"Fellow Daoist Ghost, what makes you say that?"
In the hazy water, a hand as white as jade, with slender five fingers, reached out. With a flick of the index finger, the ghostly claw that had torn through the void instantly shattered into pieces, turning into a cloud of malevolent ghostly energy before dissipating.
"The mighty Heavenly Sword Sect acts so despicably, actually deceiving juniors!"
A sinister and eerie ghostly figure appeared behind Feng Bingwen, confronting the sword cultivator in the water mirror.
Feng Bingwen remained extremely calm in the face of the scene before him. He had expected this. Each of the prodigies was being watched by an elder from the sect, and these old fellows would jump out to stop them if there was any problem.
Although he was unaffiliated with any sect or faction, the Netherworld Path that sent him in would surely send people to watch over him and would not allow him to roam freely in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, in order to prevent any accidents from happening.
"Fellow Daoist, you're mistaken. When have I ever lied to a junior? You're slandering me!"
"If you want to protect your disciple's spirit sword, just exchange it for treasures. What's the point of studying the Heavenly Sword Stele Forest?"
The ghostly figure sneered repeatedly; even without its true form appearing, one could feel its extremely suppressed and boundless rage.
"A few spirit swords? How can they compare to the Heavenly Sword Stele Forest? Each sword stele in the stele forest represents the dedication of a sword immortal, and is one of the highest inheritances of the Heavenly Sword Dao. How can they not make up for a few spirit swords?"
"Still pretending to be ignorant, old man, who do you think you can fool with your little tricks?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Ghost Shadow looked at Feng Bingwen, whose face already showed a very clear sign of interest, and immediately offered the benefits that he hadn't prepared for before.
"Don't be tempted by those few broken stones. If you agree, this old man will take you there, and you might not be able to get out. Once you enter my Netherworld Path, you will have unparalleled inheritance to comprehend."
"Fellow Daoist Yougui, you have slandered the reputation of my Heavenly Sword Sect so severely, my sword will not let you off easily!"
"Am I lying? The Heavenly Sword Stele Forest is not something anyone can comprehend. Your disciple has never even entered the Stele Forest!"
Ghostly Shadow's tone revealed barely suppressed anger. The old scoundrel Tianjian was poaching her right in front of her, completely disregarding her. His nonsense was clearly an attempt to seduce the immortal seed within their Netherworld Path.
"If you can enter the Forest of Steles, you can also leave. How could my Heavenly Sword possibly interfere?"
The old man, whose face was obscured but whose overwhelming sword intent could be felt, spoke up in rebuttal.
"Shameless!"
As one of the twelve paths of the Xuanmen, Yougui knew all too well what tricks this old man from the Heavenly Sword Path was playing. He was all too familiar with this scheme.
Even the top human sects, when they use schemes, will not employ any ghostly tricks. Even though the Netherworld Path is skilled at playing with ghosts, once they devise a plan, it will be a grand and upright scheme.
What is the Heavenly Sword Stele Forest? Since the establishment of the Heavenly Sword Path, every sword immortal born there has left their sword intent legacy in the stele forest.
Accumulated over tens of thousands of years, the Heavenly Sword Stele Forest contains hundreds or even thousands of stone tablets. For sword cultivators, the Heavenly Sword Stele Forest is a supreme holy land. They are willing to pay any price to enter and comprehend it.
Even for cultivators who don't practice swordsmanship, the Heavenly Sword Stele Forest is the most prestigious place of opportunity in the world, possessing immense allure. Why would such a powerful sect open its doors to a rogue cultivator? Isn't it obvious?
Feng Bingwen doesn't practice sword techniques and isn't a sword cultivator. It's simple. He just needs to go to the Heavenly Sword Stele Forest. With his demonstrated talent, it's only natural that he can comprehend the sword path legacy left by the sword immortal.
And then, do you think that's the end? No, this is just the beginning. Even with extraordinary talent, can one obtain the accumulated power of the Heavenly Sword over tens of thousands of years? That's impossible. No matter how monstrous a genius is, at most they can only obtain a portion of its inheritance.
So, if you only have one chance to enter, but want to comprehend it a second or third time, what should you do? Can you continue to enter and comprehend it?
Yes, that's possible, but the Heavenly Sword Stele Forest is related to the highest inheritance of the Heavenly Sword Dao. Only direct descendants and core figures such as the Supreme Elder, Dao Lord, and Dao Son can enter. Ordinary people are not allowed to enter. If you want to comprehend it, you can only join the Heavenly Sword Dao.
If you are unwilling, the Heavenly Sword Sect will not force you to do anything against your will. Everything is up to you to choose freely. The choice is in your own hands.
That's it. We're all too familiar with it. The Netherworld Path has used this method quite a bit themselves, after all, it has already developed to the scale of the Twelve Paths of the Mysterious Gate.
They discovered a wild prodigy who didn't belong to their sect. Given that they had no enmity or grudge against him, their first choice wouldn't be to suppress him—only a brain-dead person would do that.
Of course, we should recruit them!
If you enjoy cultivating Taoism and practicing techniques, then I will bestow upon you the most outstanding inheritance, but of course, only the beginning.
