Chapter 489 - 470: Starry Sky Sword Intent Inheritance

Chapter 489: Chapter 470: Starry Sky Sword Intent Inheritance

Refining the Golden Light Fierce Fire Sword required a total of thirteen types of Five Metals Spirit, and the quantity needed was double that of a normal Tier Three Flying Sword.

The final step of Sword Refinement was tempering it with a True Flame.

A Golden Light Fierce Fire Sword tempered with the Nine Yang True Flame would possess additional killing power against demons and wicked spirits.

The Sword Refining Secret Technique only mentioned the three types of True Flames he had tried. In reality, other True Flames could likely be used for the tempering, but there was no need for risky experiments.

The preliminary work was mostly complete, and since the conditions here were ideal, Bai Zichen decided to refine the sword on the spot.

All the Five Metals Spirit had already been refined once. Nascent Soul Xiaobai breathed out a gout of Pure Yang True Flame, which quickly melted them into a single mass that took the shape of a Flying Sword.

Following the Sword Refining Secret Technique, he struck thirty-three Forbidden into it, and grayish-black impurities gradually dripped out.

The sword was seven feet long and reddish-gold from hilt to tip, its blade as thick and wide as a door plank.

Seeing the time was right, he gave a soft shout, and the mass of Innate Nine Yang True Flame spread out, enveloping the sword’s body tightly within.

After tempering it for three full days and three nights, he heard a chime like a Jade Sound. Bai Zichen’s heart relaxed, knowing the Sword Refinement was complete.

He withdrew the Innate Nine Yang True Flame, and a brand-new Flying Sword appeared before his eyes.

Because he had refined it himself, he already shared a spiritual connection with it and could control it without impediment; no further tempering was necessary.

’I only tempered a Tier Three Flying Sword. Why did the flame become so weak? I hope this won’t affect the Nine Yang Divine Fire Mirror’s recovery...’

Bai Zichen ignored the Golden Light Fierce Fire Sword; his first concern was for the ball of Innate Nine Yang True Flame.

Its reddish glow was much dimmer than before, and the nine-colored light swirling within its flames had nearly come to a standstill.

’I’d better wait for the Nine Yang True Flame to recover... A failed integration would be bad enough, but it would be even more troublesome if it succeeded without immediately returning to its state as a Top-Grade Magical Treasure.’

A large part of the Nine Yang Divine Fire Mirror’s value lay in its vast, accumulated power. It only needed its missing parts repaired to become a Top-Grade Magical Treasure again, and from there, it had a good chance of ascending to a Spiritual Treasure within a century.

If it only became a High-Grade Magical Treasure, the time required would be far greater, and its ascension to a Spiritual Treasure would become a distant dream.

This ball of Innate Nine Yang True Flame was merely overtaxed from tempering the Flying Sword. It should recover fully if left alone for a period to absorb Fire Element Spiritual Energy.

’This is a good chance to explore Luofeng Mountain. Even if there are no Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, collecting a few wisps of Innate True Flame would be good...’

Bai Zichen grasped the Golden Light Fierce Fire Sword. He was turning it over in his hands, about to place it into his Sword Box, when he suddenly froze.

’With this sword complete, I think I’ve finally gathered the twelve Flying Swords needed to deploy the Star River Sword Array!’

He opened his Sword Box. Inside were three Tier Four Flying Swords, another three Thunder Sound Swords, the Formless Sword, the Snow Forged Sword, the Qingfeng Sword, the Great Sun Celestial Furnace Sword, the Cyan Dragon Sea Roaring Sword, the newly acquired Hundred Poison Cold Python Sword, and the just-refined Golden Light Fierce Fire Sword.

Excluding the Cyan Dragon Sea Roaring Sword—which was unusable as it was currently undergoing the Hidden Sword process to gestate the Qing Emperor Longevity Sword—that made for exactly twelve Flying Swords.

’To have gathered all the necessary Flying Swords by chance right here on Luofeng Mountain... is this a sign that I should accept the Sword Intent inheritance and comprehend the Star River Sword Array?’

A jolt went through Bai Zichen, and once the thought arose, he found it impossible to suppress.

When he first obtained the Star River Sword Monarch’s legacy and learned of the Star River Sword Array, he had only been a Qi Refining Disciple, a fledgling in the Sect just barely considered by some to be a Foundation Establishment Seed.

