Venerable Cangyang was suppressed within the Bright Moon Wheel by Shi Yuqing. The Bright Moon Wheel was a rare and wondrous treasure in its own right, a dharma treasure belonging to the sect masters of the Mount Shu Sword Sect and passed down through generations. However, this treasure possessed little spirituality and could not compare to the bronze bell.
Presumably, the Immortal Sword Siwuxie frequently severed the wicked thoughts of people and dharma treasures alike, making it difficult for treasures of the Sword Sect to cultivate spirituality.
The group arrived beneath the Immortal Sword Siwuxie. With a mind free of distracting thoughts, Xu Ying looked upward, only to see sword light as dazzling as celestial radiance, shimmering with colors beyond the power of words to describe. Amidst the myriad streaks of sword light, he caught sight of an immense sword tip, towering like a mountain peak, plunging downward from another world.
The sword light was none other than the brilliance radiated by this immortal sword during its descent!
One could even see the splendid, colorful Immortal Realm behind the sword.
Greatly astonished, Xu Ying took a few steps back and looked up again. The Immortal Sword Siwuxie pointed downward, suspended above the mountain peak. Though the blade was slender and long, its tip appeared slightly rounded and sleek, like a drop of water. Taking a few more steps forward until he stood directly beneath the sword tip, he once more saw the immortal sword plummeting from the Immortal Realm.
"This immortal sword exists between the mortal and the immortal, never truly having left the Immortal Realm!"
Xu Ying suddenly understood. This was just like Xu Fu's Mount Fangzhang or Wu Tianzun's immortal mountain—standing upon them, one could gaze into the Immortal Realm! The Immortal Sword Siwuxie was already a part of the Immortal Realm; after descending to the mortal world, it appeared to be within the mortal dust, but from its own perspective, it still resided in the Immortal Realm!
"This is truly bizarre."
Xu Ying also recalled the bronze immortal palace on Wangxiang Platform. When passing beside that palace, looking up would likewise reveal a view of the Immortal Realm.
That scene was strikingly similar to the circumstances of Mount Fangzhang and the Immortal Sword Siwuxie.
"The Immortal Dao is truly marvelous."
Shi Yuqing summoned Venerable Cangyang. The old man was half-toad, half-human, still struggling incessantly in an attempt to break free.
Shi Yuqing bowed and said, "Sword Ancestor, three thousand years ago, Venerable Cangyang led numerous venerables deep into Wangxiang Platform in hopes of preserving vital strength for our Sword Sect. In the end, he became trapped in Wangxiang Platform and was corrupted by the Immortal Dao, turning into what he is today. In order to retrieve the other venerables, I beseech the Sword Ancestor to intervene and purge the immortal poison from Venerable Cangyang."
The Immortal Sword Siwuxie rotated neither hurriedly nor slowly. A crisp voice rang out—the voice of a child, indistinguishable in gender: "Leave him here, and I will refine away his immortal poison. However, to prolong his life, he merged himself with a toad; this is something I cannot change."
Shi Yuqing felt troubled. If Venerable Cangyang's physical form could not be restored, did that not mean he would remain half-toad and half-human forever?
"Furthermore, some of his living habits cannot be changed either," the immortal sword's voice added.
Shi Yuqing froze. What did it mean that his living habits could not be changed?
"Sword Ancestor, this is our Sword Sect's newly appointed Grand Supreme Elder, Xu Ying. Please do not accidentally harm him," she introduced Xu Ying to the immortal sword.
"Grand Supreme Elder?"
The Immortal Sword Siwuxie sounded surprised. Suddenly, a streak of sword qi descended from the heavens and struck the ground, transforming into a two-foot-tall child of ambiguous gender whose gaze swept toward Xu Ying like a blade. This was not the true form of the Immortal Sword Siwuxie, but a projection of sword qi taking on a visible appearance; the true sword remained suspended high in the sky. The child said, "You look somewhat familiar."
Xu Ying felt uneasy and asked, "Has Senior seen me before?"
The sword child replied, "I seem to recall seeing your portrait somewhere—the kind posted in bustling places, with the word 'Wanted' written across it... I can't remember clearly."
Shi Yuqing was struck dumb, thinking to herself, *Siwuxie descended from the Immortal Realm and has hung high above the Sword Sect ever since arriving in the mortal world. Where could it have seen a wanted poster of the Grand Supreme Elder? Could it be the Immortal Realm? Wait a moment!*
Her face darkened slightly. *Why would the Grand Supreme Elder be on a wanted poster in the first place?*
The sword child quickly lost interest in Xu Ying and stepped forward to examine Venerable Cangyang. It flew into Venerable Cangyang's body, making a complete circuit.
