45: Sword Tomb of Myriad Realms

Myriad Sword Peak, shrouded in clouds and mist, Sword Qi soaring to the heavens.

Arriving again at the Sword Pool cave entrance at the base of the peak, which was sealed by a Restriction, Ye Chen's state of mind was completely different from last time. The Cave-guarding Elder still sat cross-legged like a withered tree; sensing Ye Chen's presence, his eyelids lifted slightly, and a faint, almost imperceptible flash of surprise crossed his clouded eyes.

"You again? Your cultivation has improved significantly, and your Sword Intent... hmm?" The elder's gaze lingered on Ye Chen for a moment, pausing particularly on the qingfeng sword he carried on his back. "It seems your journey to the Sword Pool yielded far more than expected. Why have you come this time?"

Ye Chen bowed respectfully: "Senior is wise. This Disciple has heard that at the summit of Myriad Sword Peak, there is an entrance to the 'Myriad Worlds Sword Tomb.' I yearn for it and wish to go explore; I humbly ask for Senior's guidance."

Hearing this, the elder fell silent for a moment before slowly saying: "The Myriad Worlds Sword Tomb is no benevolent place. Inside, space-time is chaotic, Sword Intent is violent, and countless eternal obsessions and remnant Souls of fallen Sword Cultivators wander. With your Kaiyuan Realm Sixth Level cultivation, even with a Luminous Sword Heart, stepping inside is a narrow escape from death."

He looked sharply at Ye Chen: "Are you certain you want to go?"

Ye Chen's eyes were firm, without any retreat: "This Disciple is certain. The path of the Sword is like rowing upstream; if one does not advance, one falls back. If I limit myself due to fear of risk, it will be hard to achieve greatness. This Disciple is willing to use the sword in my hand to cut through the thorns ahead!"

The elder looked deeply at him, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes, and no longer dissuaded him: "In that case, I shall open the passage for you. Remember, within the Sword Tomb, everything is illusory and everything is real. Guarding your heart is the fundamental key. If you encounter an irresistible force, crush this talisman; it might save your life."

As he spoke, he flicked his finger, and a jade talisman carved with a simple sword pattern flew toward Ye Chen.

"Thank you, Senior!" Ye Chen caught the jade talisman and stowed it away solemnly.

The elder said no more, forming hand seals and chanting under his breath. As he performed the technique, on the rock wall beside the Sword Pool cave where there had been nothing, space began to twist and ripple, finally revealing a constantly rotating silver vortex emitting an aura of Chaos and vastness! Within the vortex, countless sword shadows could be seen faintly drifting, with the sounds of mourning and sword whistles echoing softly.

"Go in. How long you can stay and what you can obtain depends entirely on your own fortune." The elder's voice carried a hint of fatigue; maintaining this passage clearly consumed a lot of energy.

Ye Chen bowed to the elder again, then took a deep breath, his gaze resolute as he stepped into the silver vortex!

The world spun!

As if Transmigrating through endless space-time, countless bizarre scenes flashed rapidly before his eyes and vanished instantly. A violent tearing sensation came from all directions; if not for his powerful Physical Body and the protection of his Sword Intent, he would likely have been torn to pieces in an instant.

After an unknown amount of time—perhaps a moment, perhaps an eternity—the tearing sensation suddenly vanished.

Ye Chen landed firmly, stabilized himself, and looked up; his mind was instantly shocked by the sight before him!

This was an incredibly desolate and vast broken world!

The sky was an eternal dim yellow, with no sun, moon, or stars—only countless shattered space cracks spreading like spiderwebs. Occasionally, brilliant meteors (perhaps fragments of some broken world) streaked across, falling toward the boundless distance.

The earth was parched, showing a deathly dark red. Looking as far as the eye could see, the ground was densely packed with countless swords! Some were intact as new, radiating cold light; some were rusted and broken; some even had only a hilt left... they were of various shapes and materials, from the most common iron to God-tier weapon fragments emitting terrifying fluctuations—everything was there!

These swords, like tombstones, stood silently on this deathly land, together forming an endless... Sword Tomb!

The air was thick with various attributes of Sword Intent that couldn't be dispersed! Sharp, domineering, soft, scorching, icy... they intertwined, collided, and annihilated each other, forming a chaotic and dangerous force field. It was as if the dying cries, unwilling roars, or sighs of relief of countless Sword Cultivators echoed in his ears... This was the Myriad Worlds Sword Tomb! The final destination of fallen Sword Cultivators from countless worlds and eras, and the gathering place of their Sword Dao Legacies and obsessions!

"What a terrifying Sword Intent storm!" Ye Chen's expression was grave as he immediately activated his "Immovable Rock Guarding Heart" Sword Intent, guarding his mind to resist the pervasive Sword Intent impacts and Soul noise. Even with his current Sword Dao cultivation, being here felt like being a small boat in a raging sea, liable to capsize at any moment.

He didn't dare go deep, only exploring cautiously in the area near the entrance. What he stepped on was not soil, but a thick layer of "Sword Dust" composed of countless sword fragments and bone powder.

[Discovered absorbable remnant Sword Intent: Killing Sword Intent (Fragment). Absorb?]

[Discovered absorbable remnant Sword Intent: Guardian Sword Intent (Fragment). Absorb?]

[Discovered absorbable remnant Sword Intent: Star Sword Intent (Fragment). Absorb?]

The System's notification sounds rang out continuously. The quality and quantity of Sword Intent fragments here were far beyond what he had encountered in the "Elementary exploration" area he had previously accessed through System permissions!

