Chapter 1220
The Sword Immortal by His Side, the Truth of the Past
"what?"
Jian Guhan was terrified, twisting and turning in an attempt to break free of the star-patterned dress, but it only tightened around him, until he could only vault with his feet together, hopping unsteadily.
puff~
He fell flat on his face and couldn't get up!
"What is this thing, senior brother? Quick, help me peel it off!"
"Oh my, look how well it fits! It's rare to see such a handsome man. He looks just as good as a woman in a skirt. I happen to have a copy of the Sunflower Manual. Would you like to learn it?"
The voice came from who-knows-where, as if the clothes were talking, but upon closer listening, it didn't seem so. No wonder it was the cenotaph of an ancient sword immortal!
Upon hearing this, Jian Guhan was terrified!
Sunflower Manual?
He already has a senior brother who has practiced this and become his senior sister. Does this mean I'm going to go from being a junior brother to a junior sister?
What a fuss!
"No, I don't want to learn. I want to ascend to the Immortal Realm. I can't associate with you ancient era people too much. Senior, please let me go. I will never dare to come here again."
In his panic, the man rambled incoherently, begging the clothes to stop bothering him.
But to his surprise, Xing Yiyuan's voice became even more charming, as she breathed into his ear from side to side, arousing his desire like a lover.
"Ascend to the Immortal Realm? That's great! I've just heard that the eunuch faction is currently in power in the Immortal Realm court. If you cut off your lineage and ascend, you can join the Pure Clan. We can go to the palace together as eunuchs, with the nickname 'Sword High,' and climb to the top step by step."
"No!!!"
What a load of nonsense! It scared the child half to death.
Lin Shan quickly stepped forward to dissuade Xing Jianxian from acting recklessly. After all, she was his junior brother. If she really became his junior sister, how would he explain it to his master?
Seeing that Jian Guhan would rather die than submit, the star-patterned dress had no choice but to reluctantly take it off from him, but in the blink of an eye, it was about to seduce Lin Shan!
嘣~
Jingxiao Xiangyun popped out just in time. This was a protective spiritual object bestowed by the Heavenly Dao, specifically designed to guard against all sneak attacks, and it directly stretched open Jingxiao's clothes.
"scare?"
Lin Shan was startled and quickly took a step back.
If it weren't for my personal protection, it would have been difficult to take off the clothes that were put on me.
"Didn't you agree to possess someone else? Why do you want to possess me instead?"
Xing Yiyuan said listlessly:
"You're being unreasonable. I've opened my heart to you, but you're so wary of me. How can we do business together in the future?"
Speaking of transactions, Lin Shan suddenly remembered something.
I need to keep this guy by my side, otherwise who will I ask for the Star Power cultivation method after reaching the Void Realm?
He turned his head slightly and looked at his subordinates beside him.
The men's expressions changed drastically in an instant!
The star-patterned dress understood his meaning and immediately took advantage of his unpreparedness to cover the evil spirit in one go, scaring the guy into screaming.
However, perhaps disgusted by its aura, it was then placed on the body of the Wraith Cellar, and the creature immediately knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing and begging for mercy.
Then, without realizing it, it abandoned its host and trapped the nearby Phantom Tree inside!
The sapling jumped three feet high, its dozens of roots running wildly, impossible to shake off, and it almost suffocated by the clothes.
Before the old toad watching the commotion could react, the star skirt instantly teleported him, covering him completely and startling a group of little toads around him into croaking excitedly!
Finally, the spell was cast on the Thunder Beast, but the beast didn't utter a sound. It immediately transformed into lightning and fled, attempting to escape using the Thunder Escape Technique.
To my surprise, it didn't work!
The lightning bolts spun around and took countless turns on the field. When the Thunder Beast finally appeared, it was still wearing that outfit!
"Hehehe, this little Thunder Otter will do. Its cultivation level is passable, so-so~"
Chirp chirp chirp.
