Longevity Sword Intent

There might be more than one living being in Sword City. Li Hao had guessed as much, but he paid it no heed and quickly headed toward the west of the city. The Broken Cliff. The Sword Venerable's place of cultivation. Speeding along, Li Hao scouted around once he had exited the city. Before long, he discovered a region of precipitous cliffs. A sheared cliff face was especially conspicuous. Li Hao flew upward. A faint sword intent lingered atop the cliff, having endured for a hundred thousand years without fading, enshrouding the entire precipice. Only... it was quite different from the sacred ground he had imagined. It was very simple. Very austere. It was just a sheared cliff... Apart from having a bit more faint sword intent, it did not seem special at all. Li Hao walked over and silently sensed the sword intent suffusing the air. It did not appear much different from the Sword Venerable's intent he had comprehended in the past. "The Sword Tree sent me here... just to observe this tiny remnant of the Sword Venerable's sword intent?" It felt like another wasted trip. A faint smile appeared on Li Hao's face. That big tree clearly did not trust him and had just picked a random place to brush him off, wanting only to send him away. Well, since he was here, he might as well make the best of it. The Sword Tree probably needed to confer with others on how to deal with him. The city was a mess right now anyway, so... he might as well meditate for a while first. He sat cross-legged and closed his eyes, letting that faint sword intent wash over his physical body. The somewhat sharp sword intent stimulated his pores to contract. Yet having endured the suppression of the Blood Sovereign's saber, this bit of sword intent... could not make Li Hao feel any pressure. "The Sword Venerable's cultivation... doesn't seem to be anything special..." As he pondered, a thought struck him, and his heart stirred. Suddenly, a faint energy radiated from his body—exceptionally unique and invisible to outsiders. Time seemed to freeze at this very moment. The power of time! Li Hao had only grasped a meager sliver of time's power. Right now, he suddenly remembered that sword intent still lingered here—unleashed by the Sword Venerable during his cultivation, enduring without decay. If time flowed backward, could he trace back to the scene of the Sword Venerable cultivating in the past? Of course, that had surely taken place a hundred thousand years ago. Reversing time by a hundred thousand years... Never mind Li Hao, even that star in the Great Dao Universe could not do it. Time could not flow backward; about that, Li Hao believed there was no doubt. Time could freeze, but in truth, what froze was only the time within this localized area. Unless the entire boundless universe was completely frozen, time still flowed in the areas left uncovered. Tracing time backward was even more impossible. However, one could use the power of time to capture some lingering shadows of the past. Certain supreme powerhouses could indeed use special means to trace past events that had once occurred. Such powerhouses possessed the might to encompass heaven and earth; especially in an era before time was mastered by anyone, only true paramount figures could possibly achieve it. Li Hao could not do it. However, he wanted to test whether he could use the Sword Venerable's radiated sword intent as a medium to capture some scenes of the Sword Venerable cultivating back then. The power of time settled over the sword intent. The flowing sword intent instantly froze. It was only for an instant before it began flowing again. Now, Li Hao could immobilize a Saint for several seconds and freeze a Heavenly King for a split second. Yet this sword intent... even though it was not powerful, was no easier to freeze than a Heavenly King. It was evident that even a tiny wisp of a Sovereign's sword intent possessed a difficulty of freezing beyond imagination. If he ran into a true Sovereign, Li Hao's meager power of time... would likely have no effect at all. Li Hao was not discouraged. He continued trying, attempting to push the sword intent backward little by little, unsure whether he could capture any remnants or even images. He had nothing better to do anyway, so he treated it as practice to hone his power of time. He dared not do this with the Blood Sovereign's saber—it was too powerful! Yet this tiny wisp of sword intent... was something he could endure. The sword intent flowed, and soon, it froze again. Each time Li Hao used this power, it lasted for only a very short time, and after each use, he needed a moment