Chapter 2573: Sword Valor and Sword Soul
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Zhang Ruochen’s hair was disheveled. He grabbed Ancient Abyssal Blade and stood up unsteadily. He looked down at the tombstones and swords in the air and said, “Come on, kill me. I don’t fear you.”
Swish Swish
The swords turned into a rain of light and flew toward Zhang Ruochen.
!!
From afar, it seemed as if a ma.s.sive vortex of sword rain had appeared.
At the center of the vortex was Zhang Ruochen.
“Charge!”
Zhang Ruochen kept swinging Ancient Abyssal Blade and hacking away the swords.
However, there were too many swords, and he could not block them.
In an instant, his chest and abdomen exploded. His skin, flesh, bones, and internal organs turned into blood mist. No matter how strong his physical recovery ability was, it could not be reversed.
No matter how strong his physical defense was, he could not withstand it.
His legs, arms, and head exploded…
Zhang Ruochen’s physical body was completely destroyed and turned into a b.l.o.o.d.y mist. Compared to the last time he was attacked by the million weapons of Infernal Court’s army in Kunlun, he died even more thoroughly.
Last time, there was at least one skeleton left.
This time, there were no bones left.
After killing Zhang Ruochen, all the swords flew back to the tomb.
Le half-knelt on the ground, holding the iron sword with his hand, so he didn’t fall. Blood-red tears flowed from his initially cold and resolute eyes. The pain in his heart was far worse than when his Saint Soul was killed.
In the distance, High-Saint Kai Luo, who saw this laughed excitedly.
How could there be such a strange thing in the world?
Countless cultivators from Celestial Court and Infernal Court, who couldn’t kill Zhang Ruochen with all their efforts, had actually died in this tomb forest under his oath.
Good, very good.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen die with his eyes, he had completed his mission.
Suddenly, Le keenly sensed a faint life force in the condensed blood mist not far away.
Whoos.h.!.+
The blood mist shook and turned into a giant spinning blood coc.o.o.n.
The life force became more and more vigorous.
The blood coc.o.o.n quickly shrank and condensed into a heroic figure. Zhang Ruochen’s flesh and blood body were intact. His eyes contained the starry universe. His eyebrows were like the tip of a divine sword. His arms were as smooth as jade, but there were muscle lines.
Clang!
The sound of a sword rang out.
Ancient Abyssal Blade flew into his hand.
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes were a little confused. He looked at the sword in his hand, examined it, and finally understood.
The myriad swords didn’t seem to have any intention of killing him. Sword Qi seemed to be everywhere, but it only cut off his body. It didn’t hurt his Sea of Qi, saint soul, or spiritual power.
Otherwise, even if he’d refined Pale Blood Soil, he wouldn’t be able to recover.
Besides that, the myriad swords seemed to be helping him practice after he’d been cut. It had cut off some harmful substances in his body and left some mysteries Precepts of Swordsmans.h.i.+p that he’d never come into contact with before.
For example, the myriad swords cut off most of Yanshen’s substances that belonged to Yanshen’s Leg that Moon G.o.ddess had helped him fuse with. Only 100 million Divine Mark of Flame and some divine substances remained.
Zhang Ruochen’s DemiG.o.d physique had been mighty before, but now he was like a fat man with a heavy body. He couldn’t use his body to fight against Paramount Realm’s Supreme Saints Paramount physique, let alone DemiG.o.ds.
However, the power of the myriad swords helped him cut off the bad things in his DemiG.o.d physique, making it stronger and more refined.
In addition, the impurities in his Saint Soul and spiritual power were also removed.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen felt like he had walked out of a swamp. He felt unspeakably relaxed, refreshed, and like he could fly away.
“Thank you for your help, seniors.”
Zhang Ruochen bowed in all directions.
He didn’t know why the myriad swords — buried in the tomb — helped him. However, it benefited him, who wanted to condense Heaven Sword Soul and practice Grade Three Swordsmans.h.i.+p Saintwill.
