A Conversation

"Is this what it feels like to command a Heavenly Origin?"

High in the air, Daoist Yan stood suspended, feeling the Dao resonance flooding wildly into her body, gradually condensing into a complete law of heaven and earth. Her understanding of the Cloud-Cutting Dao had perhaps reached ninety-nine percent before, but that missing fraction was enough to elevate everything to a higher plane.

At that moment, she commanded one among heaven and earth's myriad great Daos, yet her spiritual power had not increased greatly, because the greatest difference between the seventh and eighth realms had never been one of cultivation.

It was the essence of life itself.

With a slow curl of her finger, she could feel the Cloud-Cutting Dao moving at her will. She did not spend much time savoring it. Instead, she raised her hand.

She drew the Chengying Sword from midair into her palm. With a flash of light, a dragon-headed spectral form of Jimeng was summoned forth.

"A portion of Baili Tong's divine soul fragments was fused into your sword soul, which is why you carry his aura." Daoist Yan studied it and pondered. "Who fused you into the sword?"

"Master!" Jimeng suddenly shouted. "Wasn't it you who made me the Chengying Sword's spirit?"

All of this unfolded beneath countless watching eyes. The citizens of Hanging Sword Kingdom, who had not fully understood what had happened, suddenly realized—could it be that Daoist Yan had used some sinister scheme, causing the Western Sea Sword Emperor to fail at the crucial moment?

For a moment, countless burning gazes looked skyward, like tens of thousands of sharp arrows.

But Daoist Yan did not care in the slightest. She had never cared about others even in the seventh realm, much less now that she had completed an even greater leap.