CHAPTER 386: CHAPTER 13: CATACLYSMIC CHANGES IN HEAVEN AND EARTH, REPEATING THE SAME MISTAKES

The Three Suns Sword Tomb returned to silence, leaving behind massive scorch marks across its surface.

The ecosystem of the sword tomb was utterly destroyed; of the 120,000 Sword Ghosts, only two or three thousand remained—a number already considered fortunate, with the rest reduced to fodder for the Night Wanderers.

The surviving Sword Cultivators wore expressions of despair as the spiritual energy within the arena grew increasingly thin.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The Three Suns Sword Tomb descended toward the ground.

The Heavenly Sword Sect itself was a massive sword array. Whenever any sword tomb rose to prominence or fell into decline, the sect would autonomously adjust the elevation of the sword tomb.

As expected, the Three Suns Sword Tomb was on course to be relegated to a lower-level Taoist inheritance.

Climbing back to the ranks of mid-grade would be an unrealistic goal without centuries or millennia of accumulation.

In the Heavenly Sword Sect, only the positions of the Twenty-Eight Sword Tombs remained unshakably firm, perhaps due to the lingering presence of ancient cultivators behind them.

"There’s no time to waste. Qing Tian, since you’ve just joined the sect, you’ll need to enter secluded cultivation for a while."

Luo Yang guided the Three Burning as it transformed into a tunneling light, having already sensed concealed gazes sweeping past—likely drawn there by the Barbaric Sword Intent.

The sole consolation was that Li Mo had not manifested Universal Illumination Sword Intent.

If he had, mere gazes would not suffice—outside the Three Suns Sword Tomb, it would already be swarmed and impenetrable, with the sect’s ancient immortals themselves compelled to emerge.

"Let’s go."

Luo Yang’s tunneling light was ethereal and intangible, heading straight for the Twenty-Eight Sword Tombs.

Flowing light circled as the Three Burning shielded them from the incoming Gang Wind. Layers of Sword Qi wrapped around Li Mo, preventing Divine Senses from discovering his presence.

The storm swirling around Li Mo had not yet subsided.

The primary issue stemmed from the Cocoon Sword Meeting, where the descent of countless stars had been far too extraordinary a scene.

Various Taoist inheritances remained highly curious about how someone like Li Mo, born of the Sword Tongue Sect, possessed such a talent as to attract the favor of myriad sword tombs in fervent competition.

Even after more than a decade, sects and lineages were still searching for traces of Li Mo.

"Huu."

Li Mo exhaled deeply, closing his eyes to digest the information within the Creation Book.

He attempted to glimpse fragments of immortality from ancient legends of gods and ghosts, but the deeper his exploration went, the less real it all seemed.

Even after multiple independent verifications, Li Mo couldn’t shake a certain indescribable absurdity.

"Mortals? How could mere mortals alter the rules of the Heavenly Dao? I thought the disappearance of tribulation and ascension was due to immortality affecting cultivators."

"But to think—it originated from mortals. How... how fucking ridiculous."

When the Twelve Immortals were reborn, Li Mo had already learned from the words of ancient cultivators that the upheaval of heaven and earth might have been caused by mortals.

He remained half-skeptical about this claim.

After all, one by one, those ancient cultivators could only survive by hiding within ordinary vessels. Their mental states were clearly unstable, and their credibility naturally questionable.

Yet the Creation Book confirmed the same notion, proving that mortal impact on the Heavenly Dao was a legitimate matter.

"Damn it."

"According to the memories recorded in the Creation Book, it wasn’t tied to any one individual. Could it be that all mortals had a hand in triggering the upheaval of heaven and earth?"

Li Mo would rather believe that mortals had suddenly awakened the technological trees of their past lives and launched a bloody campaign of modern weaponry against the Cultivation World.

But all evidence indicated the absence of modern weapons.

Moreover, modern weaponry couldn’t harm cultivators. Protective Talismans from mere childhood phases already rendered eighty percent of firearms entirely ineffective.

Li Mo rubbed his temples in frustration.

His consciousness sifted endlessly through the memories of this world.

The bizarre mutations experienced by both immortals and mortals; the torturous struggle of immortality; the strange and unspoken accord between Daoist and Demon factions; the mysterious absence of the Buddhist Sect...

