Chapter 2145: 901, let's go, back to All-Encompassing Sword Sect
Han Muye’s physical cultivation reached the peak of the Initial Knowing Realm because he had not yet condensed a Dao Fruit that belonged to the Great Pantheon Plane.
In reality, after numerous refinements through trials, his strength had already breached the barrier of life and death and was close to breaking the cycle of karma and nearing the Dominion Realm.
However, constrained by the Origin shackles of the Great Pantheon Plane, he had already condensed most of his power into a True Spirit Sword, and his body needed to refine from scratch to re-gather its strength.
Once his own strength was combined with the True Spirit Sword in his hands, achieving unity of man and sword, he would be able to directly enter Dominion.
The eight disciples from Moon-Encompassing Peak followed Han Muye, using the power of the sword edges in their hands to hover three inches above the ground as they sped along.
Body-tempering cultivators, on the other hand, were striding briskly, covering ten zhang with each step.
After sprinting for eight hundred li, the nine of them stopped on a hill.
A thousand li away was the main location of the All-Encompassing Sword Sect.
Looking into the distance, one could see sword Qi shrouding the sky.
Zhang Mingyuan stood behind Han Muye, holding a three-foot wooden box in his arms, his expression solemn.
After a Dao Realm cultivator of the Great Pantheon Plane perished, their Dao Fruit dissipated, and their physical body would soon nourish heaven and earth, leaving only the refined remnants of their bones.
Body refiners would leave behind a piece of Golden Bone Jade Bone, while those cultivating the Sword Dao would leave a segment of their spinal column as sturdy as swords.
These condensed bones would be stored in the sect to nurture the sect’s weapons.
It seemed that the Great Pantheon Plane held life and death in quite a detached regard.
“Peak Master Junior Brother, can you really return the Sword Bone of our master to the Sword Nurturing Hut?” Holding the wooden box, Zhang Mingyuan asked Han Muye.
Guo Hua was pursued as a traitor, and although the disciples of Moon-Encompassing Peak were not convicted, it was still uncertain whether they could safely return to Moon-Encompassing Peak.
“In this world of cultivation, after all, the strong are revered.”
“If Moon-Encompassing Peak were strong enough, Peak Master Guo Hua would not have perished.”
Han Muye’s face remained calm as he looked towards a sword light that was speeding towards them from afar.
That sword light, hovering three zhang above the ground, clearly indicated a Dao Realm cultivation.
Condensing a Dao Fruit, seeking the Dao Boundary.
“Zhang Mingyuan, the Sect Master has ordered, Moon-Encompassing Peak disciples are to be reassigned to garrison Cloud Sky Gorge, no mistakes must be made,” declared the figure that had arrived, hanging ten zhang away and standing three zhang high, looking down with a stern shout.
The man appeared to be in his fifties, wrapped in the sharp chill of the sword Qi that encircled him, supporting his feet from below.
Dressed in a black robe, he carried a Green Edge Longsword on his back.
Glancing at the wooden box in Zhang Mingyuan’s hand, a cold smile crossed the newcomer’s face: “So, Guo Hua is truly dead?”
“Good, Moon-Encompassing Peak has always been so arrogant, as if the All-Encompassing Sword Sect should revere them as supreme?”
This statement made Zhang Mingyuan and the fellow disciples of Moon-Encompassing Peak look uncomfortable.
But none of them dared to react impulsively.
Even Zhang Mingyuan, who just entered the Seeking Dao Realm, was still far from the true strength of the Seeking Dao Realm.
“People of All-Encompassing Peak?” At that moment, a voice sounded.
Standing in front, Han Muye responded indifferently with his hands clasped behind his back.
“All-Encompassing Peak’s Steward Xiao Heyang, an outer sect steward of the All-Encompassing Sword Sect, in charge of overseeing the sect’s garrison duties.” Zhang Mingyuan nodded and whispered softly: “He practices the Lesser Sumeru Sword Technique of All-Encompassing Peak, and entered the Dao Realm ten years ago.”
“Hmph, Zhang Mingyuan, this man is not from our All-Encompassing Sword Sect; you dare reveal our sect’s secrets to outsiders; that crime is enough for you to suffer ten years in the forbidden grounds,” Dao Realm Steward Xiao Heyang said coldly, his gaze resting on Han Muye.
“Scram.”
He raised his hand and a stream of sword Qi slashed down directly at Han Muye.
If Han Muye couldn’t block this sword Qi, then he deserved to die.
If he could block it, he would have to weigh whether he could afford to offend the All-Encompassing Sword Sect and to be an enemy to him, Xiao Heyang!
