Chapter 459 - 458-

Grey listened to the Captain’s words and nodded inwardly in agreement.

"These stone monuments are barely alive, yet they are not truly dead either. They exist in a state somewhere in between and will only reveal themselves under the right conditions. But there is no way to know what those conditions are, nor what will be required to activate the Dao within them and stir them into action." Grey thought to himself.

He had also not considered the possibility that someone might have comprehended the Dao within this statue not too long ago. It could have happened years before the Corroded Zone was even created, or perhaps years before it had truly matured.

During that period, countless cultivators with sufficient cultivation bases would have entered the depths of the Corroded Zone to explore. Naturally, some of them would have encountered this bowing statue and realized what kind of existence it was. Once they understood that a profound Dao was hidden within it, they would undoubtedly try to comprehend it.

If one of them was lucky enough—or talented enough—to successfully comprehend the Dao, then the Dao contained within the statue would be taken away.

Only after another fifty to one hundred years would the statue accumulate enough Dao once more for another person to comprehend.

Yet, even after considering this possibility, Grey did not give up.

"The previous sword art I comprehended came from an inconspicuous boulder that didn’t look like anything special." Grey slowly began to speak, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"It was only when those weird, bizarre existences appeared that it revealed its true form and became an existence like this."

As he spoke, Grey’s eyes flickered with a strange glint.

From inside the crack of the statue that was thrusting its sword forward, Grey could see a narrow passage leading upward. It was extremely small and cramped, and there was absolutely no way he could squeeze himself through it.

However, that was not what attracted his attention.

When Grey looked upward, he noticed something else.

Spiderweb-like cracks had spread from the top of the statue, branching out in every direction across the interior.

Grey stared at them thoughtfully.

"If this statue is similar to the hidden monument in that other Corroded Zone, then activating it and causing it to reveal its special sword strike will require both luck and certain conditions."

Unfortunately, Grey had no idea what those conditions were.

Worse still, he did not possess the power to force those conditions into existence.

In the end, there was only one thing he could rely on.

Luck.

Nothing particularly eventful happened throughout the night.

Apart from the humanoid creatures appearing once again to slaughter the mutated creatures and absorb the green light within their bodies, there was nothing else worth mentioning.

Instead of meditating and clearing his mind of unnecessary thoughts, Grey spent the entire night monitoring the statue he was hiding inside.

He watched it carefully, waiting to see if it would show even the slightest sign of movement.

Unfortunately, even when dawn was almost upon them, nothing peculiar happened.

Grey was not disappointed.

He had already been told that comprehending the Dao within the statue required luck, as well as certain conditions to be present. Neither of those things had happened during the night.

There was no reason for him to feel discouraged.

"The strike this statue is executing with its sword..." Grey suddenly muttered, his gaze fixed on the stone figure. "Can I try it with my own purple sword?"

His eyes were clear, and his expression was pensive.

Grey did not receive a response from Violet, nor did anything around him give him an answer.

But he didn’t really care.

He wasn’t asking anyone else.

He was asking himself.

"The strike performed by my purple sword is a slash descending from the heavens toward the earth, carrying a domineering and awe-inspiring might." Grey slowly analyzed the differences between the two.

"But from the way this statue is positioned, its strike is completely different. It’s more like the movement of a spear... thrusting forward at incredible speed and piercing the heavens."

Grey’s brows furrowed.

"It’s not like the usual movement of a sword at all!"

This was extremely strange.

Weren’t the Sword Daos contained within these statues supposed to hold profound sword arts and insights into the Dao?

Then why was one of them depicted as though it were performing the thrust of a spear?

The more Grey thought about it, the more curious he became.

However, rather than discouraging him, the strangeness only increased his interest.

He wanted to understand it.

And once something caught Grey’s interest, he would not rest until he had satisfied his curiosity.

After visualizing the image of the statue in his mind, Grey summoned his purple sword.

The transparent purple blade appeared in his hand.

He then carefully studied the statue’s posture before attempting to imitate it, wanting to see if he could reproduce the sword art that pierced the heavens.

The instant the purple sword appeared, however, an overwhelming feeling of supremacy and dominance spread throughout Grey’s entire body.

An almost instinctive urge surged through him.

He wanted to slash downward.

That was what the purple sword wanted.

That was what it had always done.

It was as though the sword itself had already determined the only movement it was capable of performing.

But Grey did not follow his instincts.

Instead, the image of the stone statue appeared in his mind.

He gritted his teeth and forced himself into the same position.

He lowered himself onto one knee and raised his arm, attempting to perfectly mimic the posture of the statue.

Yet the moment he struck the pose, something happened.

The power within the purple sword suddenly erupted.

A violent, domineering aura surged from the transparent blade, and the sword art that had been forming within Grey’s body instantly dissipated.

The momentum disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

Grey was left kneeling on one knee, his arm extended toward the heavens, looking almost exactly like the stone statue.

"I can’t do it..."

Grey’s voice carried a hint of disappointment.

When he had struck the pose, he had clearly felt something.

A rejection.

It was as though his sword itself was rejecting his attempt.

The purple sword seemed to possess only one fundamental instinct.

Slash.

Slash downward.

That was its nature.

Its existence was built around that single movement.

Grey’s attempt to make it pierce the heavens was therefore not merely an attempt to learn a different sword technique.

It was like he was trying to rewrite the very essence of the purple sword.

He wanted to transform it from a sword that only knew how to slash into a sword capable of both slashing and piercing the heavens.

But that was clearly impossible.

At least, not with his current understanding.

Grey slowly lowered his arm and stared at the purple sword in his hand.

"That method of learning the Sword Dao within the statue won’t work."

He let out a small sigh.

"It seems like I can’t use another Dao Sword Art to simulate a completely different one."

Grey’s gaze returned to the stone statue. Although his first attempt had failed, the strange sword strike had only become more mysterious in his eyes. And whenever something became mysterious, his curiosity only grew stronger.