"Do the two of you know how the Sword Prison came about?" After a long while, Shang Hegao suddenly asked.
Pang Hong and Wei Zidao looked towards Shang Hegao even though Wei Zidao had the highest cultivation level while Pang Hong was the strongest here. In actual fact, the most experienced person was Shang Hegao and he was also extremely shrewd. If it wasn’t for luck, the Great Sword Path might really not be able to force Shang Hegao into the Sword Prison.
Shang Hegao used his finger to point upwards before saying in a deep voice, "During the War of Gods, the Sword Prison was an inheritance left behind after the war. Rumours were that a peak grade sword dao expert had fallen here and after this sword dao expert perished, the Sword Prison was formed…"
Shang Hegao paused at this moment before lowering his voice till only the three of them could hear, "This was just like the Gods Tower, Yong Ying’s Immortal Domain’s Lifeless River and even the Broken World: a treasure left behind by the ancient experts. The Lifeless River had the Breath of Hongmeng while there are endless sword qi here. Everyone, try imagining if…"
Shang Hegao spoke till this point and he seemed to have understood something as his expression changed drastically.
Together with Shang Hegao, Pang Hong and Wei Zidao’s expression changed too. Clearly, they have thought of whatever Shang Hegao just thought of.
The three all of them stood up at almost the same instance and before anyone could speak, an Immortal Reverent was standing outside the entrance as he reported, "Revered Lord, we have noticed that for the past 24 hours, there were no sword qi for a full 22 hours. For the last 2 hours, there were only a some scattered sword qi around."
"Let’s go!" Hearing the news of this Immortal Reverent, Shang Hegao shouted as he darted out without any hesitation.
At almost the same instance at which Shang Hegao darted out, Pang Hong and Wei Zidao rushed out too. Seeing the three Revered Lords dashing out without any hesitation, the Immortal Reverent hurried to follow them out.
With this motion, the entire Vine Mountain of Safety seemed to be woken up as many cultivators, who had no idea what was happening, rushed outside too.
…
Concurrently, a group of four came to a halt on the periphery of the desert which Mo Wuji circled out. The uniqueness of these four people were that all of them were carrying a long sword on their back and the person walking in front was a skinny middle age man. Behind him was a young woman who wasn’t considered to be delicate looking but she did look soldierly. The person at the back was an extremely boorish looking man.
"Senior Grand Uncle, this place looked like there is a grand array," The one speaking was a skinny young man with yellow face as he was actually carrying a bamboo sword.
The middle age man who was leading the way nodded his head before praising, "Fan Wa has been improving quite a lot recently to be able to notice a grand array here. Indeed, there is definitely a grand array installed here. If I didn’t guess wrongly, this grand array should have been installed by Senior Mo."
"This Sect Head Mo is truly impressive because so many people wanted to come to this desert in the past but didn’t manage to stay long. Sect Head Mo arrived and immediately decided to stay here," That soldierly woman commented.
"Indeed," The middle age man replied, "There are many experts in the Sword Prison but how many can install Grade 6 immortal array like Senior Mo? The truth was that we have been half a year late in deciding to rely help from Senior Mo. I blame it on my lack for foresight which was never as good as Senior Nie Chongan and Jian Mingcheng."
After saying this, the middle aged man sighed as his tone was slightly melancholy.
The woman shook her head, "Senior Grand Uncle is not worse than others but because you knew that the four of us were the remaining few members of the Tian Ji Sect. If we were to perish here, the Tian Ji Sect could be forever gone so Senior Grand Uncle’s every move was extremely cautious."
"Zhen Kui, no more mentioning about the Tian Ji Sect in the future, only Sword School," The middle age man said sternly.
"Yes," The woman hurried to answer.
The middle age man sighed once more as he didn’t continue on the matter before saying with a clear voice, "Sword School’s Su Zi'An requests to meet Sect Head Mo."
A moment later, the grand array opened up in front of them and a clear plaza appeared in front of everyone as a man skinnier than Su Zi'An walked out.