Xu Ying, Shi Yuqing, and the others hurried backward. Prismatic sword light refracted from within Venerable Cangyang's body, swirling and revolving as it purged the Immortal Dao pollution from his flesh.
After a moment, Venerable Cangyang's body shook violently, and his Realm of Xiyi manifested. Variegated sword light vibrated within the Realm of Xiyi, cleansing the Immortal Dao pollution and soon reaching the Twelve-Storyed Mansions. Watching this unfold, Xu Ying whispered to Shi Yuqing, "I'm only fourteen years old. The person Siwuxie saw on a wanted poster definitely wasn't me."
Shi Yuqing replied, "When we first met, didn't you say you were over twenty thousand years old?"
The sword light breached the Twelve-Storyed Mansions. Two swords impaling the eyes of Venerable Cangyang's Primordial Spirit shuddered violently and withdrew, rapidly shooting backward with sharp snaps. Next, the iron swords driven into his ears vibrated and pulled free, and the sword suspended above his head retreated as well.
Before long, Venerable Cangyang's Primordial Spirit was restored to normal.
Sword qi shone brilliantly within the mansions, carving out Cangyang's mouth and nose.
At that very moment, the mouth of Venerable Cangyang's Primordial Spirit suddenly opened, and the sound echoing from his throat was still the sounds of the Immortal Dao! As that bizarre melody rang out, it instantly disrupted the outside world!
Shi Yuqing and Yuan Qi both grunted in pain, blood seeping from their eyes, ears, noses, and mouths. The Dao images across the bronze bell's surface warped in chaos, clanging frantically!
Jin Buyi groaned, staggering back repeatedly. Only the purple immortal plant and Xu Ying remained temporarily unharmed.
The intoxicating sounds of the Immortal Dao issuing from Cangyang's mouth spread outward from the summit, immediately polluting the surrounding peaks of the Sword Sect. Countless plants and trees grew wildly like venomous dragons and giant pythons, the mountain beasts wailed and howled, and many colossal creatures actually began to fuse with various flora!
Among the seventy-two peaks of the Sword Sect, the nearest mountains were soon coated in green slime.
Upon these peaks stood forests of swords—flying swords left behind by generations of Sword Sect disciples, all driven into the mountain rock.
At this moment, these flying swords suddenly hummed and vibrated, soaring out from the cliffs on their own and naturally forming a vast sword array. Whirling around peak after peak, their sword qi surged fiercely to burn away the green slime on the mountains! The Sword Sect possessed an ancient history, having accumulated countless flying swords that had formed a symbiotic bond with the sect over the ages. Now that the Sword Sect was in peril, they flew forth of their own accord to defend it! Such was the profound heritage of a sect that had endured across eternity!
Yet in the next breath, the flying swords grew disordered under the grinding tones of the Immortal Dao. The Dao image imprints within the blades distorted and twisted, turning the swords against one another in a frenzy of mutual slaughter, snapping countless blades in an instant. In mere moments, the Sword Sect was polluted to look like another Wangxiang Platform, sending a thrill of dread through even Xu Ying!
At the critical juncture, the Immortal Sword Siwuxie shone with dazzling brilliance. Celestial light rained down, pinning Venerable Cangyang's Primordial Spirit and sealing his mouth shut.
Only then did the myriad flying swords swirling around the seventy-two peaks cease fighting. Soaring through the air, they returned one by one to their respective peaks, thrusting themselves back into the mountain rock. Even so, thousands upon thousands of flying swords had been ruined simply because Venerable Cangyang had spoken.
The sword child leapt out from the Twelve-Storyed Mansions and said, "The Immortal Dao pollution afflicting him is extraordinarily severe. This isn't the pollution caused by an immortal artifact falling into the mortal world; it is the pollution caused by a fallen immortal! Leave for now, and return in a few days!"
Shi Yuqing, Yuan Qi, and the others regained their wits. Lingering fear gripping their hearts, they hurried away from the summit.
"Our Sword Sect has not yet officially begun accepting disciples. I originally planned to open the gates only after Venerable Cangyang and the others returned."