How could any of this be influenced by mortals?

Li Mo opened his eyes and directly asked Luo Yang, "Senior, what exactly happened to the mortal world seven or eight thousand years ago?"

Luo Yang’s expression turned complicated, his gaze flashing momentarily with gravity.

"......."

Li Mo realized there was something to be uncovered and pressed further, "Senior Luo Yang, what exactly happened to the mortal world seven or eight thousand years ago?"

Luo Yang seemed unprepared for Li Mo’s inquiry regarding the upheaval of heaven and earth.

His sword-controlling speed slowed. After a moment of thought, he said, "Qing Tian, would you be willing to swear the strictest Heart Demon Oath to never interact with any mortal for the rest of your life?"

Li Mo dismissed the thought.

To never interact with mortals meant remaining in the Heavenly Sword Sect forever, or risk triggering the Heart Demon Oath and stalling his cultivation for life.

Why were those who knew the truth so deeply fearful of mortals?

"Qing Tian, you only need to understand one thing: Curiosity may cause the calamity from nearly eight thousand years ago to repeat itself. We cannot afford that gamble."

Li Mo’s pupils widened, Luo Yang’s words revealing a sliver of information.

The upheaval of heaven and earth was not over.

"Your current realm is too minor. Even if you uncover the truth, it will only harm you without benefit. Wait until you ascend to the level of Land Immortal before worrying about such matters."

Li Mo forcibly suppressed his thoughts, locking the memories of the upheaval deep within his mind.

Luo Yang seemed pleased with Li Mo’s composure. Both his talent and Mental Realm were exceptional, fitting the profile of a Tao Seed destined for Land Immortality.

"Now is precisely when the Sword Ghosts are taking shape. Qing Tian, you might glean valuable insights from this process."

Li Mo turned his gaze toward the various sword tombs, pushing his Cave God’s Eye to its maximum.

With the aid of the Ten Thousand Transformation Sword Infant, the range of his vision expanded considerably, further enhanced by Luo Yang’s deliberate navigation.

Li Mo noted that more than half of the ten thousand participants in the Cocoon Sword Meeting had perished.

Their corpses lay scattered across various sword tombs, their innards hollowed out, limbs fractured and incomplete, expressions frozen in despair.

On the surface, it appeared as though a beast horde had devoured them.

But in truth, their bodies served as hosts for countless Flying Swords, like caterpillars on the verge of metamorphosis. The sword bodies dissolved day by day.

Sword blade fragments fused into blood, flesh, and bone, taking over the functions of internal organs.

In less than ten days, new Sword Ghosts would be born.

Sword Ghosts would inherit certain traits from their hosts’ lifetimes, usually continuing daily cultivation routines. Compared to Flying Swords, they were far easier to control.

Li Mo roughly estimated that the Heavenly Sword Sect housed well over ten million Flying Swords.

The sect was teeming with various taboos. Maintaining balance was already challenging for Sword Cultivators, let alone leveraging the cultivation of Flying Swords as a resource.

The two continued in silence. Luo Yang’s sword carried them across hundreds of miles before stopping at the peak of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

The Twenty-Eight Sword Tombs hovered immobile, radiating overwhelming Sword Intents in all directions.

Even a distant glance caused Li Mo’s eyes to sting and burn.

The Twenty-Eight Sword Tombs were a hundred times larger than ordinary tombs, their Spiritual Energy correspondingly immense, drawing in starlight to refine them.

The Great Sun Sword Tomb stood at the center, its radiance the brightest of all, its surface hosting a vast arena.

The scale of the Great Sun Arena far surpassed that of the Three Suns Sword Tomb. As expected for a Taoist inheritance within the Inner Sect, it was noticeably divided into eight distinct zones.

Like a turtle shell in layout, its central zone served as the Sword Cultivators’ domain of activity.

Li Mo had hardly glimpsed the arena when Luo Yang’s sword light accelerated, traversing its interior at an imperceptible speed.

He suddenly noticed the wax floating in Luo Yang’s hand had begun to change.

The wax, seemingly a remnant of the Night Wander, hadn’t been completely destroyed by Luo Yang. For reasons unknown, he had intentionally brought it into the Great Sun Sword Tomb.

