The Sword Pavilion was yet another remarkable spatiotemporal treasure.
With each higher level, the space grew larger, and the flow of time slowed further.
On the seventh level, the space was as vast as a small world, with a diameter of over three thousand li. The time flow rate reached a ratio of one to eight.
The Sword Mountain, representing the Wordless Sword Manual, stood at the centre of the seventh level. It rose over twenty thousand metres, with sheer cliffs on all sides piercing the clouds. Sword qi converged into rivers, flowing rapidly around the mountain.
Zhang Ruochen arrived at the base of Sword Mountain. There, a woman in red sat cross-legged three chi above the ground. Countless starlights floated around her, forming a brilliant starry sea.
It was the Truth Realm Form of “Boundless Star Sea”.
With her Saint King realm cultivation, achieving such attainment on the Path of Truth was truly extraordinary.
Zhang Ruochen approached silently, observing her closely.
The woman was in the bloom of youth, with a high, refined nose, serene as an orchid. She held a jade sword in her hands, adorned with no ornaments, simple and pure. She exuded a cold, bold, and decisive aura.
Lost in deep reminiscence, Zhang Ruochen unwittingly stepped into the web of sword qi she had woven behind her.
When he awoke from his reverie, dense sword qi assaulted him.
Naturally, this sword qi could not harm him. It dispersed before reaching his body.
“Who is it?”
The woman in red was startled awake. Like a conditioned reflex, she leaped up.
“Clang!”
Her sword unsheathed.
The Truth Sword Form instantly fused with her sword move, slashing out a lightning-like sword beam.
Zhang Ruochen stood motionless, allowing the jade sword to strike him. Yet an invisible armour seemed to surround him. The jade sword rang with a resounding clash three chi from his body.
The woman in red was shaken by her own force, her arms numbing. She flew backward, landing on the ground, warily eyeing this man of unfathomable cultivation.
Unfortunately, she could not clearly see his face.
This person had approached silently while she comprehended the sword. He must harbour ill intent.
“Who are you? How can you enter the seventh level of the Sword Pavilion?”
The woman’s cloud robe fluttered in the wind. Her eyes were sharp as swords, brows frosty.
Zhang Ruochen smiled. “You can enter the seventh level of the Sword Pavilion. Why can I not?”
“My status is beyond your comparison.” Pride gleamed in the woman’s eyes, superior and aloof. Even knowing his cultivation surpassed hers, she paid him no heed.
At least in the Kunlun Realm, she could look down on any cultivator.
Zhang Ruochen said, “So remarkable? Now I truly wish to know your identity.”
The woman in red was about to speak but held back. “Hmph! You do not even know who I am. Clearly, you are no extraordinary figure. Speak. What did you intend by approaching me earlier?”
Zhang Ruochen gazed at her intently, silent.
“You dare stare? Even if you are a great saint, in this Sword Pavilion, you cannot act recklessly.”
“Sword Eight!”
The woman cried delicately. She thrust her sword, white sword dao profound gang surging forth, piercing past Zhang Ruochen’s neck.
Unfortunately, it struck empty air!
Her slender waist twisted flexibly. She reversed in mid-air, slashing the second sword.
Zhang Ruochen stepped back.
The sword cleaved the ground, splitting it asunder. Sword qi scattered everywhere.
“Not bad. This is the Nine Deaths Sword Technique, correct?” Zhang Ruochen remarked.
“Knowing the Nine Deaths Sword Technique is good.”
“Whoosh!”
The sword edge flew again, forming a crescent moon-shaped light shadow.
…
Zhang Ruochen’s true body had long withdrawn. Now, he stood atop Sword Mountain with Granny Begonia, overlooking the two combatants.
Granny Begonia said, “She is both a Truth Controller and a sword dao prodigy. Her talent and comprehension are exceptional, scarcely inferior to yours. When you achieved Sword Eight, you were also at the Saint King realm, were you not?”
Zhang Ruochen watched the woman in red clashing with his avatar. “Her martial dao talent is indeed outstanding, surpassing her mother’s. But this young lady’s temper is rather excessive!”
Granny Begonia smiled kindly. “Whose fault is it that her mother is the leader of the Moon Worship Demonic Sect and her father a god renowned across the world? Moreover, that old undying from your Zhang family spoils her like a princess. Anyone who dares oppose her ends up begging for mercy in tears. Who would provoke her? Naturally, her character has become somewhat wilful.”
“However, this child is kind-hearted. If you had not lost control of your emotions earlier and approached too closely, she would not have struck with her sword outright.”
Zhang Ruochen nodded lightly. “It was the old man who sent her here? Where has he gone?”
Granny Begonia’s expression turned displeased. “Probably dead!”
Zhang Ruochen dared not pursue the question. “Granny seems always a step away from achieving divinity in spiritual power.”
“The fate of a vessel spirit is bound to the vessel. Achieving divinity is inherently difficult. For a plant vessel spirit, it is even harder, far more than a sacred herb transforming into divine medicine. All because of that old dog!” Granny Begonia cursed outright.
Clearly, she still harboured resentment over Jie Venerable tricking her into becoming the Sword Pavilion’s vessel spirit back then.
In her youth, naive and trusting the wrong person.
