Chapter 1320: The Past of the Twelve Heavenly Capitals and Yunchu Shan

Girl...

The Fairy Maiden Miao Yun has been guarding the Sword Tomb for an unknown number of thousands of years, and she only entered after her true body died; she also existed for an unknown number of years in life.

Such an ancient Great Vehicle stage heroic spirit is actually just a junior to Qiaofu.

I really don't know what seniority this Qiaofu has.

The owner of the Opening Heaven Sword seems to be of the same generation; reckoning up, they're likely at least tens of thousands of years old, old monsters!

But upon second thought, many of the chief gods of the Yuan Su Shen Yu have lived for tens of thousands of years. Qiaofu is at least a True Immortal, possibly even a Golden Immortal, far stronger than those gods; even living a few hundred thousand years, like the Longevity Immortal Monkey, would not be surprising.

"Young man, many people are looking for you; if you're in a hurry, you can handle their affairs first, Qiaofu will talk with you later."

Qiaofu looked around at the large number of players and said.

Xiao Feng also looked around.

At this moment, Yu Cixue, who was riding the clouds and perched on the treetops, called out loudly: "Senior Qiaofu, fellow Sword Cultivator, let's discuss the main matter first; we're not in a hurry."

"Exactly, exactly, your affairs are important; we're just here to watch the excitement."

"The plot is crucial, the plot is crucial!"

Everyone voiced their agreement, without urging.

They all knew Qiaofu was a very powerful NPC, and the Sword Tomb dungeon also hid a story, but no one had been able to trigger it until now.

Now Xiao Feng has triggered it; they can be spectators, so they naturally won't mind waiting a long time.

"In that case... please, fellow Daoists, wait a moment longer."

Xiao Feng slightly nodded and bowed his hands to the crowd in apology.

"Then let's continue." Qiaofu continued speaking to him: "I have been secretly observing your trial progress; I originally thought you were just an ordinary talent, a rising star, but now I realize you are already an outstanding expert."

"Senior Qiaofu, you overpraise me; I'm really just that good." Xiao Feng humbly laughed.

With so many people around, at times like this one still has to put on a modest appearance.

Anyway, everyone can guess how strong he is; Qiaofu's praise is quite weighty, so there's no need for him to keep boasting.

He said to Qiaofu: "You seem to have something you want to tell me; let's get straight to the point—I also have some questions I'd like to ask you."

Qiaofu nodded and said: "Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony. I'll speak first; you can ask after I finish."

"Good." Xiao Feng nodded.

Afterwards, Qiaofu began to talk about his affairs.

"You probably don't know the origins of the Sword Tomb, do you? This trial was actually opened up by me and my old friend."

"Eight hundred thousand years ago, the Nine Provinces had not yet seen the Four Great Dynasties; the whole world, the Nine Provinces, took sects as their foundation and flourished prosperously."

"My old friend and I were still youths back then; we teamed up with several close friends and came to the Twelve Heavenly Capitals, borrowing the Twelve Paths of Heaven-Earth Sword Intent to seek learning from the heavens."

"Over the course of several thousand years, we each had different insights; my old friend and I were the first to break through the True Immortal realm and become Immortals."

"At that time, the Immortal domain of the Nine Provinces had not yet flourished; Immortals were rare. After becoming Immortals, we thought there were hardly any rivals in the world, so we established the boundaries of the Twelve Heavenly Capitals and Heaven Capital City, proclaimed ourselves Immortal Venerables, and accepted all challenges."

"Originally everything went smoothly; all challengers were defeated by me and my old friend, some of whom were also Immortals."

"But later, a mysterious woman appeared; with one person and one sword, she defeated both me and my old friend; even joining forces, we could not match her."

"She claimed to come from Yunchu Shan, the holy land that is the beginning of heaven and earth, the mother of all things, the source of the Great Dao; she rebuked us for self-proclaiming ourselves as venerables, overstepping the rules, and demanded that we relinquish our titles."

"Our skills were inferior; we relinquished our titles, no longer calling ourselves venerables, and instead identified merely as Sword Cultivators."

"At that time, Yunchu Shan was already renowned throughout the world, but we refused to accept defeat; after suffering that loss, we only wanted to regain face. After bitter cultivation for several thousand years, we both entered the Golden Immortal realm and then went to Yunchu Shan to issue a challenge to that woman."

"Who would have thought... we lost even more miserably!"

"During the first match, we could still display a few secret techniques and fought for two hundred rounds."

"But when we fought the second time, we hadn't even drawn our swords before her aura overwhelmed us, and we lost on the spot."

"Only then did we realize that woman was truly a peerless powerhouse; no one in the Nine Provinces could match her."

