Fairy, return my flying sword to me

Chapter 225 Ten Thousand Swords Hanging Upside Down
Jian Xu remained silent.

Zhao Xiao, none of you dare to go, do I look like a sucker?

Moreover, that kid's swordsmanship is beyond the reach of ordinary disciples. Although his cultivation level is only at the Foundation Establishment stage, when it comes to swordsmanship, even the Golden Core stage disciples in the sect may not be able to match him.

If this kid weren't not from their Pure Yang Sword Sect, he would really like to see what level this kid was at in the Five Veins Sword Selection.

Seeing that Jianxu wasn't fooled, the group of elders could only watch helplessly.

Standing behind, he was so anxious he was scratching his head, but he didn't dare to step over Jianyin's body.

All I could do was watch that frail figure of the disciple as he traversed the spine of the bronze greatsword.

As soon as I stepped into the forest, I felt a sharp gust of wind suddenly rise from below.

The wind would blow people off balance, causing them to fall off the sword's spine and into the turbulent flow of sword energy on either side.

Lin Jian subconsciously channeled his inner energy, his body remaining as still as a mountain, taking one step at a time, resolutely moving forward.

As the footprints fell, burning crimson seal characters floated out in a loop.

Every word is captivating, coming directly to the spirit of the forest.

“Slaughter,” “Evil,” “Violence,” “Ember”…

That is the obsession left behind by countless predecessors who perished here in the sword.

Under their special influence, they transform into solidified malevolent energy, continuously surging into the forest.

Like heavy sledgehammers striking down on the sea of ​​consciousness in the forest.

However, faced with the sea of ​​consciousness sealed by two chains, these seal characters could only stir up a harmless breeze.

Seeing those seal characters lightly drifting through the forest, the elders of the Chunyang Sword Sect, who had been feeling uneasy, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"It seems like nothing's wrong?"

"This kid's desire for enlightenment is not bad."

"But this is just the beginning; the real challenges are yet to come..."

On the massive, slanted greatsword, a tiny figure, enveloped in pale golden protective aura, walked step by step towards the higher ground.

As he stepped down, one after another, blood-red seal characters floated out, passed through his figure, and then quietly disappeared.

Until the figure walked further and further away, gradually disappearing from everyone's sight.

The endless gales and the blood-red obsession crashed against the forest, but had no effect whatsoever except making the true energy in the forest even more solid.

Lin Jian could even feel that under this double impact, several strands of Taibai Xuan Gang within his body had condensed again.

As the final test and gift for all disciples of the Pure Yang Sword Sect before graduation, this Path of Self-Examination is never a place of indiscriminate harm.

After walking all the way to the end of the giant sword, we saw a black rock monument shaped like a broken sword in the forest.

The surface of the stele appears to have been splashed with hot gold paint, which has solidified into the characters "Pure Yang Sword Sect" in cursive script.

Around the sword monument, seven skeletons knelt.

His bones were as clear and lustrous as jade, but his neck bones were broken.

Jian Yin and the elders had somehow crossed the path they had taken in the forest. They stood not far behind him and spoke up, “This is the inscription erected by our sect’s founding ancestor. The earliest Chunyang Sword Sect used this as its mountain gate. And those skeletons are the remains of the most notorious evil cultivators that our ancestor killed back then.”

"Although their flesh and blood have been completely removed by the sword energy, the sword marks from the past still remain on their skeletons. Those are the sword marks left by our founding ancestor. If you are interested, young friend, you can study them for a while before continuing on your way."

Lin Jian held his breath and focused, his pupils emitting a faint golden light as he looked at the seven skeletons.

Sure enough, just as his spiritual sense probed towards the other party, a sword aura appeared in the forest and slashed towards him.

I instinctively leaned back to avoid it, only to realize that the sword energy had been slashed back from who-knows-how-distant past.

Its target is not itself, nor even the bones.

Instead, they fell one by one onto the sword monument.

The sharp sword energy, like the deepest chisel marks, left the true mark of the founding patriarch on the sword monument, stroke by stroke.

As Lin Jian focused his gaze on the sword monument, the gold paint on it resembled flowing lava, and those who looked directly at it began to feel a stinging sensation.

The sword energy that had once annihilated countless enemies was now about to strike him again...

"Is he going to be okay?"

"This is an extremely dangerous hurdle."

"If you fail to pass the test left by the founding patriarch, it may damage your Dao heart and cause you to become despondent in the future..."

