Sword

Lan Xiaoke hurriedly hugged it tight. “You can’t eat it—it’s a pet!”

Fox Li’s ears shrank back sheepishly. “Sorry. It was so big, I thought the boss had brought back some ingredients.”

“You can’t do that. What a waste.”

So the problem was that it would be wasteful? If it weren’t, would she just eat it?

Ye Chuan raised a hand and activated the Myriad Laws City Lord Token. A spatial passage leading to the edge of Sword-Burial Valley swiftly unfolded.

He stepped inside first. Lan Xiaoke followed while carrying the enormous egg, and Fox Li clutched tightly at the hem of Ye Chuan’s clothes.

Before the spatial passage closed, the Heavenly Beast King watched the white egg gradually vanish, a vague unease suddenly rising within its heart.

It had only one wish now.

Young Master must survive.

…

Sword-Burial Valley never saw sunlight. Gray clouds drifted slowly overhead, pressing close to the valley. Countless broken swords were embedded in the earth, stretching all the way to the horizon.

Some had only half their blades left. Some were already covered in rust. Others, ancient swords, still radiated a bone-piercing sharpness. Even after countless years, the surrounding space remained shredded by their sword intent.

Gu Wufeng stood at the bottom of the valley. His robe was riddled with tears, and blood continued to flow from the web between his right thumb and forefinger. Yet his eyes remained calm, as though he were not the one who had just endured ninety-nine successive waves of sword intent.

Among the prodigies who had entered Sword-Burial Valley behind him, even the farthest-reaching had only made it to the thirty-seventh wave of sword intent. Gu Wufeng had left them all far behind.

Without Ye Chuan, he would still have been one of the most dazzling prodigies in this Ancient Realm of Myriad Paths. But now, everyone’s attention was fixed on the thirty billion points at the very top of the Prodigy Rankings. Even his feat of passing ninety-nine waves of sword intent no longer seemed quite so astonishing.

Gu Wufeng did not care.

The final broken sword planted ahead of him trembled faintly. Its blade was only three feet long, bearing no intricate patterns and giving off no astonishing aura of the sword path. It looked like an ordinary iron sword that could snap at any moment.

Yet Gu Wufeng did not step forward at once, because he could sense that the previous ninety-nine waves of sword intent combined were nowhere near as dangerous as the sword before him.

The sword released no power. It simply waited in silence—for Gu Wufeng to approach, and for him to take hold of its hilt.

In the distance, a disciple of the Nine Heavens Sword Sect glanced at the Prodigy Rankings, then finally could not help reminding him, “Young Sect Master, Ye Chuan’s points have already reached thirty billion.”

Gu Wufeng did not turn around. He merely replied evenly, “I know.”

After hesitating for a moment, the disciple continued, “Shouldn’t we go look for other missions? Compared with Ye Chuan, the points in Sword-Burial Valley…”

He did not finish, because even he himself felt there was no point in saying any more.

Gu Wufeng still showed no anger. Gazing at the broken sword ahead, he instead asked a question that had nothing to do with points.

“Why did I come to Sword-Burial Valley?”

The Nine Heavens Sword Sect disciple froze for a moment, then ventured, “To compete for first place on the Prodigy Rankings?”

Gu Wufeng tightened his grip around the hilt at his waist, his tone utterly resolute.

“No. There is only the sword in my heart.”

From the moment he entered the Myriad Dao Ancient Realm, Gu Wufeng’s goal had been to prove his swordsmanship—and, while he was at it, to cross blades with the most outstanding young geniuses of the Tianxuan Continent.

He had considered the possibility of defeat. He had considered that others might surpass him in the rankings. But he had never imagined that he would encounter someone like Ye Chuan—an existence utterly beyond ordinary reason.

Thirty billion points towered at the very top of the Prodigy Stele. Even if he turned over every stone in the Sword Burial Valley, he probably would not be able to scrape together such a number.

Since he could not catch up, then for now, he would not try to.

Gu Wufeng was not someone who could not accept defeat, nor would he abandon his path simply because the gap was too great. He had merely come to understand at last that Ye Chuan walked Ye Chuan’s path, while the sword in his own hand had a direction that belonged solely to itself.

If the appearance of a mountain he could not yet cross made him too afraid to continue down his own road, then his sword heart would amount to nothing.

Gu Wufeng took a step forward, and the final broken sword instantly ceased trembling.

At the same moment, the entire Sword Burial Valley fell silent. The wind, the ringing of swords, and the sword intent that had forever drifted through the valley all came to a halt, as though the whole world were waiting for his answer.