Within the tomb’s range, the liquid wax began to solidify.

In mere moments.

The wax transformed into a palm-sized Buddha statue, its facial expression vivid and lifelike, its posture identical to temple statues in every detail.

"A taboo?"

Li Mo realized that the taboos within the Great Sun Sword Tomb were beyond imagination, constantly affecting anything that entered its domain.

"Heh heh heh, back when Yu Xiao joined the Thunder Constellation Sword Tomb, it caused quite a stir. As the Thirteenth Immortal, how could you not enjoy a proper reception?"

As Luo Yang’s words fell, the Three Burning flared with dazzling brilliance.

"Qing Tian, lend me your Universal Illumination Sword Intent for a moment."

Li Mo’s scalp tingled, but he still released the Fake Buddha. The Three Burning fused into the Fake Buddha, amplifying the power of the Universal Illumination Sword Intent a hundredfold.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Halos of Universal Illumination Sword Qi erupted outward, painting everything in sight with seven-colored light.

The Heavenly Sword Sect’s silence broke; though the mid-grade tombs dared not confront Luo Yang directly, the other Twenty-Eight Sword Tombs would not remain idle.

"Luo Yang, what a bold move!"

"Taiyi possesses an Earth Attribute Dao Body but strayed onto the path of Yang Attribute Sword Intent. Entrusting him to your Great Sun Sword Tomb is sheer waste!"

"Ha! Your Great Sun Sword Tomb always takes the lion’s share."

"In my view, Luo Yang most likely abducted Taiyi. His heart is insincere—instead, why not hold another Cocoon Sword Meeting?"

"Take this!"

......

It wasn’t just high-level Sword Cultivators; Li Mo could also sense inexplicable gazes filled with undisguised greed.

Beams of Sword Light lashed out in every direction, which Luo Yang deflected with laughter.

Li Mo cursed under his breath.

All he wanted was to cultivate under the Heavenly Sword Sect’s protection in peace; he had never intended to draw such attention. Besides, he wasn’t even at the Divine Separation Stage yet.

"Don’t worry—they won’t trouble you directly. Except for special occasions, the various Taoist lineages rarely interfere with one another."

Luo Yang descended into the Great Sun Sword Tomb’s range.

"Qing Tian, would you be willing to join the Purple Sun Palace?"

"This junior is willing."

"Heh heh, from now on, you’ll be a disciple of the Purple Sun Palace. As for a Taoist inheritance, I recommend Elder Wu Xin."

Luo Yang didn’t mention serving a master.

Li Mo, as a member of the No-Life Sect, was nominally the Thirteenth Disciple of the No-Life Mother. His Fifth Senior Sister Yu Xiao’s unique position within the Heavenly Sword Sect further complicated matters.

"The Taiyi True Immortal Sword Body Technique aligns with your previous Dao Title in the Sword Tongue Sect. It suits your chosen Immortal Path perfectly."

Luo Yang’s speed surged, the surroundings becoming a blur too swift for Li Mo to comprehend.

"The Taiyi True Immortal Sword Body Technique is passed down by Elder Wu Xin. I’ll share the precise location with you—you can seek it out on your own afterward."

Li Mo felt utterly baffled.

"Details about the Inner Sect are inscribed on the Sword Scroll."

"Huh?" Li Mo’s eyebrow twitched.

Luo Yang’s tunneling light came to an abrupt halt, leaving them in an isolated alley filled with the echoes of outside commotion.

"Martial Uncle has matters to attend—heed the Inner Sect rules," Luo Yang said, shoving a tattered Storage Bag into Li Mo’s hands. "The Heavenly Sword Sect’s only priority for Inner Sect disciples is simple..."

"Stay alive."

"Wait, where should I find the Elder to guide me into the sect?"

Luo Yang glanced briefly at Li Mo before vanishing once more into tunneling light.

Li Mo stood frozen in the alley, an ominous feeling creeping through his heart. He immediately began obscuring his more distinct physical features.

The Heavenly Sword Sect.

A vast Immortal Sect that recruited only a scant handful of disciples every millennium.

Its methods of nurturing disciples couldn’t possibly adhere to conventional conventions of wealth, companions, magic, or land.