The Thunder Beast finally sensed something was wrong and came to Lin Shan to ask for his help, only to find that its master had sold it off.
"Very well, it will be easier for us to communicate in the future if you possess my spirit pet."
If it weren't for Jing Xiaoxiang protecting him, he really wanted to touch that star dress and see what the enhancement panel said, but there would be plenty of opportunities in the future, so there was no need to rush.
Jian Guhan was still in shock. Watching Lin Shan dig up the grave of the Star Sword Immortal and bring out such a terrifying thing, he couldn't help but feel uneasy.
"Senior brother, what if the old tomb keeper finds out?"
"Don't worry, she lured me out. The old man who keeps the tomb probably knows."
"Shh, he doesn't know."
Xing Yiyuan's voice suddenly came, mysterious and startling!
Both of them looked at the thatched hut with guilty consciences, but there was no movement there. This made them wonder how someone with such strong strength could not have sensed the commotion outside.
"Let's hurry up and leave. That old man is too rigid in guarding the tomb his whole life. He insists on guarding it until the end of time and won't allow us sword immortals to leave the world on our own. Let's bury my grave while he's sleeping and not let him notice anything amiss."
Lin Shan was still skeptical, but he ordered his men to rebury Xing Jianxian's grave. However, there was one more thing to do before he left.
He and Jian Guhan waited in the thatched hut for most of the day.
"Ugh—"
Finally, the sound of getting up came from inside. After some rustling, the old man guarding the tomb pushed open the wooden gate, stretched, and saw that the two of them were still there. He casually asked a question.
"what happened?"
"Senior, I would like to ask you about a few people."
Lin Shan took out the portrait directly to avoid the other party not recognizing his name.
The first to be affected were Fairy Qinglian and Layman Jinglian. As expected, they had both been here, but what they talked about and did remains unknown.
The old man guarding the tomb smiled and told them not to worry about it.
"These two are here on orders from someone behind the scenes. I'm just a mouthpiece and can't get involved in the deeper secrets. Don't bother trying to find out. It's not good to know too much at this stage."
Lin Shan nodded and took out another portrait.
It was none other than his own trusted lieutenant, Ke Jizi!
This guy went missing during his archaeological expedition, wandering around for so long; it's time for an answer.
Who knew the old man guarding the tomb would casually say something like that.
"he died."
died?
Lin Shan frowned, surprised that the person he found was already dead.
According to the old man who guards the tomb, this person sneaked into the ancient ruins, trying to steal the sword immortal's clothes, but was swallowed by the tomb owner.
"."
The atmosphere became rather awkward for a moment.
Lin Shan never imagined this would be the ending!
However, it seems to make sense. Archaeology is no different from tomb raiding. You can just rob an ordinary tomb, but you dare to rob a tomb from the Sword Dao Ancient Era? Isn't that just courting death?
"Did he leave any belongings behind?"
"The Azure Lotus Fairy took it."
The old man guarding the tomb had nothing better to do, so he told him some stories from the past.
In truth, the Ancient Era of Swordsmanship has always been coveted by some individuals, even holy lands, who have always wanted to enter and explore. As the tomb guardian, he was too lazy to care. Because guarding a tomb doesn't necessarily mean preventing outsiders from entering; it could also mean preventing those inside from leaving!
So he basically turned a blind eye to what those people were doing here.
As for the two largest sword sects in this world, the Shangxiao Sword Sect and the Chunqiu Sword Sect, their founders actually received the teachings of a sword immortal from a tomb in this ruin, which is why they went out and created the holy land of swordsmanship!
"I've heard that some people from these two families have successfully ascended to immortality over the years and are doing quite well in the Immortal Realm, though it's just a minor affair."
"Now that you've destroyed the Shangxiao Sword Sect, you'll have to be careful in the Immortal Realm."
