On this main peak, several ancient pine trees had taken root at the lake’s edge, their age unknown, coiling like old dragons, their ancient, sky-reaching branches stretching bold and vigorous toward the heavens.

Beneath one of these ancient trees stood a stone table, crude and rough, simple and unadorned, utterly without refinement.

It had been carved from a single rock, lying there like a reclining ox. Upon it rested three pieces of ancient jade, their luster dim and dusty after thousands of years, with bird-script inscriptions carved upon them.

When Ye Fan laid eyes on these three pieces of ancient jade scripture, he immediately understood the intention of that valley master from five hundred years ago — combine all nine pieces of jade together, and one could likely discern where the Earth Immortal had gone.

He strode forward. The main peak was quite flat; aside from a few old pines, there was scarcely any other vegetation to speak of, as bare as the sheer cliffs below.

At this moment, he also sensed a powerful sword intent — indomitable and unstoppable, nearly slicing through his very soul, aimed directly at his Primordial Spirit.

Even when Ye Fan merged himself into the void of heaven and earth, he could still be perceived. He sacrificed his cauldron and suspended it above his head, whereupon the Mother Qi of All Things descended like a curtain of rain, shielding his Daoist body.

From time to time, fierce sword energy cleaved down at him. Each strike weighed more than ten thousand catties. Had he not possessed the Sacred Body of the human race, a single blow would have been enough to reduce him to pulp.

The Mother Qi of All Things Cauldron rang out with a resonant clang, like mountains and rivers rumbling, releasing wave after wave of trembling tones. The entire mountain shook, as though an immortal sword were awakening.

Ye Fan placed Little Pine inside the cauldron to keep it safe, fearing an accident might occur if he lost focus on it. Chi Songzi’s supreme sword intent was soul-stirring — though all murderous energy had been refined away, it was still not something an ordinary person could approach.

“If the killing intent were still present, even ancient sages and worthy men would probably be unable to advance more than a few steps.”

He could not help but be astonished. The very first cultivator of the Dao mentioned in the Biographies of the Immortals was indeed someone with heaven-penetrating power, immeasurably profound, possessed of world-defying methods. No wonder his entire life had been devoted to attaining immortality.

When he was still nine steps from the stone table, Ye Fan stopped — he could no longer advance a single step further. It was as though ten thousand immortal swords of immense weight were pointing at him from ahead. Even with the cauldron shielding him, his body still felt on the verge of shattering.

This was a vast and incomparable sword intent, unrivaled in the world. No one of the current era could withstand it. Strands of sword scars appeared in the void itself — sufficient to reduce and shatter even a king who had severed the Dao.

Ye Fan activated the Soldier Word Secret, attempting to retrieve the three ancient jade scriptures from a distance. But right at that moment, a ray of eternal light burst forth — radiant and breathtaking!

In that instant, nothing else existed. There was only this single sword light. The sun, moon, and stars above seemed utterly insignificant by comparison — dim, devoid of luster.

A vast and thunderous sound more terrifying than thunder itself came with nowhere to flee. The Mother Qi of All Things Cauldron shook violently, and Ye Fan spat out a mouthful of blood, sent flying sideways through the air.

“Clang.” “Clang.” — —

At the same time, this immortal sword mountain peak also trembled. Ten thousand heavenly swords rang out in unison, releasing blinding light that cut down gods and severed demons, shaking one’s very soul.

Ye Fan was sent flying a full several li before he wiped the golden blood from the corners of his mouth, his heart deeply shaken. This was the first time he had been injured since returning to Earth.

The sword light just now could slay kings of the third tier of Immortalhood — profoundly terrifying. Even with the Mother Qi of All Things Cauldron shielding him, he had still been hurt. The force behind it had been too overwhelming; the sword energy could not penetrate his body, but the pure force had directly shaken him internally.

“Too powerful. Chi Songzi is truly one of the strongest beings of the ancient past.” By this point he could confirm with certainty — if the murderous killing intent had still been present, had Chi Songzi not personally refined it away, even a sage who came here would be cut down.

The Third Valley Master came flying over, his face snow-white, asking Ye Fan if he had been harmed. He had been seized by wave after wave of terror even from a distant vantage point, to say nothing of experiencing it firsthand.

Ye Fan shook his head. He activated the Zhe Word Secret, and throughout his body golden blood surged and roared like rolling thunder. In an instant, his body restored itself completely.