to recover. It could not be released indefinitely. If it truly could be unleashed without end, that would be terrifying! Attempt after attempt followed. The sword intent froze, then flowed, alternating constantly between stillness and motion. Since he could not comprehend anything from it anyway, he might as well use the Sword Venerable's sword intent as an experiment. Outside, Li Hao would never dare experiment so recklessly. ... At the Mowu Branch. In the back garden. A tree, a stone, and a seal were communicating with one another. Soon, their discussion seemed to reach an end. The figure formed by the Sword Tree looked toward the west of the city. "He's still over there and hasn't come back. Should we call him over?" As for whether Li Hao could comprehend anything at the Broken Cliff in the west... comprehend my foot. The Sword Venerable had indeed cultivated there, but there were countless places where the Sword Venerable had cultivated. If every single place of cultivation allowed someone to gain enlightenment, the world would be filled with countless powerhouses. In Sword City, who knew how many people had visited the Broken Cliff... It had been utterly useless. Aside from a wisp of sword intent, there was nothing at all. Apart from feeling a hint of power, there was nothing else. Sending Li Hao there had simply been to get the fellow out of the main city first. A muffled voice came from the stone: "Let him come on his own! It's still hard to tell where this person stands. While the Broken Cliff in the west offers little benefit, staying there for a long time bathed in the Sword Venerable's sword intent—which possesses the power to purge evil and slay demons—might allow us to judge his character..." "A true powerhouse won't be easily swayed by sword intent." "He doesn't count as a true powerhouse yet... Even if he did kill a Heavenly King as he claimed, that's merely equivalent to the Saint Realm of the past!" Saints of the past were strong, but they were not considered top-tier beings. All three of them were well-traveled and experienced; they did not consider that to be a paramount powerhouse. Because of this, none of the three battered entities called for Li Hao to return. ... Meanwhile, atop the Broken Cliff in the west. Li Hao was having a great time. It could not be called just playing around, as this was also a form of cultivation. Cultivation was not about bitter grudges; it stemmed from the heart, from a passion. Pure, uninspired cultivation was actually exceedingly dull. He discovered that he had not managed to trace back to the scene of the Sword Venerable's cultivation... which was completely normal. It had merely been a spontaneous thought, not something that had to succeed. Yet at this moment, Li Hao had also stumbled upon an unexpected gain. This radiated sword intent was repeatedly frozen, allowed to flow, frozen, and allowed to flow... By now, the originally thin sword intent had actually grown denser. The sword intent here had seemed constant at first. Yet as Li Hao continuously froze and unfroze it, the sword intent grew richer and began to converge. Initially, it had merely pricked the skin, but now, the flowing sword intent could actually pierce his flesh! "This works too?" Li Hao murmured, "If I loop this process infinitely and continuously accumulate sword intent, wouldn't I eventually reconstruct a single strike from the Sword Venerable?" Of course, by that point, he might well be killed by the sword intent himself! Still... Li Hao seemed to have discovered something extraordinary. If he kept gathering sword intent, could he assemble a super-powerful sword strike that he could wield? With his current strength, if he bore it with the Starry Sky Sword, could he draw in an intent capable of slaying a mid-to-late-stage Heavenly King in one strike? The prerequisite was... that the sword intent here could truly grow stronger continuously, rather than being completely drained before long! "If this sword intent is endless, there's hope... My only fear is that after I gather it for a while, the sword intent will disperse entirely, and then the game is over!" Just how much of the Sword Venerable's sword intent suffused this place? After a hundred thousand years, how much was left? He did not know. But he could try, provided the Starry Sky Sword or his own body could contain it; otherwise, he would only invite disaster upon himself. With that in mind, Li Hao retrieved the Starry Sky Sword and gently brought it into contact with that sword intent. The Starry Sky Sword trembled slightly, as if excited. A familiar sword intent! When the long sword touched