As Xu Ying and the others returned to the Sword Sect, they saw cave-heavens of various sizes scattered across the sky along the way. Some hung high, some low, some horizontal, some vertical, and some cave-heavens even pierced straight through the mountains.
Radiating brilliant light, these cave-heavens possessed a disheveled beauty.
They had originally been cave-heavens transplanted by Tao Danyang, knocked loose by Jin Buyi and the bronze bell amid the chaos, and now had become masterless objects.
Without a master to drive them, they would slowly close over time until they vanished entirely.
Of course, if someone were to transplant these cave-heavens, they could refine immortal medicines, boost their magic power and cultivation, and extend their lifespan.
"Tao Danyang's cave-heavens were numerous yet unfitting. Manipulating so many cave-heavens required immense mental strain and violated the principle that the Great Dao is simple," Xu Ying surmised as he studied the cave-heavens. "He bit off more than he could chew. It actually disrupted the execution of his techniques."
Yuan Qi reminded him, "Ah Ying, he cultivated a secondary Primordial Spirit and external avatars. Though he had a vast number of cave-heavens, he could still manage them."
Xu Ying recalled that when Tao Danyang and the more than two hundred external avatars under his command unleashed their cave-heavens, each had indeed possessed a complete set of six secret depositories' cave-heavens—no more, no less.
"Lord Seventh has a point. Only because Tao Danyang possessed so many external avatars could he control so many cave-heavens."
Xu Ying admitted his mistake and said, "Still, he no longer has so many cave-heavens now, nor does he have that many external avatars left."
Tao Danyang had once been the sect master of the Sword Sect, commanding vast resources. He had refined a portion of the sect's disciples into his external avatars and secondary Primordial Spirits, while nurturing another portion into Nuo immortals who practiced both Nuo and qi cultivation.
By harvesting both sides in this manner, he could achieve immortality.
Now, he had sought out Shi Yuqing, intending to repeat the same trick, only to be exposed by her.
Though Xu Ying's cultivation fell far short of his, Xu Ying had deciphered the Sword Sect's supreme Sword Dao and could harness the power of the Immortal Sword Siwuxie. Like the bronze bell, Siwuxie had awakened its spiritual awareness, allowing the sword to unleash its own might.
Wielding the sword and aided by the techniques of the Sword Dao Return to Truth Art, along with the support of powerful beings like Jin Buyi and the bronze bell, Xu Ying had finally broken Tao Danyang's external avatars.
Now, Tao Danyang had lost more than half his cave-heavens and over two hundred avatars. On top of that, he had been struck by the sword qi of the Sword Dao Return to Truth Art, which proved difficult to purge.
That sword qi would erupt from time to time, assimilating his own sword qi and severely hampering his strength.
This was the accumulation of several thousand years, now ruined at the Sword Sect—a catastrophic loss.
"Tao Danyang is a formidable figure. Had he not come to harvest the Sword Sect, he could have cultivated a sect of his own. But in that case, he would still have risked exposing his identity as the former Sword Sect master, arousing Yuqing's suspicion," Xu Ying deduced. "Rather than waiting for Yuqing to investigate and trace it to him, he chose to simply return to the Sword Sect, relying on his status as her master to harvest the Sword Sect once more."
Shi Yuqing looked somber for a moment, but quickly rallied her spirits and smiled. "Yet this time, he didn't succeed."
The young woman turned to the Immortal Sword Siwuxie and said, "Sword Ancestor, after this ordeal with Tao Danyang, I feel that severing evil thoughts by the sword is entirely unnecessary. How could true evil ever let itself be sensed by you, Sword Ancestor? Instead, because the sword severs evil thoughts, many magic treasures of our Sword Sect cannot develop sentience, and the disciples become meek and subservient, losing much of their creativity."
The sword child was tongue-tied, unable to utter a word.
Shi Yuqing said, "Humans have two sides, good and evil; no one can be upright every single moment. If someone were entirely upright on the surface, who knows if another great villain like Tao Danyang might be born? What do you think, Sword Ancestor?"
