Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
The Tiangang Swordmaster’s face changed as he turned his gaze towards Mount Shu. He could faintly feel that the Nine Heavens Primordial Sword Formation that he had created from the Saintly Celestial Primordial Sword Formation seemed to revert to its original form.
And the only person that can accomplish this in the Mount Shu Sword Sect was the Cangming Swordmaster.
The doubts he had in his mind before this instantly became reality. What made his brows furrow even deeper was the fact that he could feel a change at the core of the earth, as if the Saintly Celestial Sword was about to be reborn.
The Tiangang Swordmaster was the most powerful sword cultivator in the Mount Shu Sword Sect of today, and his sensitivity to the Saintly Celestial Sword was beyond doubt.
It wasn’t just him – his Tiangang Ancient Sword also began to quiver, as if it was breathing.
At this point, Zhu Yi had also received messages from the Supreme Radiance Swordmaster and the Lightning Swordmaster. He wasn’t sure what was going on exactly, but he could feel that there was something amiss. He was already wary before this and raised his guard even more.
“Are you still in contact with Mount Shu?” Zhu Yi turned towards the Tiangang Swordmaster, “I wonder what’s happening with Mount Shu?”
The Tiangang Swordmaster was expressionless as he continued looking in the direction of Mount Shu before he shifted his gaze towards the entrance to the inter-world passageway.
He didn’t even need to deliberate too much. The Tiangang Swordmaster understood the Saintly Celestial Primordial Sword Formation and realized what had happened at Mount Shu at the first possible notice.
However, he was a little tied down at the moment – the Shen Dragon King was still watching the Divine Lands on the other side of the inter-world passageway.
Even though he was relatively calm and patient, a vastly different attitude from the other dragons, it didn’t mean that he was cowardly. That powerful dragon was simply waiting for his opportunity to arise.
When his chance was here, he would pounce on it without hesitation and he wouldn’t hold back in a fight.
Zhu Yi stood on top of the Higan Golden Bridge with his hands behind his back. His eyes were also staring at the inter-world passageway as he said, “If you have an emergency matter to handle, do go ahead. I will stay here.”
“Mount Shu is quite a distance from here, but it’s still a lot closer than Xiling City. It won’t take long for you to go there and return.”
Zhu Yi continued, “Furthermore, Mount Shu isn’t being invaded by demons. It’s not likely that the Shen Dragon King will receive any updates – and even if he does, he might not believe it that easily as he might think it’s a trap we set up to ambush him.”
“If you hurry over and return as soon as possible, there shouldn’t be a big disturbance here in the Southern Wilderness. We should be fine in the short term.”
The Tiangang Swordmaster contemplated momentarily as his consciousness resonated in the void. “I will return to the Southern Wilderness as fast as I can. I will leave you to it, then.”
With that, he transformed into a single ray of sword radiance and surged off the Higan Golden Birdge and towards the Northwest.
Shi Tianhao and company, who were still on the way to Xiling City, had also been informed by now. Even though they didn’t really know what was going on, they knew something wasn’t right.
Shi Tianhao glanced at Luo Qingwu, “Little junior, let’s split up.”
His journey to Xiling City was to prevent the worst from happening. He intended to save the people, and if something serious did happen, everybody would be in great danger. It was likely that Luo Qingwu and the others would share the same peril as he would if they tagged along with him.
Whether it was Luo Qingwu or the other younger disciples, their current expedition into the outside world was a little beyond their capabilities. It was natural that they wouldn’t be commit beyond their means.
Before this, Shi Tianhao and the others had a discussion and agreed that Zhuge Zhan would take Luo Qingwu and the rest back to the Kunlun Mountains, while Shi Tianhao himself would proceed towards Xiling City with the Luyuan Grand Sage for backup.
The Great Qin Empire was evacuating its citizens into the Kunlun Mountains. For assurance’s sake, Xiao Yan had departed Mount Kunlun and into the regions near the border of the Great Qin Empire to receive them.
The first impact of the change in situation inside Mount Shu would be on the circumstance inside the Southern Wilderness. After a series of discussions, Xiao Yan, Zhu Yi, Shi Tianhao and the others decided that the Tiangang Swordmaster was trustworthy, but it was hard to say what exactly happened over at Mount Shu.