Ye Chen did not absorb them blindly. With his Luminous Sword Heart, he could clearly distinguish which Sword Intent fragments were relatively gentle and which were full of violence and Chaos. He selectively guided those fragments that were relatively pure or could complement his own Sword Dao to merge into himself.

With every wisp absorbed, his understanding of the Sword Dao deepened. The sword intent furnace in his mind operated joyfully, constantly refining and purifying these external nutrients to feed back into his core "Nirvana" Sword Intent and the zhutian sword soul fragment seed.

He walked slowly, his gaze sweeping over the various ancient swords. Some swords seemed to sense a kindred aura from him and emitted a faint hum; some were deathly still, as if they had long lost their spirituality; still others emitted a dangerous aura, warning outsiders not to approach.

Suddenly, his footsteps paused, his gaze drawn to a broken sword stuck diagonally in the "Sword Dust" not far ahead.

The broken sword was a dull silver throughout, its body covered in fine cracks as if it would shatter completely at any moment. But what attracted Ye Chen was not its appearance, but an ancient aura he felt from it—extremely faint, yet resonating slightly with the zhutian sword soul fragment deep in his Divine Soul!

This aura shared the same source as the Heaven Slaying broken sword he had sensed on the altar in the ancient Cultivator's Immortal Cave, but it was thinner and more fragmented!

"Could it be... this is also a fragment of the Heaven Slaying sword?" Ye Chen's heart stirred as he approached cautiously.

Just as he reached out his hand, about to touch the dark silver broken sword—

"Buzz!"

A pitch-black Sword Intent, full of violence, Chaos, and capable of eroding everything, suddenly erupted like a lurking venomous snake from the "Sword Dust" beside the broken sword, turning into a twisted black sword shadow that stabbed straight toward Ye Chen's brow! Its speed was comparable to lightning!

This sneak attack came without warning and contained a malicious power specifically targeting the Divine Soul!

If it were the previous Ye Chen, he probably wouldn't have had time to react! But now, his Luminous Sword Heart made his sense of danger sharp to the extreme!

At the moment the black sword shadow appeared, a cold light flashed in Ye Chen's eyes. Without even thinking, the "Nirvana" Sword Intent that had been dormant deep in his Divine Soul was triggered spontaneously!

He pointed his fingers like a sword, striking second but arriving first!

A wisp of pitch-black sword silk, refined to the limit, shot from his fingertip and struck the attacking black sword shadow with absolute precision!

"Sss—"

No loud noise, no explosion.

The black sword shadow containing the malicious Divine Soul attack, upon contact with the Nirvana sword silk, melted and annihilated silently like snow thrown into a fire, without even a ripple!

An instant kill!

The attacker didn't even have a chance to reveal its true form before being directly "erased" from this world by this supreme destructive Sword Intent!

Ye Chen withdrew his finger, his expression calm as if he had merely brushed away a speck of dust. He looked at the dark silver broken sword, no longer obstructed.

However, just as he reached out again, another change occurred!

The dark silver broken sword suddenly vibrated violently, and a blinding silver light erupted from the cracks in its body! A Heaven Slaying Sword Intent, far clearer and more sorrowful than before, surged into Ye Chen's Sea of Consciousness like a bursting flood!

Simultaneously, an incredibly ancient, fragmented consciousness filled with endless regret and unwillingness echoed in his mind:

"Successor... I am the Heaven Slaying Sword Attendant... Yinxiao..."

"The Demonic Tribulation rises again... the 'Dark Hall' awakens... protect this realm..."

"Find... the other fragments... reforge... Heaven Slaying..."

The thoughts were intermittent, full of urgency and pleading. Then, the dark silver broken sword seemed to exhaust its last bit of strength; the silver light dimmed completely, and with a "crack," the sword body shattered into countless powder particles, merging into the "Sword Dust" below. Only that wisp of pure Heaven Slaying Sword Intent Origin merged into Ye Chen's Divine Soul, quietly absorbed by the sword Soul fragment seed in his Sea of Consciousness.

[Ding! Absorbed special Sword Intent Origin: Heaven Slaying Sword Intent (Remnant). zhutian sword soul fragment (Seed) activation progress: 3%.]

Ye Chen stood stunned, waves of shock surging in his heart.

Heaven Slaying Sword Attendant? Yinxiao? Demonic Tribulation rising again? Dark Hall awakening? Reforging Heaven Slaying?

This amount of information was too massive! Within this Myriad Worlds Sword Tomb, a sword attendant of the ancient Zhutian Sword Venerable was actually buried? And according to his consciousness, it seemed a massive Demonic Tribulation affecting the heavens had not ended but was about to return? That mysterious "Dark Hall" in its midst, what role did it play?

He felt as if he had uncovered the tip of the iceberg of a massive mystery, and he himself seemed to have been drawn into the center of this vortex!

Just as his mind was racing, the entire Myriad Worlds Sword Tomb suddenly began to shake slightly! Deep within the endless sword graves in the distance, a terrifying aura that made one's Soul tremble seemed to be disturbed by the Sword Intent fluctuations here just now and was slowly awakening!

"Not good!" Ye Chen's expression changed, and without hesitation, he immediately crushed the jade talisman given by the Cave-guarding Elder!

A soft yet resilient sword light instantly enveloped him, tearing through space and carrying him back rapidly!

In the final moment before his consciousness completely left the Sword Tomb, he vaguely saw, in the deepest part of the tomb, a pair of giant eyes like blood-colored stars slowly opening amidst the endless dim yellow...