Chapter 2572: The Tomb of Ten Thousand Swords
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After traveling for another day, Zhang Ruochen and the others finally approached Mount Sword after pa.s.sing through many obstacles.
At the foot of Mount Sword was a vast undersea plain with numerous tombstones. In front of each tombstone was a scabbard standing upright. There were words on the tombstones, but they had long been washed away by the seawater.
It was a very desolate scene!
It seemed to tell the future generations that the brilliant civilization of the Swordsmans.h.i.+p had been destroyed here.
Lord Ming walked out of the forest of tombs and greeted Zhang Ruochen. “These are the tombstones that the Ancestral Swordmaster built for them. There are no bones in the tomb, only a sword inside. When the owner of the sword died, there was nothing left.”
!!
“The Ancestral Swordmaster came before to the Fane of Origin? Why are their swords buried in the Fane of Origin? Why did the Ancestral Swordmaster build the tombstones for them?” Zhang Ruochen had many questions in his heart.
Lord Ming pointed at Mount Sword in the distance, “If you can pa.s.s their test and reach the foot of Mount Sword, you will understand everything and get more benefits than you can imagine. The chances here are immeasurable for sword cultivators. Even if you get just a little, the trip to the Fane of Origin will be counted as the Great Perfection!”
If even Lord Ming could give such an evaluation, the opportunities available here must be extraordinary.
Zhang Ruochen said, “With uncle’s cultivation, how could he not take the opportunities here?”
“It’s not that I can’t take them, but the truth is I can’t take them all. The opportunities here are too weighty, and I can only bear some of them. Well, go and try it. If you get something, you can go far in Swordsmans.h.i.+p.”
After saying this, Lord Ming’s body dispersed and disappeared without a trace.
It turned out to be just a divine projection. His actual body had already left a long time ago.
Zhang Ruochen stared at Le and said, “Do you want to try it together?”
“Yes!”
Le jumped down from the back of the Blood Wolf and whispered to it. Then he walked into the forest of tombs with Zhang Ruochen.
As they had just stepped into the forest of tombs…
Swoosh
A bright and sharp beam of light flew out from the tomb. It was a sword that flew into the air and paused for a moment before slas.h.i.+ng down at Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen’s Swordwill reacted, and the Ancient Abyssal Blade flew out, cutting upwards diagonally.
With a bang, the two swords collided.
The purplish green sword seemed to be grasped in an invisible hand. It immediately changed its move, and the blade tip pierced down toward Zhang Ruochen’s head.
Zhang Ruochen looked at the tombstone that the sword flew out of and grabbed the sheath in front of the tombstone.
The purplish green sword returned to its scabbard when it stabbed straight down.
Zhang Ruochen grabbed the hilt and suppressed it. After a while, the purplish green sword stopped struggling and returned to its calm state.
“Let’s go back!”
Zhang Ruochen buried it back into the tombstone.
On the other side, Le was also attacked by a sword that had flown out of the tombstone. After ten consecutive strikes, the sword let out a high-pitched piercing sound. Then it turned into a ray of rainbow and flew toward Mount Sword in the distance.
The two continued to move forward.
Swish
More and more swords flew out of the graves and attacked them.
They either attacked head-on, stabbed from behind, or slashed their souls across s.p.a.ce.
Similarly, each sword only attacked for ten moves. After ten moves, they flew toward Mount Sword automatically and converged with the rain of swords that flew around Mount Sword.
The power of each sword attacking Zhang Ruochen was roughly similar to his. However, each sword’s moves were not only different, but some were exquisite beyond comparison while others were weak.
Zhang Ruochen and Le were both injured after only one-tenth of the way through the forest of tombs.
Zhang Ruochen wanted to activate the Armor of the Fire G.o.d to protect his body, but it seemed that no weapons other than swords were allowed in the forest of tombs. The Armor of the Fire G.o.d did not respond to Saint Qi or the stimulation of the Canon.
Zhang Ruochen’s physical recovery was remarkable. Although there were traces of blood on his body, his wounds had already healed.
Le practiced the Nine Transformations Life and Death Mantra. The power of life and death circulated in his body continuously. These injuries were nothing to him.
After they had walked one-tenth of the way…
Zhang Ruochen was surprised to find a strange power gus.h.i.+ng out from the tomb where the sword had flown out to attack him. All of it gathered in his body.
It was the Canon!
The Canon of Swordsmans.h.i.+p!
Although it was only one in 10,000, it could make a sword cultivator’s Swordsmans.h.i.+p undergo the most exquisite transformation.
It should be known that for the G.o.ds who cultivated Swordsmans.h.i.+p, no matter how high their attainments in Swordsmans.h.i.+p were, they were not qualified to be called Sword G.o.ds if they did not master the Canon of Swordsmans.h.i.+p.
Only those who grasped the Canon of Swordsmans.h.i.+p could glimpse the ultimate Swordsmans.h.i.+p.
For those lazy and greedy who practiced Swordsmans.h.i.+p, if someone sold them one-thousandth of the Canon of Swordsmans.h.i.+p, they would definitely be willing to give everything they had to buy it.
Le also got one-thousandth of the Canon of Swordsmans.h.i.+p.
Zhang Ruochen finally understood what Lord Ming had said. He said to himself, “So that’s how it is. No matter how many treasures there are in the Fane of Origin, how can they compare to a one-thousandth of the Canon of Swordsmans.h.i.+p?”
The two looked at each other. Their eyes showed determination and resolve, and they continued to move forward.
The road ahead became more difficult.
