C592 Sword Comprehension

Outside the Sword Prison, Yan Qiling stood with his hands clasped behind him, occasionally glancing at the shifting mound nearby. In a moment of ennui, he turned to Chi Hongyi, who was close by, and asked with a smile, "Sister Hongyi, what brings you to this place?"

Back in the Absence Relic, Chi Hongyi had arrived with Yellow Old Devil and Old Cash. When they uncovered the schemes of the Silvermoon Queen and Shen Feiqing, Chi Hongyi switched sides, ultimately joining forces with Yu Yuan, Yan Qiling, and Yu Zhu in battle.

The two had a history.

Chi Hongyi, cradling her lute, wore an expression of icy detachment. Upon locking eyes with Shen Feiqing, she remained otherwise motionless.

At Yan Qiling's curious inquiry, she paused briefly before responding, "I've come to fetch my master."

"Your master?" Yan Qiling expressed his surprise.

Pointing towards the Sword Prison, Chi Hongyi revealed, "He's confined within."

With her past flashing through his mind, Yan Qiling quickly grasped the situation. "I see," he acknowledged.

Chi Hongyi hailed from the Luan Bird Empire, the cherished daughter of a prime minister. After her father's downfall in a political struggle and subsequent assassination by a general, she was ensnared in the fallout, her soul extracted and imprisoned.

She had survived, saved by an unknown rescuer. Thirty years later, she reemerged with her lute and exacted vengeance on the general's entire lineage.

Subsequently, Chi Hongyi vanished into the Absence Relic to pursue the path of the Dao Spell. The identity of her mentor remained a secret, known to none.

Now, it seemed likely that her savior and the one who had imparted to her a potent and peculiar set of spells was a Big Devil, one of those suppressed within the Sword Prison.

"My master was taken during his travels in the Outland Star River and has been detained in the Sword Prison ever since," Chi Hongyi explained. "Many years have passed, and regrettably, my abilities are still too limited to free him. I came upon hearing the news, merely hitching a ride, to retrieve my master, whose essence had been drained by the Sword Prison, and take him away from the Great Swamp."

After her explanation, Yan Qiling gave a gentle nod and affirmed, "You're doing the right thing."

Chi Hongyi's master rescued her from the brink of death within the Luan Bird Empire, imparting to her forbidden spells and aiding her quest for vengeance. This act of grace was etched in Chi Hongyi's heart, and she was determined to repay it when the opportunity arose.

"Mr. Yan, what brings you here?" Chi Hongyi inquired, her curiosity piqued. "I've heard that you assisted Yu Yuan in quelling the disturbances beneath the Soul Transformation Pool during our time in the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area?"

At her words, Shen Feiqing, Tan Yuan, and Zhao Jie all cast discreet glances in her direction.

They had only caught whispers of many secrets, remaining unaware of the full story.

Yan Qiling shot a quick look at Shen Feiqing and Tan Yuan, then let out a sly chuckle. "Defending against the malevolent forces from beyond our realm is, I believe, a righteous act. The entity we contained beneath the Soul Transformation Pool was a Heavenly Devil intent on harming mortals. Despite being ostracized by the upper sects, the Demon Palace, and the Devil Palace, and confined within the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area, I am, after all, a denizen of this world."

"When facing external threats, I do not shirk my responsibilities." His gaze shifted to the Sword Prison as he continued, "Those within are not extraterrestrial Heavenly Devils or beings from the Outland Star River. They are malevolent demons from within the Boundless Land itself, deemed so by the three upper sects, the Demon Palace, and the Devil Palace. Essentially, they are no different from me."

"Internal disputes should not involve outsiders. Lending a hand in exchange for something in return doesn't violate my principles." His explanation was directed at Shen Feiqing, Tan Yuan, and the others.

He disapproved of Shen Feiqing and the Silvermoon Queen's actions. His eagerness to thwart their plans stemmed from the knowledge that these two women, brimming with ambition, intended to awaken an Asura from the Dark Domain and resurrect it within the Absence Relic.

The Asura, a being from the Dark Domain, was an alien race from the galaxy, not kin of the Boundless Land.

"My Bright Sect, too, stands apart from these affairs."

With a smile playing on her lips, Zhao Jie bowed respectfully to Yan Qiling from a distance before turning to Tan Yuan. "Friendships aside, principles are principles. Had I been in the Absence Relic and known of Commander Shen and Lee Yupan's intent to unleash the Asura from the Dark Domain, I would have vehemently opposed them."

Tan Yuan merely snorted, remaining silent.

Shen Feiqing, the person at the center of the issue, had a grave look as she declared, "We have our reasons!" She was in no mood for idle chatter.

At that moment, the elder floating above Sword Prison, responsible for keeping the space stable, suddenly paled and called out, "Mr. Yan, I need your assistance!"

All eyes were immediately drawn to the Sword Prison.

Sharp sword lights were seen zipping out from the honeycomb-like cave openings.

The sword intent and light from the Chopping Moon cultivator, sealed within the grindstone, could slice through space. As soon as they emerged from the Sword Prison's caves, onlookers could see the surrounding space ripple and churn. Now and then, small, glaring spatial fissures would tear open, exuding an aura of death, coldness, and boundless desolation.

The numerous spatial cracks, fueled by the roaming sword intent and light, made the space exceedingly fragile.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The ground where Sword Prison lay thundered, as if the very bedrock of this world were on the brink of bursting apart due to the roaming sword intent and light.

