The Sword Tomb Secret Realm appeared once every sixty years. Over the long ages, successive generations of the Vertical Sword Sect's forebears had painstakingly investigated its mysteries, yet all had ultimately returned empty-handed. Even some Grandmaster Realm experts whose cultivation rivaled the wonders of creation had met their deaths within.
Dongfang Shikai slipped into the secret realm alone and silently leaped onto Sky-Pillar Peak. Concealing his aura and suppressing his breath, he kept his extraordinary cultivation hidden even from Heaven's Way, then opened his mind and let it spread throughout heaven and earth.
As time passed, he discovered nothing except some obscure fluctuations and sounds from the boundless skies, so lofty and distant that they seemed to come from Heaven Beyond Heaven.
Dongfang Shikai had originally intended to break open the firmament and ascend to investigate, but the slightest leakage of his powerful aura alerted Heaven's Way. A destructive presence crashed down like a surging flood, blanketing heaven and earth.
The price Dongfang Shikai paid was a rare Supreme Substitute Talisman, a gift from Ban Yudai, the head of the Heavenly Master Dao on Dragon-Tiger Mountain. The substitute conjured by the talisman could briefly possess the same cultivation realm and Divine Abilities as Dongfang Shikai. Drawing upon Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy, the substitute forged the gathered radiance of sun, moon, and stars into a sword. A majestic sword stroke, like the celestial river cascading upside down, slashed fiercely at the firmament.
The sea of clouds churned. A huge gash split the firmament, revealing the clear blue sky.
In the space of a finger snap, Heaven's Way ruthlessly destroyed the substitute. Dongfang Shikai had deceived the heavens and crossed the sea, successfully escaping disaster through the Substitute Talisman.
The rift in the firmament closed at tremendous speed. Just as it