Li Qingshan stroked the phoenix's feathers gently. The phoenix was not particularly large, but it was shameless. Its long tail feathers trailed down gracefully, giving it an indescribable sense of dignity and nobility.
The mantra of the phoenix's Scripture of Nirvāṇa entered Li Qingshan's mind. At the same time, he comprehended its true meaning. It was the phoenix's noble and pure heart that cherished its feathers. It was different from the spirit turtle's tranquil state of mind. It was like an ancient sage.
When the phoenix flies, the world is at peace.
As a result, Li Qingshan also obtained the fourth mantra — the phoenix's nirvāṇa, calamity and chaos.
The school of Daoism had the art of praying. It was divided into two parts. The praying prayed for blessings, while the praying for calamities. The phoenix possessed the power of nirvāṇa and an undying heart. Even if it faced a great crisis of life and death, it would not fear it, let alone a mere calamity.
As Li Qingshan was moved, he could not help but sigh in amazement. Why is it that the ox demon and tiger demon are both gloomy and malicious, while the spirit turtle and phoenix are both pleasant and auspicious? Brother ox, who created this ability, is a daemon at the end of the day!
And, these eight abilities belong to the four gods and four demons, so where does the last one belong?
Suppressing his various questions, Li Qingshan calmed his mind and comprehended the phoenix's Scripture of Nirvāṇa. Afterwards, he opened his eyes. Indeed, it was not as simple as it seemed.
The spirit turtle was of water, while Li Qingshan's cultivation was all of the water attribute. However, the phoenix just happened to be of fire, while the spirit turtle was submerged in the deep sea, while the phoenix danced in the nine heavens. One was quiet, while the other was agile. Their habits were polar opposites.
The saying that water and fire complemented each other and moved as one wasn't strange in the cultivation world, but that was only for ordinary cultivators. These two types of divine beasts possessed extremely pure characteristics, and if one wanted them to be compatible with each other, then it would be extremely difficult. It was basically a fantasy to make them compatible.
After cultivating for a few hours, Li Qingshan temporarily gave up. The wilderness was not a place for cultivation. He would think about it after he was done with what he had to do and returned to the Hundred Schools of Thought!
Li Qingshan's thoughts landed on the sumeru ring again. His eyes gradually lit up. It shone.
It contained all of the Soaring Dragon Elder's possessions, various Spirit Artifacts, no. Magic tools, elixirs, spirit stones, and talismans, there was bound to be an astonishing number, even to the current him. It was also a huge fortune.
Putting everything else aside, as long as he could obtain the pills within, it would not be a problem to push his cultivation to the next level.
Li Qingshan and Little Ann looked at each other and injected spiritual energy into it. As they probed it with their divine senses, the sumeru ring opened up with a bang, revealing an unimaginably large space. It was dazzling and sparkling with spiritual light. Before Li Qingshan could take a closer look, a beam of golden light shot towards him.
Soaring Dragon Sword!
Li Qingshan had a very deep impression of this sword. The body of the sword was like the body of a dragon, and the hilt was like the head of a dragon, densely covered with golden scales. It shone brightly, and at first glance, it looked like a living dragon.
Now, the sword had truly come to life. It flew out of the Sumeru Ring and shot towards Li Qingshan. It was as fast as a golden bolt of lightning, as if it wanted to avenge its master. The sword thrummed like a dragon's roar.
With this unexpected turn of events, even Li Qingshan was rather taken aback. Little Ann was a few steps away, so he was unable to save him in time.
Clang!
In the nick of time, the Spirit Turtle's Profound Shell rose up and blocked the Soaring Dragon Sword. Before Li Qingshan could even catch his breath, he saw the Soaring Dragon Sword leap up and take off into the air like a startling dragon.
"Catch it! It's trying to escape!" Li Qingshan called out and leapt up, but he was still slightly slower than the Soaring Dragon Sword. It pierced through the formation and the rock.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye. The Soaring Dragon Sword's assassination had failed, so it was like a supreme swordsman risking its life for an assassination. If its attack failed, it would flee into the distance. Never did Li Qingshan imagine that a sword would actually possess such intelligence. It was completely unimaginable.