If the Tiangang Swordmaster had been involved in the scheme from the very start, then the situation would have gone from bad to worse.
Xiao Yan was gradually shifting towards Mount Shu as he was arranging for and receiving the citizens and cultivators from the Great Qin Empire.
It wasn’t nice to disregard and show distrust towards the Mount Shu Sword Sect under uncertain circumstances, as they had a decent performance thus far during the war between the worlds before this – especially in light of the fact that the Tiangang Swordmaster was personally returning to Mount Shu.
Luo Qingwu was a first-generation disciple of the Celestial Sect of Wonders and her status was relatively respectable, even though her level of mastery was a bit low. After their discussions were complete, Luo Qingwu was dispatched to observe the happenings inside Mount Shu and to find out what exactly was going on.
Zhuge Zhan, who was in the third-level immortal soul stage, would accompany her while Xiao Yan awaited their news somewhere westwards of Mount Shu.
Shi Tianhao looked at Luo Qingwu and spoke with a serious tone, “This arrangement is very risky. Even with backup from Senior Xiao, and even if Second Senior is hurrying towards Mount Shu, your safety and Zhuge Zhan’s cannot be completely guaranteed if there’s real trouble.”
The meaning behind his speech was naturally referring to the worst-case scenario, that there was something amiss with the Tiangang Swordmaster and everything had been a scheme from the start.
As long as there was nothing wrong with the Tiangang Swordmaster, even if it was the Cangming Swordmaster who was stirring up trouble, the Tiangang Swordmaster would be able to subdue him. This meant that the situation wouldn’t be completely out of control.
The two most powerful sword cultivators of Mount Shu, the Tiangang Swordmaster and the Cangming Swordmaster, wouldn’t even bother with Luo Qingwu and Zhuge Zhan. The two of them were enough to defend themselves against the others from Mount Shu.
In the event that they were defeated, they could sustain themselves till they reached Xiao Yan’s position.
Luo Qingwu gazed into Shi Tianhao’s eyes and clasped her hands together. “I understand. I will be careful.”
Shi Tianhao turned towards Zhuge Zhan. “Mister Zhuge, I’m afraid I have to trouble you to take care of my little junior sister, and trouble you to tag along in this journey to Mount Shu.”
Zhuge Zhan waved his hands and said, “There’s no need for such politeness. Since I’ve joined your sect, all these things are just a matter of degree and about its finer points.”
“I am idle by nature. You guys and your master have been giving me full autonomy over the years, and since the situation is so tense, I can’t just sit around and be idle.”
Shi Tianhao and the Luyuan Grand Sage continued towards Xiling City the moment both parties parted while Zhuge Zhan travelled to Mount Shu with Luo Qingwu.
The younger disciples of their sect were still on their way to the Kunlun Mountains. They were to meet up with Xiao Yan first before returning to Yun Peak Mirror Lake.
Zhuge Zhan unleased his Rainbow Flight Soaring Spell and transformed his Divine Sunlight into the Skybreak Rainbow as he took Luo Qingwu towards Mount Shu.
When they were reaching the regions near Mount Shu, Zhuge Zhan abruptly stopped in his tracks as he watched the void with a serious look on his face. Luo Qingwu’s eyes were fixed in the same direction – there was a giant pillar of white light that pierced right through the heavens. The gargantuan pillar of light was so large that it enveloped Mount Shu, as if it was an independent world.
Even though Luo Qingwu’s level of mastery was low, she could tell after careful perusal that there was a frightening sword mind embodied within that pillar of white light, as if it was about to slice the world open.
“The sword mind of the Saintly Celestial Sword…” Luo Qingwu’s eyebrows began to crease as she looked up at the pillar of light shooting right through the void. “Mister Zhuge, someone seems to be fighting over there.”
Zhuge Zhan nodded his head and said, “Two extremely powerful sword cultivators – it must be the Tiangang Swordmaster and the Cangming Swordmaster.”
Luo Qingwu muttered under her breath, “So something went wrong with the Cangming Swordmaster in the end?”