The sword child hesitated. Glancing at Xu Ying and the bronze bell, then comparing them to Tao Danyang, it sighed. "You're right. For instance, some people harbor wicked thoughts the moment they enter the Sword Sect, yet ended up saving it. Others spend two to three thousand years on the mountain without a single wicked thought, yet turn people into avatars and treat disciples like chives. It seems good and evil aren't determined by a thought or two flashing through one's mind."
The bronze bell was rather displeased and said, "Little Evil, could you not look at Ah Ying and me when you say that?"
Xu Ying nodded repeatedly. "Exactly! Wuxie, what is the meaning of this?"
The sword child sneered, "The two of you have been constantly obsessing over the tombs of our Sword Sect's past patriarchs. Do you take my sword heart for blind?"
Exposed, the bronze bell flared up in embarrassment and shouted, "A gentleman is judged by his deeds, not his thoughts; judge by thoughts, and there is no saint in this world! You can't judge us by what we think. Thinking and doing are two different things. You have to look at what we do!"
Xu Ying agreed wholeheartedly. "Right! If we haven't done it, you can't lop off our thoughts!"
The sword child grew angry as well. "If I hadn't lopped off those thoughts of yours, you would have dug up the patriarchs' graves from top to bottom long ago!"
Furious, the bronze bell chimed loudly in irritation. "Even so, you should wait until we actually do it to lop off our wicked thoughts, not before we've even done anything!"
Xu Ying praised, "Well said, Lord Bell! You have to catch us red-handed before you can lop off anything. If you haven't caught us, it doesn't count as stealing!"
Just as the sword child was about to argue further, Shi Yuqing quickly intervened. "Sword Ancestor, Martial Uncle Ah Ying is a Grand Supreme Elder and the Sword Bearer after all. Even if he digs up a few patriarchs' graves, what's the big deal?"
She turned to Xu Ying and said, "Which patriarch's tomb has caught your eye, Martial Uncle? Go right ahead. I'll keep watch for you."
Put on the spot like this, Xu Ying felt rather embarrassed to make a move.
Seeing this, the sword child silently admired her. *The past patriarchs truly had great discernment when they chose Yuqing as the current sect master.*
***
Amid the mountains of ancient Shu, an elk trod upon five-colored clouds, galloping like the wind as it darted through the peaks.
The elk bolted at lightning speed, covering several thousand li in no time. Suddenly, it plunged headlong into a dense forest and collapsed with a thud, lifeless.
A burst of sword light erupted from within the elk's corpse, shattering it to dust.
At the same time, a figure dashed out from the deep forest. It was a youth, speeding across the clear river waters. His expression flickered uncertainly as he muttered to himself, "Even though I was extremely cautious slipping back into the Sword Sect this time, there is no guarantee I haven't been targeted by the other old fellows. Whether I can reclaim the Sword Sect is a minor matter; shaking off those old fellows is what truly matters!"
He raced ten thousand li, plunging into a bank of mist. The next moment, a divine bird burst forth from the vapor, flapping its wings as it flew away at extreme speed.
A moment later, the mist dispersed, revealing that the youth's physical body had already been mangled by sword qi, reduced to a bloody pulp.
The divine bird soared through the void and flew into a temple. Hidden inside the temple was an idol with three heads and six arms that had attained godhood in the flesh. The idol suddenly came to life and whistled into the distance, riding the incense smoke qi.
As for the divine bird, the sword qi within its body erupted, piercing right through its brain.
The three-headed, six-armed idol reached Qixing Ridge, ten thousand li away, and leaped into the canopy of a divine tree. In the canopy rested a bird's nest, and hidden inside was the physical body of a monk—shaven-headed, clad in robes, with delicate features.
The monk opened his eyes, raised his Zen staff, and broke through the air into the distance.
Not long after, ripples spread across the sky like water, and a skiff sailed out from the ripples, heading straight toward the divine tree of Qixing Ridge.
