NOVPUBOn the desolate and barren land, it was as if tumors had formed, with many small mounds protruding from the ground.
Even from a distance, one could smell the decay and foul stench emanating from them.
Some of the mounds had been dug open by the curious.
Inside, there was nothing but some black, decayed dense juice.
It was said that officials from the Alliance of Thousands of Immortals had also dispatched a team to investigate this place.
After the investigation came up fruitless, they decided to excavate and remove the entire area, which seemed like an abscess on the earth.
Who knew that in less than half a year, these continuous small mounds would reemerge.
Thus, the Immortal Alliance dispatched people to deal with it once more.
Thrice this happened, yet these abscesses persisted stubbornly.
In the end, they had no choice but to leave it be, categorizing it as a phenomenon similar to "Strange Phenomena."
However, Li Fan knew that the reason for the abnormality in this area was not some mysterious phenomenon.
It was caused by the lingering wills attached to countless swords, twisted and corrupted over thousands of years.
"It’s not surprising that the Alliance of Thousands of Immortals took a cursory approach,"
"Even if it were an ordinary Unity-Path practitioner who came, if they are not well-versed in the way of the [Sword], they probably wouldn’t notice anything unusual here,"
Li Fan thought this as he activated the Reversed Five Elements Death Sword.
In his vision, the scenery before him suddenly changed.
Numerous shadows drifted out of those bulging abscesses.
Appearing like wraiths, their eyes glowed a fiendish red, staring intently at Li Fan.
From the surroundings, incomprehensible murmurs kept coming through, sounding like screams or resentful curses filled with grievance.
The low murmurs seemed to penetrate his eardrums, reaching directly into Li Fan’s thoughts.
Even with his hearing shut off and even if he severed his spirit consciousness, he couldn’t stop them.
Li Fan frowned slightly, knowing this was the necessary step to enter the Heavenly Sword Sect’s Sword Tomb, so he had to maintain his true self and persevere through the eerie and piercing noises.
Seeing that Li Fan was indifferent, the red-eyed shadows grew furious.
They turned into streaks of black lines and flew aggressively towards Li Fan.
As they drew near, the appearance of the shadows became clear.
Some looked like recently deceased, rotting corpses with their flesh decaying and maggots breeding in the stench.
Others resembled horrifying forms being scorched by fire, their bodies dissolving away.
Still, others were vague flesh and blood, sliced into countless pieces.
...
The commonality between them was that all of these corpses bore Li Fan’s likeness!
The moment he saw them, Li Fan’s spirit consciousness also conjured up ten thousand ways of his own death!
It was not merely fantasy but felt more like an extremely vivid delusion after taking an influencing substance.
Even his own body could feel the corresponding pain.
"Such trifling tricks,"
"Not to speak of my protection from the Immortal Heart Spell, which makes me immune to all methods. Even if I were to be inadvertently affected, with the means of the New Law Yuanying Realm or higher, one could always infinitely regenerate one’s body..."
"A decent technique, but unfortunately, it’s outdated,"
Li Fan thought as he let these shadows consume him.
Then, a slight rumble came from the Five Elements Cave Heaven, and in the blink of an eye, another body reappeared.
More shadows emerged from the mounds, screaming as they flew towards Li Fan.
Like this, Li Fan kept reconstituting his body, and finally, after nearly ten thousand mounds in the area, he had touched every shadow.
Each time a shadow eroded him, Li Fan felt his body "sink" a little.
It was not sinking into the ground, but rather descending into another space.
These shadows, like water ghosts, pulled Li Fan into their world.
When he was completely submerged, the scene before his eyes changed, and Li Fan had finally truly entered the Sword Tomb.
It was just as Shuo Feng had described, with thousands of broken swords sticking out of the ground at an angle.
All curved slightly toward the center, as if they were paying respect to their emperor.
The arrival of Li Fan, a foreigner, did not elicit any reaction from them.
Upon closer observation of these seemingly decaying swords, Li Fan discerned that rather than becoming corrupt,
It would be more accurate to say...
Under the baptism of the central Divine Wonder Sword, they were becoming purer and purer.
No longer needing the constraint of physical form, like the [Sword], they tended towards being concepts, energy.
"Those shadows above are the murderous intent, obsessions, and desires of those slaughtered by the swords that cling to the blades of these thousands of swords."
"In this pure world of swords, they gradually find no foothold and are slowly excluded." 𝔫𝖔𝖛𝖕𝔲𝔟.𝔠𝖔𝖒
Li Fan circulated his Reversed Five Elements Death Sword, disguising himself as a sword. He remained motionless, observing his surroundings.
"If there are no external disturbances, under the subtle influence of the [Sword], it’s possible that all the thousands of swords in this Sword Tomb could indeed shed their physical form and become conceptual existences."
Li Fan’s eyes showed surprise.
"What is this, when one attains the Dao even chickens and dogs ascend to heaven?"
"Worthy of being an entity enlightened by Mr. Bai."
Thinking this, Li Fan finally took his first step forward.
A moment later, his expression shifted slightly.
For in that instant, thousands of swords around him emitted sword intent.
They seemed dissatisfied with his act of "cutting in line."
In Li Fan’s perception, these outwardly decaying swords finally revealed their radiant true faces.
Some were fiery red, resembling blazing flames; some had sword energies that were thick and azure like the sky; some were pitch-black with an overwhelming stench of blood; some shone like golden light, wrapped in thunder, majestic like heavenly might...
Even though these were just the swords at the very perimeter of the Sword Tomb, having been tempered by the true meaning of the [Sword] for thousands of years, they were beyond the realm of ordinary objects.
Each and every one of them could be considered a top-tier oddity among men!
Li Fan snorted coldly, and his Reversed Five Elements Death Sword Intent burst forth violently.
With countless sword intents imposed on him, he took another step forward.
This time, he offended even more swords.
Instantly, numerous sword wounds appeared on Li Fan’s body, blood streaming profusely.
Even his divine soul seemed as if it had been cleaved by sword energy, causing a faint pain.
"I cannot counterattack, I can only silently endure."
"Otherwise, I will be viewed as an enemy by all the swords in the Sword Tomb, and they will attack me en masse."
"Even the central Wood Sword will make a move."
Li Fan sensed something and temporarily deactivated his Soul Burning state.
He operated the [Technique of Endless Duality] with all his strength and took large strides forward.
For a time, he truly experienced what it was like to be attacked by ten thousand swords.
His body was already riddled with holes; even with the support of the Five Elements Cave Heaven’s power to regenerate continually, he could barely maintain his human form.
Although his divine soul quickly healed after suffering heavy damage, the extreme sensation of pain was unavoidable.
"Shuo Feng really had it easy."
"He didn’t have to deal with the assault of these ten thousand swords at all. With the golden armor bestowed by his mother, he walked to the very center of the Sword Tomb as if strolling through a tranquil courtyard," Li Fan lamented in pain as he recalled Shuo Feng’s description.
Although he couldn’t help but complain, in reality, the combined force of tens of thousands of swords from the Sword Tomb couldn’t halt Li Fan’s progress by the slightest bit.
In just half a day, Li Fan had steadily made his way to the very center of the Sword Tomb.