this sword intent, the intent did not erupt aggressively. Instead, it flowed gently like a miniature dragon of spiritual energy, coiling around the long sword as if recognizing something familiar, gradually winding its way over the Starry Sky Sword. Li Hao's eyes lit up! It truly worked! It was, after all, the Sword Venerable's own weapon. Familiar with the Sword Venerable's sword intent, it could naturally accommodate it. Any other weapon would almost certainly fail to do so. Overjoyed, Li Hao felt as though he had discovered something incredible. If the Sword Venerable's sword intent worked... then... what about the Blood Sovereign's saber intent? Of course, the Blood Sovereign's saber intent was stronger, primarily because his weapon was immensely powerful and constantly radiated overwhelming pressure. The weapon could not be taken away, nor was there anything to bear it... Wait, there were the two characters "Battle Heaven"! In that instant, an idea crossed Li Hao's mind. Perhaps he could test it when he returned. "To think power can be accumulated continuously like this... How interesting. Can the power of time really be used in such a way?" As if he had discovered a new continent, Li Hao kept experimenting, having even forgotten about the Sword Tree for now. He had come here to make himself stronger. Whether the Sword Tree helped him or he figured out a method himself... the goal was the same. Since it was possible to gather a mighty sword strike here—perhaps even an intact strike from the Sword Venerable—whether he used it or comprehended it, it was a great opportunity! And so, Li Hao continually froze the sword intent. During the freeze, only a small area was halted, while other areas seemed to keep generating sword intent, which then gathered in... Just like that, the sword intent swirling around the Starry Sky Sword grew stronger and stronger! ... At the Mowu Branch. The three damaged remnants waited in this manner... with complicated feelings. The stone spoke in a muffled voice: "Playing hard to get!" The great seal replied, "He's merely testing our patience. He probably thinks haste makes waste, but he doesn't consider that we've waited through a hundred thousand years. How could a young man like him outlast us?" The Sword Tree pondered for a moment and nodded. "No rush. It's only been one day. There are no opportunities to speak of at the Broken Cliff... If he wants to outlast us, we'll outlast him. We must not take the initiative to seek him out; otherwise... it will look as though we lack patience!" ... The second day. Li Hao still had not come. The stone grew rather irritable: "How boring! I was born of stone; a single sitting lasts through the turning of seas and mulberry fields. A mere day or two... who would care?" The great seal chimed in, "He's more anxious than we are!" The Sword Tree hesitated. "It's been two days. Should we... Forget it, let's wait a bit longer!" ... The third day. The stone fell silent. The great seal spoke: "Could he have comprehended something?" The Sword Tree was conflicted. "There's nothing there! If even that place held an opportunity, my Sword City would have produced countless powerhouses long ago! Back then, the Sword Venerable said himself that a powerhouse cultivates in countless places. Places that truly hold fortune aren't cultivation grounds, but places of Dao enlightenment! Only when one gains enlightenment and radiates Dao intent does the true resonance of the Great Dao remain behind... That is what makes a Dao arena! Otherwise, if a powerhouse merely practiced randomly, wouldn't sacred grounds be everywhere? The Broken Cliff only holds remnants of moves and sword intent. For anyone above the Immortal Realm, it's virtually useless... merely a reference object!" You've stayed for three days in a completely useless place! There was definitely no opportunity there, it guaranteed! The Sword Venerable had stated it personally. Could it be that the man himself didn't know, yet you managed to find an opportunity? Wouldn't that be a monumental joke? "Stone, go take a look..." "Me?" "You were nurtured by heaven and earth, and your aura is restrained. Take a look from afar to see if he's still there..." "He's definitely there!" "I told you to go, so go!" The Sword Tree lost its temper, and the stone had no choice but to vanish on the spot. At the West City Gate. The stone appeared and gazed into the distance. It saw a young man sitting cross-legged atop a broken cliff far away, motionless... It muttered inwardly, *Putting on an act!* *Let's see who can outlast whom!* *We're in no hurry!