Chapter 725: Bai Ye, Truly a Sword Immortal, But the Sword Spirit Is Not
The repeated strikes at the fourteenth realm had already opened Yu Xuan's eyes wide, especially Bai Ye's sword severing six throne demons—not a single slash missed—which earned Yu Xuan's profound admiration. The sword aura was vast and majestic, a sight to behold. Some things truly could only be accomplished by Bai Ye, and still left one feeling he had more power to spare. To cut those six throne-level great demons like chopping vegetables was not because the ones like Yang Zhi and Bai Ying were not at their peak—at the very least, Yu Xuan dared not claim he could guarantee victory or certain death against any single one of those throne beasts. So the only reason was that Bai Ye's swordplay was simply too unreasonable.
Yet when Yu Xuan heard that Liu Cha was also rushing to Fuyao Continent, matching his earlier speculation, he could only wryly smile. Not only was there indeed a seventh throne demon, but it was none other than Liu Cha. A throne-level great demon who could address A Liang as brother and exchange sword challenges was indeed most suitable as a trump card.
Every great cultivator on the Haoran world who had already reached the mountain peak and only needed to ascend to heaven received landscape gazettes that were extremely weighty. They were completely different from the gazettes that ordinary sect-leading immortals used to pass the time in their leisure. Yu Xuan quickly composed himself and sent a telepathic reminder to Bai Ye: "The spiritual qi here is unusual, but since I've come, you can safely absorb the qi of heaven and earth within a hundred li. Don't touch anything farther away; the slightest contamination will bring endless trouble."
When Yu Xuan arrived, he used his specialty—the talisman arts—to forcibly break through three layers of heavenly prohibitions before finally reaching Bai Ye's battlefield. Indeed, this was the Central Earth Divine Continent: not only did he break through doors in succession, but Yu Xuan also used tens of thousands of rare talismans to perform a wondrous divine ability called "Supporting the Mountainside." He had traveled south from the central-northern part of Golden Armor Continent, then crossed the sea to the canopy of Fuyao Continent, which did not cost him much time. But the matter of opening the doors had taken a full three-quarters of an hour, showing how resolutely the Barren Wilderness world had encircled Bai Ye. One should know that in the arts of opening mountains, if Talisman Yu Xuan claimed second, no one dared claim first.
The indigenous Daoist religion of the Haoran world was divided into two major lineages: the Talisman lineage and the Cauldron lineage. Within the Talisman lineage, along with a Daoist sect outside the White Jade Capital in the Azure World, there was said to be a total of three mountain altars. Yu Xuan of Talismans occupied one of them. The fact that Yu Xuan could forcibly snatch the title "Talisman" from the Dragon-Tiger Mountain Heavenly Master Mansion was a feat almost as remarkable as Northern Juzhou grabbing the character "North" from the Aiai Continent.
It was said that there were no space storage devices or pocket objects that Yu Xuan could not open, no mountain-protecting grand formations or sage realms he could not break. There was even a saying: "Others' sleeves contain the universe, but my sleeves are my cultivation ground." He was particularly fond of taking naps in the sleeves of old friends at the Flying Ascension realm, such as Fiery Dragon True Man and Sun Huaizhong of the Great Profound View Monastery, who had once traveled with him. Whenever crossing continents, he would ask for a ride. When Fiery Dragon True Man once blocked the entrance to Lu Water Pit, truly unable to deal with the ancient water god's summer palace that had been refined by the fat woman, he sent a talisman sword message to Yu Xuan, asking the old Daoist to hurry and help open the door, promising to share the spoils later. At the time, Yu Xuan replied with a talisman water-dragon letter to Lu Water Pit, claiming in a secret message that he was in a life-and-death closed-door cultivation, hanging by a thread every day, and could not get away. That talisman dragon happened to deplete its spiritual qi outside Lu Water Pit and revealed its true form—a green bamboo staff covered in talismans. Fiery Dragon True Man, holding the bamboo staff, left Lu Water Pit and calculated on his fingers, feeling something was off: the timing didn't match, and moreover, a peak Flying Ascension life-and-death closed-door retreat was extremely dangerous; he wouldn't have time to receive and reply to letters. Thus, Fiery Dragon True Man changed his mind and did not return directly to Northern Juzhou. When he later returned to Central Earth Divine Continent, he learned that the old Daoist had been attending the Green God Mountain Banquet in the Bamboo Sea Cave Heaven.
This time, Yu Xuan traveled alone to Fuyao Continent, not only using talismans to prop open three layers of heavenly prohibitions but also temporarily constructing three great doors. Of course, he did so to ensure his freedom to come and go, and to see if he could also take Bai Ye away. But unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived at the battlefield, all the talismans shattered at once, and the three doors collapsed and ruined instantly. Yu Xuan lamented bitterly: bitter, bitter, now we can't go back.
Bai Ye smiled and said, "This isn't like Talisman Yu Xuan's usual style. I appreciate the goodwill, but the matter of spiritual qi is not a problem."
In the Central Earth Divine Continent, Yu Xuan of Talismans was notoriously unwilling to fight to the death. Whenever he struck, it was always to exchange insights on Dao arts, because Yu Xuan would first ensure he stood in an invincible position, and then simply use others' stones to polish his own jade, studying the talisman arts. When encountering those of similar Dao-level, Yu Xuan almost never used overly domineering offensive techniques; he would not fight to the death, so as not to harm friendships. Those with inferior Dao arts, who were dead—how could they still harm friendships with Yu Xuan?
