Chapter 12: Ruan Ci Obtains the Sword

Ruan Ci Obtains the Sword

"The universe is vast, with the heavens coming and going, and the cosmos divided into clear and turbid. The world we live in is called the Langhuan Zhou Tian, which is one of the Great Heavens. In this universe, there are countless Great Heavens, projecting themselves onto the firmament as stars. Right now, if you look up, the starry expanse you see is the projection of those Great Heavens onto our Langhuan Zhou Tian."

Xie Yanhuan’s battle with the three Nascent Soul cultivators here had caused the spiritual energy to churn in chaos, long since stopping the rain. Xie Yanhuan casually smoothed out the cliff face, turning the bluestone into a jade-like slanted pillow, and sat with Ruan Ci, looking up and pointing out the stars in the sky. Ruan Ci asked, "Great Heaven, Zhou Tian—why is our world called Zhou Tian? Is it because we were born here?"

"Not exactly." Xie Yanhuan, who was so arrogant before those cultivators, was very patient with her. "This brings us to us cultivators. Song Guo has had no one cultivating for seven hundred years, and the legends have long been broken. If this were in the Central Continent or the North Nether Continent, those great continents of cultivation, even the common folk in the marketplace could talk about this with relish. Langhuan Zhou Tian can bear the name 'Zhou' because we reside under the shelter of the Supreme Profound Dao Wonder Primordial Cave Yang Dao Ancestor. A Great Heaven that receives the protection of a Dao Ancestor can be called a Zhou Tian; without such protection, it would be invaded by the Heavenly Demons from beyond the realm."

Ripples suddenly appeared on Xie Yanhuan’s face, making one feel quite dizzy if they looked too closely. Xie Yanhuan laughed, "My Formless Heavenly Demon Art is a technique that can only be cultivated within a Zhou Tian. In a Great Heaven, let alone cultivating, even if you just had such a thought in your heart, the Heavenly Demons from beyond the realm could use that thread of connection in the dark to instantly occupy your mind, turning you into a demon, and finally, you would break through the void and merge into that chaotic void which is neither yin nor yang, neither light nor dark. Think about how difficult it is for a person to control their own thoughts, and you will know the difference between a Great Heaven and a Zhou Tian."

Ruan Ci tried to imagine it and felt terrified. From the changes in the capital until now, it had only been a day or two, yet she had already seen too much death and had even considered how she herself might die. In her view, the deaths of her Ruan family relatives, or even that Liu Yin, were not the most terrifying; at least those people had a conclusion to their lives. If, without knowing or feeling, 'I' had already vanished, and there was only a shell living on like a walking corpse, that would be truly desolate and horrific.

"Then, how many Dao Ancestors are there in our universe?" she asked with some curiosity. "If there were enough to protect all the Great Heavens, that would be wonderful."

Xie Yanhuan laughed in spite of herself. "How could that be possible?"

Xie Yanhuan was in a male guise at this moment. Seeming to sense Ruan Ci’s feeling of estrangement, Xie Yanhuan transformed back into a female appearance and patted Ruan Ci’s head. "You have a kind heart, but there are countless Great Heavens in the universe that are born and perish, yet there are only seventy-two Dao Ancestors. The number of Zhou Tians a Dao Ancestor can protect is limited; how could they take care of them all? Look, that large star in the Northern Sky star field is flickering on and off, shining quite beautifully. Do you see it?"

Previously, Ruan Ci had almost never gone outdoors at night, and her chances of truly stepping out from under the eaves in her life were few and far between, so she certainly couldn't talk about stargazing. Even this starry sky was fresh to her. Looking toward the north, she saw ten thousand twinkling stars, bright and dim, and for a moment, she couldn't find the one Xie Yanhuan mentioned. She wiped her forehead with an innate instinct, feeling a flash of light before her eyes. When she focused her gaze, she indeed saw the constellations in the sky become distinct, and there was indeed a large star in the north that kept shining. "I see it. Is this a Great Heaven without the protection of a Dao Ancestor?"

"Correct. That Great Heaven is currently in a constant battle with Heavenly Demons. The war has probably reached its most intense stage. The cultivators and the Heavenly Demons are fighting for the destiny of the Great Heaven. Within a thousand years, there should be a result." Xie Yanhuan also felt a touch of emotion. "Since I began cultivating, it has been the most eye-catching star in the northern night sky. The ten thousand years of fighting have finally reached the day to decide the winner."

