Six days later, Xu Ying emerged from the Sword Immortal Precipice. Shi Yuqing did not follow him out; she remained behind to comprehend the Sword Dao Return to Truth Art that he had transcribed.
The Sword Dao Return to Truth Art was an extraordinary scripture uniting Qi Refinement, divine abilities, spell arts, sword heart, sword intent, and the Sword Dao into a single whole. Its highest and most profound principles reached straight toward the Immortal Dao.
Even though Xu Ying's deciphering had stripped away its lethal perils, cultivating and grasping it still demanded exceptional comprehension.
"With Shi Yuqing's aptitude, ten days to half a month should be enough for her to grasp the basics."
Xu Ying went to check on Yuan Qi. Seeing that the giant serpent was still studying the absolute arts on the stone cliffs with great diligence and focus, he chose not to disturb him, musing inwardly, "Seventh Master may not have the sharpest comprehension when it comes to the Sword Dao, but he is willing to put in the hard work. I can teach him the Sword Dao Return to Truth Art; perhaps he might actually master it."
Jin Buyi was dozing off, so Xu Ying did not wake the ancient bird either. Sweeping his divine sense across the surroundings, he noticed that the purple immortal plant was still causing mischief across the ten thousand mu of spirit medicine fields.
Xu Ying shook his head and made his way straight to the main peak.
At the summit, the bronze bell hovered beneath the Immortal Sword Siwuxie, letting out melodious chimes from time to time—whether using the sword qi to temper itself or periodically stirring up wicked thoughts was anyone's guess.
Meanwhile, the Immortal Sword Siwuxie was helping purge the Immortal Dao pollution from Venerable Cangyang. By now, Cangyang was no longer in a daze as before; he could already recall fragments of the past.
The lower half of the old man's body was that of a toad, and his disposition had shifted accordingly. Catching sight of a bird flying across the sky, he let out a croak and opened his mouth. His tongue shot out like a bolt of lightning, extending ten li to wrap around the bird and snap it back into his mouth.
With his mouth full of feathers, Venerable Cangyang craned his neck and swallowed the bird whole into his belly.
Xu Ying quietly picked up a stone and abruptly tossed it forward. Venerable Cangyang flicked his tongue, snatching the stone with a whoosh and dragging it into his mouth.
After a moment, the old man spat the stone out and glared at him with an unfriendly scowl.
Xu Ying laughed aloud. "I am the Sword Sect's Grand Supreme Elder. The status of a Sword Sect Venerable is considerably lower than mine, so don't you go acting up."
Venerable Cangyang suppressed his irritation, bowed slightly, and said, "This disciple greets the Elder."
Seeing that he was no longer raving mad, Xu Ying asked, "I heard from the sect master that you led many Sword Sect Venerables into the Wangxiang Platform. Why are you the only one left? What happened to the other Venerables?"
Venerable Cangyang's expression dimmed. "They are likely dead. The Wangxiang Platform devours people. After we went in, many were eaten."
Xu Ying paused, slightly taken aback, and inquired further.
Venerable Cangyang recounted his experiences within the Wangxiang Platform. Not long after they entered, everything had initially been normal. But later, a streak of fire plummeted from the heavens and slammed deep into the heart of the platform. The world's yuan qi violently surged, and things gradually took a sinister turn.
Some among them began to hear bizarre sounds. Others suffered horrific mutations in their bodies, with fleshy tumors sprouting across their backs that swiftly grew into the heads of other people.
Others entered a symbiosis with mushrooms, their heads covered in caps that burst with popping sounds, spewing spores into the air.
Some grew fused into the mountain rock; others merged into the flesh of their companions, turning grotesque and terrifying.
They abandoned many of their comrades. Once their fellows transformed into monsters, the others left them behind. By then, no one was thinking about preserving the living strength of the Sword Sect anymore—only how to survive.
They sought a way out of the Wangxiang Platform. But just then, a surge of green mist rolled in from behind, cutting off any retreat. They resolved to follow the first-generation ancestral master's map to find a path of survival and escape the Wangxiang Platform.
