Martial Universe: Inherit the Future, Quickly Become a Martial Ancestor!

The next moment, the ancestor withdrew his hand.

The sword dragon slowly dissipated, and countless longswords returned to their places, disappearing back into the cliff face, as if the earth-shattering scene just now was nothing more than a dream in the valley.

"How much did you understand?"

The old man stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze fixed on the three of them, his tone indifferent.

Lan He spoke first, his eyes still showing lingering shock:

"Reporting to our Ancestor, this Immortal Sword Technique... bears the resemblance to the Taiqing Dividing Light Sword."

Upon hearing this, the ancestor nodded slightly, a smile appearing on his lips.

"That's right, you're very accurate."

He spoke slowly, his tone tinged with reminiscence:

"The Immortal Sword Technique was originally developed by the founding ancestor of my Immortal Dynasty based on the Taiqing Dividing Light Sword passed down from the Taiqing Palace in the Nine Heavens. Although it is called an evolution, it has actually been completely transformed."

He paused, glanced at the three men, and seeing that they were all listening attentively, continued:

"The splitting of the sword light by the Taiqing Dividing Light Sword is, in the end, just a means. The real core lies in the control of the sword."

The Lan family patriarch raised his hand, pointing towards the longswords that had just been returned to their places on the cliff face, his tone tinged with emotion:

"The Immortal Sword Technique takes this to its extreme. It doesn't differentiate sword light, but rather wields real swords. When hundreds of swords are unleashed simultaneously, it's like hundreds of sword lights, yet it's a hundred times more powerful and agile than sword lights."

He withdrew his hand, stood with his hands behind his back, and his gaze fell on the three of them:

"This is the essence of the Immortal Sword Technique."

After speaking, Lan He seemed to be deep in thought, then asked, "So, Ancestor, the Immortal Sword Technique is an advanced martial art of the Taiqing Dividing Light Sword?"

The old man nodded slightly, then shook his head: "You could say that, and you could say that it isn't. The Immortal Sword Technique did indeed originate from the Taiqing Dividing Light Sword, but it has long surpassed it."

His gaze swept over the three of them, and he suddenly asked:

"Among the three of you, is there any who hasn't cultivated the Taiqing Dividing Light Sword?"

Upon hearing this, Lan Ying stepped forward and frankly said, "Ancestor, I have never practiced it. Although that sword technique is a martial art of creation, it is too profound and requires extremely high comprehension. I pondered it for several months but still could not get the hang of it, so I simply gave up and turned to practice other martial arts."

She said this with a calm expression, without the slightest hesitation or shame, as if she were simply stating a perfectly ordinary fact.

The old man smiled, showing no sign of blame, and instead nodded:

"Making choices wisely is also a prudent approach. In the path of martial arts, not every path is suitable for everyone. Knowing what you are not suited for is more important than blindly persisting."

He paused, then looked at Lan Ying with gentle eyes:

"I will teach you another superior spiritual martial art in a moment. Although it is not as fierce and domineering as the Immortal Sword Technique, it will be enough for you to benefit for a lifetime."

After saying that, he looked at Qingfeng and asked, "And you?"

Qingfeng bowed slightly, his expression calm and composed, his tone neither humble nor arrogant:

"Reporting to our ancestor, I have indeed cultivated this art. The Qing and Lan families have been related by marriage for generations, and my family does possess the complete lineage of the Taiqing Dividing Light Sword. I have been cultivating it since childhood, for seven years now, and have already achieved perfection."

Upon hearing this, the old man's eyes flashed with approval, and he unusually glanced at him a few more times.

"To have mastered it in seven years is no easy feat. This sword technique is indeed difficult to master; even among the direct descendants of the Lan family, only a handful can achieve it to perfection. Your achievement demonstrates a solid foundation and remarkable comprehension."

He paused, his gaze returning to Lan He, his expression regaining its initial calm:

"In that case, you two lads shall follow this old man to cultivate the Immortal Sword Technique."

The old man turned around, pointed to the dense array of longswords on the cliff face, and said in a solemn tone:

"This is the Sword Tomb, the best place to cultivate immortal sword techniques. Every sword here is the best teacher."

"Each sword contains a different sword intent and has its own temperament. What you need to do next is to use your own sword intent to spar with them, clash with them, and conquer them."