"Su Zi'An greets Immortal Friend Fei," Even though Fei Ling’s cultivation level was slightly lower than Su Zi'An, Su Zi'An still bowed respectfully to greet him.
He started to regret because he should have came over to seek protection from Sect Head Mo earlier. Su Zi'An had seen how devastated Fei Ling was and even though Su Zi'An didn’t seek help from any of the three primary forces in the Vine Mountain of Safety, he had watched everything that happened between the three forces.
Fei Ling offended Pang Hong and had escaped the Vine Mountain of Safety with devastating injuries on him. It could even be said that he was merely a skeleton on the run but after just this period of time, other than his eyes, Fei Ling looked just like any other healthy cultivator. One must know that they were in the Sword Prison because even if they were outside the Sword Prison, his recovery shouldn’t have been this rapid.
Fei Ling also knew who Su Zi'An was and that he was in the advanced Immortal Reverent Stage. He heard rumours that he cultivated the sword dao and had enlightened several sword dao sacred arts here in the Sword Prison. Without mentioning him, even Nie Chongan might find it difficult to finish Su Zi'An off in the Sword Prison.
However, Su Zi'An wasn’t in anyone’s favour nor did he offend anyone as he chose not to join any of the three primary forces. In the Sword Prison, he had always been in one corner. Because Su Zi'An was slightly more low profile, had never clashed with any of the three primary forces coupled with his own strength, he managed to gain a small foothold in the Vine Mountain of Safety.
"I wonder what is the reason for Immortal Friend Su’s visit today?" Fei Ling was also very curious because if Su Zi'An wanted to join a force, he would have join the Devil Hand, Righteousness Mountain or even the Immortal Hunters already. If Su Zi'An didn’t want to join a force, what was he doing here? This place was no better than the Vine Mountain of Safety.
Su Zi'An clasped his fist once more, "I’ve heard that Sect Head Mo is magnanimous and was exceptionally strong which is why I, Su Zi'An, am here to seek protection."
"You want to seek protection from our Ping Fan?" Fei Ling was getting more suspicious because why did this Su Zi'An suddenly change his mind?
"Yes, all four of us are interested in seeking help from Ping Fan," Su Zi'An started to reveal a slight agony because he was the elder of the Tian Ji Sect yet he was bringing his Tian Ji Sect disciples here to seek help from another sect.
Fei Ling clasped his fist back and said, "Immortal Friend Su, I am really unable to make this decision on my own. My Sect Head had left about 6 months ago and had yet to return. If Immortal Friend Su is willing, you are invited to wait inside. If you are not willing to wait, feel free to leave."
"Immortal Friend Fei? Are you saying that Sect Head Mo had been out for 6 months?" Su Zi'An was momentarily shocked.
He was naturally well aware of how terrifying the Sword Prison was and given Mo Wuji’s strength, leaving for a few days might not be a problem. However, by staying in here, not only was the sword qi lesser, one could recover their elemental energy too. The moment he left this place for long period of time and allow the sword qi within the Sword Prison to attack, his elemental energy would have taken a great hit when he returned.
"Yes, would Immortal Friend Su still be interested in waiting for him?" Fei Ling understood Mo Wuji more than Su Zi'An and was not in the least worried about Sect Head Mo Wuji leaving this array. Since Sect Head Mo had that impressive physique tempering technique, he must have left to temper his physique just like how Jian Mingcheng also left the desert to temper his physique after obtaining the physique tempering technique from Sect Head Mo.
The only difference was that Jian Mingcheng would return after a while but Sect Head Mo had yet to return once.
"Yes, we shall wait inside then," Su Zi'An regained his composure very quickly before answering with conviction.
"Since this was the case, the four of you please enter. You can wait on the plaza itself but even I have no idea how long you’ll be waiting for," Fei Ling explained casually.
"Many thanks Immortal Friend Fei," Su Zi'An didn’t stand on ceremony because even though he could still hang on for a period of time after leaving the Vine Mountain of Safety, the few people behind him could no longer hold on for much longer. The youngest and weakest Fan Wa’s entire body was already filled with scars.
