Chapter 715: Exploration

"That existence..."

In an instant, even Six Dragon Sword was somewhat dazed.

Tang Zhao's reference was very vague, but it was absolutely sufficient; they all knew what he meant. There was only one existence that could make Six Dragon Sword refer to them in such a way.

"That existence is so mysterious, they must be an existence above a Sword Saint, right?"

Although Tang Zhao did not know too much, he had once been at Guiyuanshi and...

Perhaps they are extremely rare, perhaps they remain unique to this day, but they must exist, right?

Since they have existed before, it is possible they may exist in the future.

Six Dragon Sword sighed and said, "Yes, there was indeed such an existence. He was undoubtedly above all Sword Saints and Sword Immortals. He was also the leader of the Human World's resistance against the Heavenly Demons back then. That was a very long time ago. At that time, even I was still very young, slightly older than you, but my cultivation was not as good as yours."

"Life was very difficult back then. The Human World was not as strong as it is now. The Imperial Court at the time did not like Sword Guests, provided insufficient support to the Qianxian, and even inexplicably held us back—it was even worse than this Imperial Court that is about to fall apart. And the Heavenly Demons were unimaginably powerful. We always fought against stronger enemies with our weakness; being able to push the enemy back was a victory. We could only hold our ground by relying on fortifications and the advantage of home turf; if we didn't suffer a defeat that day, it was worth celebrating, and we dared not pursue them to achieve results. At that time, a Sword Guest had a thirty percent chance of not surviving the first great war, and a fifty percent chance of not surviving three wars. There was a seventy percent chance they wouldn't live past ten years. That was only a few hundred years ago, wasn't it?"

"Later, that person emerged and led the masses. Through his efforts, the strength gap between the two sides was gradually leveled. It wasn't that he was killing enemies on the front lines alone; it was that he intimidated the enemy's high command, buying us decades of peace. These decades were not for idling, but for recuperating. With these decades, Sword Guests could grow up safely, breaking the vicious cycle where newcomers went to the battlefield and died without guidance, forcing us to recruit new ones. Those with ability broke through to become Sword Heroes, and those without passed their experience and skills to the next generation—generation after generation, each stronger than the last. Ten years of nurturing, ten years of education, and decades later, the face of humanity was renewed. When war started again, both sides could trade blows."

"I grew up in that era. At that time, I didn't think about anything; I only knew how to fight and cultivate, and then kill Heavenly Demons. At most, I would hear a senior say: 'You lot have caught up to a good era.' Now that I think about it, that time was only better than the most difficult beginning. The only thing better than now was that everyone had a backbone and only needed to follow orders and move forward. Everything was taken care of by that existence."

Tang Zhao asked, "That existence is..."

Six Dragon Sword took a deep breath, as if preparing for a ritual to speak the name, and said solemnly, "We call him the 'Dominator'."

Ah...

This name...

Although it sounded powerful, Tang Zhao felt it was a bit strange.

"He was stronger than a Sword Saint and attained a realm unprecedented in history. No one could say what his realm should be called, so there was no common title. If one had to call him something, perhaps it should be 'Sword Dominator'!"

Tang Zhao nodded; adding "Sword" made it feel right.

"You ask me if the Dominator could bypass the Heavenly Demons before us and directly interfere with the world. I think perhaps he could. At the very least, he had the qualifications to explore the possibility of saving the world. He also made efforts; for instance, the Sword Domain was created by him."

Tang Zhao had guessed as much. It had long been said that the Sword Domain was man-made, so who else could it be? Tang Zhao felt that even a Sword Saint was not quite enough.

Six Dragon Sword said, "At first, I also thought the Dominator created the Sword Domain just to build a war zone, specifically for fighting, so that the battles of the strong would not affect civilians and the property of the Human World. But later, when I became a Sword Immortal and read some materials, I understood a bit more: he likely wanted to create a buffer zone between the two worlds. If two eggs keep colliding, sooner or later both will be smashed to pieces, but if you place a peeled egg between them, as long as that soft egg isn't crushed, everyone remains safe."

"This is, of course, treating the symptoms but not the root cause, merely delaying time, but it is indeed effective. At least for these few hundred years, even though the Sword Domain has shattered into Suiyu and is not even two or three tenths of its prime, it is still protecting our world. This shows the Dominator's strategy was successful. Otherwise, children of your generation probably wouldn't have had the chance to grow up."

"When I looked through these materials, I was also moved by the Dominator's great wisdom and great cultivation—he single-handedly created a world and saved two worlds. You say we can create Tianwaitian, but even a Sword Saint's Tianwaitian, if it were to collide with the real world, would shatter in two or three hits. How could it persist for so many years? This shows that the world the Dominator created, even if it doesn't compare to the Human World, is not far off."

"However..."

"The world still has no hope."

"First, the Dominator has fallen. And for so many years, there has never been a second Dominator."

"The Jinwu Sword is gone, and we are desperate for a new Jinwu Sword, but the Dominator has fallen, and we dare not hope for a second Dominator."

