CHAPTER 28

  Early morning.

  Mountain mist drifted slowly along the rocky slopes of the Heavenly Sword Mountains.

  Beside the underground lake of One-Sword Peak, Yang Feng was sleeping soundly.

  He leaned against a large stone.

  Two wooden water buckets rested by his feet.

  The carrying pole was still across his shoulder, tilted to one side.

  At a glance, it looked as if he had just been about to stand up and continue working, only to fall asleep without realizing it.

  Last night he had practiced his sword until dawn.

  His body had already grown accustomed to the tenfold gravity of One-Sword Peak, but exhaustion could not be avoided.

  A light mountain breeze passed by.

  Ripples spread gently across the surface of the lake.

  Yang Feng continued to sleep.

  He had absolutely no idea that the world itself had changed during the night.

  At the same time, the Heavenly Sword Sect began to awaken like any ordinary morning.

  The Outer Sect was as noisy as ever.

  Disciples moved between rows of courtyards.

  The sound of swords clashing rang across the training grounds.

  Voices argued about sword techniques.

  Footsteps hurried toward the lecture halls.

  At a glance, everything looked exactly the same as before.

  Yet this morning, many people stood still for a long moment the instant they woke up.

  Because last night, they had all shared the same dream.

  A strange dream.

  In that dream, a colossal crimson sword hung in the sky above the Heavenly Sword Mountains.

  Its red light resembled molten lava.

  It illuminated heaven and earth.

  Thunder tribulation clouds rolled across the sky.

  Black clouds twisted and churned.

  It felt as if something was being born between heaven and earth.

  But when they woke up, no one could remember the details clearly.

  Only a vague feeling remained.

  Some people laughed and shook their heads.

  “I must have practiced swordsmanship too late last night.”

  “My spiritual sense was exhausted, so I had hallucinations.”

  Others frowned and thought about it for a moment.

  But very quickly, the Outer Sect returned to its usual rhythm.

  No one noticed that high above their heads, the layers of clouds were slowly gathering together.

  Under the light of the rising sun, their shape gradually became clear.

  A sword.

  A gigantic sword formed entirely from clouds.

  There was no thunder.

  There was no crimson light.

  Only a trace remained.

  A mark left behind by the Heavenly Dao.

  A mark that announced the birth of a Sword Dao Grandmaster.

  But within the Heavenly Sword Sect, only a very small number of people understood what it meant.

  Those who truly understood the sword.

  Those who already carried a sword within their hearts.

  This morning, the sword within their hearts trembled.

  Not because of battle intent.

  Not because of danger.

  But because of something rarely felt.

  Recognition.

  A new path of the Sword Dao had just been born in the world.

  At the summit of One-Sword Peak, Leng Wuqing stood within the mountain wind.

  Her gaze was fixed upon the sky.

  The clouds above the Heavenly Sword Mountains were gathering together, forming the shape of a colossal sword.

  The tip of the sword pointed directly toward One-Sword Peak.

  This was not a phenomenon.

  Nor was it sword qi.

  It was a mark of the Heavenly Dao.

  A carving left by heaven and earth.

  Whenever a new path appeared, the Heavenly Dao would leave such a trace behind.

  It was like an announcement.

  Here, a person capable of opening a new road for the Sword Dao had been born.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Behind her, the four female disciples of One-Sword Peak stood silently.

  None of them spoke.

  Because even they could feel it.

  This morning, the atmosphere of the Heavenly Sword Sect had changed.

  Leng Wuqing slowly turned around.

  Her gaze swept across the four of them.

  “My disciples,” she said calmly.

  “Do you know what Dao Heart is?”

  Liao Jiran was the first to answer.

  “For sword cultivators…”

  “Dao Heart is Sword Heart.”

  Leng Wuqing shook her head slightly.

  “Not enough.”

  She raised her head and looked at the sky once more.

  “A Dao Heart may converge once.”

  “That is fortune.”

  “But when it converges again and again…”

  “it becomes the cultivator’s Life Dao Heart.”

  Her eyes grew colder.

  “For sword cultivators.”

  “That Life Dao Heart…”

  “is the Sword Heart.”

  The mountain wind passed through the peak.

  The white sleeves of her robe fluttered gently.

  “Sword cultivators follow five steps.”

  “The first step.”

  “Heart Toward the Sword.”

