Chapter 102.1: Void Sword Tomb pt. 2

At the Void Sword Tomb, Jing Yue walked in with Qin Yanzhi.

The further in, the stronger the sword’s sharpness and Jing Yue gradually felt uncomfortable. If not for the fact that his soul spirit was not restricted here, he might have been injured by the sword Qi as soon as he entered.

But looking at Qin Yanzhi, his cultivation base was lower than his and his divine consciousness was negligible in comparison, he didn’t experience any discomfort, as though he was born to be close to the sword.

Jing Yue recalled the encounter at the Nine Heaven Academy’s sword pavilion. At that time, Qin Yanzhi was inside but his divine consciousness missed him, only regarded the other party as a sword.

The swords here also treated Qin Yanzhi so gently. Could it be that they also regarded him as one of their own?

He was about to crack some jokes when suddenly, Jing Yue sensed the fluctuation of the sword, and a chubby child appeared in front of him.

He looked like Qin Yanzhi when he was a child, Jing Yue thought silently.

He knew that this child was the sword soul of a certain sword. Since the other party was willing to take on a physical form, did he feel a bond with him? Jing Yue was quite excited and reached out his hand tentatively, but the child's eyes suddenly turned bloodshot, and there was a cruel coldness in his eyes.

Jing Yue immediately felt that something was amiss, but before he could withdraw his hand, he felt a stabbing pain in his forearm. He looked down and saw a sword wound, deep to the bone, and blood was gushing out.

“Ge!” Qin Yanzhi hurriedly grabbed his hand and only felt slightly relieved when he saw that it was a superficial injury. He turned his head and glared at the child.

The child was a little smug and wanted to bare his teeth to Qin Yanzhi, but before he opened his mouth, the arrogance was replaced by fear, and he quickly turned into a short sword and fled far away.

Jing Yue, who was receiving treatment from blue phoenix: ???

It was conceivable if he was not welcomed by the swords, but why would Qin Yanzhi be disliked too?

Not exactly disliked, but it didn’t seem welcoming.

Qin Yanzhi read his thoughts and lifted his chin. “Ge, I don’t want a sword that hurt you.”

Jing Yue, “…”

What a fascinating confidence. The other party didn’t want you either, okay?

At that moment, he heard a child's whimper. The little chubby kid from earlier was hiding behind a sword rock and crying, “Forget it if you don’t want me. Duoduo doesn’t want to go with you either!”

After saying that, he turned around and ran two steps, before stopping and peeking over here.

“…” Even this move looked like Lil Yanzhi. Jing Yue couldn't help but ask, “Yanzhi, are you sure you don’t want it? He seems to like you quite a bit.”

Qin Yanzhi shook his head. “The sword I sensed is not it.”

The kid heard it too and turned around while making a face. It once again transformed into a short sword and penetrated the sword rock.

The two continued to walk inside. Before long, they were blocked by an old man with a childlike face.

The old man's eyes were very small, only a slit, which looked a bit fierce. He said to Qin Yanzhi, “Kid! I think you are not strong enough! Deeper into the sword tomb are all the evil souls who have lost their memories, each one wild and untamable. They were neither as friendly nor as knowledgeable as me.”

Qin Yanzhi, “Oh.”

The old man choked before he raised his head slightly. “I once followed a certain Heavenly Passage being. I was his natal sword and also the strongest sword in that particular world.”

Qin Yanzhi, “What constitutes Heavenly Passage?”

“Heavenly Passage is the ability to open up a domain space!” The old man was a little angry at Qin Yanzhi's ignorance. “In short, it’s more than a thousand times more powerful than you.”

Qin Yanzhi, “So, it’s a Heavenly Grotto cultivator.”

Although there were no Heavenly Grotto cultivators in Haotian Realm, Qin Yanzhi had heard from Jing Yue that once a cultivator reached the Heavenly Grotto stage, one could have a domain space and also refine a part of the secret realm.

“Thinking back in those days, countless people lost their lives fighting over me, and I…”

Qin Yanzhi, “Are you trying to acknowledge me as your master?”

Jing Yue, “It’s very obvious.”

Old man, “…”

Qin Yanzhi shook his head. “It’s not you.”

The old man was angry. “I can see that your bones are well-developed and just want to give you a few pointers. You should know what’s good for you!”

Qin Yanzhi directly walked past him.

The old man didn’t expect to be ignored. How many people had considered him the ultimate treasure that one could ask for? Was this young man blind? If not for the fact that it had been too long since someone came to the sword tomb and he feared that he would perish in the long run, he wouldn’t want to recognize a young boy as his master.

Unexpectedly, even after he condescended himself, the other party didn’t cherish it!

The old man felt deeply humiliated and a fierce light in his eyes flickered before disappearing. He was about to teach the other party a lesson when suddenly, domineering coercion came from the depths of the sword tomb, which instantly forced the old man to reveal his original appearance.

He turned into a slender green sword and the body of the sword couldn't help shaking. The surrounding swords also felt the oppression. One after another, they flew out of the sword rock, with the tip of the sword pointing in the same direction, slightly tilted downward as if they were worshipping something.

Jing Yue was shocked by the turn of events when Qin Yanzhi suddenly clutched his head and groaned.

“Yanzhi?!”

