Festivities were in full swing as the Sword Sect and Veridian Peaks were celebrating the breakthrough of their sect master and emperor.
During the heaven shaking battle four weeks ago the Sword King had shown the world once more why he held the title of Sword King and why he was the one in charge of the whole of Veridian Peaks. This slaughter fest also served as a clear reminder as to why he resided in the best cultivation grounds for thousands of kilometers.
The moment the Slaughter Sword appeared in the world, 3 of the assailing old monsters had been turned into a bloody mist, their souls unable to even escape the grasp of that ancient treasure as they were all subsequently absorbed by the tyrannical aura of the sword.
The following battles were a one sided affair as the strongest cultivator amongst the group was a 4th Soul Shattering cultivator from the York Empire and their combined efforts couldn’t overcome both men's breakthrough.
Ancestor Fang’s elusive speed and intractable attacks combined flawlessly with his old friend’s momentum. The Sword King was like an unstoppable avalanche falling off a mountain while Fang Mo was like a nimble cheetah as he zipped through the battlefield, reaping lives every time he swung his short 60cm long blade.
Building upon the momentum gained following the demise of the key figures in this attack, several sect masters in the nearby regions met a similar fate, their lives reduced to nothing but ashes.
The elders who were not preoccupied with Tyler's recuperation were promptly mobilized with their disciples and launched a sweeping campaign across their respective sects!
Those who dared to rebel met a swift and unforgiving end, their lives extinguished on sight.
However, those who chose to surrender and submit to the Sword Sect's authority were spared and made into slaves, under the unwavering rule of the Sword King.
Following this, the Sword Sect placed its own disciples in each of these newly-subordinate sects, effectively transforming them into branches of the Sword Sect.
In the end, with their combined efforts, six sects met their demise overnight, while the remaining ones were forced to retreat, nursing severe injuries.
But unfortunately for those injured and the various groups that were spying on the whole events, Ancestor Fang would leave no one alive that knew why this conflict originated other than the Keepers of the Red Dust.
Not a single Soul Shattering cultivator in a thousand kilometers remained alive to tell what had caused this conflict.
The only exception to this was a single wandering cultivator who had started escaping the moment she felt something was off.
This brutal lesson served as a stark reminder to all that the Timeless Blade, Fang Mo, and the Sword King, Lin Jian, were not to be trifled with and that this situation wasn’t normal for them to be this overbearing.
Once everything had been settled, Ancestor Fang chose to return to his seclusion beneath the lake as he was sporting quite a few injuries. After all, even with his cultivation level, taking on so many Soul Shattering cultivators at once exacted its toll.
He left behind two communication crystals—one for his old friend and one for Tyler—with the Sword King, should any new challenges arise. He wouldn't allow anyone else to even contemplate interfering with the future sect of his beloved daughter and benefactor.
The repercussions of this event reverberated throughout the mortal world of Veridian Peaks. The few mortal kings of the far cities sent delegations with gifts to the Sword Mountain.
The news of their Emperor's breakthrough sent shockwaves through the population, filling their hearts with elation. A stronger leader promised a decrease in conflicts with the surrounding regions, bringing hope and celebration to the heavens above.
***
Within the borders of the York Empire.
The Spear Emperor gnashed his teeth as he punched a hole directly into the mountain peak he was currently residing in, vaporizing a hundred meters of rock and creating a makeshift cave.
His most loyal subordinate, the Mountain Severing Grand Duke of York, had died in that interaction. He was a 4th Soul Shattering cultivator and had been tasked to keep track of Veridian Peak’s movements within the Iron Heartwood Sect, a bordering sect along Serenity Lake that acted as a front for the York Empire.
“That fool! What could have possibly happened for him to disregard my orders and charge right at the Sword Sect!” the tall and bulky York Emperor said. “Send a letter to the Whisperers. I need to speak to them.”
***
Underneath large plains devoid of life, the Underworld.
Sitting inside a dark room inside his palace, a humanoid looking ghost without any recognizable features and a cold aura was receiving an intelligence brief.
“So the Old Prisoner and his Timeless Blade finally had a breakthrough… how troublesome.” he muttered. “Send a new team of puppet masters to Veridian Peaks. I want to know what’s going on within Profound City and Sword City. Oh and send a letter to that silly Spearman, tell him I want to meet.”
***
The Icy Plains.
Within a castle of ice, a beauty with silky white crystalline skin and long silver hair sat on her throne eating away an Ice Phoenix Plum as if unbothered by any and all worldly affairs. Suddenly, the door to the throne room burst open.
“My lady, there is news. Our twelve delegations of spies have all fallen within Veridian Peaks!”
