As the river of time passed, nobody had ever been able to evade the Thirteenth Sword. No matter how powerful a person became, they would always be forced to endure the Thirteenth Sword. This was the Sword Sect’s unrivaled Thirteenth Sword.
The reason why only Envoys could comprehend the Thirteenth Sword was not due to some cultivation requirement, but rather, it was a requirement of the swordsman. The user needed to have a thorough understanding of emotions, and they could only gain this deep insight by relying on the vast amount of time that came with becoming an Envoy. This was why it was so difficult to cultivate the Thirteenth Sword.
The Thirteenth Sword required one to comprehend Emotions.
Liu Tianmu had never experienced strong emotions before. Ever since she had been born, she had always been an absolute genius. She had been selected to inherit the Thirteen Swords, and she had looked down upon her generation. Who dared to even mention emotions with her? Even the other Arbiters kept a respectful distance from her, and she would not have been able to find anyone even if she wanted to. As for familial love, that was something even more distant. A cultivator could wield power throughout the universe, but they would not be able to receive the normal familial love that commoners took for granted. This was a tragedy that many cultivators experienced.
Love and kinship—Liu Tianmu had never experienced either, and this was the reason why she had never been able to fully comprehend the Thirteenth Sword.
However, Liu Tianmu was a genius. While most people would assume the quintessential human emotions to be love or kinship, as these were the most profound feelings, she believed that there was another sort of passion, dedication. Dedication to the sword. Dedication to cultivation. These were also forms of passion. These were her emotions, and they were also the emotions that she used to unleash the Thirteenth Sword.
A gentle breeze blew by, rustling Liu Tianmu’s hair. The wind flowed along with her sword as it blew past the golden screens and through the Mountain and Seas Zone.
Everyone felt something change, and at this moment, this gentle breeze contained countless emotions, which caused the surrounding combatants to be temporarily drawn out of their battles. They involuntarily followed where the mild breeze had come from to look at Liu Tianmu.
Shang Qing’s expression grew solemn, and the three strands of ancestral qi instinctively revolved around him as an indescribable feeling of danger filled his heart. Despite it not being very strong, how many people in the entire Mountain and Seas Zone could cause him to feel threatened at all?
He grew expectant. The Thirteen Swords were something that he had long since wanted to experience. Although the Thirteen Swords were known to be mysterious and powerful, allowing their users to slay powerful foes, Shang Qing did not care about any of that. Nobody could defeat the Tri-Yang Technique. Thus, nobody could defeat him.
This was the source of his confidence, and it was also why he had no intention of trying to stop Liu Tianmu; he wanted to see what the Thirteenth Sword was like.
Directly beneath Liu Tianmu, both Lu Yin and Xie Xiaoxian were watching everything take place. They could feel that something was off, especially Lu Yin. At this moment, he had actually seen the rune lines of Liu Tianmu’s sword vanish.
He could see rune lines, and the sword formed from star energy was clearly still in Liu Tianmu’s hand. However, the sword’s rune lines had vanished. What did this mean? It seemed to say that this technique had surpassed Lu Yin’s mastery of Truesight.
It was just like how Shang Qing’s Tri-Yang Technique could not be weakened by Lu Yin’s Truesight.
Liu Tianmu had reached a miraculous realm at this moment. It was not that she or Shang Qing could escape from Truesight, as that was impossible. However, they had managed to surpass Lu Yin. At least right now, when he had only cultivated Truesight to the Clarity realm, Lu Yin was unable to use Truesight to influence these two.
Truesight was a technique, and since that was the case, it was possible for others to surpass the technique. Shang Qing’s Tri-Yang Technique and Liu Tianmu’s Thirteen Swords had both surpassed Lu Yin’s mastery of Truesight. Thus, he naturally could not understand either of their techniques.
There was no sword light or slashing movement, but when Liu Tianmu’s sword split apart in her hands as she collapsed to the golden stage and spat out a mouthful of blood, everyone knew that she had used the Thirteenth Sword.
Everyone instinctively looked over at Shang Qing, and to their amazement, they all saw that Shang Qing had turned pale. Bloodstains had appeared on his chest that started to slowly spread out. Finally, his blood fell onto the golden screen. He shuddered and then slowly crouched down, panting heavily as beads of sweat fell from his forehead. A hint of blood could be seen on his lips.
