Chapter 1: Ten Thousand Swords Piercing the Heart

  Jiangsu Province, Jiangyan City.

  Seismic Monitoring Centre

  Innumerable instruments were operating, and indicator lights flickered incessantly.

  "ALERT! ALERT! Abnormal underground water in Xi'an, abnormal ground sound, abnormal ground light, abnormal ground gas, electromagnetic abnormalities. Judging that there is an 80% chance of a strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 on the Richter scale. Issuing RED ALERT, issuing RED ALERT!"

  The mechanical voice was urgent, without any emotion, and the entire monitoring center changed color.

  Xīngāng Town

  It is a thousand-year-old town affiliated to Jiangyan City, with water on all sides of the ancient town. There is Xi Que Lake, which is clear and transparent. According to legend, every year on Qixi Festival, magpies from the lake go to the outside of the ninth heaven, build a magpie bridge on the heavenly river, and lead the Cowherd and Weaving Maiden to meet each other.

  Mashi Street

  It is a thousand-year-old ancient street in Xishuangbanna Town. The slightly hot summer has not reduced the coolness of the alleys. In a secluded alley, a young man walks with light steps and enjoys the scenery.

  The young man had clear eyebrows and bright eyes, about twenty years old, with short hair, a pair of eyes were crystal clear without any blemish, the black pupils showed an unusual depth.

  Suddenly, the young man's footsteps slowed down slightly, his eyebrows furrowed, and he said in a low voice: "In broad daylight, how can such thick earth energy emerge from the ground?"

  A pale white mist floated on the ground, the entire bluestone street seemed like a heavenly palace. At the end of the bluestone street, there was an ancient locust tree, its trunk thick and gnarled, its roots twisted, exuding an air of age-old grandeur.

  Young man stood still, looked up and sighed after a moment: "Legend has it that this ancient Chinese scholar tree witnessed the marriage between the Seventh Fairy Maiden and Dong Yong. But, Master asked me to come down the mountain just to see these? Taiji gives birth to non-polar, being gives rise to non-being, Master, I still can't figure it out."

  The young man's gaze was somewhat distant, as if he had returned to his early days.

  Lofty Mount Wudang, in front of the Zhenwu Great Temple, an old white-bearded Taoist sighed with emotion.

  "The ultimate truth, born from the infinite, is the mechanism of movement and stillness, the mother of yin and yang. Yin does not leave yang, yang does not leave yin, yin and yang complement each other, assisting the divine brightness, heart calm and body upright, mind and energy circulating, opening and closing emptiness and fullness, inner and outer united as one. The ultimate truth has both softness and firmness, firmness and softness complementing each other, vigorous and self-sufficient! Qitian, do you know why I brought you to the mountain for many years, only teaching you to read the Daoist scriptures, but not passing on a single move or technique?"

  "I don't know."

  "Your swordsmanship talent is the highest in Wudang's history, but since our founder Zhen Dan Yu's enlightenment and ascension to immortality, no one has reached this realm. So I only taught you to read the Taoist scriptures, recite the Taiji Sword manual every day, the true meaning of Taiji, born from nothingness, having form yet formless, equal to heaven. You have accumulated enough now, what's lacking is comprehension. Tomorrow, you can descend the mountain. The mundane world may be full of obstacles, but it can also help you understand your own heart and achieve the Great Way."

  Enlightened by one's own mind, attaining the Great Way?

  Qitian's eyes became increasingly deep and profound, he felt a multitude of confusion.

  Rumble...

  Suddenly, the earth shook violently, and the entire bluestone street cracked instantly, as if the whole sky was about to collapse. The ancient locust tree also swayed precariously, its branches and leaves rustling down.

  "Earthquake!"

  Qitian's face changed, and he finally understood what the white earth energy that had emerged earlier had portended.

  Recite

  Suddenly, a loud sword hum sounded like a real dragon coming out of the world, shaking the nine heavens.

  "Could it be that a divine sword has emerged in the town?"

  Zi Tian's heart skipped a beat as he looked up at the sky, where clouds and winds were gathering. Silver lightning flashed like giant dragons tearing through the air.

  "The sky is showing an extraordinary sign, what a divine sword, it's actually so extraordinary!"

  At this time, the whole town of Xiangyang was in a mess, and Qitian couldn't help but be shocked. He shot out like an arrow, heading towards the center of the town.

