Almost all disciples who had entered Yashan’s armory knew—

One Line Sky, One Line Sky…

One line of heavenly secrets, one line of immortal opportunity.

This was a sword that no one had been able to draw for nearly a thousand years, and it was also Yashan’s most mysterious and profound sword.

Since ancient times, Yashan had three swords.

One sword stood beneath the Sword Drawing Platform, forged by a Yashan predecessor thousands of years ago.

Its form was entirely unremarkable, yet its material was so solid that it could withstand ten thousand tribulations without being destroyed.

Now weathered by wind and rain, standing for a thousand years, it almost connected Lingzhao Peak and the Sword Drawing Platform as one entity. This sword was called “Nameless.”

One sword was born at Yashan’s summit—a half-heaven-forged sword that was nurtured from the mountain itself.

Legend had it that ten thousand years ago, a certain great cultivator of Yashan returned with a single sword strike, piercing through the entire body of Yashan mountain, and never withdrew the sword thereafter. As time passed, the mountain body gained spirit, using this sword’s form as a vessel, gradually covering it with stone and awakening its spirit. The sword became as large and tall as Yashan itself, merging with it from then on, inseparable from each other.

This sword was formed by the cultivator’s sword but came to life through Yashan’s mountain body—half heaven-forged. From then on, it was named “Yashan Sword.”

The last sword was the one before her eyes.

Jian Chou’s figure quietly disappeared from the ice plains, and when she reappeared, she was already floating in the high sky, just like this, at a distance of three zhang, looking at this six-foot long sword sealed in ice within the mountain.

Compared to when she first saw it years ago, it seemed to have grown by that much again.

If the nameless iron sword beneath the Sword Drawing Platform and the giant Yashan sword atop Huanqiao Peak—one was a human-forged sword and the other was half human-forged, half heaven-forged—then this sword…

Was a truly heaven-forged sword.

Even Yashan’s predecessors were unclear about when exactly this sword appeared, much less knowing why it came to be.

The “Armory” records stated that this sword was first discovered in the armory ten thousand years ago.

At that time, Yashan’s armory had only been established for just over a thousand years.

A Yashan elder was leading disciples to open the armory when, passing by a not-so-tall ice mountain, he accidentally discovered a red mark at the center of its base.

About an inch long, a thin strand.

And because it was at the center of the base, separated by a thick layer of solid ice, it couldn’t be discovered without careful observation.

Without this chance encounter, no one would have noticed it.

When he first saw it, this elder didn’t pay much attention, thinking it was just a natural unusual color within the mountain body, and didn’t mention it to anyone.

For a long time after that, he didn’t enter or leave the armory.

It wasn’t until a thousand years later, when his magical artifact was damaged and he re-entered the armory to select a sword, accidentally passing that mountain peak again, that he finally realized something was wrong.

The red mark from a thousand years ago had somehow grown to nearly seven inches long, and its position was no longer at the mountain’s base, but had moved up nearly a hundred zhang!

Only then did the elder discover in shock that even the mountain where this red mark was located had grown taller by a hundred zhang!

Looking carefully, the ice layers around this red mark had darkened in color.

Roughly speaking, it vaguely condensed into the shape of a small sword.

This was no small matter.

Such a thing had appeared in the armory?

Upon thinking this, the elder could no longer care about selecting swords and directly returned to the sect, reporting this matter to the sect master and various elders.

So a group of people came to the armory in great numbers to investigate together, trying to discover the secret within.

But whether using spiritual consciousness to probe or attempting to split open the mountain to study it thoroughly, they all failed.

After splitting open the thick solid ice, the red mark would disappear without a trace.

But when they retreated, the solid ice would immediately condense again, and the red mark would reappear accordingly—truly mysterious beyond measure.

At first, there were guesses that this might be a reflected image from somewhere else in the armory, but after searching the entire armory, they found no possible source.

They couldn’t understand it, nor could they investigate it.

This suddenly appearing red mark immediately became Yashan’s heart disease.

Since they couldn’t solve it for the time being, everyone could only observe quietly and wait for changes.