Anyone who had fought with Shang Qing knew how powerful his Tri-Yang Technique was. He had never been injured, but Liu Tianmu had actually managed to accomplish that feat twice, with both the Twelfth Sword and the Thirteenth Sword. Of particular note, the Thirteenth Sword had been especially effective, and it was clear that Shang Qing’s injuries were not minor.
Had the Thirteenth Sword really been used? Why hadn’t anyone noticed anything at all?
There was only one person in the entire Mountain and Seas Zone who could see the power of the Thirteenth Sword: Tai Yishen. He had cultivated Truesight to the Perception Realm, which was a level higher than Lu Yin’s, and he was able to see the Thirteenth Sword’s rune lines.
Tai Yishen was shocked at what he saw; was this the Thirteenth Sword? It was no wonder why the legends claimed that the Sword Sect’s Thirteenth Sword could not be avoided, as the sword had nothing to do with distance or space. When that sword appeared, it was as if it had already released its attack.
Tai Yishen warily looked over at Liu Tianmu who was lying on the stage in an unknown condition. This woman was truly terrifying, as she had a means of mutual destruction no matter who she faced—not even Shang Qing was an exception.
Lu Yin could not see Shang Qing’s rune lines either, but Tai Yishen could.
In his eyes, Shang Qing’s rune lines had been greatly reduced in just an instant.
Outside the Mountain and Seas Zone, the crowd of older experts had fallen silent.
After a while, Mu En exclaimed, “I’ve seen the Sword Sect’s Thirteenth Sword again in my life, and it’s still just as breathtaking.”
Highsage Shenwei had a serene expression. “If the Sword Sect had a few more people who had inherited the Thirteen Swords, they would have long since entered the Neoverse.”
Xia Meng stared at Liu Tianmu; in the future, there would be a role for this child to play.
Mu En smiled. “It’s true. This Astral Tower contest truly is truly not bad, as even the Thirteenth Sword has been used. This child also qualifies to enter the observation list.”
Nearby, Yuan Ke sighed. “So far, she’s the only one who’s been able to injure the Tri-Yang Technique’s user. If she doesn’t qualify, then nobody does.”
Atop a golden screen in the Mountain and Seas Zone, Shang Qing half-squatted as he panted heavily. It took him a long time to recover enough to stand up. He then staggered over to Liu Tianmu, looked at her fallen figure, and shook his head. “Did you exceed your limits by using that move? Although the Thirteenth Sword is truly incomprehensible, you can only use it once. Sword Sect’s Liu Tianmu, I, Shang Qing, recognize you. If you can stand up, then I guarantee that you will become one of the Cosmic Five.”
Shang Qing’s words left many people flabbergasted. Everyone had assumed that he was not concerned with mortal affairs, that he would only obey the Hall of Honor’s orders, and that he was only interested in his personal strength. Nobody could have predicted that he would say such a thing to Liu Tianmu.
Outside the Mountain and Seas Zone, Mu En’s brows rose, as these words should not have been said by Shang Qing. The Cosmic Five were predetermined by the powers of the Neoverse after distributing various benefits, and the outcome was ultimately controlled by the Hall of Honor. Even though Xia Jiuyou had revealed that he had comprehended Nine Clones Secret Technique and defeated Lei Nü, he had still been stopped from becoming one of the Cosmic Five, let alone someone from the Innerverse.
Despite that, Shang Qing had still made such a proclamation.
Highsage Shenwei laughed. “Not bad! Not bad! I thought that that kid was just a blockhead who became out of touch with reality after cultivating the Tri-Yang Technique. However, it looks like he still has his own thoughts. Hahaha, that’s good.”
Some distance away, Yuan Ke also smiled and looked at Shang Qing with appreciation. “Without his own thoughts, even if he manages to cultivate the most miraculous technique in the universe, he still wouldn’t be able to become a Progenitor. Merely relying on a technique isn’t enough to make one truly unrivaled. Your Hall of Honor has not nurtured this child wrongly.”
This was also the first time that Xia Meng’s face had showed any sign of appreciation.
Mu En felt exasperated. These people could have such thoughts and reactions, but there were certain people within the Hall of Honor who did not think the same. They hoped to nurture a Tri-Yang Technique user who was completely loyal to the Hall of Honor; they wanted a faithful warrior, not a stubborn thorn who might even admire his enemies.
After Shang Qing’s words were said, it was likely that quite a few people would be unable to sleep well.
