Chapter 1462: Ninth-Tier Wing Embryonic Material

"Immortal Butterfly…"

Jiang Ding murmured the name.

He looked at the woman before him, and for a moment complex emotions welled up in his heart—love, longing, familial affection—fused together over nearly ten thousand years of shared existence, no different from kin.

Even his Great Sun Sword Dao could be split…

Clang!

The Taiqing Flying Sword hummed, trembled, and rippled out wave after wave of annihilating killing intent.

This sword-howl laden with violent murderous will carved a passage by force through layer upon layer of Illusion Realm, revealing true memory, the true world.

Yet the layered illusions did not perish; like the tide of a rising sea, they surged back in.

In the gap as the waves rolled back, reason returned once more.

Clang!

Jiang Ding slowly drew the Taiqing Flying Sword.

"Truly, a great opportunity…"

"Fellow Daoist Immortal Butterfly."

Jiang Ding fixed his gaze—full of love and fervent adoration—on the dreamlike woman draped in starry butterfly wings: "First meeting. My name is Jiang Ding. Might I ask whether this is your true body, or your avatar?"

"Your puppet-illusion arts are truly wondrous beyond measure, breathtaking."

"Now, welcome to my homeland!"

Boom!

Within the Sea of Consciousness, a resplendent sun rose aloft, its light shining through ten thousand ages.

Six worlds, six paths of reincarnation, circled the sun.

The dreamlike power that seeped in from every direction poured instead into the Six Paths of Reincarnation, where it cycled through—transforming into pigs, oxen, sheep, horses, dogs, all manner of ghostly beings, all manner of plants—reincarnating without end, grinding away every trace, no longer able to forcibly alter the Sword Master's memories.

This wheel of annihilating sun pressed down from the heavens.

"Jiang Ding, I mean you no harm."

Beneath that sun, the dreamlike woman with starry butterfly wings sprouting from her back revealed a faint sorrow.

She lightly tapped toward the sky, her tender finger landing on the annihilating sun.

In an instant, centered on that tender little hand, everything froze. Within the annihilating sun, distortion appeared—starry-sky darkness—then, from inside out, the entire annihilating sun collapsed, dissolving into a streak of spiritual light that scattered and vanished.

"This…"

Jiang Ding's pupils contracted.

This was a battle within the Sea of Consciousness—within his own Sea of Consciousness, no less.

He saw clearly that the instant Immortal Butterfly's finger touched the annihilating sun, the very core of this sword art was forcibly altered, forcibly enchanted, transformed into something entirely harmless.

As if this sword art had beheld the woman of its dreams and could not bear to harm her, and so brought itself to an end.

"How is this done?"

Jiang Ding asked directly.

Dao.

Until now, he had believed he could face the Sword Sons of the Upper Realm's Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong head-on, and even if he ultimately failed, he could rely on his own ability to escape—full of confidence.

But now, he knew he had been overconfident.

With his ascension to Refining Void, the gap between himself and the Dao Sons of the Upper Realm's Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong had widened!

The difference lay in the ability to wield magic power. Immortal Butterfly had walked to an exceedingly profound depth on the path of arts, surpassing him by an entire major tier.

After her ascension to Refining Void, she had mastered immortal techniques on par with those above the Sword Spirit Realm!

"Jiang Ding,"

"This is the innate power of the Heavenly Illusion Immortal Butterfly clan—substituting one's own heart for the heart of heaven."

Immortal Butterfly smiled faintly and said, "I am a child of heaven and earth; naturally, all things within heaven and earth will not harm me—any spell, any sword art, anything belonging to heaven and earth, all the same."

"Indeed,"

"you truly are a beautiful flock of butterflies."

Jiang Ding sighed sincerely.

Relying on his sword dao instinct, he immediately perceived that the wings of the Heavenly Illusion Immortal Butterfly clan would be immensely useful to him. If refined into his flying sword, every sword art built upon the Six Paths of Reincarnation structure would see a tremendous boost, and even his divine soul foundation would be strengthened.

