Chapter 165
For oneself, and for the sect.
The Central Continent's secret realm is undoubtedly a perilous place.
Now, the unseen puppet master, whose schemes elude prediction, hides who knows what tricks within...
Despite his best efforts, he could only raise Li Qingran's survival rate to just over eighty percent, a clear indication of the danger involved.
Chen Huai'an felt that as the ancestor of the Sword Pavilion, even if it was just a façade, he should say something.
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Chapter 177: The Spirit of the Sword Cultivator
Chen Huai'an pondered for a moment.
He was a science student, not particularly skilled with words.
But as he descended into the Cangyun Realm more frequently, and as his horizons broadened, he found that he had gained a bit of eloquence.
Now, with so many disciples watching him, adrenaline coursing through him, his mind went blank, and he spoke from the heart.
"All disciples of the Sword Pavilion, behold!"
Chen Huai'an extended his fingers like a sword, slicing through the sky.
Clang—!
In the distance, the snow-capped mountain crumbled with a thunderous roar, revealing a sheer cliff as straight as cold iron.
Su Qinian's face twitched at the sight.
That peak had just been opened up, and there were still a few spirit fields on it.
At least a hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones had been wiped out with a mere flick of the ancestor's finger...
"The disciples of the Sword Pavilion must stand tall like this mountain ridge. For three thousand years, battered by wind and snow, the peak has crumbled, the ridges have broken, yet this sword spine remains unyielding, unbending." With that, Chen Huai'an produced a half-broken sword—once Li Qingran's treasured blade, which he had taken when bestowing the Su Xian sword.
Originally intended as a keepsake, it had now become a prop.
The disciples gazed at the broken sword, its blade riddled with cracks, yet still exuding a half-inch of sword intent.
"The essence of the sword lies in its backbone, and secondarily in its edge!" Chen Huai'an's white hair stirred without wind, and the ancient pine behind him was instantly reduced to splinters by the invisible sword intent unleashed by his words: "When the sword is drawn, it should pierce through the snow like a pine tree, no matter how thick the ice, it must create a hole to the heavens!"
Why did the ancestor shatter that ancient pine... Su Qinian glanced at the ancient pine that had stood on the Luoxia Peak for three thousand years, now reduced to a pile of debris.
He silently added ten low-grade spirit stones to his mental tally.
The ancestor is ruthless!
"Finally, it is time to temper the sword! Ten years to forge a sword, the frost blade has never been tested. Fellow disciples, we are each other's whetstones; a blade soaked in blood, honed by the soul, can only drink deeply from the demons at the brink of life and death!"
"On this journey to the secret realm, remember three things."
Chen Huai'an sheathed the broken sword, and with a wave of his sleeve, sword intent wrapped in moonlight descended into the foreheads of all the attentive disciples.
"The sword's edge is not for slaughter, but for the safety of our comrades behind us; the sword's aura is not for fame, but to keep the righteous path in our hearts alive; when the sword breaks, do not grieve..." Chen Huai'an's tone suddenly softened, yet the entire Sword Pavilion vibrated with a low hum.
In the ancestral hall, Lin Yuxi, meditating with closed eyes, was startled by the swaying ancestral tablets.
In the back mountain's sword tomb, the broken swords embedded in the gravestones trembled in unison.
The sound of sheathing tore through the night, and countless azure lights shot into the sky.
The broken swords circled the peak of Luoxia, humming behind Chen Huai'an.
The disciples gazed at the flying swords.
They saw golden names seeping from the blades, each one belonging to the sacrificed disciples of the Sword Pavilion throughout the ages.
Chen Huai'an also stared at these broken swords, countless images flashing in his mind, stained with blood and tears, roaring with defiance and anger. His eyes glistened, his voice trembling: "Their most powerful sword move was to uphold the three-foot sword circle for their comrades even as they fell; their brightest sword light was the sword formation that erupted at the moment of their souls' demise."
Buzz—!
Suddenly, a disciple's sword unsheathed itself, resonating with the broken swords in the sky.
"Return to your sheath!" Chen Huai'an lowered his gaze and spoke softly.
In an instant, all the swords fell silent.
"If one day your sword breaks... then use your bones as a sword, your blood as the edge, and your soul as the flame. The legacy of the Sword Pavilion has never relied on any legendary sword, but on the spirit of the sword that faces forward even in death."
What is the spirit of the sword cultivator?
The answer was torn apart by the mountain wind.
Only the sword intent on Luoxia Peak soared into the sky, the sound of swords ringing like bells.
At the edge of the sword tomb, a dead iron fir that had stood for thirty years suddenly sprouted new buds.