  “At this stage, the person holding the sword understands why they hold it.”

  “They place their entire faith in the sword within their hands.”

  “Their sword qi begins to gain form.”

  “The sword begins to possess spirit.”

  She paused.

  Then continued.

  “When Heart Toward the Sword reaches its limit…”

  “the Sword Heart is born.”

  “That is the second step of the Sword Dao.”

  “Dao Heart and the path of cultivation become one.”

  “Sword cultivators possess Sword Heart.”

  “Saber cultivators possess Saber Heart.”

  “Spear cultivators possess Spear Heart.”

  “Fire cultivators possess Fire Heart.”

  “Lightning cultivators possess Lightning Heart.”

  Her gaze shifted toward Liao Jiran.

  “For example, you.”

  “Your Sword Heart is the Cold Water Sword Heart.”

  “A sword heart with the attribute of water.”

  “That is why you can cultivate the Divine Tidal Pillar Sword Art.”

  Liao Jiran scratched her head.

  She smiled awkwardly.

  But Leng Wuqing’s gaze had already moved elsewhere.

  Toward Yang Feng’s cave abode.

  After a long silence, she finally spoke.

  “But Yang Feng…”

  “has given birth to a completely different Sword Heart.”

  Her voice slowed.

  “I have never seen it before.”

  “In the entire Eastern Region…”

  “it has never existed.”

  She looked up toward the cloud sword in the sky.

  “Red.”

  “Full of vitality.”

  “But not fire.”

  “Not hot.”

  “Not violent.”

  “Instead…”

  “it resembles an ancient tree.”

  “Quietly growing.”

  “Quietly rooting itself.”

  “But once it matures…”

  “it could support heaven and earth.”

  She remained silent for a long time.

  Then she spoke softly.

  “He…”

  “might…”

  Her sentence stopped halfway.

  Then Leng Wuqing suddenly laughed.

  It was not a cold laugh.

  Nor a mocking laugh.

  It was the almost crazed laughter of someone who had just discovered a truth.

  “Hahaha…”

  “Mortal Foundation…”

  She raised her head toward the sky.

  Her eyes shone brightly.

  “Heavenly Dao.”

  “The thing you have always considered inferior.”

  “And yet…”

  “it has created a miracle before your very eyes.”

  When Yang Feng opened his eyes again, evening had already fallen.

  The pale crimson light of sunset spilled across the underground lake, reflecting shimmering streaks of light onto the ceiling of the cave abode.

  He slowly sat up.

  His back felt stiff after sleeping for so long on the cold stone ground.

  Yang Feng stretched his body.

  Several cracking sounds came from his joints.

  Immediately, his stomach tightened.

  A fierce hunger surged upward.

  It was not ordinary hunger.

  It was an emptiness that seemed to reach deep into his bones.

  It felt as if his entire body were screaming for energy.

  Yang Feng frowned slightly.

  “That’s strange…”

  He stepped out of the cave abode.

  The air outside was cool and damp.

  The mountain wind carried the familiar scent of grass and trees from One-Sword Peak.

  But the moment he stepped outside, a particular smell struck his senses.

  It was strong.

  Warm.

  Filled with dense spiritual energy.

  The scent of spirit beast blood.

  Yang Feng immediately turned toward the source of the smell.

  On the stone courtyard not far away, Su Xueni was sitting beside a massive spirit crane.

  A Immortal Spirit Crane Crane.

  Its white silver feathers were partially stained red with blood.

  Clearly, it had been killed not long ago.

  Yang Feng paused in surprise.

  This was the first time he had ever seen a true spirit beast being butchered.

  Before this, the so called “blood beast essence” that Outer Sect disciples exchanged for contribution points had only appeared in tiny bottles.

  One drop.

  Two drops.

  But now, the true body of a slain spirit beast lay right before his eyes.

  Su Xueni was processing it.

  Her movements were extremely practiced.

  The spirit blade in her hand turned lightly.

  The neck of the spirit crane was opened.

  Then she reached her hand inside.

  After a moment, she pulled something out.

  A dark red bead.

  An Origin Spirit Blood Pearl.

  The blood pearl emitted a faint crimson glow.

  Inside it, something like flowing blood slowly circulated.

  Yang Feng immediately understood.

  So the “blood beast essence” that Outer Sect disciples exchanged for contribution points came from pearls like this.

