Ren Xiaoyao stood with his hands behind his back in the eye of the storm on the Far North Ice Plains. The faint blue light seeping from the Rift in the ice flowed on the hem of his Dark Robe Hem, like a frozen Star River.
The halo climbed along the folds of her clothes to the jade pendant at her waist, making the " Asking Sword " pendant, forged from millennia- Cold Iron, appear as clear as Glazed Ice. The ancient sword patterns engraved on the pendant even exuded wisps of white vapor—as if the Spiritual Charm on the ancient scroll fragments was creating some kind of mysterious resonance with this world, and even the jade pendant was transforming into a medium for transmitting Spiritual Charm in the resonance.
The sword patterns on the Cold Iron pendant suddenly began to flow with golden light, echoing the Spiritual Charm energy in his wrist. In the wind and snow, they outlined faint sword shadows, the starting stance of the long-lost " Thirteen Styles of Star Abyss ". As the sword shadows flickered, they even drew down the North Star, which condensed into the light traces of the Big Dipper at Star Orbit feet. Each star trace burned ancient sword inscriptions on the snow, faintly resonating with the Golden Core in his dantian.
Suddenly Golden Patterns appeared on the Azure Billows Ancient Tome fragments in his palm, and the Spiritual Charm emanating from the two characters " Tianze " climbed up his wrist like a living thing, condensing into pale golden veins under his skin.
The Spirit Vein Totems he had seen thirty years ago in the ancient ruins of Kunwu Mountain was completely identical to the one he had seen thirty years ago. At that time, he had just formed his Golden Core and had seen similar patterns on a broken Boundary Stone. The fragments of the inscription "Three hundred and sixty veins of Tianyan, only the Tianze connects to the Ancient Divine Court " remained where the marker had peeled away. Now he realized that it was the Spirit Vein coordinates engraved by High Antiquity cultivators with their Essence Blood. At this moment, it was outlining a complete Star Map in his body along his blood vessels, with each vein corresponding to the trajectory of the Zhou Tian Star Dou.
As the last pulse closed at his heart, he suddenly heard the faint clanging of metal on the ancient scroll fragments, as if a thousand horses were galloping between the pages. Upon closer listening, he realized it was the rhythm of High Antiquity Battle Song, the lyrics repeatedly chanting " The Sword Master returns to his position, the Tianze break the seal." The rhythm of the Battle Song perfectly matched the beating of his heart, causing the Golden Patterns on the ancient scroll fragments to throb like veins.
The confusion that had plagued the 49 days of astrological calculations suddenly cleared up at this moment. The trajectory of starlight drawn by the shifting Seventh Star of the Big Dipper resonated with the Spirit Gathering Formation patterns that were running on the jade slip.
The Spirit Dew that condensed at the edge hovered like beads in the freezing wind, hundreds of feet below zero. The dew clearly reflected the Glazed Ancient Trees behind the Rift —those trees were over a thousand feet tall, their leaves slowly swirling with the movement of the Big Dipper. The edges of each leaf shimmered with silver light, like countless tiny mirrors refracting starlight into flowing rivers of light. Within these rivers of light swam Star Spirits the size of grains of rice, inhaling and exhaling Spiritual Qi in rhythm with the trembling of the leaves.
A Star Spirits suddenly collided with the edge of a dewdrop, allowing him to see a scene flash within it: High Antiquity cultivators, dressed in Star Patterns robes, were holding a ceremony around the Tianze Spirit Vein, while Baiku giant wolf lay prostrate in the center of the ceremony, its paws suppressing a mysterious Mysterious Stele inscribed with World Destroying Runes. Broken spirit swords were stuck around the Mysterious Stele, each sword projecting the phantom of its Sword Master's remnant soul onto the stele.
The moment one steps into the Rift, the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice resonates like a bell, and the ice layers roll back to both sides like a receding tide, revealing the dark green Spirit Soil surging with Spiritual Charm beneath.
The surface of the Spirit Soil was covered with fine bubbles. When each bubble burst, a wisp of pale blue Spiritual Qi would escape, condensing into a miniature Spirit Butterflies in the air. When it touched his sleeve, it would turn into specks of fluorescent light that seeped into the fabric, weaving faint sword patterns on the brocade—marks left by High Antiquity Sword Cultivator, which were now re-emerging because of his sword intent.