With a wave of her hand, ice materialized in thin air and decapitated the messenger.
“Psht. You should know better than to barge in when I’m eating.” Infusing a bit of True Essence in her voice, she added. “Don’t think I don’t already know everything. Leave me in peace and deal with it.”
***
At the edge of the Veridian Peaks territory, within a mortal city known as Verdant Hollow. Located some hundred thousand kilometers away from Serenity Lake.
At a rustic looking inn sat a young woman named Leticia Freeman, she was a rare ethereal beauty with dark skin and stunning purple eyes. But oddly enough, as beautiful and eye-catching as she was, no one paid her any attention. It was like everyone simply overlooked her.
It seems I avoided the calamity by running away from there as soon as possible… What was that soul fluctuation I felt… It was so… Ancient.
Could it perhaps be.. A Shattering Ancestor?! No… There’s no way. Of those monsters that are still alive they are all Ascendants already or at the very least late Soul Shattering… Perhaps I should ask father..?
As she sat there, going over the events and gossip she overheard from the news that reached even this remote city, she came to a realization. Fang Mo, the Timeless Blade, had really had a breakthrough.
She was certain about the Sword King’s as no one could’ve hidden that True Essence surge, but Fang Mo no one had seen him for hundreds of years and she couldn’t be sure.
With this, she swiftly got up and disappeared from the inn, leaving a few copper coins behind and reappeared a few kilometers away. From there, she started walking towards the York Empire, the second most safe territory after Veridian Peaks.
Her Goal? To go back home to the Heartlands, the realm bordering the York Empire, situated in the middle of the Western Continent of America.
She needed to report this to her father who had been in closed door seclusion for thousands of years healing from his injuries, Maximus or as his Daoist title went, Freedom Incarnate.
As a shattering ancestor himself and an extremely famous one at that, he should be able to sort this mess out and would certainly be interested.
***
Within Veridian Peaks, at the highest point of Sword King Mountain.
Overlooking the vast expanse below, stood a humble cottage. Inside the cottage, three elders from the alchemy branch of the Sword Sect were diligently attending to their patient, Tyler.
For the past four weeks, they had dedicated the majority of their time to caring for him, employing their extensive knowledge of alchemy to aid in his recovery. As the bill for the medicines was being paid in full by the Sword King, they held nothing back but even so weeks went by before Tyler finally regained consciousness.
Tyler remained trapped within the confines of his own consciousness, unable to establish communication with his physical body. The tremendous backlash caused by the primal roar of his soul had severed the connection between his soul and his corporeal form.
On the solitary island where his soul resided, encircled by boundless seas and the newly formed swirling sword clouds, Tyler patiently waited, attuned to the subtle shifts within this space.
With no other recourse, he placed his unwavering trust in the Sword King, knowing that the old man was tirelessly working to heal his body as he could, through his divine sense, see glimpses of the outside world every now and then.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
During his month-long confinement within the soul space, Tyler meticulously explored every facet of this space.
To his astonishment, he discovered the storage bag given to him by Lo Shen. Intrigued, he directed his divine sense towards it, causing the bag to shatter into countless fragments the moment he came into contact with it.
However, what followed was truly extraordinary. As the shards of the bag scattered, Tyler's soul island, once a small, solitary space, expanded in size, growing by several meters in an instant.
The expansion of his soul realm left him in awe, realizing that there was much more to his inner world than he had initially realized. Unable to perform more experiments with this until he regained control of his body and had access to more storage bags, he moved on.
As Tyler ventured deeper into the recesses of his soul space, an intriguing revelation dawned upon him. Through the few acupoints he had successfully unlocked thus far, he observed a curious phenomenon.
The rainwater expelled by the multicolored sword clouds held extremely pure and potent Qi, and this Qi-laden rain descended slowly, eventually mingling with the sea below. Over time, it began to infuse the entire ocean with its potent energy.
This revelation came to him during a moment of profound mental serenity, causing the tumultuous seas to momentarily calm. It unveiled a clear demarcation between the Qi-enriched ocean and the physical waters, akin to the stark boundary between salt-laden ocean waters and the pristine purity of a freshwater body.
It became apparent to Tyler that this ocean served as his reserve of Qi, although most of it appeared to be unusable in its current form. Only the small portion near the shores seemed accessible, allowing him to shape the world using this limited Qi as a source.
As Tyler remained immersed in his soul space, he observed the occasional appearance of large rumbling clouds in the distance. These clouds signified the efforts of the elders of the Sword Sect, who administered various pills and potions to aid in his recovery.
To allow the medicines to work effectively, Tyler refrained from interfering with the energies contained within them. Meanwhile, a constant drizzle enveloped his soul space due to the heavy rain clouds, and he couldn't help but absorb some of the wandering Qi that landed directly on his soul body.
