I was a mineral prospector in Chengdu, who transmigrated into the body of a mortal sword immortal.

A chilling sensation spread through his fingertips. It wasn't the coldness of metal, but a deeper, more profound chill, as if touching the core of millennia-old ice, instantly spreading from his fingertips to his arm, sending shivers down his spine. The instant they touched, the broken sword, silent for countless years, trembled violently! A faint, yet seemingly resonant, "hum" suddenly erupted! The sound wasn't harsh, but it possessed a soul-piercing quality, numbing his eardrums and leaving his mind blank. At the same time, the wooden plaque in his arms burst forth with intense heat, clashing violently with the chill emanating from the sword hilt, exploding in his chest a throbbing, excruciating pain of intertwined ice and fire!

The buzzing sound continued.

It was not a tremor heard by the ears, but a tremor perceived by the soul.

Li Bai's vision began to distort and spin. The altar, the eerie blue light, the scattered pottery shards... everything was fading and blurring. In its place were countless fragmented, rapidly flashing images, like an ancient scroll forcibly torn apart and haphazardly pieced together, forcefully crammed into the depths of his consciousness.

He "saw" it—

On the boundless wilderness, bonfires soared into the sky. Countless ancestors, dressed in simple hemp clothing and their faces smeared with colorful mud, knelt and danced around a massive stone altar. On the altar were placed strangely shaped bronze ritual objects—masks with protruding eyes, a sacred tree spiraling upwards, and a sun bird poised for flight. The air was filled with the pungent aroma of burning spices and some kind of herb, and… a strong, rusty stench of blood. In the center of the altar, a complete longsword, gleaming with a dark golden luster, was planted, the space around its blade slightly distorted.

The image is shattered.

He "saw" it—

A colossal bronze tree, its branches gnarled and twisted, stood reaching to the heavens, upon which nine divine birds perched. Beneath it, a group of figures, clad in flowing robes and with their hair piled high, sat cross-legged. A faint aura enveloped them; some had sparks crackling at their fingertips, others held water spheres suspended in their palms, and still others were surrounded by swirling blue winds. One of them held a longsword, its tip pointing skyward, chanting ancient and obscure syllables. An unseen force stirred the clouds in the sky, creating a massive vortex.

The scene then changes.

He "saw" it—

The heavens and earth trembled. Black flames erupted from the cracks in the ground, tearing the sky apart to reveal a chilling, churning chaos. Countless bizarre shadows, radiating an aura of evil and destruction, surged forth from the fissures. On the ground, those who had been cultivating moments before now formed battle formations, fighting a desperate battle against these shadows. Sword energy crisscrossed, and the light of magic illuminated the dim world. A dark golden longsword was held in the hand of a tall, indistinct leader; wherever the sword's light passed, the shadows howled and scattered. But the enemies were too many… far too many…

"Snap!"

A clear, heartbreaking cracking sound reverberated deep within Li Bai's soul.

He "saw" the dark golden longsword, as it collided with a devastating black impact, a crack appearing in the middle of its blade. The crack spread rapidly, and eventually, the longsword broke in two. The upper half, with a piercing shriek, flew off into the distance. The lower half, along with the hilt, fell helplessly, embedding itself in the ravaged battlefield, quickly buried by dust and debris.

The leader staggered backward, his blurred face seemingly glancing in the direction the broken sword had fallen. In his eyes, there was regret, resentment, and even more so, a deep, timeless wait.

"Buzz—!"

The buzzing sound in reality suddenly rose, abruptly pulling Li Bai back from those fragmented images.

He was drenched in cold sweat, his back completely soaked, clinging to his icy skin. His heart pounded wildly in his chest, as if it would shatter his ribs and leap out. A tearing pain shot through the wound in his left arm, and the swelling in his right ankle seemed to have worsened, yet strangely, he felt little weakness—a strange energy, a mixture of cold and heat, was flowing steadily into his body through the fingertips that touched the hilt of his sword.

That buzzing sound was no longer just a sound.

It's like a call.

A type of detection.

A kind of... resonance.

Li Bai clearly felt that something deep within his soul was responding to this buzzing. It wasn't the heat of the wooden plaque—though scorching hot, it was more like an activated "beacon." The one truly resonating was himself. It was his complex and resilient soul, from a thousand years in the future, having experienced modern death, and carrying a three-lifetime obsession with Yang Xiaohuan (Yang Yuhuan). It was that "unwillingness," that intense will to "change," and that unique understanding of the essence of the world, blended with modern scientific knowledge.

