Chapter 294: Commanding Heaven and Earth

[Once the first-birthday divination banquet ended, you slipped right back into a routine of eating, drinking, and sleeping.]

[In your spare moments, you worked on perfecting your sword dao inheritance. So far, you had developed it all the way to the Nascent Soul chapter.]

[Because you were newly born and your internal organs were not yet fully developed, you could not begin cultivating right away. For now, you could only soak in thousand-year spirit milk and other rare treasures to strengthen your physique.]

[Year 1. You were one year old.]

[Having absorbed all kinds of natural treasures, you were already no different from an eight- or nine-year-old child aside from not cultivating yet, and could run around everywhere.]

[One day, you spotted your father, Zhou Shanfeng, seeking out Lu Yun with excitement written all over his face. He said in a low voice, "Yun'er, deep beneath Artifact Forging Valley, we discovered a flame crystal mine... Our Artifact Forging Valley... is going to prosper."]

["A flame crystal mine?"]

[You were inwardly surprised. This ore was a Tier 4 resource and quite rare—something even Nascent Soul-level forces coveted. If the vein was large enough, it might even nurture a flame crystal core, which was a Rank 5 resource.]

[Artifact Forging Valley had always belonged to the artifact lineage; gaining a flame crystal vein suited them like a fish taking to water.]

[You listened to your parents talk a little longer, then drifted back to sleep before long.]

[You were only a year old. Unable to cultivate, you were no different from an ordinary mortal child apart from having a sturdier body, and you got sleepy easily.]

[Half a month later.]

[You were continuing to refine the Nascent Soul chapter of your sword dao inheritance while cautiously trying to cultivate.]

[Suddenly.]

[A strange fluctuation swept past, enveloping the entire Artifact Forging Valley in an instant.]

[In a heartbeat, a faint pressure gathered, and your expression grew gravely solemn.]

[Bang—]

[A figure burst inside. It was Elder Yang of Artifact Forging Valley.]

[His beard streaked with gray and his face filled with terror, Elder Yang scooped you up in a hurry, rushed to a spot at the back of the room, and pulled out several spirit stones.]

[Hum—]

[Spatial fluctuations began to surge, and you immediately recognized it as a Lesser Teleportation Array.]

[This formation was crafted by a Tier 4 array Grandmaster Rank master who had comprehended heaven and earth, using spatial crystals to lock onto two spatial nodes. Once activated, it could transport people between the two places.]

[Compared to a cross-domain teleportation array, a Lesser Teleportation Array could only transport within a thousand li. In the ancient era, the array dao flourished, so even a Core Formation-level force like Artifact Forging Valley could purchase such a life-saving array as the clan's final trump card.]

[At the exact moment you were teleported away, you faintly heard a despairing voice—the voice of Zhou Shanfeng, Valley Master of Artifact Forging Valley, and your father in this simulation.]

["I am willing to hand over the flame crystal vein! I only beg the esteemed cultivator to show mercy and leave Artifact Forging Valley a way to survive! Artifact Forging Valley is willing to serve you for generations to come..."]

[In a secluded, dense forest, you and Elder Yang materialized.]

["Artifact Forging Valley..." Elder Yang whipped his head back, anguish etched across his face.]

[Lying in Elder Yang's arms, you finally realized why you had never heard of Artifact Forging Valley during your sixth or seventh simulations.]

[If you were the Sword Lord, given the invincible means you eventually held across the Human Realm, since you could make Heavenly Sword Peak endure for a hundred thousand years, you could just as easily have let Artifact Forging Valley endure for a hundred thousand years.]

[Yet a hundred thousand years later, not a single trace of Artifact Forging Valley remained.]

["Wuyou, ride this spirit leopard and run in that direction. That way lies the Lu Clan of Jade Heart Lake, your mother's family. Hold on to this stone—it will ward off monster beasts below Tier 3, and once you come within ten thousand li of the Lu Clan, they will sense it..."]

[Elder Yang slapped his spirit beast pouch, summoning a spirit leopard two or three meters long, and took out a black stone at the same time.]

["Taking you through the Lesser Teleportation Array won't easily fool that true monarch. Since he struck at Artifact Forging Valley, to keep the secret from leaking and avoid retaliation from the artifact lineage, he will certainly uproot us completely. In all likelihood, he will pursue us. I must deliberately leave traces behind to lure him away..."]

[Elder Yang spoke in a low voice, then gave you one last, deep look. "Wuyou, if you survive, you must never seek revenge. Just as your mother wished, live out this life carefree and without worry..."]

[With that, he set you on the spirit leopard's back and handed you its spirit contract token along with a storage pouch.]

