As spring returned, all things were revived.
Spring breezes gently blew the leaves, causing rustles to be heard. It was a scene full of vitality.
Ou Yangming saw Mount Return Sword from afar. The peak was like a longsword that had been pulled out of its scabbard and was stained with blood. It faintly displayed an indescribable sharpness.
As he bent his finger and grabbed, he instantly got hold of a hint of sword Qi in the air. It went through his pores and entered his meridians.
Ou Yangming closed his eyes and felt it for a moment. He chuckled and remarked, “It really is a little strange. The sword Qi hasn’t dissipated for 10,000 years?”
Not long after, Ou Yangming came to the corner of the peak. He raised his head and looked up. The precipice was steep like a smooth mirror. An ordinary person would not be able to climb up at all.
Big Yellow was amazed. It looked at the constantly changing grey mists at the top of the mountain. It grinned and bared its sharp teeth. “Lil’ Ming, why are there still mists at the top? It’s clear all around, but there are mists at the top of this mountain?”
After hearing what it said, Multi-armed King Kong also released its mental power, but it was blocked by an invisible barrier.
Ou Yangming smiled and pointed at the top of the mountain. “Look at the golden light above the mists. That’s sword Qi.”
Big Yellow’s throat moved. Just as it was about to answer, a black whirlwind came from the horizon and was accompanied by a joyful eagle’s cry. Immediately after, the black whirlwind grew bigger. Sand, gravel, and fallen leaves in the surroundings were all swept up like a long dragon. Once the whirlwind spread out, the enormous goshawk landed. Its eyes were full of excitement as it uttered happily, “Master!”
Multi-armed King Kong and Big Yellow walked over at the same time. The latter stretched out its claws while the former extended its fists.
The goshawk did the same by stretching out its wings and made fist gestures. It bumped into the 2 other beasts, then they smiled at each other. Back in the lower realm, they would fight each other for Ou Yangming’s attention. After they entered the Spiritual Realm, while they still competed with each other, their relationship became much better and was not as tense as when they were in the lower realm.
Ou Yangming stared at the goshawk. He nodded and said, “Not bad—your foundation is getting more solid. It won’t be long before you can break through to become a top-grade spirit beast.”
“Thank you for your kind words, Master.” The goshawk was respectful.
Big Yellow was also envious. Its cultivation base was the lowest at the moment, so it could not help but feel slightly melancholic.
With that, the young fellow and the 3 beasts circled around the foot of Mount Return Sword, but they did not find anything.
Struck with a thought, Ou Yangming lifted his foot and stepped on a piece of gravel. He constantly moved up the mountain and climbing toward the peak like a nimble ape. Although the peak was steep, to Spiritualists, it was like walking on flat ground, Big Yellow and Multi-armed King Kong followed closely behind him. As for the goshawk, it kept hovering above them. Nonetheless, it was wary and fearful of the giant peak, hence it was always careful and dared not be too presumptuous.
Mount Return Sword was quite marvelous. Even in the Spiritual Realm, which was full of all kinds of wonders, it was also extremely rare.
The peak was as thin as a strand of hair, and an arc-shaped platform could be seen not far from the peak.
Ou Yangming stepped on the platform and looked into the distance. Mount Return Sword was only several kilometers tall. It did not tower into the clouds, but it could give one a wide field of vision. The young fellow saw the cast Forest of Death and the intersecting streets in Huixun City. A heroic spirit suddenly rose in his heart, and he sighed. “No wonder so many people like to stand at a high place. The feeling of looking down on all living things is great indeed.”
As he lifted his hand and grabbed again, a wisp of mist was sandwiched between his 2 fingers.
When Ou Yangming’s spiritual power surged and crushed the mist, it turned into a golden sword-light. He looked like he expected this, and the scene of the old man opening his sword case appeared in front of him again. The 1-meter-long sword soared into the sky, and Mount Return Sword was swept away by it. Afterward, the young fellow compared Mount Return Sword to the one he saw in the painting. Eventually, a peculiar aura came from the gravel and plants on the peak, causing him to fall into a trance and became still. The mists on the peak seemed to have been attracted, and they instantly turned into a golden sword light that kept spinning around him.
A trace of path intent shook all of a sudden…
Ou Yangming was calm and at ease.
He was in a mental state of vacancy when his aura merged with Mount Return Sword and seemed to have become the gravel, plants, and fallen leaves on the peak. It turned into all things in the world. Earthworms slowly wriggled under the stones, bud-bearing flowers extended their stamen… Even the subtlest change on the mountain could not hide from the young fellow’s senses. This feeling of becoming one with the peak was particularly magnificent, and it could not be put into words.
The goshawk and Multi-armed King Kong had formed a contract with Ou Yangming, thus they could also sense the path rhythm. They slowly calmed down and followed him into a sublime state that was similar to meditation.
Even though Big Yellow did not form a contract with Ou Yangming, it had the Dragons’ bloodline and had a profound comprehension ability. It placed its front paws together and sat cross-legged like a human with its eyes closed.
As Big Yellow immersed itself into a mysterious world, its mind seemed to be occupied by countless queer and obscure great paths. They appeared and were destroyed, then they emerged again. The cultivation parts that the big yellow dog did not understand from before had unknowingly been integrated. Inside its dantian, spiritual Qi surged without an end. What was even stranger was the horns on its head flickered with black lights and became more ghostly and condensed.
