In the Sect Master's room, Chu Mu sat on a chair. His body was straight and his back was like a sword. His eyes were tightly shut, and his body was surrounded by ripples of aura that undulated like a tide.
His body trembled, and the fluctuating aura dissipated. He opened his eyes, which were a little tired, but also contained a trace of excitement.
He had failed again.
By now, Chu Mu had already entered the inner world of the Sword Sect's Spirit Seal. He had fought many times with the first trial's examinees, and lost every time. It could be said that he had lost again and again, and he would never admit defeat.
Except for the first battle, when Chu Mu had used the Dual Sword Technique, he had only used one sword in the subsequent battles.
Chu Mu thought that if he could pass the test with a single sword, then using the dual sword technique, his strength would be even stronger. However, if he used the dual sword technique to pass the test and switched to a single sword, his strength would decrease.
Simply put, one sword was the benchmark of strength, while the Dual Sword Technique was an extension of strength.
Chu Mu could not abandon the benchmark, which was his foundation.
In the first stage, the examinee's sword movements were extremely light. Every strike was as light as a feather, as if they didn't use any strength, but in reality, they all contained terrifying power. Fighting with a single sword, Chu Mu often wouldn't be able to last long before being killed. However, the good thing was that every time he fought and every time he was killed, Chu Mu would be able to gain a bit. Absorbing the gains into his own before entering, he would often be able to last longer.
The previous time, he could fight with the first trial's examinees for a hundred moves before being defeated. Compared to before, he had improved greatly.
He felt that his swordsmanship realm seemed to be about to break through again.
The unity of man and sword was both a level of power control and a realm of swordsmanship.
Many years ago, after Chu Mu had reached the unity of man and sword realm, as he cultivated, fought, and comprehended, he improved little by little. From the Beginner's level to the Small Success level, and then to the Dacheng level. It seemed like a small improvement, but only he knew how difficult it was.
It was too difficult, too difficult.
The Unity of Man and Sword was a realm that had trapped countless experts. Even Sword Saints of the Aeon Realm were still stuck at the Unity of Man and Sword level.
Chu Mu was at the Fourth Sky of Nirvana Realm, but his swordsmanship had reached the Union of Man and Sword. Throughout history, there were very few people like Dacheng.
The higher the level of swordsmanship, the harder it was to improve. Chu Mu had been trapped in the Dacheng Realm of One with the Sword for several years.
This kind of realm could only be experienced and comprehended by oneself, and could not be taught by word of mouth. That was why it was so difficult to improve.
This time, after deciphering the secret of the Sword Sect's Spirit Seal and dueling with the white-robed man in a sword technique to the death, he managed to obtain such a fortuitous encounter with his monstrous comprehension ability.
The realm of One with the Sword was progressing towards perfection.
Chu Mu didn't know what the next realm was. The unknown made people yearn for it more, and there were more twists and turns.
Perhaps in the Age of Gods, there were many experts who had reached the Union of Man and Sword level, but in the present, there were not many.
Ever since there was hope of deciphering the secret of the Sword Sect's Spirit Seal, Chu Mu basically did not appear. He was immersed in it wholeheartedly. After another battle and another failure, Chu Mu suddenly felt a sense of irritation.
Although he was extremely tenacious and would never back down despite repeated defeats, his repeated failures would still make him feel depressed. Even though he would improve after each failure, the path of cultivation was about having a balance between tension and relaxation. Therefore, Chu Mu decided to temporarily go out for a walk to relieve his boredom and take a look at the True Sword Sect. At the very least, he wouldn't be so negligent in his duties.
At present, the True Sword Sect did not have many disciples. Because of the rebellion, most of them had been lost, causing the overall strength of the True Sword Sect to drop significantly.
As for the seven Saint Stage Great Elders, under normal circumstances, they would not make a move. After all, they were the True Sword Sect's last resort. They were the True Sword Sect's greatest trump card. They would not make a move unless the sect was in a critical situation.
A Saint Realm expert was completely above the Nirvana Realm. It was a powerful existence that had transcended the level of human life. The destruction caused by their attacks was extremely terrifying. They belonged to the level of deterrence. Especially a Sword Saint who had grasped the power of the sword. Once his sword technique was used, it could break mountains and rivers.
Apart from the above reasons, there was another very important reason, which was what the Great Elders had told Chu Mu before.
The reason why the True Sword Sect had fallen to such a state was because they had a powerful enemy, a powerful opposing force. In fact, the True Sword Sect's original location was not on the Ancient Beast Mountain at all. The original location was many times larger than the Ancient Beast Mountain.
Under the pressure of a powerful enemy, the True Sword Sect suffered heavy losses, forcing them to retreat. At that time, the seven Great Elders were nowhere near as powerful as they were now. Back then, there were even a few who had not reached Saint Great Elders. The reason why they hid behind the scenes and did not dare to take action carelessly was also out of fear. They were not sure whether the enemy would find out if they took action, and whether the enemy would try to kill them all if they found out.
If a Saint Great Elder took action, it would definitely attract the attention of other Saints. A battle between Saints like this was no small matter. It was fine if they did not take action, but once they did, it would be earth-shattering. It would be widely known.
Under various fears, the seven Great Elders became the greatest hidden force. The True Sword Sect had lost many disciples, so their strength had plummeted. They were in urgent need of development.
