NOVPUB"Grandfather, rest assured, I can take care of my own matters."
"The Phoenix Perching Dynasty doesn’t worry me in the slightest," Xu Zimei said with confidence.
Hearing this, Wenren Jingshi was still somewhat uneasy.
After some thought, he handed over a talisman seal to Xu Zimei.
He cautioned, "Open it if you encounter danger."
Xu Zimei nodded with a smile.
The next day, as dawn was breaking, Xu Zimei bade farewell to everyone and departed.
His purpose for this trip was to fulfill the promise he had made to Sword Immortal Jiang Yun, and then to gather news about the Void Spirit Monkey.
Jiang Yun’s family was in the Sword Domain.
Speaking of the Sword Domain, it was located at the very northern edge of the Northern Continent.
It was a separate force and territory in its own right.
Although the Thirty-six Kingdoms are the most powerful forces in the Northern Continent, in actuality, there are many lesser-known forces quietly developing.
Back then, Sword Immortal Jiang Yun dominated the entire Northern Continent.
Even the monarchs of the Thirty-six Kingdoms treated him with great respect and reverence.
In history, he was the first to contest emperor with the Immortal Path, his essential strength nearly equal to that of the Great Emperor.
But in terms of the spirit of the matter, he opened another door for all the practitioners of the Immortal Path on the continent.
His achievement was far greater than that of the Great Emperor.
Long ago, it was believed that those who followed the way of immortality were inevitably weaker than those who pursued the way of the path.
He proved to the world and changed this way of thinking.
Combat with the heavens is an endless delight.
No matter what path one follows, reaching the pinnacle of it has its own significance.
In the era of Sword Immortal Jiang Yun, it could be said.
He, with the stance of the Immortal Path, opened a new era.
This was unprecedented, even unrivaled in ancient times.
As for whether there would be successors, the divine person Yue Qingli could perhaps be counted as one.
......
In that era, the entire Yuan Central Continent experienced a swordsmanship learning craze.
This craze was especially intense in the Northern Continent.
Subsequent generations investigated why Jiang Yun could contest the Great Emperor, and many believed it was due to the strength of his Sword Dao.
Therefore, many people began to learn swordsmanship, hoping to become the next Sword Immortal.
After all, there is only one destiny, and if one can possess the strength of the way through the Immortal Path, why tirelessly pursue the cruel conflict over destiny?
As more and more people gathered around Jiang Yun’s family in the Northern Continent,
Jiang Yun, including his own family, was willing to teach these people the art of the sword.
Eventually, with the Jiang Family at the center, within a thousand miles.
The area almost equated to the territory of a vast empire, was named Sword Domain.
The paradise of sword wielders.
And the Jiang Family was its ruler.
During the time Xu Zimei spent at his grandfather’s, he also learned some news about Sword Domain.
As Jiang Yun ascended to the Upper Realm of Heaven Beyond Heavens,
the Jiang Family, after peaking for several eras, finally embarked on a path of decline.
Several powerful forces emerged within Sword Domain that could now contend with the Jiang Family.
This situation lasted for quite some time until, a few hundred years ago, the Jiang Family suddenly vanished overnight.
Just disappeared into thin air, with not a single family member in sight.
The family’s former location had also become a ruin.
It was as if people woke up from a night’s sleep to find that the massive power of the Jiang Family had vanished into thin air.
The situation seemed fantastical, with various speculations regarding the disappearance of the Jiang Family.
But to this day, there’s still no concrete news to unveil the secret behind the Jiang Family’s disappearance.
The Sword Domain was now in utter chaos, with several forces ruling over this territory.
The struggle for power and ceaseless wars between them raged on.
...
Xu Zimei’s first destination was "Ten Thousand Swords City."
This city was the first on the periphery of the Sword Domain and the only one that had a Teleportation Array.
The matter seemed more troublesome than expected, but Xu Zimei didn’t care about the Jiang Family.
As long as there were descendants alive, all he had to do was hand over Jiang Yun’s legacy to them.
The Teleportation Array to Ten Thousand Swords City was in Phoenix Heaven City.
It wasn’t too far from Phoenix Feather City; Xu Zimei released the Dark Heaven Tiger, lying on its back, and slowly headed towards Phoenix Heaven City along the Ancient Path.
In the peak of summer, the sun hung in the sky like a great fireball.
It scorched the earth while the trees on either side of the road drooped listlessly.
The distant sounds of cicadas added to the sense of irritation.
The Dark Heaven Tiger ambled along the Ancient Path, and after covering some distance,
a section of flute music, laden with a fighting spirit, caught Xu Zimei’s attention.
He looked up to see, at the top of a Qi Yang tree to his left,
a man was standing on the leaves, quietly playing the flute aloft.
The flute’s notes were thick with murderous intent, almost tangible, filling the entire Ancient Path.
Even the incessantly chirping cicadas fell silent.
Xu Zimei observed the man, dressed in black robes, wearing a pure black mask.
There was nothing on the mask but unadulterated blackness.
As the Dark Heaven Tiger reached the tree, it too seemed to sense the killing intent ahead,
and its form gradually came to a halt.
Xu Zimei dismounted from the Dark Heaven Tiger’s back, and the moment his feet touched the ground, the black-clothed man above slowly lowered the flute.
The chilling melody abruptly ceased.
"Were you sent by Ji Yunzhou?" Xu Zimei asked with a smile.
"Join the Imperial Dynasty, or let me kill you. Choose one," the man in black said calmly.
"You’re inviting me to join the Imperial Dynasty?" Xu Zimei shook his head, smiling.
"It seems Ji Yunzhou is indeed magnanimous!"
"Looks like you are unwilling," the man in black’s aura began to ascend gradually.
In just a fleeting moment, a powerful presence nearly enveloped Xu Zimei, bearing down on him like a vast expanse.
"A Divine Vein Realm powerhouse," Xu Zimei instantly sensed the force.
He shook his head with a smile and said, "What makes you so confident that you can kill me?
Just because you are of the Divine Vein Realm?"
The man in black frowned slightly as he looked at Xu Zimei, sensing that when his Divine Vein Realm presence tried to suppress Xu Zimei,
it seemed to be blocked by some mysterious force.
It was as if the snowflakes of a gentler March had met the scorching sun of midsummer, quickly dissipating without a trace.
"I don’t believe you are a Divine Vein powerhouse," the man in black stated indifferently.
He simply couldn’t believe that someone of Xu Zimei’s age could be at the same realm as himself.
After all, the further one progressed, the harder it was to clear the Vein Gates.
"Haven’t you heard that true geniuses can fight beyond their level?" Xu Zimei said with a smile.
As his voice fell, he waved his right hand and a bolt of spiritual energy shot forth.
There was a "crack" sound.
A mirror suddenly appeared out of nowhere above them, and Xu Zimei’s strike shattered it completely.
"I don’t want other rats watching when I fight," Xu Zimei said with a light laugh.
...…
Meanwhile, far away in the Imperial Palace of Phoenix Feather City, in front of Ji Yunzhou, an identical mirror also shattered entirely.
He slammed his hand onto the Dragon Throne with rage, deeply furrowing his eyebrows.
