The strongest intermediary in all realms

As Zhou Ming passed through the swirling light, he felt as if he had been twisted, like a wet towel being wrung out and then loosened.

When he came to his senses, his feet were already on solid ground.

The air has changed.

The air in the Condor Heroes world is crisp with the scent of pine and night wind, the rift zone smells of ozone and dust, but here—the Azure Sky Realm—there is an indescribable sense of "heaviness".

It felt as if the entire space was being pressed down by some kind of weight, making even breathing more difficult than usual. The air was filled with a faint, fishy scent of grass and trees, and the outlines of the distant mountains were shrouded in a thin layer of pale blue mist. The sky took on a strange azure color, like a piece of old jade soaked in water.

"The spiritual energy concentration is much higher." Xiao Qi's voice came through the system, so clear it was as if he were standing right next to him. "According to Blue Star's measurement standards, the spiritual energy here is probably more than two hundred times that of Yuecheng District. Ordinary people who stay here for a long time will have their physical constitution subtly improved."

Zhou Ming took a deep breath, feeling his mind clearer. But he had no time to reflect, and quickly looked around. He stood on a grassy slope halfway up a mountain, with pebbles and wildflowers under his feet. In front of him, the view was wide open, and he could see a giant mountain peak half-hidden in the clouds.

On the mountainside, one can vaguely see broken stone steps and collapsed palace foundations, like the skeleton left behind after a huge architectural complex was torn apart by time.

That is the site of the Shenxiao Sect.

"Should we go straight there?" Zhou Ming asked.

"Wait a minute." Xiao Qi brought up the scanning interface, and a semi-transparent holographic map was projected in front of Zhou Ming's field of vision, marking several red dots on the hillside. "I used the system's passive scan and found two groups of people outside the ruins. One group is dressed as cultivators, probably searching for treasure; the other group... is wearing black tight-fitting clothes, looks well-trained, and doesn't seem to be locals."

"Doesn't seem like a local?"

"Hmm, their energy fluctuations don't quite match the spiritual energy of the Azure Sky Realm; they're more like—" Xiao Qi paused, "...like the characteristics of transmigrators from Blue Star. But there's no information about these people in the Transmigration Administration's registration system, so they're very likely black market transmigrators."

Zhou Ming's heart tightened. If the secret of the Green Wave Sword had been discovered by the black market transmigrators, Lin Xiaowan's situation would be in danger. He made a decisive decision: instead of heading directly towards the ruins, he took a long detour and crept up the mountain via a hidden path on the other side.

The path was half-hidden by collapsed stone walls and vines, clearly untrodden for years. Zhou Ming used both hands and feet, his backpack swaying on his back, the nail clippers and ballpoint pen clanging against each other. It took him nearly an hour to climb over the broken walls surrounding the ruins and squeeze into the interior of a partially collapsed stone hall.

The hall was dimly lit, with a large hole in the ceiling letting in a bluish light that rippled on the water on the floor. The stone walls bore faded murals depicting scenes of flying on swords and alchemy rituals, most of which were now blurred. The only thing clearly visible was a dilapidated stone niche at the far end of the main hall—empty, but with a groove carved into its base that perfectly matched the outline of the Green Wave Sword's scabbard.

"This is it." Zhou Ming crouched down to examine the groove carefully. "This sword was originally stuck in this base, but it was later pulled out and ended up on Earth."

Xiao Qi scanned the residual energy around the base with his vision and reported back after a few seconds: "There are traces of divine consciousness imprints remaining at the bottom of the groove. If we can activate it, we should be able to read the information sealed within the sword. But it requires the infusion of Foundation Establishment stage spiritual energy—how about trying a Cleansing Talisman?"

Zhou Ming took out the yellowed talisman. The Heart-Cleansing Talisman is a low-level talisman and does not have the function of attack or infusion, but Xiao Qi came up with a clever idea: stick the talisman on the surface of the groove and use the spiritual energy left in the talisman as a "catalyst" to activate the dormant divine consciousness imprint on the base.

"The success rate isn't high, but it's worth a try," Xiaoqi said.

Zhou Ming did as instructed. He pressed the Tranquilizing Talisman into the center of the groove, holding it down with his palm, and applied slight pressure as Xiao Qi had guided him. A faint, warm light emanated from the talisman, like the brightness of a firefly's tail. The light flowed slowly along the groove's lines, spreading across the entire surface of the base.

The stone niche trembled slightly.

Immediately afterwards, a blurry figure slowly emerged from above the base. The figure was an old man dressed in blue, with a thin face, a long beard reaching his chest, and eyes that held a weariness and relief that seemed to have traversed time. His figure was semi-transparent, like an old videotape, its edges flickering.

"Lin Qingxuan, the last leader of the Shenxiao Sect, left this divine consciousness for future generations."

The voice resounded directly in Zhou Ming's mind. The old man's gaze seemed to pierce through his eyes and reach the depths of his consciousness.

"The one who can activate this mark must be a destined person who has come with my Green Wave Sword. Outsiders say that the Shenxiao Clan was wiped out by enemies, but the truth is far more tragic—the one who destroyed Shenxiao was not a particular enemy, but rather a 'purgation'."

Zhou Ming's heart skipped a beat. The Pursuers of the Heavens? That term again.

"Three hundred years ago, a mysterious figure claiming to be the 'Cleansing Envoy' descended upon the Azure Sky Realm, stating that the interconnectedness of all worlds was a 'pathological disease' that needed to be eradicated using the 'Severance Technique' to eliminate the 'sources of pollution' from each world. The Divine Firmament Sect, having repeatedly attempted interdimensional communication, was considered the 'head of the lesion,' and overnight, all 370+ members of the sect…"

The old man's image flickered, and his voice revealed a hint of suppressed pain.