As the tenth Spirit Butterflies seeped into his clothing, an ancient seal script suddenly appeared on his sleeve. " The Sword Master returns, the Spirit Vein resonate." The characters instantly blended into his skin, causing the Golden Core in his dantian to tremble violently. The sword-patterned halo on the surface of the Golden Core projected the phantom of the High Antiquity Sword Mound. Thousands of spirit swords rang out in unison in the phantom, and the sound of the Sword Hum resonated through the Spirit Soil to the entire ice plain, startling countless Star Spirits lurking beneath the ice.
When my toes touched the ground, I felt a warm, jade-like sensation. The Glazed Ancient Trees growing in the Spirit Soil was over a thousand feet tall, and each leaf contained liquid Spiritual Qi the size of a pigeon egg.
As the drops fell, they spread out six ripple-like Spirit Patterns on the ground—these were the incomplete patterns of High Antiquity Spirit Gathering Formation. After the seven drops of spiritual Spiritual Qi fell, the ground automatically filled in the last engraving of the array eye, emitting a buzzing sound that drew the spiritual power around him to its limit. The Golden Core in his dantian then spun rapidly, and a layer of fine sword-patterned halo condensed on its surface.
As the light swirled, he saw the phantom of the two characters " Tianze " emerge within the Golden Core. Each stroke was composed of countless tiny sword blades, which trembled gently with the resonance of the Spirit Gathering Formation. As the sword blades collided, they uttered a whisper, " Tianze is about to open, Myriad Swords Paying Homage." In the whisper, his Sword Essence seeped into the roots of the ancient trees along the Spirit Soil, causing the entire forest to glow with a bluish light.
He silently counted the crisp sounds of leaves falling to the ground as he walked forward, and after seventy-two sounds, he stepped into the Jade Marrow Valley.
The tadpole-shaped runes on the rock wall were oozing silver Stardust, and half a piece of Stellar Marrow was embedded in a three-zhang-high Rift.
The Big Dipper pattern inside the stone slowly rotated with the rotation of the sun and moon. The starlight flowing between the pores of the Spirit Stone condensed into miniature Star Orbit in mid-air. One could feel the extremely pure spiritual energy fluctuations when one brushed their fingertips over it. Those fluctuations resonated with the Golden Core in his dantian, causing the Sword Essence to surge like a tide in his meridians, and even making the sword mole between his eyebrows faintly hot.
As his fingertips touched the stream of starlight, the Star Orbit suddenly accelerated their rotation, projecting a Star Map onto his retina. In the map, the handle of the Big Dipper pointed directly at the Rift beneath the Stellar Marrow, and along the edge of the Star Map were engraved a line of small characters. "The key to breaking the seal lies in the sword and the soul." As the characters flickered, his Green Mang Sword suddenly emitted a dragon's roar, and the blade vibrated violently within its sheath.
The instant the fingertip touched the edge of the rune, the sound of the ice cracking was like a thunderclap from the heavens. The moment Baiku appeared from the spiritual mist, the wind across the entire ice field suddenly reversed.
The Heavenly Wind and wind condensed into Black Vortex, draining all the Spiritual Qi within a ten-mile Fang Yuan. Only the Annihilation Spiritual Qi surrounding the giant wolf spiraled upwards. With each rotation, black light spots peeled off, and the Spirit Soil three zhang away immediately cracked like spiderwebs upon contact with the light spots. The Spiritual Qi seeping from the cracks instantly turned into dust, which then coalesced into tiny wolf head phantoms as it fell to the ground, silently roaring at Ren Xiaoyao.
One of the wolf-headed phantoms suddenly opened its mouth and uttered an almost inaudible High Antiquity voice. "The trial begins, the Clear Sword Heart." Before the words were finished, it disappeared into the wind and snow, but left a fleeting wolf eye mark between its brows. The mark reflected the lonely image of Baiku, Guardian Spirits vein for ten thousand years.