Zhang Ruochen took out a divine wooden box, holding it in his palm and offering it to Granny Begonia.
“This is?”
Granny Begonia saw divine patterns covering the box’s surface. Whatever was inside was surely extraordinary.
Zhang Ruochen said, “A spiritual power divine pill!”
Even with her endless years and steady mind, Granny Begonia trembled slightly. She looked at Zhang Ruochen in disbelief.
Zhang Ruochen pressed the box into her hands. “I still remember it was here that Granny lectured me for nine days and nights, opening a new gate on the sacred path for me. These years, you have toiled too much for the Zhang family and Saint Ming. This divine pill is yours by right!”
The Yanluo clan’s Grand Supreme of pill dao had refined the Third Elder of the Zhenmie Palace along with many sacred herbs into ten spiritual power divine pills.
Zhang Ruochen had gifted one to Yan Zhexian.
After all, Yan Zhexian majored in spiritual power. The divine pill would benefit her more than others.
As for reciprocating the Grand Supreme who refined it, failing to do so might displease the elder.
Zhang Ruochen himself had not yet taken one.
Even divine pills had the strongest effect with the first. Subsequent ones diminished progressively.
Though Zhang Ruochen’s spiritual power had few bottlenecks, progress slowed noticeably in the later stages of each realm. It required vast time to accumulate and break through.
For now, Zhang Ruochen felt he did not need a spiritual power divine pill.
He planned to save it for a more critical moment.
Somehow, Granny Begonia’s turbid eyes grew misty. Holding the divine wooden box, she was silent for long before saying, “You child… so thoughtful. Even to an old woman like me, you show such care. No wonder so many women follow you devotedly, waiting and thinking of you. Even I regret meeting that old thing instead of you back then.”
“This is a divine pill!”
“Divine pills are mere external things.” Zhang Ruochen replied.
The stunning woman in red seemed to possess inexhaustible energy, relentlessly attacking Zhang Ruochen’s avatar. Her battle intent grew stronger, her fighting spirit inexhaustible.
“This resilience is commendable! I thought, with her pampered upbringing, she would grow discouraged and flee after failing to land a blow.” Zhang Ruochen said.
Granny Begonia put away the divine wooden box. “Did you return this time just to see her?”
Zhang Ruochen smiled bitterly. “To my shame, if not for encountering unsolvable issues in cultivation, returning to the Kunlun Realm might have been delayed further.”
“By the way, does Granny know the origin of the Heaven-Sacrificing Bronze Cauldron?”
“The Heaven-Sacrificing Bronze Cauldron?”
Granny Begonia was puzzled, unsure what Zhang Ruochen meant.
Zhang Ruochen clarified, “The one outside the Upper Purity Palace.”
“I have not paid it much attention! Why? Have you discovered something extraordinary about it?” Granny Begonia asked.
Zhang Ruochen could not determine if the Heaven-Sacrificing Bronze Cauldron truly related to the Nine Cauldrons. If not, speaking now would invite future ridicule.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Never mind! By the way, does Granny know who Ancient God Mountain truly is?”
Granny Begonia cherished Zhang Ruochen deeply and answered fully. “You know the founding ancestors of the Liangyi Sect, the Three Purities, correct?”
Zhang Ruochen nodded.
Granny Begonia continued, “Over eight hundred thousand years ago, the Three Purities Ancestors were disciples of the Taiji Dao. After achieving divinity, for some unknown reason, they left the Taiji Dao together and founded the Liangyi Sect in the Eastern Region.”
“Ancient God Mountain formed from the divine corpse of Ancestor Upper Purity. That was two hundred thousand years ago. Ancestor Upper Purity, breaking into the Immeasurable realm, was severed into seven pieces by a sword, transforming into the seven peaks of Ancient God Mountain.”
Zhang Ruochen’s heart shook greatly. “Slain in the Kunlun Realm?”
Granny Begonia nodded.
Zhang Ruochen said, “How is that possible? Back then, the Kunlun Realm teemed with powerhouses. Who dared slay an Immeasurable realm god?”
“Perhaps one of those powerhouses wielded the sword.” Granny Begonia seemed to know something, speaking thus.
Zhang Ruochen asked, “Does Granny mean Saint Monk?”
In the Kunlun Realm, who else but Saint Monk Xumi, cultivating the Time Sword Method, could sword-slash an Immeasurable realm god?
Granny Begonia replied, “Was Saint Monk truly the only one who used a sword?”
Zhang Ruochen pondered briefly. “Biluo Zi?”
Back then, Granny Begonia had lent Zhang Ruochen five volumes from the Sword Pavilion, from five sword dao prodigies throughout Kunlun Realm’s history.
One was titled “Biluo Notes”.
Thus, Biluo Zi’s sword dao attainment must have been profound.
Granny Begonia said, “Ancient God Mountain’s ability to preserve sacred realm cultivators’ sacred souls is likely related to Biluo Zi. Only his Biluo Dao possesses such capability. This shows the Three Purities Ancestors were deeply connected to him. Their departure from the Taiji Dao back then very likely involved him.”
Zhang Ruochen asked, “Why did Biluo Zi kill Ancestor Upper Purity? Where did Ancestors Grand Purity and Jade Purity go?”
