A Stone Lotus of Withering and Flourishing Holds a Wood Sword, Green Bamboo Keeps Its Joints and Nurtures Its Edge

"The leftmost ray of light seems to contain a heavy aura, like some kind of earth-elemental defensive Law Treasure or secret technique."

"The light on the far right is quite erratic, possessing a sense of both decay and flourishing, existing between life and death... However, its state is somewhat strange, and even this humble demon cannot discern its true form."

"As for the one in the middle... it carries an extremely sharp aura, but it doesn't seem like Sword Intent; rather, it resembles some kind of metal-element killing Divine Ability."

Changming's pair of emerald eyes shone brightly with an unusual gleam, and after a long while, he spoke in this manner.

"The elements of earth and metal... and the meaning of coexistence of decay and prosperity..."

Chen Shuangbai stood before the three jade pillars and looked around. In the distance, stone pillars stood like towering trees, while nearby, many stone pillars were broken, clearly the result of his Sword Intent earlier.

"Wasn't there supposed to be Secret Method to hone one's Divine Sense...? Why isn't there one?"

In the end, Chen Shuangbai chose the light on the far right.

The Earth and Metal elements are actually not very suitable for him.

Because his Spirit Root aptitude is mainly water and wood, and he cultivates the Grand Yin, while the spiritual light on the far right, which is both withered and flourishing, is also somewhat influenced by the wood element, it can be considered to match Chen Shuangbai's cultivation.

As he grabbed the rightmost ray of light, his vision blurred, the white jade platform vanished, and he was teleported out of the stone formation, returning to the space between the two black pillars.

"It's been moved out..."

As Chen Shuangbai muttered to herself, her gaze fell upon her palm, where a stone lotus slowly floated into her hand.

"Huh?"

To be precise, it wasn't a stone lotus, but rather half of it was vibrant with life, while the other side was covered in bluish-gray. Changming's earlier statement about the coexistence of decay and prosperity was indeed correct.

With just a slight probe of his Divine Sense, Chen Shuangbai was able to detect a familiar aura within it.

He flipped his left palm, and the ancient bell that sealed Jingxu seemed to respond, showing a significant reaction to the stone lotus. Many Buddhist mantras on the bell also gradually came into response, emitting rays of Glazed Glass light and golden dust falling down. Even Jingxu's Jingxu soul seemed to be awakening.

With a thought, Chen Shuangbai unleashed a golden-white light from the Sword Intent that sealed the object, suppressing all the strange changes in the ancient bell.

After putting the ancient bell away, Chen Shuangbai's gaze returned to the stone lotus, and he murmured, "Heh, so the Lotus Temple entered this Grotto-Heaven just for you."

Changming and Feiguang also came closer and circled the object to examine it.

Among them, Changming used the Secret Method of the Jade Spirit Clan to examine the object, and let out a soft exclamation, saying, "My lord, there seems to be a special mark within this stone lotus, related to your..."

The jade spirit paused, scratched the back of his flat head, and said, "It bears some resemblance to your Sword Intent."

Upon hearing this, Chen Shuangbai became interested.

He immersed his Divine Sense into the stone lotus.

Because this ancient magic Law Treasure had not been refined, its mysteries were completely concealed, and it had no mystery whatsoever. As Chen Shuangbai's Law Power and Divine Sense were used to refine it, he indeed detected a very faint but also very pure Sword Intent within it.

This Sword Intent slumbered within the stone lotus, but it didn't seem to belong to the ancient Buddhist cultivator who originally possessed this stone lotus; rather, it seemed to be...

Feiguang suddenly spoke up, "It's as if someone injected a Sword Intent from the outside, using it as the core to suppress all the wonders of this stone lotus, preventing it from being summoned?"

"Right!"

Changming slammed his hand on the ground, then turned around to look at Feiguang. He had just wanted to say, "You've finally figured it out," but when he saw Feiguang's murderous white eyes, he couldn't help but shudder. He could only stammer, "Insightful and perceptive, Brother Feiguang is amazing!"

Feiguang's white eyes then moved elsewhere.

Chen Shuangbai tried to sense the Sword Intent with her Divine Sense, but it seemed to be dormant and did not react at all.

He thought for a moment, then released his Sword Intent.

The golden and white Sword Intent transformed into flying birds, circling around him, accompanied by the rustling snowflakes and the fragrance of delicate osmanthus blossoms. Gradually, a strange power seemed to float within it, and a vast and ancient power conception slowly awakened from within.

Unlike Chen Shuangbai's [ Zhengguang Jielin Jade Pool Flying Immortal Sword ], which is of the Water element and belongs to the Grand Yin Dao.

The Sword Intent within this stone lotus is of the wood element.

Its nature is resilient and its quality is vigorous, like the verdant green of willow and the ancient strength of bamboo. It has the mysterious power of gathering trees to form a forest, hiding its secrets and gathering its energy, remaining dormant and not revealing its true potential.

The two Sword Intent intertwined, and the wood-element Sword Intent leaped up and down, becoming a gray falcon in the sky, fierce and menacing, and a lush and verdant bamboo grove on the ground, serene and eerie.

A sword scripture slowly emerged from this Sword Intent, appearing in Chen Shuangbai's sea of consciousness, and was automatically captured by the [ Great Yin Dao Fruit ].

Chen Shuangbai murmured, "Green bamboo embraces integrity, nurturing its sharp edge..."

This was clearly a Wood-based sword manual with lofty ideals, which was somewhat fitting for the True Net Cult's status as a major sect.

It was precisely the existence of this Sword Intent that suppressed the pure Buddhism True Intention within this ancient Buddhist treasure, gradually erasing it until it was completely destroyed.

Chen Shuangbai withdrew his Sword Intent, and the wood-element Sword Intent slowly subsided.

Feiguang looked on curiously, blinked, and asked, "My lord, can the Sword Intent of others offer any insights into your swordsmanship?"

"It has some effect."

"Then why don't you take this Sword Intent?"

Chen Shuangbai shook her head.

This Sword Intent had remained within this ancient Law Treasure for countless years. Although the True Intention of Buddhist cultivation within it had been erased, Chen Shuangbai was still quite wary of the strangeness of the [ Lesser Lotus Pure Land ].

Rather than taking it out and risking being summoned back by the Buddhist Alliance through some means, it's better to leave the Sword Intent inside and take it back to ask the True Lord if there's a way to refine it into other Law Treasure or other wonderful uses.

"The fact that Lotus Temple went to such lengths to take this item away, even secretly sending people in... this item must contain many mysteries."

"But..."

Chen Shuangbai carefully recalled the records within the sect regarding the True Net Cult before she entered, and found no mention of any sword immortal emerging from the sect.

"I wonder if he is a figure hidden within this great sect, or someone traveling from elsewhere..."

Chen Shuangbai remembered something.

Perhaps there's something on the Sword Alliance's Sword Stele that resonates with this Sword Intent... who knows, we might just find the owner of this Sword Intent.

But that's a story for another time.

The existence of this Sword Intent is of great benefit to Chen Shuangbai's swordsmanship.

After all, cross-referencing is much better than working in isolation.

After carefully storing the stone lotus, Chen Shuangbai waved her sleeve and took Feiguang and Changming away, transforming into a golden-white sword rainbow as she departed.

[PS: Three chapters today! I'm experiencing severe writer's block and can't write anything. My brain feels like mush. Please forgive me! I'm begging for your support! Please give me gifts! Please leave a good review! It's very important! Please!]