either get into a fresh server or a private server if you can.
@Radical687767 Get the Touchstone, (golden orb near the Firebrand sword), so you can teleport to the portals. This saves you from falling into the void when clicked. And once at the portals just go through the beige one, since that's the one to Illumina. Idk any easier way of getting in.
@FractalPing Nah, to be fair, all the tutorials for the badge are just showing the more complicated way for no reason at all. It's fine if you are familiar with SFOTH, (like I am), but it's actually almost impossible to do the Illumina lunge on mobile or console.
Notice how all of the american/european versions of this meme feel the need to attach the map in the corner of the image while the LATAM versions of the meme just mention chile on its own. This is because gringos dont actually know Chile and are larping geography.