Born with immortal seed

Chapter 500 The Revival of the Sword
"The Sword of Time!"

Ma You slammed his fist on the table and stood up, no longer able to maintain his composure. His eyes blazed as he stared intently at the stunning sword light outside the formation.

"We were all wrong. Both Li Fengzi and I misjudged him... This kid's heaven-defying sword technique wasn't activated by a time-related artifact or some special supernatural power; he actually touched upon the true meaning of time!"

Back then, when the news of Bai Zichen's rebellion against the Nine Lotus True Monarch spread, the cultivators of the Northern Region were simply shocked and retreated in fear.

The major sects in the Central Region, especially the sword-cultivation sects, attached great importance to this matter and secretly sent many disciples to the Northern Region to investigate.

The Heavenly Principle Sect and the Ice Soul Palace, the sects of the two Nascent Soul True Monarchs who were present at the time, both had a number of these cultivators present.

Ultimately, based on the accounts of the two True Lords and the clues found at the scene, a Nascent Soul cultivator skilled in the Dao of Destiny was consulted to deduce the truth and reach a consensus.

Bai Zichen activated the Time-Traveling Divine Power through a Time-Traveling Artifact or an Overdraft Secret Technique, making it impossible for him to activate it a second time.

No one would believe that the most mysterious and unpredictable true meaning of time in the cultivation world could be touched by a Core Formation cultivator.

But what lay before them was the power of time, so intense it had solidified into a tangible form. Wherever the black and white river flowed, everything froze and stiffened, and all things came to a standstill.

All of this demonstrates that Bai Zichen has truly mastered the essence of time, and that sword strike that reversed the formation of the core and slashed the nascent soul is not unrepeatable.

"Since the Taibai Sword Sect mastered the spatial sword intent, finally another sword cultivator has touched upon the true meaning of the Great Dao at this level... It turns out that this is not exclusive to the Nascent Soul stage; it's just that we lack the talent to reach it!"

Ma You muttered to himself, both to himself and to those around him.

"The greatest swordsmanship talent since ancient times, truly deserving of the title. Even during the Taibai Sword Sect era, this young man was no less than those legendary sword masters, and could have stood out just as well!"

"Could that possibly hold off Xiang Banshan?"

Han Chaoxuan squinted, staring at the sword light that was being propelled by the burning black and white river, unaware that his voice had lost all emotional fluctuation, like a puppet speaking stiffly.

Not only him, but all the True Lords on the high platform had their faces reflected with black and white, and their movements became sluggish.

Those cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage below the platform were even worse off, reduced to puppets with their movements slowed down a thousandfold.

"Duh!"

Ma You let out a soft shout, unleashing the Qiankun Sword Intent, which swept across the entire White Python Mountain.

All the cultivators shuddered, breaking free from the influence of the true meaning of time.

"The sword of time, how terrifying..."

Han Chaoxuan suddenly realized that he had been affected by the power of time without even noticing.

Nascent Soul cultivators are alright, but those Core Formation and Foundation Establishment cultivators, if no one awakens them, are very likely to be trapped in it and spend their entire lives there.

"Even a fourth-order grand formation couldn't isolate the erosion of the true meaning of time? This is merely the aftermath, not the main attack."

Han Chaoxuan couldn't even imagine what it would be like if he were in that situation; he would be powerless against a single sword strike and completely at the mercy of his opponent.

"The Great Dao of Time is the most unpredictable. Even a fourth-order formation is useless before it... It all depends on how well you, fellow Daoist, understand the true meaning of the earth's power and how much power of time you can neutralize."

Two sword lights with completely opposite artistic conceptions flew out from Ma You's sleeve, one clear and ethereal, the other thick and turbid, clearly distinct.

These two sword lights protected White Python Mountain and blocked the power of time from entering.

Only Ma You, who had personally experienced it, knew that it would take at least ten times his Dao True Meaning to dissolve a wisp of Time Power.

Even if he were facing the Sword of Time, he wouldn't be confident that he could block it 100%.

"Could it be that today we will witness the fall of a great True Lord!"

This possibility sent a chill down Ma You's spine. In the cultivation world, it had been many years since a Great True Monarch had died unexpectedly; they had all passed away peacefully in their old age.

Are we about to witness history today?

The Sun and Moon Swords flew out from his sleeves, transforming into two small snakes that coiled around him. They were the most famous pair of inherited flying swords of the Five Phoenix Sword Sect.

Both are at the fourth rank, and the combination of the two swords provides an additional boost, making them comparable to a fifth-rank flying sword for a short period of time.