The moment the wolf's eyes locked onto him, the chalcedony fragments shattered by its front paws exploded into dust in mid-air, the powder emitting a sizzling sound like quenching when it touched the protective spiritual Spiritual Qi.
The defensive talisman engraved on the right sleeve charred and curled at a speed visible to the naked eye, revealing the bluish-black lines on the skin below, which were burned by spiritual energy. The lines even spread along the blood vessels to the elbow, like countless tiny spiders crawling on the skin. Each "spider" left a faint black spiritual mark as it crawled, which gleamed with an eerie luster under the moonlight.
When the last "spider" stopped at his elbow, the spiritual marks suddenly formed a broken sword pattern, reminding him of the old wound he had sustained when he first challenged the elder of his sect. The broken sword pattern even revealed the remnant soul of the elder's sword intent from back then, which nodded slightly to him. The broken sword in the remnant soul's hand resonated with his Green Mang Sword, emitting a clear and melodious Sword Hum.
Baiku opened his mouth and inhaled, causing the frigid winds of the Far North Ice Plains to swirl back and condense into a pitch-black cold tide. The ice shards were interspersed with tiny, Annihilation Runes, and wherever they passed, the Spirit Soil turned to carbonization.
Ren Xiaoyao wielded his Green Mang Sword with lightning speed, the Twenty-Eight Mansions Constellations runes lighting up one after another. The Sword Net unfolded like the Zhou Tian Star Dou, each starlight precisely striking the energy nodes of the cold tide. The Ice Crystals, upon touching the starlight, transformed into firefly-like specks of light and dissipated, only to reassemble into icy snakes upon landing. These snakes surged upwards along with the sword's momentum, their tongues flickering as they tried to burrow into the palm of his hand that held the sword.
He swung his sword violently, knocking the frost snake down. The snake's body cracked into countless tiny runes upon landing, forming the four ancient characters " Cold Abyss Soul Devour " on the ground. The golden light of his Sword Essence lingered at the edges of the characters. Suddenly, the ancient characters lit up, revealing the remnant soul of the High Antiquity ice dragon suppressed beneath them. The remnant soul of the ice dragon opened its icy blue eyes and spewed a blast of cold air at him, which was evaporated into white mist by his Sword Essence.
Before the cold wave had subsided, the giant wolf had already struck nine times with its front paws. The black Claw Shadow that burst out of the void were like tearing brocade, and before the claw wind even arrived, they had already plowed a furrow more than ten feet deep into the ground.
The earth's Spiritual Qi seeping from the ravines instantly condensed into Ink Black Ice Crystals upon contact with the Claw Shadow. The surface of the Ice Crystals was covered with fine cracks, as if they would unleash earth-shattering energy at any moment.
He moved nimbly through the Rift with the Flowing Cloud Steps, his sword following the " Seven Luminaries Shifting Stars " trajectory. Each swing of his sword struck the boundary between light and shadow of the Claw Shadow, causing the nine Claw Shadow to shatter one by one like bubbles. The bursting black light fragments were pulverized by the sword's force and fell onto the Spirit Soil, blooming into a ghostly blue flower. The petals trembled slightly with the sound of the Sword Hum, and each petal reflected the afterimage of his sword swing.
One of the petals suddenly flew into his sleeve, leaving a claw mark on the Spiritual Charm veins of his wrist, echoing the claw mark on the jade slip. When the claw mark lit up, he saw the Baiku Guardian Spirits veins. In the memory, the giant wolf suppressed the World Destroying Runes day after day, its eyes changing from sharp to vicissitudes.
As the giant wolf swung its long tail, thousands of fine black needles suddenly shot out from the tip, covering the entire Glazed Ancient Trees forest like a torrential rain.
Ren Xiaoyao was shocked to discover that the liquid Spiritual Qi in the ancient tree leaves was being instantly drained by the fine needles. The leaves withered and turned yellow at a speed visible to the naked eye, and countless tiny Black Hole even appeared between the veins, as if they were about to suck the entire forest into them.
