Crimson Firmament Sword was a double-standard sword.
It fawned over Ice Block, yet for our Little Li, it set a trial.
Ten swords.
If he could withstand them, he would become its master.
Li Mo's vision blurred.
Buzz—
A familiar swordsman's figure had already appeared before him.
The atmosphere suddenly turned murderous.
The swordsman slowly cupped his fists in salute.
"Please enlighten me."
Li Mo gripped the Green Steel Sword and likewise cupped his fists.
The next moment, the two figures collided.
The clang of weapons rang throughout the entire fourth level.
On the third level.
All the famous swords here began trembling faintly at this moment.
"Was that caused by Brother Li?"
Murong Xiao couldn't help looking back toward the pitch-black entrance to the fourth level.
That sword cry just now had actually made his hair stand on end.
"What happened?"
Xiao Qin raised his head, a broken greatsword clutched in his hand.
He had found it under the guidance of the Thousand Forms Martial Venerable. Though it looked unremarkable among the many famous weapons and only half of it remained, its material was better than that of all the others.
It was also one of the few famous weapons willing to acknowledge him as its master.
Its spirituality was simply a little weak, and he would need to nourish it himself from now on.
Xiao Qin was still quite satisfied with it.
Yet at this moment, the greatsword was trembling faintly along with that sword cry.
"Your Junior Brother Li is fighting an Mystic Artifact."
The Thousand Forms Martial Venerable had not seen it with his own eyes and merely said it casually.
"Fighting a weapon?"
Xiao Qin didn't quite understand what that meant.
"The stronger the martial artist, the mightier his spirit."
"The weapons they use year after year become imbued with their will."
"Do you know which sword of the famed Heavenly Mountain Sword Villa, renowned throughout the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, is the most powerful?"
The Thousand Forms Martial Venerable was happy enough to tell his disciple some anecdotes and broaden his horizons.
"Please enlighten me, Teacher." Xiao Qin listened with great interest.
"It was a wooden sword that once belonged to the Sword Ancestor."
The Thousand Forms Martial Venerable spoke as though he had seen it with his own eyes:
"It carried an entire pure-qi sword path."
"Several centuries ago, that sword flew a thousand miles out of the Sword Mound, severed a river with one stroke, and slew an evil flood dragon. Even today, the waters of that great river remain cut off."
"It severed a river for several centuries?"
Xiao Qin sucked in a cold breath as he listened.
To him now, this was simply unimaginable.
The Thousand Forms Martial Venerable was quite pleased by his disciple's shock and continued:
"The Sword Ancestor's personal weapon was far beyond an Mystic Artifact."
"Of course, that Crimson Firmament also counted as a fine specimen among Mystic Artifacts."
"Whether he can master it will depend on whether your Junior Brother Li learned anything from that girl."
"Crimson Firmament and Heavenly Frost do complement each other."
Xiao Qin pursed his lips and thought.
He wasn't envious. Instead, he cherished his own broken famous greatsword even more.
Clang—
On the fourth level.
Li Mo had already received Crimson Firmament's sixth strike in the space of his consciousness.
The sword cry gave him a feeling like electricity surging through his soul, leaving his consciousness tingling and numb.
Was this the might of an Mystic Artifact?
Or perhaps... the essence, energy, and spirit left upon it by the expert who had once wielded this sword?
Li Mo couldn't help recalling what Ice Block had told him beneath Clear Abyss.
Obsessions could actually transform into Yin Entities.
Then it made perfect sense that essence, energy, and spirit could condense into a swordsman with formidable swordsmanship.
"This sword cry seems capable of tempering the spirit."
Li Mo pondered.
At first, it had been rather faint, but the farther he went, the more obvious that tempering sensation became.
"Come."
Li Mo focused his mind and calmly faced the sword, crossing blades with it in earnest.
Seventh strike!
Eighth strike!
Ninth strike!
These three strikes had all reached the level of perfected swordsmanship.
After exchanging nine strikes with it, he felt that his essence, energy, and spirit had improved considerably, and even his consciousness had become a little more nimble.
Without Ice Block's guidance, if he had relied solely on piling up martial insights through brute force, he probably could have gone no farther than this.
That wasn't strange.
It was like advanced mathematics. Without a talent for mathematics, one might rack one's brains for a lifetime and still fail to solve the problem.
Ordinary people could only use the "formulas" summarized by geniuses to take shortcuts.
"Tenth strike!"
The swordsman's aura instantly became restrained yet powerful.
Li Mo slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, focusing with unprecedented concentration.
The tenth sword cry rang through Divine Blade Cave.
It lingered for a long time, like a helpless sigh.
Outside Divine Blade Cave.
"Crimson Firmament Sword has acknowledged its master."
Elder Han He stroked his beard as he spoke, his expression somewhat strange.
No one understood the meaning of this sword cry better than he did, as the elder presiding over Divine Weapon Peak.
Crimson Firmament Sword had indeed acknowledged its master.