The old man paused, his gaze sweeping over the longswords, some intact and some broken, on the cliff face, his tone now carrying a more serious tone:

"The longswords here are at least Earth-rank spiritual treasures. Although many are damaged, they are more than enough for your cultivation. As a reward—"

He looked at the three of them, a slight smile playing on his lips:

"You can take away as much as you can conquer."

Upon hearing this, Lan He's eyes lit up, and he blurted out:

"Is what our ancestor said true?"

The Lan family patriarch smiled calmly and stroked his long beard: "Why would I lie to you? I always keep my word. However..."

He glanced at Lan He, his tone carrying a hint of teasing from an elder looking at a younger person:

"It's good that young people have ambition, but don't get too excited. The swords in this Sword Tomb aren't something you can just take as you please. Throughout history, those who have managed to subdue more than ten swords on their first visit are considered exceptionally talented; those who have managed more than twenty are extremely rare, perhaps only seen once in a century. If you can subdue three or five swords on your first visit to familiarize yourself with the techniques, that would be quite good."

Lan He smiled but didn't reply.

He turned and walked towards the cliff face, where he sat cross-legged on a relatively flat bluestone.

The Lan family patriarch stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze casually falling on him, his expression indifferent, clearly not holding any expectations.

Young people always need to experience some hardship to learn their place.

Back then, he went through the same thing.

Lan He closed his eyes and concentrated.

A moment later, he opened his eyes and his gaze swept over the dense array of longswords in front of him.

The next instant, a powerful sword intent surged from his body like a tide, instantly enveloping the dozens of swords closest to him.

At the same time, within the Niwan Palace, countless spiritual energies surged forth, and under the harmonization of the Qiankun Ancient Array, they quietly merged with that sword intent, transforming into countless invisible tentacles that probed into those ancient swords that had been dormant for countless years.

On the cliff face, a rusty ancient sword suddenly trembled slightly.

The Lan family patriarch raised an eyebrow.

Oh?

The second sword also began to tremble.

The third one, the fourth one...

The cries of swords rose and fell, like beasts that had slumbered for years being awakened one by one. The longswords seemed to sense a familiar aura, and simultaneously emitted a deep resonance, as if responding, or as if submitting.

The calm expression on the face of the Lan family patriarch froze slightly.

He slowly straightened up, a strange sense of foreboding rising in his heart.

On the cliff face, sword light, like flowing water, peeled away one after another, swirling around Lan He. Each sword, as it fell, emitted a clear, melodious sound, as if bowing in submission to its new master.

Five, eight, ten, fifteen, twenty...

The Lan family patriarch narrowed his eyes slightly. Although his face remained calm, his heart was churning with turbulent emotions.

This isn't right, why isn't this kid stopping?

Twenty-five handles.

Twenty-eight handles.

When the fiftieth longsword came to a steady stop in front of Lan He, Lan He finally lowered his hand.

He was surrounded by sword light, fifty Earth-rank spiritual treasure swords hovering silently, their blades bowed low, like ministers paying homage. Lan He looked up at his ancestor above the cliff, his expression filled with anticipation, yet his tone tinged with caution:

"Ancestor, are all of these... for me?"

The Lan family patriarch stood frozen in place.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found his throat felt like it was blocked by something. A sharp pain shot through his chest, making his eyelids twitch.

Although most of these swords were damaged, they were still Earth-rank spiritual treasures, relics left by predecessors and the accumulated wealth of the Sword Tomb over hundreds of years. He originally planned that each of the three juniors would take a few swords, totaling only a few dozen swords. The Sword Tomb was a large and wealthy family, so this loss was nothing.

But now this kid has taken fifty of them all by himself, and there's another one waiting in line.

He slowly closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then took another deep breath.

When he opened his eyes again, his gaze toward Lan He was filled with an indescribable complexity: three parts relief, three parts heartache, and four parts resentment that said, "You better stop now."

"...It's yours now."

His voice was dry and hoarse, as if each word was being squeezed out from between his teeth.

He paused, then added:

"Alright, you can go stand over there and move on to the next one."

The eagerness in his tone was obvious to everyone.

If he looked at the kid again, he was afraid he might really lose his temper and snatch the sword back.