Chapter Thirty-Three: The Number of Paths

  (New book rankings, Jian Zu needs recommendation votes and collection! Fellow sword friends, let's top it!)

  Burial of the Sword Pool, Hundredfold Heaven.

  Every sword move exudes an ancient aura, sealed for thousands of years, now unleashing its sharpness, exhausting the two men who dare to defy heaven.

  Every step of stone stairs is a heaven, the sword is born from the heart. Every time you step up to a higher heaven, you need to add 100 more sword marks. It has nothing to do with cultivation, what's being tempered is spirit and will.

  The sun and moon alternate, the starry river turns, the sword peak is as desolate as ever, the human spirit withers away, only the countless spiritual birds and beasts on the mountain swallow the essence of the sun and moon every day, hoping to open their spiritual wisdom one day and step into the Taoist path.

  Behind the Sword Peak Mountain

  A heavenly waterfall shrouded in misty light, falls from a hundred feet high into the sky, an ancient pool clear and bright, with golden carps jumping out of the water's surface. By the ancient pool, there is a large bluestone about one zhang high, covered with green moss.

  On the large bluestone, a Taoist lay sleeping, his body covered in moss, motionless, with only the sound of thunderous snores harmonizing with the celestial waterfall, continuous and unbroken.

  In an instant, the humming sound soared up, and the entire sword peak was like giving birth to thousands of thunderclaps. The celestial waterfall stopped, and the ancient pool stirred up a giant wave dozens of meters high.

  Hmph!

  The moss was like a stone shell, shattered and broken. The Taoist priest opened his sleepy eyes, sat up with his legs crossed, shook the wine gourd, and poured down several mouthfuls in succession.

  "After sleeping for half a year, this wine tastes even better!"

  Ming saw the Taoist's eyes gleam with a sharp light, and he slowly stood up, turning his body to look at the celestial waterfall behind him.

  "It's been half a year!"

  Ming Jian saw a Taoist standing on a large bluestone, gazing at the hundred-foot celestial waterfall. One day passed, two days passed, until the third morning when the sun rose.

  Recite

  A thick and muffled sword hum came from behind the celestial waterfall, this sword hum was as heavy as a mountain, with a sharp and piercing aura that pierced through the celestial waterfall, causing the ancient pool to produce continuous ripples.

  Rumble...

  It seems as if an ancient mountain is pressing down, the immortal waterfall is slightly trembling. Although it's not very clear, the Taoist can see clearly that he can achieve this, and ordinary practitioners of the divine realm are no more than this.

  "Top of the world!"

  Ming saw the Taoist hum a sentence, and suddenly, infinite golden awns emerged from the immortal waterfall. In an instant, a three-foot-long golden sword energy burst out of the crack, opening up a ten-foot-long gorge in the ancient pool, and the pool water was locked by the sword's edge for several breaths before pouring down.

  "Clouds fly!"

  Ming Xian saw that Dao Ren was somewhat stunned. The first one to step out wasn't Qitian, but rather Yun Fei's cultivation, which also shocked him a bit.

  "The Initial Boundary of Sword Embryo has reached its peak!"

  From the top of the waterfall down, clearly see a Taoist stretching out his hand to invite, an invisible force pulls, and the cloud flies to fall in front of the big green stone.

  At this moment, Mingjian saw the clouds flying by, and compared to his previous restlessness, he seemed even more calm and tranquil, as if he had washed away all his worldly desires.

  At this thought, Ming Jian saw Dao Ren say in a low voice: "Buried Sword Hundred Heavy Heaven, you have reached the Nth heavy heaven, where the sword fetus is condensed."

  He let out a light breath, raised his head and gazed at the rising sun in the sky above, Yun Fei said: "Nineteenth Heaven, after this I won't be able to cross over again."

  Ming Jian nodded and said: "Qitian, how is his cultivation?"

  Yun Fei's face suddenly revealed a strange expression upon hearing this, saying: "Still in the realm of Daoist enlightenment."

  The road is smooth and perfect!

  Ming Jian Dao Ren almost inhaled a mouthful of cold air, half a year's time, and yet the sword energy had not dissipated. Without thinking, Ming Jian Dao Ren took a step forward and disappeared into the Xian Pu.

  Yun Fei rolled her eyes and immediately sank into contemplation, sitting cross-legged on the large bluestone, gazing at the celestial waterfall.

  Burial Sword Pond

  Forty-ninth Heaven, Qitian sat cross-legged, with 4,900 sword scars on his body. The 4,900 sword scars almost covered every inch of his skin, and the ferocious blood stains ravaged his spirit. Qitian's entire body trembled as he stepped into the Forty-ninth Heaven, already half a month had passed. In that half-month, he was struck down by the Forty-ninth Sword hundreds of times, each time suffering severe injuries. If not for the perfection of his Dao aperture and the refinement of his Pre-Heavenly Sword Body, he would have long been on the verge of death from his wounds.