Yu Xuan likewise did not know the mystery of Bai Ye's fourteenth realm enlightenment. He could only nod.
This short old man, who monopolized the world's talismans, was now suspended in midair exactly a hundred li from Bai Ye. The old Daoist formed hand seals with both hands, and around his hands, sun, moon, and stars seemed to shift in order, fireflies trailing, forming their own celestial phenomena. If he got too close to Bai Ye, he might disrupt Bai Ye's sword strikes. Bai Ye, one against six, facing six throne demons with a single sword—such a peak battle, where a hair's breadth difference meant the difference between heaven and earth, Yu Xuan could not have come across continents only to make Bai Ye distracted. But if he stayed too far, Yu Xuan did not think he, an old immortal of unsurpassed techniques, could be of any help.
Beneath the white-haired, purple-robed old man's feet, a black-and-white Taiji Eight Trigram Diagram appeared. The old man's form was still, while the Taiji Diagram beneath him slowly rotated. Occasionally, a spark or two of fire rose, hissing, turning into faint wisps of blue smoke invisible to the eye. Clearly, this was a secret method of Wenhai Zhoumi, whose schemes ran deep. He had tampered with the spiritual qi of the mountains and rivers of this continent, and only because it brushed against Yu Xuan's Eight Trigram Diagram was it caught.
Heaven and earth, yin and yang, all things past and present, life and death, beginning and end—the Taiji Diagram manifested all and transformed them into the Dao. Naturally, it was more flawless in the Great Dao than the spiritual qi of heaven and earth. Once this diagram appeared, it was no longer what Yu Xuan called a minor skill, but a trump card even more profound than the "Supporting the Mountainside" ability. It would neither hinder Bai Ye from holding the Grand White and wielding his sword to slay demons, nor prevent Bai Ye from stepping back a few paces to safely absorb the world's spiritual qi.
As Bai Ye struck out with his sword, he still had the mind to speak with Yu Xuan: "It's still not too late to leave now."
Bai Ye held the immortal sword Grand White in one hand and the scabbard behind him in the other.
Yu Xuan glanced at the scabbard, then looked up at the canopy, and shook his head, saying, "Forget it, forget it. Since I'm here, I'll act according to circumstances. I'd be unwilling if I didn't show a few tricks. Don't worry about me. Talisman Yu Xuan's self-preservation abilities are passable."
In truth, Yu Xuan could have left originally, but the old man hesitated slightly, and the three talisman doors shattered quickly, causing him to miss the only chance to step through and flee ten thousand li away. Of course, that was predicated on Bai Ye escorting him with a sword strike; otherwise, the six throne great demons would never let Talisman Yu Xuan come and go as he pleased. If Bai Ye did not send a sword escort, Yu Xuan, known for his careful calculations, would suffer repeated losses and might even descend in realm.
Yu Xuan stroked his beard, squinted, and continued to observe the battlefield, planning to carefully find the Dao roots of those six throne beasts.
Seeing Bai Ye continuously striking, each time merely lifting and lowering his sword, a sword light would illuminate millions of li. Even Yu Xuan's spirit was shaken a few times—such a sword breaking ten thousand dharmas. A pity Bai Ye was not a sword cultivator, and had no life-bound flying sword. But then Yu Xuan thought again: the Heavenly Dao abhors perfection; such a scholar Bai Ye was already enough to be eternal through the ages.
Just then, Bai Ye delivered a sword strike, cutting back Yuan Shou, who had manifested a ten-thousand-zhang true body. The old ape's long staff was struck by that brilliant sword light, sparks flying everywhere, like a fire god forging a sword embryo, starfire scattering, burning countless mountains, rivers, and landscape paintings. Yuan Shou's massive body slid backward hundreds of li. He roared and stomped on the void, thunderous, sending ripples splashing at the spot of his stomp—even the River of Time stirred up some spray. Yuan Shou swung his staff from afar with tremendous force, so much so that the staff bent into an arc.
Bai Ye struck again, shattering the malevolent wind created by the staff's swing, creating countless tornadoes across heaven and earth.
Yuan Shou lightly released his grip, then clenched the staff again. The staff clashed with the sword light, buzzing aloud. Just the residual tremor and vibrating ripples from the staff were enough to shatter any worldly treasure that approached. Yuan Shou looked down and saw his palm covered in white bones. Though in the blink of an eye the flesh grew back over the bones, it was still vexing. In the Barren Wilderness world, Yuan Shou was famous for his combat prowess. In countless battles over ten thousand years, he had never been so stifled. Up to now, Yuan Shou had not truly approached Bai Ye.
The great demon Yang Zhi used one of her life-bound objects, the Dragon Palace Water Mansion, to instantly ride the wind ten thousand li. Wherever she passed, water fortune surged, manifesting countless ethereal water immortals and water spirits, like a vast escort of monsters. With this item, Yang Zhi momentarily positioned herself closest to Bai Ye. She then offered another life-bound object, which suddenly descended from heaven, pressing down on Bai Ye.
Yu Xuan frowned and looked up. This old woman had a substantial fortune—worthy of being a peak throne demon of the Barren Wilderness world, never lacking good things.
