Seeking the Flying Sword Path

There were many other buildings apart from the three main palaces on the mountainside.

After all, when Chaos Lightning Beast Bai Xiao was still alive, Lightning Beast Manor was rather famous in the Three Realms. Many cultivators became followers of him; therefore, it was natural for Lightning Beast Manor to have many buildings. There were a few compounds where time flowed exceptionally fast. Clearly, many of the followers were willing to cultivate in them.

"Whoosh." Qin Yun gradually descended. On a plateau, there were a few compounds which had become a little dilapidated.

"Boom!"

A thick bolt of lightning emerged out of the mountain as it circled the mountain thrice.

It had emerged quite close to Qin Yun, which also caused the flow of time to be 1200 times faster than the Effulgent Great World.

"Ten years in the Effulgent Great World is 12,000 years in here. What I need most right now is to consolidate my insights well. Only with sufficiently deep foundations will I have a chance at attaining a Golden Immortal Dao fruit." Qin Yun waved his hand, immediately sweeping away the fallen leaves and dust on the ground. The leaves and the thick dust were carried away into a huge ball that landed far away, revealing paved granite. Even after all these years, it remained intact.

Following that, Qin Yun sat cross-legged and looked down at the scenery below the mountain. Finally, he closed his eyes to begin meditation.

He naturally had to be able to endure the solitude of cultivating alone for 12,000 years.

…

About a month after Qin Yun entered cultivation, Sa Xu came out of the third main palace, having successfully cleared it.

In the second month of Qin Yun"s cultivation, Fairy Mu and Ravenhorn headed for the third main palace, but they were thrown out shortly after entry!

In the third month, Qin Yun made a trip to the third main palace in his spare time.

In that array formation"s s.p.a.ce, three figures stood on a cloud. One of them was a golden-robed man holding a gonfalon. Another was a black-robed elder standing with his hands behind his back, and finally, there was a stocky man holding two hammers. All three of them looked down at him while controlling the array formation.

A bluish-white skinned lightning giant was brandis.h.i.+ng his fist at Qin Yun. Each horrific punch carried lightning with it.

Qin Yun, who had endured two hours in the third main hall, was forced into a defensive position as his Intrinsic Flying Sword"s might posed no threat to the lightning giant.

He constantly resisted, but the a.s.sault of punches turned more powerful.

"This Essence Soul sword immortal is truly powerful to be able to withstand the Great Guardian"s relentless a.s.sault."

"His life-preservation abilities are pretty good."

"It"s truly rare."

The three figures discussed on the cloud.

"However, what use is it if he can only preserve his life? Master wants to seek revenge! He wants to kill that Ancestral Fiend! He needs someone who"s good at killing. Life-preservation is only secondary."

"Yes."

"It"s over."

As they were conversing, the lightning giant"s barrage of punches transformed into a gigantic palm that seemed to blot out the sky.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Qin Yun tried to direct his Intrinsic Flying Sword at the giant"s palm, but when it struck the palm"s bluish-white skin, all it did was tremble slightly. It continued enveloping Qin Yun.

Qin Yun could only resort to protecting himself once more.

"Whoosh." The gigantic palm grabbed the blurry barrier and threw it away.

"Sou!"

Qin Yun was thrown along with the blurry barrier. When his momentum had slowed enough to allow him to see his surroundings, he realized he was outside the third main palace. He was still flying away while maintaining the sword flash barrier.

"I failed after all." Qin Yun stopped in midair and put away his Intrinsic Flying Sword. He looked at the third main palace and gave himself an a.s.sessment. "I"m indeed still very from from being able to clear the third main palace."

With that said, he flew back towards his cultivation ground.

…

On the fourth month since Qin Yun came to Lightning Beast Manor, he had actually cultivated for more than three centuries since time flowed at 1200 times faster! During this long period of time, Qin Yun studied the Great Dao contained within the Intrinsic Flying Sword and was constantly cultivating the five sword manuals he obtained from Green Touring Palace. He constantly gained new insights which slowly dwindled as time pa.s.sed. But there came a day when he reached the pinnacle of the Skyimmortal realm!

This was the bottleneck!

This bottleneck… was destined to trap Qin Yun for a long time!

Too many immortals, fiends, and demons in the Three Realms had been stuck at this bottleneck.