He quickly bit his tongue to activate the " Vermilion Bird Burning Heaven the Heavens" rune on the sword with his Essence Blood. The Green Mang Sword erupted with a ten-zhang-long fire lotus, and crimson fire waves swept across like a tsunami. The black needles ignited upon contact with the fire, turning into smoky green smoke with a burnt smell. The ancient wood that had been drained actually condensed spiritual energy droplets again in the fire waves. When the droplets fell to the ground, they splashed Mars and burned the ancient seal script characters " Heaven-Burning Emperor Formation " into the ground. Within the seal script strokes, an inextinguishable flame danced.
As the last drop of spiritual energy fell back onto the ancient tree, a phantom of a Vermilion Bird suddenly lit up in the tree crown. With a cry and a flap of its wings, it dispersed the remaining black needles in the air. The phantom of the Vermilion Bird opened its mouth and spat out a jade slip with fire patterns, which fell into his arms. The jade slip was engraved with "Nanming Li Huo Sword Technique", which was the secret of ancient sword cultivators.
Before he could catch his breath, Baiku slammed his claws into the ground, causing the jade marrow wall to shatter violently. Thousands of fragments of black ice shot into the sky, instantly condensing into an ice cage above his head, engraved with Annihilation Runes.
The runes on the ice wall shimmered with a ghostly blue light, each rune devouring his dissipated spiritual power, even condensing into a cold film on his body, attempting to seal his meridians.
He immediately plunged the Green Mang Sword into the ground, using his sword intent to draw upon the Earth Fire power deep within the Spirit Soil. A pillar of magma erupted from the bottom of the ice cage, and the mystic ice emitted a crisp sound like shattering Glazed Ice when heated. The runes twisted into blue smoke in the thousand-degree heat, but before dissipating, they formed the two characters "Destroy the World," which were etched into his brow and vanished in an instant, leaving a faint burn mark.
A sudden stinging pain shot through the burn mark, causing him to see a vision: In Ancient Times, the same World Destroying Runes were covering the core of the Tianze Spirit Vein, and the Baiku giant wolf was suppressing the runes with its body. The Mysterious Stele under the wolf's claws had cracked, and the Annihilation Spiritual Qi seeping from the cracks almost assimilated the giant wolf. The giant wolf's pupils changed from gold to pitch black, but it still guarded the Spirit Vein with all its might.
The howl of wolves suddenly rang out at this moment, and the materialized black patterns spread out like a spider web. The spiritual herbs that touched them withered and turned to ash instantly, and even the moisture in the air condensed into black poisonous mist.
Ren Xiaoyao felt as if his sea of consciousness had been struck by a heavy hammer. The illusion of thousands of wronged souls wailing appeared in his mind. Those wronged souls were all dressed in the clothes of High Antiquity cultivators and held broken weapons in their hands, constantly crashing into his sea of consciousness.
He hurriedly struck the Green Mang Sword marrow rock wall behind him with his Azure Light Sword. The clear and Sword Hum sword sound was like a great bell. When it collided with the wolf's howl, it burst out with a dazzling white light. The black patterns melted away like ice and snow meeting the sun, but when they dissipated, they seeped into his Sword Essence, causing the Green Mang Sword to tremble unwillingly. The Twenty-Eight Mansions Constellation Runes on the sword body dimmed a bit.
As the last black mark disappeared, he heard a whisper in his mind, "We have waited for the Sword Master for a thousand years, and tonight we are finally free." The voice was filled with endless weariness and relief. The images of the wronged souls formed a topographical map of an High Antiquity Sword Mound in his mind, with " Tianze Spirit Vein Core" clearly marked at the center of the map.
Just then, Baiku's figure suddenly became ethereal, and thousands of black shadows rushed out from the spiritual mist. Each shadow carried a claw-like wind that Sky-Rending Strike, and countless subtle sounds of space shattering rang out in the air, like the sound of glass being shattered.
He let out a low shout and unleashed the " Tai Bai Dividing Light " sword technique. The Green Mang Sword transformed into a hundred sword shadows that floated around him, reflecting the true forms of the black shadows like a mirror. Each black shadow had a face similar to Baiku, yet each carried a different fierce expression.