"Sword Hidden is really something. He didn't tell him anything before letting him go and see. If he finds something wrong, who will be responsible?"

Jian Yin had excellent hearing and heard the crickets chirping behind him from the elders.

"What? Didn't the founding patriarch use the sword stele to test the disciples who wanted to join the sect? Didn't those disciples who hadn't yet entered the sect receive any guidance? Didn't they still enter the sect and become disciples? Without them, where would we be today?"

Faced with Jian Yin's one-sided reckless behavior, one of the elders finally couldn't hold back any longer and jumped out to confront him, "You know that's the past. Doesn't Elder Jian Yin know why our Pure Yang Sword Sect abandoned this original mountain gate? Isn't it because the number of cultivators who can pass such tests is too small, which is not conducive to the sect's inheritance and often leads to the crisis of the lineage being cut off? That's why we gradually abandoned this tradition?"

"But that doesn't mean the test left by our patriarch is wrong. Just because mediocre people can't pass it doesn't mean these geniuses can't. Back then, when our patriarch accepted disciples, very few of them already had any skills. If some tests can be passed by ordinary people, why can't cultivators who have already established their foundation try?"

The elder who jumped out was panting heavily. "You just wait! If anything happens to this young friend, not only the Zhengyang Sect, but we will also make you regret it!"

If there was still room for them to intervene on the previous Sword Ridge Path of Inquiry, there was absolutely no room for them to get involved here.

This is the most direct test of the hearts of future generations, left by the patriarch, and there is no room for anyone else to interfere.

Failure would be a blow that goes straight to the depths of one's soul...

The sound of swords echoed through the woods.

That was the roar of true energy surging within his body.

Unwilling to accept defeat, and in defiance.

The sword intent seemed to burst forth from his body, ready to challenge the sword intent left behind by a predecessor from who knows how many years ago.

Driven by this intense will, Lin Jian's inner energy began to surge through his robes.

A violent surge of energy emanated from him and began to impact everything around him.

"He's about to make his move..."

"That's a sword left behind by our ancestor... How can he possibly fight against it?"

"What can we do if we don't make a move? Are we just going to let the sword intent suppress us and never dare to draw our sword again?"

This test presents a dilemma.

If you make a move, you will be suppressed by the patriarch; if you don't make a move, your own Dao heart will be broken, and you will never dare to draw your sword again, losing your courage and determination to improve.

and so……

What's needed right now is restraint.

His mastery of sword intent was not yet proficient enough, and he could not make every sword strike he made carry the power of sword intent. For the time being, Lin Jian could only suppress the impulse to attack and slowly control his true energy that was about to go berserk.

The robes, stirred by true energy, slowly drifted down, and the sword's cry, which had just reached its most dangerous point, gradually faded away.

Lin Jian's body trembled slightly, and he took a small step back.

"He... he actually stopped."

"He maintained a fighting spirit despite the suppression from the founder, yet he clearly recognized the gap in skill and refrained from acting blindly. This is the kind of sword genius our Pure Yang Sword Sect is looking for!"

"Enough! Enough! I agree to let him join the sect!"

"They didn't say anything about joining the sect..." Walking along the sword ridge and seeing the sword monument is enough to pass the test.

According to the original rules of the Chunyang Sword Sect, Lin Jian is now a disciple recognized by the Chunyang Sword Sect.

However, Jian Yin brought Lin Jian here not to test whether Lin Jian could become a disciple of the Chunyang Sword Sect.

"Let's go, let's take another look ahead." Jian Yin pursed his lips slightly.

He wanted to see whether the cultivator who dared to challenge their Pure Yang Sword Sect's Sword Ruins Secret Realm truly possessed sufficient strength, or was simply an ignorant child who had never seen the world.

If it's the latter... the spot is given away, but that's all that will happen afterward. Apart from the exchange of pills, there will be no further interaction between the two sects.

If it's the former...

No one objected anymore.

Having arrived here, even the elders who initially didn't understand Jian Yin's intentions roughly knew what Elder Jian Yin wanted to do.

Yes... this kid specifically requested to challenge the Sword Ruins Secret Realm of their Pure Yang Sword Sect.

Although the conditions offered by the other party were indeed very good, so much so that they were willing to give up their spots in the Sword Ruins Secret Realm without any complaints.

But what happens next?

Is this elixir formula a beginning or an end?

Since this kid doesn't have the ability to refine a Spirit Root Creation Pill that's suitable for everyone, it means that the pill formula couldn't possibly have been developed by him.

