Chapter 769
Sometimes he would think that the Tianhe Sect must have had a good atmosphere back in the day; otherwise, the Jiuyou Demon Ancestor, who was not originally from Tianhe, wouldn't have such deep feelings of nostalgia and even hatred.
"This peak must be the Xuanwei Summit; within the Tianhe Sect, we call it the Tongtian Sword Peak."
"To me, it looks like a tombstone."
Xie Qingxue's voice was low, but everyone listened in silence, not making a sound.
"It’s a tombstone erected for those predecessors by our founder."
(End of this chapter)
**Chapter 520: The True Lineage of Tianhe, Ascending the Sword Peak**
Zheng Fa stood before the Tongtian Sword Peak, gazing at the various celestial swords, lost in thought.
These swords varied in shape and power, but the one thing they all had in common was the inscriptions on their blades—each bore the distinct handwriting of the same person.
Who carved these names was easy to guess.
He looked from the bottom to the top, one name at a time.
The names on the spiritual artifacts likely corresponded to cultivators above the Transformation stage.
However, the names on the magical tools probably belonged to cultivators at most at the Golden Core stage.
Such cultivators, even in today’s Jiushan Sect, wouldn’t be considered core disciples.
Yet, the Tianhe Venerable still left them here on this sword peak for future generations to admire.
Zheng Fa sighed inwardly.
Speaking of which, as he practiced the Yang God technique, the Dharma Body technique, and the Tianhe technique, he had long sensed the differences among the three.
The Yang God technique, especially the most traditional form, had a somewhat emotionless connotation.
For instance, the Taishang Dao speaks of "forgetting emotions."
But the other two methods were rich in emotions, even more so than ordinary people.
In the process of cultivating the Dharma Body technique, one had to confront various desires directly.
As for the Tianhe technique, from the perspective of the Jiuyou Demon Ancestor, its characteristic was quite clear—obsession.
From this angle, looking at the Tongtian Sword Peak before him, Zheng Fa could probably guess where the Tianhe Venerable's obsession lay.
In his ear, Xie Qingxue began to remind him again:
"The Wanjian Realm is named after these celestial swords."
"They're not just for show."
Zheng Fa's gaze sharpened as he looked closely at the celestial swords.
Suddenly, tens of thousands of flying swords took to the air, swirling around the sword peak.
Among them, thousands circled around Zheng Fa, weaving in and out.
"What does this mean?"
"Master, if you pick a flying sword, you'll understand," Xie Qingxue replied. "Only the most outstanding disciples of each generation can enter the Wanjian Realm."
In the Jiushan Sect's Heavenly Palace, Senior Sister Zhang frowned slightly, looking at Xie Qingxue with a hint of dissatisfaction.
Xie Qingxue shook her head and said, "There's no danger."
As if to prove her point, she added, "Master, you can try using your escape technique here."
Upon hearing this, Zheng Fa activated the Transformation of the Rainbow technique, but his body didn’t move at all.
This was strange.
He then tried the Earth Escape technique, the Rising Cloud Talisman, and even the Tianhe Sect's Sword Escape technique, but none of them worked.
"Do we have to climb this Tongtian Sword Peak?" Uncle Pang speculated.
Xie Qingxue shook her head, not yet speaking.
In the light screen, Zheng Fa extended his finger, and the True Sun Fire condensed into a line, shooting straight at the cliff of the sword peak.
The golden flames flickered twice on the black rock face, but to his surprise, they extinguished as if powerless.
Uncle Pang was stunned. "It's that tough?"
The True Sun Fire was incredibly powerful, making this sword peak seem even more peculiar.
Zheng Fa looked up and saw that the stone wall was as smooth as a mirror, with no footholds to climb.
This place, known as the Xuanwei Summit, seemed impossible to scale.
Seeing him in a bit of a predicament, Xie Qingxue spoke again: "The Wanjian Realm is at the summit of the Tongtian Sword Peak. To get up there, you can only rely on these flying swords left by predecessors."
"How do we rely on them?"
Xie Qingxue seemed to have been here before, and there was a hint of nostalgia in her expression as she spoke.
"The flying swords around you are at the magical tool level. Once you take one, your consciousness will enter the sword and spar with its original owner."
Zheng Fa understood. "Sparring? I can only use their techniques?"
"Your cultivation level will be the same, but you can only use the Tianhe Sect's techniques."
Zheng Fa began to grasp the idea.
This was likely a trial for the younger disciples of Tianhe, to select those who could enter the Wanjian Realm.
Uncle Pang seemed intrigued. "And then?"
"If you win against your opponent, that sword will temporarily be under your control."
Uncle Pang understood. "So, that means you can ride the sword to the top of the peak?"