This red mark grew longer almost daily, though the changes were minimal and its growth extremely slow.

Every thousand years, it grew about six inches and would gradually rise higher, while the dark color around it became increasingly dense. Finally, three thousand years ago, it gathered into a complete sword shape.

The red mark formed a line at the sword tip, embedded in the center of the sword body.

The higher the sword rose, reaching the mountain peak, the more it lifted the mountain peak with it; the red line at the sword tip moved from bottom to top, driving the sword body’s daily growth.

In the year the sword shape finally emerged, the then-current Yashan Law Enforcement Elder Jiuwen Zi came out of seclusion, entered the armory, and observed for three full days before finally saying one sentence.

This sentence also became the origin of this sword’s name.

“One line of red blood, one line of immortality; one line of immortal opportunity, one line of heaven.”

Later, some also said that if the Yashan Giant Sword and Nameless Iron Sword were Yashan’s spirit and will, then “One Line Sky” was Yashan’s divinity and soul.

Everyone knew that Yashan had such a heaven-forged sword.

But in the three thousand years since its formation, not a single Yashan disciple had been able to draw it out.

So it stood in lonely solitude through the ages, becoming an ancient legend that everyone yearned for.

Until today, this ice peak had become the highest peak in Yashan’s armory.

The heaven-forged One Line Sky within had also grown to six feet, standing at this highest peak, overlooking the entire armory and Yashan’s ten thousand swords!

Recalling the records about this sword she had seen in the Scripture Repository yesterday, Jian Chou’s eyes showed some confusion, but what slowly emerged from the depths was an even stronger desire than usual—

One sword through the ages—who could draw it out?

At the high, solitary peak, within the solid ice layers, this rust-spotted, ancient-styled long sword hung silently like this.

Jian Chou gazed for a long time before finally taking a step forward in the void!

In this instant, bright radiance bloomed in her eyes—

“Hiss!”

Her left hand was held behind her back while her right hand’s five fingers instantly came together to form a palm. In the blink of an eye, countless azure Azure Lotus Spirit Fires emerged!

Jian Chou didn’t pause for even a moment, directly pressing her palm against the frozen ice surface!

The Azure Lotus Spirit Fire was the strange fire she had obtained in the Slaughter Red Small Realm years ago, later used by her to cultivate “Human Artifact.” It was inherently one of the finest existences between heaven and earth.

Now with Jian Chou’s cultivation supporting it, it was even more formidably powerful.

The moment it touched the ice surface, extremely crisp “crack crack” sounds exploded, and the entire ice surface shattered thunderously upon contact with the spirit fire!

A crack, starting from where Jian Chou’s palm landed, rapidly spread toward the entire mountain peak!

In an instant, the entire mountain peak trembled along with it!

She had already thought it through long ago—when Yashan’s predecessors broke open the solid ice years ago and this sword disappeared, it should have been because the sword form hadn’t been completed yet.

Now, the sword form had been complete for three thousand years.

Moreover, compared to when she came to the armory over sixty years ago, her cultivation was higher and her soul had been somewhat restored.

Without trying her utmost, how could she be willing to give up?

Facing the cracks appearing on the mountain peak, Jian Chou paid no attention at all. Though cracks appeared, this mountain showed no signs of collapse or crumbling.

She frowned, and from her Jade-like Bones, black wind emerged through her body, all condensing in her palm.

With a thought, she urged her palm power again.

For a moment, spirit fire and black wind merged into one, spinning like a hurricane, rotating toward the ice surface!

“Crash!”

Sharp, ear-piercing sounds of breaking ice accompanied by the sound of water as solid ice melted.

The entire ice surface quickly collapsed over a large area, becoming a huge cavity.

But at the same time, countless ice spikes formed within the cavity, healing toward the center like self-repair!

The deeper Jian Chou’s palm went, the faster the destroyed ice surface and ice spikes grew and healed, and even terrifying cold qi emanated from within.

How powerful was her sixth-layer “Human Artifact” body now?

Not to mention having Nascent Soul stage cultivation protecting her body.