"If he can slay halfway up the mountain today, he can slay another Great True Monarch in the future... Once this boy has the cultivation of the late Nascent Soul stage, who in the cultivation world can restrain him? I'm afraid even a Nascent Soul expert won't be able to subdue him in a short time. It's impossible for them to risk their own lives and suffer a backlash of vital energy just to capture him."

Those powerful cultivators who have reached the Nascent Soul stage in this world all live in seclusion in secluded caves, trying to prolong their lives as much as possible.

The oldest ones will likely face the five signs of decay the moment they leave the secret realm, and die of old age.

The opponent was a sword cultivator who had mastered the true meaning of time. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator with some lifespan left would only avoid Bai Zichen from afar. Why would he be so eager to rush forward?

Aren't you afraid that the sword of time will sweep away your lifespan and cause you to die of old age prematurely?

Thinking of that terrifying scene, Ma You shuddered, and his eyes gradually turned dangerous.

……

With a single swing of the sword, its light lingered, sweeping across thousands of miles.

All noise, all magic, all jade talismans lost their color, leaving only the most basic black and white.

Apart from the omnipresent true essence of earth's power that could offer some resistance, everything else was utterly powerless before the Sword of Time.

Time is like a sword, cutting away at one's lifespan... The years come and go, like fleeting clouds and morning dew.

This was the first time Bai Zichen had activated the Azure Emperor's Longevity Sword without concealing it. He used the 'Time Encircles the Body' river to replace the sword concealment process, which gave him a unique understanding.

This state, where a casual wave becomes a sword of time, should be the ultimate state of the Azure Emperor's Longevity Sword, a great divine power.

Each sword contains the true meaning of time, and each sword is the Azure Emperor's Longevity Sword.

Even the legendary immortals of the upper realm, who are said to be free from the worries of lifespan and live forever, still face major and minor heavenly tribulations and the five signs of decay of heaven and man.

Under the sword of time, lifespan slips away rapidly, and one may also pass away prematurely.

Unfortunately, the black and white river brought by the Nascent Soul phenomenon burned away, leaving him with only the power to unleash a single sword strike.

Otherwise, even if a fourth-tier great demon stood in front of him, he would still be cut down without hesitation, to see whether the demon race had a longer lifespan or the sword of time could cut it down faster.

The reason why he didn't activate the Azure Emperor's Longevity Sword as soon as he entered the arena, but instead relied on his swordsmanship to hold on until now, was precisely to wait for Xiang Banshan to use all his strength.

Judging from the fact that he manifested his domain and went all out as soon as he came up, Bai Zichen concluded that this person would not hold back in the fight.

As expected, after failing to defeat him in several moves, he became uneasy and wanted to break the deadlock with his natal magic weapon.

This choice cannot be said to be wrong; it is the right choice even when facing a hundred opponents who seem to be hiding their true intentions.

But he was facing Bai Zichen, and he had been waiting for this moment so that the Azure Emperor's Longevity Sword, which he had been preparing for, could be successfully unleashed.

Only the true meaning of the Great Dao can resist the true meaning of the Great Dao. What Bai Zichen fears is that the true meaning of the earth's power on the mountainside will entangle the Sword of Time and slowly wear it down by relying on the advantage of cultivation.

To this end, he didn't hesitate to use himself as bait and was almost crushed into a meat patty.

The colossal dragon of black and yellow thrust itself against the sword light, and with a series of cracking sounds, the mountain peaks on its back weathered and crumbled. The dragon aged rapidly and plummeted to the ground.

Along with the set of thirty-six Heavenly General Jade Talismans, they lost their luster and their spiritual light dimmed, as if they had become ordinary mortal objects.

"The true meaning of time... this is impossible..."

He spoke through gritted teeth, each word uttered slowly and deliberately, blood seeping from his gums, his eyes bulging.

He could foresee that if that sword light were to strike him, the consequences would be extremely terrible.

But the key point is that no matter what means are used, they are useless in the face of the sword of time; one can only watch helplessly as the sword's light approaches.

Under the influence of the power of time, Xiang Banshan felt that even the movement of his limbs and the changes in his divine sense were much slower.

Otherwise, with the divine sense of a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, countless paths should appear as soon as the thought arises, allowing him to choose.

At the last moment, Xiang Banshan finally punched his chest, the sound of bones cracking was clearly audible, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

This mass of blood was gravelly, with each grain distinct. It was viscous, solidified, and had a slightly bluish hue, clearly indicating that it was not human blood.

Without a second thought, Xiang Banshan detonated the mass of essence blood, immediately unleashing a magnetic storm.

The heavens and earth lost their weight, and the sky and earth spun around.

All the cracked rocks on the ground floated into the sky and then crashed back down, creating a crater hundreds of feet deep.

