A Wisp of Sharpness Breaks the Atmosphere

Despite his silent complaints, Li Fengping quickly sent the relevant information about the secret realm to the two of them.

It was a subsidiary secret realm, existing in reliance upon the mortal world but remaining hidden from it. Even its entrance required a special method to open, and the only known entrance was located halfway up a mountain on the outskirts of Mystic Sword City.

According to the data, the outer perimeter of the secret realm was overgrown with Mystic Profound Grass possessing sword-attribute properties, which was the reason that particular elder had judged the realm to be a place for nurturing swords.

"A sword capable of generating an entire secret realm... its owner must have been at least a grandmaster of the sword path while alive," Jiang Jing commented after reading through it. "This trip will be dangerous."

Li Fengping nodded and continued his explanation.

"Senior Sister is right. Given our capabilities, it is indeed dangerous to retrieve the sword of such a grandmaster, so all we need to do is gather information."

"In addition to the base contribution points for the mission, the sect will also issue extra points based on the value of the information we provide."

As the core of the Sword Sect's current mission board, the Ancestral Sword was absolutely impartial.

That was reasonable enough; if the task proved impossible, they could still retreat in time.

"Why do you all assume that the sword cultivator is no longer among the living?" Xu Xing suddenly asked. "Perhaps that sword cultivator is still alive."

The scene suddenly fell silent.

"..." After a few seconds of silence, Li Fengping gave a bitter smile: "Senior Brother Sandao, please don't scare me. The data also states that this sword-nurturing realm has existed for over fifteen hundred years. Even a grandmaster of the sword path, or perhaps even a sword cultivator above that level, would likely not leave their personal sword for so long."

If the owner of this sword-nurturing realm were still alive...

Hiss~

"If the owner of the sword were still alive, why didn't they appear to stop the elder when he entered the secret realm before?" Jiang Jing analyzed calmly.

The elders of the Sword Sect were all in the Void Return Realm. Even if it were a sword cultivator at the Dao Integration Realm or higher, they wouldn't just let a Void Return sword cultivator enter their own sword-nurturing realm, would they?

"That's true," Xu Xing smiled. "Perhaps I was overthinking it."

"How long do you and Senior Sister need to prepare?"

"I am ready at any time," Jiang Jing said indifferently. "However, Junior Brother Li, how long will your injuries need to recover?"

"These are just superficial wounds, it's nothing."

Li Fengping tugged at his bandage, and a wisp of Sword Qi sliced it through, causing the strips to flutter and fall away.

His entire head had swollen to a larger size, looking like a pig's head covered in blue-black bruises, and his right eye was squeezed shut by the swelling.

"Your look is quite interesting; it's even more comical than it was just a moment ago," Xu Xing commented.

Jiang Jing almost laughed out loud when she saw his appearance, but she held it back: "Was the person who attacked you a body cultivator?"

"Yes."

If it hadn't been a body cultivator, he would have recovered from these injuries long ago.

Every body cultivator practiced a special type of force-based technique, making the injuries they inflicted extremely difficult to heal, especially external ones.

He didn't know which body cultivator had created that technique, but it was truly insane!

"But it doesn't matter. The body cultivator who attacked me gave me a pill. Although these superficial wounds will take some time to heal, they no longer affect my combat ability."

Li Fengping took out new bandages and began wrapping them around his head, layer by layer.

It would have been better to just keep the old ones on.

"Does Senior Brother Sandao need time to prepare?"

"No."

A few minutes later, the three left the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall building and soared into the sky after reaching an open area.

The flight paths for Nascent Soul Cultivators were much higher than those for Foundation Establishment cultivators; looking out, one could only see streaks of light flashing past.

Li Fengping led the way at the front, Jiang Jing followed closely behind, and Xu Xing trailed at the back at a leisurely pace. The speed of the three was not particularly fast among the passing streaks of light.

This was not because Li Fengping's sword-flight technique was poorly practiced—the Sword Sect's sword-flight techniques were peerless, far exceeding ordinary object-manipulation methods. The reason they slowed down was mainly because the two senior brothers had been caught speeding previously...