Despite being a tomb keeper, the old man isn't completely blind to the outside world, even the celestial realm; he still possesses some open-source intelligence.
As they chatted, the conversation turned to the Sword Saint, Ma Yuanjue.
The story of how the other party rose to power, how they awakened the sword path, and how they were subsequently targeted by the Shangxiao Sword Sect and almost got caught up in the conflict between two True Immortals, all became topics of conversation over tea.
The old man guarding the tomb rarely spoke, but he launched into a long, rambling monologue. Perhaps it was because he had been lonely for so long that he wanted to talk for three days and three nights whenever he met someone.
In his eyes, and even in the eyes of the ancient era's powerful figures, what the Shangxiao Sword Sect did to Ma Yuanjue was at most a kind of training!
Most of the time, they don't interfere, but only when the poison of incense is removed and the person returns to their true self to ascend to the immortal realm do they offer some behind-the-scenes support.
"To rebuild after destruction is a huge gamble!"
At this point, a hint of appreciation appeared in the old man's eyes.
"The Shangxiao Sword Sect originally intended to use the Nine Revolutions Taiyuan Furnace to join forces with the Danding Holy Land to refine Ma Yuanjue into an unparalleled sword pill!"
"This child is incredibly meticulous. He's using a clever plan to kill the Nascent Soul stage cultivator from the Pill Cauldron Holy Land who's skilled in alchemy beforehand, lest he accidentally become a pill!"
"After that, the two from Shangxiao Sword Sect lost their alchemist and had to bite the bullet and refine the pills themselves. As expected, they messed things up, causing Ma Yuanjue to be reborn in the furnace and rise from the ashes."
"He had already made this high-stakes gamble with the old man before!"
"I lost, so I owe you both a favor, which I'm repaying."
That's the whole story, simple and straightforward, without any complicated schemes or calculations. Whether it succeeds or fails depends entirely on how things unfold.
If Ma Yuanjue succeeds, he can escape unscathed, and someone will naturally clean up the mess. The celestial nobles who descended to the mortal realm would have made a wasted trip.
If Ma Yuanjue fails, then he can only blame his bad luck and deserve this calamity!
"However, the fact that a prodigy from the Heavenly Court's Pure Clan has fallen in the mortal realm has probably already attracted the attention of the Upper Realm. This ancient epoch graveyard should be moved to another location."
The old man guarding the tomb sighed softly, clearly having grown accustomed to hiding for countless years.
Jian Guhan was more concerned about Ma Yuanjue's situation after his ascension.
"Senior, Master said he ascended to Qingping Sword Gorge in the west of the Immortal Realm. What kind of place is that?"
"Hehe, you'll see when you go up there."
The old man guarding the tomb didn't say it explicitly, but even a fool would know it was related to the ancient era of swordsmanship.
Lin Shan then thought of something else.
"Master shed his skin like a cicada, his primordial spirit ascended, but his physical body and the aggregate of countless incense offerings in the mortal realm broke through the Void Transformation stage to become the new Ma Yuanjue, killed the Heavenly Court nobles, and then ascended away. What was his fate?"
"he"
The old man guarding the tomb drifted into a daze, lost in thought, as if he were looking up and piercing through to the celestial realm.
“He was originally a pawn to be sacrificed, but he jumped off the chessboard and took control of his own destiny. We also want to see what kind of path he can take without any help.”
Because they were abandoned pawns, left behind as decoys to mislead others, they could not interfere with the subsequent trajectory in order to avoid suspicion, and could only watch helplessly as another newborn, Ma Yuanjue, ascended and left.
The final outcome depends on whether the other party can survive in the Immortal Realm; this is also a test!
After the conversation ended.
Lin Shan and Jian Guhan were unable to calm down for a long time. Together, they walked out of the ancient ruins and returned to the Lotus Pond.
The headquarters of the Black Lotus Cult once stood quietly on the island, and the Fairy Qinglian's fishing pavilion was still there, but it was later occupied by a cultivation family.