The fact that the Zhengyang Sect did not have a pill formula means that the boy must have discovered it somewhere while traveling.

His contribution was sharing this formula.

But what about value?

What about its future value?

What is my own value?

Is it simply a matter of gratitude for the prescription, or should we continue to increase investment?

Perhaps, in the end, it all comes down to the kid's own abilities.

There's nothing wrong with being in the woods, so I lifted my foot and continued forward.

After stepping over the end of the bronze giant sword and passing the Chunyang Sword Sect's sword monument, a spacious circular clearing came into view in the forest.

The sky was dimly lit, with mountains on both sides like furnaces, guarding the center.

Lin Jian subconsciously looked up at the sky, only to discover that apart from the ancient sword with chains hanging high in the sky, the sky above this valley was actually an inverted sword mound!
Countless longswords hovered with their tips pointing downwards, forming a vast sword array in the darkness.

Ten thousand swords hung upside down, like a prison under the sun.

A chilling killing intent wove itself into a net, pressing down almost instantly from the unknown heights of the sky, determined to crush every living thing that dared to set foot in the valley into dust.

Sensing danger, the internal energy within the body immediately began to circulate automatically, surging as if it wanted to launch a counterattack.

However, when faced with that endless killing intent, the true energy that Lin Jian had been accumulating within him suddenly found itself without any clue how to unleash it.

A web of deadly intent has been woven together.

Those were the souls of countless longswords from the sky.

Each longsword possesses its own unique will, so much so that the sword intent emanating from each longsword is distinctly different.

These countless sword intents were like an abyss, like a prison, threatening to completely crush people and force them to submit.

Lin Jian felt his knees creaking.

'Kneel down...kneel down and everything will be alright.'

'The sheer number of participants is nothing to be ashamed of; it represents the culmination of countless predecessors' life's wisdom...'

If you can deal with one, or two, how can you possibly deal with a hundred or a thousand?

Fire overcomes metal, metal overcomes wood... all things are mutually generating and mutually restraining.

There are swords beyond swords, and people beyond people.

Never think you've reached the top; there's always a sword lurking somewhere in this world, waiting to utterly shatter everything you have...

Seeing that tiny figure suppressed by ten thousand swords, even though the elders understood everything, they couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

"How could he possibly withstand being suspended by ten thousand swords?"

“Yes… our ancestors only considered the first two factors, and you still want to add more.”

"This Sword Tomb of Ten Thousand Swords is a magnificent sight that we have created through generations of inheritance. Every disciple of our sect who has mastered sword intent must leave their own mark here. The longer the time goes by, the more terrifying this sword tomb becomes. Back in the time of our ancestor, this magnificent sight could not have been formed."

Seeing that figure gradually begin to tremble, even Jianxu, who had always had great faith in Lin Jian, couldn't help but speak up to offer advice.

"That's about enough, don't actually hurt the person."

Jian Yin ignored him, saying, "He has his intentions, but he's holding back. If we don't take this opportunity to fully draw him out, even if we enter the Sword Ruins Secret Realm, we probably won't go far."

"But……"

"No buts!"

……

In the forest, you can feel something pounding violently beneath your chest.

It felt as if countless small swords were plowing back and forth inside my body, determined to thoroughly dissect me from the inside out.

A seed that had been there before swelled up as if it had a heartbeat, something eager to break through the soil at this moment.

"What is it?"

Under the oppressive force of ten thousand swords, Lin Jian's soul seemed to detach from his body, quietly examining his inner self.

He could sense that the countless sword intents from different predecessors were searching densely within his body, trying to find their kind within him.

If not, then... be plundered to death by them.

Either... be born! And then cater to them! Join them!
They also became part of this sword mound.

Sword intent...

I have had many experiences using sword intent myself.

However, that sword intent was never fully utilized by Lin Jian.

If one cannot unleash sword intent in every move, then one cannot be said to have truly mastered sword intent.

To truly master it, one must first understand what one's sword intent is.
But... what exactly is my sword intent?
Slaying demons? Exorcising evil? Doing good? Saving the world? Slaughtering?

Mountains and rivers, grass and trees, sun and moon, and rivers.

What exactly is the meaning behind this?

The forest has never been truly established.

But at this moment, standing in this abyss-like valley, looking at the thousands of long swords hanging upside down overhead.

Suddenly, he had his own answer.

He reached out and twisted the starry sky.

And so the ten thousand swords hanging upside down, like fish swimming in the sea, spun in the direction his palm turned...

(End of this chapter)