Upon reaching the Heavenly Dome Sword Pool, one would realize that it is not merely a "small pond", but rather a vast lake shrouded in mist. Unlike ordinary lakes, its surface mirrors the stars in the sky, cold, silver, with numerous energy surges leaping about. A sweep of one's hand over the surface would send chills to the bone, causing a slight sting.
Yu Ci, the male protagonist, dipped his hand into the water again, feeling that under the catalyst of Sword Energy, the lake water had transformed into an inexplicable substance. He was about to venture into it:
"Is the lake water soaked with Sword Energy, or is it the Sword Energy that is soaked in the lake water?"
Xuan Huang did not respond.
"Hey?"
"What's the point of worrying about this? You won't die anyway."
Xuan Huang's mental response was somewhat irritable: "Hurry up and get in, we're running out of time."
Who was the one who had just excitedly asked others to spend time searching for the Pan Emperor's Three Swords?
Yu Ci shook his head, took a deep breath, and stepped into the icy lake water.
The moment he entered the lake, Yu Ci felt its uniqueness. He felt no resistance in the water, only the enveloping chill. As his head fully submerged, he could still see the energy surges under the water, strands upon strands, layers upon layers, reflecting the starlight cast on the lake surface. It was incredibly beautiful, but when he came into contact with it, it felt like sharp spikes.
"Be careful. The lake water is not only soaked with Sword Energy, but also the resentful, wicked aura of the creatures I've slain. In terms of concentration, it's hundreds of times higher than that in the Sword Garden."
"I can feel it."
Yu Ci responded mentally, then curiously asked, "Why don't you gather it up? You're not trying to make things difficult for me now, are you?"
"...What difficulty is this?"
Xuan Huang seemed disdainful, but Yu Ci had another discovery, "Hey, you once said that after breaking through the Three-layer Talisman Seal, you could merge with your body. We're at the Heavenly Dome Sword Pool now..."
Xuan Huang immediately fell silent, only speaking after a while: "Let's talk about something serious, about the journey ahead."
Yu Ci chuckled, his body already dozens of feet deep under the water. Naturally, no creatures could survive here, and the light was almost nonexistent. But under Xuan Huang's guidance, apart from the piercing sword aura, everything else was relatively smooth.
Xuan Huang's thoughts manifested in the Inner Void of the Heart, very clear: "My body is currently suppressing the operation center of the Secret Domain Talisman Seal, manipulating the Primordial Qi of Heaven and Earth, which is crucial. However, given the current situation, after I return and merge with my body, I will inevitably go to kill that thief. Thus, the Secret Domain Talisman Seal will be at its weakest — Alright, I admit that when I set up the Talisman Seal, I just copied it from a book, and there were some inappropriate parts. You'll have to help me out for a while."
Upon hearing this, Yu Ci frowned. It wasn't that he was unwilling to help, but rather that he knew his own limits.
The structure of the Secret Domain Three-layer Talisman Seal was questionable. The reason it could exert its power was not only because of its inherent peculiarity, but more importantly, under the control of Xuan Huang's sword intent, it was filled with a massive amount of Primordial Qi, which enabled it to function.
Once the Xuan Huang Ferocious Sword departed, what would become of the Talisman Seal? Yu Ci would not make any hasty promises without personally verifying the situation.
"It's not that complicated!"
Xuan Huang seemed quite relaxed and casual. "You're only helping to look after it, not being asked to risk your life. As long as you kill that rogue, what does it matter if the Talisman Seal is broken by someone else?"
"You sure have a carefree attitude..."
As Yu Ci responded, he dived another hundred feet, looking down. At this point, a crevice stretching over a hundred feet across the lake bed came into view. More accurately, it was the light emanating from the crevice, like a serpentine band of light, spanning across the dark lake bed.
Yu Ci stopped by the crevice, noticing it was about five feet wide, enough for a person to enter. The essence of the Xuan Huang Killing Sword was within this crevice. At the same time, this was also the operational center of the Secret Domain Three-layer Talisman Seal, and an important meridian point where the spiritual veins of the secret place converged.
Upon closer inspection, the light from the crevice was quite reserved, not dazzling, and it fluctuated rhythmically, like breathing. This was the reaction produced when the essence of the Xuan Huang Killing Sword exchanged with the Primordial Qi of the outside world. Yu Ci reached out to test the nature of the light, but Xuan Huang stopped him:
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"Don't trouble yourself... Don't go in yet, with my essence inside, those below Vacuum Walking Cultivation are not enough for the sword to devour."
Yu Ci clicked his tongue lightly, ultimately not insisting.
Xuan Huang thought for a moment, then said, "We had a deal that day. As long as you help me merge with my essence, I will show you the 'Upper True Nine Heavens Flying Immortal Sword Scripture', and give you a Superior Sword and a Thunder-Slaying Tribulation-Dispelling Ukase. Looking at our journey, full of near-death experiences, I feel I've taken advantage of you, which isn't right..."
Yu Ci frowned, "We'll talk about this when we get back."
Having spent the past few days together, his impression of Xuan Huang had improved greatly. He found the Sword Spirit straightforward and refreshing, which appealed to him. He didn't want to bring up their previous deal, knowing that with Xuan Huang's character, he wouldn't be short-changed.
Xuan Huang was taken aback, then laughed, "Alright, once I've slain that rogue, we'll catch up."