* *We've waited a hundred thousand years; why would we rush over a few days?* *Not in the slightest rush!* The next instant, the stone vanished. ... At the same time. Atop the Broken Cliff, Li Hao was immensely thrilled. The Starry Sky Sword vibrated incessantly as an increasingly dense sword intent wandered through the blade. The sword's tremors seemed filled with extraordinary excitement! Yet Li Hao's face was deathly pale. Having continuously exerted this energy, he now discovered... there seemed to be a slight drawback. He had used it too much. This sword intent might have normally taken three to five years, or even ten to twenty years, to accumulate to this extent... Yet now, it had been gathered within three days, and the time saved in the process... seemed to have recoiled onto Li Hao himself. In short... the ten or twenty years saved in gathering this had actually consumed Li Hao's own lifespan! It was equivalent to him waiting right here for ten or twenty years! "So that's how it is!" Li Hao murmured, his heart growing even more delighted. Only this made sense. Otherwise, if such a power were mastered to its utmost, it would be far too terrifying. If it could be used without limits, couldn't one freeze someone for ten thousand years whenever one pleased? But freezing someone for ten thousand years... would likely bring about an extremely severe backlash upon oneself. "Fortunately... it's merely ten or twenty years of lifespan..." As of now, even Li Hao did not know how long he could live. His true self had entered the long river; as long as the river endured, he would endure. As for how long that was... who could know unless he was killed? He dared not claim his lifespan was infinite, but Li Hao felt he could definitely outlive those Saints. If those Saints could endure for a hundred thousand years without dying, could he possibly die? At this moment, the sword intent within the weapon grew increasingly formidable! Li Hao's eyes shone brightly! It was worth it! Say what one might, discovering a wisp of the power of time's utility was an enormous harvest. Moreover, the gathered sword intent currently gave Li Hao the feeling that it was perhaps stronger than a full-power strike of his own! Furthermore, it was exceptionally pure, even intermingled with a hint of the Sword Venerable's might! Such a strike might even have a chance of killing a pseudo-Heavenly King... referring to those Heavenly Kings in Thunder City. And it had only taken three days! What if he continued gathering it? However, the emerging sword intent seemed to have thinned out somewhat. It appeared that the sword intent here was not inexhaustible. The Sword Venerable had cultivated here, but had not necessarily cultivated for very long. Perhaps finding the Sword Venerable's next cultivation site would allow him to gather sword intent even faster. Still... he would drain this place completely before doing anything else. Paying no heed to the Sword Tree, Li Hao carried on. ... In the blink of an eye, seven days passed. At the West City Gate. A stone, a tree, and a seal manifested simultaneously. The stone grumbled, "He's the real stone!" *Not me.* *I've run back and forth seven or eight times, and that guy hasn't moved once.* In truth, they were very patient and could endure long waits... but the prerequisite was that Li Hao had never come here. When this city was utterly dead, they had no choice but to slowly endure. Yet Li Hao had arrived, and... he had even proposed cooperation to help them slay their arch-enemy. Though they had refused with their mouths, they had actually been tempted in their hearts. In the end, that man—like a scoundrel—had confessed his feelings, proposed marriage, and when you told him you needed time to think it over, he... vanished without a word! That kind of agony was beyond words for outsiders to fathom. You couldn't very well go knocking on his door to ask: *You proposed, and I've agreed—why haven't you come?* Right now, the three of them were just like such women. Li Hao had finished confessing and proposing... and then ignored them entirely, leaving them in unendurable torment. If you hadn't confessed, why would our hearts have stirred? Yet you scoundrel, after proposing, what are you playing the saint for! The three damaged weapons were utterly furious. Damned bastard! Playing hard to get! Putting on an act! Fickle and unfaith—spit! If he wanted to wait it out, then let's see who could outlast whom. ...Seven days. Li Hao appeared somewhat more haggard than he had seven days ago, his eyes carrying a hint of weariness, yet his spirit was exceptionally high. At this moment, the Starry Sky Sword trembled