Chapter 64 - The Obsidian Jade Tablet
In a movement that left all the grand peak masters in speechless shock, the legendary Cloud Sword Saint took three steps forward in the air, floating upward, and bowed deeply in midair to the old man, his head low.
"This junior bows to the Grand Ancestor," the Cloud Sword Saint said, his voice carrying a profound reverence that none of them had ever heard before.
His words, though spoken quietly, carried clearly through the mountain air. When the grand Peak Masters heard the title, a deep, paralyzing horror gradually crept into their minds. Grand Ancestor... a legendary figure who was supposed to be a myth from the sect’s founding era, someone who should have been gone for a millennium, was standing right before them. An ancestor that even the Sword Saint must bow to, standing high above the heavens?
The old man looked down at the closed chamber door, his gaze quiet and deep. He contemplated the young boy floating, realizing the child had awakened an Immortal Physique that should have belonged only to the ancient lineages of the higher realm. A complex, melancholic look flickered in his eyes.
’So, not all of those Wangs had perished after all. What a surprise... it seemed their sacrifices were not in vain.’
The Cloud Sword Saint stepped closer, bowing deeply. The Grand Ancestor leaned slightly, murmuring a few words only meant for the Sword Saint’s ear. His voice was completely isolated from the surrounding space, entirely inaudible to the Peak Masters below. The Cloud Sword Saint listened, his expression turning solemn, before he slowly nodded in respectful agreement.
Looking back at the chamber, the Grand Ancestor’s gaze penetrated the solid walls. Through the stone and arrays, he saw the three inside. He saw the exhausted Bai Qingxian and Lin Yao standing guard outside. Finally, his eyes locked onto Su Ming, lying drained on the floor.
The Grand Ancestor’s brow twitched slightly, a flash of profound realization crossing his mind. He understood instantly. The blueprint, the needlework, the audacity of this young man—all of it lay bare to his ancient sight. His doubts cleared as he realized the phenomenon of this immortal physique was not a natural awakening of the bloodline, but this young peak master’s own design and execution. To forge a version of the physique so perfected it exceeded the legendary limits of what the Immortal Wang clan themselves had ever achieved.
The old man contemplated his next moves. He should go back to his quiet rest, he decided. There was no need to interfere in the matter of the juniors, nor did he want to give these people below any false hope of immortal ascension in this broken world. A gathering of such unusual people, with such unusual talents, was indeed a miracle. The heavens had truly blessed his Heavenly Cloud Sect... but in this era, what was the point?
As his final thought faded, his figure dissolved into the empty air like a fading mirage, disappearing without leaving a single trace of residual energy in the sky.
Inside the chamber, the light had finally faded.
Wang Tian drifted slowly back down, landing softly on the wooden table. His breathing was deep, slow, and perfectly regular. The 108 meridians under his skin had faded into invisibility, but the raw, pure sword intent radiating from his body was unmistakable. The Immortal Shattered Sword Physique was fully awakened.
Su Ming sat on a wooden floor, completely exhausted. His Qi was drained, his soul force depleted to the point where his vision was blurry. He simply leaned back, his eyes half-closed.
Suddenly, a faint, jade-green glow pulsed from Su Ming’s personal storage ring. Before he could raise his hand, the Sealed Jade Box slid out of the ring on its own, suspended by an invisible thread of resonance.
The box hovered in the quiet air, floating slowly in a circle around Wang Tian’s quiet, sleeping body. As it encountered the boy’s newly awakened sword physique, the carvings on its surface began to spin, and a sharp, clean click echoed through the room.
The ancient, unbreakable runes on the jade box dissolved into glowing green dust. The lid popped open, and the box dropped softly onto the stone floor, revealing a smooth, obsidian jade tablet with strange sword runes.
Su Ming looked at the dark tablet on the ground, a faint smile touching his lips before he closed his eyes in deep, restful sleep.
***
Su Ming woke to the sound of his own breathing. The air in his private chambers was cool, a sharp contrast to the blistering heat that had filled the prepared study during the final hours of the operation. He did not move immediately. Instead, he lay still on his back, systematically checking the state of his golden core.