Gradually, this absorption caused him to feel stuffed and with the energies contained within, he formed another cloud sword and struck open another acupoint. This process, contributed greatly to his cultivation.
As Tyler made the connection between the small amounts of Qi and the ability to strike open another few acupoints, a realization struck him like a thunderclap, making him feel really stupid.
He hadn't lost contact with his physical body otherwise he wouldn’t be able to open acupoints! Instead, he needed to re-establish the connection between body and soul in order to regain consciousness like he did during the initial breakthrough of Lin Jian.
Fueled by a compelling sense of urgency, Tyler triggered the Thundering Winds and Sword Clouds Method within the confines of his soul space.
With a decisive motion, he harnessed the entirety of the gathered Qi within the soul space, including the lingering remnants of pill energy.
This potent energy surged toward his soul, his determination unwavering, as he sought to wrest control and rekindle the vitality of his physical body once more.
But, instead of trying to form a sword as if he was going to strike open another acupoint, he focused on the first part of the technique, which was to forcefully circulate Qi within his body until thundering winds appeared!
At the peak of the Sword King Mountain, the surrounding atmosphere became charged with an abundance of Qi as Tyler was harnessing the surrounding energy into his body.
At that instant, the Sword King and Ancestor Fang appeared outside the cottage, their faces displaying a mixture of relief and anticipation. They knew that this sign meant Tyler's consciousness was returning and that his healing was almost complete.
Qi was whipping around the cottage faster than before, forcing the Sword King to intervene and place Tyler outside and surround the man with an extremely potent sealing formation so he didn’t destroy the poor cottage and that way he could better serve as a dharma protector.
As time passed, minutes turned into hours, and the spectacle of Tyler's cultivation with the Thundering Winds and Sword Clouds Method continued to unfold.
The acceleration of Qi around him was a mesmerizing display of the technique's power and beauty, captivating all who were fortunate enough to witness it.
The scene was undeniably peculiar, for typically, achieving such results required physical movement and manipulation of Qi. It was a rare sight, especially considering that individuals below the Sea Formation stage, like Tyler, were not expected to be able to cultivate in such a manner.
As the winds intensified, reaching a crescendo, the Sword King's keen observation allowed him to recognize the initial phase of the cultivation method. The howling winds were accompanied by thunderous booms, the clear sign that Tyler had at least mastered the first part of the cultivation method to the Forming stage.
Hours went by.
Finally, after an entire day, Tyler's dark blue eyes shined with power before suddenly snapping open again as he successfully rejoined body and soul, with the cultivation method acting as a catalyst to merge both entities back into one.
The impact of this realignment led the resurfacing of his consciousness and by extension, a wave of soul pressure was released to the atmosphere but the formations placed by Lin Jian and supported by Ancestor Fang were unbreakable for the current Tyler and nothing leaked out.
Should anyone from the Sword Sect's outer disciples have heard about how he had been cultivating so far, they would cry tears of blood at the sheer cost of such an endeavor. His healing alone probably cost upwards of a few Celestial Coins!
One of the elders exclaimed, “He has returned!”
“You can all go now,” declared the Sword King. “Thank you for your exceptional efforts. I will visit each of you in the coming days for payment of services rendered.” With those words, the three alchemy elders departed, making their way back to the Eternal Palace.
Coming out of his coma, Tyler looked up at the two familiar figures that should have no business ensuring the care of a mortal such as himself before asking, “How long was I out?”
Smiling that this young man seemed to be okay, the Sword King replied, “A whole month. I must say, when I awakened from my impromptu level up I was quite worried there for a second… My True Essence did quite a number on you… For which I must apologize.”
With a gentle smile, Ancestor Fang spoke to Tyler, expressing his relief, "I'm glad to see you in good health. If you and Lin Jian require any assistance, don't hesitate to reach out to me. Once I integrate this final insight, I will enter a prolonged seclusion to attempt my 7th Soul Shattering... Hopefully, Brother Jian will be able to offer his assistance then. And Tyler... Thank you once more." Before Tyler could respond to the old man, Ancestor Fang disappeared, leaving no trace behind.
“Well that was a dramatic exit.” said Tyler, “Did I miss anything fun?” he continued with a laugh.
Laughing, the Sword King replied, “Well, there is a festival going on to celebrate this old man’s breakthrough!” he said, extremely boastful.
With a chuckle, Tyler answered, "If they knew your breakthrough came from looking through a mortal’s notes on cultivation they’d probably laugh until their eyes bled!”