Yet at this moment, she actually felt an unprecedented chill. Her entire extended palm was frozen blue-purple!

That chill attacked from all around, drilling into her palm and climbing up her arm.

In an instant, it penetrated her mind!

It was a coldness originating from the divine soul!

Jian Chou’s complexion instantly turned pale, with an impulse to tremble.

Yet she still refused to retreat!

One inch, two inches, three inches!

One foot, two feet, three feet!

One zhang, two zhang, three zhang!

…

Gradually, Jian Chou went deeper and deeper, her entire person already deep within the ice surface. And because the ice surface healed extremely quickly, the ice surface behind her that wasn’t continuously opened by black wind and spirit fire power was resealed moments later.

Behind her, there was no retreat.

At this moment, Jian Chou’s entire person was within the cold ice, and because the deeper she went, the more difficult progress became, the space around her body became increasingly narrow.

Due to the cold, her two slender eyebrows had already formed a layer of crystal-white frost, and her face was also crystalline.

Looking at her, she seemed about to merge with the entire ice peak.

But at this time, she was extremely close to One Line Sky’s sword body!

One foot!

With a “poof,” an ice spike growing from the side pierced through her palm!

Three inches!

The Azure Lotus Spirit Fire extinguished dimly under this extreme cold! One hand already showed white bone!

One inch!

The Jade-like Bones that had once been forged by spirit fire and carved by black wind actually shattered inch by inch!

Tremendous pain instantly invaded, making one feel great terror, almost instinctively wanting to retreat to escape this horrible punishment.

But clearly so close already—how could she be willing to give up?!

At this moment, Jian Chou gave herself no room to turn back, forcibly enduring all the pain, not advancing but moving forward!

Her right palm reached out with full force, the three-zhang battle disc blooming in the cold ice!

“Crack!”

The last inch of ice surface separating her from One Line Sky finally shattered!

That slender sword body, only two fingers wide and covered with mottled rust marks, finally appeared unreservedly before Jian Chou’s eyes.

The red line upon it was so stunning, so piercing!

She didn’t waste half a moment, nor did she allow herself to be dazed at such a crucial moment. The instant the ice surface broke, her fingers, whose finger bones had already shattered, immediately reached over!

The long sword, sealed in ice for countless years, carried ancient coldness.

But the moment she touched this sword, before Jian Chou could feel even half its temperature, the red line extending upward from the sword tip suddenly brightened, as if coming alive!

In that moment, an inviolable will thunderously transmitted!

Like divine buddhas from the ninth heaven, like rolling, tumbling ocean waves, vast and mighty, rushing madly through that sword body in an instant!

Jian Chou had no time to make any reaction—

“Hum!”

A light hum, a circle of transparent, crystalline ripples mixed with a line of blood red spread out!

With One Line Sky as the center, this ice peak and this six-foot section of solid ice all shattered into powder!

Jian Chou, who had originally touched One Line Sky and been trapped in the ice layers, was immediately struck and flew backward!

“Rumble!”

She crashed into a not-so-tall mountain peak ahead, then was deeply smashed into a distant ice plain cliff face!

Jian Chou was in so much pain she lost consciousness.

Clearly having suffered such a terrifying blow, yet strangely, her entire spiritual platform was extremely clear, as if protected by something, having suffered no damage at all.

But precisely because she was too clear, the pain she could feel now was enough to drive one mad!

Even her sixth-layer “Human Artifact” body couldn’t withstand the previous impact.

Flesh and blood shattered, bones burst, spiritual power and soul power both scattered, cold like a pile of smashed ice.

She couldn’t even move a finger!

And in the distance of her vision, One Line Sky on that highest peak remained unmoved, not stirring even slightly. Even the mountain body that had been shattered into powder by that ripple began to reform again.

In just moments, it had already restored to its original appearance.

As if everything before had never happened, cold and aloof as before.

Jian Chou looked and finally couldn’t help but show a bitter smile.

One Line Sky.

It was a hundred times more formidable than she had imagined.