The object Yang Zhi offered was an ancient Wei dynasty mortar style, which the White Jade Capital had been the first to abolish for thousands of years. It had inscriptions on all four sides, displaying red, green, white, and yellow dazzling lights. The front side was engraved with "First month just Wei already ended," while the other sides read, "The sharpness of swords and blades cannot proceed," "Expel evil spirits, command Kui dragon to control water fortune," and "One tiny thing, the Great Dao lies within." It was both an ancient relic and a six-fold seal that Yang Zhi had refined and completed. The heavenly inscription read "Biluo," and the bottom ground inscription read "Huangquan."
As soon as this seal appeared, divine might surged. The white jade seal spun and fell with the force of an immortal tribulation breaking through a realm. Especially one side inscribed with "The sharpness of swords and blades cannot proceed," which inherently suppressed sword cultivators and swords. The seal inscription shone brightly, ancient seal script flashed with spiritual light, then dissipated into the four directions as celestial phenomena. It prevented Bai Ye from splitting the seal with a sword and even absorbed some of his Haoran sword qi, making the seal's descent even more majestic.
Bai Ye did not tangle excessively with the mountain-like seal pressing down. He let it fall swiftly, and when it was only three thousand zhang away, Bai Ye simply delivered a second sword toward Yang Zhi.
The sword sliced across Yang Zhi's imperial crown atop her human-headed, dragon-bodied form. Crown with twelve tassels of colored silk and jade beads. The beaded front curtain was all severed by Bai Ye's sword. Yang Zhi, retreating, reached out to catch the falling colored beads and cords. With a thought, the life-bound object restored itself. However, to mend the damage from Bai Ye's sword, the countless feitian clinging densely between the gaps of her dragon robe—each exquisitely beautiful, hard to tell male from female, each containing pure water fortune—turned to ash, hundreds of them.
The great demon Yang Zhi had sat over the Ye Luo River for thousands of years, during which she painstakingly refined three hundred seated performers, graceful and dignified. She also refined eighteen hundred standing performers, with magnificent and colorful costumes, graceful and swaying, jade pendants tinkling, delicate waists, and pearls spitting forth as they played battle music. Additionally, there were sixteen thousand river maiden servants of the Ye Luo River, each serving as menders and weavers for the dragon robe and imperial crown.
Yang Zhi was unwilling to be too far from that life-bound seal, nor did she think she could truly suppress and kill Bai Ye. Even though the mountain-like seal and the rice-sized Bai Ye with his sword were only a few hundred zhang apart, she still had to retract the seal and place it in her life-bound acupoint for nurturing. Bai Ye's previous sword had carved a crack in the six-fold seal's bottom inscription, but the seal could inherently refine sword qi, not only repairing the crack but also allowing Yang Zhi to deduce Bai Ye's enlightenment point.
Bai Ye smiled and said, "Spirit creatures meddling with heavenly secrets—be careful not to sink your soul into Beiyinfengdu."
Yu Xuan stroked his beard and laughed upon hearing this; Bai Ye's remark was wonderfully apt.
Yang Zhi's expression changed slightly. She reached out to press her temple, then grabbed the seal. Her wrist trembled as she finally stabilized the life-bound object. She opened her hand and saw that the side inscribed with "Blade and Sword" was already broken and ruined. The residual sword qi from Bai Ye had directly damaged the foundation of this ancient mortar, meaning that from now on, she would lose a life-bound divine ability—she could no longer use this ancient seal to suppress and counter the life-bound flying swords of Haoran's sword immortals. Fortunately, the other five sides were still intact.
Yang Zhi's face was expressionless, but inside she was filled with hatred and regret. She should not have "asked for a sword" from Bai Ye; regardless of the method, she should not have been so arrogant.
Yu Xuan seemed to have a realization.
Every time Bai Ye struck, he seemed intentionally not to pursue killing a throne demon with a few blows. That was quite interesting. Could it be that he wanted to cut away the "throne" from the six throne demons, reducing several of them from peak status to ordinary Flying Ascension great demons?
Yu Xuan looked around. At various corners of the heavens, Yu Xuan had quietly offered talismans to support the sky and earth. These allowed him to accurately assess the movement of celestial phenomena and slightly resist the trend of the sky gradually descending and the earth gradually rising. Yu Xuan was certainly not just watching Bai Ye's swordplay. The inner and outer three layers of heavenly prohibitions were gradually closing in, step by step, like a fishing net being drawn. As the spiritual qi of heaven and earth became scarcer and thinner, the celestial phenomena favorable to the throne demons would condense more. According to Yu Xuan's calculations, once the three overlapping nets eventually shrank to a thousand li—who knew, maybe even the River of Time would appear. Over time, Bai Ye would be dead without a doubt. This most proud man on earth was walking a path of no return with his sword.
Before Bai Ye could ask via telepathy, Yu Xuan smiled knowingly and said, "Just strike with your sword. I'll be fine."
Bai Ye nodded lightly. He flicked his wrist holding the sword, and a blade of sword light, bright as an autumn lake, suddenly appeared. With Bai Ye's blue-robed figure as the center, a huge mirror surface materialized out of thin air in the sky, formed entirely by a line of sword light. This seemed to sever the connection between heaven and earth, a sword's distant salute to Wenhai Zhoumi. However, this sword light was supposed to sever the old Daoist behind Bai Ye at the waist. But when it passed by the Taiji Diagram, it was bent and folded repeatedly, eventually bypassing Talisman Yu Xuan entirely. Just this one move by the old man was enough to shock the world.
After all, Yu Xuan stood still on his grand formation, making Bai Ye's sword miss him.