It was like the saints of Precepts of Swordsmans.h.i.+p in ancient times helped him to build his foundation.
Standing at the edge of the tomb forest of Precepts of Swordsmans.h.i.+p, High-Saint Kai Luo’s smile disappeared completely. He was dumbfounded and his state of mind almost collapsed. How could this be?
Zhang Ruochen had been shattered into a b.l.o.o.d.y mist, but he could still come back to life.
Zhang Ruochen and Le did not say much. They just looked at each other and smiled.
Then, Le picked up the iron sword and started on the way back.
Zhang Ruochen raised his sword and continued to move toward sword mountain.
“Sword out.”
Zhang Ruochen raised his hand and drew out more than 200 Precepts of Swordsmans.h.i.+p in his body.
The Precepts of Swordsmans.h.i.+p had significantly changed. Before, they were just golden needles. But now, the golden needles had been cast out and turned into small swords.
Each Precept of Swordsmans.h.i.+p was a sword.
This was the strongest state of Precepts of Swordsmans.h.i.+p!
With such Precepts of Swordsmans.h.i.+p, Zhang Ruochen was like a sword cultivator who had cultivated Heaven Sword Soul. He could directly cut off the Precepts of his opponent.
Destroy his cultivation and cut off his Path.
If he had not experienced the dismembering of myriad swords, it would have been difficult for him to finish this path with his cultivation of Swordsmans.h.i.+p.
But now, Zhang Ruochen’s Swordsmans.h.i.+p had significantly increased. He charged all the way, and in less than half a day, he pa.s.sed through the tomb forest of Swordsmans.h.i.+p and arrived at the foot of sword mountain.
Looking back, tombstones were standing there, as if there were thousands of soldiers and horses that could not see the end. It was also like the ancient white-clothed sword saints with swords standing in front of them.
That sword mountain was their commander.
Each tombstone and each sword should have a story!
It could be melodious, touching, or sorrowful. It could be a world of swords or grudges of the world…
It could be that the sword’s owner was still alive and telling them about their past. Or it could be that the previous myriad swords had given him their spirit of Swordsmans.h.i.+p.
Zhang Ruochen could not help but feel highly sorrowful. It was as if he could feel it. Tears flowed from his eyes, and his heart was broken.
This inexplicable feeling lasted for a long time before Zhang Ruochen walked out. He said, “Seniors, don’t be sad. Swordsmans.h.i.+p has never declined or died. The heart of Swordsmans.h.i.+p will always exist between heaven and earth.”
Zhang Ruochen bowed to them again. Then he turned around and looked at the towering sword mountain.
He saw a few lines of ancient words on the pitch-black cliff wall.
They were words that Zhang Ruochen had never seen before.
The strokes of each word were like exquisite sword moves, explaining the truth of Swordsmans.h.i.+p.
Zhang Ruochen did not know why, but he actually understood the words on it:
“I am the Master of Swordsphere, the ancestor of Swordsmans.h.i.+p. During the peak of the universe, I had three thousand sword G.o.ds and hundreds of millions of sword cultivators with me. All things were annihilated where the sword tip pointed. We dominated the world, and the world bowed to us.
“However, when darkness fell, all swords were destroyed. Even 3,000 sword G.o.ds and a hundred million Sword Saints were no match. They were all destroyed, body and soul.
“I am the Ancestral Swordmaster, but I am also the end of the sword. The power of darkness is far more potent than the sword in my hand.
“Pathetic, the eternal night of Swordsmans.h.i.+p.
“Tears, the fall of Swordsmans.h.i.+p.”
Zhang Ruochen was extremely shocked. There had been such a powerful civilization of Swordsmans.h.i.+p in the world.
3,000 sword G.o.ds and hundreds of millions of sword saints ran rampant in the universe. Who could stop them?
How influential was the Ancestral Swordmaster, who commanded 3,000 sword G.o.ds?
What was the relations.h.i.+p between this “Master of Swordsphere, the ancestor of Swordsmans.h.i.+p” and the Ancestral Swordmaster in the ancient Kunlun?