Big Yellow’s momentum grew stronger and was elevated without a limit as it stirred the void. A black whirlwind coiled around its body. Behind it, an incomplete black dragon slowly appeared. The dragon’s scales were pitch-black and flickered with dark lights, its claws were incomparably sharp and seemed to be able to break everything in the world, and its eyes were tightly shut.
Without warning, a thud was heard. This was the sound of one breaking through a barrier!
Big Yellow’s momentum burst out more violently than the previous time…
It suddenly opened its eyes, which emitted brilliant lights that seemed to be able to make the world lose its color. Subsequently, it gathered its Qi and exhaled. A domineering voice was released from its mouth, and it was actually a dragon’s roar! The big yellow dog’s cultivation base had also broken through its shackles such that it became a high-rank spirit beast.
The same thing happened to the goshawk. Amidst the path rhythm, it felt like a lost ship seeing a lighthouse from the sea. The light was weak, but it lit up the path ahead of it. All of the doubts in the goshawk’s heart were gone, and it achieved instant comprehension. Its momentum slowly increased. Though it was not as fast as Big Yellow, its advantage was that it was neither too fast nor too slow.
At last, an explosion resounded in the goshawk’s mind.
It was as though a lightning bolt that was baring its fangs and brandishing its claws crashed down and tore the sky into pieces.
Quickly after, the goshawk’s feathers turned darker, like ink or black gold. It looked sharper than before, and the aura of a top-grade spirit beast spread out. It blew out a breath of green air, blowing away the mists within 33 meters from it. Its heart was burning with passion as it thought, ‘As long as I stabilize my cultivation state, with the help of Master’s Thunderbolt-resistant Set and Earthly Formation Boards, I’ll surely break through my shackles and become a Venerable One—a Venerable One!’ At this moment, the goshawk was filled with an endless heroic spirit.
Due to the fluctuations in its mind, the goshawk almost fell out of this mysterious state.
It quickly collected its mind and began to stabilize its cultivation base.
Not only it, but even Multi-armed King Kong also benefited a lot. Its aura became more solid, and the secret techniques that it inherited from the 10,000 Beasts Ridge were also integrated and could be used with ease. While its cultivation base did not break through, its combat power had increased by at least 10%. One must not underestimate the 10 % increment. It was worth noting that King Kong was a Venerable One that overcame 6 Heavenly Thunderbolts. Furthermore, it could already meet force with force when it previously defeated Qiu Chengwang. Now that its overall combat power increased by another 10%, how strong would it be?
In a way, as Ou Yangming fell into the mysterious and indescribable state this time, the rippling path intent helped the 3 spirit beasts to receive unimaginable benefits.
At this moment, Ou Yangming seemed to have become one with Mount Return Sword.
An incredibly distant scene appeared in his mind. The weather was clear, and it was not hot as it was early summer. Fragrant grasses drooped low, and when a cool breeze blew, countless grasses bent over at the same time as if they were rippling green waves in all directions. Xu Aoran carried a wooden box on his back and held a wooden sword in his hand. He lightly stabbed out with his sword but there were no fluctuations.
The old man approached Ou Yangming and explained softly, “There are no shortcuts in the path of sword techniques. Everything in the world works the same—diligence makes up for weakness. You’re quite talented but if you aim too high, you won’t be able to enter the path of sword techniques.” He took a deep breath and looked as if there was a longsword in his eyes that could shatter the heavens. He sighed and continued, “I originally intended to be a peddler or a porter, but I was born in a desolate home. Before I was 30 years old, my life didn’t have many ups and downs. I had no stories nor past events to share, let alone having experienced the vicissitudes of life. Who knew, when I was in my 40s, I became emotional and was obsessed with swords, so I caught up later in life. Throughout my life, I fought a total of 15,000 battles, about 50% of which I was victorious. The first 5,000 battles were used to sharpen my sword, so I was defeated in all of them. As for the next 5,000 battles, I used them to sharpen the heart of my sword, and I was victorious in half of them. Once I mastered the sword path, I was never defeated again.”
Xu Ao Ran seemed to be deep in thought as he put down the sword case on his back and the longsword in his hand at the same time.
The scene ended here. Ou Yangming thought, ‘Wasn’t Mount Return Sword swept away by the old man with the Green Peak Sword on their first meeting? Why is this scene still imprinted to the peak?
He secretly inhaled and suppressed the thought as he continued to sense the changes on Mount Return Sword bit by bit.
Not long after, Ou Yangming felt his body becoming lighter as if he was about to fly into the sky.
However, it was then when the golden Sword Qi on the mountain spread out as if it was descending from the nine heavens. It instantly filled the mountain. The mountain, the river, plants, mud, and simply everything was surrounded by the sword Qi. The Sword Qi suddenly condensed and turned into a golden sword mark, which emitted a scorching light like a golden sun. Additionally, it let out a soft ring as if an emperor had descended. Not far away, all of the longswords in Huixun City shook.
“Boom!” The golden mark was imprinted on Ou Yangming’s arm.
After the golden sword-light dispersed, Ou Yangming also retreated from that mysterious realm.
Ou Yangming’s body seemed to have been reborn. He felt light and had had the illusion that he could fly. That said, when he actually tried, he could not even leave the ground without using his spiritual power.
After trying for a while, he finally gave up unwillingly.