Yu Xuan stroked his beard and laughed. Bai Ye's sword was at its peak—bold and free, truly magnificent. Escaping this sword was a coincidence, just a coincidence. As long as he could leave Fuyao Continent alive, he wouldn't need to say much about such secrets. He could visit some shameless sword cultivation sect that hung a portrait of Bai Ye in its founder's hall, drink a few cups of tea, and chat a little. It was unbelievable that a sect with no relationship to Bai Ye at all would dare hang his portrait, and as for becoming a registered immortal in the founder's hall, a sword cultivator would have to fly his sword around the mountain while reciting three hundred poems of Bai Ye without stopping—who could believe that?
As for the six throne demons, each a behemoth, their true forms and dharma images were all severed, each split in two. The three demons whose true bodies were unfortunately cut by the sword-light surface restored themselves again, each losing some vital energy. Since they had blocked with life-bound objects, the sword light still found it difficult to shake their Dao foundation.
Yuan Shou picked up his slanting, falling head and replaced it on his neck.
Yang Zhi's dragon tail fell hundreds of zhang to the ground, then lifted itself to rejoin her upper body.
The three-headed, six-armed great demon Ox Blade had his legs cut off at the knees; he abandoned them.
The remaining three demons' majestic dharma images recovered even faster.
Qie Yun stood on the shoulder of his dharma image. The golden light of the dharma image shattered in all directions. With a thought, his golden body reshaped.
Among the six throne demons, Qie Yun was the most languid. He still had the leisure to examine the uninvited guest, Talisman Yu Xuan, especially the life-bound wine gourd at the old man's waist, which made Qie Yun salivate.
Yu Xuan clicked his tongue in wonder. These throne demons were truly tough, both in attack and endurance. Each one was ridiculously tenacious. They could all take a strike from Bai Ye that severed their true bodies and split their dharma images. If it were a human Flying Ascension cultivator from the Haoran world, they would never dare to clash head-on like this. In terms of bodily resilience, human cultivators simply could not compare with the beasts of the Barren Wilderness.
If it were an ordinary Flying Ascension great demon of the Barren Wilderness, whether in true body or dharma image, after taking such a sword, they would obediently go heal their wounds. How could they fight with ever-increasing vigor like Yuan Shou and Yang Zhi?
Yet the old man inevitably sighed inwardly. The Sword Qi Great Wall had stood for ten thousand years, with almost a battle every hundred years. How many assaults had it endured? And that Chen Qingdu—his temper was indeed stubborn beyond reason. It was said that back when the Dao Ancestor rode an ox through the pass, Chen Qingdu didn't even look at him; he slapped a certain throne great demon back to the bottom of an ancient well, and Chen Qingdu looked away. Later, when the Second Dao Head reluctantly left the White Jade Capital and visited the Haoran world, capturing and releasing a Flying Ascension demon, it was said Chen Qingdu almost broke his rule to leave the city wall—that was why the Second Dao Head left behind the largest mountain-character seal in the world, the Hanging Mountain.
The only ones who could make the Second Dao Head suppress his anger and not slay someone were Chen Qingdu before, and Old Scholar later. The truth remains an unsolved mystery. Who knows? Even if you flip through old records, you might never find the answer again.
It was the same. Many of Yu Xuan's past deeds were also unsolved riddles in today's Haoran world.
Every great cultivator standing on the mountaintop had a string of landscape stories and climbing traces left behind on the path of cultivation.
For example, there was still a small state's mountain in Current Rosy Cloud Continent that Yu Xuan had held aloft with a talisman for six hundred years. That talisman still shone with flowing light, with no sign of qi dissipation or talisman core breakage. It was said that the local mountain lord had behaved outrageously and accidentally angered Yu Xuan, who was traveling through the territory, so Yu Xuan gave him a light punishment as a deterrent. After offering that talisman, Yu Xuan returned to Central Earth Divine Continent, but he sent word: before that mountain lord came to his sect gate to kowtow and admit his mistake, the mountain would never be allowed to take root again. In fact, the mountain lord had already sought out Yu Xuan once, but Yu Xuan deliberately left the mountain. The mountain lord waited in vain for years outside the sect, only to return empty-handed.
Even though a state's mountain lord was less constrained than a mountain god or land god, crossing continents, let alone leaving the state's borders, was extremely difficult for him. It was said that the mountain lord endured countless hardships—by borrowing or begging, using innumerable mountain-water incense and friendship—before he could reach Yu Xuan's sect gate. Yet he learned that the immortal had traveled far away with no return date in sight. Whether it was an immortal playing with mortal affairs or an unfathomable Dao heart, Yu Xuan simply deliberately avoided meeting the mountain lord.
The mountain lord suffered for years, acting as a gatekeeper in front of the mountain, before kowtowing and leaving. Throughout the ordeal, he never angrily crashed into the sect's memorial archway; that already showed his broad heart.
Some mountain cultivators who were at odds with the Daoist talisman lineage, and hence at odds with Yu Xuan, criticized him severely, saying he was too unfeeling, using his realm to bully a small-state mountain lord. If you, Talisman Yu Xuan, are the greatest in the world at opening mountains, why not try your hand on Sui Mountain? Showing off tricks against a small-state mountain lord from another continent—what skill was that?