Qin Yanzhi only felt his heart beating rapidly and his head aching like it was about to split open. That kind of urge from the depths seemed like it wanted to pull his soul from his body! Some unfamiliar images faintly appeared in the consciousness, but they were fleeting, and he couldn’t capture a fragment of it.

At this time, the sword spirit in his dantian was also agitated, trying to counter the coercion.

Under the attack from inside and outside, Qin Yanzhi felt that his body was about to disintegrate, and he spat a mouthful of blood. Then, the coercion dissipated, and the sword spirit also ceased.

“Yanzhi!” Jing Yue helped him up and said anxiously, “Are you alright?”

“I'm fine.” Qin Yanzhi wiped the blood from his lips. “I found it.”

“Is it the sword Qi just now?” Of course Jing Yue felt it too.

“Mm.”

“But why did you…”

“Although that sword Qi is fierce, I can feel the connection with it. Besides, the reason why it appeared was to protect me.” Qin Yanzhi rolled his eyes and looked at the green sword on the ground.

“Fierce?” Jing Yue asked in puzzlement. “Why do I feel that it is very affectionate?”

Qin Yanzhi was stunned and the two looked at each other.

Jing Yue felt that something was amiss now. If even Qin Yanzhi and so many sword souls couldn’t withstand that sword Qi, why did he feel nothing?

But at this time, he was not at liberty to think too much. Jing Yue found that the green sword was trying to sneak away and quickly stepped on the other party. “You, tell me which sword the sword Qi came from.”

The old man’s voice rang with a crying tone. “I-I’m not sure either. The sword souls in the depths of the sword tomb are very powerful and the strength is not something a sword like me can compare with. I have little interaction with them.”

Jing Yue, “Didn't you say that you are knowledgeable?”

The green sword simply turned into an old man again, lying on the ground without shame, crying, “I’m just blowing my own trumpet. I’m blind and ignorant. If I know that this Gongzi is the one admired by the one inside, I definitely wouldn’t dare to snatch it…”

This sentence attracted the blue phoenix from the arms of Jing Yue. It felt that it sounded familiar. After thinking about it, it seemed to be something it had read in a storybook, what the cannon fodder had said to the protagonist when snatching the flower bouquet.

“Jing-jing, let Ji-ji tell you…”

“I’m not listening!” Hearing this opening remark, Jing Yue subconsciously refused, and said to the old man, “It's impossible for Yanzhi to choose you. If you want to leave, you can come with me.”

A trace of disdain flashed across the old man’s face, but after he glanced at Qin Yanzhi, he said obediently, “I just tweaked my fingers. The trigrams say that I’ll meet my destined master in a thousand years. It seems that I have no destiny with you. If I force myself to go with you, I’m afraid it will harm you instead. Why don’t you come back in a thousand years?”

Jing Yue, “…”

Although the old man put it tactfully, the translation was—I look down on your qualifications. I would rather wait a thousand years than to go with you, thank you very much.

No matter how thick-skinned Jing Yue was, it was a bit embarrassing to be so despised in front of Qin Yanzhi. He coughed drily and said to Qin Yanzhi, “This old man is not honest at all. I don't want such a sword.”

Qin Yanzhi smothered a laugh and said, “Well, let's go then.”

The green sword breathed a sigh of relief and reminded them good-naturedly, “This Gongzi smells very good. Although the one inside can deter other sword souls for the time being, other swords may take a fancy to you. You should be careful.”

Jing Yue and Qin Yanzhi looked at each other and became more alert.

The two of them walked slowly in this endless mountain of swords. Occasionally, some swords would block the way, but due to the deterrence from the sword deep within the tomb, no one dared to make any threatening acts. Instead, they spoke kindly and were also willing to chat with them.

Some sword souls might have been lonely for too long and were even more talkative than Ji-ji. Although reluctant to go with Jing Yue, they could see that his Dao qualifications were excellent and clamored to pass on their techniques, saying that they were afraid the destined one would not appear in time, they would perish completely, and the previous masters’ techniques would be lost in heritage.

Sword souls had their own feelings. Any sword that could develop a sword soul must have had a master that had given a lot. If they were not injured too severely, it would be difficult for the sword soul to forget the master.

But most of the time, they never saw their masters again.

Jing Yue learned a lot about other worlds from these sword souls. He only felt that the myriad worlds in this vast universe were infinitely large and fascinating. If he could survive the tribulation and ascend one day, he must go outside the universe to take a look.

They walked for an unknown amount of time. Surrounded by billions of swords, Jing Yue listened to the story of the sword soul. Before he knew it, he had a deeper understanding of swordsmanship and even gained a new understanding of the last style of Canglan technique.

It was like this for him, but Qin Yanzhi was even more extraordinary. Without even doing anything, he was able to advance to the mid-level of Foundation Establishment stage.

The further they went, the fewer the swords on the sword rocks. Sometimes, a sword rock only had one sword inserted, or a phantom would only appear after several sword rocks.

Suddenly one day, Qin Yanzhi stopped in his tracks.

“Ge, I can sense it. It’s nearby.”

Jing Yue looked around and saw nothing on the barren sword rocks, but right in front of them, there were two unusually high sword rocks with a sword stuck on the top of each.

“Which one is it?”

Qin Yanzhi was just about to reach out and point with his finger when domineering coercion suddenly descended, followed by a hoarse voice, “Who has awakened me?”