Chapter 2974: The Qingping Sword
The abyss leading straight to the depths of the earth had a mouth a hundred zhang long, shaped very much like a human eye—rounded in some places, narrow and elongated in others.
Two such abysses lay side by side, like a giant lying on the ground, gazing up at the sky.
The black light and mist surging from within them could slay gods.
Divine Qi continuously released from within Chi Yao's body, sustaining the Space-Time Chaos Lotus as it withstood the chaotic forces erupting from the two abysses.
She said, "We should leave this place first. Even after death, the residual power of an Infinite Realm powerhouse is still extraordinary."
Shangqing Patriarch was different from Yunqing Ancient Buddha.
Yunqing Ancient Buddha's corpse had been eroded by dark force in the Ancient Desolate Ruins City for eight hundred thousand years. That was why Zhang Ruochen and the others had been able to enter his divine body relatively easily back then.
But even so, the residual power of Yunqing Ancient Buddha within his divine body had still been formidable.
It was just that Yunqing Ancient Buddha's consciousness had been clear, and he had not attacked them.
Shangqing Patriarch, however, was different. He had only fallen two hundred thousand years ago, and the Liangyi Sect had not been eroded by dark force. The residual power remaining in the Seventh Mountain was naturally extraordinary.
Even more terrifying was the fact that the reason Shangqing Patriarch had been killed back then remained a mystery to this day.
No one knew whether Shangqing Patriarch had been good or evil.
Xiao Hei raised his charred black wings, agreeing with Chi Yao's opinion, and urged, "Let's go quickly. We can't afford to provoke Infinite Realm gods. It won't be too late to come back when we reach the Taizhen Realm."
Xiao Hei was an Undying Bird, originally possessing extremely strong recovery ability.
But the power of an Infinite Realm god had invaded his divine body, making his injuries difficult to heal. He stood there black as a piece of charcoal, his eyes nervously scanning the surroundings.
"Wait a moment. There's a sword inserted over there."
Zhang Ruochen had made a discovery and pointed toward the position between the two abysses.
Between the two patches of black light and mist, a slender cyan light flickered on and off.
Chi Yao mobilized the power of truth, her pupils transforming as if into two galaxies. Penetrating through the black light and mist, she indeed saw a black sword thrust into the ground.
On the sword's body, a cyan lotus was carved, lifelike in its detail.
"Clang!"
The black sword let out a startlingly sharp sword cry, rising from the ground like a cyan rainbow. Instantly, tens of thousands of sword qi within the entire Seventh Mountain converged toward it.
Zhang Ruochen sensed an extremely dangerous premonition and roared, "Not good. Let's go."
Chi Yao, Xiao Hei, and Zhang Ruochen burst forth at their fastest speed, rushing down the mountain along the original path.
The sword cry pursued them closely, growing nearer and nearer, as if ringing right in their ears.
"What the hell is going on? Could it be that Shangqing didn't die completely? That shouldn't be! If Biluozi made the move, he should be dead as dead can be!"
Xiao Hei, now in his owl form, was pitch black all over. His claws frantically dug into the ground, and his wings flapped like two windmills.
"You go ahead. I'll hold the rear."
Zhang Ruochen, who was at the very back, suddenly stopped, turned around, and reached out his hand.
"Six-in-One Sword Startling God Formation!"
The six divine swords sealed in his right hand flew out, forming a sword dao divine formation that clashed with the black war sword flying from behind.
Instantly, tens of thousands of sword qi collided with each other, streaks of light flying back and forth.
Even though Zhang Ruochen activated the formation with all his strength, he could barely hold his ground. The ground beneath his feet shattered, his body sank into the earth, and blood gushed from his arm.
The wounds spread from his arm to his shoulder and chest.
"Rustle!"
The Seven-Source Colorful Garment emerged, radiating seven-colored light.
"Even a divine sword, without its master to activate it, shouldn't be able to unleash such power. Could it be... could it be that Shangqing Patriarch really isn't dead?"
Suddenly, the pressure on Zhang Ruochen lightened, and a warmth spread across his back.
