The Prodigies War

The sword spirit stood two feet tall and had the appearance of a young man with blood-red hair.

His bearing was far more terrifying than that of the other Emperor fiend spirits, and he gave a faint but unmistakable sense of danger that chilled Lin Xun to the bone.

“Do you know the origin of this sword case?” Lin Xun did not recklessly take action.

The blood-red haired fiend answered in an ice-cold voice, “I saw that sword case when the first Calamity of Ruin broke out. Its master was Taixuan, the first sword emperor of the primeval times...”

Upon hearing this, Lin Xun felt a jolt in his heart.

Sword Emperor Taixuan?!

The image of a majestic, god-like figure involuntarily appeared in Lin Xun’s mind. Bathed in billions of rays of ethereal light, the figure stood tall like the ruler of all ages, wielding the power to command the heavens.

Back when Lin Xun was in the Supreme Realm, he had obtained the Taixuan Sword Scripture left by Sword Emperor Taixuan!

To this day, he still remembered the words that the wisp of will power left by Sword Emperor Taixuan said to him:

His vision and broad-mindedness left a lasting impression on Lin Xun.

Only later did Lin Xun learn that Sword Emperor Taixuan and Battle Emperor Mo Yang were both remarkable figures from the primeval era, each like an eternal legend!

However, Lin Xun did not think that the sword case that he acquired from the treasury of Daoist Croc in Nightmare City of Frosty Air Region to actually be a legacy of Sword Emperor Taixuan!

“Did Sword Emperor Taixuan once travel to the Ancient Nebula Underworld?” Lin Xun couldn’t help but ask.

The blood-red haired youth frowned, seemingly unprepared for Lin Xun’s barrage of questions. Even so, he responded, though his tone remained stiff, “In the primeval era, Sword Emperor Taixuan came here with a group of fellow daoists, concerned that the Calamity of Ruin would destroy the origin of this world. As a precaution, they took action in advance and seized the origin power of the heavenly dao laws that belonged to this world.”

After a pause, the blood-red haired youth shifted his gaze to the sword case behind Lin Xun and continued, “But I didn’t expect Sword Emperor Taixuan to leave his Sword Case of Rebirth here...”

Lin Xun finally learned the name of the sword case on his back.

Rebirth!

A name full of mystery.

“What about you? Who are you and how do you know about this sword case?” questioned Lin Xun.

The blood-red haired youth’s eyes turned menacing. “You have too many questions. I just want the sword case. Hand it over and I can let you leave right away.”

Lin Xun raised his brows. “What if I refuse?”

“Then die!” The blood-red haired youth spat out.

He launched his attack without hesitation, his two-foot-tall figure transforming into a blood-stained broken sword, shrouded in an aura of sinister curses and lingering resentment.

Shua!

The sword slashed forth, dyeing the sky and earth a striking crimson. Fierce and violent sword intent pierced into the nine heavens, its power clearly far beyond what it had been before.

With a single thought, Lin Xun unleashed countless dazzling streams of Taixuan sword qi from his acupoints, sweeping across the sky like a tidal wave.

The sword qi flooded the universe, engulfed the mountains and valleys, and flooded the void.

It permeated every corner.

Nothing escaped its reach.

Faintly, the countless streams of sword qi converged into layers upon layers of sword arrays, blotting out the sky and sun, displaying the infinite and all-encompassing wonders of the sword dao.

It was the first time Lin Xun fully unleashed the sword secrets he had grasped from the Taixuan Sword Scripture in their complete and ultimate form.

The blood-red broken sword halted mid-slash, trembling, and at the same time, the blood-red haired youth’s voice rang out.

“It all begins as one and culminates in infinity. All things are born of the sword, and all beings are transformed into the sword. The journey of a sword is boundless, adapting to all with spontaneity. The true essence of the sword manifests in forms as countless as the grains of sand of a river…”

His voice was hazy like a distant chant, “This sword art can slaughter ghosts and gods, sever yin and yang, destroy the five elements, split open the universe, and traverse the ages...This sword art is called Taixuan...”

Lin Xun’s eyes flashed a strange light. He was testing him. It seemed like the broken sword spirit had some sort of connection with Sword Emperor Taixuan!

“I remember…”

The blood-red broken sword transformed back into the blood-red haired youth, the viciousness in his eyes fading away. Fixing his gaze on the sword case behind Lin Xun, his eyes lit up with excitement and he almost hysterically shouted, “That...is me!”

His voice shook the world.

Lin Xun froze for a moment. The blood-red haired youth is actually the sword spirit from the Sword Case of Rebirth?

Then does that mean he is the sword spirit of Sword Emperor Taixuan?

The blood-red-haired youth suddenly clutched his head and screamed in agony, his face contorting with pain. A thick aura of curses and resentment surfaced on his skin, darkening it to an inky black and radiating an unsettling energy.

“Quick, let me go back...let me go back!” The blood-red-haired youth looked at Lin Xun, his voice laced with immense pain and desperation.

It seemed as though at any moment his self-control would collapse entirely, plunging him into a savage and violent state.

Lin Xun drew a deep breath, brought out the Sword Case of Rebirth and slowly opened it.

Shua!

Almost immediately, the blood-red-haired youth turned into a ray of light and darted into the sword case.

“Thank you...” After a long while, the youth’s feeble voice, tinged with relief, echoed from the depths of the sword case before fading into silence.

