Good Things Must Not Be Wasted

"I gave you such an enormous cheat, Zhou Yi. Don't disappoint me."

Li Yu stopped laughing and glanced at the image displayed by the system. "Next comes the Da Lei Yin Temple arc."

Li Yu brushed the dust from his clothes and got to his feet.

"I can't stay idle either."

He looked up at Mount Shu ahead of him and smiled.

"This place still has Chisong Zi's legacy. The legacy itself means little to me, but the Celestial Sword Pool is quite extraordinary."

The System scan had recorded this world's resource information, but that was merely information, not physical objects.

To exchange for physical objects, the system had to consume energy to create them.

But if it directly collected a physical object, that object would exist in the Resource Library in its physical form. Exchanging for it would no longer consume energy.

"The Celestial Sword Pool was Chisong Zi's sword-washing pool and the place where he comprehended the sword. It contains boundless sword qi and supreme Sword Dao Truth. The system can collect all of it directly. Good things must not be wasted!"

A streak of escaping light shot into the sky as Li Yu flew toward the Celestial Sword Pool.

When the system scanned and recorded resource information, it had automatically included the locations of those resources. Following its directions, Li Yu arrived near the Celestial Sword Pool in an instant.

Ahead stood a mountain peak that pierced the clouds.

Its steep slopes rose sheer and straight, like a longsword pointed at the heavens.

"Clang..."

Invisible sword qi rang out with a metallic clamor. Sharp and frigid, it pierced through the clouds.

"Good heavens!"

Even from this distance, Li Yu felt as though countless blades were continuously slicing across his entire body.

"System, collect the sword qi!"

With Li Yu's current strength, he could not withstand this sword qi. And if he went any farther, there would be an even fiercer supreme sword intent—an intent capable of slaying even Sages. Li Yu had no desire to test it.

The system's resource collection function was immensely powerful. It could collect all matter and all energy. However, resource collection was continuous, so it had no way to deal with power that erupted instantaneously in battle.

An invisible black hole appeared around Li Yu, and the sword qi in the surroundings streamed endlessly into the system.

With the threat of sword qi gone, the Celestial Sword Pool was nothing more than a steep mountain peak.

Riding his escaping light, Li Yu collected sword qi all the way as he rushed straight to the summit.

At the summit lay a clear lake.

The rippling glimmers on its surface were not reflections of water, but boundless sword light.

Several ancient pines stood by the lake, their gnarled branches twisted like coiling old dragons, vigorous and ancient.

Beneath the old trees stood a stone table, sprawled there like a reclining ox.

"So this was where Chisong Zi comprehended the Dao?"

At the sight before him, Li Yu felt a vast, matchless sword intent soaring into the heavens, splitting the sky and cutting the clouds. It seemed that nothing in the world could not be severed!

"What a powerful sword intent!"

Even with the system collecting the sword qi, Li Yu still felt his heart tremble at that sword intent. "Chisong Zi's sword intent truly is invincible and formidable! What a pity... Even an existence that could nearly destroy the world still could not attain longevity, and in the end could only pass away in helpless meditation."

The Path to Longevity in this world had already been severed. Even after attaining the rank of Great Emperor, one would have only ten thousand years of life in a single lifetime. What a pity.

"This invincible sword intent, this Sword Dao that breaks ten thousand techniques with a single strike—I will be the one to reveal its edge!"

Li Yu swept his sleeve, and the system rapidly collected the sword qi around him. As time passed, the sword qi grew thinner and thinner until every trace of sword qi on the mountain had been completely collected.

"Though this sword qi is extraordinary, the true treasure is the Celestial Sword Pool!"

Li Yu turned his gaze toward the sword lake, where sword light flowed like water, and a smile appeared on his face. "In the original story, even Ye Hei dared not touch this Celestial Sword Pool. That says enough about its power."

The Celestial Sword Pool was Chisong Zi's sword-washing pool.

Chisong Zi had practiced his swordsmanship and comprehended the Dao here, spending most of his life in this place. Day and night, the Celestial Sword Pool had been steeped in Chisong Zi's sword intent. Every drop of lake water contained indestructible sword light and condensed supreme sword intent. Once its sword qi erupted, it would be enough to destroy heaven and earth.

"This Celestial Sword Pool possesses boundless power. Naturally, I can't let it go."

Li Yu walked to the lake's edge and pointed at the surface. An invisible black hole surged forth from his fingertip.

"Clang..."

Boundless sword light churned like waves. Ten thousand swords rang in unison, their chilling cold striking terror into the soul. It was as though the Celestial Sword Pool, unwilling to be collected, was roaring in rage.

However, all of it was meaningless.

The system directly siphoned away the lake water containing endless sword light, and did so at tremendous speed. The shimmering surface of the Celestial Sword Pool kept dropping. In roughly ten minutes, the enormous lake had completely dried up.

A gentle breeze drifted through the area, and the clouds hung light in the sky.

There was no longer any sword qi sharp enough to cut.

"Excellent! This is a huge haul!"

Li Yu glanced at the Resource Library. When he saw the Celestial Sword Pool within, its sword light flowing like water, he beamed with delight.

Although the system had scanned all the resource information in this world, creating those resources would still consume a great deal of energy.

Take this Celestial Sword Pool, for example. If Li Yu wanted to create it from scratch, his thousand-odd points of energy would likely be nearly depleted. Without a sufficient source of energy, how could he bear to squander it so freely?

Now that he had acquired the Celestial Sword Pool, using its power would no longer drain the system's energy.

With Chisong Zi's sword intent and this Celestial Sword Pool, Li Yu could wield immense power without consuming system energy. It would greatly aid his career of pretending to be an expert and playing the Old Man, while also making him much safer.

"At this time... Zhou Yi should have reached the ruins of Da Lei Yin Temple, right?"

Li Yu looked up at the sky, a faint smile appearing on his face. "With the Celestial Sword Pool, I no longer need to worry about draining too much system energy. I can take a trip to the Big Dipper Starfield as well. Then... I'll catch a ride!"

A streak of sword light soared into the heavens.

Drawing on the power of the Celestial Sword Pool, Li Yu rode the sword light in flight toward Mars.

At this moment, on Mars.

Zhou Yi's group had just emerged from the Bronze Colossal Coffin.

"Where are we?"

Before them stretched a desolate wilderness, an endless expanse of reddish-brown sand and gravel.

Bleak, lifeless—when they looked in every direction, there was not the slightest trace of life.

"Heavenly Book Spirit, where is this?"

After stepping out of the Bronze Colossal Coffin, Zhou Yi asked the Supreme Heavenly Book in his mind.

"Your Majesty, this is Mars, the first stop on the Starry Sky Ancient Road."

The Heavenly Book Spirit replied, "Mars was once a great sacred land, but it later declined. Your Majesty, the ruins of Da Lei Yin Temple are not far ahead. If you investigate them, you will surely gain something."

"Da Lei Yin Temple? The Da Lei Yin Temple of the Buddha? It's actually here?"

Zhou Yi was greatly shocked. Looking in the direction indicated by the Heavenly Book Spirit, he indeed faintly saw a glimmer of light.

"The Dao Ancestor said that once I reached Da Lei Yin Temple, I was to sacrifice the Bodhi Tree. Could it be that the Dao Ancestor had anticipated this long ago?"

Zhou Yi looked toward Da Lei Yin Temple and took a deep breath. "I hope the gains at Da Lei Yin Temple won't disappoint me!"