As for why the mountain, its root severed, had been suspended for six hundred years by a talisman, yet the mountain lord's shrine golden body remained stable, and the mountain-water qi within his domain did not diminish in the slightest, those watching the excitement never cared about such trivial details. And for six hundred years, that trembling mountain lord completely changed his former arrogant ways, diligently stabilizing the mountain-water fortune of his domain, not daring a day's slack—that was even more boring.
Worldly matters were as numerous as ox hairs. Perhaps they wouldn't actually kill a person, but they would kill one's youthful spirit one by one.
Bai Ye, seemingly equally prescient like Yu Xuan, smiled and said, "That's the intention—it's true that throne demons are hard to kill. I need to use my sword to find a way to break their substitute death method."
The immortal sword Grand White had unparalleled sharpness, but if it did not land on the real target, no matter how many times Bai Ye struck, it would be meaningless. At least one of the throne demons was, in a sense, immortal. Perhaps before coming to the Haoran world, he had already been permitted by the Tuoyue Mountain Ancestor or Wenhai Zhoumi to secretly enlighten to a corner of the Barren Wilderness world. Or perhaps a certain dharma robe or divine armor not yet offered was connected to the thousands of miles of the Barren Wilderness. Whatever the case, even if Bai Ye could have originally killed a certain throne demon with a single sword, he would only end up shattering the mountains and rivers somewhere in the Barren Wilderness. Hence, Yuan Shou's apparent seeking death, what he called a life-for-life exchange, was all deliberate.
That was the most troublesome part. The contest of spells on the mountain was already unfathomable enough; the battle at the peak naturally defied imagination.
Yu Xuan was deeply anxious. These throne beasts were already so hard to kill, and now there was an even more mysterious substitute death method that was more profound than my own Yu Xuan?!
Was it another filthy trick from that damned Jia Sheng?
Yu Xuan squinted at Qie Yun, whose face was patched together by women, and asked with a smile, "One-on-one?"
Qie Yun quickly waved his hand with a grin, "Talisman Yu Xuan, killing immortals is beneath you. I dare not one-on-one; I only dare to collect corpses."
Yu Xuan truly regretted coming here. If only he had known Bai Ye's sword strikes were so astonishing, why bother coming to join this mess? He couldn't help, and it was hard to leave. What was the point? For once, he acted on impulse, and the result was such an awkward, unheroic situation.
Yu Xuan couldn't help but ask, "What's to be done?"
Bai Ye smiled, "I'll just keep striking with my sword."
As the continent's prohibitions grew heavier, the sky and earth shrank further.
Bai Ye still seemed oblivious.
The next moment, Yu Xuan sighed long, "I always thought that Bai Ye deserved to be first among the ten of the Central Earth, no question. But the gap between Talisman Yu Xuan and Bai Ye shouldn't have been too vast. Today I see the truth: I was greatly mistaken."
Deliberately setting aside the three sages of the Confucian Temple, for the ten of the Central Earth in the Haoran world, opinions on specific rankings might differ on the mountain, but for Talisman Yu Xuan to be in the top five—at least sixth—was almost undisputed. Even the White Emperor City lord and the female martial god Pei Bei fluctuated in ranking, each time sparking controversy, and the landscape gazettes made a fortune from that. As for the more contested ten of the Haoran, there was no fixed number.
For example, sword cultivation sects often liked to include A Liang and Zuo You among them, especially Northern Juzhou, which wished that among the ten of the Haoran, besides the Ultimate Sage, Ritual Sage, and Second Sage, at most plus their own Fiery Dragon True Man, the other six were all sword immortals. Bai Ye, not a sword cultivator, but wielding Grand White, could be counted as one of their own—ranked fourth, no lower. They would also include the Dragon-Tiger Mountain Grand Heavenly Master, since he used a sword, counting him as half of their own. Additionally, A Liang of the Second Sage lineage, Zuo You of the Literary Sage lineage—one had never been defeated on the mountain, the other's swordsmanship was unparalleled—both deserved it. As for Zhou Shenzhi of Central Earth, they reluctantly added him as a filler, since he was a genuine sword cultivator... Old Sword Immortal Zhou Shenzhi's face once turned crimson at this, and he almost flew his sword across continents to curse and kill people in Northern Juzhou. It was said that the Huai family's patriarch had spent considerable money on that widely circulated, best-selling landscape gazette.
It was not that Talisman Yu Xuan was belittling himself; it was simply that Bai Ye's sword strikes were too free and too exceptional.
For instance, at this very moment, Bai Ye used his heart-mind to divide heaven and earth into six parts.
A single leaf boat, "In the morning, leaves the White Emperor in the midst of colorful clouds." Yuan Shou was perplexed. He looked around and inexplicably found himself standing on a cliff. Bai Ye, holding his sword, dressed in snowy white, stood on that leaf boat and struck at Yuan Shou.
"To the west, Tai Bai has a bird path, which can cross the summit of Mount Emei." Bai Ye walked out with his sword from the moon above the mountain peak, striking at Qie Yun.
"A great waterfall flies down three thousand feet, transforming into a sword, the sword light descending straight to cut the Five Peaks."
"All birds have flown away, a lone cloud floats idly. A pavilion stands with wings. A blue-robed sword guest strikes his sword at the water demon Yang Zhi."
"Long wind ten thousand li, autumn geese fly far away. Leaning on the railing high above, the sword light chases straight after the golden-armored deity."
"A battlefield remains, iron armors shattered, white bones piled high. Bai Ye strikes with his sword at Bai Ying."
