166: Kendo Law

“It’s broken?”

Liu Xiyan felt a sense of unreality as she watched the blood-red array completely dissipate.

At the same time, figures flashed into existence, surrounding them. A terrifying aura instantly enveloped the entire Hidden Sword Peak, causing the invisible sword energy to ripple away slightly.

“It’s really broken? Am I seeing things?”

“Heaven bless my Jade Void Academy, heaven bless my Jade Void Academy!”

“Hahaha, this young man is impressive! Xu Chaomu has taken in a good disciple!”

“Hmph, I said long ago that this kid wasn't ordinary and would definitely succeed in breaking the array!”

Everyone stared blankly at the teleportation array in the center of the clearing, which was emitting a milky-white glow. They sighed, feeling as if they were dreaming.

These people were the various peak masters and several Grand Elders.

During the final moments of deciphering the blood-red runes, the academy’s powerhouses naturally kept a close watch.

In fact, ever since Mo Fan began to decipher the blood-red array, Sect Master Gu Qingshan had already activated the Jade Void Ancient Seal, channeling eighty percent of the academy’s mountain-protecting array energy to this clearing behind Hidden Sword Peak.

This way, even if the deciphering of the blood-red runes failed and the blood-red array exploded, it wouldn't wipe out the Jade Void Academy.

Of course, if the blood-red array really did explode, the mountain-protecting array would also be damaged, losing most of its power and eventually becoming a mere facade, requiring an unknown amount of time to repair.

But for now, this was the only option.

In reality, letting Mo Fan break the array was the result of a collective discussion among everyone via communication jade slips.

If the blood-red array wasn't dealt with, Jade Void Academy would constantly be in danger, eventually forcing them to relocate the entire sect.

And relocating meant not only leaving behind the mountain-protecting array but also many ancient facilities with profound powers, leading to a significant depletion of Jade Void Academy’s foundation.

Furthermore, Xu Chaomu had entered the secret realm for “further studies” and wouldn't be back anytime soon.

Even if she did return, it was highly likely she still wouldn't be able to break the blood-red array.

Considering all these factors, it was better to take a gamble on Mo Fan, who was currently on a roll, even at the risk of the mountain-protecting array being shattered.

Fortunately, they gambled correctly; Mo Fan truly broke the blood-red array!

“That’s wonderful! You truly are the savior of our Jade Void Academy!” Gu Qingshan couldn't suppress his excitement and strode towards the teleportation array.

The others followed suit.

Seeing everyone approach, Mo Fan smiled and silently stepped aside.

What came next was beyond his involvement.

It concerned the space where the Saint Corpse was sealed.

It concerned secrets beyond the Supreme Realm.

It was not something an Extraordinary could participate in.

Seizing this opportunity, Mo Fan walked over to Liu Xiyan, looking at her with a smile.

Liu Xiyan immediately understood and, with a wave of her hand, a small pile of Origin Stones appeared on the ground.

“That’s thirteen thousand two hundred and fifty Origin Stones in total. Please count them.”

Mo Fan nodded and directly cast an Appraisal spell.

A virtual panel flashed, and a prompt box popped up.

【Discovered 13250 Low-Grade Origin Stones. Can be absorbed and converted into attribute points. Absorb now?】

Mo Fan chose not to absorb them, instead storing them all in his system space. He nodded and said, “The number is correct.”

Although he could count them with a sweep of his spiritual power, Mo Fan was still accustomed to using the Appraisal spell.

“Good, then.” Liu Xiyan smiled faintly and turned to look in the direction of the teleportation array.

At this moment, the academy’s high-ranking officials were studying the teleportation array and discussing related issues.

Mo Fan noticed that, apart from two peak masters who were out, all the other peak masters were present.

Even several Grand Elders, who had been in secluded cultivation, tirelessly comprehending martial arts and preparing to break through to the Supreme Realm, had come.

Among them were naturally array masters, so there was no need to trouble Mo Fan with a mere teleportation array.

Among these Grand Elders, there happened to be the former Peak Master of Scarlet Mist Peak, whose array attainments were naturally not low.

Soon, the Sect Master beckoned, calling Liu Xiyan over.

“I’ll go over there and see. I’ll let you know when there’s a result.” Liu Xiyan greeted Mo Fan and walked over.

Mo Fan nodded, sat down cross-legged, circulated his cultivation technique, and closed his eyes to recuperate his spirit.

As for the 13,250 Origin Stones, Mo Fan was not in a hurry to absorb them.

He still had over 1.8 million usable attribute points, which would last him for a long time.

“I’ll save them for now!”

Adding the 24 reserved Origin Stones he had left earlier, Mo Fan now possessed an astonishing 13,274 Origin Stones!

...Half an hour later, everyone seemed to have reached a conclusion, and Liu Xiyan walked back to Mo Fan’s side.

She had been in secluded cultivation in the Sword Pavilion and rarely interacted with the other peak masters, feeling more at ease beside Mo Fan.

Sensing Liu Xiyan's return, Mo Fan opened his eyes, stood up, and asked with some curiosity, “Elder, what’s the situation now?”

