Chapter 515 - 492: Critiquing the World’s Sword Sects

"Yes, what Sword Cultivator wouldn't want to see… wait, what did True Monarch Meng just say?"

Bai Zichen casually agreed before he caught himself, his voice rising in disbelief.

With the fall of the Taibai Sword Sect, cultivators from all over the world naturally turned their attention to what had been the most dazzling Sword Cultivation Sect of all time.

The ruins of the Sword Sect had been scoured countless times by cultivators who rushed in from all corners of the land.

Every broken brick and shattered tile even remotely associated with the Taibai Sword Sect was carried away for study.

The area around the Sect's Mountain Gate wasn't just dug three feet deep; the core location was nearly hollowed out.

It wasn't until a thousand years later that the ruins of the Taibai Sword Sect gradually fell quiet, with fewer Sword Cultivators attempting to find an inheritance there.

Throughout the Cultivation Realm, the branches, wandering disciples, and hidden ruins of the Taibai Sword Sect had left behind a considerable legacy. Countless Sword Cultivation Sects grew strong by feeding on its corpse.

Even the Five Phoenix Sword Sect had only made its great leap forward after obtaining some of the Taibai Sword Sect's Exquisite Swordsmanship.

But the most crucial part—the Fundamental Great Method that allowed Taibai Sword Sect Cultivators to break their shackles and refine multiple Lifebound Flying Swords, the Cave Profound Godslaying Sword Scripture—had never been found.

Countless Nascent Soul True Monarchs and even Divinity Transformation Great Powers had tried and failed to find it. Even attempts at Divine Calculation were rendered useless against it.

Just as it had appeared in mystery, it vanished just as completely, leaving not a single trace behind.

Many Cultivators suspected that a terrifying power was at work, one that sought to completely erase the Cave Profound Godslaying Sword Scripture from the world.

The scroll of the True Understanding of Sword Dao in Bai Zichen's possession recorded the Star River Sword Monarch's lifelong insights into the Sword Dao; it even included his signature technique, the Star River Sword Array.

Clearly, he had hoped that whichever cultivator found the scroll would become his successor.

And yet, it didn't mention a single word about the most important text of all: the Cave Profound Godslaying Sword Scripture.

After all, the fundamental requirement for using the Star River Sword Array was the Cave Profound Godslaying Sword Scripture.

Without this Fundamental Great Method, the Sword Array was an impossible fantasy.

The Star River Sword Monarch couldn't possibly have predicted, ten thousand years ago, that the inheritor of his legacy would have a separate fortuitous encounter and find an Exotic Treasure like the Supreme Qingwei Sword Box, allowing them to achieve it through another means.

That was why he had always scoffed at any news regarding the Taibai Sword Sect's Fundamental Great Method.

But a single, casual sentence from Meng Dongye had nearly made him drop his teacup.

"At first, I didn't believe it either. I figured someone was just passing off a fake as the real thing. But after years of investigation, I believe the place is very likely genuine... Judging from its layout, it's a perfect match for the Taibai Sword Sect's Sword-Cleansing Grotto Heaven. If the Cave Profound Godslaying Sword Scripture exists anywhere in this world, it has to be there."

Meng Dongye spoke with the infectious excitement of a child who had found a favorite toy.

"The Sword-Cleansing Grotto Heaven was where every True Monarch of the Taibai Sword Sect would go to refine their Lifebound Flying Swords. It could shorten the Refinement time by a factor of ten. Otherwise, a Nascent Soul True Monarch could do nothing but refine about ten Lifebound Flying Swords in their entire lifetime, with no hope of ever advancing their Cultivation further."

"Sword-Cleansing Grotto Heaven… Listening to you, True Monarch Meng, does that mean this Grotto Heaven is already in your esteemed Sect's possession?"

Bai Zichen feigned a look of surprise, but his mind immediately leaped to the secret organization: the Star Palace.

According to Po Jun Star Monarch, the Star Palace controlled a Trial Secret Realm that once belonged to the Taibai Sword Sect, but the conditions for its opening had not yet been met.

'It's been over ten thousand years. After such intense, widespread searches, for there to be *two* Grotto Heavens belonging to the Taibai Sword Sect that remained undiscovered, only to reappear now... the probability is practically zero.'

'Unless, when the Sword Sect fell, they had unsealed the Grotto Heaven Secret Realm and cast it into the void.'

'And after drifting in the void for ten thousand years, not only did it not collapse, but it has now returned to the mortal plane, allowing its traces to be found.'

'Could the Grotto Heaven Secret Realms mentioned by both sides actually be one and the same?'

