"So I really did come to the right place!"
Han Xuanji drew a deep breath, his eyes suddenly shining with excitement he could barely contain.
Like a thief with a guilty conscience, Han Xuanji hurriedly left the Soaring Cloud Palace and returned to his cave abode.
With a thought from Han Xuanji, an ancient-looking longsword radiating a powerful presence floated quietly before him. It was none other than the immortal artifact, the Soaring Firmament Sword.
Its blade glittered brilliantly like twinkling stars, and a profound, mysterious Dao resonance flowed through it. Its appearance was extraordinarily beautiful.
Immortal artifacts possessed spirits, and normally, even Spirit Transformation cultivators would struggle to refine and master one.
Yet Han Xuanji only had to grasp the hilt to feel a sense of familiarity well up, as if he had always been the sword's master.
In an instant.
A vast amount of information flooded into Han Xuanji's mind.
It was information transmitted to him by the Soaring Firmament Sword.
The Soaring Firmament Sword had been forged from Nine Yang Mystic Essence. Three feet and six inches long, it slew wickedness and vanquished evil, and nothing could withstand its edge. The Sword Qi it unleashed was enhanced by the Soaring Firmament Sword itself, greatly increasing its lethality. It could also pass through the flesh to wound the Primordial Spirit, so it could be said to come with true damage.
Besides that, the Soaring Firmament Sword also possessed a secret technique. By activating the inscriptions within the sword, he could unleash power beyond his realm.
Han Xuanji studied it carefully. Although the consumption was enormous, its power was equally immense. If he threw caution to the wind, he could unleash lethality at the Body Integration Realm.
As expected of a divine weapon on the level of an immortal artifact, Han Xuanji thought, secretly astonished.
It also served as a reminder to him: in battle, he must never grow careless just because his realm was higher. Heaven knew what background his opponent might have, or what trump cards they might be hiding.
Still, with an immortal artifact at his side, Han Xuanji immediately felt a full sense of security.
Even if a Void Return mighty figure came, he would dare to go up and exchange blows.
Besides that, the Soaring Firmament Sword also transmitted some memories to him, memories of its previous master.
The memories were only fragments. Roughly speaking, the sword had been the life-bound flying sword of Lingxiaozi, a Nine Provinces cultivator from High Antiquity. Lingxiaozi had been an unparalleled sword cultivator who rose from a mortal cultivating immortality to the Immortal Ascension Realm, becoming the strongest sword cultivator of his era. However, while exploring a secret realm, he had died under the combined assault of several Immortal Ascension Realm experts.
The Soaring Firmament Sword had also been damaged in the battle. Patriarch Lingxiu later picked it up, but he too was unable to repair it, so he casually placed it in the Soaring Cloud Palace's treasury, hoping that one day the immortal sword would repair itself.
When Han Xuanji checked in, the system had restored the Soaring Firmament Sword directly to its peak condition.
The damaged Soaring Firmament Sword should still be lying in the treasury, while the one in Han Xuanji's hand counted as the second-generation Soaring Firmament Sword.
"But was the cultivation world really so powerful during High Antiquity?"
Han Xuanji could not help being shocked.
As far as he knew, Immortal Ascension Realm cultivators were exceedingly rare, and many years could pass without one appearing.
On the present-day Nine Provinces Continent, for example, there had been no public reports of Immortal Ascension Realm experts active anywhere.
"But perhaps the Tribulation Transcendence Realm cultivators of the Nine Provinces Continent went elsewhere to make their breakthroughs, or perhaps they're hidden somewhere, keeping out of the world."
At that thought, Han Xuanji felt he had to keep lying low.
If his astonishing talent were exposed and some hidden old monster seized him, the Divine Profound Sect might not be able to protect him!
Of the many memories transmitted by the Soaring Firmament Sword, the most important was a collection of insights into the Sword Dao. As the strongest sword cultivator of his era, Lingxiaozi had naturally attained extraordinary mastery of the Sword Dao, reaching the realm of Sword Intent Forms a Domain. He had also created a heaven-tier sword instruction, the "Soaring Firmament Sword Instruction."
For the current Han Xuanji, these Sword Dao insights were a great fortuitous opportunity.
Han Xuanji's Sword Dao had already reached the realm of Sword Intent Profound Understanding, but he had no idea how to reach the next realm. These Sword Dao insights had arrived at just the right time.
Improving his Sword Dao realm would also greatly increase his strength.
Time slowly passed.
Just like that, half a year went by.
While comprehending the Sword Dao, Han Xuanji checked in at the Soaring Cloud Palace on time every day and reaped abundant rewards.
As expected of Spirit Elegance Peak's core inheritance site, its Dao resonance was much stronger than that of places like the Scripture Repository.
