Chapter 519 - 514: The Sword Saint Emerges

The Divine Country’s dawn broke, the Sea Domain was free of Demons, and the Seven Countries were rebuilt.

In the capital of the Moon Shadow Dynasty, Island City was bustling like never before, filled with vigorous life. Before the Imperial Palace of the dynasty, a gigantic statue had been erected: a white-robed Sword Cultivator, black hair like blades, peerless sharpness radiating from his form.

Every day, people would come before the statue to pay homage to the Sword Immortal’s bearing.

"This is the young Sword Immortal who came from the overseas Li Mountain. That day in the Holy City, he alone, with a single sword, slew the Demon Emperor, shattered the High Priest’s scheme, cleaved open the heavens with one stroke, and cut down that hypocritical cur." A middle-aged man held a youth by the hand; the youth also carried a sword on his back, and his gaze upon the statue was filled with pure worship.

"Father, in the future I too want to cultivate into a Sword Immortal." The youth declared his resolve.

"First cultivate well. When you are grown, think of a way to enter the Imperial Palace and apprentice yourself under Her Majesty the Empress." The middle-aged man laughed. "It is said that Her Majesty the Empress has already acknowledged the Sword Immortal as master and become his Direct Disciple, and will surely be passed down the Sword Immortal’s Sword Dao."

Within the Imperial Palace, beneath the flying eaves, Leng Qingyue stood outside the hall, her gaze looking off into the distance.

Since that great battle years ago, when Li Fan’s single battle spread his name throughout the Divine Country so that none did not know it, and the three great dynasties’ Emperors reestablished order, she had returned to her homeland.

Yet with her current Cultivation Realm, she would originally have found it difficult to rebuild a dynasty and ascend to the position of female Emperor. But because she had once followed Li Fan for a period of time, and rumors claimed she was the Sword Immortal’s disciple, she did not deny it, and even raised a statue to Li Fan to receive the people’s worship.

Afterward, the surviving royal kinsmen and nobility of the Moon Shadow Dynasty, as well as members of the sects, all bowed and entreated her to ascend the great throne—this was the extent of Li Fan’s influence now in the Divine Country.

After she took the throne, aside from cultivation, she ceaselessly propagated Li Fan’s name, making her own position all the more secure. She knew very well that Li Fan had not truly taken her as disciple, but so long as Li Fan still drew breath, her status could not be shaken by any.

......

Within the Great Priest Mansion, in the Array space.

The bright moon hung high; several figures sat cross-legged in different positions, cultivating.

Their bodies shone entirely with brilliance, the light of the Great Dao flowing about them. Yet in this particular space, the Power of the Great Dao in their bodies seemed confined within themselves.

In this space, only the Path of Taiyin existed; all other Daos were utterly suppressed.

But even so, they continued to cultivate here without cease.

It was not because they were cultivating the Path of Taiyin, but to experience the world of Dao wrought by the Transformation Realm’s Transformation.

Now, in the Great Li World, Saints were rare, let alone those above Saint; there was no one to transmit the methods of Saints. Even for the Saint’s Path, one had to grope forward alone.

At this moment, Li Fan’s Primordial Spirit was dazzling, the radiance of the Great Dao circulating.

With his current realm, wherever his Primordial Spirit shone, there the Dao would reside—yet in this place...

"The Great Dao does not flow; the Primordial Spirit cannot merge with the Heaven and Earth Dao." Li Fan murmured in his heart. At that moment, light from the outside world shone in, and he lifted his head to look.

At the position where the Xuanyuan Sword sat, his entire being was incomparably resplendent, strands of sword light seeming about to tear through the Taiyin’s shackles.

His Primordial Spirit seemed to gain a trace of light, but then it was extinguished again, returning to seeming ordinary.

Zuo Canglan seemed to sense something and looked toward Xuanyuan Sword. "You have already comprehended the Saint’s Path?"

Xuanyuan Sword nodded. Everyone opened their eyes, a trace of excitement flowing within their gazes.

"Broken through?" Shi Dao Ren asked.

Xuanyuan Sword shook his head. "Though I have not broken through, my heart is already clear. Once I go out, I shall have entered Saint."

"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Xuan Yuan."

Zuo Canglan spoke with a smile.

Xuanyuan Sword was a Sword Fool. Many years ago he had already been the foremost Sword Cultivator under heaven, cultivating for years in Chi Xiao City. Yet even though he already bore the reputation of the number one sword under heaven, in truth the world still underestimated this Sword Fool’s talent in the Sword Dao.

He had never had direct guidance from a Sword Saint. Back then, relying only on a single sword bestowed by his master, the Eternal Sword Saint, he appeared in the Capital already having reached the Half-Saint Realm.

On this journey to the South Sea, he had finally comprehended the Saint’s Path.

"Does Fellow Daoist Xuan Yuan have any insights?" Wu Tong asked.

"On this journey to the South Sea, I believe all of you have gained something; regarding the Saint’s Path, each has their own realization." Xuanyuan Sword’s gaze swept past everyone and finally fell upon Li Fan.

"Harmonization."