violently. The surrounding radiated sword intent seemed to have been entirely gathered and extracted. Previously, the sword intent had not dispersed and had endured for a hundred thousand years because it had been circulating continuously. Yet now... the cycle was broken, drained by someone. Over the course of seven days, it was as if Li Hao had slowly drawn out decades or even a century's worth of circulation. It was, after all, merely a place where the Sword Venerable had cultivated, not the Sword Venerable himself... By now, virtually no sword intent was being generated around the cliff. Meanwhile, the wisp of sword intent within the Starry Sky Sword was extraordinarily sharp. Just how strong was it? Li Hao had not tested it, but he had sensed it. The moment his spirit reached into the Starry Sky Sword, he felt a peerless might—one that the Starry Sky Sword could barely suppress, and Li Hao could only barely keep this strike under control. He felt... that if this strike were unleashed, it would be far more powerful than any burst he had ever produced before! Just like that day when the Sovereign's blood essence had erupted! The feeling of a powerhouse at the Heavenly King level being instantly obliterated! When the Moon God had appeared that day, her true body present, she was definitely no weaker than a Heavenly King. Yet she had been destroyed in an instant, and had Li Daoheng not intervened, she probably would have been slain directly. This time... carried a similar feeling. Li Hao was ecstatic! Although his own strength had not increased by much, he had gained a trump card. That was the first thing; secondly, there were no traps—this was the pure sword intent of the Sword Venerable, which he could also comprehend a little. He was a swordsman himself. Previously, with the thin sword intent, he could not perceive much, but now... Li Hao could already sense the various Dao intents contained within: destruction, rebirth, devastation... It was far too intricate! He felt that he needed to study it himself, and then use the combination method from the *Records of Yuanping* to replace the various sword intents with new Daos, assembling them into this strike to form the true intent of the Sword Venerable! Perhaps only in this way could he reproduce what the Sword Venerable's sword intent truly looked like. In his wild joy, Li Hao was just about to stop. Suddenly... *Crack!* Li Hao started slightly and glanced to the side... The next instant, he soared into the air. Just as he flew away, an earth-shattering boom erupted. The Broken Cliff instantly shattered! Having lost the support of the sword intent, the cliff—which had previously maintained a delicate internal and external balance through the intent's circulation—instantly blew apart, its equilibrium shattered. *Boom!* A massive explosion roared, and the cliff vanished entirely, leaving behind an even larger precipice. The Broken Cliff in the west of the city, the Sword Venerable's cultivation site... was inadvertently destroyed by Li Hao at this moment. ... At the West City Gate. The three were still complaining about the scoundrel's heartlessness... When a colossal boom suddenly echoed. The three looked over in an instant. The next moment, the stone cried out in astonishment, "Why did the cliff explode?" That was a place suffused with the Sword Venerable's sword intent; how could it possibly blow apart? "Damn it! What did that bastard do?" "Could he have comprehended something?" "Comprehend what? It was just a sliver of sword intent... Did he intentionally destroy the cliff?" "Unlikely, right? With his strength, destroying the cliff would require him to erupt with full power at the very least... We didn't sense any eruption from him..." "Strange! Did he truly make gains?" A place where everyone had visited without gaining anything, and you, a newcomer, have only been here seven days—yet you gained enlightenment? Did you think everyone else was a fool? Only you were clever? Li Daoheng was clever, wasn't he? He had visited this cliff as well, yet left empty-handed. You stayed for seven days, and you gained something? The Sword Tree asserted, "That bastard is giving us a warning! He intentionally destroyed the Sword Venerable's cultivation ground to tell us that this is what happens when we deceive him!" "..." Did they deceive him? They had merely told him to go look at the cliff, never claiming there would definitely be an opportunity. The great seal spoke with immense dignity: "Abominable! Whether it was a place of enlightenment or not, it was at least a place where the Sword Venerable cultivated. To destroy it like