Those who are fond of beautiful women arrange for handsome men and beautiful women from their tribe to come into contact with them without their knowledge, and then create various "disasters" to cultivate the proper feelings between men and women.
If you like to make a name for yourself, it's even simpler. Just join one of their twelve sects and become a true disciple. Every move you make will naturally be praised and promoted by countless other disciples.
In short, as long as wild prodigies are still human and have desires, major sects can find ways to lure them into their own sects, provided that no equal force emerges to compete with them.
“Feng Bingwen was sent in by my Netherworld Path, your Heavenly Sword Path should stop now!”
Seeing the old man feigning ignorance, the ghost could no longer tolerate it and directly asserted its dominance.
This person was sent in by the Netherworld Path at their expense. He only defeated their Heavenly Sword Path's Dao Child in a direct battle, but the old guy behind him couldn't resist jumping out to try and poach him. How shameful!
“He is a rogue cultivator, not one of your Netherworld Sect members. He has the right to make his own choices. As for the resources you paid to send him to the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, my Heavenly Sword Sect can repay them tenfold.”
Seeing that the ghost had made his point clear, the old swordsman of the Heavenly Sword Path stopped pretending and simply tore off the mask.
As members of the twelve major sects of the Xuanmen, they would give each other some face, but the young man who defeated the disciple he had carefully trained was actually a rogue cultivator.
A wild genius!
He's so arrogant; if we let him go, the Dao Lord might punish him by sending him to guard the Demon Abyss.
As for whether the Netherworld Path paid money to send this person in, that's irrelevant. So what if they paid money? Does paying money make someone a member of the Netherworld Path? You're kidding. There's no such thing as a cheap deal. How many resources can a qualification cost? At most, it's just a few mineral veins, a few spiritual veins, and a few magical artifacts.
"Hmph! Ten times? You old scoundrel, you're dreaming!"
The ghost's eyes blazed with blood-red light, and a chilling power spread through Feng Bingwen's body. A towering ghostly figure, as majestic as a mountain, blocked everything in Feng Bingwen's view. A cold wind howled, and sand and stones flew everywhere.
"If you want trouble, let's fight at the Hidden Dragon Palace!"
Feng Bingwen only heard this sentence. After everything in front of him became clear, neither the ghostly figure nor the indistinct sword cultivator old man had disappeared. Only Qin Tianque, lying on the ground with a complicated expression, remained.
He had seen similar things before, but back then he was the main character being fought over, while now he was just an insignificant nobody on the sidelines.
"Can you get up?"
Feng Bingwen glanced at the Daoist and had no intention of making a move. Although the being named Yougui blocked the old swordsman's projection, it still managed to send out a message.
"As long as you don't take my disciple's spirit sword, you can come to my Heavenly Sword Path at any time after you come out of the secret realm and enter the Stele Forest to study!"
"I'm not useless yet!"
"That's good!"
Feng Bingwen glanced at the Daoist and, after confirming that he was alright, transformed into a streak of light and soared into the sky, leaving the cave he had personally created.
As soon as he ascended into the sky, he saw several sword lights flying towards his location. When the sword lights subsided, several sword cultivators with sharp auras were revealed, three men and one woman, each with a different expression.
"Fellow Daoist, may I ask how my senior brother is doing?"
The refined young man, whose aura was faintly the strongest among the four sword cultivators, asked in a rather gentle tone. Although he possessed a grand sword intent, it did not give off a sense of aversion.
"He's lying down there."
Feng Bingwen pointed to a spot that was still shrouded in smoke and dust, not a clear cave.
Thank you!
The young man bowed respectfully, then called out and led his junior brothers and sisters into the cave. No matter how annoying this Daoist was, he was still the face of their Heavenly Sword Dao.
"Tsk, now that's more like the demeanor of a great sect's prodigy—gentle, refined, humble, and polite!"
Feng Bingwen glanced twice in the direction the sword cultivators had fled, muttered something to himself, then looked away and gazed into the distance.
After the crowd had finished watching the excitement, many of them had dispersed, but some remained, observing him. Among them was a figure that seemed particularly familiar to him.
Ji Changqing!
Why is it this guy again?
Feng Bingwen's eyes showed surprise. He could see this guy's figure everywhere he went; he was truly like a shadow following him everywhere.
"Congratulations, fellow Daoist, on your victory over the Heavenly Sword Daoist's disciple! You will surely become famous throughout the Nine Provinces."
Before Feng Bingwen could speak, a refined gentleman with flowing sleeves, his hair tied up with a golden crown, and an air of elegance greeted him with a smile and offered his congratulations.
"Fellow Daoist Ji, you flatter me. It was just a friendly spar!"
Feng Bingwen didn't take this compliment seriously at all. At most, the result of this battle was that his name circulated in a certain circle and he gained some fame, but he was still far from being famous throughout the Nine Continents. The information barriers between the continents were incredibly thick.
"Fellow Daoist is too modest. We have all witnessed this battle; the Heavenly Sword Daoist has already used every trick in the book!"
"Um!"
"Fellow Daoist, what are you looking for?"
Ji Changqing noticed a strange look in Feng Bingwen's eyes.
"I'm looking for my little deer!"
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