"War smoke rose across seventy-two commanderies; eight thousand miles by sword, then home with the demon slain!"
Those words spoke of True Person Taicang, the founding patriarch of the Spirit Sword Sect. A thousand years earlier, a demonic calamity had swept through the entire Cultivation World. At the Golden Core Perfection Realm, True Person Taicang had flown eight thousand miles on his sword and slain a nascent soul-level Demon Venerable.
Such a feat had shaken the entire Cultivation World of the Jade Radiance Kingdom. Although word later spread that True Person Taicang had unleashed that fatal sword strike at the cost of his lifespan, and that he had succumbed to his grievous injuries not long after the battle, the Spirit Sword Sect's name had nonetheless become known throughout the kingdom.
In the thousand years since True Person Taicang, the Spirit Sword Sect had never produced another cultivator at the Golden Core Perfection Realm, but golden core cultivators had continued to emerge generation after generation.
This had secured the Spirit Sword Sect's position among the Six Immortal Sects of Fufeng Commandery, preserving its legacy for nearly a thousand years.
Xu Yan's destination this time was the Heavenly River Market, a market controlled by Thousand Blades Peak, one of the Spirit Sword Sect's six great peaks.
Although this market was smaller than Ascendant City, it still ranked among the top five in all of Fufeng Commandery.
The Heavenly River Market lay at the foot of Thousand Blades Peak. Above it were the grounds where Spirit Sword Sect disciples cultivated; below lay the market. A third-tier peak-protection formation separated the two, barring ordinary cultivators from entering the sect.
After leaving Ascendant City, Xu Yan traveled for three days before reaching the vicinity.
From afar, Xu Yan saw a mountain peak towering into the