A man wearing a bamboo hat was fishing from the skiff. He set down his fishing rod and carefully rowed over to the nest in the divine tree.
Inside, bloody swords had sprouted from the head of the three-headed, six-armed idol, piercing out in all directions and suspending the corpse in midair—a gruesome sight.
"The immortal Sword Dao truly lives up to its reputation. Such sword craft is unpredictable, defying ghosts and gods."
The man in the bamboo hat marveled. "This junior Tao Danyang is quite remarkable as well. Having lost more than half his vitality and with his true body destroyed, he still managed to throw me off his trail. I underestimated him."
Just then, sensing something, he looked up and saw a giant half-crouching, half-sitting on the opposite mountain peak, gazing over with gloomy eyes.
The man in the bamboo hat grew grim. Brilliant light suddenly flared behind him, revealing six cave-heavens of differing shapes and sizes.
Behind the giant, six cave-heavens similarly manifested.
Both stared at the cave-heavens behind the other, wary of each other and not daring to act.
Suddenly, the giant rose, bowed slightly, and said, "Tao Danyang was a rare genius. What a pity he failed to grasp the wonder of merging cave-heavens into one. Otherwise, unifying the power of so many cave-heavens, he could have been an opponent worthy of us."
The man in the bamboo hat bowed in return and replied, "His insatiable greed led him to forcibly transplant seventeen thousand cave-heavens onto himself. While his power appeared magnificent, it was actually dispersed. It was only natural that he was defeated. Had he refined nine into one as we did, his cultivation and strength would likely have surpassed ours."
He sighed. "He was simply too adept at harvesting."
The giant turned to leave. "Still, his talent for fleeing is second to none."
The man in the bamboo hat watched him depart and breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Examining the swords of blood and bone piercing out from the idol's corpse, he murmured, "Master of the Mud Pill Palace, are you not going to examine these immortal techniques? Could it be you have already deciphered the immortal scriptures and have no interest in this?"
He produced a glazed cup, stored the corpse of the three-headed, six-armed idol into it, and returned to his skiff. On the low table in the cabin sat hundreds of glazed cups, each containing a corpse of Tao Danyang, all having perished from the eruption of sword qi within their bodies.
The man in the bamboo hat admired them closely and marveled, "The Immortal Dao is truly enchanting. If not for the super heavenly tribulation, I probably would have ascended long ago and mastered such power. What a pity that now, we can only explore the mysteries of the Immortal Dao through the ageless immortal..."
His tone sounded despondent, but he soon rallied, laughing softly under his breath. "Fortunately, the opportunity for ascension will arrive soon. This time might be our very last chance to ascend."
***
At Great Sword Peak of the Mount Shu Sword Sect, the Immortal Sword Siwuxie suddenly descended from the sky trailed by streaks of colored radiance, piercing into Shi Yuqing's fontanelle!
The next moment, the immortal sword vanished, appearing within Shi Yuqing's Realm of Xiyi. It plunged into the Yellow Springs, navigating the nine bends to reach the Nether Sea!
Siwuxie thrust toward the Nether Sea. The might of the immortal sword shook the immensely heavy Nether Sea, churning up furious waves and causing a sinister nether qi to surge up from the seabed!
The sword light pierced straight to the bottom of the sea, opening up the Nether Sea!
A lotus-shaped cave-heaven grew quietly from the sea, putting forth pistils and blooming into a bud. The flower bud quivered gently, then opened wide.
The moment the lotus cave-heaven opened, Shi Yuqing immediately felt an immortal medicine that nourished the three souls release from the depths of the Nether Sea through the lotus's delicate fragrance, allowing her three souls to grow at astonishing speed.
Siwuxie proceeded to her other Bubbling Spring secret depository and repeated the process, opening it as well. Yet, even though Siwuxie was an immortal artifact left in the mortal realm by the founding patriarch, it nearly failed to open this second Bubbling Spring secret depository.
