,/.

After sending away the Frost Divine Sword, Su Fan continued onward.

The farther he went, the faster and greater the loss of his lifespan became.

It was as though an endless abyss lay ahead, constantly devouring the lifespans and vitality of all living beings that entered.

"What secret is hidden in the depths of the Sword Abyss?"

Su Fan's curiosity was burning intensely.

As he kept moving forward, his lifespan was continuously siphoned away.

"What is this?"

Su Fan's pupils contracted as he spotted a black sword.

It radiated Heaven-Shattering Sword Intent!

The sword of the Heaven-Shattering Sword God!

"This sword..."

Su Fan was utterly shocked. The Heaven-Shattering Sword was a forbidden art, yet this sword constantly emanated Heaven-Shattering Sword Intent, as if it had already been fully nurtured.

Yet it also carried a trace of forbidden aura.

It was not something just anyone could wield.

"Could it be that all those experts from Sword God Mountain in the past were buried here?"

What exactly was hidden within the Sword Abyss?

At last, he reached the end of the Sword Abyss.

Nine swords hovered above the ground, every one of them incomparably powerful.

They had even surpassed the scope of God Swords.

At the center of the nine swords stood a Jade Stele.

It was this Jade Stele that devoured lifespans.

Like a bottomless pit, the Jade Stele possessed a terrifying suction force, endlessly swallowing the vitality and lifespans of living beings.

From entering the Sword Abyss until arriving here,

Su Fan had already lost ten thousand years of lifespan!

Even an Emperor Sword Realm cultivator could not normally live for ten thousand years!

No wonder the Sword Abyss was so mysterious, and no one could reach its depths!

Before reaching the end, they would already have withered away and died!

Su Fan grew ever more curious about the Jade Stele. What hidden secret did it contain? It seemed that Sword God Mountain's many experts had all been here to suppress this Jade Stele.

"Could Sword God Mountain's decline also be related to this?"

Su Fan did not dare let down his guard. Sword Intent surged around him.

The Heavenly Imperial Sword Armor's defenses were raised to their strongest state.

His lifespan burned away and drained at a frenzied pace.

Step by step, he approached the Jade Stele.

Before the Jade Stele, he felt the auras of the nine swords.

The nine swords revolved around the Jade Stele. Each sword was wrapped in a kind of Dao rhythm, as though it carried the intent of some law.

They surpassed God Swords!

"It is said that above the Divine Sword Realm, one must comprehend Dao intent. Only after comprehending Dao intent can one break through."

The masters of these nine swords were undoubtedly beings beyond the Divine Sword Realm.

They had touched the realm of the Dao.

Su Fan continued forward, passing through the nine swords and arriving beneath the Jade Stele.

After passing through the nine swords, Su Fan's expression changed.

A terrifying suction force came from the Jade Stele.

The rate at which his lifespan drained suddenly soared.

"What is inside this thing?"

Su Fan was horrified.

Only because he possessed an endless lifespan could he stand before the Jade Stele without being affected.

Otherwise, let alone an Emperor Sword Realm cultivator, even someone in the Divine Sword Realm would have their lifespan and vitality drained dry here and perish.

A peculiar aura lingered around the Jade Stele.

It seemed forbidden.

Yet it also seemed to carry a hint of ill omen.

Lines of tiny writing were engraved upon the Jade Stele.

Su Fan focused his gaze and looked.

The words on the Jade Stele exuded the ancient aura of countless years.

Every character seemed to contain some kind of law.

"This is?"

Su Fan was startled and suspicious. The writing on the Jade Stele looked somewhat familiar.

"The handwriting of Sword God Mountain's founding ancestor!"

There was not a single Sword God Mountain disciple who would fail to recognize their founding ancestor's handwriting.

Every disciple, upon entering the sect, was required to learn to recognize the founding ancestor's writing, so that if they encountered a place left behind by the ancestor through some stroke of fate, they could identify it.

They would not miss the opportunity left behind by their ancestor.

Su Fan looked at the words on the Jade Stele.