  Every single drop came from a spirit beast’s life.

  He stood there watching for a moment.

  Then he slowly walked closer.

  Only then did Su Xueni notice him.

  She startled slightly.

  “Oh no.”

  She sighed.

  “Little Five saw it.”

  Yang Feng blinked.

  “Saw… what?”

  Su Xueni raised the crimson blood pearl.

  She smiled helplessly.

  “The gift I was planning to give you.”

  Yang Feng immediately understood.

  Blood beast essence.

  It came from this pearl.

  He scratched his head.

  “Sorry, Senior Sister.”

  Su Xueni waved her hand.

  “It’s fine.”

  She looked at the blood pearl.

  “I planned to keep it for your body refinement.”

  “But…”

  She frowned slightly.

  “There probably isn’t enough time.”

  Yang Feng looked confused.

  “Why?”

  “You’re leaving the mountain tomorrow.”

  She said it casually.

  “With Master.”

  Yang Feng’s eyes widened.

  “What?!”

  “How long was I asleep?”

  Su Xueni laughed.

  “More than a day.”

  Yang Feng said nothing.

  He scratched his head again.

  “No one came looking for me?”

  “Yes.”

  She smiled.

  “But Master said to let you sleep.”

  “After all, you already finished your task.”

  “You mastered the Heavenly Sword Inner Cultivation Method in two days.”

  Yang Feng could only smile awkwardly.

  But just then, the scent of the spirit beast’s blood reached his nose again.

  The hunger inside his body surged violently.

  His stomach growled loudly.

  Yang Feng looked at the spirit crane.

  He swallowed.

  Then he asked,

  “Senior Sister…”

  “Can I drink the blood of this crane?”

  Su Xueni looked up.

  She was stunned.

  “What?”

  Then she burst into laughter.

  “You want to eat Master’s food?”

  Yang Feng blinked.

  “What do you mean?”

  She pointed at the crane’s neck.

  “I planned to give the essence blood to you.”

  “As for the remaining fresh blood…”

  “I was going to make blood pudding and serve it to Master.”

  Yang Feng said nothing.

  But at that very moment, the Origin Qi inside his body suddenly roared.

  A violent craving burst forth.

  It felt like a wild beast that had been starved for a very long time.

  The scent of spirit beast blood before him was an irresistible delicacy to the Origin Qi.

  Yang Feng clenched his teeth.

  “Senior Sister…”

  “Can you give me just one bowl?”

  Su Xueni looked at him.

  Her expression turned slightly strange.

  But in the end she sighed.

  “Fine.”

  She took out a simple porcelain bowl.

  Then placed it beneath the neck of the spirit crane.

  Fresh red blood slowly flowed down.

  Before long, the bowl was full of spirit beast blood.

  She handed it to him.

  “Just one bowl.”

  Yang Feng took it.

  The moment the bowl of blood touched his hands, the Origin Qi inside his body began to boil.

  He did not wait another second.

  Gulp.

  Gulp.

  He drank the entire bowl in one breath.

  In the very next instant, everything exploded.

  Origin Qi erupted inside his dantian.

  A terrifying heat rushed through his meridians.

  The spirit beast blood he had just swallowed was dragged directly into his dantian.

  But instead of soaking into his flesh to temper his body, the Origin Qi devoured it immediately.

  Spiritual energy.

  Essence blood.

  Vital life force.

  Everything was crushed.

  Then transformed.

  Streams of newly born Inner Power surged through his meridians.

  Yang Feng’s body trembled.

  His entire body burned with heat.

  He had never truly trained his body before.

  Only once had he drunk Spirit Ox Blood at the Healing Pavilion to stabilize his meridians.

  But this time, the Origin Qi inside him was frighteningly greedy.

  The spirit beast blood had not even begun to seep into his flesh before it was almost completely absorbed.

  The Inner Power inside his body began to circulate.

  It started to replace a portion of the Spiritual Power flowing through his meridians.

  Yang Feng trembled.

  His whole body burned like fire.

  His pores opened.

  Drops of thick black sweat began to seep out.

  They carried a heavy foul odor.

  It was as if his entire body was being cleansed from the inside.

  Su Xueni stared at the scene.

  Her eyes widened.

  “That’s impossible…”

  she murmured.

  “Little Five… is undergoing marrow cleansing?”

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