An ordinary wooden sword stood planted upright in the ground.
It was no different from what Li Fan had seen in the Heavenly Sword Sect within the Fallen Immortal Realm.
It was as though the passage of time had lost its effect upon it, unchanged across a millennium.
Beholding the scene before him, Li Fan even felt the illusion that the very sword he had seen in the Fallen Immortal Realm was this wooden sword.
"I wonder how that kid Shuo Feng managed to take this wooden sword."
Li Fan could see some clues now.
The countless millions of broken swords here faintly formed a formation centered around Sword.
To take this wonder of Heaven by force would mean not only facing the resistance of Sword itself, but also withstanding the assault of every sword in this place.
Even with Li Fan's current cultivation, he could barely manage it at best, but it would inevitably cause an immense commotion and draw the attention of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
"The proper path is still to make it willing to leave of its own accord.
"Unfortunately..."
Li Fan tried conveying his intention, but the wooden sword ignored him entirely.
Fortunately, Li Fan had not truly intended to take it away.
Taking out a Dao Comprehension Pill and swallowing it, Li Fan sat upright on the ground and began to sense the sword rhyme emanating from the wooden sword.
At this moment, Li Fan sat closer to the wooden sword than any of the broken swords in the Sword Tomb.
Ignoring the faint hostility emanating from these swords, Li Fan focused on earnest comprehension.
Aided by the Dao Comprehension Pill, bolstered by his already decent aptitude and the time he had previously spent comprehending in the Fallen Immortal Realm, numerous scenes flashed through his mind in an instant without pause.
"Huh?
"It seems the wooden sword itself has undergone a certain change over several thousand years.
"Compared to what I saw in the Fallen Immortal Realm, it's more..."
Li Fan thought for a long time, yet failed to find a fitting word to describe it.
To call it more refined—the Sword Mr. Bai had condensed at a whim had been the very embodiment of the Xuanhuang Realm's Sword Dao, utterly flawless.
To call it stronger—the difference between the two was merely one of nature; the wooden sword from a thousand years ago was not necessarily inferior to this present one.
"It would be more accurate to say that as the Heavenly Dao of the Xuanhuang Realm changed, this wonder of Heaven transformed along with it.
"Overall, the one before me is better suited to unleash greater combat power in today's Xuanhuang Realm."
Li Fan had a sudden realization.
While Li Fan was in the Sword Tomb striving to comprehend the true meaning of the Xuanhuang Sword Dao and attempting to replicate Mr. Bai's feat of forging a wonder of Heaven with his bare hands, on Haixuan Island in the Congyun Sea, a cultivator named Yan Longjiang quietly sought out the clone Ji Shaoli.
Seeing the man's hesitant, tongue-tied demeanor, Ji Shaoli smiled. "Daoist Yan, speak your mind. You are one of the founding veterans of our Congyun Sea Mutual Aid Association. That our association has reached its current scale today is inseparable from your diligent promotion."
Only then did Yan Longjiang nervously lower his voice and say, "Back when the six of us became the very first to join the Mutual Aid Association, you promised, Daoist Ji, to provide each of us with a grotto-heaven needed to advance to the Nascent Soul realm...
"I wonder if that still holds true today..."
Yan Longjiang swallowed hard, his face filled with unease.
Small wonder he took such an attitude. After all, the Mutual Aid Association today was nothing like before. In just a few short years, its roots had grown deep and intricate. Quite a few members had already taken up official posts in the Alliance's inland territories, their futures boundless.
Moreover, Ji Shaoli himself was profoundly enigmatic; even Dao Integration cultivators were deferential before him.
If he refused, Yan Longjiang would not dare show even a shred of discontent.
Yan Longjiang had not expected Ji Shaoli to be far more approachable than imagined.
"Haha, Daoist Yan, what kind of words are those? When I, Ji, make a promise, I never go back on my word. It is merely a grotto-heaven; why would I begrudge bestowing it upon a meritorious member of our association?" Ji Shaoli patted Yan Longjiang's shoulder to put him at ease.
Then he asked, "Daoist Yan, what technique do you cultivate, and what kind of grotto-heaven do you desire?"
In truth, Ji Shaoli had already investigated the man's background thoroughly, but he asked nonetheless.
Overjoyed, Yan Longjiang hurriedly replied, "What this humble one cultivates is the Seven Fiends Wind-Controlling True Technique. As for the grotto-heaven...
"I dare not ask for much, so long as it is somewhat vast," Yan Longjiang spoke in a low voice.
Ji Shaoli gave a slight nod. Moments later, a suitable target surfaced in his mind.
Without further ado, Ji Shaoli quietly escorted Yan Longjiang to the destination.
In Juchao Province, Ji Shaoli stood guard for him.
In merely seven days, Yan Longjiang successfully devoured this Gale Grotto-Heaven.
Suppressing the still-turbulent aura around him, Yan Longjiang bowed respectfully to Ji Shaoli.
"Thank you for fulfilling this, Daoist. This debt cannot easily be repaid; in the days to come, I will lay down my life for the Mutual Aid Association!"
Ji Shaoli waved his hand. "There are too many eyes and ears here. Let us return before speaking further."
Shortly after the two departed, a middle-aged cultivator in green robes sauntered near the Gale Grotto-Heaven.
Looking around to ensure no one was in sight, he formed hand seals, intending to enter the grotto-heaven. To his shock, there was no reaction at all.
The middle-aged cultivator's expression changed drastically. Refusing to believe it, he repeated the hand seals once more, but the result remained the same. Now he panicked completely.
Taking out a spirit talisman, he sent a notification. Before long, another burly, black-robed cultivator arrived.
The black-robed cultivator had his appearance concealed, but the aura seeping from him was already at the Soul Formation realm.
After inspecting the area, his expression turned hideous. "This Gale Grotto-Heaven was stolen!"
The green-robed middle-aged cultivator was filled with disbelief. "What? The grotto-heaven is gone?" He stared blankly ahead. "Who would be so bold?!"
The black-robed cultivator could not suppress the killing intent in his eyes. "Heh, it has always been our Xiang clan taking things from others! Now someone dares step all over us!
"Investigate! Investigate this to the very end! I want to see who is so brazen!"
The Xiang clan reacted swiftly. In less than half the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, five or six cultivators arrived at the scene.
After casting their arts, two hazy silhouettes appeared before them.
"Unfortunately, the perpetrators were no amateurs either. They used secret arts to conceal themselves, so this is all we can reconstruct," the white-haired man leading the investigation said with regret.
"Can their trail be tracked?"
"Not much time has passed, so it should be possible," the white-haired man nodded.
Saying so, he produced a square golden compass and tossed it into the air. Two faint silver trails materialized before everyone's eyes.
"Judging by the direction, they lead to Juchao Heavenly City."
"Hmph, insiders of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals?" the Xiang clan's black-robed cultivator sneered through clenched teeth.
"More likely cultivators from another province, not our locals in Juchao. Still, one wonders how information regarding this Gale Grotto-Heaven was leaked," the white-haired man said, sounding puzzled.
"Speaking of which, Brother Xiang, have you heard about a certain matter?"
"Hm?"
"Not long ago, the immortal-mortal miasma erupted without explanation. After it subsided, the Alliance sent people underground in Qiling Province to investigate. They discovered traces where an anima of Heaven and Earth had once been active, yet it had abruptly vanished," the white-haired man transmitted via divine sense.
"What do you mean?" The black-robed cultivator narrowed his eyes.
"That missing anima of Heaven and Earth had originally been repairing the underground void of Qiling Province. It was precisely its disappearance that triggered the eruption of the immortal-mortal miasma."
Chapter 889