The four of them entered the plaza and could instantly feel the weakening of sword qi in the surrounding and it felt much better than where they stayed in the Vine Mountain of Safety.
"No worries, I will be entering now so please take care of yourself," Fei Ling said and walked straight out of the plaza.
"This Sect Head Mo is really a god. He actually knew that someone would visit," After Fei Ling left, Su Zi'An exclaimed.
"Senior Grand Uncle, how did you know?" Fan Wa questioned.
"Look at this plaza and you should be able to tell that it was between two arrays. The purpose of the plaza would be to hold those who came and was willing to join Ping Fan," Su Zi'An explained.
Currently, Su Zi’An had calmed himself down significantly because since Sect Head Mo had predicted that people would come over, it would mean that their chances of joining Ping Fan was high.
...
"Boom boom boom!" Explosions could be heard from the Vine Mountain of Safety and all the cultivators who had rushed out of the Vine Mountain of Safety were starting to panic.
The boundless vine suddenly started to shrink and every cultivator who touched the vine was instantly sucked of his blood.
Shang Hegao retrieved a talisman as he was desperately trying to break the talisman before spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood. At this moment, why would he bother about reserving his strength and elemental energy because after guessing what the Vine Mountain of Safety was, he was extremely desperate to leave this place.
The pity was that no matter what methods he used, his strength was never the same as before. A vine swept towards him casually as blood and soul from his entire body was instantly absorbed into the vine. Just as he fell to the ground, he was only left with a piece of clothing and nothing else.
"Bang!" The midair Pang Hong was brushed down by the vine and just as he landed on the ground, a stolon pierced right through body. In the instance his blood and soul were being absorbed, he started to murmur to himself, "I understand now."
He really did understand. He understood how they were responsible for the changes in the Vine Mountain of Safety and eventually their own death. If they hadn’t been so obsessed in chopping off the wooden vine to forge a cask to collect the Sword Qi River’s water, so obsessed in trying to recover their soul and primordial spirit, this Vine Mountain of Safety would definitely not be awoken so soon. Perhaps not in another one or two thousand years but they were simply too careless.
"Do the two of you know how the Sword Prison came about?" After a long while, Shang Hegao suddenly asked.
Pang Hong and Wei Zidao looked towards Shang Hegao even though Wei Zidao had the highest cultivation level while Pang Hong was the strongest here. In actual fact, the most experienced person was Shang Hegao and he was also extremely shrewd. If it wasn’t for luck, the Great Sword Path might really not be able to force Shang Hegao into the Sword Prison.
Shang Hegao used his finger to point upwards before saying in a deep voice, "During the War of Gods, the Sword Prison was an inheritance left behind after the war. Rumours were that a peak grade sword dao expert had fallen here and after this sword dao expert perished, the Sword Prison was formed…"
Shang Hegao paused at this moment before lowering his voice till only the three of them could hear, "This was just like the Gods Tower, Yong Ying’s Immortal Domain’s Lifeless River and even the Broken World: a treasure left behind by the ancient experts. The Lifeless River had the Breath of Hongmeng while there are endless sword qi here. Everyone, try imagining if…"
Shang Hegao spoke till this point and he seemed to have understood something as his expression changed drastically.
Together with Shang Hegao, Pang Hong and Wei Zidao’s expression changed too. Clearly, they have thought of whatever Shang Hegao just thought of.
The three all of them stood up at almost the same instance and before anyone could speak, an Immortal Reverent was standing outside the entrance as he reported, "Revered Lord, we have noticed that for the past 24 hours, there were no sword qi for a full 22 hours. For the last 2 hours, there were only a some scattered sword qi around."
"Let’s go!" Hearing the news of this Immortal Reverent, Shang Hegao shouted as he darted out without any hesitation.
At almost the same instance at which Shang Hegao darted out, Pang Hong and Wei Zidao rushed out too. Seeing the three Revered Lords dashing out without any hesitation, the Immortal Reverent hurried to follow them out.
With this motion, the entire Vine Mountain of Safety seemed to be woken up as many cultivators, who had no idea what was happening, rushed outside too.
