Refining Kunwu, Unexpectedly Glimpsing the Imperishable Dao / The Starry Cosmos Reveals Heaven's Secrets; The True-Self Imprint Takes Shape

Chapter Thirteen: Refining the Kunwu Sword, Unexpectedly Glimpsing the Meaning of Indestructibility

The supreme divine blade was right before him. Ao Chen suppressed his excitement and began trying to claim the Kunwu Sword.

He slowly extended a hand. The power of the Star River Universe circulated within him, gathering at his fingertips as he carefully reached for the seemingly ancient bone-spur hilt.

Buzz!

The instant he touched it, an unyielding will, as if it came from the Primordial Wilderness of time immemorial and originated with Great God Pangu, erupted from the Kunwu Sword.

Accompanied by a supreme sharpness powerful enough to tear apart a Grand Unity Golden Immortal's body, it surged toward Ao Chen in a fierce backlash!

This was no conscious attack by a sword spirit. It was the instinct of a Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure and the natural response of Pangu Legacy!

"Hmph! You're nothing but an ownerless object, and you dare resist?"

Ao Chen had expected this. Rather than panic, he stepped back as the Star River Universe within him roared into motion. The vast Stellar Force formed an unbreakable barrier before him.

At the same time, he joined his fingers like a sword and silently unleashed a strand of Gray Sword Qi imbued with the Nirvana true meaning of the Grass Extinguishing Sword Art. He did not strike the Kunwu Sword itself, but the Pangu sharpness it had released!

Hiss!

The Gray Sword Qi collided with the Pangu sharpness, producing a sound like snow melting. The Nirvana sword intent and the unyielding sword intent clashed and wore each other down!

Seizing this chance, Ao Chen stepped forward and seized the Kunwu Sword's hilt.

It was icy cold to the touch. An even stronger will to resist and a razor-sharp aura shot up his arm, straight toward his primordial spirit!

"Be still!"

Ao Chen barked, pushing his Heaven-Defying Comprehension to its limits as he analyzed the source of the Kunwu Sword's resistance. At the same time, he summoned the origin power of his own Star River Universe and forcibly poured it into the sword!

His Mythical Grand Unity Method formed a system of its own, independent of the Primordial Wilderness Heavenly Dao yet in harmony with the principles governing the universe's birth and destruction and the evolution of the starry river. It resonated, in some mysterious way at the level of their origins, with this divine sword, born of Pangu's Spine and nurtured by Heaven and Earth!

The Kunwu Sword's resistance gradually weakened, until it finally gave a faint hum, as if it had tentatively acknowledged Ao Chen.

"What a fine sword!"

Ao Chen praised it inwardly, then pulled it from the rock face!

Clang!

The divine sword emerged, and an indescribably peerless sharpness shot into the sky, instantly tearing a huge gash through the clouds and space above the canyon!

The terrifying sword intent had lasted only an instant, but it seemed to reach every corner of the outer region of Buzhou Mountain!

Ao Chen immediately used his immense magical power to suppress and contain its sharpness, lest it attract unnecessary trouble.

He examined the Kunwu Sword in his hand. Its blade was ancient and blue-gray. Look closely, and one could make out what seemed to be the grain of bone, yet it shone with the undying luster of Divine Metal.

The blade was three feet long. It looked short, but contained peerless might enough to sever the sun, moon, and stars!

"Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, with all forty-eight innate restrictions complete! Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!"

Ao Chen praised it three times, unable to put his joy into words.

He immediately found a relatively safe spot in the canyon, sat cross-legged, and began to make an initial refinement of the Kunwu Sword.

He forced out a drop of blood essence containing his own origin imprint and let it fall on the blade. At the same time, he sent a wisp of his primordial spirit into the Kunwu Sword and began refining its innate restrictions.

With his cultivation at the peak of the Mythical Earth Immortal level and his Heaven-Defying Comprehension, refining the first few restrictions of this ownerless treasure was naturally effortless.

As he refined it further, his control over the Kunwu Sword grew stronger, and he could increasingly sense the terrifying power within it, along with that undying, unyielding sword intent originating with Pangu.

When he had refined the twelfth innate restriction and his divine sense touched the Kunwu Sword's innermost origin, he suddenly shuddered!

There, he "saw" a point of dazzling, eternal light, seemingly independent of space and time!

That light contained every mystery of the Kunwu Sword, a trace of Pangu's undying will, and the very foundation that allowed an Innate Spiritual Treasure to exist and repair itself!

"So... this is the Innate Undying Spiritual Light?" Ao Chen's mind reeled!

In an instant, he thought of the realms in the Mythical Grand Unity Method he had derived.

By his theory, a Mythical Heavenly Immortal had to anchor the Unique True Self Imprint within space and time, achieving the initial state of Eternal Uniqueness.

The core of the higher Mythical True Immortal realm, meanwhile, was "attaining the Dao through oneself, with an immortal body and an indestructible primordial spirit."

One had to elevate one's Unique True Self Imprint completely, transforming it into a "True Immortal Dao Seed" like the Innate Undying Spiritual Light—eternally indestructible, impossible to wear away through countless tribulations!

"So that's it! The indestructible nature of an Innate Spiritual Treasure is remarkably similar to the Mythical True Immortal realm I envisioned!"

Ao Chen felt as if a new door had opened before him!

An audacious thought welled up, impossible to suppress.

"Since the principles are similar, can I use the Kunwu Sword's Innate Undying Spiritual Light to comprehend the immortal truth of a Mythical True Immortal ahead of time?"

