Altar Rescue Yuan, Sword Box Appears to Break Demon Breaker Formation

The passage inside the Myriad Sword Cave was about ten meters wide. The rock walls on both sides were embedded with countless ancient swords—some short daggers just a few inches long, others heavy swords over three meters in length. Though covered in a millennium of dust, their blades still emanated a faint, flowing sword soul light. Whenever Ling Yun and his group walked by, these ancient swords would tremble slightly, their sword soul energy flowing into the Sky-Rending Sword's silver-red sword patterns, making the faint golden light on its blade even more intense, as if it had become one with the entire Myriad Sword Cave.

"The sword souls of these ancient swords haven't dissipated yet. If they are refined into demonic essence by the Blood Fiend Hall, the sword cultivation legacy of the Spirit Realm might be broken," Chu Feng said, looking at the ancient swords on the rock walls with great sorrow. His Lightning Element Sword Intent unconsciously enveloped a short sword, attempting to protect its sword soul.

Ling Yun nodded. He condensed a wisp of Chaos Sword Intent with his fingertip and gently brushed it across a heavy sword beside him. As the sword intent touched the blade, the heavy sword let out a clear hum. Its sword soul light flowed into the Sky-Rending Sword along with the Chaos Sword Intent. The Sword Elder's voice echoed in his dantian, "These are the life-bound swords of ancient Sword Cultivators. The Blood Fiend Hall's 'Sword Soul Furnace' is meant to extract these sword souls and inject them into the Myriad Soul Banner, doubling the power of the evil artifact. The altar is just ahead, hurry! Qingyuan's Wood Spirit Body aura is weakening; she's likely already had a lot of power drawn out by the demonic array!"

Ling Yun's heart tightened, and he quickened his pace. The Sky-Rending Sword trembled more violently, as if urging him to reach the altar quickly. After turning the last corner, the area suddenly opened up—a circular altar about fifty meters in diameter appeared before them. In the center of the altar stood a black stone pillar, entwined with black demonic chains. Su Qingyuan was bound to the pillar by these chains, her faint green Wood Spirit Body aura being drawn out by the chains and flowing into the six black array eyes surrounding the altar. The array eyes glowed red; this was the "Soul Devouring Spirit Refining Array," specifically designed to extract the origin power of special physiques.

"Qingyuan!" Ling Yun shouted in dismay and lunged forward, but a black sword energy blocked him. On the east side of the altar, a middle-aged cultivator in black robes walked out slowly. He held a demonic sword emanating bloody light in his hand, and the demonic energy around him was even stronger than Liu Cang's. His cultivation had reached the late stage of the Sword King Realm. He was "Blood Blade" Wei Tu, the one responsible for refining the core of the Myriad Soul Banner for the Blood Fiend Hall.

"Ling Yun? I didn't expect you to make it this far," Wei Tu sneered. He lightly flicked the blood-red demonic sword, and the array eyes around the altar lit up simultaneously. "Too bad it's too late! Three-tenths of this girl's Wood Spirit Body origin has already been extracted. In another half an hour, it can be refined into the core of the Myriad Soul Banner. By then, Lord Blood Demon Venerable will unify the Spirit Realm, and it will be within reach!"

"If you dare touch a single hair on her, I will scatter your soul to the winds!" A fierce glint flashed in Ling Yun's eyes. The silver-red sword patterns of the Sky-Rending Sword surged, and the ancient swords on the Myriad Sword Cave's walls trembled in unison. Sword soul energy rushed towards him like a tide. "Myriad Swords: Return to Origin!"

With his low shout, hundreds of ancient swords flew out from the rock walls, rotating around the Sky-Rending Sword to form a massive sword wheel. The faint golden sword soul light on the wheel intertwined with the silver-red sword energy, slashing towards Wei Tu. Wei Tu's expression changed. He swept his blood-red demonic sword horizontally, and black sword energy collided with the sword wheel, only to be instantly purified by the sword soul light. The shockwave forced him back three steps.

"Brother Xiao, Captain Chu, help me hold off the demonic cultivators at the array eyes. I'll go save Qingyuan!" Ling Yun shouted and leaped towards the center of the altar. Xiao Zhan and Chu Feng immediately understood. Xiao Zhan's broad saber slashed out golden lightning, striking directly at the demonic cultivator at the west array eye. Chu Feng's Lightning Element Sword Intent condensed into a sword net, trapping the demonic cultivator at the east array eye. Li Yan set up an earth element defense array to block sneak attacks from surrounding demonic cultivators. Zhang Wei's Water Element Sword Intent transformed into flowing light, ready to heal everyone at any moment. The team's coordination was seamless, instantly disrupting the Blood Fiend Hall's deployment.

Ling Yun rushed to the stone pillar and slashed the demonic chains with the Sky-Rending Sword. As the blade touched the chains, they emitted a sizzling corrosive sound. Black demonic energy flowed into the Sky-Rending Sword along the blade, but it was instantly devoured by the sword soul light within. With a clang, the demonic chains were severed, and Su Qingyuan collapsed weakly into Ling Yun's arms, her face pale, her Wood Spirit Body aura so faint it was almost invisible.