…
Concurrently, a group of four came to a halt on the periphery of the desert which Mo Wuji circled out. The uniqueness of these four people were that all of them were carrying a long sword on their back and the person walking in front was a skinny middle age man. Behind him was a young woman who wasn’t considered to be delicate looking but she did look soldierly. The person at the back was an extremely boorish looking man.
"Senior Grand Uncle, this place looked like there is a grand array," The one speaking was a skinny young man with yellow face as he was actually carrying a bamboo sword.
The middle age man who was leading the way nodded his head before praising, "Fan Wa has been improving quite a lot recently to be able to notice a grand array here. Indeed, there is definitely a grand array installed here. If I didn’t guess wrongly, this grand array should have been installed by Senior Mo."
"This Sect Head Mo is truly impressive because so many people wanted to come to this desert in the past but didn’t manage to stay long. Sect Head Mo arrived and immediately decided to stay here," That soldierly woman commented.
"Indeed," The middle age man replied, "There are many experts in the Sword Prison but how many can install Grade 6 immortal array like Senior Mo? The truth was that we have been half a year late in deciding to rely help from Senior Mo. I blame it on my lack for foresight which was never as good as Senior Nie Chongan and Jian Mingcheng."
After saying this, the middle aged man sighed as his tone was slightly melancholy.
The woman shook her head, "Senior Grand Uncle is not worse than others but because you knew that the four of us were the remaining few members of the Tian Ji Sect. If we were to perish here, the Tian Ji Sect could be forever gone so Senior Grand Uncle’s every move was extremely cautious."
"Zhen Kui, no more mentioning about the Tian Ji Sect in the future, only Sword School," The middle age man said sternly.
"Yes," The woman hurried to answer.
The middle age man sighed once more as he didn’t continue on the matter before saying with a clear voice, "Sword School’s Su Zi'An requests to meet Sect Head Mo."
A moment later, the grand array opened up in front of them and a clear plaza appeared in front of everyone as a man skinnier than Su Zi'An walked out.
"Su Zi'An greets Immortal Friend Fei," Even though Fei Ling’s cultivation level was slightly lower than Su Zi'An, Su Zi'An still bowed respectfully to greet him.
He started to regret because he should have came over to seek protection from Sect Head Mo earlier. Su Zi'An had seen how devastated Fei Ling was and even though Su Zi'An didn’t seek help from any of the three primary forces in the Vine Mountain of Safety, he had watched everything that happened between the three forces.
Fei Ling offended Pang Hong and had escaped the Vine Mountain of Safety with devastating injuries on him. It could even be said that he was merely a skeleton on the run but after just this period of time, other than his eyes, Fei Ling looked just like any other healthy cultivator. One must know that they were in the Sword Prison because even if they were outside the Sword Prison, his recovery shouldn’t have been this rapid.
Fei Ling also knew who Su Zi'An was and that he was in the advanced Immortal Reverent Stage. He heard rumours that he cultivated the sword dao and had enlightened several sword dao sacred arts here in the Sword Prison. Without mentioning him, even Nie Chongan might find it difficult to finish Su Zi'An off in the Sword Prison.
However, Su Zi'An wasn’t in anyone’s favour nor did he offend anyone as he chose not to join any of the three primary forces. In the Sword Prison, he had always been in one corner. Because Su Zi'An was slightly more low profile, had never clashed with any of the three primary forces coupled with his own strength, he managed to gain a small foothold in the Vine Mountain of Safety.
"I wonder what is the reason for Immortal Friend Su’s visit today?" Fei Ling was also very curious because if Su Zi'An wanted to join a force, he would have join the Devil Hand, Righteousness Mountain or even the Immortal Hunters already. If Su Zi'An didn’t want to join a force, what was he doing here? This place was no better than the Vine Mountain of Safety.
Su Zi'An clasped his fist once more, "I’ve heard that Sect Head Mo is magnanimous and was exceptionally strong which is why I, Su Zi'An, am here to seek protection."
"You want to seek protection from our Ping Fan?" Fei Ling was getting more suspicious because why did this Su Zi'An suddenly change his mind?