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"I seem to have just done something big in the Cangyun Realm?"
The avatar's time was up.
Chen Huai'an removed his helmet, his hands trembling, his mind in a daze.
"Did I really say all that? Am I that eloquent?"
Chen Huai'an decided to give himself a good pat on the back, giving a thumbs-up in front of the mirror: "I'm really amazing!"
The resources had already been distributed.
Li Qingran's survival rate had risen to 99.999%, never quite reaching 100%, but Chen Huai'an was at peace with that. After all, nothing in this world is absolute; just like the sun rising in the east and setting in the west seems like a truth, but what if you blew it up?
He had spent a lot of money, but it wasn't all in vain.
He had the disciples of the Sword Pavilion who could refine pills do so for him, those who could craft talismans do the same, and those who could make sword pills make sword pills. For those who couldn't do anything, he had them write their insights on the sword path, under the pretense of checking their "homework," but in reality, it was to stockpile goods and become a two-time dealer. He even had Su Qinian order a batch of spirit wine from the Dan Sect, claiming it was because he loved to drink.
Having given out so many resources, even this notoriously frugal disciple of the Sword Pavilion was moved,
Surprisingly, he didn't haggle over this matter.
Chen Huai'an felt gratified.
Otherwise, he would have had to inform the sect leader.
...
Without Li Qingran's gentle gaze upon him.
He finally had the energy to study that golden blind box reward.
Chen Huai'an had thought that extracting this reward would manifest in his hands, but to his surprise, it appeared directly in his mind, giving him a moment of inspiration. This spark of insight was now fully captured and could be used at will with his intent.
"I currently have two techniques at hand, one is the Chao Sheng Jue, and the other is the Tian Mo Da Fa. Which one should I upgrade?"
Chen Huai'an took out the Tian Mo Da Fa—it was a stone tablet the length of an adult's arm, covered in densely packed blood characters, with demonic energy seeping out as the characters twisted, clearly a sinister demonic technique.
As soon as the stone tablet was revealed, Xiao Qing and Ba Ji glanced over repeatedly.
However, having been influenced by the Nine Turns Linglan, they dared not act recklessly, no matter how curious they were about Chen Huai'an.
The Lobster Sniper and Strawberry Bear, on the other hand, were completely clueless.
They had no idea what the big shot was holding.
But they could sense the terrifying pressure emanating from it, so they chose to quietly stay in the corner, playing the role of dolls.
【Tian Mo Lian Ti Da Fa】
Chen Huai'an entered the game and opened the camera towards the stone tablet.
The twisted blood characters immediately straightened out, becoming easily understandable.
【Seize the unformed essence of heaven and earth, refine the unwilling souls of all beings. Crush bones for firewood, burn blood for light. Temper the skin with Nine Calamities Thunderfire, refine the demonic eyes with anger, obsession, greed, and resentment; use the seven emotions to lock the dragon's marrow, as all beings wail in boiling heartfire. Upon reaching the Great Vehicle, the sun and moon adorn the shoulders, and the stars transform into void in the palm's pattern. At the end of this path... refine heaven, refine earth, refine humanity, all beings are fuel!】
After reading the outline of the Tian Mo Da Fa, Chen Huai'an's eyelids twitched violently.
Refining all beings, devouring the sun and moon! Truly a demonic technique, what a strong malevolence!
However, this seemed to be a body-refining technique?
After all, it did use Nine Calamities Thunderfire to temper the skin.
So the question arises.
He was a righteous sword cultivator.
The kind that was justly inclined towards the demonic, and this Tian Mo technique clearly had many morally ambiguous aspects.
Did he really have to use a modifier to enhance this Tian Mo technique,
And then... as a sword cultivator, plunge into the demonic path?
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Chapter 178: The Modifier (Thanks to QC.Z for the +1)
The demonic path is criticized precisely because it is inhumane.
As the saying goes, killing does not involve cruelty; killing a chicken is merely a twist of the neck, which is not demonic. But if one were to scald the chicken in boiling water, leaving it alive while plucking its feathers one by one with tweezers, that would indeed be demonic. It's the same principle as torturing cats and dogs.
Chen Huai'an spent half a day reading through the entire Tian Mo Da Fa.
Just reading it without practicing made him feel a bit psychologically twisted.
Mainly because this thing truly disregards humanity.
The most outrageous part was the refinement of the demonic eyes, which required consuming the flesh and blood of one's closest kin, refining their pain and fear.
Here, "closest kin" included not only family but also romantic partners who had feelings for the demonic cultivator.
Moreover, it required the refinement of at least ninety-nine individuals.
How absurd!
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