It appeared that the Hall of Honor had not completely subdued Shang Qing. Rather, he disregarded them. It was not only his enemies or the other members of his generation that he belittled or felt contempt for. It was clear that he also disdained some of the Hall of Honor’s powerhouses, and he was too bothered to even argue with them.
This was the true Shang Qing. He was someone of flesh and blood, and he was the unrivaled genius who had cultivated the universe’s most miraculous technique.
…
Nobody knew how severe Shang Qing’s injuries were at this time, but nobody attacked him either.
Ling Gong had challenged Shang Qing, but she had also retreated, which was the same as admitting defeat. According to her personality, she would not be shameless enough to challenge Shang Qing again.
Yuhua Mavis had managed to suppress Unseen Light from the very beginning of their fight, and Ling Gong had no plans of intervening. However, Yuhua Mavis had actually included Ling Gong within the scope of her attack, and green fists pounded down at her in a frenzied manner, leaving Ling Gong with no choice but to coordinate with Unseen Light to fight back against Yuhua Mavis.
Xia Jiuyou’s battle with Starsibyl was the simplest of the various battles. Others could not see how these two were using the Nine Clones Secret Technique, but could that secret technique have really only raised them up from the Hunter to the Enlighter realm? That was clearly not the case. In the eyes of the onlookers, Progenitor Chen’s peerless technique would be in no way weaker than the Tri-Yang Technique.
The most sullen person at this time was Qiu Shi, as all of her attacks were completely ineffective against Wen Sansi.
Actually, Qiu Shi was not the only one feeling frustrated, as both Yuhua Mavis and Xia Jiuyou were feeling quite stifled. Just like how Starsibyl occasionally used her Calculations of the Abacus to help Wen Sansi and Unseen Light by interfering with attacks targeting them, Wen Sansi was also occasionally using his barrier to protect Starsibyl or Unseen Light by blocking Xia Jiuyou and Yuhua Mavis’s attacks.
His barrier was truly unbreakable in this situation, and it even occasionally blocked Yuhua Mavis’s attacks, which left her quite upset. She actually wanted to swap opponents with Qiu Shi and see if the Mavis Treeheart Descendant’s endless strength could break through the barrier.
The intense battle atop the golden screen was nearing a conclusion. In fact, if Wen Sansi hadn’t revealed his impenetrable barrier that could block any attacks, the Innerverse’s youths would have long since been defeated.
Shang Qing had been severely injured by Liu Tianmu’s Thirteen Swords, though nobody knew just how serious his injuries were.
These were the circumstances when Lu Yin and Xie Xiaoxian seized the opportunity to rush towards the giant eyes.
They were very concerned about Shang Qing, as it was impossible for him to not be cautious of potential thieves—how could he allow his inheritance to be stolen by others? However, he had just been severely injured by the Thirteenth Sword, and Lu Yin and Xie Xiaoxian felt confident that they were strong enough to evade the Tri-Yang Technique and make it into the giant eyes.
However, they had been overly cautious, as Shang Qing simply did not care about them. It was possible that he had actually noticed them but simply did not care, allowing them to charge into the giant eyes that were at the broken peak of the mountain.
The moment that the two stepped foot within the range of the eyes, the scene before them completely and suddenly changed. This place seemed to be a foreign pocket of space that had been removed from the world. As the two looked around, specks of star energy slowly moved about everywhere. These giant eyes had been formed from star energy to create a bizarre area, or rather, a strange world.
“Seventh Bro, this area is demonstrating the Wordliness realm of star energy control, or maybe even the Creation realm!” The Ghost Monkey was excited.
Lockbreakers focused the most on their star energy control, and their level of control was measured by six levels: Intricacy, Cloudwalk, Skywise, Divine Gaze, Worldliness, and Creation. Thus far, Lu Yin was only able to reach the Divine Gaze by using the upgraded gemspring water, and he was normally only capable of reaching the Skywise realm. As for the Worldliness and Creation realms, he had no understanding of them, though he had just entered a bizarre area that might be formed by those two realms of control.
“Seventh Bro, this should be an amazing place that was created specifically to help Lockbreakers improve their star energy control. This might actually be the most suitable place for you,” the Ghost Monkey shouted.
Lu Yin felt the same.
It was no wonder why Shang Qing had not cared about this place, as he was not a Lockbreaker. While ascending the mountain, he had long since discovered the secret within the giant eyes. Thus, he had not minded the two thieves.
Xie Xiaoxian was disappointed, as she was able to see that this place held nothing for her.