this... this person is brazen to the extreme!" As they spoke, the seal and the stone vanished instantly. The next moment, Li Hao tore through the air. His smile was extraordinarily radiant, though he looked exceedingly weak. His spirit, however, was invigorated to the absolute peak. "Senior Sword Tree, thank you for your guidance! The Broken Cliff in the west of the city is truly a sacred ground of the sword Dao, well-deserving of its reputation!" "..." The Sword Tree felt he was mocking it! Abominable! Yet Li Hao wasn't mocking it at all right now; he was completely sincere. If he had been left to search on his own, who knew how long it would have taken to find this cultivation site of the Sword Venerable? The sword intent wasn't very strong, and the city wasn't small; how could he have found it easily? A good person! No, a good tree! His harvest this time was not small. The Sword Venerable's sword intent was actually secondary; the key was that Li Hao had gained far deeper comprehension of that power of time. For a full seven days, he had been continuously wielding that energy. He had grown far more proficient! Indeed, one had to step outside and travel to gain enlightenment and make discoveries. "However... I must apologize. Because I gained too much insight and had such a great harvest, I temporarily forgot about the cliff's stability... which ended up causing it to collapse..." The illusory woman manifested by the Sword Tree spoke coldly: "No matter! If you have the ability to destroy the Broken Cliff, that is your skill!" In its eyes, Li Hao was merely mocking it! It was a show of force! It had originally wanted to talk, but at this moment... it suddenly lost interest and said icily, "Since you have gained something, it seems you have no need for any assistance from me. To be able to comprehend something even from the Broken Cliff—with such talent, do you still need help from others?" These words carried a biting sarcasm. Weren't you peerlessly talented? If you could gain something even from the Broken Cliff... why would you need help from anyone else? Li Hao smiled. "Senior... did you misunderstand something?" "There is no misunderstanding!" "I truly did make some gains..." The Sword Tree let out a disdainful sneer. "A good thing, then. Congratulations! If the Sword Venerable knew, he would surely marvel that he has found a worthy successor! For someone to comprehend something from the Broken Cliff, the Sword Venerable would be exceedingly gratified!" Li Hao: "..." Indeed, women... female trees were truly unreasonable! Whether a woman or a mother tree, why couldn't they listen to reason? Without even asking whether he had truly gained something, she had already decided he had gained nothing and was deliberately causing destruction. Thinking about it... Lin Hongyu was actually quite wonderful; she would never act like this, never picking quarrels or deliberately being stubborn. Li Hao said nothing more. Chuckling softly, the Starry Sky Sword manifested, and he casually executed a single strike! Facts spoke louder than words! Why bother arguing? Let the sword reveal the truth! As the strike emerged, the winds and clouds shifted! At that moment, the entirety of Sword City seemed to tremble faintly. Hiding in the shadows, the stone and the great seal shuddered, then manifested simultaneously. The Sword Tree's figure trembled violently! In an instant, the three damaged entities appeared together to resist the onslaught of the sword intent! *Boom!* Li Hao had originally only intended to prove his point, but seeing two objects suddenly pop out... he increased his power a fraction. Sword intent radiated out as the pure aura of the sword Dao boomed, suppressing heaven and earth! With a thunderous crash, the stone, the seal, and the tree were all sent flying back, filled with disbelief and shock. The Sword Tree's voice turned piercingly shrill: "The Longevity Sword Intent!" This was the true Longevity Sword Intent! Impossible! No matter how similar you were, no matter how talented or capable, you could not comprehend something identical to the Sword Venerable's own. Others might find it hard to distinguish, but as the Sword Tree that had accompanied the Sword Venerable throughout his cultivation, it knew all too well what the true Longevity Sword Intent was like. Whether through imitation or alteration, no one could unleash the unique sword intent that belonged solely to the Sword Venerable! Yet right now... it sensed a boundless purity! It was truly this! Not only that, but Sword City itself was trembling, as if utterly exhilarated. Horrified cries also came from the stone