Chapter 685: The Great Dao Is Not Absolute; A Thread Of Life
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Great Sword Path.
This was one of the peak sects in Luo Ling Immortal Domain. Perhaps among the peak sects, the Great Sword Path might not be have the greatest number of Immortal Emperor level experts. However, it was definitely among the top in Luo Ling Immortal Domain when it came to combat power. The Great Sword Path's sword cultivation had always been allowing its disciples to be superior when compared to other immortals at the same cultivation level.
This wasn't just in Luo Ling Immortal Domain. In fact, very few in the Immortal World don't know of the Great Sword Path's name. It was the peerless when it came to the Sword Dao, and it was the holyland for immortals that seek the Sword Dao.
There were three particularly reputable places in the Great Sword Path. The first was the Great Sword Mountain.
The Great Sword Mountain wasn't simply a mountain; it was also the Great Sword Path's symbol. The reason why it got its name was because this mountain came down from the sky and penetrated into the ground, just like a treasured sword.
This huge sword mountain contained boundless sword intent. This sword intent continuously increased in intensity and majesty. The higher one climbed out the mountain, the more profound the sword intent. Every disciple of the Great Sword Path could come here and seek enlightenment on sword intent. After entering the Great Sword Path, the greatest indicator of your potential was this climb of enlightenment on the Great Sword Mountain.
The second place was the Sword Prison. Even though the Sword Prison wasn't a man-made prison, it was far more terrifying and horrifying than any man-made prison could be. This was because there would still be some hopes of surviving within other prisons. However, death was the only outcome for those that entered Sword Prison.
There had never been any stories or examples of anyone that survived after entering the Great Sword Path's Sword Prison. The sword qi in the Sword Prison was sharp and incisive; it was especially potent to the soul. Even if it was an Immortal Emperor that entered, he would die undoubtedly. The only difference was that he would last for a longer time within the prison.
The third place was called Sword Exchange Valley.
Actually, Sword Exchange Valley was the place which was supposed to guard the entrance of Sword Prison. Thereafter, it was found that there was no need for any guards. No matter how impressive an immortal was, he would not survive the moment he entered Sword Prison.
Thus, this place gradually transformed into a site of transaction, and there was only one medium of transaction: Sword Qi Bone Flower.
Sword Qi Bone Flower was only the size of a finger. It looked just like an unbloomed flower, and it could only grow at Sword Exchange Valley.
This bone flower could be used against enemies. During battles, it could be used as a hidden weapon and thrown towards the enemy. Once it was thrown, the bone flower would transform into sword qi and assault the opponent. Not only that, this bone flower could also be used to gain insights on sword intent.
It was exactly because of this that the Sword Qi Bone Flower was very popular. It could only form in one place, that was the entrance of Sword Prison. On both sides of Sword Prison, there would be some slight holes and gaps. The Sword Qi Bone Flower grows out from such gaps.
After some time, this place came to be called Sword Exchange Valley. It was the place of exchange and transaction for Sword Qi Bone Flowers.
The time it takes a Sword Qi Bone Flower to form wasn't fixed; it could range from a year to even centuries. The longer the Sword Qi Bone Flower, the more powerful it becomes, and the sword intent concealed within would also become more profound. Thus, the value of a Sword Qi Bone Flower was also based on its forming time.
In the Great Sword Path's Sword Exchange Valley, there was an extremely harsh rule. No matter who you are, you couldn't get within 30 meters of where the Sword Qi Bone Flower was grown.
As long as you were within those 30 meters, it didn't matter what your intent was, you would be thrown straight into Sword Prison.
Almost all cultivators that came to Sword Exchange Valley knew of this rule. Cultivators that came here would consciously transact for the Sword Qi Bone Flower, then they would leave speedily.
It was seven days later when Mo Wuji arrived outside Great Sword Path.
Rage continued to run rampant in his heart, but his mind also became increasingly calm. Over these few days, he had already made sufficient preparations. It was exactly as Yan Yuerong said; this was his best opportunity to go to the Great Sword Path. The Great Sword Path's Immortal Emperors, Quasi-Emperors, and even their peak Immortal Reverents have gone to the Broken World. To Mo Wuji, this was the safest time he could come.
On the other hand, Xiao Xiaoyu believed that even if Yi Minghu wasn't around, he wouldn't his focus and guard towards Mo Wuji. On reality, her guess was wrong.
Yi Minghu didn't even believe that Mo Wuji would be able to recover in such a short period of time. He didn't think that MonWuji would actually try to make a rescue within these 100 years. Moreover, this was a cautious estimate. In fact, it might take 10,000 years and Mo Wuji might not even have recovered.
After all, Mo Wuji had suffered such heavy injuries. Even if Mo Wuji was an Immortal Emperor and had the best healing treasures, he wouldn't be able to recover in such a short period of time. Yi Minghu wouldn't have expected that Mo Wuji's cultivation might not make it, but Mo Wuji's physique was actually comparable to an Immortal Emperor's. It was even further out of his imagination that Mo Wuji would have the vitality channel and the Breath of Hongmeng.
Thus, Mo Wuji didn't take 100 years, in fact, he didn't even need two years to return.
For others, entering the Great Sword Path's Sword Prison would be akin to throwing oneself towards death. Mo Wuji, however, did not have such thoughts.
Before he came to Great Sword Path, he had already made his plans. Besides the information that he had already gotten from Xiao Xiaoyu, he was going to conduct another round of investigation.