Shi Yuqing led Xu Ying and the companions to the Sword Sect's Sword Washing Pool. Behind the pool lay ten thousand mu of medicinal herb fields, brimming with an array of spirit herbs whose spiritual light pierced straight into the clouds in a spectacular display.
The spirit herbs in those fields resembled great Qi Refiners who had cultivated a Primordial Spirit and were awaiting ascension—each possessing long, profound vitality and a rich fragrance.
More importantly, the sheer quantity of spirit herbs was staggering!
"These spirit herbs were planted three thousand years ago. With no one to harvest them, every single one possesses at least three thousand years of medicinal potency."
Shi Yuqing sighed, pulled up a three-thousand-year-old spirit ginseng, and casually pressed it into Xu Ying's hands. "In the past, taking out even one of these herbs would cause people to crack heads fighting over it. But that was three thousand years ago. Nowadays, aside from herbs that enhance aptitude and comprehension, I doubt anyone covets these things."
Xu Ying rinsed it in the water and took a bite. Instantly, an unruly, tempestuous medicinal power erupted within him, battering his six entrails and jolting his mystic passes. It shook his Heavenly Mountains, making the waters of the Heavenly River surge violently like an impending flood!
He hastily suppressed the medicinal power, puzzled. "This kind of spirit herb is different from the immortal medicine of the human body's six secrets."
Shi Yuqing gave a slight nod. "The potency of such spirit herbs is simply too violent, bringing immense peril when attempting to break through passes. Therefore, refining a great medicine to storm a pass is always a trial between life and death. Every year, many senior martial brothers and sisters died from breaking through passes with great medicine, and everyone was constantly busy seeking the spirit herbs needed to refine it."
A frown furrowed her brow as she sighed. "Yet the immortal medicines fished from the six secrets carry no such danger. It is too smooth."
Gnawing through the three-thousand-year-old spirit ginseng like a turnip, Xu Ying smiled and asked, "Isn't that a good thing?"
Shi Yuqing replied, "It just feels too smooth, lacking the tempering of life and death."
Xu Ying shook his head. "You only think the tempering of life and death is good, but you forget those who died because of it."
Shi Yuqing's heart was shaken, and she nodded in agreement.
She picked some ripe berries from the spirit herbs to entertain Xu Ying and the rest. In the past, these were exceptionally rare spirit medicines, but today they were treated like ordinary fruit.
Once Xu Ying, Yuan Qi, and Jin Buyi had eaten and drunk their fill, the purple immortal plant drove its rootlets into the spirit herbs, devouring them until only husks remained, thoroughly gorging itself.
Looking across the ten thousand mu of herb fields, the purple immortal plant could not help but harbor wicked desires. Instantly, several sword strikes pierced it, sending it writhing on the ground in agony until it dared not even think of it, let alone act.
Seeing this, Xu Ying felt a chill. *Who knows what wicked scheme this fellow was plotting again. With Siwuxie being so formidable, how could one possibly rob the graves?*
The moment the thought crossed his mind, a sword strike pierced his chest. He hastily turned to internal observation and visualization and circulated the Taiyi Guiding Technique to purge any stray thoughts.
Shi Yuqing guided him toward the Sword Immortal Precipice, saying, "Our Mount Shu Sword Sect honors the sword above all else; under the heavens, no one can surpass Mount Shu in swordsmanship. However, our Mount Shu also underwent the incident of the other shore, leaving many of the Sword Sect's classics with no one left to decipher them."
Xu Ying followed her. The Sword Immortal Precipice was carved with all manner of exquisite sword techniques, radiating an astonishing sword intent.
The precipice gave off the domineering aura typical of peerless treasures, its sword intent rushing straight at them. As the bronze bell flew ahead, its surface even emitted crisp clinking sounds, as though countless streaks of sword qi were stabbing into it.
*Perhaps I am not the foremost treasure beneath immortal artifacts after all,* the bronze bell thought, awestruck. *This precipice is much more formidable than me! Wait, it doesn't seem to possess sentience; it hasn't awakened the self-awareness of a dharma treasure. In that case, I am still the number one treasure!*
Standing before the precipice, Xu Ying looked at one of the sword manuals. Countless sword lights suddenly flashed before his eyes, as though peerless swordsmen were attacking him! That was the sword intent of the Sword Sect's masters clashing with his consciousness, giving rise to visual anomalies!
With a thought, Xu Ying's mental avatar activated a sword manual and wielded sword arts, contesting against the intent of the Sword Sect master just like two grandmasters exchanging moves.