Whenever the shadowy figure lunged close, the sword's shadow would precisely pierce its brow. The shadowy figure would instantly vanish upon contact with the sword, revealing a hint of surprise flashing in Baiku's eyes behind it. That gaze seemed to be examining a long-lost divine weapon, carrying a mixture of inquiry and a barely perceptible sense of satisfaction.
As the last shadow dissipated, he saw a scene flash through Bai Ku's eyes: an ancient swordsman inserting the Azure Light Sword into the Star Essence, while Bai Ku was carving claw marks on the jade slip with his claws. The swordsman's face was exactly the same as his reflection in the mirror, and the Azure Light Sword in the swordsman's hand resonated with his sword, emitting a sword cry that shook the heavens and the earth.
The giant wolf's Spiritual Qi suddenly spun wildly, forming Black Vortex with a diameter of a hundred feet. Ren Xiaoyao's sword move was twisted into dust as it approached the vortex, and even his sword intent was constantly decomposed and reassembled within the vortex.
A humming sound of time and space distortion emanated from the center of the vortex, as if countless voices were speaking at the same time, or like the Primordial Chaos sound of the Beginning of Heaven and Earth.
He immediately bit his fingertip and used his blood as a guide to draw Tai Chi Eight Trigrams Formation array in his palm. The moment the Green Mang Sword pierced the array's core, the Yin and Yang spiritual energies surged forth like Flood Dragon emerging from the sea, fiercely clashing with the Power of Annihilation of the Entropy Transformation Domain. Yin-Yang Fish Pattern gradually emerged at the center of the vortex, but as it took shape, it was stained half black and half white by the Power of Annihilation, resembling the Primordial Chaos scene at the Beginning of Heaven and Earth. The black and white fish devoured each other, actually forming a miniature universe prototype within the vortex.
The instant the Pisces completely overlapped, he heard a bell ringing from the center of the vortex, echoing the bell ringing deep within the Rift. The bell ringing contained the coordinates of the Ancient Divine Court, the endpoint of which was the Rift beneath the Stellar Marrow.
Seeing this, Baiku suddenly tore off its forepaws, and the Black Blood Mist it spewed out transformed into Curse Runes in the air. The moment it touched the hem of his clothes, it ignited into ghostly flames, scorching his life veins. The flames were ghostly blue, spreading along the fabric to his heart, weaving a fine black Fire Net on his chest.
He immediately unleashed the " Great Expansion Divine Art," his fingertips forming hand seals to draw upon the Big Dipper Starlight. The golden Star River stream unleashed by his Green Mang Sword flowed like an inverted Heavenly River, and the blood mist runes shattered inch by inch within the starlight, condensing into glistening grains of Star Sand as they fell to the ground. Within these grains, he saw illusions of his entire life, from his first entry into his sect to his journey through the martial world, each scene replaying itself within the Star Sand.
As the last speck of stardust fell, he saw his illusion overlap with the image of the ancient sword cultivator, and Bai Ku was pointing out the direction of the rift to them with his claws. The overlapping image actually grasped Bai Ku's claws, triggering the contract mark that had been sealed for ten thousand years. The contract mark lit up in his palm, engraved with "Sword Master Bai Ku, together we will guard the Heavenly Marsh".
Finally, Baiku's Spiritual Qi surged to its peak, and a ten-zhang-tall black giant phantom appeared behind him. When he threw a punch, the Spiritual Qi of the entire valley was drained, and the space distorted like broken glass. Wherever the fist wind passed, time seemed to flow backward, and the Claw Shadow that had just been shattered could be seen reassembling.
Before the force of his fist even arrived, the Spirit Soil beneath his feet had already collapsed by ten feet, revealing a bottomless darkness below, in which countless glowing eyes could be vaguely seen flickering.
Ren Xiaoyao knew this was a deadly move, so he immediately burned his life essence, and the Green Mang Sword burst out with brilliant golden light. He unleashed his strongest sword intent, " World Creation," and all the Twenty-Eight Mansions runes on the sword lit up, forming a complete Star Map behind him.
As the star chart rotated, he saw the ancient sword cultivators standing at various nodes of the star chart, while the white withered giant wolf was the core hub of the star chart. In the center of the star chart, the ancient seal script "Ancient Divine Court, Ten Thousand Swords Return to One" was clearly engraved. Countless phantom images of spiritual swords surrounded the ancient seal script, and each spiritual sword pointed to the core of the Tianze Spirit Vein.
