Chapter 470: 445 Agreement

The inner world is vast and magnificent, while the outer world is calm and tranquil.

What light, what vitality, what two worlds—there is not a single trace of them in the outside world.

Even the Xiangyangzi, which had been observing Tang Zhao the whole time, could only see the Sword Image in Tang Zhao's hand touching the Broken Sword bit by bit, little by little.

However, as a Sword Deity who has crossed the threshold, perhaps its combat power is not as good as a Sword Hero of the same rank, but its insight is not poor, because it has lived far longer than the average Sword Hero and possesses special abilities, making its observations all the more keen.

In Xiangyangzi's view, Tang Zhao's state was quite normal at the beginning, and his strategy was also very correct; he concentrated and mobilized his spirit and will to strike with full force from the start, and he did so very quickly and successfully.

When Tang Zhao's mental power reached its peak, his momentum changed, but due to the suppression of the Zhugong, his momentum could not be released outward; one could only see the brilliance contained within his eyes, his essence, energy, and spirit exceptionally condensed.

Based on experience, Xiangyangzi could tell that Tang Zhao's Sword Heart was truly solid—under these circumstances, his speed of unifying his spirit was not slow at all, and one could even say it was faster than the average Sword Guest under normal conditions.

This not only shows that his Sword Heart is solid, but also that he is an old-school Sword Guest, meaning he first cultivated his Internal and External Arts, reaching the realm of "Perfect Body Without Flaw," then naturally progressed to the Mysterious Technique, and only became a Sword Guest once the Mysterious Technique reached a certain level; he walked every step firmly and did not skip any steps by relying on abundant resources or a powerful Mysterious Technique.

Xiangyangzi was a bit surprised: as early as over a hundred years ago, many young people could not focus on the foundation of Internal and External Arts; could it be that the trend in the Human World has changed again? Is the Martial Artist stage being valued once more?

Even so, for this youth to be so solid at such a young age, and to have cultivated such a stable Sword Heart, even with exceptional talent, he must have practiced without stopping since he was first able to hold a sword, right?

Moreover, when Tang Zhao mobilized his mental power, the Sword Image light obviously brightened, the light's aura became increasingly clear, and a feeling that was exceptionally familiar to Xiangyangzi enveloped the Spirit Hall.

For a moment, the Xiangyangzi flowers that had all been facing the Broken Sword turned slightly, facing Tang Zhao simultaneously.

"Sunlight..."

It was extremely pure sunlight, vaguely similar to that person and that cluster of light in Xiangyangzi's memory.

Such a coincidence?

After more than a hundred years of silence, someone entered the Dongjun Spirit Hall again, and it was a young person with extraordinary talent, whose Sword Intent happened to be of the same lineage as Dongjun's sword, perfect as if he were the heaven-chosen successor.

Regarding this kind of coincidence, Xiangyangzi even felt there was a conspiracy—had this person been carefully selected beforehand and sent specifically before it, just to take this Sword Intent?

But after thinking about it, that seemed unlikely, because it would be meaningless; if it were someone from its own side, as long as it was a proper sect, why wouldn't the sect elders lead such a heaven-chosen talent, push open the door, properly notify it, and take the Broken Sword away openly? Isn't that what it has been waiting for all these years?

If one were to say it was some crooked path...

Since the Sword Image is sunlight, it cannot be a crooked path.

It is not that it is biased or preconceived, but the sword is just that idealistic. For the same sword, if you change the state of mind or personality, the Sword Image will be completely different; sunlight is not meant for those sinister villains to comprehend. And even if there were a one-in-a-million chance that someone with an evil heart truly comprehended sunlight, it would be impossible to progress in cultivating the Sword Heart later, and they could never practice it to such a level of stability.

So, if it is not human manipulation, is it the will of heaven?

Is it destined for a sunlight-aligned Sword Guest to inherit the Sword Intent of the Jinwu?

Before Xiangyangzi could express its emotions, the Broken Sword moved first.