After detecting such soul qualities, the broken sword emitted a clearer and more stable hum.

No more hesitation.

Li Bai's fingers tightened suddenly, gripping the dark gold hilt of the sword tightly.

"boom--!"

A torrent of energy, far larger and purer than the one during the initial tentative contact, surged through his arm and violently into his body!

It's cold.

The biting cold seemed to freeze his blood, bone marrow, and even his soul. But deep within this coldness, there was a scorching core, as hot as molten lava, burning through his meridians. Ice and fire, two extreme sensations, intertwined and clashed within him, and finally, under some mysterious guidance, began to slowly merge and circulate.

He trembled violently, his teeth chattering uncontrollably. The muscles in his arm gripping the sword hilt were taut to their limit, veins bulging. He could feel this energy brutally washing over his already battered body. The bruises and necrotic tissue at the wounds seemed to be forcibly peeled away, and new, tougher granulation tissue began to sprout under the stimulation of the energy. At his sprained ankle, the swollen subcutaneous tissue, the ruptured fascia and capillaries were also being forcibly "corrected" and "repaired" by this energy. The process was extremely painful, like someone stirring a red-hot iron rod inside him, or like countless ice needles piercing every inch of his nerves.

At the same time, some fragmented and unsystematic pieces of information were also directly imprinted into the depths of his mind along with the energy flow.

It's not text.

It's more like a direct transmission of "intention" and "reason".

He "understood" it—

"Qi" is omnipresent. Mountains and rivers possess spirit, plants and trees contain essence, and the sun, moon, and stars all possess their own "qi." The human body is also a microcosm, possessing its own primordial qi. Drawing in external "spiritual qi" into one's own "meridians," circulating it along specific paths, refining it, and storing it in the dantian (lower abdomen), is called "qi drawing." This is the beginning of foundation building, the basis for extraordinary achievements.

He "understood" it—

"Spirit" is the essence of thought and the concentration of intention. When the mind is restless and distracted, the spirit is scattered and the energy is disordered. One must gather the mind, discard external disturbances, and observe inwardly, making the intention pure and unified, like a clear mirror or still water—this is "concentrating the spirit." With a concentrated spirit, perception becomes sharp; one can introspect oneself, sense the universe, and better control the "energy" introduced into the body.

He "understood" it—

What he held in his hand was the broken body of the "Azure Nether Sword." The sword was divided into Yin and Yang; the hilt was Yang, inscribed with the ancient seal script "Bearing Heaven"; the body was Yin, engraved with the Daoist patterns "Carrying All Things." In its prime, it could draw upon the Azure Nether Qi of the Nine Heavens to slay demons and monsters, separating the pure from the impure. Now, the sword's body was broken, its spiritual essence greatly diminished, its Daoist patterns incomplete, and its power reduced to a mere fraction. However, the sword's spirit had not been extinguished, and a wisp of its core Daoist essence remained at the broken point. It required the aid of shared Qi, pure Yang blood, unwavering resolve, and specific rare and precious materials to attempt to reconnect, nurture, and gradually restore it.

He "understood" it—

This place is one of the outer altars of the "Xiling Ruins". In the ancient "Xiling Divine Kingdom", a decisive battle was fought with extraterrestrial demons. The mountains and rivers collapsed, the divine kingdom fell, and most of the secret realms were either self-sealed or annihilated by the turbulent flow of time and space. This altar and the connected underground cavern were a small outpost on the edge of the great war. It survived by chance, but the spiritual veins are nearly exhausted and the array is incomplete. In addition to enshrining the shadow of the "Azure Nether Sword" (that is, this broken sword), the altar itself is also a one-way teleportation node, which can lead to the remaining fragments of secret realms deeper in the divine kingdom - if the other side of the node has not completely collapsed, and one possesses the correct "token" (such as the heated wooden plaque) and has initially activated the remaining power of the "Azure Nether Sword".

The message ends here.

It is incomplete, blurry, and lacks many details. For example, the specific route map for "qi induction", the detailed visualization method for "concentration", the specific list of "heavenly and earthly treasures" required for the repair of the "Azure Nether Sword" and their substitutes, as well as what the "fragment secret realm" is like, what dangers or opportunities it holds, are all vague.