and the great seal. The Longevity Sword Intent! After a hundred thousand years, they once again felt that incomparably familiar Longevity Sword Intent. How could this be? The Sword Venerable? No, the Sword Venerable had departed! Who was this person? Even the monstrous prodigy of the Li family, Li Daoheng, was a master of the sword Dao, but... no matter how powerful his sword intent was, no matter how much it resembled the Longevity Sword Intent, what wasn't real wasn't real, no matter how close it seemed! Was this man the reincarnation of the Sword Venerable? Impossible! The Sword Venerable was immensely powerful. Outsiders did not know, but they knew that the Sword Venerable might... have resolved his issue with endurance. Perhaps the Sword Venerable of a hundred thousand years ago was already no weaker than beings at the Supreme's level. Of course, that was merely their own speculation. After all, they had never truly clashed. However... the Sword Venerable would not die, much less reincarnate, and even if he did, he would not come to Silver Moon... Thus, this person was definitely not the Sword Venerable's reincarnation! At this moment, the three powerhouses were completely dumbfounded. Li Hao promptly sheathed his sword. Somewhat surprised, he looked at the three. A tree, a stone, and a seal. The seal was most likely the City Lord's Seal... though it seemed very battered. The stone... Li Hao examined it closely. It seemed... it seemed... rather peculiar. What kind of stone was this? A paperweight? A whetstone? Sword intent crisscrossed the stone as well; in fact, all three were suffused with sword intent. The entirety of Sword City seemed to be an ocean of swords, where everyone cultivated the sword Dao! And these three were by no means weak. Even in their heavily battered state, all three likely possessed the combat power of Saints. To maintain such combat power while exceedingly weakened was truly frightening. Indeed, nothing connected to a Sovereign was weak. He was somewhat shaken, but the three opposite him were not merely shaken—they were incredulous, even bordering on frantic. The Sword Tree's voice was piercingly sharp: "How do you know the Longevity Sword?" "Impossible!" "Who on earth are you?" "Have you met the Sword Venerable?" "..." Faced with the barrage of questions, Li Hao did not respond. He merely sensed something in silence, his eyes flickering. Sword City... had just trembled. The moment the sword intent erupted, the entire Sword City had actually trembled. What was going on? Li Hao thought rapidly. After a long while, he looked at the three agitated remnants and said softly, "I told you, I comprehended some things at the Broken Cliff. You didn't believe me, so I had no choice but to prove it to you. Now... do you believe me?" "That's still impossible!" The stone spoke with a voice like muffled thunder: "Absolutely impossible! That cliff... simply cannot yield any comprehension. Even if it could, it's impossible to comprehend the complete Longevity Sword, an almost identical Longevity Sword Intent! You... who are you? Could... could you be..." Li Hao smiled. "Could I be what?" "Are you... an avatar of the Sword Venerable?" It could only think in this direction; there was no other explanation. The Sword Venerable could not have reincarnated! Then an avatar? Yet... that was impossible too! The Sword Tree was also hesitant: "Did you really comprehend the Longevity Sword Intent at the Broken Cliff? But even so, enlightenment is one's own realization; who could possibly reproduce the complete Longevity Sword? There would always be differences... Don't try to deceive us thinking we know nothing!" Who are you trying to fool! Li Hao smiled. "I never said this was the Longevity Sword Intent. I merely displayed what I had comprehended. As for you thinking it's identical, that's your own business, isn't it?" "..." The three were left speechless. They still could not believe it, feeling that this should not be possible. No matter how high your talent was, could you literally copy someone else's sword intent? At this moment, the stone sent a voice transmission: "Sword Tree, is he an avatar of the Sword Venerable?" The great seal interrupted directly: "Impossible. I suspect... is he the reincarnation of the Starry Sky Sword?" "Bullshit!" "The Starry Sky Sword reincarnating... what nonsense!" "Then you tell me, how did he do it?" "I don't know." "..." The three powerhouses were completely baffled. They had no clue how this had happened. The Sword Tree, however, calmed down slightly and transmitted, "It's also possible... that the sword intent on the Broken