The golden sword wave slashed out like the Giant Axe of Pangu. The moment it collided with the black fist shadow, a roar like the Beginning of Chaos resounded between heaven and earth. Space and time twisted and folded continuously in the collision, forming countless small universes that collapsed in an instant.
The moment the Power of Annihilation was torn apart by the sword intent, the giant phantom vanished with a roar. Baiku let out a long, mournful cry and flew backward, crashing into the jade marrow wall. The Black Blood that splattered out actually condensed into the pattern of the Big Dipper on the rock wall. Each star was slowly rotating, resonating with the Star Map within the Stellar Marrow. The ripples generated by the resonance spread throughout the entire valley, causing all the Glazed Ancient Trees to emit clear and melodious sounds.
Amidst the ringing, he heard the complete High Antiquity voice. " The Sword Master has arrived, the Tianze Light shines anew, our duty to protect is fulfilled." The voice came from Baiku, and also from every blade of grass and tree in the valley. As the voice faded, Baiku's body transformed into specks of spiritual light, merging into the starlight of the Stellar Marrow. From within the spiritual light, a Wolf-Shaped Jade Pendant flew out and landed in Ren Xiaoyao's hand. The pendant was engraved with the two characters " Baiku ".
After nine exchanges of Divine Ability, Ren Xiaoyao stood leaning on his sword. Blood seeping from the tear in his robe dripped onto the jade-like ground, where it solidified into Ice Crystals engraved with sword patterns.
The Ice Crystals refracted a rainbow of colors under the starlight, and each sword pattern trembled slightly, as if replaying the battle just now. As the sword patterns flowed, one could even see nine scenes of clashes flashing by in the Ice Crystals.
When the last sword pattern came to a standstill, Baiku's image appeared in the Ice Crystals. The giant wolf was nodding slightly at him, its eyes filled with relief and anticipation.
Looking at Bai Ku, his eyes no longer held ferocity, but rather a scrutiny born of countless ages. Deep within those eyes lay endless sedimentation of time. He suddenly realized that this giant wolf might be the guardian of an ancient spiritual vein, and the battle just now was more like a sword intent inheritance spanning a thousand years. The giant wolf saw the shadow of an ancient sword cultivator in him, and also saw the hope of the Tianze spiritual vein seeing the light of day again.
He gripped the Wolf-Shaped Jade Pendant tightly, his fingertips tracing the engravings of the characters " Baiku." Suddenly, he felt a warmth emanating from the depths of the pendant—the lingering Spiritual Charm of the giant wolf resonating with him. The starlight staircase extended through the Rift, each step flowing with the light of the Big Dipper. At the end of the staircase, the Ancient Divine Court gate slowly opened, and the ancient seal script " Myriad Swords Return to Origin " on the door erupted with countless sword shadows, echoing the illusory Sword Mound projected by his Golden Core within his dantian.
Ren Xiaoyao took a deep breath, Green Mang Sword automatically unsheathed and hovered at his side. The Twenty-Eight Mansions Constellation runes on the sword resonated with the starlight of the Stellar Marrow, weaving a flowing star curtain behind him. As he stepped onto the first starlight staircase, the Glazed Ancient Trees of Jade Marrow Valley drooped their branches, and the liquid Spiritual Qi seeping from the leaves condensed into sword tassels in the air, guiding his way like a ceremonial procession. The bell tolling from the depths of the staircase grew clearer, and with each chime, a sword pattern lit up on the Spiritual Charm veins of his wrist, reflecting the fire patterns on the jade slip of the " Southern Bright Li Fire Sword Art " in his bosom.
As he reached the middle of the stairs, he suddenly saw images of ancient sword cultivators in battle appearing on the rock walls on both sides—these sword cultivators wore similar black robes to his own, using their swords to draw stars against the power of annihilation, and each spirit sword had the same wolf head mark engraved on its hilt. In the images, a giant white wolf blocked the entrance to the Heavenly Ze Spirit Vein with its body, its eyes reflecting a star array composed of millions of spirit swords. Suddenly, all the sword cultivators in the images turned around at the same time, pointing their sword tips at the stairs he had stepped down, as if confirming a prophecy sealed for ten thousand years.