Despite this, Luo Qingwu’s eyebrows began to relax. The epic battle between the two great elders from Mount Shu proved that the possibility of the worst-case scenario was out of the question.
She stared closely at the pillar of white light that appeared to be formed with boundless amounts of sword Qi and sword minds. “This must be the Nine Heavens Primordial Sword Formation… No, is it the Saintly Celestial Primordial Sword Formation? So that’s what happened. The Cangming Swordmaster used the foundations set by the Tiangang Swordmaster and is using the power of the sword formation to re-forge the Saintly Celestial Sword!”
Zhuge Zhan grunte and said, “The Cangming Swordmaster must be in control of the sword formation. This is the reason why he can hold on for such a long time in his fight against the Tiangang Swordmaster.”
Luo Qingwu continued staring at the Saintly Celestial Primordial Sword Formation and said slowly, “Even though the power of the sword formation is being withdrawn, the Saintly Celestial Sword is still in the process of its re-forging. He appears to be able to do two things at once – this means that he’s drawing upon the strength of the mountain defense formations belonging to the other sword sects on a large scale.”
She knew about the fundamental principles of the Saintly Celestial Primordial Sword Formation. It wasn’t hard for her to understand what was going on after some inspection.
Zhuge Zhan said, “The Tiangang Swordmaster is being held back by the Cangming Swordmaster. If this continues, the situation will only deteriorate even further. Tell Xiao Yan to hurry over – I will make a move first.”
The Cangming Swordmaster was using the power of the Saintly Celestial Primiordial Sword Formation to resist against the Tiangang Swordmaster. However, he had to continue on his battle with the Tiangang Swordmaster and re-forge the sword at the same time. He wouldn’t have the energy or the attention to deal with other things.
If the Saintly Celestial Primordial Sword Formation was interrupted or even broken, the Cangming Swordmaster wouldn’t have enough strength to fight against the Tiangang Swordmaster.
Zhuge Zhan raised his fists and a million rays of light started to flicker. It was like the rise of a scorching Sun as he threw it against the pillar of white light.
A voice like rolling thunder crackled between heaven and earth. “The Celestial Sect of Wonders?”
It was the Cangming Swordmaster, and he was still locked horns with the Tiangang Swordmaster in the void.
The two most powerful sword cultivators in the current generation of cultivators from the Mount Shu Sword Sect were engaged in an epic battle, and the void all around was being laid to ruin.
The Cangming Swordmaster was only one step away from the Vipralopa Stage. Even though he still wasn’t at his best after recreating his sword heart, he wasn’t that far away and he was still incredibly powerful.
In the end, he was still no match for the Tiangang Swordmaster, who had been in the Vipralopa Stage for a very long time. Fortunately for him, he had the help of the Saintly Celestial Primordial Sword Formation and the Tiangang Swordmaster’s injury from is battle with the Earth Dragon King hadn’t fully recovered. This was the reason why the Cangming Swordmaster could hold out for so long.
The Tiangang Swordmaster stared at the Cangming Swordmaster as his consciousness resonated in the space around them. “Stop this, Cangming!”
The Tiangang Swordmaster was ultimately unwilling to use the Power-Destroying Catastrophe against a member of his sect that he had known for more than ten thousand years.
With his current level of swordplay and mastery, he could tell with one look that the Cangming Swordmaster was like the Azure Sky Dragon King – they were both only one instance away from completing the tribulations.
However, the Cangming Swordmaster’s current condition meant that a single stroke of the Power-Destroying Catastrophe would destroy him on the spot. There was no other possibility.
The Azure Sky Dragon King still had room to struggle, but the Cangming Swordmaster was destined not to survive the final tribulation.
The Cangming Swordmaster returned the Tiangang Swordmaster’s gaze calmly and said, “Senior Tiangang – the re-forged Saintly Celestial Sword will not be used by me. That will be a complete waste. When the sword is reborn, and in light of the dire situation of the war between the worlds, the Saintly Celestial Sword will be yours to wield.”
As he spoke, the Cangming Swordmaster waved his hands once and threw a ray of light into the middle of the Saintly Celestial Primordial Sword Formation.
The Tiangang Swordmaster refocused his eyes towards the ray of light – there was a human figure contained inside.
