Nirvana Art

The legacy left behind by the three Great Emperors had brought the True Martial Sacred Sect into an unprecedented golden age.

Yet all things in the world followed their own laws of development. At the height of prosperity came decline!

Over the next tens of thousands of years, the True Martial Sacred Sect never produced another Great Emperor.

Though it remained a colossal force, it could not escape its gradual decline from the splendor of its former heyday.

Until three thousand years ago, the appearance of a girl broke this deadlock.

The girl lived in an ordinary little village amid the vast lands ruled by the True Martial Sacred Sect.

She lived such an ordinary life for fifteen years, until one day, when two Empty Meridian Realm experts fought as they passed above the little mountain village, and she saw them.

From that moment on, a seed—the seed of a great gate leading to a new world—was planted in her young heart.

Drawn by its reputation, the girl came to seek admission into the True Martial Sacred Sect, only to be eliminated during the aptitude test because her natural endowment was ordinary.

But she refused to give up. She knelt beneath the sect's bluestone steps and remained there for seven full days.

Wind and rain lashed her, the blazing sun scorched her, yet not a drop of water passed her lips, nor did she eat a single mouthful of food.

At the time, she was only an ordinary person, yet she endured that torment.

Her consciousness grew hazy, but she never fainted. The firmness of her will moved all who saw it.

Later, an Outer Sect Elder of the True Martial Sacred Sect took pity on her and accepted her as a nominal disciple.

She was like a frog in a well yearning to leap out of the deep pit, unwilling to remain confined to one corner.

She was also like an ant crawling between Heaven and Earth, crawling on and on.

Until one day, that crawling ant suddenly stood up. Only then did people realize that, at some unknown point, that ant had already grown tall enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with the heavens.

In the girl's era, there had been far too many astonishing, peerless geniuses.

Yet in the end, no one had expected that a girl of average aptitude would sweep through that entire era.

"Empress Hongtian!"

That was the honorific bestowed upon that girl of old.

Among the countless Great Emperors throughout the ages, Empress Hongtian was undoubtedly one of the most dazzling.

She shone not only in her own era; even the eras of several Great Emperors after her were deeply influenced by the Empress.

Empress Hongtian led the True Martial Sacred Sect into another golden age.

Recalling the history of the True Martial Sacred Sect, Xu Zimo's gaze deepened. He hoped that one day, his own name would also shine amid the epic splendor of those stars filling the sky.

He made his way to the Scripture Repository, which stood at the heart of the True Martial Sacred Sect. It contained every cultivation art and Meridian Technique the sect had collected since its founding.

Unlike the majestic and imposing place people might have imagined, the atmosphere around the Scripture Repository was rather relaxed.

Ancient trees blotted out the sky, spirit herbs carpeted the ground, Dao Flowers competed in splendor, and colorful butterflies danced gracefully. Rare medicinal Dao chickens patrolled the area, loosening the soil, fertilizing, and catching insects for the spirit herbs and Dao Flowers.

The Scripture Repository had eighteen floors. Standing at its entrance, Xu Zimo was met by an ancient, rustic aura. It stood silently there, as though recounting its history of tens of thousands of years to all who came before it.

The pavilion was a weave of cyan-green and pale yellow, with jade terraces, jeweled towers, emerald tiles, and vermilion eaves.

All manner of rare and exotic beasts were carved along both sides of the eaves.

There were eagles spreading their wings, birds soaring through the air, leopards roaring, and savage lions glaring in fury.

No one stood guard before the Scripture Repository, but Xu Zimo could sense from his surroundings an aura that made his heart tremble.

High-grade formations had been set up all around it. Once an intruder was discovered, the formations would activate; even Saint Meridian Realm experts might not be able to escape easily.

Xu Zimo placed the token his father had given him into the card slot at the entrance. An elder guarding the Scripture Repository would assess the token and grant the corresponding permissions.

The light screen over the Great Gate vanished, and Xu Zimo walked directly into the Scripture Repository.

The first floor was laid out quite simply, with tens of thousands of bookshelves arranged in perfect order.

The Meridian Techniques and cultivation arts placed on every shelf were all covered by a faint light screen.

At the front of each shelf was a small plaque listing the corresponding books' names, uses, and grades.

Xu Zimo did not linger. He headed straight to the highest floor of the Scripture Repository—the eighteenth floor.

The eighteenth floor was somewhat dim, and only four statues stood there.

Each of the four statues seemed to exist alone within its own special space.

Standing before the statues, Xu Zimo looked from left to right.

The first statue depicted a man with long hair draping over his shoulders. His aura was vast and majestic, his gaze as deep as the sea, and his bearing of sovereign dominion over the world made people unable to resist bowing in admiration.

He was a man with mountains and rivers beneath his feet, and the vast heavens borne upon his shoulders.

The second statue was likewise a man. He gave off an extreme impression, as though he had abandoned everything solely to pursue the end of something.

Proud and unyielding, he bore three strange long blades upon his back.

The moment one saw those blades, one could understand that he was a pure bladesman, a man who had devoted his entire life to stepping onto the pinnacle of the blade Dao.

"Born beneath the blade, die beneath the blade."

The third statue showed only a back. Its presence felt especially ethereal, as though it were right before one's eyes, yet also at the far ends of Heaven.

He walked between reality and the void, pursuing only the ultimate mystery of speed.

The fourth statue depicted a woman, her long hair cascading down her back, a thin veil concealing a face capable of toppling kingdoms and cities.

Her style was utterly different, ever-changing. At first glance, she seemed innocent and lively, reminding one of the girl next door with a ponytail on some afternoon—the feeling of first love.

At a second glance, she seemed to be a seductive and enchanting demoness.

At a third glance, she resembled a female God of War who killed without blinking, a heroine no less than any man. Her conviction was unshakable, and her aura was peerless beneath the heavens.

At a fourth glance, she became an Empress who ruled over all things, as though all living beings were merely ants before her. Beneath one glance from her, the flourishing prosperity of a golden age was not worth mentioning amid annihilation.

Xu Zimo looked at the statues of the four greatest Great Emperors in the history of the True Martial Sacred Sect, his heart filled with solemn reverence.

In truth, he had no intention of cultivating another person's cultivation art, because in his Previous Life, he had already carved out a Martial Dao Heavenly Path that belonged to him alone.

But to conceal himself and keep his secret from being exposed, Xu Zimo still chose the cultivation art of the Three Blades Great Emperor.

He rather admired the Three Blades Great Emperor's extreme blade Dao, and it would serve well enough as a temporary measure.

Xu Zimo placed his hand upon the statue, then closed his eyes, emptied his mind, and tried his utmost to comprehend it.

A boundless white mist covered everything. Xu Zimo could clearly feel a memory merging into his own.

This was precisely the cultivation art practiced by the Three Blades Great Emperor: the Nirvana Art.

All began in nirvana, and all ended in nirvana!

Born of nirvana, halted by nirvana!

Having obtained the cultivation art he wanted, Xu Zimo prepared to leave.

Before leaving, he subconsciously glanced into a corner of the Scripture Repository. Then he shook his head and smiled to himself before turning and departing with carefree strides.