"If I succeed, won't my path to the Dao progress much faster?"

Once the thought arose, it spread like wildfire and could no longer be extinguished!

With his Heaven-Defying Comprehension, comprehending a higher realm ahead of time was not impossible!

He acted at once!

Ao Chen immediately focused part of his mind on comprehending the Innate Undying Spiritual Light. At the same time, he circulated the Great Dao Origin Scripture, combining it with his theoretical deductions about the Mythical True Immortal realm as he tried to understand and emulate that meaning of "undying and indestructible"!

However, the ideal was lofty, while reality was harsh.

The Mythical True Immortal realm involved the evolution of one's own Great Dao at a deeper level, as well as an understanding of the origin of "immortality." It was more than a hundred times harder than the Mythical Heavenly Immortal realm!

Though Ao Chen's Heaven-Defying Comprehension was powerful, his current cultivation was, after all, only at the peak of the Mythical Earth Immortal level!

The Star River Universe within him was vast, but it had yet to undergo the anchoring and tempering of "Eternal Uniqueness"!

Trying to understand and emulate the "immortal truth" of a realm far beyond his own was like asking a baby who had just learned to walk to understand calculus. It wasn't a matter of insufficient comprehension, but of insufficient cultivation!

Pfft!

After only a brief attempt, Ao Chen felt his primordial spirit shudder violently. The Star River Universe within him nearly slipped out of control, and a rush of sweetness rose in his throat. He spat out a mouthful of golden dragon blood!

"It won't work. The gap between our realms is too great!"

Ao Chen forcibly stopped his attempt at comprehension. His face was pale, but his eyes held a flash of understanding and lingering fear.

"The Mythical Grand Unity Method advances one level at a time, and the foundation is crucial. Trying to skip past the Heavenly Immortal realm and directly comprehend the True Immortal realm really was wishful thinking! I nearly damaged my Dao foundation!"

This failure was like a sharp slap across the face, instantly bringing him back to his senses.

"I was too impatient." Ao Chen smiled wryly.

"Food must be eaten one bite at a time, and the road must be walked one step at a time. The True Immortal realm is enticing, but the Heavenly Immortal realm is the hurdle I have to cross now."

He calmed his mind and stopped chasing the elusive True Immortal realm, refocusing on the present.

"I'd better figure out how to truly break through to the Mythical Heavenly Immortal realm first!"

Having made up his mind, Ao Chen temporarily stored the Kunwu Sword inside his Star River Universe to nourish it, constantly tempering it with his own Dao aura and deepening their connection.

Then he stood and began carefully exploring the canyon, preparing to find the most suitable spot for his final preparations to break through to the Mythical Heavenly Immortal realm!

Chapter Fourteen: The Star River Universe Reveals Heaven's Secrets, and the True Self Imprint Takes Shape

This canyon was deeply affected by the aura of Buzhou Mountain. Its space was exceptionally stable, Pangu's Pressure filled the area, and remnants of the baleful energy from the creation of the world remained.

For ordinary living beings, it was a place of certain death. But for Ao Chen, it was an ideal secluded cultivation site.

He did not spend long searching. Relying on his Heaven-Defying Comprehension and keen perception of the Space Law, he discovered a naturally formed, hidden stone grotto with an inner world of its own, set into one side of the cliff deep in the canyon.

The entrance was concealed by a natural illusion formation and warped space, while the grotto itself held a world of its own.

Not only was spiritual energy abundant there, but Pangu's Pressure was just right: enough to temper his Dao foundation without disrupting the precise operations needed for his breakthrough.

"This is the place." Ao Chen nodded with satisfaction and stepped into the grotto.

Once inside, he did not begin his breakthrough at once. Instead, he spent several days laying one powerful restriction after another, using the magical power of his peak Mythical Earth Immortal cultivation as a foundation.

Combining his understanding of formations with a trace of the Space-Time Law he had comprehended from a fragment of the Creation Jade Tablet, he created restrictions that could both conceal his aura and defend against outside enemies.

He even drew a wisp of innate Geng Metal Sword Qi from the Kunwu Sword and integrated it into the core of the restrictions.

This gave them not only astonishing defensive power, but also a hint of the killing intent that could cut through anything, ensuring that nothing was left to chance.

Only after making all these preparations did Ao Chen finally set his mind at ease. He sat cross-legged at the center of the grotto and began his final preparations to break through to the Mythical Heavenly Immortal realm.

First, he reviewed the cultivation method of the Heavenly Immortal Chapter of the Mythical Grand Unity Method, which was crystal clear in his mind.

"The core of a Mythical Heavenly Immortal is Eternal Uniqueness—to prove through time that I alone exist!"

"The key is to find a coordinate that belongs solely to me within the endless river of time, spanning the past, present, and future, and forcibly anchor my Unique True Self Imprint to it—the imprint containing all my Dao fruits and the essence of my True Spirit!"

"Then, no matter how time flows or space changes, as long as the imprint at that coordinate remains, I can use it as an anchor to exist eternally in the river of time. Only then will I initially possess the trait of indestructibility and truly become unique!"

Ao Chen's eyes glinted as his Heaven-Defying Comprehension examined every detail.

So, how should he choose this temporal coordinate?

The past? The present? The future?

The present was the here and now. It held the greatest uncertainty and was difficult to anchor securely.

The future was full of unknowns and even more variables. Forcibly anchoring himself there would create too much karmic entanglement and might even invite unpredictable backlash.