[Once everything was done, the spirit leopard immediately bolted toward the Lu Clan of Jade Heart Lake with you on its back.]

[Elder Yang sped off in another direction, deliberately leaking his lingering aura.]

[You rode the spirit leopard for a while, then patted its head.]

["Coo, coo..."]

[The spirit leopard came to a halt and looked back at you in confusion.]

["Elder Yang, if it was a true monarch who moved against Artifact Forging Valley, why would you think the Lu Clan of Jade Heart Lake is safe?"]

[You sighed and hopped down from the spirit leopard's back.]

[Though only a year old, you had absorbed many rare resources since birth, leaving you with a sturdy frame.]

[You placed the black stone on the spirit leopard's back, along with its spirit contract token.]

[This spirit leopard was Elder Yang's companion beast; having been around you since infancy, it would never harm you.]

[You patted the spirit leopard's head and pointed toward the Lu Clan of Jade Heart Lake.]

[Understanding your meaning at once, the spirit leopard shot off again in the direction you pointed.]

[You watched it go for a moment, then chose another direction and left.]

[Year 5. You were five years old.]

[Over these past few years, you hid out across all sorts of barren lands.]

[Wherever spiritual energy was thinnest, that was where you went.]

[Thin spiritual energy meant fewer traces of monster beasts, and the safer you were.]

["That's about enough. I can cultivate now. Time to head to that spirit vein."]

[You sat cross-legged atop a boulder, munching on wild fruit you had casually plucked.]

[In the ancient era, resources were abundant; even fruit grown in places with thin spiritual energy offered decent nourishment.]

[After five years of growth, your body was essentially fully developed and ready for cultivation.]

[Half a month later, you cautiously arrived at a hill.]

[Beneath the hill lay a Tier 2 spirit vein. Its aura was extremely restrained; had you not possessed the number one talent in the sword dao and an acutely sharp perception of all things, you never would have noticed it.]

[Getting as close to the Tier 2 spirit vein as possible, you actively drew spiritual energy into your body.]

[Ten breaths later.]

[You condensed the first wisp of sword dao mana within your body.]

[You smoothly stepped into the first layer of Qi Refining.]

[You continued cultivating.]

[Fifty breaths later.]

[A second wisp of sword dao mana condensed.]

[You stepped into the second layer of Qi Refining.]

[Two hours later, you smoothly cultivated to the Qi Refining Peak. Next was stepping into the Foundation Establishment Stage.]

[The sword dao mana you cultivated was peerlessly sharp, forged from the sword dao inheritance you had created yourself. Even though you were only at the Qi Refining Peak right now, you had the distinct feeling you could cut down a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator.]

["Let's keep going."]

[After brief preparations, you began breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Stage.]

[In the recent ancient era, Qi Refining Stage cultivators hoping to break through were best off preparing a Foundation Establishment Pill.]

[That was due to lacking aptitude.]

[A normal cultivator with a heavenly spiritual root could smoothly step into Foundation Establishment even without a Foundation Establishment Pill.]

[With you, it went without saying.]

[Several dozen breaths later, you stepped into the Foundation Establishment Stage.]

[You took out the storage pouch Elder Yang had left you at the end.]

[Channeling mana into it, you opened it without issue.]

[Inside lay a portion of the cultivation resources Artifact Forging Valley had accumulated over many years.]

[Two months later.]

[With the help of those cultivation resources and the Tier 2 spirit vein, you smoothly cultivated to the Foundation Establishment Stage Peak.]

[You set out in search of a Tier 3 spirit vein, planning your breakthrough to the Core Formation Stage.]

[Several days later, you found a Tier 3 spirit vein.]

[However, a Tier 3 monster ape held dominion over it.]

[You casually cut it down, claimed the Tier 3 monster ape's corpse, and resumed your cultivation.]

[Half a month later, you stepped into the Core Formation Stage.]

[Within your dantian, the Golden Core was no longer round, but shaped like a sword, faintly radiating a monstrous sword intent as though it could rend all things apart.]

[Year 15. You were fifteen years old, and you had cultivated to the Core Formation Stage Peak.]

[You intended to find a Tier 4 spirit vein to break through to the Nascent Soul Stage.]

[Year 16. You were sixteen years old.]

[Carrying a stone sword on your back, you arrived before a Tier 4 spirit vein.]

[A horde of monster beasts inhabited this Tier 4 spirit vein. The strongest among them, a broodmother serpent, was a Rank 4 Mid Stage serpent king of monstrous ferocity that had devoured more than one Nascent Soul Stage true monarch.]

[Standing in midair, you looked toward the broodmother serpent in the distance, its body as massive as a small hill.]

[Then you drew your stone sword and slashed.]