The Yin-Yang Origin Law had left a deep, throbbing ache in his golden core, the lingering rebound of forcing Wang Tian’s life to flow in reverse. He raised a hand, his fingers brushing against his upper lip. His skin was dry, covered in a thin, crusty layer of dried blood. He sat up slowly, his muscles groaning under the weight of sheer physical fatigue. Wiping the blood away with the edge of his sleeve, he took a deep, steadying breath. His golden core spun in a slow, defensive rhythm, gradually calming the residual tremors of his meridians.
As his mind cleared, a quiet stream of foreign information settled into his consciousness. It was the passive recording of the needlework and the anatomy of the Body. Every anatomical alignment, every microscopic muscle contraction, and the subtle energetic responses of the human pathways he had observed during the nine-day process were now permanently etched into his memory. He now probably knew more about the flow of human meridians and the body than a physician saint.
Su Ming stood up, his legs shaking slightly before finding their balance. He adjusted his robes and walked toward the adjoining prepared chamber.
Inside, the scent of burnt incense and copper still hung in the air. Bai Qingxian sat on a low wooden stool beside the table. Her shoulders were slumped, her face pale, and dark circles shadowed her eyes. Despite her exhaustion, her hand remained wrapped around Wang Tian’s wrist, her fingers pressing lightly against his pulse point.
"How is he?" Su Ming asked, his voice hoarse.
Bai Qingxian did not look up immediately. When she did, her eyes were filled with a complex mixture of exhaustion and utter disbelief. "The meridians are stable. The process is complete."
Su Ming walked to the side of the wooden table. He looked down at the boy. Wang Tian lay in a deep, peaceful sleep, his breathing slow and rhythmic. Under his Essence Sight, the complex, glowing web of 108 newly connected meridians hummed quietly beneath the boy’s skin. The pathways were no longer broken fragments; they were a single, unified network, perfectly integrated with the boy’s flesh.
"We succeeded," Bai Qingxian murmured, her fingers trembling slightly as she released the boy’s wrist. She looked at her own hands, then at Su Ming. "I checked some of the medical archives of my clan. I have never read of any meridian reconstruction achieving this level of structural stability and further enhancement. Even without historical records to compare it to, this is... a miracle."
Su Ming nodded, his expression remaining neutral. He looked down at the stone floor beside the table.
The Sealed Jade Box lay where it had fallen, its lid propped open. Beside it on the cold stone floor rested the smooth obsidian jade tablet that had slid out during the night.
Su Ming bent down and picked up the tablet. It was cool to the touch. On its surface, the words ’Immortal Wang’ were carved in sharp, clean strokes, and no spiritual waves radiated from it. It lay completely silent and heavy in his hand.
Su Ming turned the obsidian tablet over, examining the smooth back. Nothing reacted. He understood instantly. The jade box had opened in response to the birth of the Shattered Sword Physique, but the tablet itself was currently inactive. It would require something more to awaken its secrets.
For now, he slid the dormant obsidian Jade Tablet into his storage ring.
"Let us go," Su Ming said, turning back to the door. "We cannot stay in this room forever. A lot of guests are waiting for us."
Bai Qingxian stood up, leaning against the wooden table for support. She helped Wang Tian sit up. The boy stirred, his eyes slowly opening. He looked at his hands, then at Su Ming, a quiet realization dawning in his gaze. He did not speak, but the deep reverence in his eyes was unmistakable. He slid off the table, his feet touching the cold stone floor, and stood beside Su Ming.
Su Ming took a deep breath, steeling himself. He reached out and pushed open the heavy wooden doors of the chamber.
The bright morning light poured into the room, causing them to squint. As Su Ming stepped out onto the veranda, his breath caught in his chest.
Standing directly in front of the door, blocking the path, were Lin Yao and Elder Bai Zhen. Both of them looked completely depleted. Lin Yao’s knuckles were white as she gripped her Cold Abyss Sword, her eyes bloodshot. Elder Bai Zhen’s face was haggard, his breathing shallow. Standing guard outside for nine days while the tribulation lightning struck and the grand powerhouses converged had pushed them to their limits. Looking at Su Ming, both of them felt a deep, crushing sense of their own powerlessness in the face of such overwhelming forces.
Beyond them, the courtyard of White Lotus Peak was filled with figures. Streaks of brilliant light hovered in the air, and the grand Peak Masters of the Heavenly Cloud Sect stood in a silent, tense circle, their eyes locked onto the doorway. Standing high above them, his hands folded behind his back, was the Cloud Sword Saint, his quiet gaze fixed on Wang Tian.