Elsewhere was where Talisman Yu Xuan stood, still in the original world, still over a hundred li from Bai Ye.
Strangely enough, today's meeting was the first time Yu Xuan and Bai Ye had seen each other up close. Before this, they had only passed each other from afar twice, without a single word.
After Bai Ye had won his most proud reputation, he soon closed his mountain and sealed his sword. He stopped receiving visitors for too many years, living alone on an island isolated overseas, accompanied only by books and the sea.
In history, some great cultivators who didn't believe it tried to find out, wanting to know how a scholar who was not a sword cultivator could wield a proud immortal sword. But their outcomes were not good. Those who couldn't find the prohibition were the luckiest; those who found it often didn't see Bai Ye, only a sword light, and then they would slink home to close their doors and heal.
Yu Xuan asked with a smile, "The immortal sword Grand White—does it truly have a sword spirit that can take human form?"
Bai Ye nodded, "Yes. But Grand White is unwilling to show itself."
Yu Xuan laughed heartily, "That solves a big doubt in my heart!"
Regarding the four immortal swords famous across several worlds, it was always rumored that each contained a sword spirit, able to condense into a human form and accompany its master. The sword spirit's battle power alone was equivalent to a Flying Ascension sword cultivator. Hence, possessing an immortal sword was like having a Flying Ascension sword attendant sharing the same Dao. However, Yu Xuan himself had never seen the human forms of the four sword spirits. His old friend Fiery Dragon True Man, an outside-surname Grand Heavenly Master of Dragon-Tiger Mountain, told Yu Xuan that he had seen the sword spirit twice, but its appearance was inconsistent—once as a small Daoist boy with a Heavenly Master seal at his waist, another time as a female sword attendant carrying a scabbard on her back.
Yu Xuan was dubious about this, since Fiery Dragon True Man's lies were truly exasperating—he always deceived those closest to him. For instance, in recent years, Fiery Dragon True Man met with a rebuff at the Heavenly Master Mansion, then traveled in Central Earth with a young Daoist, his direct disciple Zhang Shanfeng. The master and disciple did not ascend mountains. Fiery Dragon True Man only asked Yu Xuan to come down the mountain to receive guests, saying his disciple was timid. That child, perhaps either too carefree or too simple, upon learning his name was Yu Xuan, looked at him with sincere sympathy, almost saying aloud, "What bad luck to have the same name as Talisman Yu Xuan; you must have endured a lot of ridicule on the mountain."
The three immortal swords, including Grand White, had long enjoyed great fame. Each time an immortal sword appeared, it shook heaven and earth. For example, Bai Ye's sword cleaved a cave heaven, and the Yellow River's water came from the sky. Or the Second Dao Head, alone with his sword, challenged the entire Great Profound View Monastery, personally slaying a genius of the Azure World. Or the current generation's Dragon-Tiger Mountain Grand Heavenly Master, the youngest to inherit the position, descended the mountain at twenty with his sword, traveled the mortal world for a hundred years, stepped over six continents of the Haoran, and successively beheaded eleven upper-five-realm demons, causing all ghosts under heaven to flee from the Dragon-Tiger Mountain Heavenly Master. Hence the popular saying: "Wherever demons cause trouble in the mortal world, you will find the Dragon-Tiger Mountain Heavenly Master."
Only the fourth sword had not shown its true face in ten thousand years. It was said that one of the nine grand suppression towers, the Nanposha Continent's Sword Suppression Tower, was built to suppress this sword, to dominate this sword spirit. Others said it was the Dragon-Slayer from three thousand years ago who appeared out of nowhere and wielded a long sword. After slaying the dragon, he casually threw it into the sea, sinking the sword.
On the peaks of the Haoran world, there were occasional rumors that a fifth immortal sword existed, but its whereabouts were even more unknown.
Apart from the immortal sword Grand White, which the Great Profound View Monastery lent to Bai Ye, its original name was actually Xuandu, only alias Grand White. In Bai Ye's hands, the later name had overshadowed the former. In the Dragon-Tiger Mountain Heavenly Master Mansion, one of the seal and sword tokens of the Grand Heavenly Master was the immortal sword named Wanfa. And the Second Sect Leader of the White Jade Capital, hailed as truly invincible, held an immortal sword named Daozang.
Bai Ye turned his head and asked with a smile, "Really not leaving? This is your last chance. Once your yin spirit dissipates and vanishes, along with that life-bound gourd left behind, old immortal Yu Xuan, you might not even be able to keep your Flying Ascension realm."
Bai Ye's six heart-mind worlds could not confine the six great demons for long.
Yu Xuan was deeply anxious. He couldn't help much, and he certainly wouldn't cause trouble. Besides, if he stayed, Bai Ye would have a glimmer of hope. In fact, he had indeed come to Fuyao Continent with only his yin spirit, his true body hidden elsewhere, but he had brought all his belongings, including the wine gourd.
Bai Ye raised the scabbard in his hand and said, "I trouble you, old immortal, to return this item to the Great Profound View Monastery. I've heard that one of Talisman Yu Xuan's lifelong regrets is that he cannot travel to the Azure World easily. I have some minor merit on me, but it's useless. You can use it to ascend and travel between the two worlds. As for the Grand White sword in my hand, I truly cannot return it to its owner. Also, please convey my apologies to Daoist Sun."