Except this contest took place entirely within the mind!
Though his sword intent was potent, it was still inferior to that left by the Sword Sect's ancient masters. Strangely, however, the master's sword intent remained on an equal footing with his own, never using raw intent to overwhelm him. What truly posed a threat to Xu Ying were the techniques embedded within that sword intent!
"This Sword Immortal Precipice is inscribed with the ultimate arts of our Sword Sect's ancestral masters across generations," Shi Yuqing remarked. "When ordinary people come here, they cannot even endure the first stone wall; they would flee in terror.
"The deeper one goes, the stronger the sword intent and the more profound the heritage. The Sword Immortal Precipice spans ten li. Since ancient times, many have come to this precipice seeking the supreme sword arts, but no one has ever reached the end and walked out the other side."
Xu Ying honed his sword intent, using the Thirteen Heavenly Sword Forms to parry the deadly techniques in his mind. The Thirteen Heavenly Sword Forms were both the Martial Dao and the Heavenly Dao; so subtle and exquisite were they that even Li Xiaoke had been forced to admit defeat and study them with humility.
Unfolding the Thirteen Heavenly Sword Forms, Xu Ying unraveled the sword moves left by the Sword Sect master on the first wall and walked toward the second stone wall, asking, "Yuqing, how far did you get?"
Shi Yuqing replied, "I reached the Immortal Sword Cliff, two stone walls away from the end. My master told me that was already the best result in ten thousand years. Master said I was still young, and if I entered the ten-li precipice again in a few years, I would certainly be able to go further. Unfortunately..."
Her expression dimmed. Not long after her master, the sect master, had spoken those words, heaven and earth had drastically changed. From then on, her master along with everyone else in the Sword Sect had vanished from this world, as though they had never existed.
Steeling her Dao heart, Shi Yuqing said, "Three thousand years ago, Li Xiaoke, who was renowned across the world for his Dual Perfection of Bell and Sword, also came to test himself against the Sword Immortal Precipice, but he came to a halt before the Immortal Sword Cliff."
Hearing Li Xiaoke's name, the bronze bell could not help but listen intently. It was deeply affectionate; though it constantly referred to him as its scrap-metal master, it still cared for Li Xiaoke a great deal.
Immersed in the mental sword duel of the second stone wall, Xu Ying said nothing.
Yuan Qi followed closely behind Xu Ying, also studying the sword arts on the stone walls and dueling in his mind to hone his own swordsmanship. As for the bronze bell, the purple immortal plant, and Jin Buyi, they did not enter the ten-li Sword Immortal Precipice.
Jin Buyi dozed off on the mountain, while the purple immortal plant crept stealthily toward the vast medicinal fields, waving its rootlets as it prepared to plunge into those millennia-old spirit herbs.
The heart of the Immortal Sword Siwuxie was lucid and pure, brooking not the slightest wicked thought. Invisible sword qi stabbed into the purple immortal plant one after another. The plant immediately collapsed to the ground, twitching all over, yet it still inched its rootlets stubbornly toward the medicinal fields.
The sword qi multiplied, growing ever more powerful. Still, the purple immortal plant crawled forward with great difficulty, staking its very life to stretch out rootlet after rootlet and pierce into those spirit herbs.
Before the Sword Immortal Precipice, Shi Yuqing also entered the ten-li cliff to test what she had learned and comprehended during this period.
She was, after all, the new sect master chosen by the Sword Sect, bearing the heavy duty of carrying on the past and opening up the future. She knew the various sword arts on the stone walls like the back of her hand, quickly leaving Xu Ying behind as she ventured deeper into the precipice.
However, the further in one went, the stronger the sword intent contained within the stone walls, the more exquisite the sword techniques, and the more profound the Sword Dao.
Halfway through, Shi Yuqing unwittingly slowed her pace. By the time she defeated the sword intent in a stone wall and awoke once more, she discovered that Xu Ying had already caught up and was not far from her. Shi Yuqing was startled: *He learns this quickly?*
"I am not learning; I am perfecting my sword techniques, my sword intent, and my Sword Dao."
Xu Ying strolled to her side, his expression relaxed. "The sea of learning knows no bounds. Our life has a limit, but knowledge has none. To pursue the limitless with the limited is foolish! Thus, I do not study the sword arts of these predecessors; rather, I use their sword arts to hone and perfect my own. This is the true path of seeking knowledge."
Chapter 215