Divine Blade Cave Selects Arms, Battling the Crimson Firmament Sword Again

Outside the carriage window, the beautiful scenery of the Clear Abyss Mountain Range receded into the distance.

"I can finally call myself a swordsman."

"From Great Success to the Realm of Perfection."

"Eighty years..."

The excitement Li Mo felt at the prospect of a new hunt had faded by half, and he began to fret over whether the cost had been too high.

All told, he had spent a total of over a hundred years of martial insights on his swordsmanship.

If not for the Ice Block teaching him hand-in-hand, he would have spent even more.

It felt rather like spending two months' salary on a high-end computer in his past life, only to let it gather dust because he had no time to play.

Well, perhaps it wasn't quite that bad.

A sword technique at the Realm of Perfection would certainly be far more powerful than him just smashing things with his fists.

"My martial insights should be enough for now."

"With a hundred and ten years left, I won't be caught off guard if I acquire a new martial art."

Li Mo calculated briefly, then stopped dwelling on it.

"When you enter the Divine Blade Cave, you should take a look at that Crimson Firmament Sword."

Ying Bing took a gentle sip of her tea.

"Alright."

Li Mo followed her advice readily.

In truth, he had indeed intended to try out the Crimson Firmament Sword.

It wasn't that he held a grudge, or that he was looking to stage a "thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river" drama just because he had been beaten by a sword once.

The Crimson Firmament was fire-aspected; paired with the Fire Heart Lotus-Birth Technique, its power would be doubled, making it truly well-suited for him.

This amplification might not be very obvious in the Blood-Qi Realm, but once he reached the Inner Breath Realm, it would definitely be visible to the naked eye.

At this moment.

The sound of hammering iron could already be heard outside the window.

Stepping off the carriage, they saw the area in front of the Divine Blade Cave teeming with people.

As soon as Ying Bing stepped down, the murmurs in the crowd quieted significantly, and gazes filled with awe and reverence turned toward her.

The pressure of the Ice Block.

She was no longer just the sect leader's direct disciple; she was the future of the sect.

Not only among her peers, but even in the history of the Clear Abyss Sect, she was uniquely dazzling.

"Brother Li!"

"Junior Brother Li!"

Two people in the crowd called out to him at the same time, then looked at each other in astonishment.

Murong Xiao and Xiao Qin glanced at one another and gave a slight nod.

They had both achieved good results in the sect trials and had met once before.

"Brother Li, you actually took first place; it is just like you."

Murong Xiao praised him.

"I was shocked myself when I found out."

Xiao Qin's aura was much stronger than it had been in the past.

Having passed the trials, he had now returned to the inner sect.

What surprised him was that Junior Brother Li's aura was now clearly stronger than his own.

And he had been the one who had dissolved his cultivation to start over, with a teacher assisting him from the sidelines.

Junior Brother Li's rate of progress was truly astonishing.

"What kind of weapon does Junior Brother Li intend to pick today?"

"My swordsmanship has had some small achievements recently."

"Hmm, it shouldn't be a problem for Junior Brother Li to pick a famous weapon."

"That is where Brother Xiao doesn't know Brother Li well enough..."

They exchanged pleasantries for a while.

The two of them spoke mostly of their recent situations.

Murong Xiao had achieved initial success in body tempering, meeting Elder Han He's expectations, and could now begin learning the forging techniques passed down through the Divine Weapon Peak lineage.

As for Xiao Qin, he had not only returned to the inner sect but had even caught the eye of an elder, with the possibility of being taken on as a direct disciple in the future.

Everyone had a bright future ahead of them.

Seeing the person he had invested in now thriving, Li Mo couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment.

Clang, clang, clang—

Suddenly, the sound of a gong rang out at the entrance of the Divine Blade Cave.

The inner sect deacon guarding the entrance stepped out.

"The time has come!"

Every year, the Divine Blade Cave would briefly mellow out before erupting with even greater intensity.

Disciples with lower cultivation levels generally chose this moment to enter the cave and select their weapons.

The disciples subconsciously cleared a path.

Ying Bing lowered her gaze and walked into the Divine Blade Cave.

However, she stopped midway through the first level and gently raised her fair, slender palm.

Just as the crowd was feeling confused, Zheng—

A sword hum resonated, and over a dozen white ribbons of light flew through the air, hovering before Ying Bing, waiting for her to choose.

They were all famous-tier longswords.

"Emmmm..."

How should he put it?

Watching this, Li Mo had the distinct feeling of someone with a "cat-attracting" constitution walking into a cat café.

He didn't feel much surprise.

He was calm, but the others were anything but, and cries of shock erupted all at once.

"Famous weapons, they're all famous weapons!"

"Damn, it's one thing to be recognized by a famous weapon, but they all flew out from the third level just to be picked?"

"Isn't it said that famous weapons have spirits and are very aloof? They usually don't even spare people a glance, so why are they all swarming out today?"

"This is too terrifying..."

"Wait, look, what is that?"

As the murmurs rose, two more ribbons of light—one blue, one white—shot over, causing the other famous-tier longswords along the way to scramble aside.

One was scorching, parting the air; the other was cold as frost.

