A thumb-sized person stood in the void.
Though he was tiny, every meridian and organ remained intact. He was still a Void Refinement cultivator, able to transform the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth from the void's chaos and draw it into himself.
Vast amounts of sunlight gathered around him. He breathed it in and out, turning it into Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth to nourish his body.
Jiang Ding sat cross-legged without moving for a full three years.
Three years passed. As spiritual qi nourished his physique, his incomparably weak divine soul recovered a trace, and his body seemed to have grown a few millimeters—an utterly inconspicuous amount.
"Fine."
"It'll still take quite a while..."
Jiang Ding opened his eyes.
Having confirmed that healing his injuries would be a lengthy undertaking, he set it aside for now and began dealing with his spoils of war.
Two flying swords, one black and one white, originating from Taiyou and the Guangming Sword Master.
The two flying swords were naturally drawn to one another, entangled together. Even in death, they refused to part, sharing the same grave. In Sacred Sword Combat, in order to slay their enemy and advance further upon the Sword Dao, they had burned away their final sliver of strength.
In the end, they died.
Just like the countless sword cultivators who had died beneath their blades before them.
Sword cultivators fought with swords for the Great Dao. To die without regret or resentment was enough.
"Fellow Daoist Guangming, Fellow Daoist Taiyou."
"This Lord will carry your glory onward, until I attain the Dao and become immortal..."
Jiang Ding murmured.
If one day he died at another sword cultivator's hands, so long as it did not involve the Immortal Sect, he too would sincerely wish for that victor