That lotus cave-heaven came close to snapping shut; only after Siwuxie unleashed several successive sword strikes, even deploying the sword techniques of the founding patriarch, did the lotus cave-heaven stabilize.
Siwuxie counted itself fortunate, thinking, *Yuqing, if your cultivation were even a fraction deeper, even I wouldn't have been able to open your secret depositories.*
Shi Yuqing was also struck by lingering fear and hastily expressed her gratitude.
Siwuxie flew out from her Realm of Xiyi and returned above Great Sword Peak, connecting to the Immortal Realm to siphon power and restore its depleted yuan qi.
Having just unleashed the might of an immortal artifact, its depletion was considerable. Fortunately, being an immortal artifact connected to the Immortal Realm, it could swiftly replenish its losses.
At that moment, the bronze bell wobbled over, nudging against it.
Siwuxie transformed into the sword child and flew out, glaring darkly at the bronze bell. The bell nudged it again and gave a sheepish laugh. "Brother Wuxie, scoot over a bit and let me bask in the light, will you?"
Siwuxie said angrily, "I just opened cave-heavens for the sect master and depleted my yuan qi. What are you crowding over here for?"
The bronze bell took it as a matter of course. "I also contributed to defeating Tao Danyang and suffered severe depletion of yuan qi! In the past, I always scrounged vital blood from Lord Seventh and Ah Ying. Now that you can connect to the Immortal Realm, let me have a share too. It won't cost you a piece of meat."
Seeing how pitiful it acted, Siwuxie transferred some Immortal Realm spiritual energy to it. Absorbing the spiritual energy, the bronze bell felt completely relaxed and walked on air.
Siwuxie asked, "How exactly did you scrounge vital blood from Lord Seventh and Ah Ying?"
"By sneaking into their Realms of Xiyi and stealing their vital blood to cultivate," the bronze bell replied.
Siwuxie fell silent for a moment, then asked, "Why didn't you cultivate by absorbing the essence of the sun and moon?"
"How slow would that be? Once you steal their vital blood, you won't ever want to absorb sun and moon essence again."
Siwuxie felt troubled, wondering whether it should lop off this bell's wicked thoughts, or simply lop off the bell itself.
With all six secret depositories opened, Shi Yuqing planned to open the mountain gate, prepare to accept disciples, and propagate and pass down the supreme arts of the Mount Shu Sword Sect.
Accepting disciples required testing natural talent and examining root bones, and when teaching disciples, one also had to begin by teaching them how to read and write.
Naturally, Xu Ying lacked the patience to educate anyone. Fortunately, there were still Venerable Cangyang and Yuan Qi.
Though their appearances were somewhat frightening, they were far more patient than Xu Ying when it came to instructing disciples.
"If I were Tao Danyang, I would take advantage of the Mount Shu Sword Sect opening its gates to recruit disciples, alter my appearance, and sneak into the Sword Sect under a different face to become your disciple, Yuqing," Xu Ying said to Shi Yuqing. "Infiltrating the Sword Sect would allow me to learn the Sword Dao Return to Truth Art on one hand, and seek revenge on the other."
Shi Yuqing was startled, then shook her head. "If he returns, the Sword Ancestor will definitely recognize him. The Sword Ancestor has already sensed his aura twice; doing so a third time would be even easier. Given his cautious nature, after suffering such a loss, he will certainly not dare enter the Sword Sect again. On the contrary, Martial Uncle Ah Ying, you are the one who should be careful."
Looking grave, she said, "My master bears deep grudges. If you leave the Sword Sect, it will be very easy for him to target you. The mountains and waters here are clear and beautiful, and the scenery is pleasant. If you like it here, why not stay permanently?"
Xu Ying's heart skipped a beat. He gave a dry laugh twice and said, "You just can't bear to let me leave the Sword Sect, can you?"
Shi Yuqing smiled sweetly. While not an extraordinary beauty, she was above average in looks, and at this moment, she radiated enchanting charm.
Chapter 220