[The sword light flashed without a sound. The massive body of that Rank 4 Mid Stage broodmother serpent was severed in two; not even its essence core escaped, cleaved cleanly into two halves just the same.]

[The sword light you unleashed shattered all laws. Even a Fourth-Order Late Stage great Monster King would not dare take it head-on.]

[You spent a few hours clearing out the monster beasts around this Tier 4 spirit vein, then began preparing to break through to the Nascent Soul Stage.]

[Year 18. You were eighteen years old.]

[You smoothly stepped into the Nascent Soul Stage.]

Outside the simulation, the corner of Zhou Qing's mouth twitched slightly.

An eighteen-year-old Nascent Soul Stage true monarch? Prior to the eighth simulation, Zhou Qing had always assumed he was the only one capable of such a feat.

Yet now?

He was watching the Sword Lord in the simulation step effortlessly into the Nascent Soul Stage at that exact age.

More than that, the path the Sword Lord cultivated was one he had pioneered himself—every single step was uncharted, with no predecessor to guide the way.

"So this is the number one sword dao talent in the Human Realm?"

Zhou Qing marveled to himself. Slaying Core Formation at Foundation Establishment, and slaying Nascent Soul at Core Formation? Even a creature as fierce as a Rank 4 Mid Stage serpent king could not withstand a single blow before the Sword Lord at the Core Formation Stage Peak.

"Nothing less from me."

Zhou Qing steadied his mind and returned his gaze to the illusory text.

[After stepping into the Nascent Soul Stage, you halted your cultivation and began pondering the Deity Transformation chapter of your sword dao inheritance.]

[Over the years, you had kept trying to perfect the Deity Transformation chapter, yet you always felt something was missing.]

["I need to observe the sword intent that other Sword Cultivators have poured their heart's blood into condensing..."]

[It suddenly dawned on you what you were lacking.]

["Ten Thousand Swords Mountain?"]

[You abruptly looked toward a certain direction.]

[Ten Thousand Swords Mountain was the sacred land of the sword dao in the Human Realm.]

[As practitioners of one of the Three Thousand Unorthodox Paths, every Sword Cultivator, upon stepping into the Nascent Soul Stage, would make a trip to Ten Thousand Swords Mountain to nurture the sword intent they had condensed upon its peaks.]

[And every Sword Cultivator who died of old age and passed away in meditation would leave their natal flying sword upon Ten Thousand Swords Mountain.]

[Though theirs was one of the Three Thousand Unorthodox Paths, every Sword Cultivator believed that so long as they accumulated their heritage generation after generation like this, one day the sword dao would give birth to a Sword Cultivator Heavenly Monarch.]

["Artifact Forging Valley..."]

[You gave a quiet, inward sigh. After stepping into the Core Formation Stage, you had cast a bloodline secret art and confirmed that you no longer had any close kin left in the world.]

[Before pushing for the Nascent Soul realm, you had also secretly returned to Artifact Forging Valley, only to find it long since reduced to a barren wasteland, with the surrounding forces shunning any mention of it.]

[As for the Lu Clan of Jade Heart Lake, only a few days after Artifact Forging Valley was wiped out, they too vanished like smoke and scattered like clouds.]

[You did not know which true monarch had struck back then, as you had not comprehended the art of Divination in this simulation.]

["With my current strength, I can cut down even a legendary Grand Cultivator who has broken past the limit. I'll make a trip to Ten Thousand Swords Mountain."]

[You rose to your feet at once, left the Tier 4 spirit vein, and set off for Ten Thousand Swords Mountain.]

[Ten Thousand Swords Mountain was the sacred ground of the sword dao lineage in the Human Realm. Going there would not only let you observe the sword intent left behind by generations of Sword Cultivators, but also allow you to borrow the strength of Sword Cultivators for your own use.]

[For instance, uncovering the identity of the true monarch who had attacked Artifact Forging Valley.]

[Ten Thousand Swords Mountain was located in the Southern Sea Territory.]

[It towered upon an island.]

[As one of the Three Thousand Unorthodox Paths, the sword dao was not qualified to establish its sacred land in the Central Continent Territory.]

[Around Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, streaks of sword light flashed across the sky.]

[There were Foundation Establishment Stage Sword Cultivators riding their flying swords, drawn here by its renown, and Core Formation Stage Sword Cultivators who had come specifically to pay homage to the sacred land of Sword Cultivators.]

[There were even Nascent Soul Stage Sword Cultivators who intended to take up permanent residence on Ten Thousand Swords Mountain and leave their own sword intent behind.]

[On this day, outside Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, a youth arrived carrying a stone sword on his back.]