The swords that attacked them no longer only contained sword moves but also powerful Swordwill. Occasionally, two swords would attack one person at the same time.
After the second one-tenth of the road, Zhang Ruochen and Le obtained another one-thousandth of the Canon of Swordsmans.h.i.+p.
There were more blood stains on their bodies, but after a short rest, their injuries would be healed.
They continued to move forward.
At a third of the way, the swords that attack them not only possess exquisite sword moves and the sharp Swordwill but there are also sword souls controlling the swords. Of course, these sword souls stayed at the level of the Earth Sword Soul, which was about as strong as Zhang Ruochen’s sword soul.
The rest of the way became more and more difficult. Fortunately, after walking a tenth of the way, they had a short rest to heal their injuries.
Moreover, each sword could only attack in ten moves.
Otherwise, with Le and Zhang Ruochen’s willpower, they would not have been able to withstand it.
On this day, Zhang Ruochen and Le walked through the seventh tenth of the way with blood all over their bodies. They sat down exhausted and recuperated.
Comparatively, Zhang Ruochen’s wounds were much fewer.
There was not a single piece of intact flesh and blood on Le’s body. He was a human-shaped creature sliced into a b.l.o.o.d.y mess. Some of the sword wounds had pierced through his body. His internal organs had long been shattered, and his Saint Soul had even been damaged.
In the end, it was mainly because he cultivated Swordsmans.h.i.+p to focus on attacking and killing. He did not know how to defend at all.
Attacking was defense.
This was somewhat similar to Lan Ying but even more extreme than Lan Ying.
Such a way of the sword was indeed compelling. It could often kill enemies that were stronger than him.
However, it could only be considered to be unconventional Swordsmans.h.i.+p. It was not orthodox Swordsmans.h.i.+p.
Zhang Ruochen’s Swordsmans.h.i.+p was all-encompa.s.sing. It could be integrated with all kinds of Tao techniques in the world. With one thought, the sword technique would have been completed. It could be used to attack or defend. His mastery was flawless.
Along the way, Zhang Ruochen discovered the results of practicing in seclusion under the Sundial for many years. He was comprehending and mastering all kinds of moves with ease. His understanding of Swordsmans.h.i.+p had reached a higher level.
With the Canon of Swordsmans.h.i.+p, Zhang Ruochen was confident that he could cultivate the Heaven Sword Soul at the Hundred-Shackle Realm.
“You have already obtained 7% of the Canon of Swordsmans.h.i.+p, and your future achievements will certainly be out of the ordinary. Please don’t go any further!” Zhang Ruochen said worriedly.
Le was seriously injured. Zhang Ruochen worried he would die if he continued to hold on.
The road ahead would be more dangerous. Zhang Ruochen was not confident that he could save himself, let alone Le if they faced danger.
Le’s injuries were mostly healed. He looked at Mount Sword from a distance and said, “I have walked more dangerous roads before. I must continue on this road for sure, and how far I can go depends on luck! Now, we have to make an oath.”
“What oath?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Le said, “For the road later on, no matter which one of us is in a life-or-death situation, the other can’t be distracted from saving him. If we break the oath, all the swords here will kill us and cut us into 100,000 pieces.”
Le took the lead in making the oath. Then, from the tombs in all directions, there were multiple sounds of swords ringing as if in response to his oath.
Le said, “It’s your turn!”
Of course, Zhang Ruochen understood why Le proposed to take the oath.
He knew that he was doing what he wanted and that doing so might harm Zhang Ruochen. Because once he was in danger, Zhang Ruochen would definitely save him.
At that time, both of them would definitely die.
Zhang Ruochen pointed to the sky with one hand and took the oath.
Swish
The road ahead was challenging. With each step forward, new wounds would appear on their bodies.
It was no longer just one or two swords attacking them but several or even dozens of swords attacking simultaneously. No matter how powerful Zhang Ruochen’s defense was, he was still pierced through, which caused fresh blood to be splattered everywhere.
The Swordwill, sword soul, and some force of Swordsmans.h.i.+p that Zhang Ruochen had never seen before also attacked his body.
Zhang Ruochen had refined countless pills to strengthen the Saint Soul and the Stellar Soul of G.o.d. Even if another sword soul hit him, he could still withstand it. However, Le did not have such a powerful sword soul.
After walking through the ninth-tenth and entering the last section, Le finally encountered an unprecedented life-and-death danger. Dozens of swords pierced through his body at the same time.
In addition, dozens of sword souls slashed at his Saint Soul.
Once they hit, it was obvious that his soul would be scattered.
Le looked at the dozens of sword souls slas.h.i.+ng at him. His eyes were calm and fearless. This was his choice. Naturally, he had to admit that this was the end. He gathered his remaining strength and raised his sword with difficulty.
“Le!”
Zhang Ruochen’s figure flickered and appeared in front of him. He stabbed out with his sword and shouted. “Burial flower!”
This powerful sword attack did not destroy the sword souls entirely.
There were still several sword souls that slashed at them. The pain was as if their souls had been torn apart. It was excruciating. Both of them could not help but let out long howls.
Le half-knelt on the ground. His eyes were cold as he glared at Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen wiped the blood on his face and said, “How can a mere oath restrain me? Even if the 10,000 clones of swords attack me, what’s the big deal about that?”
Before he finished his words, a dense and ear-piercing sound of swords came from the entire graveyard.
Swoosh
Swoosh
…
Countless swords flew out of the tomb and hung in the air. Each of the Swordwills all locked on Zhang Ruochen.
If one swore on 10,000 swords, he would be punished by 10,000 swords.