Clang! A bone sword swept out horizontally and knocked the Soaring Dragon Sword away. The Soaring Dragon Sword circled around a few times before fleeing in another direction. The twelve Skull Prayer Beads flew about, surrounding the Soaring Dragon Sword.
The Soaring Dragon Sword shone brightly, and the dragon's roar became even more intense. With clangs and clangs, it knocked away the Skull Prayer Beads, but it immediately became much more sluggish. As it turned out, the twelve Skull Prayer Beads had turned into twelve finger-sized Skeleton Demons that hugged the Soaring Dragon Sword firmly.
The Skeleton Demons all possessed startling strength. They could split apart mountains and shatter rocks, surpassing regular Daemon Generals. However, the Soaring Dragon Sword could still move about freely, slithering about in the cave like a golden snake. Every time it was stopped by Little Ann, it would become more and more frantic. This continued until a huge hand gripped the hilt firmly. The Ox Demon Trembled, and the Spirit Turtle Suppressed.
The Soaring Dragon Sword let out a long and sorrowful cry before being sent back into the sumeru ring and sealed up.
Li Qingshan let out a sigh of relief, but he suddenly felt a hint of unease.
A lone mountain pierced through the clouds, like a lone island in the sea of clouds. Below it, not a single inch of land was connected to the ground. It just hovered in the air, aloof and proud.
This was the famed Sword Collection peak of the Sword Collection palace. The cliffs of the mountain were covered in swords, either swallowed by rust or entangled by vines. They seemed ordinary and unremarkable. This mountain had hidden away all of their sharpness, quietly waiting for their next master.
In the forest of swords, there were many sheath-like grooves left behind because the swords had been drawn. The moment the Soaring Dragon Sword flew out of the sumeru ring, the Sword Collection peak seemed to respond. One of the grooves suddenly shone with dazzling light, scattering the clouds as if a mother was calling for her son's return.
Every single sword would automatically return to the Sword Collection peak after their new master died. However, even when the light dispersed, the Soaring Dragon Sword still had not returned. The entire Sword Collection palace was alarmed.
On the main peak of the Sword Collection palace, a middle-aged man waved his hand and said, "Invite the Divining Elder."
The middle-aged man's face was ancient, and his long hair draped over his shoulders. Before him was a map that encompassed the nine provinces. He drew an invisible line on the map with his gaze. If someone were to compare it, they would discover that the angle of the line was exactly the same as the line of light from the Sword Collection peak.
With a few coughs, a white-robed, white-haired old man stepped into the palace with a strange sword in his hand. He seemed like he was on the verge of collapse, as if a gust of wind could blow him over. However, every single step he took was extremely firm.
"Greetings, palace master."
When the middle-aged man saw the Divining Elder's appearance, his eyebrows furrowed slightly, as the Divining Elder had not been like this a few years ago. In order to find the Soaring Dragon Elder's murderer, he had triggered the heavenly secrets, but he had touched something and suffered a backlash from the heavenly secrets. In a single night, his hair and beard had all turned white, and he fell unconscious for seven days and seven nights.
When he woke up, the only thing he said to the middle-aged man quietly was, "No matter what it is, it's not something that anyone in the world can deal with. I'd advise you to stop looking into it for now, palace master. There might be a turn for the better in the future."
"Is there a turn for the better now?" The middle-aged man asked.
Clang! The Divining Elder drew the Sword of Divination, and his bearing changed drastically. His eyes became as deep as the ocean, and the Sword of Divination split into black and white along the spine. The eight trigrams on the hilt revolved rapidly, and the black and white merged into chaos.
A moment later, the Tianji Sword flew up and the tip of the sword landed steadily on the Nine Provinces Map, right on the line drawn by the middle-aged man in his heart. His eyes suddenly lit up, and the entire palace seemed to darken.
"Or the Clear River prefecture?"
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