"Ling Yun... you came..." Su Qingyuan spoke weakly, condensing a wisp of faint green spiritual light with her fingertip. "They... they want to extract my Wood Spirit Body to refine the core of the Myriad Soul Banner... There are clues to the Heaven and Earth Sword Box... beneath the altar..."

"I know, you rest first, I'll help you heal." Ling Yun carried Su Qingyuan to the edge of the altar. Zhang Wei immediately stepped forward, merging her Water Element Sword Intent with Su Qingyuan's Wood Spirit Body aura to nourish her damaged meridians. Ling Yun turned to face Wei Tu, his eyes filled with killing intent. "Wei Tu, today I will cleanse the Spirit Realm of demonic cultivators like you!"

Seeing Su Qingyuan rescued, a hint of madness flashed in Wei Tu's eyes. He plunged the blood-red demonic sword into the altar. "Since the core cannot be refined, you will all accompany it in death! Soul Devouring Spirit Refining Array: Detonate!" He intended to detonate the demonic energy in the array eyes, destroying the entire Myriad Sword Cave and taking Ling Yun and his group with him.

"No! Stop him quickly!" Chu Feng shouted, unleashing his Lightning Element Sword Intent at full power, but it was blocked by Wei Tu's black sword energy. Just as the demonic energy in the array eyes was about to explode, the Sky-Rending Sword suddenly hummed, its blade pointing to the ground in the center of the altar—there was a faint golden sword box imprint, the seal of the Heaven and Earth Sword Box!

"It's the seal of the Heaven and Earth Sword Box!" The Sword Elder's voice was filled with excitement. "Inject your Chaos Sword Intent and the origin of the Myriad Sword Cave's sword souls into the imprint, and you can temporarily suppress the demonic energy!"

Ling Yun immediately followed suit, forming hand seals. His Chaos Sword Intent merged with the surrounding sword soul light, transforming into a faint golden pillar of light that was injected into the imprint in the center of the altar. As the pillar of light touched the imprint, the array eyes around the altar trembled violently. The red demonic energy was instantly suppressed by the golden pillar of light, and Wei Tu's body was also bound by the pillar, unable to move.

"Impossible! What is this power?" Wei Tu's eyes were filled with disbelief.

"It's the inheritance power of the Ancient Sword Venerable!" Ling Yun shouted, and the Sky-Rending Sword, carrying the pillar of light, pierced directly into Wei Tu's dantian. "Five Elements Demon Devouring Slash: Sword Box Edition!" The faint golden pillar of light intertwined with the silver-red sword energy, instantly piercing Wei Tu's dantian. The black demonic energy was completely devoured by the Chaos Sword Intent and the sword soul light. Wei Tu let out a shrill scream and died.

With the demonic energy in the array eyes suppressed, the sword soul energy of the Myriad Sword Cave stabilized. Ling Yun walked to the center of the altar and looked at the sword box imprint on the ground—the imprint emanated faint golden and wood-colored flowing light, the first two attribute sword souls required by the Heaven and Earth Sword Box.

"Sword Elder, is this the seal of the Heaven and Earth Sword Box?" Ling Yun asked.

"That's right!" The Sword Elder's voice was filled with relief. "As long as you gather the nine attribute sword souls—gold, wood, water, fire, earth, lightning, ice, space, and time—you can break the seal and obtain the Heaven and Earth Sword Box. Now that you can already summon the gold and wood attribute sword souls, you just need to find the origin of other attribute sword souls in the Spirit Realm."

Under Zhang Wei's treatment, Su Qingyuan's complexion gradually regained its rosy hue. She walked to Ling Yun's side, holding a Soul Awakening Grass emanating green light. "I found this Thousand-Year Soul Awakening Grass in the Misty Forest. It can nourish sword souls and might help you sense other attribute sword souls."

Ling Yun took the Soul Awakening Grass, a warmth surging in his heart. He looked at his companions—Xiao Zhan grinned, carrying his saber; Chu Feng polished his lightning-imbued sword; Li Yan and Zhang Wei cleaned up the residual demonic energy from the array eyes; Su Qingyuan's eyes were filled with concern. The crisis in the Myriad Sword Cave was temporarily resolved, but the threat from the Blood Fiend Hall remained. The search for the Heaven and Earth Sword Box had just begun, and the struggle in the Spirit Realm had a long way to go.

"Let's leave the Myriad Sword Cave first and return to Golden Sword City to rest," Ling Yun said, gripping the Sky-Rending Sword, its sword soul light and silver-red sword patterns intertwined. "The Blood Fiend Hall won't give up. We need to improve our strength as quickly as possible, gather the sword souls, and obtain the Heaven and Earth Sword Box to truly fight against the Blood Demon Venerable!"

The group turned and left the altar. The ancient swords on the Myriad Sword Cave's walls let out clear hums once more, as if bidding them farewell. Under the dark red sky, a faint golden sword soul light shot out from the Myriad Sword Cave, soaring towards the heavens—this was the light of hope for the righteous path of the Spirit Realm, and a new starting point for Ling Yun to pursue the true meaning of the sword path and uncover the truth of his clan's destruction.