A powerful divine force continuously poured into his body.
"I said I'd hold the rear. Why did you come back?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Xiao Hei's charred black wing pressed against his back, saying, "If this emperor had left, could you have handled it alone? This sword dao divine formation is certainly powerful, but it also consumes a tremendous amount of divine qi."
Chi Yao had not fled either. She gracefully soared into the air, hovering in midair as she observed, saying, "This sword should be the legendary Qingping Sword of Shangqing Patriarch. The sword itself is not a divine artifact and doesn't possess such power on its own, but the sword spirit can mobilize the power of the entire Seventh Mountain for its own use."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Quickly cut off the connection between the sword spirit and the Seventh Mountain."
Chi Yao extended a slender white jade finger. From her divine sea, billions of space rules flew out from her fingertip.
She drew a line with her finger.
"Whoosh!"
Using her powerful divine force, she severed the divine patterns left behind by Shangqing Patriarch in heaven and earth. A spatial rift appeared, separating the black war sword from the Seventh Mountain.
Sensing that the black war sword's power had greatly diminished, Zhang Ruochen leaped into the air. Protected by the six divine swords, he transformed into a beam of light, charged forward, and grabbed the sword hilt.
The black war sword struggled in Zhang Ruochen's hand, sometimes soaring into the sky, sometimes plunging into the ground.
But it could not break free from Zhang Ruochen's five fingers.
"Boom!"
Zhang Ruochen flew through the air, ethereal and transcendent. Sword dao rules flew out from his body, enveloping the black war sword. He forcefully thrust it into the ground, gripping the hilt with both hands, suppressing it firmly.
"Refine for me!"
Divine flame surged from the palms of both hands, tempering the sword body.
Inside the sword body, the sword spirit let out a miserable cry, saying, "Great God, spare my life. Please don't refine me. If I dissipate, the power of the Qingping Sword will surely be greatly diminished."
On the sword body, the cyan lotus flickered.
"It really is the Qingping Sword!"
Zhang Ruochen pulled the sword out and raised it above his head, turning the sky above into a cyan firmament.
"Why did you attack us? If you don't confess honestly, I'll cut you down with a divine sword." Zhang Ruochen could already tell that the Qingping Sword was a sub-divine-grade supreme sacred artifact.
If it hadn't borrowed the power of the Seventh Mountain, it might not even have been able to defeat a false god.
The sword spirit said, "This is my territory. You intruded, so naturally I had to strike."
That...
Seemed to be true!
Zhang Ruochen said, "I'll ask you this: how long have you been here?"
"About two hundred thousand years," the sword spirit said.
"What exactly happened two hundred thousand years ago? Is the one buried here really Shangqing Patriarch?"
The sword spirit hesitated for a moment before saying, "I don't know what happened either. Two hundred thousand years ago, I was severely wounded, and all my memories were cut away. However, the power here feels very close to me, and I can mobilize it easily. The one buried here should be my master."
Chi Yao walked over and said, "Even a newly born sword spirit can recall some of the experiences this sword has been through. You are not a newly born sword spirit. How could you have no memory at all of what happened two hundred thousand years ago? Since you are being so dishonest, I'll cut you down."
She grabbed Divine Sword Number Six and swung it down.
"Sword Realm! Sword Realm..." the Qingping Sword's sword spirit shouted loudly.
Divine Sword Number Six hovered above the Qingping Sword, not falling.
Chi Yao said, "What did you say? What do you mean by Sword Realm?"
"I am just a sword spirit. Why must you be so cruel? Everything I said earlier was the truth. My memories really were cut away, leaving only some fragments," the sword spirit said.
"Stop stalling. If you don't speak up, this emperor will cut you down too," Xiao Hei said harshly.
The sword spirit said, "The only thing I can remember is the Sword Realm. It seems I once followed my master through endless darkness to an ancient great world. That great world was called the Sword Realm. Other than that, I truly can't remember anything else."
"You're being too dishonest. Full of lies. You're asking for death."