"Although we lost, we still felt unwilling. Aside from her, the others of Yunchu Shan are just average; what makes them the number one under heaven, while our Twelve Heavenly Capitals don't even count as one of the 'Ten Great Sects'?"

"Thus, after returning, I and my old friend painstakingly researched, together with other old friends began to develop the Twelve Heavenly Capitals, opening twelve different paths, widely recruiting disciples, and strengthening our clan."

"After tens of thousands of years, we finally achieved some standing, stepping into the threshold of the top ten powers under heaven. But... compared to Yunchu Shan, it's still not worth mentioning."

"Every few hundred years we send out a batch of our finest disciples to challenge the people of Yunchu Shan; each time we suffer a crushing defeat, and even if occasionally one or two individuals are somewhat outstanding, they only win one or two out of ten matches."

"As time went on, confidence gradually faded; moreover, as many old friends saw their lifespans dwindle, they passed away one after another, leaving us inevitably feeling sorrowful and losing our fighting spirit."

"Not long after, we let go of the affairs of the Twelve Heavenly Capitals, leaving them to the younger generation to manage."

"After stepping down, the two of us jointly created the Sword Tomb space, modeled after the Twelve Heavenly Capitals, gathering the heroic spirits of disciples from various peaks, and crafted a legacy space exclusively for Sword Cultivators for future generations."

"Over countless years, we also nurtured a few decent disciples, but they still could not shake Yunchu Shan's position."

"Until today, when we met you..."

Qiaofu spoke at length, recounting the origins of the Sword Tomb.

His gaze continually rested on Xiao Feng, full of delight, as if he saw hope of defeating Yunchu Shan.

After listening, Xiao Feng already guessed that Qiaofu wanted him, as a successor of the Sword Tomb, to challenge Yunchu Shan.

He couldn't help but wonder: "If that's the case, why didn't your old friend just now manifest himself to give me a few pointers?"

Qiaofu laughed loudly: "That old fellow fears that if he doesn't go all out he can't beat you, but going all out against a Nascent Soul junior would be too embarrassing, so he pretends not to deign to act. In fact, he thinks highly of you; otherwise he wouldn't have passed on the Opening Heaven Four Swords to you."

"Well, if he thinks highly of me, he could actually pass on the Opening Heaven Seven Swords; I wouldn't complain about having too many." Xiao Feng pursed his lips.

Qiaofu laughed again: "The latter three swords require the Opening Heaven Sword to be executed; if you sincerely become my disciple, you'd still have a chance. But you've already accomplished your studies; learning swordsmanship midway is just for novelty, and we're unwilling to give away such a precious treasure and secret technique for nothing."

"That's also true." Xiao Feng gave a slight nod to show understanding.

Qiaofu said: "You should see what I mean; I want you to use our Twelve Heavenly Capitals' sword art to defeat the successor of Yunchu Shan. If you succeed, I and my old friend will bestow generous gifts upon you."

Xiao Feng immediately agreed: "The generous gifts are secondary; mainly, I've always been eager to help others, so I'll take care of this."

Fighting a top-tier NPC, perhaps he's still no match; but against juniors, how many could withstand a single ordinary attack from him?

"Hahaha, true to the reputation of someone who can casually toss aside a Great Vehicle stage old ox, you're indeed refreshingly straightforward!" Qiaofu was extremely pleased, his satisfaction nearly overflowing.

He patted Xiao Feng's shoulder and said, "The challenge is no rush; you just got the sword manual, you still need time to comprehend it. After you master the Sword Cultivator's skills, we'll talk. Now you have my old friend's Opening Heaven Four Swords, and also the Sword Tomb Heir's Token, you can go to the Twelve Heavenly Capital Free Transmission Hall to learn any skill at will, so I won't teach you sword secrets anymore. Today I gift you a treasure sword, as a token of my thought; pick one yourself."

Regarding swords, Xiao Feng has actually obtained many from clearing dungeons; the worst are spiritual artifacts, and also Miao Yun Fairy Maiden's Cold Jade Sword is of True Immortal Spiritual Treasure quality.

However, looking at the woodcutter's meaning, he intends to give a sword that seems stronger than those; you can pick casually, there's no junk.

"How to pick?" Xiao Feng asked curiously.

The woodcutter untied the bundle of firewood on his back and set it before Xiao Feng: "Here, pick one from this bunch; what you can get depends on your fate."

Xiao Feng tilted his head, a row of question marks popping up above his head.

Yu Cixue and the others around her were also dazed.

Pick a piece of wood from the bundle of firewood?

Could it be that all these logs are actually fairy swords?