Chapter 716: Shadow Demon Enters the Sword Realm, Nine Layers of the Sword Realm (Combined into One)

It's tough being old and young at the same time!

Daoist Fuxiong sighed inwardly, knowing he couldn't hide anything from the few people before him, so he could only lay out the matter in full detail, without concealing even the Killing Sword Eye.

"Eighteen zhang of killing intent?"

Hearing him finish, everyone looked toward Li Yuan. Not to mention Fujiang, who was meeting him for the first time—even Daoist Master Fufa was startled.

Daoist Master Fujiu had a flamboyant personality and acted overbearingly; his reputation among the Twelve Mountains of Daluo was rather poor, but with his Innate Sword Dao Sacred Body, his attainments in killing—if not unrivaled among the true disciples of his generation—were certainly enough to rank in the top three.

He himself had only thirteen zhang of killing intent back in the day, yet Li Yuan actually had eighteen?

'No wonder Master Fujiu actually apologized…'

Daoist Daoist Tongqing felt a sudden realization in her heart. She glanced Li Yuan up and down with a hint of surprise. Though she felt it was abrupt, she still couldn't help asking: "Master Fujiu didn't misread it?"

She too cultivated a Spirit Eye, and her attainments in it were quite deep.

When she first saw Li Yuan, she had also felt this youth was extraordinary—stable foundations, exceptional innate talent, and a Chaos Sacred Body to boot. In the future, he was bound to be a fellow traveler on the Dao.

But he hadn't even refined nine strands of golden nature to completion, yet his killing attainments could already compare to Jiuji Tian at the peak of the Divine Palace?

"There's this kind of divine ability too?"

Li Yuan was secretly shocked. He hadn't expected there to be a divine technique capable of evading the Cang Xing Fa.

Hearing Daoist Fuxiong stammer about his 'killing intent' rising and falling, he understood in his heart—that must have been him pairing up combinations of mastery.

'Eighteen zhang? Is that referring to my state when mastering the "Offensive Set"?'

Li Yuan guessed inwardly but said nothing, simply listening quietly as if it had nothing to do with him.

"Senior Brother was also afraid of misreading, so he came in person…"

Once the matter was out in the open, Daoist Fuxiong no longer felt awkward. He cleared his throat lightly and cupped his fists:

"Senior Brother said, if Junior Brother Li can lend him a hand, besides the Dao-Nurturing Grass, he's also willing to offer three hundred Da Gong, one top-grade divine treasure, and owe you a favor!"

"A top-grade divine treasure!"

Jiuyun Ji couldn't help his heart skipping a beat.

This was dozens of times more than what had been promised to him!

And the Mu Qing siblings attending at the side were even more wide-eyed. They instinctively glanced at their own master, then quickly looked away.

"Not enough!"

Li Yuan kept his head down and stayed silent, but Daoist Master Fufa shook his head, indicating that negotiation was possible, but the price wasn't enough.

"This still isn't enough?"

Daoist Fuxiong's face twitched. He considered the price already high enough.

Not to mention the Dao-Nurturing Grass and three hundred Da Gong, a single top-grade divine treasure alone was enough to hire a squad of sixth-realm cultivators to pioneer an alternate dimension.

Apart from true disciples from Dao Sect holy lands, even ordinary peak seventh-realm cultivators might not possess a single top-grade divine treasure!

"At this price, can you move Master Fujiu?"

Daoist Master Fufa countered instead: "Back when Master Fujiu was at Xi Nian San Jing, he had only thirteen zhang of killing intent. How many in all the realms of the universe can suppress him by five zhang?"

"This…"

Daoist Fuxiong's brow furrowed: "Daoist Master Fufa, Senior Brother, although Junior Brother Li is a heaven-gifted genius, he's only at the third realm now—how can he compare with my senior brother?"

"The Sword Realm has twelve layers. The higher you go, the more perilous it gets. Whatever could move Master Fujiu must not be on the ninth layer, right?"

Daoist Daoist Tongqing gently swayed her teacup: "Daoist Fuxiong, in the nine epochs since, the few who have broken into the tenth layer of the Sword Realm and are still alive today—what manner of people are they?"

"This…"

Daoist Fuxiong was instantly at a loss for words. He instinctively thought of those few names, then immediately came to his senses and cut off the thought, afraid of alerting those few.

"The difficulty of the Sword Realm has nothing to do with realm."

Daoist Master Fufa set down his teacup: "Master Fujiu, what do you think?"