Even weaklings like ordinary ninth firmament Skyimmortals, powerful half-step Golden Immortals like Daoist Xiahou, Demon King Ravenhorn, Fairy Mu, or even more powerful ones that matched mighty figures like Yellow-robed Supremacy and Senior Brother Sa Xu were in fact trapped at the pinnacle Skyimmortal bottleneck.

It could be said that he had acc.u.mulated enough.

What followed went just as the Heavenly Lord of Numinous Treasure mentioned. Qin Yun had to forge a new Sword Dao when creating his sword art. At the pinnacle Skyimmortal realm of insight, creating one"s moves… would mostly turn out mediocre results. Occasionally, there could be very powerful ones which could be heaven-defying enough to match that of mighty figures. For instance, Yellow-robed Supremacy was constantly perfecting his physical Dharmic formulation to the point of matching mighty figures.

"What I should do now is constantly ruminate and create moves that belong to me. There will come a day when I will gain enlightenment of a Great Dao I can call my own." Qin Yun understood this point.

******

A year had pa.s.sed since Qin Yun came to the Lightning Beast Manor. But in fact, his cultivation time was close to 1200 years.

In one of the seventy-two Lightning Dharma tests, in a remote palace yard in the Lightning Beast Manor.

Ancestral Master Zhang and Daoist Xiahou sat cross-legged in a yard with twelve stone monoliths. Each of them recorded a Lightning Dharma Dharmic formulation.

"Arise." Ancestral Master Zhang opened his eyes as twelve Lightning runes appeared around him. Each of the lightning runes were extremely mystical.

"Oh?" Xiahou could not help but open his eyes when he sensed the stir. He was alarmed by what he saw. "What? He actually managed to cultivate the Capital Heaven Divine Lightning to perfection? Although time here flows faster, being 110 times faster than the Effulgent Great World, he has only cultivated for slightly more than a century in here. Yet, he was able to cultivate it to perfection?"

The formation of the twelve perfected lightning runes immediately resonated with the twelve stone monoliths.

Unadorned array flags flew out of the stone monolith as they flew towards Ancestral Master Zhang. There were a total of twelve array flags.

"Retrieve." Ancestral Master Zhang"s eyes lit up as he waved his hand to put them away.

"Those array flags…" Xiahou"s pupils constricted, but he stood up and smiled. "Congratulations, Junior Brother Zhang."

Ancestral Master Zhang stood up as well. "I was only lucky."

"The seventy-two Lightning Dharma tests can also be seen as seventy-two Lightning Dharma opportunities. These are the powerful Dharmic formulations which Bai Xiao gathered since his birth. Treasures are bestowed when any Dharmic formulation is cultivated to perfection," said Xiahou with a smile. "Although all of us know that, how difficult is it to cultivate any Dharmic formulation to its perfection? Junior Brother Zhang, I"m truly impressed by how perceptive you are."

"If your Dharmic powers were to reach the ninth firmament Skyimmortal level, just these twelve array flags will award you with half-step Golden Immortal strength," praised Xiahou.

Ancestral Master Zhang smiled. "To be honest, I have been studying the Ma.s.sive Twelve Capital Heaven Divine Wraith Array for millennia. This Capital Heaven Divine Lightning array stems from the Ma.s.sive Twelve Capital Heaven Divine Wraith Array, which allowed me to cultivate it to perfection so quickly."

In fact…

His Divine Firmament Lightning Dharma had elements of the Ma.s.sive Twelve Capital Heaven Divine Wraith Array fused into it, to the point of him creating the twelve Lightning G.o.dfiends array formation!

And during this round of cultivation, his cross-referenced knowledge had benefited him greatly. He was able to cultivate to perfection and obtain the twelve array flags.

"Senior Brother Xiahou, I"ll continue attempting the other tests. With only ten years to spare, this spot has already taken one year of my time. Time is indeed scarce," said Ancestral Master Zhang with a smile.

"Junior Brother, go ahead," said Xiahou with a faint smile.

As he watched Ancestral Master Zhang leave, Xiahou"s eyes gradually turned cold. "Those twelve array flags… each one of them is in no way worth less than a supreme-grade Numinous treasure. The twelve flags form a Lightning Dharma array set. It"s extremely valuable."

"If I could possess such array flags, my strength would only be stronger."

"He"s only a sixth firmament Skyimmortal with very weak Dharmic powers. It shouldn"t be difficult to s.n.a.t.c.h it from him." Xiahou"s eyes were filled with coldness as he followed Ancestral Master Zhang out of the palace yard.