With that said, the sword intent in the Inner Void of the Heart suddenly moved. Yu Ci cooperated well, the Life Death Talisman paused in its operation, allowing the sword intent to project a streak of light, breaking through the air. The next moment, he felt a slight pain in his brow, Xuan Huang's Primordial Spirit had already exited through his brow's meridian point, merging into the light of the lake bed crevice.
A flicker of intent stirred within Yu Ci, his consciousness seeping into the Divine Bronze Mirror. A silent beam of starlight shot forth, pursuing relentlessly. This action could deceive others, but not Xuanhuang, who had already witnessed the capabilities of the Divine Bronze Mirror. By the time Xuanhuang registered surprise, the invisible starlight had already made contact, conveying Yu Ci's thoughts.
"Allow me to learn, if you don't mind."
"It depends on your luck."
In a moment of interaction, the divine consciousness starlight touched Xuanhuang's Primordial Spirit. With the other's silent consent, it easily adhered, achieving another miraculous shared perception.
Immediately after, Yu Ci's "vision" was filled with a sun-like sword aura. The other party had no intention of targeting him, but the overwhelming sword pressure contained within inevitably passed through the divine consciousness starlight, returning to Yu Ci.
Following the Strong Light of the Great Sun, a roaring sea of blood came rushing.
With a muffled grunt, Yu Ci's body violently recoiled, narrowly avoiding being blown away breathless. At this moment, his Divine Soul trembled, his qi channels vibrated, and his physical body also trembled slightly. Fortunately, Xuanhuang was considerate, exerting force suddenly, leaving Yu Ci with only the most basic sensation, preventing him from being embarrassed by the subsequent impact.
Unable to help himself, he retreated two steps. Before he could recover from the dizziness caused by the impact, another clear sword sound rang in his ears. His senses were shaken, and he felt a sudden chill, as if a sharp knife was sliding across his skin.
When he finally regained his senses and looked around, the bottom of the lake was pitch black, the light from the crack had completely disappeared. But when he looked upwards, leaning on a distant sensation, he could see a faint scar stretching nearly two hundred feet from the crack to the lake surface. The massive lake water was divided into two sides by this long scar, unable to close.
"I still didn't see the shape of that sword..."
Yu Ci finally acknowledged the gap, shaking his head, no longer thinking about useless things. After resting for a moment near the crack at the bottom of the lake, he took out a pearl used for illumination and followed the edge of the crack downwards. About twenty feet down, under the light of the pearl, countless patterns flickered on the rock walls on both sides. These were not natural rock patterns, but Rune Patterns laid down when designing the Secret Domain seal off, meant to control the power leaked by the Xuan Huang Killing Sword and the gathered Earth Qi Spiritual Veins.
To these, Yu Ci paid only cursory attention. Following Xuanhuang's earlier instructions, he descended to a spot near the bottom of the crack, where the space suddenly opened up.
Yu Ci tossed out the Night Pearls he held, watching as they traced an arc in the nearly nonexistent lake water, revealing the contours of the vast space before him.
The Rune Patterns on the rock walls extended, forming an enormous net-like structure that spread out to the sides. Upon touching the ground, they converged inward, finally gathering at the center of the ground, atop a four-layered circular altar.
The altar, approximately twenty feet tall and covering an area of about one hundred square feet, was built entirely of white stone. There were no flags or magical instruments in sight, and its size was in perfect harmony with the space at the bottom of the lake. Xuanhuang had already told him that each level of the four-tiered altar corresponded to a talisman seal, with the fourth level controlling the seal off within the Guixu, or the bottomless valley in the sea. This multi-layered arrangement was integrated through the altar, and the true form of the Xuan Huang Killing Sword was suppressed directly above the altar.
The Night Pearls he tossed hit the railing of the second layer of the altar, rolling to the ground and emitting a faint blue light, half of which was obscured by the shadow of the altar. Yu Ci, a man, floated down and examined the structure of the altar in the glow.
Suddenly, the light dimmed.
Yu Ci was instantly alert, but before he could react, a familiar figure emerged from the shadow of the altar, holding the Night Pearl in his hand. The transformed lake water seeped through the gaps in his armor, releasing a string of tiny bubbles. Under the pearl's light, they were dreamy and pleasing to the eye, contrasting sharply with the fierce armor.
"You're here too," the figure spoke.
Standing only five feet away from this monster, feeling the heavy pressure from the armor, Yu Ci curled his lips into a cold sneer.
"It seems I am destined to meet with the Clan Leader."
With that, the humming of the sword echoed, and the four-foot green blade was in his hand. This sword, named 'Slaying-Flood-Dragon,' was recently seized from the Pan Emperor's Three Swords. He valued it for its toughness, sharpness, and the fact that it required no special cultivation. It was exactly the sword he needed at this stage.
With a sword in hand, all distractions were gone. His mindset naturally relaxed, and his smile became more casual. "The Clan Leader has come here, but it seems he has taken a wrong turn. There are no treasures or secret sword methods here."
As he spoke, he used his sword intent to lock onto the opponent's aura. The aura of the Heavy Weapon Sect leader was elusive, standing before him, it seemed like an empty shell pieced together by armor. No matter how skilled his swordsmanship, it was meaningless to hack at a suit of armor.
However, in this Star Track Sword Realm, Yu Ci had other options.
"Calm down, calm down..."
Yu Ci muttered to himself, his heart gradually opening up to the Sword in the Middle, making contact with another sword intent contained deep within the void, evolving, finally taking over a thread of the opponent's power, and using the opponent's "perspective" to lock onto the Heavy Weapon Sect leader again.
This time, he finally "saw".
There's no face to explain a miserable life. The rhythm adjustment has failed...
...