As the final step lit up beneath his feet, Ren Xiaoyao found himself standing atop a sword platform suspended in the starry sky. Ten thousand spirit swords were planted in the center of the platform, each emitting starlight. The forest of steles along the platform's edge was inscribed with the names of ancient sword masters. On one broken stele, the characters "Bai Ku" perfectly matched the engraving on the jade pendant in his hand. At that moment, the starlight from the Star Essence poured into the platform like a waterfall, converging on the ground to form a massive star map. The handle of the Big Dipper in the map pointed directly to the center of the platform—where half of a mysterious stele, covered in world-destroying runes, floated. The annihilating spiritual energy seeping from the cracks in the stele formed a strange balance with the Bai Ku spiritual energy within his sword essence.
Suddenly, the Green Mang Sword resounded, piercing the crack in the Mysterious Stele on its own. The " Vermilion Bird Burning Heaven " rune on the sword clashed violently with the Annihilation Runes on the stele, and in the burst of light, Baiku's final image appeared: a giant wolf howling to the Mysterious Stele, transferring all the Spiritual Charm guarded for ten thousand years into the sword. At the same time, Ren Xiaoyao's Golden Core core shattered, transforming into thousands of sword blades that reformed into Star Core. The surface of the Star Core clearly reflected the entirety of the Ancient Divine Court —it was actually a Star Palace composed of spiritual swords, and the core of the Tianze Spirit Vein was located in the " Myriad Swords Return to Unity Hall " at the center of the Star Palace.
The Xuan Stele crumbled inch by inch under the dual impact of sword energy and starlight, and the scattered world-destroying runes actually gathered into a sword imprint between his brows. The moment the sword imprint lit up, all the floating spirit swords were simultaneously unsheathed, forming a star river sword array behind him, while the names on the sword platform stele forest turned into streams of light and merged into his meridians, finally condensing into a complete scroll of the <Tianze Sword Scripture> deep in his sea of consciousness. The title page of the scroll depicted a white withered giant wolf standing side by side with an ancient sword cultivator, while the back was engraved with his birth date and time—it turned out that this inheritance spanning a thousand years had been destined since he picked up the ancient scroll fragments in Kunwu Mountain thirty years ago.
At this moment, the Starshine Sword Formation emitted a sword cry that shook the universe. The starry sky below the sword platform slowly rotated, revealing the true scene of the core of the Heavenly Ze Spiritual Vein: the spiritual vein pulsated like a living thing, and with each undulation, countless spiritual swords surged forth. The ancient sword master's phantom sitting in the center of the spiritual vein perfectly overlapped with his figure. Ren Xiaoyao raised his hand and grasped the Azure Light Sword, the tip of the sword pointing directly at the core of the spiritual vein. Suddenly, the sword body burst forth with a brilliant sword light that fused with the White Withered Spiritual Aura and the Southern Bright Fire. Wherever the sword light reached, the world-destroying runes all turned into stardust, while the dark blue spiritual aura of the Heavenly Ze Spiritual Vein surged into his meridians like a tide, reshaping a miniature star palace within his body.
As the last wisp of Spiritual Charm merged into the Star Core, Ren Xiaoyao heard a chant from the heavens above. " The Sword Master returns to his position, the Tianze shine anew, Myriad Swords Paying Homage, the Divine Court is reborn." He looked up and saw that the gates of the Ancient Divine Court were fully open, with ten thousand spiritual swords resounding in welcome. On the jade throne in the center of the hall lay half of Star Core that resonated with the Stellar Marrow —the final key to unlocking the secrets of the Ancient Divine Court. He took a deep breath of the Spiritual Charm mixed with starlight and sword intent, and stepped into the hall. The starlight staircase behind him gradually faded away, leaving only the clear, melodious sound of the Glazed Ancient Trees in the Jade Marrow Valley, echoing in the eye of the Far North Ice Plains, telling the legend of the Sword Master's return.