Once more he pressed forward, ascending the main peak once again through the thousands upon thousands of sword lights, advancing toward the stone table, intending to retrieve the three ancient jade scriptures.

But this time it was even worse. When he was still several dozen steps away, the moment he activated the Soldier Word Secret, a sword light slashed toward him like world-destroying heavenly lightning — fierce, domineering, and extreme.

Ye Fan was cut and sent flying once again. This time he was thrown back eight or nine li. His heart shook intensely — this approach was not working. There was no way to get close.

Chi Songzi had already died long ago, and yet the supreme sword intent he had left behind was still like this. One could only imagine the boundless magnificence of his invincibility in life. Had he lived until today, a single sword could flatten an entire ancient star possessing a powerful Daoist heritage without issue.

Ye Fan ascended once more. This time he did not act rashly — he stopped far away and let Little Pine out as well, allowing it to accompany him in comprehending the Dao here.

He no longer intended to force his way through. First, he would comprehend Chi Songzi’s sword Dao. Otherwise, no one in the current world would ever be able to approach that stone table or the clear sword lake.

He stood there for a full half month without moving. Even the normally lively and restless Little Pine took on the dignified appearance of a seated Buddha, holding its stone Buddha bell, earnestly meditating.

Ye Fan could not help but be moved. This sword intent was profound and immeasurably vast, containing within it the true essence of one weapon breaking ten thousand methods!

“So it is. I shall cultivate here for a time through bitter practice.”

His expression grave, he sat down cross-legged right there and began to earnestly contemplate, thinking deeply, probing into Chi Songzi’s supreme Daoist heritage and absorbing it into the cauldron markings.

Sword cultivation prioritizes offense. When a single sword is unleashed, it shatters ten thousand li of mountains and rivers — nothing can stop it!

Upon reaching a certain level of attainment, the sword is no longer confined to a physical form. A single blade of grass, even a speck of dust or grain of sand can become a heavenly sword — capable at a moment’s notice of cleaving apart mountains and seas.

Ye Fan’s heart trembled. Chi Songzi’s sword intent was truly without rival. A single grain of dust transformed into a sword could fill an ocean; a single blade of grass transformed into a sword could sever the sun, moon, and stars.

“Having reached such a level of attainment, what is there left to fear? Traversing the ancient universe and destroying countless star regions would be no problem at all.”

He gazed into the distance, lost in thought. It was precisely someone this powerful who had ultimately been bound by the constraints of life and death — unable to achieve immortality, his lifespan depleted, finally passing away in seated meditation.

Ye Fan earnestly contemplated Chi Songzi’s sword intent. He discovered that many supreme figures of antiquity shared common philosophical perspectives, and that Chi Songzi had carried the idea of one weapon breaking ten thousand methods to its ultimate extreme.

All things can become weapons. In the end they converge into one — and only one weapon is ever used: ten swords, a hundred swords, a thousand swords, ten thousand swords… ultimately, all reduced to “one.”

A single grain of dust to fill the sea. A single blade of grass to sever the sun, moon, and stars. A single man to battle the six directions and eight wastes. Cultivating the sword for an entire lifetime to pacify the chaos of the ancient world.

This was Chi Songzi’s Dao — the sword was merely its outward form!

Those of later generations who inherited his sword cultivation lineage — how many of them had truly grasped its spirit, no one could know.

Ye Fan sat in silent meditation, earnestly contemplating, comprehending through the mind rather than merely learning the outer form or memorizing sword techniques. At his current level, it was impossible to shift to sword-wielding, but all methods are interconnected. By grasping its spirit, he could transform it into his own Dao.

One weapon breaking ten thousand methods!

Ye Fan needed only to keep this single phrase in mind. It was something he had known before — one cauldron is sufficient. Its form approaches the Dao; it is more natural.

The cauldron, too, could be wielded like a sword — to fill the sea, to sever the sun and moon and stars, to suppress the myriad heavens.

In that moment, before Ye Fan’s brow, a tiny cauldron one inch in height rose and fell in suspension, merging with his heart and mind. He combined the principle of one weapon breaking ten thousand methods from the Dao Scripture with Chi Songzi’s Dao and contemplated them together, achieving a profound sublimation.

In battle, once the cauldron is released, it can break through all things. In severing the Dao — setting aside realm for the moment — this alone would raise his combat power by a considerable degree.

This cauldron of an inch or so in height, interwoven with patterns and veins, was by nature a vessel for the Dao. At this moment it carried only himself — radiating boundless light before his brow, then swiftly drawing it inward, returning to humble plainness.