"Hum~"

The void trembled. A wisp of sword light flickered in and out of view, and Daoist Master Fujiu's voice came through:

"What do you want?"

"A wisp of your origin sword qi!"

Daoist Master Fufa had clearly thought this through long ago, but the moment these words left his mouth, the three seventh-realm grand cultivators present all felt a chill in their hearts.

Origin sword qi—as the name suggests—is the very foundation of a sword cultivator.

If it were the origin sword qi of some other seventh-realm sword cultivator, not to mention comparing it to the Dao-Nurturing Grass, it would fall short even compared to three hundred Da Gong.

But who was Jiuji Tian?

An Innate Sword Dao Sacred Body!

"……"

Even knowing Daoist Master Fufa might open his mouth wide, upon hearing these words, Daoist Master Fujiu nearly choked on the spot.

This wasn't opening his mouth wide—this was asking for half his life!

"You want it?"

After quite a while, Daoist Master Fujiu gritted his teeth and asked.

"My junior brother here has inherited the Refine Demon Annihilate Immortal Sword."

Daoist Master Fufa waved his hand.

Daoist Master Fujiu fell silent. After a long while, he finally said:

"Above the ninth layer of the Sword Realm, there is a 'Sword Scripture.' If he can reach it, I can give him a wisp of origin sword qi!"

Having said this, the void fell silent, and the sword qi vanished.

"Sigh!"

Daoist Fuxiong let out a sigh, cupped his fists, and took his leave.

Daoist Daoist Tongqing sent her disciple to deliver it, then smiled at Master Master Fufa: "We don't see you often, Junior Brother. I didn't expect you to be so skilled at driving a hard bargain."

Master Master Fujiu was also quite impressed: "Worthy of Senior Brother."

Earlier she had been a little startled, feeling as though Master Master Fujiu might erupt at any moment.

"Just an outrageous asking price. He didn't even bargain, which surprised me quite a bit too."

Master Master Fufa gathered his thoughts and raised his cup with a smile.

Li Yuan didn't take part in the haggling at all, merely keeping them company with an air of 'whatever Senior Brother says goes,' which left both True Inheritance female cultivators quite unable to hold back their laughter.

During the banquet, Li Yuan naturally didn't let slip the chance of a True Inheritance gathering, and asked about the matter of controlling artifacts with the Five Extremes Great Scripture.

Of course, his way of putting it was that he wished to sense the process of his senior brothers refining through their qi.

Unfortunately, none of the three True Inheritance cultivators at the banquet practiced the Five Extremes Great Scripture, but they naturally knew cultivators who did, and promptly gave him introductions.

When the banquet ended, Li Yuan had already added quite a few former True Inheritance senior brothers as friends. With an introduction, adding them oneself was naturally a different matter.

……

Daoist Fuxiong had no intention of returning to his cave dwelling at all.

He didn't need to think to know that his senior brother's mood was far from good at the moment. After taking his leave, he went straight to the Sword God Market.

"Li Yuan!"

Jiu Yunji couldn't help but turn back to look at Daoist Daoist Tongqing's cave dwelling.

His emotions churned, utterly unwilling to accept it.

He had cultivated bitterly for two hundred years, refined nine strands of golden nature, and sixty years ago had already sat firmly atop the Combat Ranking's first place for ten consecutive sessions.

He didn't believe that seemingly still-not-fully-refined golden nature junior could be stronger than him, yet he also knew that with his Master's eye, there was no way he could have been wrong, so the more he thought about it, the worse his mood became.

"Buzz~"

At this moment, the Communication Sphere trembled lightly.

Jiu Yunji glanced at it, then vanished on the spot.

A moment later, he arrived before a flying vessel; from afar, someone had already come to greet him.

"Brother Jiu."

It was a young man with hair like fire, wearing a great red dharma robe, very eye-catching.

His name was Wang Long, from the Bei Dou Fa Jie domain. He had been friends with him for a hundred years, also at the Divine Palace Perfection realm, though he had not pursued the Divine Palace Nine Heavens.

"Brother Wang is also entering this Sword Realm?"

Jiu Yunji was somewhat surprised; he had previously heard that Wang Long was in closed-door cultivation, attempting to refine a superior-grade Longhu Longhu Dadan.

"My grandfather heard the Sword God Tomb is about to open and insisted I come. What can I do?"

Wang Long wore a deeply sullen expression.

He had been on the verge of condensing a Longhu Dadan, but forcibly held it back, so naturally his mood was poor.