But that's enough.

For Li Bai, who had been groping in the dark for too long and was almost in despair, these fragments of information were nothing less than a lightning bolt that cleaved through the chaos!

He suddenly opened his eyes.

The weariness and confusion in his eyes vanished, replaced by a burning light. The excruciating pain in his body continued, but the intertwined flow of ice and fire energy had begun to form a very weak, intermittent cycle within his body. With each cycle, the pain lessened, the weakness receded slightly, and a tingling sensation spread through the wounds on his left arm and ankle—the flesh was growing and healing at an accelerated pace.

He looked down at the hilt of the sword he was gripping tightly.

The dark gold metal, illuminated by the faint blue mineral glow, no longer seemed so lifeless. A very thin, almost invisible halo, somewhere between cyan and silver, was slowly flowing from the hilt towards the break. Although it dissipated weakly at the break, it meant... it had been initially activated.

"Drink... Ah!"

Li Bai let out a low roar, using all his strength, combined with the newly generated, weak but real energy within his body, and suddenly pulled upwards!

"laugh--"

There was no overwhelming resistance as he had imagined, nor any earth-shattering sound. He easily pulled the broken sword from the stone base at the top of the altar. The moment the sword left the base, a slight "click" sound, as if something had broken, came from inside the base. Immediately afterward, the ancient energy field emanating from the entire altar seemed to weaken slightly.

Li Bai gripped the broken sword, his arm trembling slightly.

The sword was very light. Much lighter than he had imagined, almost weightless. The hilt felt warm and smooth to the touch; the dark gold metal seemed to automatically conform to the curve of his palm, making it exceptionally comfortable to hold. The break was jagged; about two-thirds of the way from the tip, the cross-section displayed a peculiar, star-like texture, with a faint, chilling remnant of energy.

He held the broken sword horizontally in front of him and examined it carefully.

The sword blade was about two fingers wide and of uniform thickness. Even covered in rust and dust, the exquisite craftsmanship of its forging was still evident. The rust was not ordinary iron rust, but a dark red substance, resembling dried blood, that was exceptionally tightly bonded to the metal. Near the guard, he indeed saw two extremely tiny, almost completely obscured ancient seal characters—not any script he recognized, but he had "understood" their meaning during the information transmission: "Azure Netherworld."

It is it.

The key to a world of the extraordinary. The possibility of changing one's destiny. Though broken and the road ahead uncertain, it was indeed in his hands.

An indescribable sense of harmony emanated from my palm.

It was as if this sword was meant for him. As if he had traversed a thousand years of death and rebirth, enduring countless hardships to arrive here, just to grasp it.

Li Bai exhaled a long, slow breath.

This breath carried a faint wisp of white mist, clearly visible in the pale blue light. After exhaling, he felt the tightness in his chest and abdomen lessen considerably, and his mind became clearer.

power.

Although faint, a real and undeniable power was sprouting within him.

He looked down at his left arm. The bandage was soaked with blood and sweat, but the bleeding seemed to have stopped. He carefully moved his fingers; although they still hurt, the weakness and numbness had lessened considerably. He tried to lightly touch the ground with his right foot; the excruciating pain was still there, but it seemed… he could barely bear a little weight.

It is the restorative effect of that energy, and the support brought by the spiritual uplift.

He raised his head, his sharp gaze sweeping across the entire altar and the surrounding cavern.

Information is incomplete. How to further cultivate? How to repair the Azure Sword? Where to go next? The altar is a "one-way teleportation node," but where is the node located? How to activate it?

He needs to find more clues.

Despite the stinging pain in his ankle, Li Bai leaned on the broken sword he had just acquired—though damaged, the blade was sturdy enough to serve as a crutch—and began to circle the top of the altar, carefully examining every inch of the stone wall and every carving.

The stone surface at the top of the altar, except for the stone base where the sword is inserted in the center, is relatively flat and carved with some patterns similar to those on the rock walls of the passage, but more complex and abstract. Some resemble star maps, some resemble simplified diagrams of the human body's meridians, and some seem to be lines depicting the flow of energy.

Li Bai observed very carefully, his fingers tracing the cold, engraved marks, trying to decipher more information from them. However, most of the patterns were too ancient and obscure, lacking the direct transmission of meaning he had just seen. It was difficult to understand their deeper meaning with the naked eye alone.