Life is unpredictable, and circumstances are ever-changing.
People come and go like flowing water, but the ancient ruins remain unmoved, hidden in this remote corner of the lower realm.
"Senior brother, do you think it's possible that Master also received investment from one or even several sword immortals here back then, which allowed him to rise against the tide and achieve extraordinary success?"
"Perhaps."
Lin Shan quietly turned around and glanced back, then looked up at the sky, feeling a little melancholy.
"Didn't you receive any support from the Sword Immortal inside?"
Speaking of this, Jian Guhan's face darkened, and he felt very down.
He also fully activated his swordsmanship technique, but perhaps because he was following his master's instructions, he was essentially following the path of immortal civilization. He sensed the grave of a sword immortal, but received no response.
"Hehehe, little guy, didn't you get a response from your sister? You missed your chance!"
The teasing voice of Xing Yiyuan, the Star Sword Immortal, came from the spirit beast ring. Jian Guhan's lips twitched. He would rather not accept such a response. It's not like he hadn't learned the Sunflower Manual before. Wait!
He suddenly had a flash of inspiration!
The Sunflower Manual was something my senior sister, the Sunflower Fairy, had also learned. But where did the Sunflower Fairy get her Sunflower Manual from? Wasn't it given to her by her master?
Where did Master get the Sunflower Manual from? Could it be...?
"You once responded to my master and even gave him the Sunflower Manual. You were also one of my master's investors???"
"Hehehe, you're so smart, you guessed it!"
Xing Yiyuan's unrestrained laughter echoed above the Lotus Pond, gradually fading into the distance as Lin Shan and the other person's figures disappeared into the distance.
After they left.
In the ancient ruins, an old man guarding the tomb sits alone in front of a grave mound, pouring tea from an old teapot and drinking it himself.
He kept talking to himself:
"Another ancestor has run away. I can't do anything about it even if I want to. I can only pretend to be confused and sit here in vain. What else can I do? The Pure Clan of the Upper Realm has dropped a pawn to test the waters and put pressure on us."
"The situation is unclear now, and it is too risky to take sides too early. Cooperating with them is like asking a tiger for its skin. But there will be a constant stream of tests. You will either become friends or enemies."
"Do you think I should move the cemetery? Should I stay or leave?"
The grave mound in front of us was eerily silent, but the tea that fell to the ground didn't get wet at all; it's unclear whose mouth it ended up in.
A peculiar melody, accompanied by the sound of swords, echoed through the desolate tomb.
The two parted ways temporarily on the way.
Jian Guhan returned to his sect to cultivate, while Lin Shan headed south, first visiting the vicinity of the Piro Desert, not far from here, to see his old friends, the leader of the Western Region Alliance, Tailong, and the True Lord Xiangren of the Slaughter God Palace, leaving behind many cultivation resources.
They then arrived at the west coast of the mainland and met Feng Haochuan of the Fenglei Pavilion. Upon meeting, Feng Haochuan poured out his grievances, accusing Lei Fengzi of all sorts of things. Lin Shan offered some kind words of comfort and encouragement, returned the fifth-order innate thunder spirit, and informed Ouyang Feng of his whereabouts.
Then, following the path to the scorched ruins, the Void Nest Queen Territory above Bozhou on the west coast, I met the Void Insect King of the Void Insect Clan. However, he can no longer be called the Insect King, as he has already broken through to the Nascent Soul stage.
Lin Shan expressed his gratitude for the help he received in the past, and said he would naturally come to visit since he was passing by.
Chief Xu Li smiled and said, "You're welcome."
"It's a rare treat for you to come, Master Lin. My mother happens to be free, so I'll introduce you to her."
"But, the Queen Mother of the Void Nest?"
"Exactly."
Upon hearing that a living Void Realm expert wanted to see him, Lin Shan couldn't help but feel nervous. (End of Chapter)