"In that case, why not try cultivating the Nine Heavens? Once the Dan is formed there's no regret; failing to reach Cheng Yi Pin is ultimately a regret."

Jiu Yunji walked with him toward the flying vessel.

"Yi Pin is hard to seek."

Wang Long merely waved his hand, led him into the flying vessel, and the latter discovered there were actually two more people.

"Brother Jiu, this is Daoist friend Lin Yue, a quasi-Dao Child of the Tian Shi Yuan Demon Qianshan Qilin Court, and this is Daoist friend Wu Er, from the Martial Immortal Gate…"

Wang Long introduced them to him.

"These two were also dragged here by their elders, especially Daoist friend Lin Yue—he was also called to a halt just as he was about to refine a Longhu Dadan…"

"Brother Wang, why bring this up again?"

Lin Yue felt quite annoyed, then cupped his hands in greeting; he knew Jiu Yunji.

"Greetings to both Daoist friends."

Jiu Yunji returned the courtesy. He had also paid attention to the Combat Rankings of other domains; these two had held first and second place for many years.

"Please, everyone, take your seats."

After the pleasantries, Wang Long summoned spirit puppets to serve dishes. As the cups went back and forth, they also exchanged intelligence about the Sword Realm and the Sword God Tomb.

……

……

After returning to his cave dwelling, Master Master Fufa finally asked:

"Junior Brother, do you know what use the origin sword qi of the Mu Mu Xiantian Sword Dao Sacred Body has?"

"I don't know."

Li Yuan shook his head, though he did have some guesses in his heart.

"Nurturing swords."

Master Master Fufa sat cross-legged on a cattail hassock:

"A Sword Dao Sacred Body's progress in cultivating sword dao is far beyond that of ordinary cultivators. Any sword embryo nurtured by such a body will possess even greater might, let alone the Mu Mu Xiantian Sword Dao Sacred Body."

After a slight pause, Master Master Fufa brought up Master Master Fujiu:

"He cultivates the 'Extreme Sword Dao,' yet he doesn't nurture swords; instead, he draws upon myriad sword dao resonances to nourish himself. Though he hasn't broken through Ba Jing, his sword qi is no weaker than any Dao Treasure-grade divine sword!"

"If your Demon-Subduing Sword could be tempered by his origin sword qi, not only would its might surpass those of the same tier, making advancement easier, it would also gain all manner of profound wonders."

"Many thanks, Senior Brother."

Li Yuan was quite tempted, cupped his hands in thanks, then asked about the sword scripture that Master Master Fujiu had mentioned.

What kind of sword scripture could make him willing to pay such a great price?

"Within the Sword Realm lies the inheritance of those two Sword Dao Lords. It is said each of them left behind a sword scripture, but the specifics are unknown to anyone."

Master Master Fufa shook his head, indicating he didn't know either, and merely offered his own speculation.

"However, it should be related to the 'Extreme Sword Dao' he cultivates. He nurtures himself with ten thousand swords; if he could obtain a sword scripture left behind by a Dao Lord, he would likely break through the great barrier of Ba Jing immediately…"

"Is that so?"

Li Yuan was quite tempted. If that sword scripture could be mastered…

"This matter, though harmless to him, does not require taking risks for it."

Daoist Master Master Fufa admonished:

"The ninth layer of the Sword Realm is already extremely perilous, let alone above the ninth? That Master Fujiu was even willing to part with his origin sword qi, which shows that sword scripture must be in the tenth layer, or even the eleventh!"

"This junior brother understands."

Li Yuan carefully noted down all his admonitions, then took his leave with Yu Yu Xuanji and returned to his own cave dwelling.

He first organized the information on his newly added senior brothers and senior sisters, and did not rush to disturb them. Instead, after calming his mind, he closed his eyes and entered meditation.

Preparing to enter the Sword God Tomb.

……

"Boom—!"

Several days later, a tremendous sword hum resounded in all directions, shaking the entire Sword God Continent.

"The Sword Realm has opened!"

Li Yuan walked out of his cave dwelling, looked up, and was also shaken.

He saw only the two streaks of sword light spanning across the long sky, radiating dazzling brilliance. Within the light, myriad wondrous scenes intertwined, as if a great world were rising and falling within.

And as the sword light grew ever stronger, more and more realm-heavens formed by the flowing and intertwining of all manner of wondrous scenes appeared, as if countless worlds were being born and perishing within.

"That is the Sword Realm!"

Daoist Master Master Fufa walked out of his cave dwelling, reached out and grabbed, putting away the Nine-Smoke Gauze.

"Boom—!"