“No one would believe me if I said so anyways.” the Sword King replied in a self-deprecating manner. “About that matter of my breakthrough almost killing you… I can’t say again how sorry I am.”
Cutting him off there, Tyler replied, “No worries, water under the bridge. It’s not like I have not benefited in the slightest either. Being bombarded by all those energies proved… Interesting to say the least. Maybe once I understand it a bit more I’ll write about it and you can go through another breakthrough!” He said teasingly to the old man in front of him.
Then, Tyler added with a laugh. “On another note, it’d be nice if you stopped knocking me unconscious, this is getting a bit repetitive.”
Laughing at the obvious joke, Lin Jian cut in, “I promise I won’t undergo another sudden breakthrough near you…” Then he paused for a second and continued,
“Well now that you’ve agreed to put this behind us, what’s next for you? Seeing as you’ve successfully reached level 3 you should be well on your way to become a full fledged cultivator in the near future.”
Taking a few seconds to ponder on the matter, Level 3 huh. Interesting. He thought to himself. Tyler laid out his plan.
“Well, I might have encountered a bifurcating road due your True Essence essentially refining my body and I’ll have to do some research for that and until I know more I won’t go into too much detail, but when I know for sure I’ll let you know. For now, I think I just want to keep doing what I was doing for the short couple of days I was actually conscious of this place and look through the world’s history and cultivation methods of this place and the world. I really do have a lot to catch up on. Oh and maybe along the way I’ll bother Lo Shen to join the outer sect to get a real grasp of how a sect works or even visit that dojo he told me about.”
As it was customary to not ask or poke about one’s achievements and system notifications, the Sword King decided to remain respectful of this and moved on. “Ummh, that sounds like a plan but the matter of joining the sect through Lo Shen can be easily arranged, all you have to do is ask and you’ll be…”
Tyler cut off the Sword King, “Nah, if I really want to understand how this world works I’ll have to experience it myself. It’s already more than unfair to most cultivators that I will have unlimited access to almost this whole mountain, I think I should do the rest as if I was a nobody, which I am.”
Admiring the young man’s resolve and will to truly forge his own path, the Sword King nodded. “Alright then. I won’t interfere. I might pop in every now and then to pick at your mind on things and talk about the old world though.”
“That’s more than fair. Also, I gotta ask. Where the fuck are we? I’ve never felt such a huge concentration of Qi before.”
Smiling, the Sword King got up and said, “Follow me, I’ll show you.”
As they walked together, Tyler stood a full head taller than the Sword King. They proceeded to walk adjacent to the cottage, on a path that led up to the majestic peak where a towering 100 foot tall monument in the shape of the Slaughter Sword stood.
With reverence filling his eyes, the Sword King explained, “Etched upon this monument are the names of the individuals who had once held the esteemed title of Sect Master of this mountain.”
Nij Kug - Sword Patriarch
Charles The Second - Sword Ancestor
Fang Luo - Sword King
Lin Jian - Sword King
“In time, If I ever break through the shackles of Soul Shattering my name will also be changed to Sword Ancestor. Although I hold little hope of this as my master was a hundred times wiser than I ever was and he died during his 7th Soul Shattering.”
Unwilling to joke around in such a serious setting, Tyler asked, “Fang Luo. Is this Ancestor Fang Mo's father?”
Smiling with deep sorrow filling his eyes, the Sword King replied, “Yes, my late master was Brother Fang’s father. We’ve grown up together and through some lucky breaks on my part only I was able to inherit the title of Sword King. If it wasn’t for this particularity he would have been the Sword King and I would probably have long been dead.”
Silence filled the air as the Sword King reminisced about his late master until finally, he focused back on reality. “Enough about this old man’s life, let’s get you back to Edge City.”
“For what it’s worth, my condolences,” Tyler replied.
“Thank you. Here, Old Mo left this for you if you ever need to get in touch with him.” With a wave of his sleeve, space contracted around Tyler and he was sent back to his room inside the newly rebuilt library lodgings, Ancestor Fang’s token in hand.
“Hopefully you will have better luck trying to free me from this mountain than I or Brother Fang ever had.” he whispered under his breath as he stood alone at the top of both his home and his prison.
The moments those words left his mouth, out of the large monument walked out a humanoid with dark red skin, slicked back black hair and white eyes dressed in grey rags.
The humanoid looked at the Sword King and let out a cold snort.
“Pft! If you think a mere pup who hasn’t even stepped on the path of a real cultivator will free you from my grasp, you’re deluding yourself. Know your place.”
With a flick of a finger, blood red sword Qi flew forward and smashed into the Sword King’s shoulder, the latter unable to even react in time and the shock to his soul made him lose consciousness for a few hours.