With each inch Hua Jingmeng drew her sword, the surrounding world grew quieter. There was no dazzling sword light, no sweeping edge, and even the clear, melodious sword cry that should accompany the birth of a divine weapon was nowhere to be heard.
When the sword was halfway through, the wind around the final arena completely disappeared, the light fell near the sword and quickly dimmed, and the fine dust floating in the void all froze and stopped flowing.
Hua Jingmeng exerted force with his wrist, completely pulling the ancient sword from the depths of the vortex. In the instant he stepped back and withdrew, his wrist suddenly twisted, and the dark gray longsword fell down his side. The vast black hole behind him also slowly closed as the ancient sword appeared, leaving only a narrow void rift that slowly closed behind him.
The moment the ancient sword appeared, a usually taciturn elder from the Chi Lineage's seats suddenly stood up. His eyes were fixed on the long sword on the arena, and within a few breaths his expression became extremely solemn, even his breathing unconsciously becoming soft.
"That is..." Several Chi Lineage beside him turned to look. The old man's pupils shrank, his voice was extremely low, but the shock in his words could not be concealed. "The Vast Sea Dao-Burying Sword."
Chi Junxuan, Chi Yufeng, and their disciples all looked towards the arena. Even Chi Boqian's expression turned serious at that moment.
The Vast Sea Dao-Burying Sword in Hua Jingmeng's hand is three feet and seven inches long. Its blade is slightly narrower than that of an ordinary longsword. It is completely devoid of gold and jade carvings, and its entire body is a deathly and deep gray. It has no metallic edge, and its texture is more like an ancient Dao bone that has survived countless eras of polishing.
The light falls on the sword, but it doesn't reflect; it only gradually sinks and fades away. A faint shadow always trails around the sword, as if the sword carries a void that the present world cannot fill.
The sword blade is not straight; it extends from the guard to the tip with a very subtle curve that is easily overlooked without close inspection. However, this slight curve, when seen by a high-level cultivator, exudes an inexplicable pressure, as if it were being gradually bent by the immense power of the universe throughout eternity, leaving behind an arc that can never be restored.
A very fine crack runs along the center of the sword's spine, from the guard to the tip. Normally, it is an integral part of the sword body, but only when Hua Jingmeng's Fate Soul merges into it does a faint blue glow seep out from within the crack. The light does not shine outwards, but rather slowly moves within the depths of the crack, its brightness and darkness fluctuating like the breath of a living being, giving this deathly ancient sword a strange vitality buried by time.
The sword guard had no ordinary handguard, only two wisps of dark mist that slowly flowed around the junction of the hilt and the blade. The mist was as fine as silkworm silk, and it stretched with each breath of the Hua Jingmeng. With each movement, it left a fleeting trace of the Dao in the void before returning to the sword guard.
The most enigmatic part is the sword tip. It lacks the sharp edges and corners that a divine weapon should have, instead appearing somewhat rounded and blunt, with a tiny vortex-like depression at the very tip, like a miniature whirlpool solidified there.
At the center of the vortex, a tiny, eerie blue light, no bigger than a pinhead, hovered silently, neither dazzling nor expanding. Yet, if one's gaze lingered on it even for a moment, a sense of emptiness would arise deep within the cultivator's Fate Soul, as if the unbreakable bond between oneself and one's origin was quietly fading.
When the ancient sword truly appeared in the world, a long cry finally echoed throughout heaven and earth, "Woo!!!"
The sound was distant and deep, piercing through countless annihilated ancient eras. It contained no anger, no killing intent, only an indescribable desolation and relief. Upon hearing this sound, the hearts of the countless cultivators in the Myriad Worlds Graveyard sank in unison.
Those with weaker Fate Soul pressed their hands to their chests, a look of bewilderment rising in their eyes—this was not the cry of a sword, but rather the final sigh left behind by an ancient being who had long since vanished into the karma of the heavens, traversing endless ages.
The elder of the Chi Lineage slowly returned to his seat, his gaze still fixed on the ancient sword, his expression growing increasingly solemn. "The remnants of the First Dao Era's collapse... have ultimately fallen into the hands of the Hua Lineage."
Another elder beside him frowned deeply. "Legend Daoist Cangming found fragments of Dao bones left behind after the collapse of the First Era's Great Dao in the Sea of Return to the Ruins to Nothingness. Using his own Dao heart as a furnace, he exhausted his cultivation, memories, and even the remnants of his own existence to forge this sword. The moment the sword was completed, Daoist Cangming himself completely dissipated into the karma of the heavens, leaving only this dark blue crack on the sword's spine."
Chi Boqian did not respond, his gaze fixed on the ancient sword. He was familiar with that ancient legend.
In the past, Daoist Cangming ascended to the pinnacle of the Great Dao, glimpsed the truth of the workings of heaven and earth, and saw through the depths of the Great Dao's origin, where a rift sufficient to negate all existing existence was hidden. He fused the fragments of the Dao bone that had collapsed in the first era into a sword, and sealed his last Dao thought into the tip of the sword, condensing it into that eternally indestructible dark blue light.
The truly terrifying aspect of this sword is never its lethal blade, but rather the ancient force of negation slumbering within it, which traces back to the very source of existence, following the principles of the Dao, the origin, and the very foundation of existence.
Now, this sword is in Hua Jingmeng's hands.
