Chapter 892: The Mysterious Sword Grave
The pyramid-shaped Sword Tomb Palace sat at the heart of the Nether King Sword Grave, like the center of heaven and earth, absorbing all the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within thousands of miles.
At this moment, inside the palace.
Wang Jie’s face was marked with bulging veins, his expression as fierce as a hawk’s. “Father, Ling Feiyu is far too arrogant. I am the son of the clan leader, after all. I have already taken the initiative to admit my fault and apologize to her, yet she shows me no face at all. My humiliation is one thing, but the key issue is that Father’s prestige has been severely damaged. I simply cannot swallow this anger.”
Wang Jie had knelt for an entire day and night, yet still failed to obtain Ling Feiyu’s forgiveness.
After all, he was a Half-Saint and the son of the clan leader. Even if Ling Feiyu was a Sword Saint, she should not have humiliated him like this.
One could imagine that countless members of the Zhenyu Ancient Clan were laughing at him. Especially Shi Ren, who was probably hiding somewhere, enjoying his misfortune.
Wang Beilie, the clan leader of the Zhenyu Ancient Clan, fixed a cold, sharp gaze on Wang Jie, who stood below. “If you can’t swallow it, you still have to swallow it. You have already cultivated to become a Half-Saint, yet you still let your emotions rule your actions. Before you do anything, can you think it through carefully first?”
“Ling Feiyu is one of the nine palace masters of the Demon Sect. Three hundred years ago, at the age of nineteen, she reached the supreme extreme of the Heavenly Extreme Realm. Then, with her heaven-defying talent, she dominated an era. Among her peers, no one could rival her. She can be called the Holy Maiden with the highest talent in the history of the Demon Sect.”
“Now, her cultivation level is so high, her strength so formidable, and her sword path so exquisite that even I, your father, must yield to her to some extent.”
“Moreover, Ling Feiyu came to the Nether King Sword Grave to fulfill the promise of the Skyward Sword lineage, helping the Zhenyu Ancient Clan deal with the Undying Blood Clan. Once the Undying Blood Clan retreats, she will definitely leave.”
“Therefore, your enemy is not her, but Shi Ren. To become the young clan leader of the Zhenyu Ancient Clan, you must be more outstanding than Shi Ren, and you must also make more allies to pave the way for the future.”
Wang Jie could not let go of his resentment toward Ling Feiyu, but he dared not show it in front of his father.
At the mention of the name “Shi Ren,” Wang Jie let out a cold snort. “My cultivation has already reached the Fifth-Rank Half-Saint realm, while Shi Ren is only at the Second-Rank Half-Saint realm. I am so much more outstanding than Shi Ren, yet those old stubborn fools still support him instead of me.”
Suddenly, Wang Jie thought of something else and immediately looked up. “Shi Ren is very close to Zhang Ruochen, and Zhang Ruochen is very likely secretly colluding with the Undying Blood Clan. If we can seize on this point, we can definitely bring Shi Ren down.”
Wang Beilie nodded, his gaze deep and thoughtful. “Zhang Ruochen is indeed a big problem. Not only is he a major criminal of the imperial court, but he is also very likely a sleeper agent of the Undying Blood Clan. If not for the fact that Xuanji Sword Saint is still alive, I would have driven him out of the Nether King Sword Grave long ago.”
Zhang Ruochen had Xuanji Sword Saint as his backing, so anyone who wanted to deal with him had to think twice. Wang Beilie had naturally considered this aspect as well.
Wang Jie, however, did not think that far. In his view, Zhang Ruochen’s closeness to Shi Ren was a threat to his bid for the position of young clan leader, and he had to be eliminated.
Wang Jie said coldly, “All the signs indicate that Zhang Ruochen is definitely a sleeper agent of the Undying Blood Clan. If not for Ling Feiyu protecting him, he would have been dead the night before last.”
Wang Jie could see that Ling Feiyu was deliberately shielding Zhang Ruochen, and Wang Beilie could see it too.
Wang Beilie said, “Zhang Ruochen is, after all, the sword bearer of the Skyward Sword. Even if we want to deal with him, it cannot be someone from the Zhenyu Ancient Clan who makes the move. If that happens, it will surely invite criticism, and outsiders will think the Zhenyu Ancient Clan is ungrateful.”
Wang Jie’s eyes lit up. “Father means you will arrange for someone else to deal with him?”
Wang Beilie’s face bore a calm and composed expression. “In two days, the Little Saint Heavenly King Wan Zhaoyi and Shengshu Cainü will come to the Nether King Sword Grave to discuss the specifics of joining forces to deal with the Undying Blood Clan. You will go to welcome them personally.”
Although Wang Beilie did not explain further, Wang Jie understood and felt a secret joy.
Using the power of the imperial court to deal with Zhang Ruochen was naturally the best approach.
Killing with a borrowed knife was the most exquisite method.
Even Ling Feiyu would probably be unable to confront the imperial court head-on. At that time, they would take care of Zhang Ruochen in one fell swoop, and it would be best to drag Shi Ren into it as well.
…
…
Ling Feiyu’s cave dwelling was located on another spiritual mountain of the Nether King Sword Grave, called Bamboo Knot Mountain, which was also a place where spiritual energy converged.