A stream of white light rose from the Broken Sword, taking the initiative to approach Tang Zhao's fingers, which were close at hand. At this moment, Tang Zhao's spirit was immersed in the world of light and did not notice, allowing the white light to easily connect with his Sword Image.

"Sword Essence!"

The light flowing out from the Broken Sword was certainly not the Sword Intent; the Sword Intent is the thing hidden in the deepest part, which is to say, the most "heavy" part, which cannot be moved even with great effort, let alone appear on its own.

What was truly triggered by Tang Zhao was the Sword Essence within the Broken Sword.

In fact, at the level of the Jinwu Sword, the sword's power does not exist in the form of Sword Essence, but after it was broken, most of the power dissipated, and the remaining power could only be stored in the form of Sword Essence; even most of the Sword Essence remained in the other half of the sword that held the hilt, and the power left on this piece of the Broken Sword was less than one percent, not to mention it was dissipating bit by bit as time passed.

But this was, after all, the Sword Essence of an Immortal Sword!

From a Heroic Sword to an Immortal Sword, the capacity for power does not rise linearly; calling it exponential expansion is an understatement. A Sword Guest's Sword Essence might not be able to cover a radius of ten zhang, while the power of an Immortal Sword, if transformed into Sword Essence, could already support the prototype of a Small World.

Not to mention that even if the energy of an Immortal Sword degrades into Sword Essence, it is still more robust and dense; its quality is incomparable to that of a Sword Guest's Sword Essence. For a Sword Guest, even a tiny bit is a considerable fortune.

And these are all the legacy of the Sword Immortal; whoever masters the Sword Intent can logically inherit them.

The extra harvest Xiangyangzi referred to was precisely this.

However, the inheritance Xiangyangzi imagined was to first inherit the Sword Intent, and as the Sword Intent merged into the new sword, the Sword Essence of the Broken Sword would lose its pillar and naturally follow the Sword Intent in a swarm, becoming the asset of the new sword, as logical as pouring water from a teapot.

Yet it did not expect that after Tang Zhao condensed the Sword Image, the Sword Intent had not yet moved, but the Sword Essence had moved first.

A portion of the Sword Essence detached from the Broken Sword and merged directly into the light in Tang Zhao's hand, merging very well without any rejection, as if it were the essence of one sword.

"What is happening? Did it misidentify the Sword Guest and mistake the fake for the real?" Xiangyangzi found it incredible and made up reasons for itself, "The sunlight is very similar to the Sword Image of the Jinwu Sword back then, and it is extremely compatible with the Sword Essence, so the Sword Essence was attracted?"

At this time, in Tang Zhao's world, the light suddenly became a hundred times more magnificent, reminding Tang Zhao of that segment where he was the sun, but he did not realize he had received outside help; he was intoxicated by being the master of the world and intended to conquer the oasis world he had just discovered.

And in the outside world, the Sword Essence rushed in through the opening of the Sword Image; it should have flowed into the sword body, but at this moment, Tang Zhao's sword was blocked, and behind the Sword Image was Tang Zhao himself, so the Sword Essence rushed toward Tang Zhao in its entirety.

Because of the similarity between the Jingxing Sword and the Jinwu Sword, the transfer of Sword Essence did not cause harm to Tang Zhao at first; instead, it was like infusing internal energy into someone with a foundation in Internal Arts, which was of great help at the beginning.

But that surge of Sword Essence was too massive, and soon, this power exceeded Tang Zhao's limit.

A portion of the power passed through his body and leaked out from his pores and skin, but this rate of leakage was too slow, and the infusion was too fast; soon it began to accumulate, and after it could no longer accumulate, it began to compress and aggregate, and finally...

When it reached the critical point where it could no longer be compressed at a certain time, the Sword Essence would inevitably explode, and the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Really, he can find trouble even in this—"

Xiangyangzi used its fat flower leaves to point at Tang Zhao, and a surge of vibrant vitality wrapped around him.