After enduring countless trials and perils, they finally reached a walled city built long ago by Qi Refiners. Only upon entering did they discover that the city was filled with faceless people.
"Only I escaped the city,"
Venerable Cangyang said. "My body had already assimilated with the toad, making movement cumbersome, so I lagged behind the group. Realizing something was terribly wrong, I immediately sealed my Primordial Spirit, which allowed me to break free. But soon after escaping, I lost consciousness and forgot who I was."
Xu Ying inquired, "You said the upheaval in the Wangxiang Platform began after that streak of fire fell from the sky. What was that fiery light?"
Venerable Cangyang said, "We didn't know what it was at first. Only later, while searching for a way out, did we realize that the spot where the fire had crashed was right in the center of that town."
Xu Ying's heart stirred. He immediately remembered what he had seen in that town: a bronze immortal palace that had smashed open the passage between the Immortal Realm and the mortal world! Space and time there seemed frozen; every fragment hovered motionless in midair!
Moreover, amidst the debris lay a severed hand with missing fingers!
He also hazily recalled catching a glimpse of a woman inside the bronze immortal palace whose features were obscured.
Xu Ying questioned Cangyang in detail, but Cangyang knew even less than he did. Cangyang had never penetrated deep into the town—which was precisely why he had managed to flee—so he had not seen the bronze immortal palace or the woman within.
Xu Ying asked, "In other words, not long after you entered the Wangxiang Platform, the bronze immortal palace fell from the sky. And following its descent came the violent fluctuations in the world's yuan qi?"
Venerable Cangyang hesitated briefly before saying, "The violent fluctuation of yuan qi might also have been caused by the folding of Heaven and Earth. Back then, across the major continents of the Yuanshou world, everyone was cultivating Heaven-Human Induction. The sky during those days had become utterly incomprehensible."
He looked up toward the heavens and said, "You could see vast expanses of land floating in the sky, and great seas drifting up above as well. An abnormal Great Dao of Heaven and Earth invaded from the outer domains, mysterious and immensely powerful."
Xu Ying had long heard others speak of the cataclysmic changes wrought by Heaven-Human Induction, but he had never expected to hear from Venerable Cangyang that there was also an invasion of a heterodox Dao!
Cangyang continued, "It is very likely that the world-sealing at the time caused those fluctuations in yuan qi."
Xu Ying paced slowly, pondering. "Yet the violent surges in yuan qi and the descent of the bronze immortal palace happened at the exact same time. Isn't that right?"
Venerable Cangyang nodded.
"There must be some connection between them," Xu Ying thought.
The Immortal Sword Siwuxie had been wholly absorbed in refining away the residual Immortal Dao pollution within Venerable Cangyang's Primordial Spirit, remaining silent the entire time. Suddenly, the sword shot forth a beam of sword light that condensed into a petite sword child as it landed. The child hopped onto Cangyang's toad back, sat down, and said, "I know a little about the falling of that bronze immortal palace three thousand years ago."
Xu Ying hurriedly pressed for details.
The sword child said, "Back then, I hung suspended between the Sword Sect and the Immortal Realm. I felt the invasion of the heterodox Dao and watched the heavens and earth twist, knowing that something momentous was taking place. For a brief period, I could even sense my master. He was in the Immortal Realm, where I normally could never feel him, yet at that moment, I did—as if the distance between the Immortal Realm and the mortal world had grown impossibly close."
Xu Ying was puzzled. The distance between the Immortal Realm and the mortal world grew close?
"Close enough that it felt as though they were about to collide,"
the sword child said. "I also sensed that the Heavenly Dao of the Heavenly Realm became unusually clear. Beyond that, the alien Great Daos outside the Heavenly Dao became exceptionally active as well."
Xu Ying's heart leaped, and the words slipped out: "The Three Realms tide!"
The sword child looked puzzled. "What Three Realms tide?"
Xu Ying explained, "I have a friend named Yuan Tiangang. He told me that a great tide occurs among realms such as the Immortal Realm, the Heavenly Realm, and the mortal world, drawing them remarkably close together. Hearing you say that you sensed the Heavenly Dao, your master in the Immortal Realm, and the heterodox Dao, I suspect that what triggered the world's upheaval three thousand years ago might have been the Three Realms tide."