  Thirty layers of heaven, originally, with the untransformed primordial sword energy, was already his limit. However, relying on the sharpness of his primordial sword body, he managed to forcibly hold on until forty-nine layers of heaven.

  In the past, Qitian Tong read the Daoist canon and knew that the four major Dao numbers were nine as the extreme, forty-nine to escape the mundane, eighty-one to be complete, and one hundred eight to revolve in heaven. Each time he crossed one of these numbers, there would be immense benefits. Previously, when he crossed the ninth heaven, Qitian felt his spirit surge by several times, and the forty-ninth number was even more extraordinary, with great auspiciousness. As he approached a breakthrough, he would face thunder tribulation, which could not be said to be a calamity, but rather a transformation.

  Outside the Sword Burial Pool, a Taoist's eyes shone with divine light. He sat on the ground, and from his palm emerged a Taoist sword that was burning with a fierce purple flame. He plucked the sword and it hummed, the humming transforming into golden spears and iron horses that roared angrily in the Sword Burial Pool.

  The sound of the sword pierced his ears, and Qi Tian's entire person suddenly calmed down a bit, but 4,900 sword marks surged, and the blood plasma inside was like a runaway wild horse, all spraying out.

  Her eyes opened wide, scarlet pupils gleaming with a hint of golden light within.

  Purple sparks shot out of his eyes, clearly seeing the Taoist's sword pointing faster and faster, singing while playing the sword.

  "I was an old sword immortal, treading on the clouds and laughing at the sky. I scooped up white jade from a deep pool, and my boat passed in front of thousands of mountains. My boat passed under the bright moon, and the jade warmed up the moon's mist. Unaware of worldly affairs, I fell asleep drunk for five thousand years!"

  The song is clear and melodious, every note enters the ear, the entire Sword Burial Pool's sharp edges all move as one, gathering towards the sky.

  Hummm...

  Two yin-yang fish appeared around Qitian's body, pure golden yin-yang fish swimming and chasing each other, vaguely revealing a mysterious aura.

  Obviously, the Taoist felt somewhat extraordinary, as if a vague Tao had emerged.

  The sword hums upwards, on the forty-ninth stone step, a long whistle sounds out, the whistling sound rolls like the Yangtze River and the Great River, shocking waves crashing against the shore.

  A crack appears in the void, instantly spreading into a spider web, and finally shattering.

  One step out, the sword scars on his body all dissipated, the pure golden pre-heavenly sword energy was crystal clear like jade, with boundless and majestic spiritual energy surrounding him, flawless and spotless. The spiritual stones under his feet were all shattered, and as he took a step forward, they completely turned to dust.

  A sword pointed at the fierce bullet path, a sword hum shook the void, and a Taoist shouted loudly: "The air rushes to the divine court, the sea of consciousness is not open, what are you waiting for!"

  His whole body shook, and Qitian's footsteps stopped. It was actually on the forty-ninth stone step that he sat cross-legged, with infinite spiritual energy supporting him, his entire person floating up three inches, his clothes not touching the ground.

  The innate sword energy hummed and whistled, and the Golden Essence that had been absorbed for half a year suddenly merged into it. The pure golden innate sword energy instantly transformed into a golden jade color, with an unmatched sharp aura rising up.

  This sharp aura was unstoppable, and within a radius of several feet around Qitian, the air rippled with dense waves.

  Ming saw Dao Ren withdraw his sword and clench his fist, his body slightly trembling as he stared intently at the swirling, dragon-like Primordial Sword Qi.

  The mind is like an ancient well, undisturbed and calm. After half a year of tempering and refinement, the spirit has reached an unimaginable level. Having crossed the 49th threshold, the spirit's vigor has surged to twice its original intensity, giving rise to a feeling akin to viscosity in Qitian.

  Innate sword energy enters the body, instantly penetrating one hundred and eight acupoints, soaring upwards.

  The eyebrow is the spiritual courtyard, where the sea of consciousness returns. The majestic spirit surges within, wave after wave crashing against the gates of the spiritual courtyard.

  The first wave, the divine court cracked, a thread of spiritual energy emerged, merging with the pre-heavenly sword energy, like thunder and fire moving in tandem. The pre-heavenly sword energy seemed to give birth to spirituality, instantly piercing through the divine court, and suddenly entering the sea of consciousness.

  The vast and boundless ocean of knowledge, where the sword energy of the Pre-Heaven Sword had infused, was only visible to Qi Tian after half a year of accumulation.

  In the pitch-black sea of consciousness, a formless spirit had condensed like water, emitting a milky white divine light. The innate sword energy infused into it, and the sharp aura poured in, causing that mass of spirit to undergo a transformation instantly.

  Recite

  In that spiritual aura, a faint golden light gradually emerged, with sharp edges and corners, and the soft sword hum, although immature, was extremely tenacious. (New book rankings, Sword Ancestor needs recommendation votes, needs collection! Fellow swordsmen, let's top it!)