Upon hearing this, Liu Xiyan deliberated for a moment, then slowly said, “The final decision is for Martial Uncle Wu to enter the teleportation array first to investigate the situation.”

She paused, a flicker of an unusual expression in her eyes, and explained:

“Martial Uncle Wu was the previous Peak Master of Demon Slaying Peak, a cultivation at the pinnacle of the Reversion to Origin Realm, and one of the main forces in quelling the demon rebellion in the Western Barrens two hundred years ago.”

“In that battle, he injured his foundation, cutting off his path to the Supreme Realm.”

“Because of his foundation issues, although he can maintain peak Reversion to Origin battle power, each time he acts, it shortens his lifespan—”

At this point, Liu Xiyan sighed and continued:

“At the time, the human race’s high-ranking officials wanted Martial Uncle Wu to return and live out his retirement, no longer participating in battles.”

“But later, in various battles, large and small, Martial Uncle Wu still took action, which ultimately led to the current situation.”

“His deadline is in two years…”

After speaking, Liu Xiyan looked towards the teleportation array.

At this moment, an old man with white hair and a slightly hunched figure was stepping into the teleportation array.

Liu Xiyan softly said, “This time, Martial Uncle Wu voluntarily stepped forward, saying he wanted to use his remaining body to do a few more things for the academy.”

Clearly, venturing into unknown space was a very dangerous undertaking.

Even a pinnacle Reversion to Origin cultivator might not be safe.

Just then, the teleportation array absorbed some Origin Stones, and milky-white light flickered.

Then, the old man’s figure slowly disappeared within the teleportation array.

Evidently, this was the Martial Uncle Wu that Liu Xiyan spoke of.

Watching the old man’s figure slowly disappear, Mo Fan’s expression involuntarily became serious.

In reality, there were many martial artists like “Martial Uncle Wu.”

To protect humanity, they would sacrifice everything, disregarding life and death.

Take Jade Void Academy, for example.

As one of the strongest forces on Blue Star, after a thousand years, it only had a handful of pinnacle Reversion to Origin cultivators.

Apart from the newly promoted Gu Qingshan, there were only these few Grand Elders present.

Reversion to Origin cultivators could live for up to two thousand years.

The spiritual energy revival had only just begun a little over a thousand years ago.

In such a short time, even the first batch of Reversion to Origin cultivators were far from reaching their lifespan limit.

Since the spiritual energy revival, Jade Void Academy had been passed down for nearly twenty generations.

The reason why, after such a long accumulation, there were still only a few pinnacle Reversion to Origin cultivators was because all the others had died in battle.

As of now, it was not just Jade Void Academy.

Across the entire human race, ninety percent of Reversion to Origin cultivators had died in battle.

And it wasn't just Reversion to Origin cultivators; the same was true for Heavenly Mandate and Extraordinary cultivators.

But even so, whenever there was a demon disturbance, human powerhouses would still rush to the front lines, one after another, disregarding life and death, never retreating.

Because they knew that behind them stood their families.

Thinking of this, Mo Fan felt a strange sensation in his heart.

He recalled a saying from his previous life: “There is no such thing as peace and quiet; it’s just that someone is carrying the burden for you.”

Just as Mo Fan was lost in thought, Liu Xiyan’s voice rang out.

“Martial Uncle Wu won’t be back for a while. You can go to the backyard and find Jingjing for now. I’ll notify you when there’s a result.”

“Alright.” Mo Fan nodded and turned to leave... Before long, Mo Fan arrived at the backyard.

Strangely, he saw Chu Qian beneath the stone tablet, not Xu Jing.

Mo Fan didn’t disturb Chu Qian’s cultivation. He walked alone through the long corridor, exited the Sword Pavilion, and found Xu Jing airing swords in the Sword Drying Plaza.

The Sword Pavilion was perpetually filled with sword energy.

Moreover, many spiritual swords had yin-cold attributes.

This led to an excess of yin-cold energy in the Sword Pavilion. If not regularly cleaned, it could cause problems and harm the human body.

The best way to clear this yin-cold energy was to periodically take out those yin-cold spiritual swords and expose them to the sun.

At the same time, the array inside the Sword Pavilion would be activated to purify the already present yin-cold aura.

This was the purpose of airing the swords.

Mo Fan walked to the plaza and naturally helped Xu Jing air the swords.

“Are… are you done?” Xu Jing turned to look at Mo Fan.

“I’m done. They don’t need me over there for now, so I came to talk to you,” Mo Fan said.

“Talk… talk about what?” Xu Jing asked subconsciously.

“Nothing in particular. You can just continue airing the swords,” Mo Fan said.

“Okay… okay.” Xu Jing nodded, continued airing the swords, and remained silent.

Seeing this, Mo Fan shrugged helplessly.

Expecting this girl to initiate a conversation was clearly a bit difficult.

“How’s your sword nurturing coming along?” Mo Fan asked casually.

“It’s much… much faster than before,” Xu Jing replied honestly.

“How much faster?” Mo Fan pressed.

Xu Jing thought seriously for a moment, frowning, as if calculating something.

A moment later, she replied, “Fifty… fifty times faster than before.”