"That's right. Ever since my Brother Ma unintentionally discovered a trace of the Sword-Cleansing Grotto Heaven a hundred years ago during an Ascension Realm process, we have been trying to access it. We've made some progress, but we lack the key to enter. It requires every Cultivator who wishes to enter to have reached the Sword Light Division Realm. Fellow Daoist Bai, to possess such an advanced Sword Dao Realm at your age, I'm sure you will meet the requirement within a hundred years. When that time comes, I can introduce you to my Brother Ma," Meng Dongye explained in detail.

"The Sword-Cleansing Grotto Heaven seems to have been hit by spatial turbulence. Its interior has been shattered into thousands of tiny, fragmented spaces, making exploration extremely difficult. By himself, it would take Brother Ma hundreds, if not thousands, of years to explore every fragment. As long as Fellow Daoist Bai is willing to sign a contract and we agree on how to divide the spoils, our Sect would warmly welcome a fellow Sword Daoist to explore the Grotto Heaven with us."

"Excellent. Once I master Sword Light Division, I will certainly seek you out for a chance to witness the secrets of the Sword-Cleansing Grotto Heaven."

Bai Zichen gave the only response a Sword Cultivator could give upon hearing news of the Taibai Sword Sect's Fundamental Great Method. No one could refuse such an opportunity.

'It seems that within the Five Phoenix Sword Sect, only Great True Monarch Ma Youx has achieved Sword Light Division,' Bai Zichen mused. 'They must be getting anxious about developing the Sword-Cleansing Grotto Heaven, hence this offer.'

'If they dawdled for a few more centuries, the Sword-Cleansing Grotto Heaven might collapse entirely, and then it would be too late for regrets.'

However, those who had reached the Sword Light Splitting Realm were among the most renowned Sword Cultivators in the Cultivation Realm—each one a titan, a leader of a Sect.

Inviting such people into the venture meant the Five Phoenix Sword Sect would easily lose its absolute control over the Sword-Cleansing Grotto Heaven.

In contrast, a Northern Domain Sword Cultivator like Bai Zichen, no matter how talented, was still a lone individual. In the eyes of the Five Phoenix Sword Sect, his backing Sect was negligible.

A person like that made the perfect partner.

It was just like back in the Liang Country, when the Holy Lotus Sect would offer a few slots for the Lotus Secret Realm to outsiders. They were using those non-Sect Disciples to help exploit the Grotto Heaven and extract more rewards.

More importantly, every Sword Cultivator would be coming for one thing: the Cave Profound Godslaying Sword Scripture.

And as long as *they* could obtain this Fundamental Great Method of the Taibai Sword Sect, the Five Phoenix Sword Sect wouldn't mind sharing it with the Sword Cultivator who found it.

They would just need a contract signed beforehand, stipulating that it could not be shared or taught to others.

The two of them chatted amiably, their conversation drifting from the Taibai Sword Sect to the sects of the present day.

From the Major Sects, they moved on to the various schools of Swordsmanship under heaven.

"In the Cultivation Realm today, the Sword Dao is like a pool of stagnant water! Everyone clings to incomplete legacies. It might look glorious on the surface, but in reality, we're a far cry from where we were ten thousand years ago!"

Meng Dongye tapped a Jade Sword Key against his teacup, splashing tea all over his sleeves.

"After the Taibai Sword Sect was gone, the various Sword Sects all vied for the title of the First Sword Sect. That was a time of a hundred flowers blooming, with all sorts of Sword Techniques emerging out of nowhere. It's nothing like today, where everyone just clings to what their ancestors left behind. How long has it been since a truly new and refreshing style of Swordsmanship has appeared?"

"The Swordsmanship of the Major Sword Sects that has been passed down for millennia is naturally the product of refinement, of separating the wheat from the chaff. It's only natural that it becomes increasingly difficult for later generations to make breakthroughs."

Bai Zichen hadn't started as a pure Sword Cultivator, so he didn't hold such a radical view of the Sword Dao.

'As long as it was useful to him, he didn't care whether it was an Ancient Technique or a modern one—he would take all comers.'

"Even though our Sect's Sword Technique was improved by our Ancestor, who created the Celestial Phoenix Shocking God Sword Technique, it still tends to be ostentatious. It's no wonder people call it the 'sword of nobles,' lacking a true killing edge."

"The Cyan Lotus Sword Sect traces its lineage back to the transition between Ancient Times and the Middle Ancient period. Their Cyan Lotus Sword Song has been passed down for ten thousand years, a song of indulgence, freedom, wine, and swords. But they have an excess of carefree spirit and a deficit of ferocity. They were completely overshadowed once the Taibai Sword Sect appeared, yet they refused to learn from its strengths, choosing to stagnate."

"The Life-Killing Sword Sect knows only slaughter and easily falls to the Demon Path. Even their own Divinity Transformation Ancestor, they say, lost control of himself just a few years after reaching the Divinity Transformation Realm. He merged with the Great Dao of slaughter and was never seen in the Cultivation Realm again."