"Enlightenment Dao Sword, Nurturing Dao Sword. I wished to open the Sword Dao, yet the Great Dao would not permit it. I touched the forbidden and thus created a Forbidden Art..."

Su Fan was deeply shaken.

Sword God Mountain's founding ancestor truly had been an unfathomable being.

He had actually sought to create a Great Dao belonging solely to the sword path!

One had to know that the Great Dao was supreme and unique.

Everything existed within the Great Dao.

Yet Sword God Mountain's founding ancestor had attempted to carve out a Sword Dao upon the Great Dao, a Great Dao belonging solely to swords!

He had been trying to steal the origin of the Great Dao!

Thus, he suffered Great Dao backlash and became forbidden. The Dao sword he had nurtured also became a Forbidden Sword!

Moreover, under the Great Dao backlash, it would devour lifespan and vitality without cease!

According to Sword God Mountain's founding ancestor's conjecture, this was the Great Dao's punishment. Only by sacrificing enough lifespan and vitality to replenish the Great Dao could the Dao sword be initially nurtured to completion.

It would no longer constantly devour lifespan and vitality!

However, this required an unimaginably vast amount of lifespan and vitality!

And only the lifespan of sword cultivators was of use!

"Too terrifying!"

Su Fan's scalp tingled.

Sword God Mountain's founding ancestor had been a true monster.

He had even wanted to steal a portion of the Great Dao's origin for himself!

He had been struck by backlash directly and become forbidden!

"Could the masters of these swords have all sacrificed themselves to nurture the Dao sword, attempting to carve out the Sword Dao?"

At that thought,

Su Fan could only sigh. Those experts of Sword God Mountain had all been madmen.

For the pursuit of the sword path, they had willingly sacrificed themselves!

"If such a sword were successfully nurtured, just how powerful would it be?"

The thought alone made Su Fan unable to contain his excitement.

To carve out a Sword Dao of one's own upon the Great Dao.

If it succeeded, who in this world could stand against it?

He continued reading the words on the stone stele.

The words on the stele had not been left by one person, but recorded the Dao sword's subsequent circumstances.

They were accounts left behind one after another by Sword God Mountain's previous generations of ancestors.

By the time he reached the end, Su Fan's expression had turned grave.

"...It has gone out of control. The sword shows signs of falling to demonic corruption and may become a Demonic Sword... Its desire to devour vitality and lifespan is too strong; it possesses a greedy nature..."

"Forbidden Sword! This is a Forbidden Sword. No one can control it!"

"It must not be allowed to emerge into the world. Otherwise, the vitality of all things in the world will be devoured to strengthen itself..."

The sword had gone out of control.

Perhaps that was precisely why it had been sealed within the Sword Abyss.

It was said that the Sword Abyss had been cleaved open with a single sword strike by one of Sword God Mountain's ancestors.

Most likely, it had been to suppress this Dao sword.

"Devour vitality and lifespan? I would like to see how much it can devour."

Su Fan smiled.

A Forbidden Sword?

It was perfectly suited to him!

"I cultivate forbidden arts. Nurturing a Forbidden Sword is only natural!"

With that thought, Su Fan raised his hand and pressed it against the Jade Stele.

In an instant!

He seemed to see a thin, long river, shaped like a sword, appearing within his consciousness.

This was the embryonic form of the Sword Dao!

Boom!

A terrifying devouring intent came from the Jade Stele.

It was as though it wanted to swallow Su Fan whole.

His lifespan drained away madly.

In the blink of an eye, ten thousand years of lifespan vanished.

Su Fan remained unmoved.

His consciousness entered the Jade Stele and touched the Dao sword rumored to have fallen to demonic corruption.

"Little one, you want lifespan, don't you? I have plenty. Come with me."

Sword Intent surged from Su Fan as it continuously seeped into the Jade Stele.

Rumble!

The Sword Abyss trembled slightly.

A tiny sword emerged upon the Jade Stele.

Dao rhythm coiled around the sword, flowing endlessly like a small river.

Forbidden and ominous auras swirled around it.

And it carried a faint trace of demonic nature.