For Ruan Ci, ten years was already a huge number; a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand years were even more unimaginable. She looked up at the north, thinking that these stars were all Great Heavens, each containing countless living beings, all currently enacting their own stories at this very moment. She couldn't help but feel a sense of yearning, yet also felt something indescribably terrifying. Beyond the yearning, she couldn't help but feel self-pity; the world was vast, the stars were tiny, and they were filled with people, while she was just the most ordinary one among them. This point made one feel somewhat sad.

"You aren't very happy, which is natural." Xie Yanhuan saw what she was thinking and said leisurely, "When I first started cultivating, I heard my master explain the origin of the world to me, and I was very unconvinced. The world is so large, and there are so many capable people; it seemed that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't catch up. I, Xie Yanhuan, prided myself on my intelligence, but I never imagined that among these star-studded Great Heavens, I was just the most ordinary one. This is the most common form of the 'obstacle of knowledge,' and it is often the first hurdle we cultivators encounter."

"Then how should one overcome it?" Ruan Ci asked curiously.

Xie Yanhuan looked at her, shook her head, and smiled. "That has nothing to do with you. You cannot sense the Dao rhyme and are destined to have no connection with cultivation in this life. For you, recognizing that you are just one of the common masses is actually not a bad thing."

Xie Yanhuan stretched out a hand and said, "Look at me carefully again."

Ruan Ci used all her visual strength to look over. She saw five-colored brilliance dancing wildly in the world, with an additional strand of mysterious water spiritual energy falling from the sky. However, these spiritual lights were repelled within a few feet of Xie Yanhuan, and even Ruan Ci was invisibly protected within. Only the colorless flowers kept falling into Xie Yanhuan’s hands, merging into her body and disappearing. Xie Yanhuan’s fingers closed slightly, like a long whale drinking water. In the world around the cliff, all the colorless spiritual flowers were absorbed, surging into her palm, and her jade-like fingers became brighter and brighter.

When the light seemed to reach its limit, Xie Yanhuan casually slapped a palm toward her. The brilliance transformed from the colorless spiritual flowers flew in front of Ruan Ci. Ruan Ci reached out to catch it, but saw the brilliance shatter, pass through her palm, and transform back into flowers, falling into the jade that had been transformed from the bluestone.

"This is the Dao rhyme of the Dao Wonder Primordial Cave Yang Dao Ancestor. The Dao fruit of the Cave Yang Dao Ancestor is about to ripen, and the Dao rhyme fills the Zhou Tian star field under his jurisdiction, resisting the Heavenly Demons from beyond the realm." Xie Yanhuan said indifferently, "This universe was created by the Shangqing Profound Jade True Mysterious Five Elements Yin Yang Dao Ancestor. All living beings in this universe can cultivate, with only differences in aptitude. But in Langhuan Zhou Tian, if you cannot sense the Dao rhyme, you cannot control spiritual energy. In the parlance of the South Zhuzhou, this means you have no spiritual roots."

Ruan Ci suddenly realized, and was not even that surprised. Xie Yanhuan nodded. "You thought correctly. Your aptitude is not inferior to your siblings, but they can sense the Dao rhyme, so they are self-taught and naturally cultivate talisman power. No matter how hard you try, you cannot do it. It is not that you are inferior to your siblings, but in Langhuan Zhou Tian, infants are in harmony with the Dao rhyme the moment they land. If you cannot sense it, even a Great Luo Golden Immortal cannot change or reverse it. You have no way to cultivate immortality."

These two days had been overwhelming, and after experiencing so many bizarre and strange things, if Ruan Ci said she had no yearning for such a life of high-flying and wind-calling immortals, it would be a lie. But after all, she had grown up in Song Guo, and two days of experience were not enough to erase the experiences of over ten years. Ruan Ci felt only a slight loss in her heart, which faded in an instant, and she nodded. "Oh, I see! And then?"

Xie Yanhuan stared at her with wide eyes for a long time, then suddenly laughed, patted Ruan Ci’s head, and smiled. "Good, good. Truly the Eastern Flower Sword Seed."