The rewards came in all varieties: inheritances of cultivation methods, heavenly materials and earthly treasures, divine weapons and Law Treasures... but the most common were still supreme-grade Spirit Stones.
As the highest-grade hard currency in the cultivation world, supreme-grade Spirit Stones were utterly pure, with spiritual power of exceptionally high quantity and quality. They were well suited for cultivators above Spirit Transformation to absorb and refine, and were also necessities for powering many advanced formations and Law Treasures.
In the outside world, even exchanging high-grade Spirit Stones for supreme-grade ones was difficult, because the major sects all regarded supreme-grade Spirit Stones as strategic resources.
Even a large Spirit Stone vein produced relatively few supreme-grade Spirit Stones.
In fact, it was an extravagant luxury for Spirit Transformation cultivators to cultivate using supreme-grade Spirit Stones.
But Han Xuanji did not care. He had obtained them by checking in anyway, so as far as he was concerned, if he had them, he would use them.
Strength was everything.
On this day.
Han Xuanji once again entered a state of sudden enlightenment.
These past days, Han Xuanji had almost given up on advancing his cultivation, devoting himself entirely to comprehending these Sword Dao insights in an attempt to derive his sword intent to the next level.
An ordinary person could spend their entire life stuck at this bottleneck, but Han Xuanji, with his extraordinary comprehension, naturally would not remain stuck.
He had immersed himself in the Sword Dao these past days and made gains every day.
At this moment, Han Xuanji felt a stirring in his mind. In an instant, everything tangible and intangible could become his sword intent. Strand by strand, his sword intent wove itself into a net, then transformed into a sword domain.
Han Xuanji felt as though he had become the master of heaven and earth, able to do whatever he wished, omnipotent.
With a thought, he let himself loose, and a terrifying sword intent instantly soared into the sky.
At the same time.
Divine Profound Sect, Heaven-Reaching Peak.
The main peak's great hall.
"Alas, the Sword Discussion Assembly is almost upon us, and that Sword Fanatic of the Heavenly Sword Sect already has the makings of a Sword Dao champion."
Lü Tianxing, the Peak Master of Heaven-Reaching Peak, known as Venerable Mad Sword, sighed.
Standing behind him was Shangguan Feihong, the head disciple of Heaven-Reaching Peak's current generation, his eyes dim:
"This disciple is incompetent."
Although he was well known in the Divine Profound Sect and many of his junior brothers had great confidence in him, he knew his aptitude still fell far short of a peerless heavenly prodigy's.
Nangong Wenjian, the Heavenly Sword Sect's Sword Fanatic, had defeated him with a single sword strike just after entering Spirit Transformation. His opponent's Sword Dao realm had already reached Sword Intent Profound Understanding, a talent astonishing enough to astound the world.
"If the Devil-Slaying Sword Venerable were to act, perhaps he could contend with that heavenly prodigy of the sword sect."
Shangguan Feihong sighed.
Just then.
The two of them suddenly sensed an immensely powerful sword intent rising into the sky. Their swords abruptly trembled and rang, greatly startling them both.
Shangguan Feihong could not help crying out:
"What's going on?"
Lü Tianxing's eyes lit up. Without a word, he turned and walked out of the hall.
Shangguan Feihong followed close behind.
On Heaven-Reaching Peak, the swords of countless disciples had all flown from their sheaths and risen into the air beyond their control, resonating with the sword intent. It was an extraordinarily stunning sight.
Understanding dawned on Lü Tianxing's face, and he murmured:
"To think the Divine Profound Sect has such a formidable Sword Dao expert?"
"How formidable?"
Shangguan Feihong asked.
"More formidable than me."
Lü Tianxing drew a deep breath and said with a sigh:
"To be precise, far stronger than me."
Hearing this.
Shangguan Feihong's eyes filled with shock.
Lü Tianxing was a Void Return Realm sword cultivator. In his youth, he had also been a renowned Sword Dao prodigy and the champion of his generation's Sword Discussion Assembly. In all these years, he had never neglected his Sword Dao cultivation.
Even he admitted his inferiority. It was hard to imagine how strong the owner of this sword intent was.
Then Shangguan Feihong suddenly thought of something and said excitedly:
"Could this person be the Devil-Slaying Sword Venerable?"
"That can't be. The Devil-Slaying Sword Venerable has only just broken through to Spirit Transformation. Judging by the residual sword intent, he has only just stepped into Sword Intent Profound Understanding. He's not even as good as your master."
Lü Tianxing immediately disagreed.
This sword intent covered the entire Divine Profound Sect. It had clearly reached the level of Sword Intent Forms a Domain, and its owner's Sword Dao mastery far surpassed his.
It was probably some patriarch who had made a breakthrough.
For the Divine Profound Sect, that was good news too.