The sword child shook its head. "It was not just three realms; there was also the Netherworld and the worlds of the heterodox Dao."
The bronze bell piped up, "Ah Ying, Little Xie, do you think the Three Realms tide happens once every three thousand years? Could the collision between the Netherworld and the mortal world be a prelude to the Three Realms tide?"
Hearing the bell call it "Little Xie," the sword child felt an immediate wave of displeasure, yet it also found the bell's speculation quite reasonable.
Xu Ying suddenly remembered the bizarre eye in the Cangwu Abyss and the numerous immortal corpses drifting within it. Immortals could not descend to the mortal realm, so where did those immortal corpses come from? Could it be that during a tide, immortals fought their way out of the Immortal Realm and clashed with mighty beings of the heterodox Dao, leaving those corpses behind?
Yet no one could answer his questions.
"To unravel this mystery, the only way is to reenter the Wangxiang Platform, find the bronze immortal palace, and speak with the woman inside!"
Xu Ying's eyes gleamed as he addressed the bronze bell and the sword child. "Our conjectures will always remain mere conjectures, but the woman inside the bronze immortal palace lived through it!"
However, now was not the time.
Last time, he had nearly perished in that eerie town. Without substantial progress in his cultivation and strength, barging recklessly into the Wangxiang Platform would likely end in disaster!
"Come to think of it, where did Yuan Tiangang learn about the Three Realms tide?"
Xu Ying suddenly froze. Yuan Tiangang was merely a Nuo immortal; even if he was skilled in divine divination, calculating something of this magnitude should have been nearly impossible, shouldn't it?
"Still, Yuan Tiangang is extraordinarily brilliant. When he entered the Wangxiang Platform, he found a way out immediately. On that alone, he was far superior to the many Venerables of the Sword Sect. Perhaps he went deep into the platform and saw the bronze immortal palace, thereby learning some of the truth," he reasoned inwardly.
Just then, the sword child suddenly lowered its voice. "Don't look around. Something has come up the mountain."
Xu Ying pretended to study Cangyang. The bronze bell followed suit, meticulously examining Cangyang. Seeing this, the sword child also stared intently at Cangyang.
Fixed beneath their collective gaze, Cangyang was at a complete loss, yet had to pretend nothing was out of the ordinary, feeling utterly uncomfortable.
Xu Ying suddenly flicked his wrist and threw a stone. Cangyang immediately opened his mouth, his tongue shooting out several li with a sharp whoosh to snatch the stone and haul it in.
Having done that, he finally relaxed, thinking, "The Grand Supreme Elder truly knows what he's doing."
Xu Ying whispered, "Little Xie, what has come up the mountain?"
"My name is Siwuxie, not Little Xie,"
the sword child snapped with a huff. "All seventy-two peaks of Mount Jianmen are protected by my Sword Dao. No one can ascend the mountain without alerting my senses. My sword heart is crystal clear; any wicked thought cannot escape my sword qi. Yet more than three thousand years ago, someone evaded my sword heart's perception and concealed himself upon Mount Jianmen."
Its expression shifted, whether out of dread or fury. "That person hid on the mountain all along, appearing just like anyone else; I never sensed his wickedness. Until one night, I suddenly felt it—an evil so colossal, so terrifying, like an abyss of absolute darkness that swallowed everything whole. I tried to sever those wicked thoughts, only to find I could not cut them at all. The next day..."
The next morning, around the seventy-two peaks of Mount Jianmen, human-skin lanterns drifted in the air.
That had been during the Sword Sect's golden age, when many of its masters integrated Nuo methods, pioneering a rebirth for the sect. Yet overnight, every single one of those powerhouses died, turned into human-skin lanterns floating under the morning sun.
"Now, I sense that this person has returned to Mount Jianmen. I cannot feel his wickedness, but I can feel him!" The sword child's body gave a slight shudder.
Xu Ying could clearly sense its fear.
