Chapter 582: Dividing Treasures

The Sword-Cleansing Pool was once filled to the brim with Jade Pool Golden Water.

Countless famous swords were born here, where the cultivators of the Taibai Sword Sect would forge and refine their blades.

They would also toss the flying swords broken and damaged in combat into the pool. These blades would melt into the water, making the pool increasingly mystical.

With the aid of the Jade Pool Golden Water, a Sword Cultivator could complete the refinement of their Lifebound Flying Sword in just a year or two.

For an ordinary Sword Cultivator, the same process would take a century.

No one knew the origins of the Sword-Cleansing Pool. Much like the Sect itself, and its Cultivation Technique, the Cave Profound Godslaying Sword Scripture, its history was shrouded in mystery.

The Sword Tempering Spirit Water, now popular among mid-level Sword Cultivators, was in fact inspired by the Sword-Cleansing Pool.

Ten thousand years passed, changing everything.

The Sword-Cleansing Pool now lay in ruins, a victim of devastating destruction. Its waters had long since dried up.

Gone were the days when it brimmed with Jade Pool Golden Water, when Sword Qi surged from its depths and a brilliant light shot into the heavens.

Scattered across the pool’s bottom were broken blades and hilts, all dull and lifeless. Devoid of any Spiritual Qi, they looked no different from Mortal Iron.

Bai Zichen picked up a shard of a sword, several inches long. Intricate, overlapping patterns were still clearly visible upon its surface.

As his fingers brushed across it, he could almost feel the fragment’s unyielding, mournful cry.

A vision flashed before him. Amid lightning and thunder, a dark curtain pressed down, hovering a thousand feet from the ground.

Countless streams of black qi coalesced into twisted, demonic figures. A streak of black light flashed, and the Flying Sword that met it head-on shattered into three pieces, plunging into the Sword-Cleansing Pool.

It wasn’t the only one. Heaven knows how many Flying Swords the Taibai Sword Sect had hidden within its Grotto Heaven Secret Realm, all of them unleashed at the most critical moment.

Vast Sword Light clashed with innumerable demonic figures in a world-ending cataclysm.

The reconstructed vision was but a fleeting glimpse, recording the Flying Sword’s final moments.

Having fulfilled its purpose, the fragment began to disintegrate, trickling through his fingers like sand.

Bai Zichen dusted off his hands and stepped away from the Sword-Cleansing Pool.

The Taibai Sword Sect’s former Holy Land of Sword Refinement held no more value for him.

Perhaps a few fragments that hadn’t lost their Spiritual nature could still be salvaged from the ruined swords and melted down for Sword Refining Materials.

But they could only be used to create Tier Three Flying Swords at best, which was pointless.

He paced around the edge of the crater, his eyes fixed on the Sword Marks etched into its walls. He felt a growing eagerness to test them.

To him, this was the real prize.

The others gave the Sword Marks a wide berth, but he was different. His power and his Sword Dao Realm were on an entirely different level.

‘Since the Sword-Cleansing Grotto Heaven has been opened once, it can be opened a second time, a third time…’

‘But I only have half of the key… no, wait. Counting the Magic Formulas to open the Grotto Heaven, I only have one-third of it…’

Bai Zichen’s gaze shifted to Po Jun Star Monarch. If he wanted to re-enter this place in the future, he would have to go through him.

As if sensing his gaze, Po Jun Star Monarch looked up from the half of a hilt he was examining and offered a friendly smile.

They did not linger long at the Sword-Cleansing Pool. It wasn’t just the Deity of the Moon; the other two also found the atmosphere in this Grotto Heaven Fragment to be oppressive.

After leaving, the five of them followed the guidance of the Seven Cultivator Sword Light, heading one by one toward the different Grotto Heaven Fragments it indicated.

“The Taiyi Divine Sand Sword was a prize our Second Generation Divinity Transformation Ancestor claimed after traveling to the furthest reaches of the Western Realm. He slew a Tier Five Demon Monarch there, one who had survived since the Middle Ancient Era… That Demon Monarch’s true form was supposedly a Yellow Rat Spirit, an expert in controlling sand and poisonous smoke. It had always kept a low profile, but one of its foolish descendants ended up killing a Sword Sect disciple.”

They found something in the very first fragment. The entire space was a Sea of Sand, and visibility was extremely low due to the thick, swirling dust.

With their Divine Sense also restricted, it was no wonder the Five Phoenix Sword Sect had spent so much time searching each fragment.

Still, with five Nascent Soul True Monarchs working together—plus Po Jun Star Monarch, a Hidden Vein disciple who had some inside information—they found the first Tier Four Flying Sword three months later, deep within a sand pit.

Po Jun Star Monarch watched with excitement as the shifting sands in the heart of the pit gathered and dispersed, finally coalescing into a Flying Sword.

“According to our agreement, this Flying Sword is mine. Any objections?”

Having explained the flying sword’s origins, Po Jun Star Monarch made his claim, his gaze fixed primarily on Bai Zichen.

Ostensibly, as a Nascent Soul Elder of the Celestial Star Sect specializing in Astrological Techniques, he had no reason to go to great lengths to pursue a Tier Four Flying Sword.

He could only operate in the shadows, managing to acquire a pair of Tier Three Ancient Swords. Through Dual Swords Unification, they could briefly match the power of a Tier Four Flying Sword.

But possessing a true Tier Four Flying Sword still held great importance in his heart.

According to their agreement, he and Ziwei Star Star Monarch, having contributed the most to opening the Sword-Cleansing Grotto Heaven, had the right of first choice. Therefore, the only two competitors for this sword were them.

As the leader of the operation who had planned everything, contributed a Tier Five Flying Sword, used a Seven Cultivator Sword Talisman, and spent dozens of Top-Grade Spirit Stones, Po Jun Star Monarch felt he had contributed the most.

But he knew Ziwei Star Star Monarch’s true identity and what kind of power the man behind the stern, solemn mask possessed.

It was best to maintain a harmonious relationship and avoid a falling-out.

“Fine. I have no objections.”

Bai Zichen swept his Divine Sense over it. The Taiyi Divine Sand Sword seemed to have suffered heavy damage and fallen into a deep slumber; he couldn’t sense the presence of a Sword Spirit.

Or rather, it wasn’t that there was no Sword Spirit, but that it was extremely weak, giving a barely perceptible response.

‘I didn’t expect Po Jun Star Monarch to be so eager for a damaged Tier Four Flying Sword. I thought he’d hesitate, giving me the perfect opportunity to take it.’

‘My Supreme Qingwei Sword Box could even restore the Ziwei Dazzling Thunder Sword after it was Demoted to the point of its Spiritual nature almost being extinguished. It could even repair the heavily damaged Qingfeng Sword. Awakening the Taiyi Divine Sand Sword would be a trivial matter in comparison.’