To Li Mo, they were both old acquaintances.

Crimson Firmament and Heavenly Frost.

Everyone felt as if their breathing had stopped.

They wouldn't even dare to dream of such a scene in their sleep.

Even the disciples of Divine Weapon Peak couldn't help but grit their teeth in envy; many had been in the sect for years and had only heard of these two profound-tier longswords forged by the founding ancestor of Divine Weapon Peak, never having seen them in person.

How did they recognize them?

Among the profound-tier weapons currently existing on Divine Weapon Peak, only two were swords!

"Heavenly Frost."

Ying Bing reached out and grasped the longsword that resembled a white dragon.

It was still that familiar feeling.

The Heavenly Frost sword trembled slightly, appearing extremely joyful.

Afterward, Ying Bing didn't look at the other swords and walked out, cradling her blade.

As she passed Li Mo, she gave a slight nod, offering a small bit of encouragement.

Li Mo: "...That was over way too fast."

When he looked again, the Crimson Firmament sword was already gone.

Well, it seemed he would have to take the conventional path and go accept the trial of the Crimson Firmament sword.

"Brother Li, I believe in you; you will definitely be able to obtain a profound-tier weapon as well."

Murong Xiao patted him on the shoulder.

"Mm."

Xiao Qin nodded in agreement.

"Let's go, then."

Li Mo smiled and stepped forward.

Right.

At the bottom of the Divine Blade Cave, a hammer was still calling out to him, and that sense of summons remained just as strong today.

That said, if he could only take one weapon, should he choose the hammer or a sword?

Li Mo hesitated for exactly three and one-third seconds before choosing the hammer.

Just kidding—that thing was the daddy of all Profound Artifacts.

Of course.

Even if he wanted it and was capable of lifting it, Elder Han He might not necessarily agree.

That hammer was the lifeblood of Divine Weapon Peak, after all...

"I'll go take a look first and see."

As Li Mo pondered this, the three of them had already descended together to the third level of the Divine Blade Cave.

"Master said that to judge the quality of a weapon, one must look at its material, the forging technique, the control of the heat..."

Murong Xiao began to identify them one by one, following the blacksmithing knowledge he had learned from Xuelai.

Xiao Qin's gaze also swept across the various famous weapons.

At this moment, the voice of the Thousand Forms Martial Venerable echoed in the depths of his mind once more:

"That girl named Ying Bing truly has great fortune upon her, just as I said."

"Is Teacher referring to her gaining the recognition of a Profound Artifact?"

Xiao Qin asked casually.

"Being chosen as her weapon is actually that Profound Artifact's good fortune."

The Thousand Forms Martial Venerable was amused by his disciple's limited perspective, and he sighed with emotion:

"What this seat is referring to is the inheritance she obtained."

"Inheritance? Are you talking about the rosy clouds from a few days ago?"

Xiao Qin was quite curious when he brought this up.

A few days ago, rosy clouds had stretched for ten thousand miles, and everyone in the sect had their own theories.

One theory was that the sect leader's direct disciple, Ying Bing, had received some sort of incredibly powerful inheritance.

It seemed that was likely correct.

Everything his teacher had said so far had never been wrong.

"Hmm, I once saw it in an ancient text of the avian race."

The aged voice did not deny it.

"Then isn't that inheritance extremely powerful?"

"More than just powerful."

The Thousand Forms Martial Venerable's tone carried a hint of reminiscence:

"The Nine-Colored Primal Phoenix possesses nine souls, each with infinite mysteries; he who obtains one may roam the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths at will."

"If she gathers them all, combined with that young girl's Ten Absolutes Physique, she will have a chance to reach for that legendary realm..."

"Legendary realm?"

Xiao Qin was left completely bewildered, then shook his head:

"I still feel that Junior Brother Li is not bad either; his future achievements will certainly not be weaker than Junior Sister Ying Bing's."

"You brat... how about we make a wager?"

The Thousand Forms Martial Venerable chuckled.

His disciple was good in every way, except for being stubborn.

Martial arts required perseverance, but being too obstinate was not good; it led to sitting in a well and looking at the sky, oblivious to the world beyond.

"Alright, Teacher, what is the bet?"

"At the Sect Grand Competition, if your Junior Brother Li can withstand ten moves from that young girl, I shall consider myself the loser and give you a grand gift. If I win... we shall see then."

The Thousand Forms Martial Venerable spoke with interest, showing no sign that he thought he could possibly lose.

Xiao Qin naturally agreed.

Then, under his teacher's guidance, he began to select a weapon.

Of this, young Li remained completely unaware.

If he knew, he would surely ask, "Old Xiao, where does this inexplicable confidence in me come from?"

He had already reached the fourth level.

He looked at the Crimson Firmament Sword with a serious gaze and bowed to it.

Hum—

Just like last time, the Crimson Firmament Sword began to vibrate gently.

Of course, the frequency of the vibration was much smaller than when it had flown to Ying Bing's side.

It seemed to feel that Li Mo was not quite as appealing.

"Hmph, hmph."

"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river!"

Li Mo muttered to himself, a small flame of competitive spirit igniting in his eyes.

Today, he had to take it down once and for all!