The elder, seated at a miniature dais with his hands in a spellcasting gesture, his face etched with concern, called out, "Mr. Yan, if we puncture this small world and release the aura of the Sword Prison, the consequences will be clear to both of us, especially if the three upper sects, the Demon Palace, and the Devil Palace catch wind of it."

"What about what you promised me?" Yan Qiling inquired, gazing at the man in white robes.

"It will be honored immediately after!" the master of the place assured.

"Good!"

In a flash, Yan Qiling materialized above the Sword Prison, and with a sweep of his hand, a black-and-white chessboard emerged.

The appearance of the chessboard led to the rapid healing of the spatial fissures.

"Why has the Sword Prison suddenly become so tumultuous?"

Loong Yang, perched in her floating sedan, felt the disappearance of the dragon blood's essence and grew anxious for her father, the Ninth Level dragon.

"Yu Yuan has successfully advanced to the Penetrating Stage," the master said with a smile.

Teng!

The emerald Ice Flame surged and blazed fiercely. The woman, who had recently gained worldwide fame, seemed to be overcome by a surge of emotion once more.

The old crone from the Bright Sect, her face lined with wrinkles, furrowed her brow, a new wave of doubt rising in her mind.

"Wasn't the Outland Devaputra long ago possessed by the Heavenly Devils? How could an entity as cold-blooded and devoid of emotion as the Outland Devaputra, cloaked in the skin of Lim Zhuyun, possibly have its state of mind altered repeatedly by someone as unrelated as Yu Yuan?"

...

The cave lay empty, devoid of any malevolent spirits or strange demons.

Yu Yuan sat with a sword sheath in hand, his thoughts and focus deepening.

In a flash, his spiritual consciousness flowed like water to the sword scars etched into his arm bone, immediately setting about deciphering the Sword Dao True Spell concealed within those marks.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Sword beams burst forth from the stone path, darting unpredictably within the cavern.

As his mind grappled with the intricacies of the Sword Dao, the soul in his Consciousness Little World, formed by the overlapping of the three souls of Heaven, Earth, and Man, began to transform.

His spiritual consciousness ebbed away in strands.

Moments later, weariness set in. A ripple in his heart lake, and he came to.

"Understanding the sword consumes spiritual consciousness. When I achieve the Yin God Stage, my spiritual consciousness will refine into soul thoughts, and it will be soul power that I expend." This realization came to him naturally, revealing both the cause and the key.

"Ah!"

Glancing down, he saw a sword beam slip into the sword sheath!

He quickly focused a thread of spiritual consciousness to observe more closely.

At the base of the sword sheath, the sword intent and beams flowed like a stream!

Previously, to combat the lingering souls of the Asuras in the Dark Domain, he had severely depleted the sword beams and intent. Later, at the seabed of Ember Waters and on the Crack Archipelago, he had drawn upon the power within the sword sheath.

The irreplaceable power of those sword beams had long been spent, leaving very little behind.

Yet now, new sword light and intent were manifesting at the base of the sword sheath!

Without a second thought, he knew that this resurgence of sword light and intent originated from the Sword Prison where he was located!

While he delved into the arm bone Sword Dao True Spell, his consciousness immersed, sword intent and beams would naturally converge, some settling at the base of the sword sheath.

The mingled sword light and intent could be regarded as a unique energy. This energy of the Sword Prison, woven into the stone path and present at each cave entrance, was precisely this kind.

The presence of this energy was the only thing preventing Loong Jie, Zhongli, and other formidable demons from breaking free of the Sword Prison.

"I ventured into the Desolate Swamp because the Python Queen, acting on behalf of the Demon Palace, was convinced by the master of this domain to secure the cooperation of a key figure within the Palace. Thus, my arrival here was deliberately orchestrated, as I possess the sword soul of a Chopping Moon cultivator and carry the sword sheath!"

Yu Yuan's thoughts shifted subtly.

"He's aware that I've recently attained the Penetrating Stage, with my spiritual consciousness now able to condense and unravel the mysteries of the sword. He also knows that as I delve into these mysteries, sword intent and light will seep into the sheath. Over time, the energy restraining those malevolent spirits will be siphoned into the sheath, losing its ability to contain them.

"Consequently, the captives will inevitably find their way out of the Sword Prison!"

This realization led Yu Yuan to understand the unspoken agreement between Zhongli and the enigmatic master.

"What's my next move?"

If I persist in deciphering the Sword Dao True Spell, I'll keep amassing sword intent and light, ultimately enabling the Sword Prison's captives to escape.

Yet, even if I refrain from engaging with the sword spell, I could still leave the Sword Prison simply by holding the sheath.

But then, I'd have to confront the man in white and possibly face Chen Qingyan, both of whom could be slain immediately.

"The ones bound within the Sword Prison, like Zhongli and Loong Jie, are not of an alien race." After much contemplation and a deep breath, Yu Yuan reached a decision.

He resolved to persist in his sword studies within the Sword Prison, disregarding the accumulating sword intent and light.

Upon making this choice, the Sword Prison became highly unstable, with sword intent and light bursting forth.

Yan Qiling and another collaborator barely managed to stabilize the situation.

Days later, no more sword intent or light emerged from the Sword Prison.

The master in white robes, observing the quiet outside and the flow of sword intent and light within, allowed himself a slight smile. "I do appreciate clever individuals, especially the young ones who show such promise."

He discerned Yu Yuan's resolve.

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