"Not only us, but the various Sword Saint Emperors have never dared to hope either. If any Emperor truly had the hope of becoming a Dominator, I believe the Emperors would unite to support them, but there has been no such news to this day. The Dominator fell very suddenly; he did not leave a path forward."

"Secondly, even if the Dominator were to return, he would only have the opportunity to seek; the path of the Sword Domain has reached its end. Repeating it has little meaning, and who can know if a new exploration can succeed? No one knows if there is an answer to something that has never succeeded."

"It is said that the Dominator's fall is related to the collapse of the Sword Domain, but since we are not at that realm, no one knows which is the cause and which is the effect. But it is very likely the Dominator could have lived for a long time, yet because the Sword Domain fell so quickly... are we to hope for another Dominator to appear, only to sacrifice them to drag things out for another hundred years?"

"Thinking of it this way, is it not despairing?"

Tang Zhao listened, feeling lost. He thought of Ju Dongjun, he thought of the Jinwu; they too had followed one after another, dying to suppress evil. And for thousands of years, generation after generation of Sword Guests had sacrificed themselves for the Human World, and even the most powerful, unique Dominator in history had not hesitated to fall to protect the world...

This was originally a song of human courage, which, though sorrowful, could be savored for a trace of tragic romance...

But it was destined to head toward destruction!

Whether it be a hero or a Dominator, neither could stop the land that raised them and their hometown elders from heading toward extinction.

This is truly...

Tragedy is shocking and has a special, magnificent beauty, but... who the hell wants to live in a tragedy?!

Tang Zhao was still very young; he could not accept this kind of despair.

"In other words... the Dominator's exploration failed, but at least he had the qualifications to explore?"

"Although the predecessors didn't succeed, since they paved the way, the successors might not necessarily fail... Didn't the Emperor also say that the most important thing for humanity is inheritance?"

He said half of it; the other half of the meaning he did not say out loud.

But Six Dragon Sword could also understand:

If I can become a Dominator, I might not necessarily fail!

Six Dragon Sword smiled and said, "When a person cultivates to a certain level, they probably know their own limits. People like us all know our future has hit a ceiling; let alone a Dominator, even becoming a Sword Saint is extremely difficult. You haven't seen the top yet, so there are infinite possibilities. This is good. Keep this sharp spirit and charge forward; don't stop."

The two finished discussing the heavy topic and took a breath. Six Dragon Sword said, "Although we hope you become a Sword Guest as soon as possible, it doesn't have to be tomorrow or the day after, or within ten days or half a month to see results. You can go back to the Human World to handle things first. For example, that skill of Sword Prayer—if you want to learn it, just go learn it. Just come back within this year. When the time comes, come directly to the Sun Court—"

He smiled and said, "When you come up again, you will be a person of the Sun Court. I must give you an identity..."

Tang Zhao thought: You want me to be an official again? Do I have such good luck with officialdom now?

However, Six Dragon Sword did not give him any official position, and Tang Zhao did not know if the Sun Court having "Court" in its name meant it had a set of official ranks.

Finally, the Sword Immortal took out a lantern.

Tang Zhao took the lantern and flipped it over; on the back were three large characters: "Sun Court".

This was it.

Don't look at it as inconspicuous; the Sword Saint Emperor also hung such a lantern on the front of his carriage, so it must represent extremely high courtesy. He didn't expect to have one too, although it was likely only recognized on the front lines.

Six Dragon Sword also explained, "This is generally hung on the front of a carriage. As long as you are on the front lines, whether in the Sun Domain or anywhere else, your own people will give you face when they see it. When you arrive at Qianjin City, you will have unimpeded access whether you enter Zhaoyangdian or go up to the Sun Court. Do you have a carriage? If not, I can ask City Lord Yuan to send you one. A Fire Seed Carriage, or some other carriage."

Tang Zhao said, "I have a carriage..." He glanced at Six Dragon Sword and said, "I'm a bit sorry to you, but my carriage is also called Six Dragon. The Six Dragon."

It was a coincidence, but thinking about it carefully, it wasn't really a coincidence. The Six Dragon Carriage carries the sun as it travels; this was originally the divine carriage of the Jinwu in myths. Taking this name could only mean Tang Zhao had always considered himself the sun.

Six Dragon Sword was stunned, then laughed heartily, "So that's how it is. Isn't this fate? Come, take this."

He handed Tang Zhao a piece of gold paper. Looking closely, it was not paper, but thin silk woven from Sunlight.

"Great Sun Divine Carriage Scripture?"

Six Dragon Sword said, "Exactly. This Great Sun Divine Carriage Scripture of yours was passed down by Qingzhu, so that must be the version I showed him. That was the first edition. Later, he was picky, and I didn't want him to look down on me, so I revised it. If you practice this, it is better for your Spirit and has no hidden dangers."

Tang Zhao agreed and scanned it carefully—

This, isn't this exactly the same as the one Glasses gave him?

Tang Zhao would not say it out loud; he solemnly accepted it and expressed his thanks.

The moment he accepted it, his heart stirred, and he asked, "Since the Sovereign has fallen, does his sword still exist?"

"What a pity. If it were still here, it could have left behind some precious heritage for future generations; now, one can only look at the ocean and sigh."