If Yu Xuan accepted Grand White's scabbard, Bai Ye would exert all his strength into a single sword, cutting all six throne demons at once, and no matter what, he would open a path for Yu Xuan. With Yu Xuan's talisman abilities, even if the throne demons tried their best to block, it wouldn't be hard for him to escape.
Unexpectedly, Yu Xuan shook his head and said, "Coming with only my yin spirit, willing to give only half a life—that's already not generous enough. Turning tail and fleeing at the critical moment would cost me all my immortal aura."
With his Dao heart settled, Yu Xuan was no longer hesitant. He laughed loudly, "Return the scabbard yourself! I'll first deal with Bai Ying. That scoundrel might very well be the key to the substitute death method. You follow up with your sword. Same rule as before—I won't get in your way."
A peak Flying Ascension cultivator on the verge of enlightenment to heaven and earth, willing to sacrifice his yin spirit and a most fundamental life-bound object—if that wasn't generous, then nothing was.
Talisman Yu Xuan had abundant immortal aura.
The white-haired, purple-robed old man, barefoot, stepped on the Taiji Diagram, his form flickering away. Taking advantage of Bai Ying's collision with the canopy of Bai Ye's heart-mind realm, he slipped through a gap into the gate. The old man manifested a dharma image, his sleeves billowing, talismans scattering out endlessly, like a blizzard. First, he repelled Bai Ying and the sword-attendant leading the charge back into the ruins of that battlefield. Then, with half of the talismans, he stabilized Bai Ye's heart-mind world, transforming it into his own talisman array world. The remaining half of the talismans were of all kinds, bizarre and diverse. On the earth, iron cavalry gathered, charging into formation; in the sky, goddesses scattered flowers. In addition, hundreds of golden-armored puppets stomped forward, their momentum like thunder. Row upon row of jade buildings, pavilions, and towers—each had white-robed immortals transformed from talismans, raining down spells and combat treasures like a downpour on the mortal world.
One of the unsolved cases on the Haoran mountaintops was: exactly how many tens of thousands of talismans had Talisman Yu Xuan refined? Over a hundred thousand? Several hundred thousand? A million?!
Meanwhile, no matter how the throne demon Bai Ying tried to shrink the land and leap through space, he was always trapped in the death gate of the Eight Trigram Array. Even though you, Bai Ying, occupied the three layers of grand formations of Fuyao Continent's celestial times, first there was Bai Ye's heart-mind world, then the talisman world, and then the Taiji Diagram—one by one, they were negated!
Bai Ying's mood grew heavy. Of all people, it had to be Talisman Yu Xuan. If it had been any other among the ten of the Central Earth, it would not have been this troublesome. Unwilling to reveal his roots, Bai Ying had to emulate Yu Xuan—overwhelm with quantity, each showing off his skills, many against many. Yu Xuan had many talismans; Bai Ying re-manifested the dharma robe as a Skeleton Throne, commanding armies of yin spirits to fight the dense talisman puppets across various battlefields. In reality, the entire world where both sides fought, both sky and earth, was a battlefield.
Although Yu Xuan only occupied one throne demon, Bai Ying, it still made Bai Ye feel much more relaxed. First, Bai Ying was very likely the key hidden hand set by Jia Sheng; second, Bai Ye, in his life—whether as a proud sword immortal or a frustrated poet—had never relied on others. Hence, this battle was the first time Bai Ye fought alongside someone.
Aside from Bai Ying, the other five throne demons had already escaped their confinement, simultaneously manifesting ten-thousand-zhang dharma images. The last of the spiritual qi gathered crazily in five places. Between heaven and earth, a whole continent's abundant spiritual qi was now dry and exhausted. Either it had been used earlier by the six throne demons to wield their life-bound objects, or it had been devoured by Bai Ying's cloud sea, Yang Zhi's dragon robe, and Qie Yun's sword-nurturing gourd.
Five sword formations then descended, once again imprisoning the five throne demons, including Yang Zhi.
Bai Ye's poetry was unrivaled.
Only when all the poems in his heart were exhausted would Bai Ye's mind and spiritual energy be depleted.
Before that, poetry is unrivaled, and the sword is even more unrivaled.
Truly a sword immortal, Bai Ye puts countless sword cultivators to shame.
In the Azure World.
White Jade Capital, five cities and twelve towers, the foremost scene under heaven.
An immortal with disheveled hair rode a whale returning to the city, or rode a yellow crane across the sky; an old immortal on a high platform lost himself in form; outside the towers, Dao patterns rippled like water; within the city, ancient immortals had purple clouds gathering on their heads forming a Five Peaks crown. And the Azure World, the most suitable place for cultivation, those beautiful jades, dimly and hazily, their yin spirits roamed the White Jade Capital at night, going to the five cities and twelve towers, where immortals either bestowed green chapters and jade slips, or touched their heads to grant the method of eternal life.
Now it was the Second Dao Head who sat in the White Jade Capital.
The Third Sect Leader, Lu Chen, was responsible for going to the heavens beyond the heavens to deal with the endless extradimensional demons.
But Lu Chen often sneaked back to the White Jade Capital.
The Second Dao Head was too lazy to say much. Even the master didn't say anything, so as a senior brother, speaking was useless. In truth, only when the senior brother was present did junior brother Lu Chen behave a little. And that rare discipline was not because Lu Chen thought discipline was good, but simply out of respect for his senior brother.