The unimaginably powerful Immortal Sword Siwuxie was actually afraid!
Its sword heart was luminous, capable of severing all wicked thoughts and guiding minds toward the Dao.
That was the first time it had ever failed to sever an evil thought, leaving it shaken with profound shock and lingering terror.
Xu Ying asked softly, "Wuxie, can you sense where that person went?"
The sword child nodded gently. "The Sword Immortal Precipice."
Xu Ying's face instantly changed, and he shot to his feet. "Seventh Master and Shi Yuqing are still there! Lord Bell, let's move!"
The bronze bell roared as it followed closely behind, its deep voice resounding, "Ah Ying, call Lord Plant and Lord Jin!"
Xu Ying turned back to look at the sword child.
The sword child hesitated, then said, "He is extraordinarily evil and powerful. I cannot sever his evil, and even if I attack, I am no match for him. I am only a sword. I can only unleash my full might when held in my master's hand, and my master is not here..."
Xu Ying reached out his hand toward it, his gaze warm and resolute as he circulated the Sword Dao Return to Truth Art.
His robes fluttered and his hair danced in the wind. Standing there like a peerless swordsman, a matchless sword immortal, a supreme sword intent erupted from within him, anchored by a sword heart as pure and lucid as clear crystal.
In a daze, the sword child seemed to see its sword master.
It hesitated no longer. Its form transformed into a streak of flowing light that soared into the sky. In the next breath, sword light flashed, casting long shadows. The Immortal Sword Siwuxie descended from above, wrapped in a brilliant celestial glow, and settled firmly into Xu Ying's grasp.
Xu Ying snapped his wrist, vibrating the blade. A crisp, ringing sword chime echoed across all seventy-two peaks.
Whoosh!
His figure turned into an immortal ray, piercing the air and shooting straight toward the Sword Immortal Precipice!
"Lord Jin, Lord Plant!"
At Xu Ying's call, the elderly Golden Crow awakened instantly, spreading its wings to take flight.
At the same time, amid the ten thousand mu of medicine fields, the purple immortal plant was busily siphoning medicinal potency from other spirit herbs to sprout more leaves. Hearing Xu Ying's voice, it immediately yanked its roots from the soil and flew over.
A beam of immortal light streaked into the Sword Immortal Precipice. As the radiance dissipated, Xu Ying appeared, walking sword in hand toward the depths of the precipice.
He came across Yuan Qi, who was still studying the sword techniques. The serpent looked over in astonishment, only to see Xu Ying with the bronze bell hovering above his head, the immortal medicine perched on his shoulder, and the grim-faced Jin Buyi trailing behind him, armed to the teeth. He couldn't help feeling startled and bewildered.
Xu Ying made a shushing gesture and glided silently past him.
Yuan Qi held his breath, shrank his body, and leaped onto Xu Ying's other shoulder. His gaze fixed darkly ahead as he mused, "Is Ah Ying finally going to take out Sect Master Shi and claim the sect master position for himself?"
Sensing his wicked thoughts, the Immortal Sword Siwuxie barely resisted the urge to shear them away, wondering inwardly, "Why is it that every treasure around this Grand Supreme Elder harbors wicked thoughts?"
Just then, a wave of commotion broke out ahead. Voices buzzed, and sword qi crisscrossed through the air. From afar, an extraordinary sword intent could be felt, accompanied by the faint sound of someone tapping a sword and singing a song, filled with the bold vigor of the Ba-Shu lands!
"Three seasons have the embers changed since parting from the capital's gates,
A wanderer across the realm, treading through the mortal dust.
Yet smiling still, with warmth like spring.
Unruffled water in an ancient well,
Upright and principled as autumn bamboo.
"With heavy heart, a solitary sail sets off through the night,
Sent off by the faint moon and wispy clouds.
No need for furrowed emerald brows before the cup.
Life is but a passing inn,
And I, too, am a traveler!
"Sword Sect, after parting for three thousand years, I have returned! Qing'er, do you still remember your master?"
Hearing this, Xu Ying's heart jolted. "Master?"
Chapter 217