Zhang Ruochen naturally stayed there as well, unable to leave.
Although many of Zhang Ruochen’s secrets had been discovered by Ling Feiyu, she did not know his greatest trump card—the Cosmic Divine Wood Map.
Zhang Ruochen naturally would not reveal it voluntarily.
Therefore, Zhang Ruochen could not enter the Cosmic Divine Wood Map and had to stay on Bamboo Knot Mountain, cultivating the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm. Through practicing the palm technique, he absorbed the divine blood power hidden in his blood and muscles.
For an entire half-day, Zhang Ruochen unleashed a total of one thousand three hundred palm strikes. The explosive sounds of air were extremely loud, audible even from a hundred miles away from Bamboo Knot Mountain.
The Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm was extremely firm and fierce, supremely yang and blazing. Especially since Zhang Ruochen had already cultivated it to the ninth palm, his entire body was filled with abundant yang energy, like a human-shaped blazing sun.
When he activated the palm technique, the scorching yang energy burst forth, melting the earth beneath him.
Zhang Ruochen took a long breath and slowly withdrew his arms. The flames and yang energy that had filled the surroundings flowed back into his body like a tide.
“I have absorbed half of the divine blood’s power. With another two days, I should be able to fully absorb it.”
Zhang Ruochen could clearly sense that his own strength had increased somewhat.
“At your age, being able to cultivate the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm to the ninth palm is enough to leave all your Buddhist peers far behind.”
Without a sound, Ling Feiyu appeared ten zhang away, opposite Zhang Ruochen.
She was still dressed in a purple robe, her face veiled, surrounded by holy light, revealing her graceful figure and giving off a hazy beauty.
Even when facing a Sword Saint, Zhang Ruochen remained extremely calm, without any fear. “To receive praise from Flying Feather Sword Saint is quite unexpected for me.”
“There’s nothing unexpected about it. If not for this saint seeing that your talent is not bad, you would have died the night before last,” Ling Feiyu said indifferently.
Zhang Ruochen just smiled slightly and did not refute.
He had to admit that, given the situation the night before, if Ling Feiyu had not taken him away, he would have indeed died in the Nether King Sword Grave.
Ling Feiyu added, “Follow me. I’ll take you somewhere.”
“Where?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
“When you get there, you’ll know.”
Before the words had even reached Zhang Ruochen’s ears, with a *shua* sound, Ling Feiyu transformed into a streak of purple light, flew to the top of the bamboo forest, and shot off into the distance.
Zhang Ruochen activated the Luanfeng Divine Seal’s swiftness, flames erupting from his legs. As if stepping on a luan and a phoenix, he chased after Ling Feiyu.
Ling Feiyu intentionally tested Zhang Ruochen, so she did not use her full speed.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen catch up, she sped up again.
Thus, in a chase, they flew about two thousand miles to a black wilderness, where Ling Feiyu descended from midair.
Then, Zhang Ruochen also landed, not far from Ling Feiyu.
This black wilderness was extremely cold. If water were placed on the ground, it would freeze into ice in an instant.
Yet, in the distance, there were also volcanoes spewing lava.
Extreme cold and extreme heat, two forces, intertwined.
Zhang Ruochen looked up. Above his head were layers of black clouds, as if pressing down from the sky to the ground. He could even see dense lightning shuttling through the clouds, forming a primordial scene like the opening of heaven and earth.
“Where is this?”
Zhang Ruochen’s expression turned serious.
“This is the true Sword Grave.”
Ling Feiyu stepped step by step into the black wilderness. “In ancient times, this place was always the grave of swords. Countless swords are buried underground, along with countless bones of sword cultivators.”
“No one knows why such a place formed, only that it has existed since ancient times, containing a very special power.”
Zhang Ruochen asked, “What special power?”
Ling Feiyu’s almond-shaped eyes glanced at Zhang Ruochen. “Once you enter the Sword Grave, a sword cultivator’s strength can increase several times. But the cultivation of other cultivators will be suppressed.”
Zhang Ruochen was secretly shocked. Such a strange place existed?
He immediately stopped and activated his Divine Mark Eye to observe his surroundings. To his surprise, the Sword Dao rules here were extremely dense, dozens of times denser than outside.
Apart from Sword Dao rules, there were no other Sacred Dao rules.
One could imagine that entering the Sword Grave to cultivate the Sword Dao would allow for rapid progress.
Zhang Ruochen said, “I understand! During the medieval period, the reason the human race built prisons in the Sword Grave was precisely because of this special power within it.”
Even the Nether King could not escape, let alone others.
Ling Feiyu added, “Not only that, the Sword Grave has another special power—the power of regeneration.”
“What does that mean?” Zhang Ruochen was somewhat puzzled.
“If you bury a broken sword in the Sword Grave, after a hundred years, a thousand years, or even ten thousand years, the sword underground can recover to its original state, or even become sharper. Of course, the higher the grade of the sword, the longer the time required once it is damaged,” Ling Feiyu said.
Such an unbelievable thing was hard to accept.
However, since it came from Ling Feiyu’s mouth, it must be true. (To be continued.)