To this day, he still remembered his excitement upon reading the Taibai Sword Sect’s True Understanding of Sword Dao and learning of the Five Realms of Sword Dao. He remembered the intense yearning sparked by tales of the Star River Sword Monarch, who had used his Sword Array to reign invincible, defeating many foes single-handedly.

For a very long time, the Star River Sword Array had been his ultimate goal.

Many of his actions had been guided by the singular purpose of assembling the Star River Sword Array.

Only after he reached Core Formation, when his strength soared and he acquired other trump cards, did his desperation for the Star River Sword Array finally lessen somewhat.

Especially after forming his Nascent Soul, a mere Tier Three Sword Array no longer satisfied him; he had even begun to dream of creating an unprecedented Tier Four Sword Array.

That was why he had lost count and hadn’t immediately realized that the number of usable Flying Swords in his possession had reached twelve.

’This must be the will of heaven. Then today, I shall accept the inheritance of the Starry Sky Sword Intent and attempt the Array Formation... If I can’t comprehend it, given my current circumstances, then no Sword Cultivator in the world is worthy.’

Seized by a stroke of inspiration, Bai Zichen did not hesitate. He immediately found a flat mountain rock and sat down cross-legged.

If he waited another century, and if he could advance further on the Time Path, the duration of the Hidden Sword process for the Qing Emperor Longevity Sword would shorten once more. Then, the importance of the Star River Sword Array would diminish greatly.

After all, with a Nascent Soul Phenomenon wreathed in the Power of Time, he already possessed the ability to strike with two swords simultaneously.

Whether used together or separately, they were among the most powerful killing techniques in the Nascent Soul Realm.

Anyone below the Late-Stage Nascent Soul Realm could only endure the blow by sacrificing their own lifespan.

If their life was long enough, they lived.

If it was not, they died.

It was that clean and simple, with no frills or tricks involved.

Among Nascent Soul True Monarchs—a group where someone four or five hundred years old could still be called young and promising—it was truly not easy to find a Cultivator who could withstand two consecutive strikes from the Qing Emperor Longevity Sword.

’But the Path of Time is mysterious and unfathomable. Even a Divinity Transformation Great Power who studies it is at the mercy of fate... Advancement depends entirely on fortuitous encounters or sudden enlightenment; it cannot be achieved through mere diligent practice.’

Compared to the elusive Time Path, it was still essential to have another trump card ready.

After all, his opponent was the Outer Sea Dragon Lord, a Transformed Great Demon on par with a Great True Monarch of the Human Race.

In fact, because of its True Dragon Bloodline, its strength was such that it ranked at the very top among Great True Monarchs.

He estimated it was only slightly weaker than Great True Monarch Hongfa, and not by a wide margin.

Against such an opponent, ordinary methods would be useless. He feared that even his most powerful strike would only shatter a few scales, failing to inflict any serious injury on the Dragon Monarch.

And a loss of four hundred years of lifespan was entirely bearable for a long-lived Great Demon of the Dragon Race.

Unless he could master the complete version of the Qing Emperor Longevity Sword in a short amount of time, raising its power to a whole new level, only then could he possibly pose a fatal threat to the Dragon Monarch.

And that was without even considering the resistance from the Dragon Monarch’s Great Dao True Intent. Given its Realm and mastery over True Intent, it could already counteract a portion of the Power of Time.

"The First Realm of Sword Dao: Mastery of Sword Control, to enter and leave the Cyan Nether..."

Bai Zichen took out the Ancient Book, which seemed to be made of gold and jade, flipped to the first page, and reread the True Understanding of Sword Dao he had already studied countless times.

A Sword Cultivator’s figure moved like a dragon, his Sword Light dancing up and down, controlled as effortlessly as a limb.

"The Second Realm of Sword Dao: Sword Qi Thunder Sound..."

As the sword is drawn, it produces the sound of wind and thunder, allowing every strike to have the force of a full-power attack while using only thirty percent of one’s strength.

Before the old force is spent, the new is already born.

"The Third Realm of Sword Dao: Refining Sword into Silk..."

In the illusory image on this page, a Sword Cultivator controlled two strands of Sword Silk. All who stood in their way were swept aside, and anything they touched instantly disintegrated. This was the principle of One Sword Breaks Ten Thousand Laws.

"The Fourth Realm of Sword Dao: Sword Light Division..."