Today, Lu Chen returned from beyond the heavens to the highest point of the White Jade Capital, pinching an extradimensional demon the size of a mustard seed between two fingers. Glancing at the unsheathed immortal sword behind his senior brother, he smiled and said, "What, you're going to carry your sword and travel to the Haoran world? What about the White Jade Capital? Master hasn't come to sit here for a long time. He can't break his rule for you. When the senior brother returns to the White Jade Capital, that would be a different story."
The Second Dao Head was tall with a middle-aged face. He ignored Lu Chen's idle talk and only asked with a frown, "Bai Ye once devoted his heart to the Dao in his early years. Why didn't you act?"
The long sword behind the Second Dao Head hummed faintly, as if responding to the immortal sword Grand White across the world.
Lu Chen leaned on the railing and smiled, "I didn't want the White Jade Capital to have another boring immortal. I didn't want my hometown to lose its most proud son. Senior Brother, are you satisfied with this answer?"
The Second Dao Head said no more.
Lu Chen was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed and cursed, "This Daoist Sun is utterly improper. When I get back, I'll go curse at the gate of the Great Profound View Monastery."
Earlier, Daoist Sun of the Great Profound View Monastery had unexpectedly appeared outside the White Jade Capital. He didn't look toward the highest point, only gazed at one of the tall cities of the White Jade Capital, then dropped a line and left.
"Oh, so the White Jade Capital does have true immortals after all."
Central Earth Divine Continent of the Haoran world.
At Dragon-Tiger Mountain Heavenly Master Mansion, a young Daoist with a face like flawless jade stood on a Star-Gazing Platform, calculating on his fingers within his sleeve.
He wore the most conspicuous unique Daoist robe of the Heavenly Master Mansion, with yellow and purple energies swirling around the robe—the famous "feather-robed minister and noble, yellow-purple nobleman."
A sword-carrying young attendant appeared out of nowhere on the platform. The young Daoist turned and performed a bow with clasped hands. The young attendant, with one hand behind his back, faced the current Grand Heavenly Master of Dragon-Tiger Mountain and only formed a single-handed sword seal as a return salute.
The fifth world, Ascending City.
Ning Yao pressed a hand to her brow.
Vase Continent.
On a golden arched bridge, a tall woman sat on the railing, sword across her knees. She gently swept up her black hair.
A sword spirit attendant?
Of course not.
The sword spirit was originally her refined creation. To be precise, she had always been the sword spirit, but she had never been any sword spirit.
She was unwilling for people to know this. So even Old Man Yang, who had been the first to withdraw from the battlefield, could not guess the truth. Qi Jingchun, with his gentlemanly demeanor, was unwilling to deduce much about this matter, so he too was unaware.
Only the then-young "Liu Shiliu," after being dragged into this place by her, had guessed some clues, but he still did not know the whole truth. Hence Liu Shiliu had the question, "The sword attendant is already dead?"
Back when she went to the Sword Qi Great Wall, Chen Qingdu knew her identity clearly. But as the matter was of great importance, and he didn't know what this senior was thinking, he had to feign ignorance and cooperate with her to deceive Chen Ping'an. Even when she told him, "Go die somewhere far," Chen Qingdu could only pinch his nose and indeed go far away.
If she were merely one of the four immortal sword spirits, she would not have deserved Chen Qingdu's address of "senior."
Ten thousand years ago, one of the five supreme gods of the Heavenly Court, the Sword Bearer, had killing power beyond the heavens. In the conquests of all directions, the corpses of offending gods and earth-bound demons piled into mountains beneath her sword. Even the many blessed lands and cave heavens, including the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, were fragments of the world that she had casually cut apart with her sword.
Later, the Fire God, employing the Blazing Star Envoy, joined with the Water God to gather the essence of heaven and earth to forge four swords, all imitations of this god's sword.
And later still, under heaven, the swordsmanship spread to the mortal world, dividing into four lineages—some hidden, some manifesting—spreading outward. Besides Chen Qingdu's lineage at the Sword Qi Great Wall, there were the Dragon-Tiger Mountain Heavenly Master Mansion lineage, the Great Profound View Monastery Daoist sword immortal lineage, and a lineage on the Lotus Flower Buddhist Kingdom side.
Among them, the damaged immortal sword that Chen Qingdu brought to the Sword Qi Great Wall was truly not suitable for all-out strikes. Hence, for ten thousand years, it had been quietly awaiting its master's appearance. After an agonizing ten thousand years, it was finally given by Chen Qingdu to Ning Yao—or rather, the sword spirit had chosen Ning Yao willingly. That was the root reason why Ning Yao could gallop ahead so far in the Dao of the sword on the Sword Qi Great Wall.
Therefore, back when Ning Yao traveled to the Pearly Pearl Cave Heaven, she paid any price to open her heavenly eye on her brow and offer that sword. At that time, she opened her eyes to see who had inherited this lineage of swordsmanship that she had personally passed down to Chen Qingdu in the mortal world ten thousand years later.
Back during the riverside council, when Old Scholar took out that scroll depicting the River of Time, she was the one standing alone at the farthest distance.
As for why she was willing to teach swordsmanship to humanity so early, and why she was willing to stand on the same side as humanity—heaven knows. At any rate, in her eyes, the multitudes of gods back then were also mere ants.
Thus, three thousand years ago, when the dragon-slaying campaign created the Pearly Pearl Cave Heaven, it still seemed as ridiculous to her as playing house.
Because she was not a sword spirit.
Under heaven and above heaven.
She is the Sword Master.