Meng Dongye freely critiqued the Sword Sects of the world, not even sparing his own Five Phoenix Sword Sect.

"As for the rest, like the Tianhe Sword Sect, the Dragon Emperor Sword Sect, and so on... they aren't even worth mentioning. That they've never produced anyone who has glimpsed the Divinity Transformation Realm proves that their Dao is incomplete."

"I wonder, True Monarch, have you ever heard of the Naihe Sect? It's said that Sect also possesses a remarkable Sword Dao inheritance?"

An idea sparked in Bai Zichen's mind as he listened to Meng Dongye's sharp critiques of the world's Sword Sects, and he decided to ask.

'He's a Nascent Soul True Monarch from a Super Sect. He's bound to know more about the secrets of the Cultivation Realm than anyone else.'

In a way, the Naihe Sect was also part of the Northern Domain.

At least, on the maps of the Five Domains circulating throughout the Cultivation Realm, the Bitter Cold and Desolate Land was marked as part of the Northern Domain.

But the Sect had always been shrouded in mystery. In earlier years, its disciples would still occasionally be seen in the world.

In recent years, however, they had vanished completely, with no news to be heard.

It was thanks to one of their Inheritance Steles that the Qingfeng Sect's foundation had advanced by leaps and bounds, gaining several new inheritances.

The three inheritances Bai Zichen himself had obtained were especially profound; even a Divinity Transformation Level power would treat them with the utmost gravity, and not every disciple would be qualified to study them.

With the Inheritance Stele's method of evaluating disciples, his Mysterious Holy Body had certainly earned the highest marks, allowing him to obtain the stele's most supreme inheritances without question.

Even within the Naihe Sect itself, it was likely that only the core True Inheritance disciples were qualified to practice them.

Bai Zichen suddenly recalled this, and it was related to the sword duel from just moments ago.

He had never seen Meng Dongye's Swordsmanship before; it was completely foreign to him. Yet he had still been able to find the optimal response in the shortest amount of time. Aside from his superior Sword Dao Realm, this was largely thanks to the True Enlightenment Sword Technique.

The True Enlightenment Sword Technique was said to be capable of deconstructing any Sword Path in the world. Upon mastery, it granted the talent of Sword Heart Clarity, and it was the culmination of ten thousand years of the Naihe Sect's Swordsmanship.

It was, one could say, the epitome of entering the Dao through pure technique.

Moreover, the True Enlightenment Sword Technique was ever-evolving with practice. Even now, Bai Zichen wouldn't dare claim he had fully mastered it.

Just like in the recent battle: after witnessing the wonders of the Primordial Court Sword Techniques, his True Enlightenment Sword Technique had successfully deconstructed it and, without any warning, advanced tremendously.

Bai Zichen was desperate to know what kind of sect the Naihe Sect—a sect that could create such marvelous arts as the True Enlightenment Sword Technique and the Desolate God Stealing Sun Technique—truly was.

"The Naihe Sect?"

A flicker of surprise crossed Meng Dongye's face; he clearly hadn't expected to hear that name.

"That Sect is extremely mysterious. According to notes left behind by an Ancestor of my Sect, because they displayed Divinity Transformation-level methods several times, the entire Cultivation Realm assumed it was a Divinity Transformation Sect. They were held in great reverence, and the entire Northern Domain was tacitly acknowledged as their territory... But later, for some unknown reason, a Divinity Transformation Demon Cultivator barged into the Bitter Cold and Desolate Land and fought a massive battle with the Naihe Sect. Even at the very end, no Divinity Transformation Great Power from their side ever appeared. That's when everyone realized the Naihe Sect was no longer a true Divinity Transformation Sect, but at best a Super Major Sect in name only."

"However, that Divinity Transformation Demon Cultivator didn't get away unscathed. They suffered serious injuries from the Naihe Sect's various Divinity Transformation-level methods and were never seen in the Cultivation Realm again after their return. But the Naihe Sect's losses were even greater: their Mountain Gate collapsed, their Spirit Vein was torn asunder, and ninety percent of their disciples perished. The remaining disciples supposedly retreated deeper into the Bitter Cold and Desolate Land, and little has been heard from them since. Who knows what other tricks they still have up their sleeves? Why would anyone bother provoking them?"

"As for the Sword Dao, I've never heard that Naihe Sect Cultivators are particularly skilled in it. Where did you hear that, Fellow Daoist Bai? Then again, their Cultivators are famous for being jacks-of-all-trades—masters of the Hundred Skills of Cultivation, with Dual Cultivation of Dharma and Body. It wouldn't be surprising if they had some accomplishments in the Sword Dao as well."