Cliff gathered and was captured by him. He holds... he holds the Starry Sky Sword, and fused that sword intent into it..." "That's impossible! Could that tiny bit of sword intent on the cliff truly be gathered? In a mere seven days? Never mind seven days—he couldn't do it in seven years, seventy years, or even seven hundred years!" The three could not fathom it. Yet their emotions were intensely complicated. Regardless, the other party had truly unleashed the genuine Longevity Sword. Now, some of the matters they had previously discussed would likely have to change. Meanwhile, Li Hao remained relaxed and at ease. Fascinating! These three seemed to know quite a lot. Not that it mattered! What mattered was that as damaged as they were, if they were restored to their peak, they would at least be three peak Saints, wouldn't they? Perhaps even... Heavenly Kings? Heavenly Kings of this era! If brought outside, they would at least be three top-tier combatants! All three had been by a Sovereign's side and had absorbed countless sword intents; their offensive power would certainly be formidable. In comparison... the Supreme's grandson, Zhang An, seemed rather ordinary. If these three returned to their peak, they might not be any weaker than Zhang An. Zhang An truly seemed pitiable! A contemporary of the Human King, an elite of the human race, the Supreme's grandson—how was his strength merely at that level? It was baffling! Surely managing to become a Heavenly King wouldn't have been too much to expect, right? However, recalling the Great Dao Book and those countless, messy Daos within it, perhaps... this Director Zhang wasn't quite as nonchalant as he appeared on the surface, but was someone with grand ambitions? The Supreme's intent, the Human King's intent, the Blood Sovereign's intent... The intents of countless top-tier powerhouses had all been integrated by him into the Great Dao Book. Could this man be aiming to reach heaven in a single bound? Who knew! Right now, a single Great Dao Book showed ordinary strength, but the potential was certainly there—provided Zhang An could fuse them all together rather than keep them scattered. Kept scattered, his strength was capped right there, capable only of slaying a few weak Heavenly Kings. With these thoughts surfacing in his mind, Li Hao smiled. "Seniors, can we talk? Or perhaps... could you take me to the Sword Venerable's true place of cultivation to sit for a while? That way, the Longevity Sword may reemerge into the world! Now that the Sword Venerable has departed, a band of petty villains is tarnishing his glorious name. Why not let me comprehend more of the Longevity Sword Intent, so I can slay all enemies with a single strike and clear the Sword Venerable's name?" The three powerhouses said nothing. After a long while, the Sword Tree seemed to waver and spoke: "How on earth did you do it?" "Prying into someone's secrets isn't very polite, is it?" The Sword Tree fell silent. *I know it's not polite, but I'm... truly too curious!* Because Li Hao had executed the genuine Longevity Sword Intent, the Sword Tree had somewhat altered its stance. After a moment, it finally said, "Let us return to the Mowu Branch first. You seem rather extraordinary... Perhaps we can have a detailed discussion!" Li Hao nodded. Glancing toward Sword City, he suddenly smiled. "It seems Sword City is cheering as well for the Longevity Sword Intent's reemergence into the world!" "..." The three ignored him. Li Hao was deep in thought as he toyed with the Starry Sky Sword in his hand. The Starry Sky Sword was very powerful and extraordinary, but... compared to the Blood Sovereign's saber, the gap was still rather wide! Although it was said that the swords used by the Sword Venerable were all disposable, the Starry Sky Sword was supposedly crafted jointly by the Human King and the Crafting Sovereign and presented to the Sword Venerable, specifically so he wouldn't have to replace his sword every single time! Yet the Starry Sky Sword in his hand seemed a bit fragile. Of course, compared to ordinary sacred weapons or even Heavenly King weapons, the Starry Sky Sword lagged behind in nothing. However... this was a Sovereign's personal sword! And not just any Sovereign, but the sword Dao Sovereign hailed as having the foremost offensive might! Li Hao said nothing more and flew toward the Mowu Branch alongside the three. Ahead of him, the spiritual power of the three continually fluctuated, clearly communicating about something. Li Hao smiled. It seemed that by unleashing the Longevity Sword Intent, he had caused these three to shift their perspective once again.