Xiao Hei wrapped his wing around the Titan Ghost Axe and swung it down, colliding with the Qingping Sword.
"Bang!"
Ripples of supreme-level energy surged outward.
Xiao Hei was sent flying backward, his wing nearly shaken off. A shallow gash appeared on the Titan Ghost Axe in his hand. Seeing this gash, his heart ached terribly. Only then did he realize that a town-suppressing supreme sacred artifact and a sub-divine-grade supreme sacred artifact truly could not clash head-on.
He had been reckless!
"Zhang Ruochen, what the hell do you mean? Why are you attacking this emperor?" Xiao Hei demanded.
If Zhang Ruochen hadn't infused divine qi into the Qingping Sword, how could Xiao Hei have been repelled?
Zhang Ruochen's gaze was solemn, and he said, "I don't think he's lying."
"Didn't you say that the Sword Realm was already destroyed, and even the Sword Ancestor fled from the Sword Realm to the Kunlun Realm?" Xiao Hei said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "But the Sword South Realm has emerged!"
Xiao Hei finally calmed down, and then a look of shock appeared in his eyes. "The Sword South Realm? Are you saying that the Sword South Realm is connected to the Sword Realm?"
Zhang Ruochen nodded. "The Sword South Realm should only be a part of the Sword Realm! In the Sword South Realm, we found the Origin Divine Temple, but we didn't find the Sword God Temple."
"The endless darkness that the Qingping Sword's sword spirit mentioned should refer to the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain."
"If I'm not mistaken, the Sword Realm was only shattered, not completely destroyed. The Three Pure Patriarchs found the Sword Realm in the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain and broke through to the Infinite Realm there."
Xiao Hei shook his head. "Isn't that guess a bit too bold? There's no evidence at all."
"I dare to make this guess because I have my reasons."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Two hundred thousand years ago was a very special time. The Twenty-Four Heavens fell, the Heavenly Court had not yet been established, and the myriad realms were without a leader, in complete chaos."
"At that time, the Hell Realm forces, led by the Darkness Temple and various undead clans, were already at war with the Heavenly Court. The star domain where the Kunlun Realm was located bordered the Hell Realm's Yellow Spring Star River, making its geographical position quite special."
"Under such circumstances back then, the gods of the Kunlun Realm were certainly under immense pressure. Everyone wanted to rapidly enhance their cultivation to break through to a higher realm."
"We all understand how difficult it is to reach the Infinite Realm. Prodigies as astonishingly talented as Xuanyi and Jue Miao Channa, as well as Moon God, Jia Tianxia, Ming Sword God... and a large group of other gods, were all stuck below the Infinite Realm, unable to break through for hundreds of thousands of years. Even someone like Wuqingzong had to cultivate for five eons before successfully breaking through."
"I have contemplated the 'Taiji Innate Skill.' This technique is only a fragment of the 'Innate Dao Method,' with many missing parts, and it emphasizes martial arts over enlightenment."
"Moreover, the Three Pure Patriarchs primarily cultivated the sword dao. And the sword dao passed down by the Sword Ancestor was also incomplete. Therefore, theoretically speaking, it was impossible for them to break through to the Infinite Realm relying solely on the 'Taiji Innate Skill' and the sword dao."
"Under the circumstances at the time, if I were them, I could only choose to seek out the Sword Ancestor's original realm, to find the complete sword dao, and to break through to the Infinite Realm through the sword. At that time, they must have found some clue in the Kunlun Realm, which is why they went to search for the Sword Realm."
Having said this, Zhang Ruochen stopped and fell into deeper thought.
"Whoosh!"
A three-inch-long sword-shaped token flew out from his body, charging toward the two abysses surging with black light and mist.
Zhang Ruochen let out a soft exclamation of surprise and immediately gave chase.
This sword-shaped token had been given to him by the previous realm lord of the Sword South Realm on the Heaven Hunting Battlefield. Back then, when he inherited the sword soul in the Origin Divine Temple, the Sword Ancestor had called it the "Sword Seal."