He went around to the back of the altar.

Here, with his back to the entrance of the passage he had come in through, the light was even dimmer, with only a few scattered glowing minerals on the distant rock walls providing extremely limited illumination. The stone walls and the altar base were tightly connected, appearing as a single, unified whole.

Li Bai's gaze swept over the rough stone wall inch by inch.

Suddenly, his gaze fixed on the seam between the altar base and the stone wall behind it, about a person's height above it.

There, the color of the stone wall seemed to have an extremely subtle difference from the surrounding area. It was almost imperceptible without careful observation. The surrounding stone walls were uniform, with gray-black textured rock, while that small area was slightly darker in color and seemed to be...smoother? As if it had been frequently touched, or had been soaked in some kind of energy for a long time.

More importantly, in the center of that slightly darker area, there is an extremely hidden crack that is almost integrated with the rock texture.

The vertical crack was very thin, barely wider than a hair, and about a foot long.

If Li Bai hadn't had his eyesight improved by "qi cultivation" and his mind hadn't been highly focused, he would never have been able to notice.

There is light inside the crack.

It wasn't the deep blue light of the rock walls, but a softer, warmer, faintly milky glow. The light was extremely weak, seeping out in wisps from the cracks, outlining an almost invisible, straight streak in the dim environment.

Li Bai's heart raced once more.

Leaning on his broken sword, enduring the pain, he tiptoed closer to the crack.

As he drew closer, he could see more clearly. The crack was indeed there, its edges unusually smooth, clearly not naturally formed. It looked more like it had been cut out by an extremely sharp tool with immense force and precise control. The interior of the crack didn't seem to be solid rock, but rather… hollow? Was there space inside?

He tried carefully inserting the jagged, broken edge of the Azure Nether Sword into the top of the crack.

"Click."

A soft sound.

The broken edge of the sword fit perfectly into an extremely tiny groove at the top of the crack! It was as if the sword was meant to be inserted there, as some kind of... lever? Or key?

Li Bai held his breath, tentatively and gently pressed down on the sword hilt.

"Crunch... crunch..."

A dull sound, like the grinding of boulders, came from inside the stone wall.

The straight crack, as he pressed down on the hilt of his sword, slowly split open to both sides!

It wasn't the stone door that slid open; rather, the stone wall itself, along the crack, like two extremely thick "doors" completely integrated with the surrounding rock, slowly rotated inward at an angle! The gap grew wider and wider, from the width of a hair to the width of a finger, and then to the width of a palm…

A richer, fresher air, mixed with a faint fragrance reminiscent of grass after rain and some unknown wildflowers, poured out from the cracks and rushed towards him. At the same time, a milky white, warm, and soft light also emerged, instantly illuminating Li Bai's wide-open eyes in shock, and also illuminating a small patch of dusty altar stone in front of him.

Inside the crevice, there was neither darkness nor rock.

It was a downward-facing, narrow stone staircase passage illuminated by that milky-white light. The passage meandered, its destination unknown. The source of the light seemed to be some kind of self-luminous jade or crystal embedded in the stone walls on both sides of the passage, much brighter and more stable than the luminescent minerals in the caves outside.

Li Bai sheathed his broken sword.

The crack in the stone wall did not close immediately, but remained open about a hand's width, quietly waiting.

He stood before the crevice, feeling the vibrant air and light surging forth from within, then glanced back at the vast, empty, dark blue, and deathly silent cave behind him, and at the dilapidated ancient altar.

The broken sword in his hand emitted a slight, continuous hum, as if urging him on or guiding him.

The information fragment mentions—"It leads to the remaining fragments of the divine kingdom in a deeper realm."

Is this the place?

The wooden plaque was a token, and the initial activation of the remaining power of the Azure Sword was the key... Now, the door is open.

The next step is to go inside and explore the unknown "Fragmented Realm," to find a more complete inheritance, clues to repair the Azure Sword, and... a possible way to quickly leave this place and return to Chengdu?

Time is running out.

On Yang Yuhuan's side, the eunuchs could arrive at any moment.

Li Bai took a deep breath of the fragrant air, feeling the flow of energy in his chest and abdomen become smoother. He gripped the hilt of his sword, using the broken sword as a crutch to support his body, and fixed his gaze firmly on the narrow passage that emitted a warm white light.

There aren't many options.

He has to go in.

One inch.