Another half month passed before Ye Fan finally opened his eyes and rose to his full height. He had not imitated Chi Songzi’s sword Dao wholesale, but the rewards he had reaped were immense.

He glanced at Little Pine and found that the little purple thing also seemed to have gained something from the experience. It was putting on quite the show — proper and solemn, sitting in the five-point meditation posture, still wandering the great void in its mind.

He couldn’t resist reaching out with his divine sense to see what Dao it was actually comprehending. What he found startled him — it was evolving the cosmos in its heart!

Ye Fan was astonished. He hadn’t expected this tiny creature to possess such grand ambitions — opening the heavens and splitting the earth within its own heart, evolving an entire world.

But when he looked more closely, he was simultaneously amused and exasperated. The little purple creature was comparing each star in its mind to a pine nut, imagining how many it could destroy.

He placed the little creature inside the cauldron without waking it. Whatever the case, having aspirations was a good thing — its thinking couldn’t be constrained. Who could say that someday it might not truly walk its own great Dao?

Chi Songzi had not laid down any killing formations here. It was simply that over the years of his sword practice on this peak, he had left behind traces of the Dao and sword scars carved into the main peak. Even after countless ages, they could still release sword light.

Having spent so long here absorbing his Dao without further conflict, Ye Fan at last entered the area of the stone table and retrieved the three ancient jade scriptures effortlessly.

Afterward, he came to the edge of the sword lake and gazed at the water. Clear and translucent, faint and ethereal, tens of thousands of sword lights had gathered and condensed within its depths.

This was Chi Songzi’s pool where he had washed his swords. It was suffused with inextinguishable sword light. Having lived here for most of his life, this sword pool had long since become spiritually awakened, capable of condensing supreme sword intent.

Ye Fan did not enter the water — he simply walked around it once. He saw rolling thunder hidden within the depths and knew that any contact would likely cleave heaven and earth asunder.

He searched this place thoroughly. Chi Songzi had lived simply and frugally, devoted his entire life to attaining immortality, and cared for nothing else. He had left behind nothing of particular note.

In the end, Ye Fan departed after achieving enlightenment from the sword intent, flying out of the Immortal Sword Heavenly Pool and appearing in midair. The Third Valley Master immediately came forward with great excitement.

“Found them. Go to the Ten Thousand Demon Valley and combine them with those six jade scriptures — together we can understand the full truth.” Ye Fan said.

Returning to the Ten Thousand Demon Valley, the Third Valley Master solemnly retrieved the six ancient jade pieces and placed them on the stone table together with these three.

At the time, Chi Songzi himself had obtained only three pieces. The ancient demon god progenitor of the Ten Thousand Demon Valley had obtained two. The remaining four had been gathered over thousands of years by later generations.

“These nine pieces of ancient jade have different luster — so why is it that, placed together, they look as if they were one piece? Even the oracle bone inscriptions connect seamlessly.” The Third Valley Master said excitedly.

“They were always nine jade scriptures carved at the same period, only separated later. That’s why they fit together and the content is continuous.” Ye Fan too was astonished, because when the jade pieces joined, a dragon-shaped terrain appeared.

The nine ancient jade pieces united — and a host of dragons manifested.

Recorded in oracle bone script, the language was concise. It confirmed the existence of an Earth Immortal — one who in life never touched the ground, in death never entered the soil, a single immortal fetus, who throughout its life was untouched by worldly dust.

Once the nine ancient jade pieces were combined, ninety-nine true dragons materialized. Upon closer inspection, they proved to be ninety-nine dragon mountains, coiling and converging together in a majestic and awe-inspiring formation unlike anything seen in an age — even Ye Fan was shaken by the sight.

“What is this place? Setting everything else aside, this terrain alone is extraordinary!” Ye Fan had studied under the Source Heaven Scripture and naturally understood just how rare such a terrain was.

“I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve traveled all under heaven — both within the seas and beyond — and have never encountered this kind of terrain.” The Third Valley Master shook his head.

At this point, even the Grand Valley Master was stirred. The gathering of all nine ancient jade pieces was no small matter. He had emerged from his closed-door cultivation to observe them.

Having attained the Dao in the form of an old crane, he already possessed six hundred years of lifespan. His complexion was excellent — a true embodiment of the white-haired, youthful-faced sage. When he saw the terrain map of coiling dragons converging together, he was profoundly shaken. He spoke, saying he had heard ancient legends about this place and knew what it was.