Chapter 761 - 268: Dao Disc’s Fateful Encounter (Part 6)
He knew Huang Lingshan was the Sword Immortal of the Cyan Ruo Sword House and seemed to be the sister of his grandmother.
Huang Lingshan nodded and stepped forward.
"I can sense your dedication to the sword, why haven’t you pursued Sword Cultivation Dao?"
"Your Shen Family has Sword Dao Sword Immortals, more than capable of guiding your cultivation."
Shen Xiuyan held his sword and cupped his hands, then replied with a faint smile:
"The path you like isn’t always the one you must take."
"I am a member of the Shen Family, so naturally, I must prioritize the family’s interests."
Upon hearing this, Huang Lingshan frowned slightly, then gently placed her hand on his shoulder.
After a moment, she shook her head secretly.
She had already discovered Shen Xiuyan’s natural Literary Heart.
A cultivator’s energy is limited. Walking a path throughout one’s life is already difficult, but abandoning one’s strength for a preferred path is indeed unwise.
"Your temperament is excellent, and you might achieve something in Sword Dao in the future."
After offering some comfort, just as Huang Lingshan was about to turn, she saw Shen Chongming entering the Martial Arts Arena through the archway.
Beside him was a delicate little girl.
"Aunt."
Seeing Huang Lingshan suddenly, a hint of surprise appeared on his face, and he immediately cupped his hands in salute.
Huang Lingshan nodded, "I heard someone practicing swordsmanship here, so I came to take a look."
"This boy is good at swordsmanship, though it’s a pity."
Upon hearing this, Shen Chongming patted Shen Xiuyan on the head and smiled at him.
After pondering, Huang Lingshan added, "In these years, besides your third uncle, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen someone so dedicated and pure-hearted towards the sword."
"Since we’ve met today, let’s give him a gift."
Upon hearing this, Shen Chongming hesitated slightly, then patted Shen Xiuyan on the shoulder, saying, "Don’t you know how to thank someone?"
Shen Xiuyan was momentarily dazed, then hurriedly held his sword and cupped his hands, "Thank you, senior!"
Huang Lingshan lowered her head, brought her index and middle fingers together, and gently touched her brow.
Then, a blue light emerged from her brow and condensed at her fingertips.
"Calm your Heart Spirit and don’t move."
After speaking softly, Huang Lingshan’s fingers lightly touched Shen Xiuyan’s brow.
The envisioned phenomenon did not occur.
Shen Xiuyan only felt a faint warmth flash and disappear at his brow, with no other sensations afterward.
"This is a sword dao seed, encompassing some of my understanding of Sword Dao."
"When your chains are gone in the future and you wish to embark on Sword Dao, you can activate it."
"As for how far you can go, that depends on your fortune."
"Alright, you all continue, I’m going for a walk."
After completing all this, Huang Lingshan slowly left the Martial Arts Arena.
Shen Xiuyan touched his brow, watched Huang Lingshan’s departing figure, pondered for a moment, then smiled at Shen Chongming, "Uncle, shall we start?"
He really liked Sword Dao, but he also knew now wasn’t the time to be distracted.
Everything had to wait until the Shen Family was stabilized before he could consider what he liked.
...
Celestial Aromatic Mountain.
Over two months had passed since the manifestation of the Spirit Phenomenon.
During this time, the Huangsheng Sect had been tensely guarding this area.
The various forces also stationed at Celestial Aromatic Mountain had gradually run out of patience, with small and large tests occurring dozens of times over the days, keeping Qu Yunhe and the two others constantly on edge.
Fearing that such probing might suddenly turn into a full-scale attack.
If any family unleashed its full power, the others would certainly be unable to resist joining in.
With Huangsheng Sect’s current strength, it couldn’t withstand the siege of the five major Golden Core Influences, with over a dozen Golden Core experts.
"Senior Brother Qu, what does the Sect Leader say?"
An older man with a goatee anxiously approached Qu Yunhe and cupped his hands in inquiry.