  What!

  After counting his breaths, Qi Tian's expression changed drastically, and he stopped moving, calming the strange changes within him, which seemed to be beyond his imagination.

  This vast land of hundreds of acres is actually densely covered with spider web-like cracks, and a sharp aura bursts out from the cracks, tearing through the air and rising to the ninth heaven.

  There are sword hums that are endless and shake people's hearts, the sound of shaking the earth is also suppressed here.

  "What a pure and sharp edge! Only my Wudang Town's Zhenwu Sword can compare!"

  Zi Tian's heart was shaken, and he watched as the hundred-zhang-wide land completely collapsed, revealing a shocking underground cave.

  "Seventy-two Earth Fiends, Thirty-six Heavenly Retributions, One Hundred and Eight Swords! This is the Sword Tomb!"

  The sound of the sword's hum was vigorous, with a grand and majestic atmosphere. There were 108 ancient swords standing upright in the underground chamber. The ancient swords had been sealed for an unknown number of years, yet they remained unblemished by dust. The aura of the ancient swords shook Qitian, giving him a feeling that each one of these ancient swords was no less than the Zhenzong True Martial Sword he saw in the Wudang True Martial Temple.

  "This sword tomb, which has been passed down from which era, does not seem like an ordinary relic."

  His eyes gleamed with an increasingly sharp light, and he vaguely understood that he had discovered a sword tomb that was beyond the ordinary, so mystical that it had already transcended the mortal world and entered the realm of the immortals.

  "The Taoist path is vast and obscure, I, Wudang, only know that the founder of our sect, Zhenren Sanfeng, has achieved enlightenment and ascended to immortality. Since ancient times, those who have become immortals have left no evidence behind, so it's hard to say whether the Taoist path really exists or not. In this era of advanced technology, it has become an intangible and obscure academic theory, to the point where it has turned into a form of superstition."

  Hummm...

  One hundred and eight ancient swords hummed in unison, as if one hundred and eight true dragons roared, their sharp auras stirring up the winds and clouds.

  "Gritting his teeth, Qi Tian said: 'Go down and take a look. It can't be said for sure, but this sword mound is likely the remains of an ancient immortal.'"

  The true energy inside the body is circulating, and with one step across the sky, it will fall into the sword tomb.

  Rumble...

  Above the nine heavens, thunder shook and silver lightning illuminated the land for dozens of miles around.

  At that moment, Qitian felt the pure and true energy that had been refined in his dantian for three years suddenly dissipate, and he instantly fell like a rock.

  Recite

  At this moment, 108 ancient swords rang out in unison, the entire Sword Mausoleum's void transformed, with endless sword lights bursting forth within the void.

  Pfft——

  A sword light pierced through his chest, and Qi Tian couldn't believe it as he lowered his head to look. In an instant, ten thousand sword lights rose up simultaneously, covering the entire void.

  Half an hour passed.

  The earthquake subsided, and all survivors gathered in the town. Municipal seismic surveyors arrived to survey something with instruments.

  "Not bad, this is the epicenter, the earthquake spread from here."

  Many townspeople looked at this hundred-zhang pit, cold and humid, some were just thick wet mud, but they didn't know how many corpses were buried in this pit.

  Rumble...

  Above the nine heavens, thunder boomed and crackled, with heavy rain pouring down. At first, the rainwater was crystal clear, but slowly it turned pink, and after a moment, it completely transformed into blood.

  Blood rain falls on the world, making people's hearts tremble with fear.

  Thousands of miles away, the top of Wudang.

  An old Taoist priest with a white beard stood tall, his eyebrows furrowed as he gazed out at the distant horizon shrouded in dark clouds, with a faint bloody glow flickering.

  "Origin and destruction, the path of immortality, blood rain opens the way."

  The sound of sword humming in his ears was endless, the boundless pain had already become numb, ten thousand swords pierced through his heart, and Qi Tian's entire person fell into chaos.

  It was a year, or ten years, a hundred years, a thousand years, drifting in the vast expanse of chaos, until a beam of light guided him.

  Eastern Land of Divine State, Green Clouds Sect at the foot of the mountain.

  A Taoist boy opened his mouth wide, staring at the increasingly large shadow above his head, until a strong gust of wind hit him in the face, and he finally came to his senses. (New book, recommendation votes and collections are very important, everyone's support is appreciated!)