Seeking the Flying Sword Path

"A reincarnated immortal can only awaken if they cultivate to the Connate Golden Core realm. Even then, it’s still very difficult to be awakened. Back then, the nine of us reincarnated together. Perhaps some of us are forever stuck in Samsara," said Hong Lingtong through a voice transmission. Following that, he looked at Eighth Zhu. "Let’s not talk about this now. Old Pig, let’s think of a way to deal with this fiendish demon."

"Yes, you are better with array formations than me. You give the array a shot," said Eighth Zhu through a voice transmission. "I’ll fight him head-on."

"Alright." Hong Lingtong nodded.

Hong Lingtong was able to pursue good fortune, avoiding disaster by searching for the most suitable node to crack. He was naturally better at setting up and cracking arrays when compared to Eighth Zhu.

...

The array that He Qian set up covered nine villages within its fifteen kilometers span.

"What happened?"

"Why has the sky turned dark?"

In one of the villages, many villagers looked at the sky in alarm. It had been a bright day but, in a blink of an eye, it had turned dark. A black fog was billowing over from all corners.

"Look! Look!"

"What’s that?"

Many villagers looked into the distance. Amid the darkened sky, there were two gigantic rock columns. They formed something towering and massive.

"To think that two mortal cultivators would come here courting death? Haha, if they had sent Qin Yun, it would have been interesting. As for the two of you! Die!" The two lofty columns strode forward and as the black fog billowed, revealing a towering figure.

"It’s a giant! He’s so tall. He’s even taller than our back mountain."

"He must be a heavenly soldier that has descended into the mortal world."

"It’s a God, an omnipotent God!"

The villagers were dumbfounded from shock. The towering three-thousand-foot mountain giant, He Qian, had indeed given the mortal villagers a shock.

...

He Qian had a mountain body, and so could transform into a towering three-thousand-foot tall giant. He laughed as he brandished his palms, striking out like he was swatting two flies! His stone palms were hundreds of feet wide and he could blot out the sky by flailing them.

"Fiendish demon, rein yourself in!" The handsome youth, Eighth Zhu flashed and grew to a height of two thousand feet. Unlike He Qian with his mountainous body, Eighth Zhu cultivated in the Physical Establishing Sage. His flesh was still undeniably human but his skin suffused a luster that resembled that of a Dharma treasure.

After Eighth Zhu transformed into his own towering form, he instantly cleaved with his saber.

Boom! Boom!

The two towering figures engaged in an intense battle. Eighth Zhu’s figure flashed around like a ghost. His saber arts were extremely profound, making his style like a game of chess as he used tactics to anticipate his foe’s movements. He Qian was an Other Realm Fiendcelestial that had cultivated for hundreds of thousands of years. He had rich combat experience, and so was completely able to hold his own.

Both sides fought to a standstill.

"What? He’s cracking the array?" He Qian was alarmed when he discovered that Hong Lingtong was cracking the array. In a short period of time, Hong Lingtong had managed to crack one of the array’s nodes while He Qian was engaged in battle. This alarmed He Qian. "For him to have such attainment in array formations, it looks like the both of you are reincarnated immortals."

"Boom!"

He Qian immediately gave a mental command, triggering the entire array formation.

The array formation’s might surged at Hong Lingtong and Eighth Zhu with overwhelming strength. Under the array formation’s repression, Eighth Zhu was immediately placed at the disadvantage.

"Bam!" Eighth Zhu was sent flying backward when he was struck by a palm. He Qian also diverted his attention to send Hong Lingtong flying with a kick! Hong Lingtong was weaker when it came to close combat. The gap between him and the fiendish demon was accentuated thanks to the repression coming from the array formation. He was sent flying.

"Go!" He Qian diverted his attention to activate a first-grade Dharma treasure, Solar Treasure Wheel. It spun as it pursued Hong Lingtong.

After one of the array formations was cracked, He Qian immediately knew he had to be careful.

