Chapter 890: Entering the Sword Tomb
Chapter 890: Entering the Sword Tomb
On the desolate, withered land, countless small mounds swelled up like grotesque tumors.
Even from a great distance, one could smell the reek of decay and corruption that hung in the air.
Some of the mounds had been dug open by curious passersby.
Inside, there was nothing but a thick, black, rotten ooze.
It was said that the Myriad Immortals Alliance had even dispatched specialists to investigate the site.
When their investigation yielded no results, they simply leveled this entire festering patch of land.
Yet, after less than half a year of peace, the sprawling mounds had reappeared.
The Alliance once again sent people to deal with the problem.
Eventually, the Alliance gave up, classifying the phenomenon as something akin to a "weirdness."
However, Li Fan knew that the cause of this area's abnormality was no mere weirdness.
It was the residual intent clinging to innumerable swords, twisted and corrupted over thousands of years.
"I can't blame the Myriad Immortals Alliance for being so perfunctory," he mused.
"Even an ordinary Dao Integration cultivator, if they weren't particularly proficient in the Dao of the Sword, would likely never notice the anomaly here."
With that thought, Li Fan activated the Reverse Five Elements Creation-Destruction Sword.
In his vision, the scene before him abruptly transformed.
Countless black shadows drifted out from the swollen mounds.
Like wraiths, their eyes glowed with a crimson light as they stared intently at Li Fan.
A chorus of incomprehensible whispers rose from all around, a sound that was part shriek, part resentful curse.
The whispers seemed to pierce his eardrums, reaching directly into his mind.
Even blocking his hearing or sealing his spiritual sense could not stop them.
Li Fan frowned slightly. He knew this was a necessary trial to enter the Heavenly Sword Sect's Sword Tomb, so he could only steel his resolve and endure the bizarre, piercing assault.
The red-eyed shadows, seeing Li Fan remain unmoved, erupted in a collective fury.
They transformed into streaks of black light and lunged at him.
As they drew closer, their forms became horribly clear.
Some resembled recently deceased corpses in the throes of decay, their flesh festering and crawling with maggots.
Others looked as if they were being roasted alive, their bodies melting into grotesque shapes.
Still others were nothing more than blurred masses of gore, hacked into countless pieces.
...
Their one common feature was that every one of these corpses bore Li Fan's face!
And the instant he saw them, a thousand different ways for him to die flashed through his mind!
This was no mere fantasy; it was a hyper-realistic illusion, much like the visions induced by the Will Horse.
His own body could even feel the corresponding agony.
"Petty tricks."
"Not to mention I am protected by the Immortal Heart Mantra, impervious to all techniques. Even if I were careless enough to be caught, the new cultivation method allows anyone at the Nascent Soul stage or higher to endlessly regenerate their body..."
"A decent move, but unfortunately, it's obsolete."
Li Fan thought this and allowed the black shadows to swallow him whole.
Then, his Five Elements Great Cave-Heaven hummed softly, and in the blink of an eye, a new body appeared.
More black shadows emerged from the mounds, screaming as they swarmed toward him.
In this manner, Li Fan continuously recreated his body, allowing himself to be tainted by the shadows from every one of the nearly ten thousand mounds.
With each shadow that corroded him, Li Fan felt his body "sink" just a little.
He was not sinking into the earth, but into another dimension entirely.
These black shadows were like water spirits, dragging him down into the world they inhabited.
Once he was fully submerged, the scene shifted, and Li Fan finally arrived in the true Sword Tomb.
It was exactly as Shuo Feng had described. Tens of thousands of broken swords were thrust into the ground at an angle.
All of them were bent slightly toward the center, as if paying homage to their emperor.
The arrival of an outsider like Li Fan provoked no reaction from them.
Observing these swords, which appeared rusted and decayed, Li Fan discovered that they were not so much decaying...
...as they were...
...becoming purer under the baptism of the central Heaven's Wonder: the [Sword].
They no longer needed the shackles of a physical form. Like the [Sword] itself, they were evolving toward a state of pure concept, of pure energy.
"Those black shadows outside were the killing intent, the lingering obsessions, and the desires of those slaughtered by these swords, all of which had clung to these thousands of blades for ages."
"In this world of pure sword intent, they gradually lost their footing and were slowly expelled."
Li Fan circulated the Reverse Five Elements Creation-Destruction Sword, disguising himself as one of the blades. He stood perfectly still, observing his surroundings.
"If there were no external disturbances, under the subtle, pervasive influence of the [Sword], all ten thousand blades in this tomb might truly shed their physical forms and become conceptual beings."
A look of wonder flickered in Li Fan's eyes.
"What is this? When one person attains the Dao, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven?"
"As expected of a being enlightened by Mr. Bai."
With this thought, Li Fan finally took his first step forward.
A moment later, his expression changed slightly.
In that instant, more than a thousand swords around him unleashed their sword intent in unison.
They seemed displeased with his attempt to cut the line.
In Li Fan's perception, these outwardly decaying swords finally revealed their dazzling true forms.
Some had blades of fiery red, like blazing flames; some emanated a misty aura, like the finest azure jade; some were pitch-black, yet could not conceal a thick, bloody stench; some shone like golden light, wreathed in crackling lightning like the awesome might of the heavens...
Though these were merely the swords on the outermost perimeter of the tomb, thousands of years of refinement by the true intent of the [Sword] had transformed them into something far beyond ordinary items.
Every single one of them could be considered a high-grade Human Treasure!
Li Fan let out a cold snort as the intent of his Reverse Five Elements Creation-Destruction Sword erupted with power.
Under the crushing pressure of countless sword intents, he took another step.
This time, he offended even more swords.
Instantly, countless gashes appeared on his body, dripping with blood.
Even his very soul felt as though it were being hacked apart by sword qi, a dull, persistent ache spreading through it.
"I can't fight back. I can only endure it in silence."
"Otherwise, every sword in this tomb will see me as an enemy and attack me as one."
"Even the wooden sword at the center will make its move."
Sensing this, Li Fan temporarily deactivated his Soul Ignition.
He pushed the Limitless Fullness and Emptiness technique to its absolute peak and strode forward.
In that moment, he truly understood the meaning of being assailed by ten thousand swords.
His body was already riddled with wounds. Even with the constant regeneration from his Five Elements Great Cave-Heaven, he could barely maintain a human form.
And though his soul healed quickly after each grievous injury, the excruciating pain was something he could not escape.
"Shuo Feng had it so easy."
"He didn't have to pay these ten thousand swords any mind. With just the golden armor his mother gave him, he walked to the center of the Sword Tomb as if taking a leisurely stroll through a garden."
Amidst the agony, Li Fan recalled Shuo Feng's description and could not help but sigh in admiration.
Yet, for all his grumbling, the combined assault of the ten thousand swords in the tomb did not slow Li Fan in the slightest.
In just under half a day, Li Fan walked steadily to the very center of the Sword Tomb.
(End of Chapter)
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