Chapter 33

Descending from the mountain path, it took only a few dozen steps for the three of them to return to the Cloud-Turning Carriage.

The heavy rain outside was growing even more intense, the storm raging fiercely, making even the unknown spirit array on the carriage unable to fully stabilize the vehicle.

However, Yin Yang’s face no longer bore any trace of gloom or worry. His eyes and actions reflected a sense of openness and ease.

Zong Shou stepped down from the carriage, standing at the door, feeling as if his entire body was about to fall apart, waves of deep fatigue washing over him. Yet he forced himself to endure, not rushing to rest inside. Instead, he turned his head and asked Yin Yang, "Uncle Yin, are you really not regretting this? Once we leave this Pill Spirit Mountain, there will be no chance to regret it."

Yin Yang had said something similar earlier on the mountain path. Zong Shou directly repeated it, and Yin Yang did not hesitate, raising his eyebrows: "Since the Young Master is not afraid of death, why should Yin Yang be? Even if it’s the path to hell, I will accompany the Young Master."

Zong Shou remained silent, then turned to Chuxue with a meaningful smile: "Xue'er, it seems I really underestimated you. What happened to you in Qiantian Mountain these past three years? It’s understandable for Zong Yu, but why does even Zong Ling look at you with such fondness?"

Chuxue’s face turned red, and steam seemed to rise from her head. She stammered, trying to explain, but then saw Zong Shou pinching her cheek with a grin: "Forget it! My Xue'er has always been loved by everyone, and flowers bloom for her. Hehe! Let Zong Ling be jealous to death. However, I will remember this: 'Never part, never abandon!'"

The first few sentences were said in a joking tone, but when he said "never part, never abandon," his tone was incredibly serious.

Chuxue was slightly stunned, and by the time she came to her senses, Zong Shou had already stepped into the carriage.

As soon as he returned to the carriage, Zong Shou collapsed, his limbs spread out in a large "X," his meridians and muscles twitching and spasming.

The pain was even more intense than when he fought Zong Yu and Liexian Wuyi, but perhaps because he had adapted to this body, he did not immediately lose consciousness as he did before.

"Such physical condition, if I were to fight someone with all my strength, I probably couldn’t last even a quarter of an hour!"

He chuckled bitterly, enduring the intense pain and fatigue, and sat up again, assuming the posture of "five hearts toward the sky," connecting with the heavens and earth, then examining his dantian internally.

In just a moment, Zong Shou drew a sharp breath. His mental state almost faltered, his face turning pale and then red, a mix of joy and surprise.

"Those cold currents just now were actually this thing—"

Inside his qi sea, there were now eighteen sword-shaped qi energies circulating through the parallel meridians.

They should have been alien true qi, yet they almost seamlessly integrated with the qi masses in his own meridians and acupoints, with no conflict, as if they had become one.

Even his will could slightly activate them, but only within his own meridians, not outside his body.

There was a hint of willpower hidden within, fierce and domineering, yet also extremely restrained, giving no sense of sharpness.

Zong Shou was also very familiar with the faint aura these sword-shaped qi energies exuded.

"These sword energies are most likely the Cloud-Shocking Divine Sword Intent passed down by the Lingyun Ancestor, there’s no doubt about it. So, that legend is indeed true!"

Inside his body were the eighteen sword intent spirit seeds that contained almost all the secrets of the Lingyun Sect’s secret Cloud-Shocking Absolute Sword. The sword force, sword energy, sword light, sword melody, sword momentum, sword intent, sword soul, and all the methods of use were contained within these seeds.

By daily contemplation, nurturing, and cultivation, he could truly master them and easily learn this secret Lingyun Sect sword technique in the future.

It was rumored that when the Lingyun Sect’s rising star Yan Feibai first appeared, he had already mastered part of the Cloud-Shocking Divine Sword Intent, making him invincible in Donglin Cloudland. Even the Heaven Rank powerhouses had to give way to this junior who had only reached the Earth Wheel Realm.

Many people speculated on how Yan Feibai had learned this martial intent far beyond his own realm.

Some guessed it came from the Lingyun Sect’s Ancestor Hall, a holy place of martial arts. Others speculated it was from the first-generation eighteen sword puppets on the Bright Sword Platform, which Yan Feibai had personally shattered. The evidence was that all Lingyun Sect disciples who had broken the Lesser Luo Tian Sword Array in the Five Directions Continent and the Four Cloud Islands had, to varying degrees, mastered part of the Cloud-Shocking Divine Sword Intent.

However, this speculation had never been confirmed.

But when he thought about it, Zong Shou’s first reaction was not joy but a sigh.

The Lingyun Sect’s Bright Sword Platform was not limited to this Pill Spirit Mountain. All the Five Directions Continent and the Four Islands had the same Lesser Luo Tian Sword Array and the same twelve divine stone steles.

The situation in Donglin Cloudland was similar, with no one able to break the array for ten thousand years.

However, just two years later, starting with Yan Feibai, in just a decade, these puppet stone steles in the Five Continents and Four Islands were either forcibly broken or successfully replicated. Within the Lingyun Sect, dozens of geniuses rose, shining like stars.

And throughout the entire Cloud Realm, talents emerged in droves, with a surge of powerful figures. The nearly ten thousand years of martial arts accumulation in the Cloud Realm erupted before the true arrival of the Spirit Energy Tide. The Divine Emperor Era was truly an age of supreme powerhouses.

Today, breaking the array and copying the symbols seemed like a myth to others, but if it were to happen a few decades later, it would not be surprising.

Because by then, there would be many people capable of doing it. The so-called geniuses of that time would be as numerous as the stars in the Milky Way.

After sighing, Zong Shou began to examine the benefits and drawbacks of the eighteen Cloud-Shocking Divine Sword Intent spirit seeds for himself.

Using his experience from his previous life, he repeatedly probed with his will, and after an hour, he was eighty percent sure that the Lingyun Ancestor had not tampered with these sword intent spirit seeds.

He said eighty percent because there were more thorough and comprehensive methods of investigation that Zong Shou could not use, and he could not yet reach the deeper layers of these sword-shaped qi energies.

Once his mind relaxed, a hint of wild joy appeared on Zong Shou’s face.

He did not care much about the Cloud-Shocking Absolute Sword. Even the eighteen Cloud-Shocking Divine Sword Intent spirit seeds created by the Lingyun Ancestor were only "worth a look" in his eyes.

However, at this moment, these sword intent spirit seeds were like a timely rain to him.

Using his will to control the sword-shaped qi energies, he made them flow through all the acupoints in the two parallel meridians.

Sure enough, wherever they passed, almost all the alien true qi and impurities were actively shattered by the eighteen sword intent spirit seeds. They could easily assimilate or expel them from his body.

The only headache was that these sword intent seeds were constantly absorbing and assimilating the purest part of his true qi.

Naturally, this was also within his expectations. If his guess was correct, the Cloud-Shocking Divine Sword Intent would show even greater power when he practiced qi and broke through his meridians!

"The puppets in the Lesser Luo Tian Sword Array are the eighteen Cloud-Shocking Divine Sword Intent. Then the warm currents inside the stone steles must be the Heavenly Symbol Spirit Seeds?"

Zong Shou turned his will back to the depths of his spirit, and indeed, he saw twelve symbols surrounding the budding state of his soul sea.

Identifying them, they were the twelve Heavenly Symbols: Heaven, Earth, Yin, Yang, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Thunder, and Movement.

PS: A new week has arrived. Please don’t hesitate to collect and recommend, helping to boost the new book rankings.

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