"Not quite," Xie Qingxue surprisingly shook her head. "But it will allow you to access flying swords at the magical tool level."
Not just Uncle Pang, even Zheng Fa was taken aback.
This meant that after passing the trial with the magical tool flying sword, he could upgrade to challenge flying swords at the treasure level, and finally to spiritual artifact flying swords, and then to spiritual treasure flying swords...
That was a whole three upgrades!
Uncle Pang muttered, "What a hassle..."
"I used to think it was a hassle too," Xie Qingxue's voice suddenly dropped low. "Now, I actually want to visit the sword peak again."
Her words came out of nowhere, causing Uncle Pang and the others to look at her.
Xie Qingxue bit her lip, seemingly feeling she had misspoken, forcing a smile:
"In the trials, I could see the predecessors of our Tianhe Sect."
"Our Tianhe Sect... probably only has these left."
"I wonder if the sword peak will still be here if Master succeeds."
Her words left everyone in silence.
After all, the Tianhe Sect had been destroyed by the Jiuyou Demon Ancestor, and aside from Master Yan, it was uncertain if there were any survivors—though given the nature of the Jiuyou Demon Ancestor, there likely weren't many.
It was even possible that the Tianhe Sect had either become the Underworld or turned into the territory of the Thunder Sound Temple.
Xie Qingxue's feelings were likely very complex now; her views on the sword peak and these celestial swords were different from before.
Zheng Fa reached out and grasped a flying sword.
Xie Qingxue said it was safe, which was true, as the owner of the magical tool flying sword likely had a low cultivation level.
Thus, he felt no tension and casually picked one.
As soon as his palm touched the sword hilt, everything before him went dark, and his consciousness suddenly slipped into a shadowy space.
In that space stood a Tianhe disciple dressed in ancient garb, holding a celestial sword. He must have been the original owner of this sword, and his cultivation was likely at the Golden Core stage.
He vaguely remembered that this person’s surname was Wu.
Zheng Fa sensed that he too had transformed into a Golden Core cultivator, and it wasn’t even the Golden Core he practiced.
Looking down, he realized he had taken on the other person's appearance.
The celestial sword in his hand was identical to the one held by the disciple across from him.
Same body, same spiritual power, same flying sword.
It was indeed fair.
The Wu surname Tianhe disciple remained silent, and with a quiver of his sword tip, he merged with his sword, transforming into a sword rainbow that shot straight at Zheng Fa.
Zheng Fa also transformed his sword energy into a rainbow, but he merely dodged instead of counterattacking.
He focused on this disciple, learning whatever techniques he employed, following suit.
Though he couldn’t use the洞虚灵眼 (Dongxu Spirit Eye) at the moment, he was a corpse-realm cultivator and was very familiar with the techniques of the Tianhe Sect.
Plus, he was "sharing" the same body and spiritual power with the other.
In just a few dozen exchanges, Zheng Fa managed to grasp over ninety percent of the sword techniques this person used.
When he could no longer learn anything new, Zheng Fa finally swung his sword across, easily claiming victory.
When he opened his eyes again, the flying sword belonging to the Wu surname Tianhe disciple was affectionately nestled against his arm, as if it were ready to obey his commands.
According to Xie Qingxue, Zheng Fa only needed to wield this sword to ascend to the next level and exchange it for a flying sword at the treasure level.
Yet, he didn’t move.
He simply looked around at the surrounding magical tool flying swords and suddenly asked Senior Sister Zhang, "How long just passed?"
Senior Sister Zhang was taken aback, seemingly not understanding what Zheng Fa was getting at, but she still replied, "Just a moment."
This aligned with the message from the Heavenly Emperor.
He thought for a moment and surprisingly ignored the submissive flying sword, instead reaching for another magical tool flying sword.
"What is Master doing?"
Xie Qingxue was also puzzled.
At the same time, the Heavenly Emperor's avatar took out a jade tube and began inscribing within it.
The others were even more confused.
Only Senior Sister Zhang showed a strange expression, as if she had guessed something.
Looking back at Zheng Fa, he was frantically undergoing trials, moving from one sword to the next.
The Heavenly Emperor's avatar inscribed quickly, finishing a jade tube in no time.
Uncle Pang curiously picked up the jade tube and was stunned. "Tianhe Sword Classic? Volume One?"
Senior Sister Zhang's lips curled into a knowing smile.
Uncle Pang looked somewhat pained. "You... can you really do this?"
Xie Qingxue's eyes widened in disbelief as she snatched the jade tube from Uncle Pang's hands.
"Master recorded all these disciples' sword techniques?"
She was dumbfounded, feeling it was outrageous.
"Recording it all perfectly is impossible, but capturing fifty or sixty percent is definitely feasible," the Heavenly Emperor's avatar explained.
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