An aloof Sword Cultivator stood alone by the sea. The longsword in his hand pulsed, then erupted in a blinding radiance that transformed into innumerable beams of Sword Light striking down upon the ocean’s surface.

This raised apocalyptic waves, but with a second strike, the sea was calmed, and tranquility returned.

In Sword Light Division, every one of the thousands of Sword Lights possesses true killing power. This, in turn, leads to One Sword Births Ten Thousand Techniques.

Life is born from the sword, evolving into Creation itself.

"The Fifth Realm of Sword Dao: True Intent Merging Sword..."

The final page of the Ancient Book had no description for the Fifth Realm, because the Star River Sword Monarch himself had never reached this stage. Instead, it displayed scene after scene of the Star River Sword Array’s evolution.

Bai Zichen closed his eyes. Every passage and every figure from the Ancient Book was deeply etched into his mind, impossible to forget.

He reviewed it one last time, as if saying farewell to the True Understanding of Sword Dao that had accompanied him for so long.

’The lonely Star River awaits the dawn. Today, I shall ascend to the starry sky once more!’

Bai Zichen lightly flicked a finger against the Ancient Book’s glowing page. The page shattered, and a wash of pure starlight enveloped him.

The stars shifted around him. His vision went black, and suddenly he was in a boundless, starry void.

He felt weightless, floating in a completely still and silent space.

But in the next moment, innumerable stars ignited in the void, beginning a ceaseless, revolving dance.

Like the orbits of celestial bodies and the rising and setting of the sun and moon, their patterns were ancient and immutable.

The contrast between the stillness and the motion was profound and difficult to describe, creating a powerful sense of discordance.

The vast majority of Cultivators failed the inheritance at this very step and were ejected.

Whether it was because he had reached the Nascent Soul Realm or because he had already experienced two Sword Intent inheritances, he felt no discomfort and passed this stage with ease.

Then, the myriad stars began to turn in complex, profound patterns, containing within them celestial mysteries and the Starry Sky True Intent.

Any single moment of their movement, if isolated, could evolve into a marvelous and immensely powerful Swordsmanship technique.

Only a Cultivator with immense talent and perseverance in the Sword Dao had any hope of passing this trial.

Otherwise, they would be completely overwhelmed by the infinite celestial trajectories flooding their Sea of Consciousness, with no hope of processing it all in time.

Perhaps it was his early years spent practicing the Star Luo Swordsmanship and comprehending Astrology, a period of deep Sword Comprehension, that made him far more receptive to the Starry Sky True Intent than an ordinary person.

Or perhaps it was due to his practice of the True Enlightenment Sword Technique, which had granted him Sword Heart Clarity. With it, he understood that all the world’s myriad Swordsmanship techniques are fundamentally connected, which naturally made them easier to process.

An unknown amount of time passed before the stars began to dim one by one, transforming into falling meteors.

Each meteor transformed into a beam of Sword Light that shot toward him, suffused with the Starry Sky Sword Intent.

In the void, Bai Zichen made a grasping motion, and a Flying Sword formed purely of starlight appeared in his hand.

The starlight pulsed, the sword’s length shifting unpredictably from a few feet long to a beam that spanned the starry sky.

He began an endless cycle of raising his sword to parry the attacks. After countless cycles of sun and moon, the meteor shower finally ceased.

It seemed that even the endless stars of the universe would one day all fall.

’I succeeded in the inheritance just like that? I’ve mastered the Starry Sky Sword Intent?’

His vision went black again. When he opened his eyes, Bai Zichen was no longer in the void but standing on solid volcanic rock.

Within his Sea of Consciousness, the starry sky that had been paved with Five Crystal Divine Iron faded away. In its place, true stars and celestial bodies appeared, making the space seem even more vast and boundless.

Standing alone amidst this new starry sky, he felt an even greater sense of solitude.

The entire process had been unexpectedly smooth, nothing like the nigh-impossible ordeal fraught with a thousand perils that the Star River Sword Monarch had described.

’Perhaps the Star River Sword Monarch was referring to the difficulty of receiving the inheritance at the Core Formation Realm. He himself mastered the Starry Sky True Intent before reaching the Nascent Soul Realm... ’

Bai Zichen speculated briefly. Regardless of the reason, he had successfully mastered the Starry Sky Sword Intent.

Now that the greatest hurdle was overcome, deploying the Sword Array would be a trivial matter for someone with his level of Sword Dao Cultivation.