Qu Yunhe looked grim, "The Sect Leader has already begun operations as planned, but I still underestimated these people’s determination towards the Spirit."
When he mentioned operations, he referred to secretly offering substantial benefits, issuing bounty notices, and summoning some loose cultivators and other Immortal Sect Families to act against these Immortal Sect Influences currently at Celestial Aromatic Mountain.
Trying to use this to restrain them, ideally forcing these Immortal Sect Influences to withdraw their forces from Yangnao Land to support their sects in the Southern Border.
But it was evident that none of the forces wanted to easily give up the Spirit of Celestial Aromatic Mountain.
Even if their backyard caught fire, none showed any intention of helping.
"I now rather hope this Spirit manifests faster," Qu Yunhe sighed and said in a deep voice.
Earlier, they didn’t want the Spirit to manifest quickly since that so-called operation needed time.
But now, with the operation ineffective, Qu Yunhe instead hoped for the Spirit to manifest faster.
If so, the Shen Family would also act according to their vow and deal with Celestial Sandalwood Mountain.
Once chaos ensued on both sides, it might spread to the surrounding forces.
Qu Yunhe had made up his mind: once chaos erupted at Celestial Aromatic Mountain, they would use the lives of their disciples to guard, keeping the major forces outside.
Once they obtained the Spirit, they could return directly to the Southern Border, find someplace to hide for the time being.
With the Spirit as a ticket to the Dao Source Secret Realm, they wouldn’t lack disciples upon entering the realm in the future.
"Senior Brother Qu, something’s wrong!"
As they were talking, an old crone with white hair and a youthful face suddenly flew in manipulating the wind!
"Celestial Sandalwood Mountain and Fushan Country, Great Witch Mountain and Yin Corpse Sect—these four forces have joined forces in pairs!"
"And I’ve heard they plan to negotiate with Jianan Temple, with the three sides plan to drive Huangsheng Sect out of Celestial Aromatic Mountain first, then decide the Spirit’s ownership!"
Upon hearing this, Qu Yunhe and the elderly goateed man’s expressions changed dramatically!
"How is this possible!?"
"There’s only one Spirit, surely none of them would be willing to give it up, how could they reach a consensus and join forces so easily?"
The goateed man murmured in disbelief.
Initially, due to the mutual checks and balances, none of the five families dared to make the first move, depleting their resources.
This allowed Huangsheng Sect to guard this Spirit Phenomenon manifestation area for months without facing a large-scale attack.
Now that several sides had allied and wanted to boot Huangsheng Sect out first, the balance would immediately collapse.
"Senior Brother..."
Both their gazes turned to Qu Yunhe.
"Something’s wrong..."
"The Shen Family’s providence was clearly great; with half of their great providence supporting us, how did things escalate to this point?" Qu Yunhe pondered, perplexed.
Under the blessing of great providence, Huangsheng Sect would be favored by Heaven, making such unfavorable developments unlikely.
Just as Qu Yunhe couldn’t comprehend it, a thunderous explosion echoed through the forest, originally filled with colorful clouds!
As the thunderous sound resounded, the circulating red glow in the air began to undergo changes.
The myriad rays of light seemed to suddenly gain life, slowly coalescing into various forms, drifting leisurely in the air.
After wandering for a moment without purpose, these lights appeared to be summoned by some force, gently floating towards a towering stone pillar above.
"The Spirit is manifesting!"
"It’s that stone pillar!"
Witnessing this scene firsthand, Qu Yunhe’s expression lit up with joy, and he immediately shouted:
"Quick, quick!"
"Surround the stone pillar, use all the prepared Array Plates!"
With his order, all the disciples of Huangsheng Sect transformed into streams of light, swiftly heading toward the stone pillar!
Simultaneously, other cultivators stationed at Celestial Aromatic Mountain witnessed a miraculous scene!
The colorful glow that had permeated the void for months was now slowly converging towards the top of the towering stone pillar, forming a cluster of red flames radiating dense Spiritual Charm!