This was the equivalent of a Sword Embryo belonging to a Sword Son of the human Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong!

If this were Immortal Butterfly herself, her wings would surely be top-grade ninth-tier embryonic material.

If this were her avatar, her wings would surely be quasi-ninth-tier Sword Embryo material—and at an exceedingly high grade, an embryonic material of the divine soul path exceptionally suited to him!

"Wonderful."

"Heaven is far too kind to me!"

At the thought, Jiang Ding's eyes welled with hot tears.

"Jiang Ding, you truly are a man with no romance in his soul."

"You've been wanting to kill me all along."

Immortal Butterfly sighed softly: "Would it not be good to become my husband? We shall attain the Dao together, ascend to immortality together; in the future we shall possess the entire Xian Gao Jie."

"You remain you, I remain I."

"Only that we are together."

"That won't do."

Jiang Ding smiled faintly.

He was in no hurry.

This was his homeland, the mother universe, an absolute absolute-spirit zone, where high-energy moments shift toward low entropy; any magic power, any divine soul, would dissipate in this environment and could not be preserved.

How much faster is the rate at which the Immortal Butterfly's soul power dissipates than his?

A hundredfold!

Not tenfold, not thirtyfold, but a hundredfold!

This is his homeland, the place where his ancestors were born and raised; his genes carry the ability to adapt to this universe. Returning here is returning home.

He has all these advantages.

The Immortal Butterfly

has what?

She has nothing.

Even though they are in the same environment, even though her soul has completely merged with Jiang Ding's, no you, no me, no distinction between us, in such an environment, with the different rates of soul power dissipation, she too will be wiped clean.

"Why?"

"Is there anything to worry about?"

The Immortal Butterfly furrowed her beautiful brows and said sorrowfully, "Since ancient times in the Fallen Immortal Realm, there has never been a shortage of companions formed between humans and fox demons, humans and various demons, humans and various spirits."

"Supporting each other, attaining the Great Dao together — isn't that good?"

"Because."

"You don't deserve it."

Jiang Ding said flatly.

"Oh?"

"Don't deserve it?"

The Immortal Butterfly's brows furrowed deeply: "This Palace is the only Immortal Butterfly of the Heavenly Illusion Immortal Butterfly Clan, a future Jiang Jiang Jinxian-level existence. Why wouldn't I deserve it?"

"The Heavenly Illusion Immortal Butterfly Clan?"

"Isn't this my sword-refining material repository?"

Jiang Ding was stunned: "I've heard that the vast majority of butterflies of this clan have killed members of the human race, committing capital crimes — perfect for refining my sword, atoning for all their past deeds."

"Of course, this is all because I'm kind-hearted."

"You don't need to thank me for anything."

He explained patiently.

"Sword-refining material repository…"

The Immortal Butterfly softly murmured this title.

A human sword cultivator.

A human sword cultivator.

The human race's unique inheritance — the various massacres committed against billions of races, the horrifying deeds — has always been notorious throughout the endless starry sky.

Today, she has truly seen it for herself.

Around her, in this extremely bizarre realm, her soul power was draining away madly; even clinging to the sword cultivator's soul was useless.

She had tried countless times — various sealing secret arts, various concealment spells, some even secret transmissions of the Heavenly Illusion Immortal Butterfly Clan, earth-shaking fearsome techniques from past history — but all were useless.

Now, there was only one method.

"Jiang Ding,"

"Can you take me back to a place with spiritual energy?"

The Immortal Butterfly's voice was soft: "If you don't do this, you'll be beaten to death by me. I truly don't want to do that."

"Hahaha…"

"Interesting… hahaha…"

Jiang Ding laughed loudly.

"A mere clone, daring to threaten me — not bad at all."

Boom!

The sun rose, the laws of forbidden arts and destructive distortion shone in all directions, killing intent chilling and grim.

The laughter ceased.

"Fellow Daoist, die."

"You die first. After you

die, I will find your true body, tear off her wings, and merge them into my flying sword. Then you will be reunited."