That surge of vitality was not necessarily more robust than the rushing Sword Essence, but it was full of spirituality, as if a needle were threading through chaotic threads; the so-called threading the needle, the Sword Essence naturally followed the vitality, and instead of condensing into a mass outside the body, it went out first and then in, aggregating into a wisp before drilling into Tang Zhao's Baihui Acupoint.

Tang Zhao's body emitted a light clicking sound, and from the inside out, it merged into a cluster of light.

"Anyway, one has to reshape their bones when becoming a Sword Hero; although you are a Sword Guest, since you have a second Sword Intent that even Sword Heroes don't have, then reshaping in advance is also reasonable, right?" Xiangyangzi said with satisfaction, "It is only me; Sunlight, Growth—I can control both Sword Intents. If it were any other Sword Deity, even a middle or high-ranking one, how could they do it?"

A Sword Deity is not a Sword Guest; it has no Sword Intent, but from the moment of its birth, it has its own orientation, and without special construction, it naturally develops and grows along a fixed path.

It is a sunflower; its orientation is to grow toward the sun. Sunlight and Growth—these are its instincts, and it easily accommodates both Sword Intents, so it can gather those chaotic Sword Essences rather than simply suppressing them.

"I can help with the Sword Essence, but the Sword Intent I can..."

Before the words were finished, the Broken Sword finally moved; silently, a surge of vitality vibrated outward.

In Tang Zhao's world, the opposite world of growth was green, but in the outside world, the Sword Intent was formless, and even ordinary people could not feel it. It was just that Xiangyangzi was sensitive to both sides, so in its eyes, it could see the live situation.

It saw: the Sword Intent on Tang Zhao's body was bright and magnificent, incomparably powerful, and from the start, it dominated the growth-oriented Sword Intent, which was as nourishing as spring, with a crushing momentum.

"Wait—no communication or probing, just crushing directly? Doing it this way is prone to backlash..."

But immediately after, that bright Sword Intent completely wrapped around the growth-oriented Sword Intent, yet it did not use power to suppress it, but instead—

Shine?

The brightness was above the growth-oriented Sword Intent, releasing light to its heart's content; a portion of the light seemed to feed and nurture the growth-oriented Sword Intent, while the other portion did nothing but swing and scatter around the growth, displaying its own brilliance like a peacock spreading its tail.

"This is really..." Xiangyangzi could not help but crack the large mouth on its flower disk, "Showing both kindness and power?"

Just as it thought, that Light Sword Intent held its posture very high, not stingy about actively scattering its Sword Intent and Sword Essence to replenish the other side, while on the other hand forcefully dominating the fusion of both, unilaterally erecting a bridge transformed by light, and without a word, connecting the two Sword Intents together.

This did not count as reckless, but it was somewhat wishful thinking; before the Sword Intents could even communicate with each other, their positions had already been set.

I am above and you are below; you follow me.

Xiangyangzi saw the situation clearly and was actually a bit displeased: "What is your Sword Intent being arrogant about? You are merely a Sword Guest's Sword Intent, yet you dare to show off your might so proactively; is a Sword Immortal's Sword Intent something you can manipulate at will? It does not refuse the benefits you proactively offer, but don't you think—"

The next moment, the Broken Sword suddenly shook and split open from within.

That strand of vitality escaped from within and headed straight for the light, just like someone standing on a high platform reaching out to pull someone below, and as the other person was about to step onto the platform, they immediately reached out to catch them; Meng Guang received Liang Hong's case, gave a light pull, and the two ascended side by side.

In Xiangyangzi's eyes, that Growth Sword Intent transformed into a Luse Light Beam, chasing the tail of the Sunlight's pure white Light Beam, together forming a—Taiji diagram pattern.

Then, they both submerged into that short Sword Image Micro Light.

"Huh? It just agreed like that?"

The instant the Sword Intent submerged, a crisp sword hum came from afar.

That sound seemed to be separated by ten thousand waters and a thousand mountains, yet it also seemed to be right beside the ear.

Tang Zhao, being washed by the Sword Essence, opened his eyes slightly amidst the radiance and whispered:

"Sword, come!"