…
The Ancient Beast Mountain was within the Canglan Empire. It was over five thousand meters tall, and it was one of the tallest mountains in the empire.
From afar, the continuous Ancient Beast Mountain looked like an ancient, crouching beast, which seemed to be how it got its name.
Inside the Ancient Beast Mountain, there were flowers, plants, rocks, and spirit beasts. Among them, there were also some mines, spirit medicines, and so on.
The True Sword Sect had its own Spirit Medicine field, and the Spirit Medicine needed by the Treasure Dan Pavilion could often be picked from the Spirit Medicine field. As for the Spirit Medicine in the mountains, the disciples of the True Sword Sect could find it themselves. After finding it, they could use it themselves or give it to the True Sword Sect in exchange for sect contribution points.
As for the metal ores that the Sword Crafting Valley needed, they could not be nurtured by themselves, and were usually nurtured by the heavens and the earth. Fortunately, the Ancient Beast Mountain was very big, and after many years, there were quite a few mineral veins that had naturally grown and formed. However, some of the mineral veins were hidden very deeply, and even the experts of the Ten Thousand Ancient Saint Stage might not be able to detect them.
There were a total of three mineral veins in the True Sword Sect. Two of them were small mineral veins that produced tungsten iron ore and purple copper ore, and one was a medium-sized mineral vein that produced Red Cloud Steel Ore. Among them, the Red Cloud Steel Ore was discovered a few years ago and was in the initial mining stage.
The person in charge of mining the ore was naturally an honorary disciple. Official disciples could also apply for mining in order to obtain sect contributions, while a small portion of elite disciples and core disciples would take turns to guard the ore vein and deal with various matters, such as the attacks of spirit beasts and so on.
Other than the attacks of spirit beasts, there could also be incidents of cultivators stealing ores.
However, this was the first time such a brazen invasion had occurred.
"If you have the guts to come, why hide?" The core disciple, Ma Jingtao, pointed his sword at the group of masked men in black and said sternly.
Behind Ma Jingtao was a group of elite disciples of the Divine Condensation Realm. There were a total of thirty-six of them, and all of them pulled out their swords and pointed them forward.
There were even more masked men in black, almost a hundred of them. Most of them were of the Divine Condensation Realm, and three of them were of the Nirvana Realm.
There was a great disparity in numbers, but Ma Jingtao had already ordered the official disciples to quickly return to the sect and ask for reinforcements, so what he needed to do was to stall for time as much as possible until the sect's reinforcements arrived. As for the honorary disciples, they had all been sent away to avoid unnecessary casualties. Unfortunately, the other party did not give them the chance to stall for time.
"Kill!" The leader of the masked men waved his hand and only said a single word.
Almost a hundred masked men in black immediately split up. Some of them drew their swords and charged over, while others waved their hands and formed seals to cast spells.
"Form the formation!" Ma Jingtao's expression changed as he hurriedly gave the order. Immediately, thirty-six sword cultivators of the Divine Condensation Realm quickly moved and formed a sword formation. It was the powerful sword formation of the True Sword Sect, the Thirty-Six Heavenly Dipper Sword Formation.
The Thirty-Six Heavenly Dipper Sword Formation combined both attack and defense. It gathered the power of thirty-six sword cultivators into one and was extremely powerful. Normal Nirvana Realm cultivators would not be able to fight against it.
Ma Jingtao was of the Fourth Heavenly Layer of the Nirvana Realm. His sword skills were profound, and he was very powerful. He was not afraid of the masked men in black, because the strongest of the masked men in black had the same cultivation as him. The other two were only of the Third Heavenly Layer of the Nirvana Realm.
Ma Jingtao used his own strength to stall the three of them, while the thirty-six sword cultivators formed the Heavenly Dipper Sword Formation to resist the hundred masked men in black.
An intense battle unfolded.
Ma Jingtao used all his strength to fight one against three, but he was at a disadvantage. The thirty-six sword cultivators formed the Heavenly Dipper Sword Formation to resist the encirclement of the hundred masked men in black. For a moment, they were unable to counterattack and could only defend.
Although the Thirty-Six Heavenly Dipper Sword Formation was powerful, the thirty-six sword cultivators had not grasped its essence and could only use a portion of its power.
"Quicksand Gang, I knew it was you. You actually dare to covet the mines of our True Sword Sect. Aren't you afraid of being annihilated?" Ma Jingtao resisted with difficulty, but he also recognized the other party's identity, so he threatened them.
"Hehe, does the current True Sword Sect have the strength to do so?" The masked man in black sneered. His words had undoubtedly acknowledged their identity, "Don't put up a pointless resistance. Surrender as soon as possible. Otherwise, once they deal with the people in the other two mines, it will be the time of your death."
Ma Jingtao's face suddenly changed drastically.
At the same time, the other two small mines of the True Sword Sect were attacked by two groups of masked men in black.
The battle unfolded in three places.
The battle in the other two small mines ended very quickly. The people guarding the small mines were weaker, while the masked men in black were not weak at all.
After the battle ended, the two groups of masked men in black quickly moved, heading towards the mine.
The faces of Ma Jingtao and the others changed drastically. They were surrounded from three sides. Their chances of escaping were slim.
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