He used all his strength to control the array formation while facing the two reincarnated immortals. With the array formation’s help, he completely suppressed the duo.

"Old Pig, that won’t do. You have to fully hold him back or I’ll be unable to calm my mind to crack the array," said Hong Lingtong through an anxious voice transmission. At the same time, he was avoiding the spinning Solar Treasure Wheel.

"Daoist Liu, I only just recovered my memories after reaching the Connate Golden Core realm." Eighth Zhu could not help but say. "I did not form a purplish-gold Golden Core. My Physical Establishing Sage was able to be cultivated to this stage because of my high insights. However, my Dharmic powers are still weak. I couldn’t control a Numinous treasure even if it was placed right in front of me. I am already doing my best."

Eighth Zhu was helpless as well.

He was the same as Hong Lingtong. Although they were considered geniuses after their reincarnation, they were a lot weaker than Qin Yun.

Both of them regained their memories after attaining the Connate Golden Core realm! They failed to form a purplish-gold Golden Core and were unable to use overly powerful Dharma treasures! Their Dharmic powers were also weak.

Eighth Zhu, Hong Lingtong, and He Qian were in similar situations. They were weak when it came to Dharmic powers and Dharma treasures but their realms were surprisingly high.

Now, He Qian had the situational advantage of an array formation. The duo was unable to do much to him for the time being.

"I’m so infuriated that I feel like breaking through to the Essence Soul realm now," said Eighth Zhu angrily through a voice transmission.

"Once you break through to the Essence Soul realm, this mortal fiendish demon no longer needs to worry about fighting you. And if you attack the array formation, the aftershocks would cause the death of countless mortal villagers. The tribulations would befall you and you might immediately lose your life," said Hong Lingtong through a voice transmission. The both of them just needed to spare a bit of time to cultivate to the third Firmament Essence Soul realm but they were in no hurry to make that breakthrough.

Being mortal had its advantages. Although they were weaker, they were not beholden to most of the heavenly rules.

They could break through at any time they wanted.

"Your Majesty, this fiendish demon holds the advantage due to his array formation. Brother Eighth Zhu and I are unable to crack the array for now." Hong Lingtong sent Human Emperor a voice transmission.

...

On a cloud far away, the immortals from all factions were gathered.

"As reincarnated immortals, the both of them have strength relatively close to the fiendish demon’s. However, the fiendish demon has an array formation and it cannot be cracked anytime soon." Human Emperor frowned. "What do we do now?"

"Your Majesty," said a wizened elder. "Let me do it. I’ll charge in and vanquish that fiendish demon."

"Brother Qian, if you were to forcibly charge in and strike at the array formation’s might, that fiendish demon will definitely take advantage and harm many of the fifty thousand mortal villagers. The tribulations might befall you immediately, taking your life," said Patriarch Zhu immediately.

Elder Qian shook his head. "I’m fast enough. Before the tribulations strike me, I should be able to rid us of that fiendish demon in time. All of you should know that I have been suffering the torment of the tribulations all this while. Even if I were to drag out this ignoble existence, it would only be for several centuries. I might as well give up this life if it means destroying the catastrophe! That World Entrance is expanding as we speak. It probably won’t be long before first Firmament Essence Soul realm fiendcelestials start to enter our world. The longer we delay, the more trouble it will be."

"Brother Qian." All the surrounding experts fell silent.

Elder Qian was rather famous in the world.

He rid the world of evil in his youth but as a result of offending the fiendish demons, his family was wiped out. All of his loved ones were killed. From that moment forth, Elder Qian changed as a person. He turned colder and, despite knowing that the tribulations would be stronger with the increase in karma, he always charged to the forefront during battles... He basically suffered a tribulation almost every ten days.

However, Elder Qian had cultivated to the third Firmament Essence Soul realm. He permanently presided over the Inspector Heavenly Alliance’s headquarters.