“Yezi?” Lin Xun couldn’t help but call out with his spirit sense. Inside the sword case was a ‘sword world’ accessible only to weapon spirits. Yezi was now recovering within it.

“Lin Xun, I saw him. He’s been afflicted with a curse tied to great dao laws. It’s extremely unusual and terrifying.” Yezi’s calm and reassuring voice rang softly, “But don’t worry, this sword world can suppress that power.”

Only then did Lin Xun heave a sigh of relief and said, “I owe his master a debt of gratitude for imparting the dao to me. I must trouble you to watch over him for me.”

“Not a problem.” Yezi agreed right away.

Lin Xun closed the sword case and slung it back onto his back. Staring into the dark, bloodstained world, a question surfaced in his mind.

In the primeval era, how many of the great figures that met their end in the first Calamity of Ruin are buried within the Dark Hidden Purgatory?

Sword Emperor Taixuan was hailed as the greatest sword emperor of the primeval era, a supreme existence. Yet his sword case was left behind in the Ancient Nebula Underworld after the first Calamity of Ruin, while its sword spirit was buried in the Dark Hidden Purgatory!

It was easy to imagine just how terrifying the first Calamity of Ruin must have been.

Moreover, within the Dark Hidden Purgatory was also the incomplete Dao Skyless Spear and Old Bronze Tree who was formed from a root of the Sacred Kunwu Tree!

Each one had an incredibly astonishing origin. The more one thought about it, the more one realized how extraordinary the first Calamity of Ruin was.

“Perhaps Second Senior Brother will know more?”

Lin Xun’s dark eyes flashed. The Dark Hidden Purgatory was situated within the ancestral grounds of Fog Obscured Alms, a force under the control of Copper Sparrow House, which was led by his second senior brother Zhong Qiu.

Moreover, a long time ago, his second senior brother had fought his way to the ninth level of the Dark Hidden Purgatory. He had to know about the truth of the first Calamity of Ruin!

Lin Xun decided that if he had the chance to meet his second senior brother in the future, he would definitely ask him more about it. This was not for any other reason, but mostly due to the weapon spirit and sword case left behind by Sword Emperor Taixuan.

“The broken sword spirit covered in an aura of curses and resentment...actually joined that guy?”

In the shadows, an Emperor fiend spirit, witnessing this, looked as though his eyes were about to pop out of their sockets.

To the Emperor fiend spirits of the sixth level in the Dark Hidden Purgatory, the broken sword spirit was like the supreme ruler, commanding boundless strength and instilling sheer terror into everyone.

Over the countless years, all who provoked the broken sword spirit met their end instantly; not one survived.

If the broken sword spirit had actively looked for trouble, the fiend spirits in the sixth level would have all been eradicated long ago!

However, such a terrifying existence actually took the initiative to join Lin Xun. This was undoubtedly unbelievable.

“Are you done watching?”

With a flash, Lin Xun stood beside the Emperor fiend spirit lurking in the dark. The latter’s expression changed drastically, and he was about to flee when a ray of unparalleled blade qi obstructed his path.

Dao Lawless Blade!

In just a few breaths, the Emperor fiend spirit was killed.

Lin Xun then recalled his five great dao bodies and together they flew into the distance. He planned to find a place to recover his strength.

……

A quarter of an hour later, Lin Xun sat cross-legged in meditation inside a newly carved underground cavern.

The Green Wood Dao Body counted the spoils.

In that battle, Lin Xun had slain a total of twenty-six Emperor-level fiend spirits and collected thirty-four primeval relics, all of which were of extraordinary grade. None were the slightest bit inferior to the Purple Silent Lightning Bamboo Staff he had seized from Old Bamboo Monster; some were even superior.

Unfortunately, while the relics were superior to the average Emperor treasures, they were nowhere near the level of Kunlun Emperor weapons and failed to truly impress Lin Xun.

In the end, he decided to give the treasures to Wuque and the Broken Blade spirit as food.

In addition to these spoils, he also acquired twenty-six Dao Essence Crystals, each of exceptional quality and imbued with fragments of different Emperor Dao laws. Once refined, he would be able to absorb their powers!

After sorting out the spoils, Lin Xun’s Green Wood Dao Body summoned the Dao Endless Pagoda and released the Old Bronze Tree who was suppressed within it.

Old Bronze Tree was already on the verge of death, critically wounded and its aura faint and weak. Lin Xun directly questioned it about the Sacred Kunwu Tree.

At first, Old Bronze Tree refused to cooperate, but it could not bear Lin Xun’s brutal interrogation for long and revealed a secret.

After the first Calamity of Ruin in the primeval times, the Sacred Kunwu Tree, which was born in the primal chaos origin in the Ancient Nebula Underworld, also met with disaster.

Its body was broken apart, its roots were severed, and even its origin root spirits, the core of its cultivation, were severely damaged and left behind in the depths of the Dark Hidden Purgatory.

The Old Bronze Tree was formed from a root of the Sacred Kunwu Tree. After countless years of transformations, it finally managed to gain spiritual intelligence.

Strictly speaking, the Old Bronze Tree was merely a fragment of the Sacred Kunwu Tree’s origin power, and could not be compared to the real one.

It only knew that the remaining origin root spirits of the Sacred Kunwu Tree were within the Dark Hidden Purgatory.

As for which level they were on, it had no idea.

However, for Lin Xun, simply receiving confirmation that the origin root spirits of the Sacred Kunwu Tree was in the Dark Hidden Purgatory was more than enough!

1. See chapter 1336 ☜