Xie Yanhuan handed the long sword in her hand to Ruan Ci for the first time. Ruan Ci hesitated and did not take it, so Xie Yanhuan took it back. This time, she handed it over a second time and smiled. "The laws that even a Great Luo Golden Immortal cannot change, I, Xie Yanhuan, naturally do not have the ability to change either. However, I can lend you a sword. Although you cannot cultivate the Dao, you can cultivate the sword."

Ruan Ci had missed the opportunity before, but in fact, she had been very curious in her heart. She reached out and took the hilt. With a light lift, the sword felt as light as nothing, and Ruan Ci lifted it up. Other than that, there was nothing unusual about it. The scabbard was pure black, decorated with gold edges, but in Ruan Ci’s hand, she couldn't even feel the weight of the wooden scabbard.

She tried to draw the sword, but couldn't. The hilt and the scabbard seemed to be stuck together, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't separate them. She turned to Xie Yanhuan and asked.

"Sister Xie, is this an empty shell?"

Xie Yanhuan smiled and stretched out her hand. A feeling of reluctance suddenly arose in Ruan Ci’s heart, as if she really didn't want to return the precious sword. She was secretly surprised, but didn't let it disrupt her actions, and still handed the sword back. Xie Yanhuan drew the sword with a 'clink' and held it horizontally in front of her, smiling. "Qingjun, this generation’s sword envoy is quite bold; she actually looks down on you a bit."

The sword body was like autumn water, the blade was not yet sharpened, and it looked just like an ordinary long sword, with nothing special to be seen. Xie Yanhuan gently stroked the sword body, looking very lingering and reluctant, and whispered, "In a while, you must show some of your skills, so she can see what you are capable of. For the next ten thousand years, she will be the one following you. Whether I can come back or not is hard to say."

After saying this, she shook the sword, and it let out a long hum. Ruan Ci only felt that she was beyond her own control, flying upward with Xie Yanhuan. In a flash, they broke through the air, passing through the clouds. The mountains and rivers beneath her feet turned into tiny dots, and the cities of Song Guo were nothing more than sparks of fire among the mountains and rivers. They were still rising rapidly, and Ruan Ci gradually saw the several countries next to Song Guo, and could even vaguely see the translucent barriers above the countries. Xie Yanhuan had fallen into South Zhuzhou after being injured, and the countries of Song, Wu, and Chu had set up arrays. The Song Guo array was broken, but the arrays of Wu and Chu were still intact. The five-element spiritual brilliance fell above the arrays, and the mysterious water spiritual energy was absorbed by that layer of barrier, flowing and merging elsewhere, without a single drop falling into the countries of Wu and Chu.

"Are we still going up!"

Going further up, the boundaries between countries were no longer clear, and one could only vaguely see a very large landmass surrounded by the ocean on all sides, which should be South Zhuzhou. At this time, the lights of the human world could no longer be seen, and one could only see spiritual energy surging into the sky everywhere above South Zhuzhou. There were more than a dozen places where the spiritual energy was shining brilliantly, its energy like steam, its shape like a pillar, illuminating ten thousand miles, like stars on the ground, competing with the sun and moon. Ruan Ci was dazzled and asked loudly, "Sister Xie, are those the major cultivation sects of South Zhuzhou?!"

Xie Yanhuan laughed loudly. "South Zhuzhou is just a countryside place. You should look to the north."

She continued to rise with Ruan Ci, but while before she relied only on her own spiritual energy to break through the air, now she began to use magic techniques, and brilliance was released around her body, constantly sparking with the denser five-colored spiritual brilliance. Yet Xie Yanhuan was chatting and laughing, seemingly with energy to spare.

Ruan Ci looked as told, and saw that beyond the heavy oceans in the north, there were clusters of continents and countries, and even more spiritual light like illumination, connecting like a sea, covering the sky and land. The spiritual energy was swirling, and all kinds of treasure light were rushing into the sky. Just by looking at the energy, one could imagine its elegance, prosperity, and magnificent momentum. Ruan Ci’s mind was captivated, and she thought to herself, so there were such places in the world, and even the entire South Zhuzhou was considered a countryside place.