In the center of the arena, Hua Jingmeng lowered his eyes to look at the Vast Sea Dao-Burying Sword. His five fingers slowly tightened around the hilt, and a faint blue light suddenly shone from the crack in the sword's spine. Within a few feet around him, the light completely disappeared. He raised his eyes and looked at Qin Yu across the entire arena. The flush on his face had completely faded, leaving only a layer of increasingly cold and indifferent aura.
The dark gray ancient sword hung askew at its side. Hua Jingmeng didn't immediately swing it, nor did Qin Yu make a move. But the instant their gazes met again, the atmosphere of the entire final arena completely shifted.
In their previous encounter, Hua Jingmeng was still using supernatural powers and techniques to repeatedly counter Qin Yu's moves. But now, he finally pulled the ancient divine weapon that carried his overwhelming killing intent out of its Fate Soul and brought it into the world.
Hua Jingmeng stood amidst the lingering aftermath of the collapse of the Blameless Karma Scale, with fragments of causal light behind her gently descending like fine snowflakes. The Vast Sea Dao-Burying Sword in her hand had already pressed down a layer of chilling desolation that permeated her Fate Soul, covering the surrounding hundreds of feet of heaven and earth.
The dark gray ancient sword hung obliquely at his side, the dark blue crack on its spine rising and falling slowly with the origin of his Fate Soul. Each movement of light and shadow caused the surrounding laws to become slightly disordered.
He forcefully suppressed the surging anger from his repeated setbacks back into his veins. His back was straight, his expression returned to composure, and a sense of certainty, as if he had already foreseen the outcome, even appeared between his brows.
The five fingers gripping the sword slowly tightened, the pale, slender knuckles pressing against the bone-like hilt of the ancient sword. His gaze pierced through hundreds of feet of void, landing on Qin Yu. A slow smile played on his lips, and his voice clearly echoed throughout the entire battle zone, "Qin Yu, I already know all your supernatural abilities, but you know very little about me. This sword will surely slay you here."
At the other end of the arena, Qin Yu stood still. Behind him, the Silent Beginning Ring Master Soul Diagram slowly spun, Nine-Wheel True Evolution Dharma Wheel rose and fell, intertwining. The Boundless Realm Source Wheel at the deepest part absorbed and sensed every wisp of ancient Dao charm emanating from the Vast Sea Dao-Burying Sword. Upon hearing this, he felt no ripples in his heart, only his brows furrowed slightly, and a faint layer of vigilance spread across his eyes as he focused his mind.
The aura of this sword was completely different from all the supernatural powers Hua Jingmeng had previously unleashed. The primordial negation power within the sword forced the surrounding Dao principles to retreat on their own, already touching the deepest layer of existence's foundation. Qin Yu observed quietly for a few breaths, a faint smile appearing on his lips. His gaze lingered briefly on Hua Jingmeng's face, and his voice was calm as he spoke:
"That's quite remarkable. Hua Jingmeng, over the decades, relying on your uncle's influence, you've managed to rise to prominence, even managing to acquire such an ancient divine weapon."
Upon hearing this, Hua Jingmeng's brows furrowed abruptly, and the irritation he had just suppressed surged up from his eyes again. He resented most that others attributed all his cultivation and foundation to the protection of the Hua Lineage elders.
Especially with millions of cultivators watching, and the four Source Dao Ultimate Beast Huang present, these words tore away the layer of embarrassment, causing his knuckles gripping the sword to gradually turn white. The dark blue cracks on the sword's spine suddenly blazed brightly with the vibration of his Fate Soul, and the remaining light around him dimmed in an instant.
Hua Jingmeng's eyes flashed with a chilling coldness, and she lost all interest in maneuvering. She coldly uttered three words: "Enough with the nonsense."
Before the words were finished, the Vast Sea Dao-Burying Sword was slowly raised. There was no sword cry, no violent primal tide, and even the stone platform beneath its feet did not tremble in the slightest.
But just as the ancient sword was raised from below to his chest, all the sounds above the arena vanished. The whispers of the spectators in the distance ceased first, then the long wind subsided into Annihilation, and even the subtle vibrations arising from the flow of the source sank into boundless silence.
The deathly silence deepened, and countless fine cracks appeared in the void beside Hua Jingmeng. At first, they were only an inch away from the tip of the sword, but in an instant, they spread across the sky, weaving a cracked net that spanned thousands of feet.
Snap!!!
The void was slowly torn open by cracks. Deep within the cracks, there was no starlight, nor any remaining Daoist light, only a thick, almost solidified darkness seeping outwards. The darkness crawled along the cracks, and wherever it passed, the spatial Daoist principles that maintained the stability of the arena retreated. As soon as the primordial patterns approached, they lost their luster at the edge of the darkness, silently fading into obscurity.
At this moment, a dramatic change occurred within the Vast Sea Dao-Burying Sword. The dark blue crack running through the sword's spine suddenly burst forth, and instead of scattering outwards, the dark blue light collapsed entirely into the sword's body, eventually merging into the tiny dark blue light spot at the sword's tip.
That tiny glimmer of light chilled even the Fate Soul.
Even through the outer barrier of the arena, the countless cultivators in the Myriad Worlds Graveyard felt a strange chill the moment the light appeared. This chill was unrelated to the seasons; it was as if their very existence in the world had been gently swept over by an ancient gaze.
Those with shallow cultivation involuntarily lowered their eyes, not daring to meet his gaze. The four judges' expressions changed slightly, and the main seats of the four Source Dao Ultimate Beast Huang also fell into a deep silence.