"Yes, all four of us are interested in seeking help from Ping Fan," Su Zi'An started to reveal a slight agony because he was the elder of the Tian Ji Sect yet he was bringing his Tian Ji Sect disciples here to seek help from another sect.
Fei Ling clasped his fist back and said, "Immortal Friend Su, I am really unable to make this decision on my own. My Sect Head had left about 6 months ago and had yet to return. If Immortal Friend Su is willing, you are invited to wait inside. If you are not willing to wait, feel free to leave."
"Immortal Friend Fei? Are you saying that Sect Head Mo had been out for 6 months?" Su Zi'An was momentarily shocked.
He was naturally well aware of how terrifying the Sword Prison was and given Mo Wuji’s strength, leaving for a few days might not be a problem. However, by staying in here, not only was the sword qi lesser, one could recover their elemental energy too. The moment he left this place for long period of time and allow the sword qi within the Sword Prison to attack, his elemental energy would have taken a great hit when he returned.
"Yes, would Immortal Friend Su still be interested in waiting for him?" Fei Ling understood Mo Wuji more than Su Zi'An and was not in the least worried about Sect Head Mo Wuji leaving this array. Since Sect Head Mo had that impressive physique tempering technique, he must have left to temper his physique just like how Jian Mingcheng also left the desert to temper his physique after obtaining the physique tempering technique from Sect Head Mo.
The only difference was that Jian Mingcheng would return after a while but Sect Head Mo had yet to return once.
"Yes, we shall wait inside then," Su Zi'An regained his composure very quickly before answering with conviction.
"Since this was the case, the four of you please enter. You can wait on the plaza itself but even I have no idea how long you’ll be waiting for," Fei Ling explained casually.
"Many thanks Immortal Friend Fei," Su Zi'An didn’t stand on ceremony because even though he could still hang on for a period of time after leaving the Vine Mountain of Safety, the few people behind him could no longer hold on for much longer. The youngest and weakest Fan Wa’s entire body was already filled with scars.
The four of them entered the plaza and could instantly feel the weakening of sword qi in the surrounding and it felt much better than where they stayed in the Vine Mountain of Safety.
"No worries, I will be entering now so please take care of yourself," Fei Ling said and walked straight out of the plaza.
"This Sect Head Mo is really a god. He actually knew that someone would visit," After Fei Ling left, Su Zi'An exclaimed.
"Senior Grand Uncle, how did you know?" Fan Wa questioned.
"Look at this plaza and you should be able to tell that it was between two arrays. The purpose of the plaza would be to hold those who came and was willing to join Ping Fan," Su Zi'An explained.
Currently, Su Zi’An had calmed himself down significantly because since Sect Head Mo had predicted that people would come over, it would mean that their chances of joining Ping Fan was high.
...
"Boom boom boom!" Explosions could be heard from the Vine Mountain of Safety and all the cultivators who had rushed out of the Vine Mountain of Safety were starting to panic.
The boundless vine suddenly started to shrink and every cultivator who touched the vine was instantly sucked of his blood.
Shang Hegao retrieved a talisman as he was desperately trying to break the talisman before spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood. At this moment, why would he bother about reserving his strength and elemental energy because after guessing what the Vine Mountain of Safety was, he was extremely desperate to leave this place.
The pity was that no matter what methods he used, his strength was never the same as before. A vine swept towards him casually as blood and soul from his entire body was instantly absorbed into the vine. Just as he fell to the ground, he was only left with a piece of clothing and nothing else.
"Bang!" The midair Pang Hong was brushed down by the vine and just as he landed on the ground, a stolon pierced right through body. In the instance his blood and soul were being absorbed, he started to murmur to himself, "I understand now."
He really did understand. He understood how they were responsible for the changes in the Vine Mountain of Safety and eventually their own death. If they hadn’t been so obsessed in chopping off the wooden vine to forge a cask to collect the Sword Qi River’s water, so obsessed in trying to recover their soul and primordial spirit, this Vine Mountain of Safety would definitely not be awoken so soon. Perhaps not in another one or two thousand years but they were simply too careless.