Was Swordsphere the present Southern Sword Realm?
What did the “darkness” in the pa.s.sage refer to? The ‘darkness’ that even the Ancestral Swordmaster could not defeat, resulted in all the 3,000 sword G.o.ds dying.
Zhang Ruochen was full of questions. He searched the cliff wall, trying to find more clues.
As he continued walking, he saw words on another cliff wall:
“I am the Ancestral Swordmaster. I have the eight absolutes in my body. sword valor, Sword Spirit, Sword Soul, Sword Heart, Sword Manual, Sword Bone, Sword Source, and Canon of Swordsmans.h.i.+p.
“Today, Swordsphere was shattered, and all the living beings died. All the swords were buried here. I wanted to fight with the darkness, but I knew that I would die trying.
“If I died, Swordsmans.h.i.+p would wither.
“I thought hard for three days. In the end, I left my sword spirit here and fled to the ends of the earth. Hoping to save my humiliating body and find a macroworld to pa.s.s down Swordsmans.h.i.+p.
“When the darkness descends again, Swordsmans.h.i.+p will be at the forefront. It will tear open the dark curtain for the living beings in the universe and seek the final chance of survival.”
Zhang Ruochen was almost suffocated by these words. His eyes were bloodshot.
There was no doubt that the Ancestral Swordmaster of Kunlun was not a local cultivator of Kunlun. He had fled after the destruction of Swordsphere.
the Ancestral Swordmaster was a significant figure. There were endless legends about him in Kunlun, and he had pa.s.sed down Swordsmans.h.i.+p. Not only did he influence the generations of Kunlun, but he also greatly influenced the Swordsmans.h.i.+p of the myriad realms of Celestial Court and the ten clans of Infernal Court.
It was just Wordless Sword Manual that no cultivator had reached the end of it.
There was probably no sword cultivator in the world who did not respect the Ancestral Swordmaster.
However, how could a figure like the Ancestral Swordmaster have such a powerless, helpless, sad, and humiliating moment? He was so scared by the darkness that he abandoned his sword spirit and fled to Kunlun.
How powerful was the enemy he called “darkness”? Was there really no chance of winning?
Zhang Ruochen firmly believed that even if the Ancestral Swordmaster had only a slim chance of winning, he would never run away.
Swoos.h.!.+
Wordless Sword Manual suddenly struggled violently and flew out of Zhang Ruochen’s hand toward the top of sword mountain.
Zhang Ruochen immediately chased after it. Just as he was about to fly, he fell back to where he was.
He had no choice but to follow a stone path and climb to the top of the mountain with difficulty.
After climbing up the cliff for half a day, he saw a cavern.
Above the cavern, there were five ancient words engraved “Here lies the sword valor.”
Next to the cavern was a new line of words that contained the aura of Lord Ming. “Today, I obtained the sword valor of Sword Ancestor. From now on, I have nothing to fear.
“I will hold the sword in my hand and carry the will of Sword Ancestor. I will be the one at the front when the darkness descends again.”
The sword valor had been taken away by Lord Ming!
Zhang Ruochen entered the cavern. Sure enough, it was empty inside.
So, he continued to climb up the stone path.
When he reached the top of sword mountain, a stone tablet and an ancient well appeared.
On the stone tablet, there was an inscription: “Here lies the sword spirit.”
the Ancestral Swordmaster had abandoned his sword spirit to escape.
If his sword spirit was with him, he could not escape.
In other words, the Ancestral Swordmaster who went to Kunlun wasn’t the complete Sword Ancestor. The Swordsmans.h.i.+p he had pa.s.sed down was not complete either.
Just like the Swordsmans.h.i.+p in Kunlun, they only knew how to cultivate the sword soul. Which cultivator knew that they still had to develop the sword soul?
The soul was the essence.
The spirit was the vitality.
The sword spirit was the vitality of Swordsmans.h.i.+p.
“The Ancestral Swordmaster’s sword soul is in this ancient well?”