Hearing this, Mo Fan couldn't help but be stunned and continued to ask, “Will you encounter any bottlenecks?”

Xu Jing shook her head: “It… it doesn’t seem so.”

Upon hearing this, Mo Fan gasped.

The speed of sword nurturing was fifty times faster than before!

And she wouldn’t encounter any bottlenecks!

This also meant that Xu Jing would be able to complete her sword nurturing and become a Sword Immortal in at most two years.

This speed was much faster than Mo Fan had anticipated.

In contrast, Liu Xiyan had already cultivated the Sword Nurturing Art to perfection once.

But for her to nurture a sword again, it would still take five years to become a Sword Immortal, more than twice as slow as Xu Jing.

Mo Fan imagined a scene like this:

Two years later, Xu Jing, as the disciple, would already be a Sword Immortal, her sword energy spanning thirty thousand miles, her single sword strike chilling nineteen continents.

Meanwhile, Liu Xiyan would still be struggling, her cultivation not even having recovered to the Heavenly Mandate Realm.

At that time, he wondered what she would think.

Mo Fan felt that this feeling should be similar to how he felt when he saw his daughter being much stronger than himself.

Thinking of this, Mo Fan couldn't help but sigh.

“Nurturing a sword in the Qi Sea, is it really that outrageous?”

“Perhaps I should try nurturing one properly too?”

As soon as this thought arose, Mo Fan immediately nodded, deeming it feasible.

He no longer lacked attribute points.

There was no need to desperately earn spirit stones anymore.

As for learning alchemy at Blazing Flame Peak, Mo Fan completely dismissed the idea.

Now that he didn't lack attribute points, there was naturally no need to learn alchemy.

This way, staying in the Sword Pavilion to nurture his sword wouldn't delay his martial arts cultivation anymore.

With this thought, Mo Fan pondered seriously.

“My Qi Sea quality is quite a bit higher than Xu Jing’s—”

“She can complete her sword nurturing in two years.”

“If I nurture my sword properly, it should take about a year.”

Thinking of this, Mo Fan couldn't help but smile.

By then, his martial cultivation might not even have broken through to the Supreme Realm.

Yet his sword cultivation would already be able to rival a Supreme.

However, very quickly, Mo Fan seemed to think of something. He paused and shook his head helplessly.

“Both Xu Jing and Liu Xiyan’s sword nurturing speeds are quite outrageous. With both of them absorbing sword energy simultaneously, the Sword Pavilion is already struggling to keep up.”

“If you add me, with my even more outrageous sword nurturing speed…” The sword energy within the Sword Pavilion would probably be depleted in a few months, or even completely ruined.

“At its current rate of generating sword energy, it simply cannot keep up.”

Thinking of this, Mo Fan rubbed his temples: “Forget it, I’ll focus on martial arts cultivation first and put sword dao aside for now.”

While thinking, Mo Fan accompanied Xu Jing in airing the swords, chatting occasionally. Two hours passed in a flash.

After airing the swords, Xu Jing returned to the backyard to continue cultivating, while Mo Fan walked directly towards the back mountain.

By this time, “Martial Uncle Wu” had already teleported back and was discussing something with everyone.

A moment later, everyone nodded with solemn expressions and dispersed through the air.

At the same time, Liu Xiyan noticed Mo Fan and walked over.

“The teleportation array connects to a sealed space inside the Hidden Sword Peak mountain body. Inside, there is a demon corpse and a monster corpse, which have been fallen for countless millennia.”

“From the residual aura, both the monster corpse and the demon corpse were existences beyond the Supreme Realm in their lifetime.”

“Beyond the Supreme Realm, it seems they had already established their own laws. After countless millennia and several cycles of reincarnation, those laws still haven’t dissipated.”

“If a Supreme Realm cultivator obtains these laws and absorbs and comprehends them, they can plant corresponding law seeds within their body.”

“In this way, given time, the Supreme Realm cultivator who planted the seeds will likely be able to break through their shackles.”

Hearing this, Mo Fan became a little excited.

With these two “Saint Corpses,” wouldn’t the human race produce two existences beyond the Supreme Realm?

At that time, humanity’s dream of wiping out demons might be easily realized, and the future appearance of creatures from the light gates would no longer be an issue.

However, just then, Liu Xiyan shook her head helplessly and said:

“Unfortunately, those are laws condensed by demons, and they are not suitable for our human race.”

Mo Fan: “…”

Liu Xiyan focused her gaze and continued, “However, Martial Uncle Wu said that what is suppressing the two demon corpses is a giant sword.”

“A giant sword?” Mo Fan was surprised.

Liu Xiyan nodded: “Yes, a giant sword, a giant sword inscribed with Sword Dao laws.”

Hearing this, Mo Fan was stunned and quickly asked, “Can comprehending Sword Dao laws also plant Sword Dao seeds?”

Liu Xiyan first nodded, then shook her head.

Mo Fan looked at her in confusion.

Liu Xiyan said with a serious expression, “Theoretically, yes, but only a Sword Immortal can withstand the impact of Sword Dao laws.”

“Below a Sword Immortal, even a slight touch would result in death and the dissipation of one’s dao.”