Xie Yanhuan stopped her flight in the air. Ruan Ci looked up and saw that the five-colored spiritual brilliance was integrated here, no longer falling down, as if they had arrived at the source of spiritual energy. Looking down, even the Central Continent could not be seen clearly, only a mass of spiritual light surging upward. This world was like an uneven sea surface. Beyond South Zhuzhou and the Central Continent, there were vaguely many continents floating on the sea, and there seemed to be many small whirlpools under the sea, but when she focused her eyes, she couldn't see them clearly.

"Those are the many small cave-heaven worlds attached to Langhuan Zhou Tian." Xie Yanhuan sat cross-legged in the air, watching the direction of South Zhuzhou, as if waiting for something, and said casually, "Cultivators of Langhuan Zhou Tian can at most go to these small cave-heaven worlds and cannot truly break through the Great Heaven barrier. This place is the highest point of our Langhuan Zhou Tian."

"Even with cultivation like Sister Xie’s, you can't get out?"

Since Xie Yanhuan appeared, she hadn't drawn a sword, was empty-handed, and seemed to be doing whatever she wanted in a carefree manner. Ruan Ci looked at the five-colored chaos above, feeling that Xie Yanhuan could break it with a casual sword strike, and couldn't help but ask, "Is there anything even Sister Xie can't do?"

"You ask well. Actually, breaking this spiritual energy barrier is indeed not difficult, but the difficulty is that the cultivation in Langhuan Zhou Tian cannot be taken out." Xie Yanhuan said leisurely, "We cultivate by sensing the Dao rhyme, which is the aura of the Dao Ancestor. Our magic power is soaked in the Dao rhyme, but the Dao rhyme only exists within the Zhou Tian. To leave the Zhou Tian, one must discard this cultivation and Dao technique, not to mention magic treasures and spiritual artifacts. Even the container for cultivation, the treasure raft for crossing the world, because it is inevitably tempered during cultivation, is also stained with the Dao rhyme. Even the physical body cannot be taken out."

Ruan Ci couldn't help but swallow her saliva. "Then, then what can be taken out?"

"A bit of true spirit, which can enter and exit without hindrance and is not stained, can naturally travel out. However, without treasures to protect the body, it cannot withstand the various harms in the void. In addition, Langhuan Zhou Tian has a deep foundation; it is a Great Heaven brought from the old universe by the Five Elements Dao Ancestor. There are many cave-heaven small worlds transformed from the cave dwellings of the great powers of the old universe. If it is a treasure from the old universe that has not been stained with the Dao Ancestor’s spiritual aura, it can also be taken out."

Xie Yanhuan drew the Eastern Flower Sword and said loudly, "This Eastern Flower Sword is the remnant sword of the Five Elements Dao Ancestor from the past. The Dao Ancestor held the sword to create the world, point out the clear and turbid, and create countless Zhou Tians. This sword is a spiritual treasure of the cosmic level. Even if the sword spirit has fallen and transformed into ten thousand sword souls falling into reincarnation, it is still a top-tier treasure in the universe. It can naturally be taken out of the Zhou Tian."

This sentence was like a spark falling into the air, instantly igniting countless spiritual lights. When Ruan Ci looked down in horror, she saw that the Central Continent, South Zhuzhou, and even the extremely distant places in all directions had eyes formed by spiritual light looking over. A spiritual toad appeared above South Zhuzhou, puffing its belly and preparing to croak at the sky. A giant holding a candle appeared on the Central Continent, and a snake transformed from nether energy appeared on the Northern Continent. They all seemed to be looking at the ordinary long sword in Xie Yanhuan’s hand.

Xie Yanhuan swung the long sword and smiled. "Now, do you know why everyone is against me? This sword is the remnant of a congenital cosmic spiritual treasure, enough to suppress the destiny of the Zhou Tian. The major sects of Langhuan Zhou Tian fight endlessly, but there is one thing that is beyond doubt—the Eastern Flower Sword must never leave Langhuan Zhou Tian."

Ruan Ci only then knew that this was the kind of sword Xie Yanhuan wanted to lend her. She said tremblingly, "Then, then you want to lend it to me, is, is it because... you still want to go out?"

Xie Yanhuan raised her eyebrows and smiled. "That is natural. What I, Xie Yanhuan, want to do, how could I give up halfway?"