"Old Qian, don’t just go risking your life. There’s still one person left who can help us," said Ancestral Master Zhang. "Grand Dominance’s Qin Yun might not be a reincarnated immortal but he did fight this fiendish demon a few years ago. He was only slightly disadvantaged and was even able to protect himself! I believe that his strength has improved over the past few years. He might even be a match for this fiendish demon. If he joins forces with Eighth Zhu and Ninth Hong, they might have a chance of cracking the array."

"Qin Yun?" remarked Human Emperor immediately. "It was said that when he first stepped into the Dao, he didn’t even have the strength to kill Paramount realm fiendish demons. From the looks of it, he had only condensed a purplish-gold Golden Core."

"That’s right. He has a purplish-gold Golden Core. I long knew that. But with his Dharmic powers, he can use powerful Dharma treasures," said Ancestral Master Zhang. "I’ll send him a voice transmission now to get him to rush here."

At the third Firmament Essence Soul realm, one could typically sense tens of thousands of kilometers through the Heaven and Earth powers.

With Ancestral Master Zhang’s strength, he could sense all the Heaven and Earth powers in the world, so he could naturally send a voice transmission.

...

Jiang Prefecture’s Grand Dominance. Qin Manor.

Qin Yun engaged in sword practice and Dao enlightenment every day. He would accompany his wife as she did her calligraphy. He led quite a carefree life. Ever since Qin Yun slew the five Paramount realm fiendish demons, it was rare for the world to require his assistance.

Qin Yun’s final stepping into the Dao forged a robust Sword Dao foundation. What followed was a period of rapid growth. He gained new insights almost every other day. Furthermore, he had completed the set of the Cosmic Bangles Numinous treasure and had the stone wall palm arts from the Other Realm Yellow Wyrm. All these required him to slowly study them. The Cosmic Bangles formed a cosmic world of their own, resembling Qin Yun’s Sword Dao. Hence, the set was worth studying.

As for the stone wall palm arts, they were even more profound! There was a reason why the Other Realm Yellow Wyrm deemed it the most impressive art that he had ever encountered.

"Hu! Hu! Hu!"

A cold wind blew as huge snowflakes the size of goose feathers fluttered. Yi Xiao was heating up alcohol in a tea room while Qin Yun was leisurely practicing his calligraphy.

Every character contained the wonders of his sword art.

Practicing calligraphy was also a form of sword practice.

"Brother Yun, your calligraphy is improving. Don’t throw them away. Keep them well." Yi Xiao was watching by the side.

"Calligraphy requires calmness of mind. Every stroke in each character represents different sword moves. All the sword moves combine to form a character, so every character is a set of sword arts," said Qin Yun with a smile. "Only when the set of sword arts is sufficiently perfect does the character look good. If the character doesn’t look good, it means that this sword art possesses flaws. Thus, calligraphy is a way of looking at one’s sword art from a different angle. All paths lead to the same end goal. By studying one’s sword arts from different angles, it is easier to find flaws."

Yi Xiao looked at the calligraphy and exclaimed, "Each character is a set of sword arts? Aren’t there more than a hundred sword arts here?"

"They can easily be obtained at random," replied Qin Yun.

"Drink a cup of alcohol after you are done with your calligraphy." Yi Xiao poured a bottle of wine for Qin Yun. Steam was still emanating from it.

"Qin Yun, quickly come to the Mt. Torturous in the South Sea Prefecture’s Chang County." A voice sounded in Qin Yun’s ear. "That mysterious fiendish demon is here. He has opened a World Entrance using a World Altar. He needs to be stopped immediately. Come here as fast as you can. I will meet you."

"Ancestral Master Zhang?" Qin Yun was astounded as he suddenly stood up.

"What happened?" The puzzled Yi Xiao put down the alcohol flask.

"Ancestral Master Zhang is calling for me. It’s something important. I have to head for the South Sea Prefecture immediately," said Qin Yun.

"Make haste then," urged Yi Xiao when she heard that it was a request from Ancestral Master Zhang.

Qin Yun gave a solemn nod.

Following that, he left the tea room and whooshed off as a stream of light. He streaked across the horizon and headed south.