Watching the sword Qi strike at him, Han Muye took a step forward.
He didn’t draw his sword, but with a rapid movement, he rose through the air, wrapped in the sound of wind and thunder, ascending thirty feet.
This speed was so astonishing that Xiao Heyang was completely stunned.
How could a sword cultivator, with a sword hanging at his waist and a slender figure, possess the strength and techniques of a body-tempering cultivator?
Xiao Heyang subconsciously drew his sword for a horizontal sweep, but just as the blade was half unsheathed, it was already suppressed by Han Muye’s raised hand.
“Bang—”
A kick landed squarely on Xiao Heyang’s chest and abdomen, sending him crashing down from mid-air!
The kick fractured Xiao Heyang’s ribs and caused blood to spurt from his mouth.
Xiao Heyang, pinned to the ground, couldn’t even struggle.
One strike.
A sword cultivator who had entered the Dao Realm didn’t even get the chance to draw his sword.
Zhang Mingyuan and others who witnessed this scene had eyes shining with clarity.
The strength of Han Muye surpassed their imaginations!
Could it be that Han Muye had already entered the Dao Realm?
Reaching out to lift Xiao Heyang, Han Muye threw him to kneel in front of Zhang Mingyuan.
“You showed disrespect to Peak Master Guo Hua, and for that, you deserve to die,” Han Muye said with a clear, cold voice. “However, since you are needed to deliver a message, I’ll spare your life.”
Han Muye’s chill voice made Xiao Heyang, who was continuously spilling blood, tremble all over.
He knew that if Han Muye had decided to kill him just now, it would have only taken a bit more effort.
Yu Shaogang, standing behind Zhang Mingyuan, stepped forward quickly, forcing Xiao Heyang’s head down to heavily knock it several times against the wooden box containing Guo Hua’s Sword Bone.
“My name is Han Muye, a disciple taken in by Peak Master Guo Hua, and in charge of Moon-Encompassing Peak,” he announced.
“I will return Peak Master Guo Hua’s Sword Bone to the Sword Nurturing Hut of the All-Encompassing Sword Sect, and the sect must welcome it back with the ceremony befitting the return of a peak master’s sword bone.”
“Before our return, all crimes against Peak Master Guo Hua and Moon-Encompassing Peak must be rescinded,” he continued.
“Elder of the Sword Nurturing Hut,” Han Muye said, his voice tinged with a hint of sternness, “go and kneel at my Moon-Encompassing Peak and wait.”
Xiao Heyang memorized Han Muye’s words, then held his chest and staggered away, not daring to take even the sword he brought with him.
Han Muye extended his hand and called the sword into his grasp.
The sword was three-foot-long, its edge chillingly clear, its forging unsophisticated but valued for its sturdy spiritual materials and intact origin.
This was the advantage of the Upper Plane; even a common item would be treasured in the Lower Plane, incomparable and precious.
A faint blood essence flowed into the sword body, and the long sword trembled slightly.
Memories flickered through Han Muye’s mind.
The cultivation of the All-Encompassing Sword Sect, the Sword Dao inheritance on All-Encompassing Peak, the Lesser Sumeru Sword Technique.
Compared to the Sword Dao techniques Han Muye had learned everywhere in the Lower Plane, the Sword Dao of the Great Pantheon Plane seemed very crude.
Even the famed Sumeru Sword Technique, which boasts agility and unpredictable movements, with an unpredictable edge, didn’t even compare to the most basic techniques of Nine Mystic Mountain in Han Muye’s eyes.
It wasn’t that the cultivation inheritances of the Great Pantheon Plane were poor; rather, the principles within the Sumeru Sword Technique were quite profound. If one could invoke the power of heaven and earth, it would indeed be form-changing and formless.
The reason the All-Encompassing Sword Sect’s techniques seemed crude was that the Source Power of the Upper Plane was complete and stable, difficult to invoke, and the suppressive force of heaven and earth was strong, preventing many from performing precise movements and sensing the nuanced power of the origin.
Guo Hua was right in his exploration of the sword technique, seeking the subtle, finding power in the minute.
What a pity he had not yet stepped into the Dao Extinguishing Realm, had yet to break free from the constraints and oppression of the Great Dao, and naturally, he could not truly see the direction of cultivation clearly.
“Let’s go, back to the All-Encompassing Sword Sect,” Han Muye spoke lightly, moving swiftly toward the path ahead.
Zhang Mingyuan and the others followed closely behind.
In the distance, in the direction of the All-Encompassing Sword Sect, sword light surged as if sensing the arrival of Han Muye and his company.
An air of solemnity began to spread.