This mass of essence blood is considered the Nine Difficulties Sect's most treasured possession, left behind by the fifth-tier spirit beast of the Nascent Soul Ancestor.

Before leaving the Nine Difficulties Sect, the guardian spirit beast separated a portion of its heart's essence, containing a part of its original power.

By keeping it close at hand, one can feel its true meaning and comprehend the great Dao of the guardian spirit beast.

Even if you take different paths, you can still benefit from drawing inferences from similar cases.

After Xiang Banshan became the number one person in the Jiunan Sect, he stored this ball of demon lord's essence blood in his body and comprehended it day and night.

At this critical moment, he directly used it as a one-time spiritual object for purification, summoning the true meaning of primordial magnetic energy to resist the sword of time.

"All metal flying swords are restrained by the power of Yuan Magnetic. Even if the Yuan Magnetic True Meaning is not as good as the Time True Meaning, the flying sword that carries it is different. As long as the flying sword is restrained, the power of the Time Sword will be reduced by at least half!"

Xiang Banshan showed no regret; the sect's guardian spirit beast had left behind its heart's essence precisely for use in a crucial moment.

Blocking this sword and then killing this boy would be almost equivalent to killing a Nascent Soul sword cultivator.

He no longer looked down on Bai Zichen, and regarded him as a Great True Lord of equal strength.

call out!
The sword light was shaken by the magnetic force, but remained unchanged. There was no sign of the expected scattered sword light, and the flying sword fell down.

"If it were a third-tier flying sword, that would be one thing, but I just happened to be using the Purple Star Thunderclap Sword to activate the Azure Emperor Longevity Sword this time, and you actually targeted the flying sword itself..."

Bai Zichen felt the magnetic force transmitted from the sword, his blood churning. If he hadn't been a body-refining nascent soul cultivator, he would never have been able to withstand it.

The sword light struck Banshan directly, and the mountains in the realm behind him seemed to be experiencing an earthquake, collapsing one after another, raising a cloud of dust.

His hair turned from black to white in an instant, falling in clumps, and spots appeared on his face, making him look old and frail in a flash.

Most importantly, his vital energy plummeted, leaving him as weak as a candle flickering in the wind, with a deathly aura lingering between his brows.

"what!"

He let out a miserable scream halfway up the mountain, as if he were enduring endless pain, which even a Great True Lord could not bear.

"As expected of the Great True Lord, a single sword strike only cut off one hundred and fifty years of lifespan!"

The black and white river burned away, leaving only two faint points of light on the wrists of the little white nascent soul.

After another 60 years, the "Time-Bound Body" will be restored, allowing you to borrow the power of time once more.

Moreover, each time Bai Zichen steps into the River of Black and White, it is a rare opportunity for him, rapidly closing the distance between him and the Great Dao of Time.

He had a premonition that in a while he would be able to complete the Azure Emperor's Longevity Sword, rather than the Time Great Divine Power pieced together from the three techniques.

At that time, it is believed that the power of the Azure Emperor's Longevity Sword can be further enhanced.

Although Xiang Banshan did not die of old age directly, he lost 150 years of his lifespan. For a cultivator who was already over 800 years old, this was already an age when he was about to die young.

In a few decades, they will reach the theoretical lifespan limit of a Nascent Soul True Monarch.

Kill him while he's ill.
Bai Zichen's Azure Emperor Longevity Sword did not achieve complete success for the first time, mainly because the opponent he was facing was different.

However, in this weakened state, even the realm itself suffered severe damage, and it had completely lost the strength of a Great True Monarch.

With the addition of the Purple Star Thunder Sword to the battlefield, the three sword lights crisscrossed, turning the tables and suppressing Xiang Banshan within the range of the swirling sword threads.

Xiang Banshan showed a resolute expression. His nascent soul flew out from above his head, holding a flying shuttle. It could be clearly seen that not only was his physical body aging, but his nascent soul had also turned into the appearance of a little old man.

He pounded his chest with both fists, spitting out his bloody life essence onto the thirty-six jade talismans without restraint.

Even the jade talisman that had been activated before had its dim floral and bird inscriptions forcibly reactivated, forming a vast net covering the sky.

He forcibly enveloped the three sword lights, then merged with the Nascent Soul cultivator halfway up the mountain and the flying shuttle, transforming into a black line that instantly teleported a hundred miles away.

How could the thirty-six Heavenly Spirit Jade Talismans, which were forcibly overdrawn, possibly withstand three fourth-tier flying swords, especially since one of them was Bai Zichen's natal flying sword, the Purple Star Thunder Sword?