[Towering and majestic, Ten Thousand Swords Mountain bristled with the natal flying swords of generations of Sword Cultivator true monarchs.]

[If a later Sword Cultivator was fated, approaching Ten Thousand Swords Mountain would draw a certain flying sword toward them, giving them a chance to subdue it and take it away.]

["Fellow Daoist, fellow Daoist..."]

[A woman's voice called out. Not far away, a Core Formation Stage female Sword Cultivator with her hair in a ponytail walked over. "Are you a Sword Cultivator too, fellow Daoist? Is this your first time coming to Ten Thousand Swords Mountain?"]

[You glanced at this Core Formation Stage female Sword Cultivator, thought for a moment, and nodded. "Yes."]

["It looks like your natal flying sword is quite special, fellow Daoist, since it can't be drawn into your body," the Core Formation Stage female Sword Cultivator exclaimed in wonder, glancing at the stone sword strapped to your back.]

[Most Sword Cultivators could refine their flying swords into their dantian, but for a small number of them, whether because of special materials or their own unique cultivation methods, their natal flying swords could not be refined into the body.]

[Thus, they could only carry them on their backs.]

["A natal flying sword is the very foundation of us Sword Cultivators. Tempered constantly by our own sword intent, it develops spirituality early on."]

[The Core Formation Stage female Sword Cultivator said with emotion, "Every Sword Cultivator visiting Ten Thousand Swords Mountain for the first time must unstrap their natal flying sword and thrust it into the foot of the mountain. Only after it adapts to the sword qi pervading Ten Thousand Swords Mountain can the Sword Cultivator safely enter."]

[A deep bond existed between a natal flying sword and its Sword Cultivator; once the natal flying sword adapted to the mountain's sword qi, that adaptation would naturally carry over to its master.]

["I see."]

[You gave a slight nod. With a stir of your thoughts, the stone sword on your back rose into the air and hovered before you.]

[You had casually forged this stone sword out of ordinary materials. You only carried it outside your body out of worry that it could not withstand the sword qi inside your dantian.]

[Even so, having been nourished by your sword intent for ten or twenty years, the stone sword revealed an extraordinary bearing.]

["Let me help you, fellow Daoist."]

[The Core Formation Stage female Sword Cultivator carefully took the stone sword. "So heavy..."]

[Her eyes widened as she dragged the stone sword along with some difficulty, walking inward toward the foot of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain.]

[At last, the Core Formation Stage female Sword Cultivator reached the base of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, gasping heavily for breath.]

[At her level of cultivation, it had been a very long time since she had exerted herself like this.]

["Had I known, I would have let one of my senior brothers come over instead..." Pouting slightly, the Core Formation Stage female Sword Cultivator gripped the hilt of the stone sword with all her might.]

[She moved to drive it into the base of the mountain, right below the countless flying swords above.]

[Swish!]

[Just then, a flying sword appeared without a sound, placing the flat of its blade against the stone sword's tip to block it from piercing the foot of the mountain.]

["Huh?"]

[The Core Formation Stage female Sword Cultivator froze, staring at the flying sword that had appeared out of thin air. "True Monarch Liyang's natal flying sword?"]

[True Monarch Liyang was an Early Nascent Soul Stage Sword Cultivator true monarch who had passed away in meditation over a decade ago, and his natal flying sword had been planted near the base of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain.]

[Because his realm had only been at the Early Nascent Soul Stage, True Monarch Liyang's flying sword rested not far away, just a little higher than the foot of the mountain.]

["What does this mean?"]

[The Core Formation Stage female Sword Cultivator was baffled. Why had True Monarch Liyang's natal flying sword appeared here to stop her from planting the stone sword at the base of the mountain?]

[Whoosh!]

[Before the Core Formation Stage female Sword Cultivator could react, another flying sword flashed over, positioning itself beneath the tip of the stone sword as well.]

[Swish, swish, swish!]

[Right on its heels, flying swords appeared one after another. Every single flying sword planted across Ten Thousand Swords Mountain—including the natal flying swords of Late Nascent Soul Stage Peak Sword Cultivator Grand Cultivators—soared into the air, gathering beneath the tip of the stone sword.]

[It was as though the Heavenly Sword stood above, and ten thousand swords dared only rest beneath it.]

["It seems there's no way to plant it."]

[At some point, you had appeared beside the Core Formation Stage female Sword Cultivator, speaking in a calm, even voice.]

[The Core Formation Stage female Sword Cultivator turned her head to look at you—and realized that from the moment you spoke, the mountain's worth of flying swords, which dared only hover beneath the stone sword, all began to tremble restlessly.]

[Without knowing why, the spirituality within every single natal flying sword was seized by an involuntary terror, shivering violently in fear.]