Emm...

It was better to be cautious.

Even so, the Nascent Soul Realm was not a low level of cultivation, and their speed was still extremely fast.

Before long, the three arrived at the mountain on the outskirts of Mystic Sword City where the secret realm was located.

The vegetation was lush, birds were singing, and tigers, wolves, and monkeys were roaring. One could even see giant snakes as thick as buckets slithering about, but they were all mortal beasts; no demons or monsters were hiding among them.

The three slowed down and descended into the mountain forest.

Following the mountain path upward, they finally arrived beside a giant, protruding boulder.

By now, many fierce beasts had sensed their presence and were quietly following the three, their eyes filled with greed. Practitioners who breathed in and out spiritual energy possessed flesh and blood that held a great attraction for beasts and monsters.

"Hmph!"

With a cold snort, the pressure of his Nascent Soul Realm cultivation spread out. The many fierce beasts were instantly terrified by this horrific aura; their fur stood on end, and they turned and fled in all directions.

Only after the covetous beasts in the vicinity had fled did Li Fengping retract his cultivation pressure.

"Most of the beasts on this mountain show signs of being on the verge of gaining sentience and becoming demons, yet not a single one has actually done so," Jiang Jing noted, sensing that something was wrong.

This is highly irrational; the spiritual energy here is abundant, so it shouldn't be like this.

Furthermore, she had never heard of anyone regularly clearing out demon beasts from this mountain.

To notice something was wrong so quickly, that's not bad at all: "Because their aura of destiny has been severed."

For a junior disciple who was passable, Xu Xing did not mind saying a little more.

Hm?

Jiang Jing was startled: "Does Senior Brother Sandao also understand the art of Qi-gazing?"

"I know a little." Xu Xing smiled slightly and continued to explain, "And the reason for all of this is precisely the goal of our trip."

"A secret realm?"

"Correct. The elder who issued the mission opened the secret realm back then, causing a sliver of its aura to leak out. Perhaps that sword does not like demon beasts or spirits, so it simply severed their potential to become demons."

Jiang Jing was lost in thought, then suddenly looked up, divine light swirling in her eyes.

Thick azure energy steamed upward, stretching for several miles; this was the 'aura of destiny' for the entire mountain and the living beings within it.

Logically speaking, an aura spanning several miles would be more than enough to give birth to a great demon comparable to a Nascent Soul.

But above the dense and heavy azure energy, a streak of red light was extremely dazzling, sharp and biting, forcefully suppressing—or rather, severing—the aura of the entire mountain and even the creatures within it.

Under the suppression of that streak of red light, let alone fierce beasts, even the mountain itself could not possibly give birth to the slightest bit of spirituality.

Soon, Jiang Jing felt a stinging pain in her pupils and had to retract her divine ability.

Just as she closed her eyes to rest.

"Junior Brother Li, why do you keep standing there? Hurry and open the secret realm," Xu Xing urged.

Wasn't I just listening to you two talk?

Besides, what was just said is also considered part of the mission.

Li Fengping muttered to himself, took out a talisman, injected it with mana, and threw it forward.

The talisman fluttered, soon igniting into flames. The space in front of them began to twist, caving in and collapsing. The area grew larger and larger, eventually forming an oval vortex wide enough for three people to pass through.

Inside the vortex, gray mist churned, and a faint red light shone through, appearing extremely eerie.

"It's open. I'll go in first; you two follow as quickly as possible."

With that, Xu Xing walked straight inside, his figure disappearing into the churning gray mist.

Senior Brother Sandao is truly bold.

Jiang Jing opened her eyes at this moment, and seeing the gray vortex glowing with red light, she couldn't help but frown.

A mere sliver of sharpness leaking out was enough to sever the aura of an entire mountain; this secret realm is definitely not simple. And for Senior Brother Sandao to be able to discover the reason for it at first glance...

She drew her long sword and held it in her hand, feeling much calmer, before stepping into the gray vortex.

With both of them inside, Li Fengping scanned the surroundings, and after confirming there was nothing amiss, he followed them in.

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