But it seemed to have done so with a trace of reluctance...
It was as though it wasn't very satisfied with that Disciple Li's talent.
A little disdainful, yet pinching its nose and accepting him as its master?
This left old Han He thoroughly baffled.
"Hahaha, old fossil, both Mystic Artifacts have fallen into my hands!"
Shang Wu didn't care about any of that. She was so delighted she was practically standing akimbo.
Elder Han He expressionlessly said, "Heavenly Frost belongs to Ying Bing. What does Ying Bing have to do with you?"
Shang Wu looked at him, and her eyes gained a few more traces of pity and sympathy.
The veins on his forehead throbbed twice.
That look was downright impolite.
"By the way, old man, leaving Little Bing out of it, that's still two."
"We made a bet back then."
"How about this? I won't make you settle my account anymore. Whenever I need something, I can come down to your Divine Blade Cave and take a weapon to use."
Shang Wu narrowed her eyes and smiled again.
"Hmph! Only one at a time!"
Han He snorted coldly.
No matter how stubborn he was, he didn't dare say that the victor was still unknown.
It wasn't that he lacked confidence in Murong Xiao. Rather, gaining an Mystic Artifact's recognition meant that Li Mo's swordsmanship was certainly extraordinary.
Besides, with an Mystic Artifact in hand, who at the same realm could beat him?
Letting Shang Wu take a weapon from Divine Blade Cave—even if she damaged it—was still better than making her repay her enormous debt.
"You've got this one virtue, old man. You never welch on a debt."
Only after Shang Wu saw him admit defeat did she offer him a couple of pleasant words.
Ying Bing remained serene and wasn't surprised in the slightest.
This was the first time she had seriously taught someone.
If he couldn't even obtain an Mystic Artifact, that would be far too embarrassing.
"Crimson Firmament..."
"Disciple Ying has Heavenly Frost. If I remember correctly, these two swords seem to have a combined sword technique?"
"I've read records like that too."
Several senior disciples of Divine Weapon Peak looked at one another, recalling the records in unison.
It was said that the founder had forged these two swords and bestowed them upon two of his disciples.
Those two had been a devoted married couple, and together they had created a combined sword technique. They could fight across realms, and at the time, they had been famous throughout the Eastern Wasteland Domain.
Later, the two passed away, and Heavenly Frost and Crimson Firmament had never acknowledged masters at the same time again.
That sword technique had consequently been shelved, and no one had ever seen its splendor again.
Today, these two Mystic Artifacts had once more each found a master...
Everyone turned their gazes toward Ying Bing.
Yet they couldn't see the slightest emotion on the jade-like girl's face.
At the same time.
"Pretty aloof."
Li Mo held the long sword in his palm, its radiance flowing like fire, and was overjoyed.
His innate talent in the sword path was poor.
Yet at this age, he had somehow trained a superior sword technique to the realm of perfection.
That was why Crimson Firmament Sword had only reluctantly acknowledged him as its master.
But... whether it was reluctant or not didn't matter. As long as he could use it, wasn't that enough?
Little Li didn't care whether the melon was sweet. It quenched his thirst either way.
"I have swordsmanship now, and I have a treasured sword too."
"If I'm not a swordsman, then who is?"
Li Mo laughed happily.
At this moment.
He looked toward the cave entrance at the end of the fourth level of Divine Blade Cave, where fiery and wintry lights intermingled.
The summons from that direction had grown increasingly intense.
The matter of looking cool had already been settled.
Naturally, he had to consider what could truly make him stronger.
"Calamity Meteor Hammer."
The light from the cave entrance was reflected in Li Mo's eyes.
Although using a hammer didn't quite suit his interests,
but... this was a divine weapon!
It was a supreme treasure completely beyond the bounds of his understanding.
Moreover, it seemed faintly capable of resonating with his Extreme Weapon Slaughter Body, complementing it perfectly.
"It wants to leave with me."
"But first, I need to get close to it and pick it up."
Li Mo walked past the cave entrance.
In an instant, he felt an immense pressure.
The bone-chilling icy spring, the blazing fire spring, and the mighty weapon-killing aura together pressed down on him so heavily that breathing became difficult.
If not for the initial success of his body-tempering and the Six-Pattern Heart-Clearing Pill he had swallowed, he wouldn't even have qualified to stand here.
Thud—
He took one step forward.
In an instant, thunder rumbled somewhere beyond sight.
His internal organs, meridians, qi, and blood were all shaken.
Li Mo felt that bone-deep itch clearly.
His physique had grown stronger again.
"I only took one step forward..."
Li Mo gained an even clearer understanding of just how powerful the divine weapon was.
Moreover—
This was probably the result of the divine weapon's spirit reining in most of its pressure!
"Keep going!"
Li Mo activated the Extreme Weapon Slaughter Body and took another step.
At the same time, the sound of heavy hammers crashing down rang in his ears.
Before you continue