Sword Prison was indeed at Xiao Xiaoyu had said: it was filled with boundless sword qi which tore at one’s flesh and soul.
However, Mo Wuji had a God Physique. How many people in the entire Immortal World had a God Physique? Moreover, he had a peak physique tempering technique. Sword qi tearing against his flesh would only cause some minor pain; he didn't really care about it.
Mo Wuji paid even less heed to the ripping of the soul. The soul was condensed from the primordial spirit; ripping the soul began from one's primordial spirit. His God Physique was based on a mortal body. He didn't cultivate a primordial spirit, and only had a boundless, violet sea of consciousness. This ripping of his soul wouldn't affect him at all.
As long as he could enter the Sword Prison, his first step would have succeeded.
Everyone that entered the Sword Prison would be placed with a sword talisman. Not only would this sword talisman protect your final breath of life, it could actually increase the intensity of the sword qi on your soul and body. That means that it would worsen the torture, but made it such that you wouldn't die.
Mo Wuji had a God Physique and he didn't have a primordial spirit, but that didn't mean that he wanted a peak grade sword talisman on himself and suffer from the corrosion of the sword qi. Thus, the second step was to earn the contempt of the people in charge of Sword Prison. That way, they would only use the lowest grade sword talisman on him.
The third step was to search for Han Qingru. This step would have to depend on the conditions within Sword Prison. The fourth step was to leave Sword Prison after finding Han Qingru.
According to the Sword Prison's recorded history, no prisoner that entered Sword Prison had left alive. However, Mo Wuji didn't fully believe this. Since his journey on the Dao, he became cognizant of one fact: no matter what happened, there would always be a thread of life. In this vast universe, there was no place of absolute death. The reason why you would think that there wasn't hope, was either because you didn't search for it, or your luck simply wasn't enough.
Mo Wuji created his Immortal Mortal Dao and forged the path of cultivation for mortals. Because of this, his insights towards the Heavenly Daos increased day by day.
He believed that either the Great Sword Path should have hidden the truth of people surviving the Sword Prison, or the cultivators that entered Sword Prison had yet to find that thread of life. No matter what, that thread of life was definitely present.
Based on the Heavenly Dao, there was no place of absolute death. Once one reaches the limits, a thread of life would appear. This was Mo Wuji's understanding towards the Heavenly Dao. It was exactly due to this understanding that he could forge the Mortal Dao. Otherwise, how could mortals, who were absolutely devoid of spiritual roots, be able to cultivate and become immortals? It was true that mortals could pursue the Martial Dao, but martial arts wasn't the same as the Immortal Dao. It was very much different from cultivating to become an immortal.
At the same time, Mo Wuji had the resolute belief that opportunities would come on those who prepare themselves. Even though his cultivation wasn't sufficient, he would still need to prepare for all situations before entering Sword Prison.
Seven days. In these seven days, Mo Wuji had prepared a pile of transfer array discs. Ever since he reached the periphery of Great Sword Path, he started to secretly install the transfer array discs. Whether these transfer arrays turned out to be of use or not, he was still going to install them.
As he reached the periphery of , Mo Wuji looked up and saw the Great Sword Mountain which towered into the clouds. He firmed his conviction; as long as he had the opportunity, he would definitely destroy this Great Sword Mountain.
According to the information that Mo Wuji obtained, the simplest method to enter Sword Prison was to barge into the place where Sword Qi Bone Flowers were grown.
To make things convenient for cultivators to trade for Sword Qi Bone Flower, Sword Exchange Valley was situated at the fringe of Great Sword Path.
Sword Exchange Valley wasn't guarded. After all, this was a site of transaction and there was a relatively steady stream of people. Mo Wuji followed the crowd and easily walked into valley.
The entire was like a small scale city square. There were resthouses, stalls, hotels… Of course, the biggest establishment was the Sword Exchange House.
Anyone that wished to trade for Sword Qi Bone Flower only needed to enter Sword Exchange House. If one didn't have enough immortal crystals, he could browse around the stalls outside. Because the Sword Qi Bone Flower was very valuable, many cultivators who wanted Sword Qi Bone Flower that had a longer forming time would stay in the resthouses or hotels here.
Sword Exchange House was considered the building that was the furthest within . If one continued to head inwards, there would be a red line. Behind the red line was where the Sword Qi Bone Flowers grew. The Great Sword Path did not allow anyone to trespass into that area.
At this instant, Mo Wuji was disguised as a wandering nomad. His cultivation was only at the late Golden Immortal Stage, and he had a Grade 3 immortal longsword on his back. The sword's sheathe looked slightly dull. On the surface, it looked like this sword had followed its owner for some time.
His hair was slightly disheveled, but his appearance still looked heroic and handsome. His linen clothes made him look like a devout sword immortal.
"I want Sword Qi Bone Flower." As Mo Wuji walked into Sword Exchange House, he headed to the closest transaction window. He spoke in a simple and concise manner, and his hands were tightly clenched into fists.
When the attendant in the stall saw Mo Wuji's anxiousness, he smiled and said, "Dao friend, there's no need to be anxious in Sword Exchange Valley. No one would dare lay hands on you hand. If you want a One Year Sword Qi Bone Flower, the price is 3…"
The attendant suddenly stopped talking. His eyes were glittering slightly as he stared at the jade box in Mo Wuji's hand. Mo Wuji had already opened the jade box, inside lay a light green immortal fruit. As an attendant of , his cultivation was not very high, but his knowledge was not low.
He only needed a single glance to recognize this as a Hundred Chanels Leafless Fruit.