The lightning surged, tearing apart the jade talisman net and breaking it into thirty-six jade talismans, which whistled as they prepared to circle and fly away.

Caught up by a sliver of moonlight, a flash of sword light swept across, and not a single jade talisman could escape, all of them were trapped.

Bai Zichen wanted to give chase, but sensing the faint but chilling sword intent behind him, he stopped in his tracks.

"Xiang Banshan has at most a hundred years left to live. I don't believe he'll still have the guts to deal with Senior Brother Ge and the Qingfeng Sect after this sword strike... If he falls to me, Xiang Banshan himself, as well as the Jiunan Sect, will suffer a great loss of prestige, and rival sects will definitely have designs on him. Even if he finds a way to prolong his life and live on, at worst he can just make another trip to the Jiunan Sect in sixty years and swing his sword one more time."

Bai Zichen estimated that the chances of catching up with Xiang Banshan's Nascent Soul using the flying shuttle technique were slim.

Furthermore, he had not yet learned the spell to retrieve items from undefended areas, so even if he killed Xiang Banshan, he would not gain anything else.

Of course, the bigger reason was the subtle threat emanating from the White Python Mountain.

If he were weak and might die at Xiang Banshan's hands, Bai Zichen believed that the Five Phoenix Sword Sect would definitely stand by his side and save his life.

However, the situation reversed, and the early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators drove away the Great True Lord.

Anyone with eyes could see that if Xiang Banshan didn't abandon his physical body and escape with his nascent soul, he would be completely obliterated by the three flying swords at the foot of White Python Mountain.

Such a record was so astonishing that Ma You could not help but be shocked.

This matter is unrelated to good or evil; it is a concern that every cultivator would feel.

'Ma You is a Great True Lord who can control the differentiation of sword light. If he harbors malicious intentions, I can only immediately set up the Star River Sword Formation to try my best to protect myself...'

Bai Zichen didn't want to test the hearts of the Five Phoenix Sword Sect cultivators; the best way was to not give them that opportunity.

It's a pity that I originally thought I could take this opportunity to meet with the Nascent Soul True Monarchs present, exchange information, and see if I could obtain clues about top-level cultivation techniques or even trade them directly.

Currently, the entire plan has fallen through.

"Esteemed True Monarchs of the Sword Sect, I have offended you greatly today and disturbed Fellow Daoist Han's celebration. Please convey a message to Xiang Banshan for me: I will definitely go to the Nine Difficulties Sect within a hundred years to settle my karmic debts!"

Bai Zichen collected the entire set of jade talismans, bowed respectfully, and then flew away, transforming his sword into a bolt of lightning.

"The Nine Difficulties Sect will suffer many calamities from now on!"

The lightning sword light disappeared into the horizon, and Ma You sighed. He sheathed the Sun and Moon Swords, ultimately not making a move.

Despite bearing the title of a super sect, everyone knows that the fifth-tier sect-guarding spirit beast will never return, making it the kind of major sect that can clearly no longer be protected by a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Xiang Banshan suffered a humiliating defeat, with only his Nascent Soul stage escaping, essentially tearing away the last layer of his glamorous facade.

Moreover, given Bai Zichen's growth rate, it's hard to imagine how far he'll go in a hundred years.

With the Nine Difficulties Sect having incurred such an enemy, even if Xiang Banshan manages to save his life, he'll still have a headache when he gets back, and probably won't be able to sleep at night.

"Senior brother, I intend to begin my seclusion tomorrow to cultivate the Heavenly Phoenix Divine Sword Technique... I will not emerge until I have achieved something!"

Han Chaoxuan became much more composed and spoke silently.

"Very well, it's time to hone your skills and make a breakthrough before going to the Heavenly Phoenix Cave to receive the sword intent inheritance... Bai Zichen's sword talent is indeed unprecedented, but you also have your advantages. If you can successfully inherit the ancestral sword intent, you will be one step ahead of others on the path to becoming a god in the future."

Ma You looked at Han Chaoxuan, who seemed somewhat discouraged, and said gently.

He still had high hopes for his junior brother, believing that his chances of reaching the Nascent Soul stage were much greater than his own, at least from the initial stage.

This battle was witnessed by more than a dozen True Lords and dozens of True Persons.

It was another case of a Nascent Soul cultivator fighting a Great True Monarch of a higher level, generating a lot of buzz and spreading throughout the Great Li region in just a few days.

By the end of the month, it had become the hottest topic in the entire central region.

Bai Zichen of the Qingfeng Sect truly etched his name in the Central Region, leaving a deep impression on all cultivators.

After Taibai, no one but Bai Zichen can revive the way of the sword!

(End of this chapter)