Li Fan replied, "In the Seven Realms, the Primordial Spirit merges with heaven and earth, and wherever the Primordial Spirit shines, there the Dao lies. Then the Saint Realm is Harmonization: the Primordial Spirit harmonizes with the Dao. After a Saint harmonizes with the Dao, the Great Dao Belongs to Me, suppressing all."

"Precisely. When a Saint harmonizes with the Dao, a single thought is the Heaven and Earth Dao." Xuanyuan Sword said. "Thus, there is fundamentally no such thing as the so-called Half-Saint Realm; it is merely that one wishes to take that step, yet has not taken it."

"In the end, one must harmonize with the Dao. Different people, different Daos. I seek inward, seeking for my Sword Heart to be flawless. Now that I have accomplished this, I shall harmonize with the Dao."

Xuanyuan Sword spoke slowly, while the others listened intently.

Cultivation, in the end, is one’s own affair; the Great Dao is difficult to transmit. Yet this journey to the South Sea had been of immense help to them all; Xuanyuan Sword’s insights into enlightenment could likewise inspire them.

But even knowing the principle, to truly accomplish it—how could that be easy?

"Many thanks, Fellow Daoist Xuan Yuan." One after another, they cupped their hands in salute, even Zuo Canglan alike. All men harbor private hearts. Though Xuanyuan Sword had spoken but a few simple words, for them, there was still something to be gained.

"Everyone, I will go out first." Xuanyuan Sword took his leave with a word; his Primordial Spirit departed from this space, and none followed to disturb him.

Though Xuanyuan Sword did not belong to Li Mountain, the emergence of a Sword Saint in the Great Li World was something they were all pleased to see—especially since now Xuanyuan Sword cultivated in a different place than they did, yet shared a common enemy.

"Blind man, you had best hurry as well." Shi Dao Ren looked to Zuo Canglan. "If two Sword Saints emerge, it will be best to give the Great Li World a tremendous surprise."

"For decades, my eyes have not seen the sky, yet this has also allowed me to clarify my heart and nature. When my injuries healed, my cultivation took another step forward. But the Great Dao is hard to seek; to attain the Saint’s Path—how can that be easy?"

Zuo Canglan replied, "Fellow Daoist Xuan Yuan has sought the sword with a devoted heart for decades and finally obtained a flawless Sword Heart. Even without his master’s bestowed sword and the heart of the South Sea, he would sooner or later have achieved Sword Saint—only, perhaps, a few years later."

Shi Dao Ren nodded in agreement. How many Saints did the Great Li World possess?

That Xuanyuan Sword could succeed lay fundamentally in himself. Even without these fortuitous gains, after ten years, several decades... he would still have walked to this step.

That day, throughout the Divine Country Territory, countless Cultivators heard the Sky Vaulting Sword’s cry.

Especially in the Holy City; according to what they said, sword light tore open the vault of heaven, and a Sword Immortal had emerged.

In the Divine Country Territory, those Sword Cultivators who had come from overseas felt even greater reverence.

Thus, the islands of the Divine Country raised even more statues of Li Fan, worshiped by countless people.

As for this, Li Fan himself knew nothing.

......

Several more years passed.

On a deserted, uninhabited island at the edge of the Divine Country Territory, a white-robed figure sat cross-legged.

About him, at times gales howled, at times thunder rampaged, at times blazing flames burned the sky, and at times heaven and earth were sealed in ice.

Different lights flowed over Li Fan’s body, his aura constantly changing, yet he remained seated in withered stillness.

The sun and moon alternated; time flashed by like a galloping steed. He was like a statue, standing motionless upon the deserted island, the roar within his body never ceasing.

His black hair gradually lengthened, becoming incomparably disheveled and filthy, yet he seemed to have entered a state of self-forgetting, turned into a stone man.

In his mind, from time to time, scenes from his past life surfaced.

Since his youth, he had never seemed to harbor any grand ambition; at the beginning, he only sought to stay alive.

Later, his wish was likewise simple: merely not to let that white-robed Immortal be disappointed, and to grow up, achieve success in sword cultivation, and be able to protect her—just as she had always stood before his younger self.

He had no lofty aspiration to slay Demons and exterminate fiends, nor to act on behalf of heaven and uphold the Dao, and still less had he ever thought of overturning heaven and earth.

Yet, without realizing it, he had walked to this step.

What did he desire now?

He asked his own heart.

Perhaps, to end all of this sooner, to be able to retire to the mountains alongside his senior sister, and best of all, to drink wine with her.

Beauty and fine wine—as his junior brother would say, to live such a life, is that not a joy?

"Boom..."

The rumbling within Li Fan’s body grew ever more violent. His loose long hair flew like blades; his blood and qi roared like thunder, as if about to burst out of his body, his flesh and blood like rivers and mountain ranges.

A towering figure condensed behind him, a thousand zhang tall. Its eyes opened like burning suns, blazing with the fire of the sun; its skin, under the thunder’s baptism, turned purple; and at the center of its torso there was even a terrifying vortex storm, as if to devour all things.

At this moment, within several thousand li of sea, Demons all sank toward the deep seabed, prostrating themselves and not daring to move.

Without any powerful Divine Sense, and without looking toward that side, it was as if a divine figure had directly imprinted itself into their minds, as though standing right before them.