"...I was the only one who escaped. The Green Wave Sword contains the 'Divine Firmament Lightning Summoning Technique,' the culmination of my life's learning, and fragments of some interdimensional secret arts. I dare not pass these things on to others, fearing the Purgatory Enforcers will follow the trail. Only those who leave this realm with this sword have a chance to preserve their legacy in a wider world, until the right opportunity arises..."

The old man's image faded further and further, his last words almost like a sigh: "...When the time is right, the truth will be revealed. Let no calamity of reckoning be repeated in other realms."

The light completely died down. The Cleansing Talisman turned into a wisp of ashes and drifted from Zhou Ming's palm. The stone niche returned to silence, as if nothing had happened.

Zhou Ming knelt on the spot, his palms sweating profusely.

"The Divine Firmament Sect was wiped out by the Purifiers." He slowly stood up, his voice hoarse. "More than three hundred and seventy lives. All because of an attempt to communicate across realms."

Xiao Qi was silent for a few seconds, then slowly spoke: "The Green Wave Sword contains a great deal of information. Although my divine sense dissipated just now, I managed to extract some data fragments—including the cultivation method of the 'Divine Firmament Thunder-Drawing Technique' and instructions for using a cross-dimensional secret technique. If this information is given to Lin Xiaowan as is, she simply cannot digest it all; it will only bring trouble upon herself."

"Then what should we do?" Zhou Ming asked.

"Give it to her step by step," Xiao Qi said. "First, tell her about the sword's origin and the background of the Shenxiao Sect, without mentioning the Purifiers or the Lightning Summoning Technique. Just let her know that her family's ancestral sword is a token of the leader of a certain immortal sect, satisfying her most basic curiosity. We can tell her the deeper secrets when she's old enough to handle them."

Zhou Ming thought for a moment and nodded: "Yes. Telling her the truth about the massacre now would be like pushing her into a fire pit. She's just an intern, not even at the Foundation Establishment stage yet; knowing too much would only be a death sentence."

He turned to leave the stone hall, but after taking only two steps, he suddenly heard footsteps and voices outside.

"...According to intelligence, that groove should be located within these ruins." A deep male voice came from outside the stone hall. "Find it, make a copy of the remaining divine imprint, and bring it back to the 'High Priest' for analysis."

Another voice chimed in, "Boss, that girl yesterday said this sword was a family heirloom. Could someone have already gotten it first?"

"Get there first?" A deep male voice sneered. "The Green Wave Sword hasn't had its mark activated in decades. She's just a mortal? Don't worry. We'll bring enough 'energy runes' to forcefully infuse it and pry open the mark directly. Take what you need and leave. Don't linger here."

The footsteps grew closer.

Zhou Ming's heart skipped a beat. He looked around; there was almost nowhere to hide in the stone hall, except for the narrow crack behind the stone niche—just big enough for one person to squeeze through sideways. Without a word, he hunched his shoulders and squeezed into the crack, his backpack deformed from the pressure, the ballpoint pen inside poking painfully into his back.

He held his breath and peered through the crack.

Three men in black entered the stone hall. The one in the lead was tall and muscular, with a device that shimmered with purple light hanging from his waist—Zhou Ming recognized it as a "plane locator" commonly used by transmigrators in the Blue Star black market. The two behind him carried a portable rune imprinting tool and some kind of scanner, creating an incongruous blend of technology and cultivation.

"This is it." The tall man walked to the stone niche, squatted down to examine the groove, and said, "The Shenxiao Sect Master's legacy imprint still retains faint traces of energy. But it's very weak, as if it was just activated."

He suddenly looked up, his sharp gaze sweeping across the entire stone hall.

Zhou Ming huddled even tighter inside the crack. Xiao Qi silently typed a line on the system panel: "If they search carefully, they'll find you in less than half a minute."

But the tall man seemed to be in a hurry. After looking around and finding nothing unusual, he waved to his companions to start working. The rubbing tool was placed on the surface of the groove, and purple light flowed as it began to absorb the residual energy data.

"Three minutes to handle," the tall man said. "Then retreat. There have been local cultivators from the Azure Sky Realm active in these ruins recently; don't get into a conflict with them."

Zhou Ming dared not move in the crevice. He felt the sweat on his back had soaked through his T-shirt, and he pinched his palms with his fingertips, trying to control the intensity of each breath.

Time ticked by, second by second.

Finally, the purple light faded, and the rubbing was complete. The tall man packed up his tools and, leading his two companions, left the stone hall without looking back. The sound of their footsteps faded into the distance, eventually disappearing among the rubble of the ruins.

When Zhou Ming crawled out of the crevice, his legs were a little weak. He leaned against the stone wall, panting heavily, his heart pounding like a drum.

"They copied the remaining data of the imprint," Xiao Qi's voice was somewhat grave. "Although I've already extracted most of the deeper information, the portion they were able to copy at least contains the introductory material for the 'Divine Firmament Thunder-Drawing Technique' and approximate boundary coordinates. If the 'High Priest' is one of the Purifiers... then they are collecting inherited information and cross-dimensional coordinates from various worlds."

Zhou Ming rubbed his stiff shoulders, his eyes darkening.

"Then we absolutely can't let Lin Xiaowan get involved," he said. "When we go back, I'll only tell her about the sword's origin and the general background story of the Shenxiao Sect. I'll handle the rest myself for now."

He slung his backpack over his shoulder and slipped out through the back door of the stone hall. The light outside was dimmer than when he had arrived, and the azure sky seemed veiled by a thin layer of gauze. He hurried back towards the rift zone.

The last words of the last leader of the Divine Firmament Sect kept echoing in my mind—

"Let not the calamity of reckoning be repeated in other realms."

He won't let that happen.

At least, within his capabilities, it's not possible.