Chapter 588: Switching to Cultivate the Sword Scripture

The Star Lords all departed in a hurry, not lingering within the Star Palace Secret Realm.

Unlike Bai Zichen, they all had numerous responsibilities to attend to in their respective Sects.

The war between the two races was escalating into a protracted conflict, making it especially difficult for a Nascent Soul True Monarch to live a carefree life and remain uninvolved.

They enjoyed the benefits provided by their Sects, so naturally, they had to shoulder the accompanying responsibilities.

As for the war between the two races, a stalemate had been reached. The Human Race saw no opportunity for a decisive counterattack, while the Demon Race could not break through the Jishui Camp. As a result, voices calling for peace talks had begun to emerge on the human side.

Only a minority of Cultivators from the Eastern Domain had managed to flee to the Central Domain; the vast majority were trapped in their now-occupied homeland.

Those still in the Eastern Domain were powerless, their voices unheard.

When the Central Domain discovered that the Demon Races of the Outer Sea and the mainland had joined forces, their combined strength was far more formidable than imagined. A swift victory was out of the question, and dissenting voices began to surface.

The Jishui Camp consumed an astronomical amount of cultivation resources daily, and the constant guard duty severely interfered with the Cultivators’ regular training.

The impassioned cries to exterminate the Demon Race and reclaim the Eastern Domain had faded, replaced by a palpable war-weariness among the low and mid-level Cultivators.

The suffering in the Eastern Domain and the great threat of the Demon Race felt distant to them; they were only concerned with how their own interests had been severely impacted.

Fortunately, the Super Sects at the very top remained resolute. The Moral Sect’s Yangxing Peak paid a heavy price to withdraw three True Monarchs and a thousand disciples from the Nine Luminaries Grotto Heaven, rushing them to the front lines along with the Demon-Slaying Divine Moon Crossbow.

This treasure was forged from 3.65 million jin of Western Taiyi True Gold and housed five Gold Pills within, specifically designed to counter Demon Fire, Evil Smoke, and Poisonous Sand.

It was the heirloom Supreme Treasure of Yangxing Peak, a Top-Grade Heavenly Spirit Treasure.

It had established a fearsome reputation when the Moral Sect quelled the demonic calamity of the Middle Ancient era; no fewer than five Divinity Transformation Demons had fallen to it.

And just because it was designed to slay demons didn’t mean the Demon-Slaying Divine Moon Crossbow was ineffective against other targets.

As a representation of the Gold Element Path, it had reached the very apex of destructive power.

Once all five Gold Pills were expended, they required five hundred years of nurturing to be used again—a testament to the terrifying power unleashed upon activation.

The Moral Sect’s stance intimidated the minor and medium-sized Sects pushing for peace talks. Everyone was discovering that, like Lankao Mountain, the Moral Sect had also been hiding its true strength, and its hidden depths were equally astonishing.

Cunsi Peak, stationed far out in the Outer Sea, rarely interacted with the mainland, yet the strength of that single peak was comparable to an entire Super Sect.

Then there was Yangxing Peak, which was developing the depths of the Nine Luminaries Grotto Heaven; Yellow Court Peak, which focused solely on comprehending the Great Dao; and Wubo Peak, which researched only the Witchcraft of Ancient Times…

Everyone finally realized that what the world normally saw was merely the branch of Celestial Punishment Peak.

If not for the fact that the Demon Race’s Divinity Transformation Elder Dragon and Dragon Monarch possessed Exotic Treasures that made them nearly invincible among their peers, and that the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox from the Qingqiu Death Sea was keeping the Celestial Punishment Peak Master occupied, the Moral Sect could have single-handedly suppressed the entire Demon Race uprising.

Truly worthy of a Divinity Transformation Level Sect with a legacy stretching back over a hundred thousand years from Ancient Times, it outclassed all other Human Race Sects on every conceivable level.

‘The Taibai Sword Sect’s second-generation Divinity Transformation Ancestor narrowly defeated the Moral Sect’s own Divinity Transformation Ancestor, surpassing them to become the number one Sect in the world. I wonder if the Moral Sect was involved in its eventual downfall… If even they took part, then the Taibai Sword Sect truly made an enemy of the entire world. They offended far too many powers.’

Records from the Near Ancient Era were relatively well-preserved, and Bai Zichen had studied them thoroughly.

In the development of the Sword Dao, the Taibai Sword Sect was the undisputed zenith, past or present.

But in terms of managing the Sect, its performance could only be described as lackluster.

During the period when it surpassed the Moral Sect, its prestige was unmatched, and it stood as the leader of the Cultivation Realm. Yet, incredibly, it failed to secure a single, genuine, heavyweight ally across the Five Domains.

It even entered into fierce conflicts with several other Divinity Transformation Level Sects, turning them into sworn enemies.

Of course, those two Divinity Transformation Level Sects didn’t escape the turbulent period that followed the end of the Near Ancient era either. They followed in the Taibai Sword Sect’s footsteps, weakening with the passage of time until they became forgotten Minor Sects.

Bai Zichen pushed aside such distant hypotheticals. ‘As long as I refuse, can Zhuo Xiong really force me into the Sect Leader’s seat for the Taibai Sword Sect?’

He had no interest whatsoever in reviving the Taibai Sword Sect. He was far more curious about tracing the origins of Ancestor Qingfeng and figuring out how he had crossed the sea to arrive on this Cultivation Continent all those years ago.

The two Tier Four Flying Swords he had obtained from the Sword-Cleansing Grotto Heaven emitted overlapping hums as they came to a rest side-by-side before him.

With two more Tier Four Flying Swords in his possession, it wouldn’t be long before he could upgrade the Star River Sword Array.

Once nearly half of the twelve Flying Swords in the formation were Tier Four, it would become virtually impossible for anyone to shatter the Sword Array with a burst of power.

He was confident he could hold his own, even against a Nascent Soul Perfect Cultivator wielding a Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasure.

‘The Separation and Union Gui Water Sword. Wielding this blade, the deepest oceans feel like solid ground; it can summon and quell storms and waves.’

Bai Zichen lightly flicked the blade. A damp sea breeze washed over him, and the sound of endless rolling waves filled the air. ℯ𝐥.𝒄ℴ𝓶

All the Flying Swords from the Sword-Cleansing Grotto Heaven had lost their Spiritual nature. The advantage was that they were easy to tame, bypassing the need to communicate with a Sword Spirit.

The downside was that if the Sword Spirit was damaged or remained dormant for too long, the sword could potentially fall from Tier Four.

However, since he possessed the Supreme Qingwei Sword Box, this was not a concern for him.

‘It’s a shame about the Sword-Cleansing Pool. Even with the Daoist Classic Cantongqi, it would take me a full 60-Year Cycle to refine a Lifebound Flying Sword… I’ll place them in the box to recover for now. When I have the time, I’ll need to cultivate a few more volumes of the Cantongqi.’

The other Flying Sword was wreathed in Zen Sound. Illusions of a Golden Body Buddha, celestial Dharma Protectors, and lotuses blooming from the ground all indicated that this was a Buddhist Flying Sword.

He had learned from Zhuo Xiong that the Taibai Sword Sect had a branch dedicated to a Buddhist sword tradition, so it made sense that a Buddhist Flying Sword would appear in the Sword-Cleansing Grotto Heaven.

As he gripped it, a boundless Buddha Light erupted, and the chanting of ten thousand Buddhist Monks resounded, nearly causing him to lose his focus and become entranced by the Marvelous Sound.