Gu Wufeng walked up to the broken sword and reached for its hilt. There was no earth-shattering explosion, no sword qi soaring into the heavens. The instant his hand touched the hilt, his consciousness was simply dragged into an utterly unfamiliar world.

Yellow sand stretched to the ends of heaven and earth. A vague figure stood quietly amid the depths of the sandstorm. There was no sword in that person’s hand, yet hundreds of millions of shattered immortal swords were embedded beneath their feet.

An ancient voice passed through the yellow sand and fell calmly upon Gu Wufeng’s ears.

“Why do you draw your sword?”

Gu Wufeng was silent for a moment before giving his most straightforward answer.

“To become stronger.”

The indistinct figure did not turn around.

“Why become stronger?”

Gu Wufeng tightened his grip on the sword hilt.

“So that I won’t lose.”

The ancient voice fell quiet for a moment, then stated an undeniable fact.

“You have already lost.”

Gu Wufeng did not argue.

When facing Ye Chuan’s thirty billion points, he truly had already lost. It was not merely a matter of points. Whether in physical strength, immortal power, divine abilities, or command of the Great Dao, he was far inferior to Ye Chuan at present.

The vague figure spoke again, and its question became even more direct.

“Since you have already lost, why do you still draw your sword?”

Gu Wufeng slowly raised his head. Not the slightest trace of wavering appeared in his eyes because of defeat.

“Because I have not yet reached the end of my path.”

The yellow sand paused for an instant.

“You do not wish to defeat him?”

Gu Wufeng did not deny it.

“I do.”

“Then why stop chasing after him?”

Gu Wufeng looked at the figure before him, his voice calm throughout.

“I have not given up. I simply cannot catch up right now. That does not mean I will not continue drawing my sword in the future.”

His sword could lose, but his sword heart could not come to a halt. Ye Chuan stood too high; then he would look up at him for now. Once he had traveled farther, he would see whether he could touch even the shadow Ye Chuan left behind.

And if, in the end, he still could not catch up, then at least every sword strike he made along the way would belong to him—not to the pursuit of a ranking that could change forever.

The blurred figure remained silent for a long time. Then, beneath the yellow sands, hundreds of millions of broken swords suddenly began to tremble.

“What if he is a heaven you cannot surpass?”

Gu Wufeng gripped the hilt of his sword and answered calmly, “Then I will first cut open the clouds above my own head.”

With those words, Gu Wufeng drew his sword.

A brilliant flash of sword light tore through the world of yellow sand. The hundreds of millions of broken swords beneath his feet roared in unison. There were no intricate immortal arts—only the single sword strike he had forged after thousands of years of cultivation.

The blurred figure was split in two by the sword light, yet it did not immediately vanish. Instead, it slowly turned around, revealing for the first time a pair of eyes filled with amusement.

“Not bad.”

The world of yellow sand instantly shattered.

Gu Wufeng returned to Sword-Burial Valley. The broken sword in his hand bloomed with an unprecedented radiance.

Sword light shot into the sky, piercing straight through the gray clouds above Sword-Burial Valley. Long-lost sunlight poured through the rift, illuminating the countless broken swords scattered throughout the valley.

All the ancient swords trembled at once. Their cries merged into a tidal roar, wave after wave spreading beyond Sword-Burial Valley.

【Gu Wufeng has passed the ninety-nine sword intents.】

【Gu Wufeng has passed the test of sword heart.】

【Obtained the inheritance of the Burial-Heaven Sword Immortal.】

【Obtained two billion Myriad Dao Points.】

On the Prodigy Stele, Gu Wufeng’s score rose rapidly from three hundred million, finally stopping at 2.3 billion. He still held firmly to second place.

Yet this time, no one thought Gu Wufeng had been overshadowed, because everyone had witnessed that sword strike.

After letting go of his obsession with catching up to Ye Chuan, Gu Wufeng’s sword heart had not collapsed. Instead, it had become even purer than when he first entered the Ancient Myriad Dao Realm.

In the area occupied by the Nine Heavens Sword Sect, Gu Changge quietly watched the figure in the projection. After a long while, a smile slowly appeared on his face.

“Good.”

The elders beside him also relaxed at that moment. What they feared most was not that Gu Wufeng would fail to take first place, but that Ye Chuan’s performance would be so overwhelming that Gu Wufeng would lose the courage to draw his sword again.

Now, it seemed they had underestimated Gu Wufeng after all.

One elder could not help sighing. “Although the Young Sect Master did not take first place this time, the fortune gained from tempering his sword heart may not be much inferior to taking first.”