Moreover, mysteriously, she actually had a strange feeling: this sword, perhaps even if she restored her soul completely in the future, she might not necessarily be able to subdue it.

“Cough, cough…”

Her five internal organs had all been displaced by the blow, her blood qi was in chaos. Jian Chou coughed for a while, desperately trying to circulate the power in her body to repair her body.

But her previous excavation of the ice surface had subjected her to extreme cold, extremely severe, so that even the spiritual qi in her body was sluggish.

Jian Chou felt despair in her heart.

Did she have to wait for natural thawing, or notify someone to rescue her? That would be too embarrassing…

Just as she struggled and hesitated, a warmth suddenly slowly penetrated from above her head.

The cold feeling around her body was instantly relieved, and the sluggish spiritual qi also immediately began slow circulation.

This feeling…

Like a bonfire lit by the riverside in cold wind, like an oil lamp lit in a thatched hut on a rainy day, and like a bit of light hanging before the wooden gate on a winter snowy night…

Not that kind of scorching heat, but warmth.

Gentle and peaceful, quiet and calm, warmth that seeped to one’s heart, naturally possessing a calming power of clarity…

What was this?

Jian Chou was immediately startled, completely unable to remember having any protective magical artifact with such properties, so she instinctively raised her head to look up.

In the ice layer above her head, a three-foot-two-inch long sword was actually sealed!

Black iron sword body, densely struck with twenty-one treasure flower patterns; the sword guard’s shape was extremely unique, carved with eighteen lotus petals, like the lotus platform beneath an ancient Buddha; looking at it together with the sword hilt, it resembled an elongated lamp.

Ancient with a touch of Buddhist meaning, dark yet with some strange worldly air.

Two inches from the sword guard on the sword body, two Sanskrit characters were faintly carved: Burning Lamp.

At this moment, that warm breath came from the sword, penetrating through the ice layer, enveloping her, gradually dissolving all the coldness around her body.

Jian Chou was stunned.

Being in the armory for the second time, she wouldn’t fail to understand what this scene meant—

This sword had actually chosen her?

One Line Sky had struck her down, knocking her to this place, yet above her head there happened to be a sword hanging high, resolving her predicament and choosing her…

Was it coincidence?

Remembering that under that terrifying impact, her spiritual platform was undamaged, Jian Chou looked up at this sword above her head and smiled helplessly: “So, what I should choose at this moment is you…”

A dim yellow light lit up, flowing around the sword in a circle before quietly extinguishing.

It looked as if this sword had heard her words and even given a response. And that warmth continued uninterrupted, continuously flowing into her body.

Jian Chou suddenly felt warm to her very core.

The frozen feeling around her body was gradually fading.

The powerful body of the sixth layer of “Human Artifact” body refinement also began automatic repair. Spirit fire emerged, re-forging and reshaping her Jade-like Bones, while meridians and flesh also rapidly filled out under the催生 of spiritual power.

When that hand recovered to its original slender, fair appearance, she gently raised it.

“Pop.”

A light sound.

With almost no effort at all, this Burning Lamp Sword broke through the ice layer and fell into her palm.

The instant feeling was perfectly harmonious.

In the red dust there are azure lamps for thousands of zhang, before Buddha only a lonely lamp remains…

This sword actually came from Buddhism. Looking at this sword’s name, one could tell it had some connection with the legendary “Burning Lamp Ancient Buddha” of Buddhism.

This was somewhat strange…

Jian Chou reflected that she had never practiced any Buddhist methods, didn’t understand Buddhist principles or Zen mysteries, and didn’t feel she was a person with wisdom roots.

How had this sword chosen her?

Looking at this sword, she was puzzled for quite a while.

But soon, her severely injured body had already recovered to its original state. Even because of this sword’s breath nourishing her, she didn’t feel weak at all, but felt even more clear and peaceful.

“It must be an extraordinary sword…”

Jian Chou murmured, finally smiling. Though she felt it was somewhat regrettable not being able to touch One Line Sky, this trip wasn’t entirely without harvest.

Those young disciples in the distance had mostly already found suitable magical artifacts by now. So she didn’t dare delay and directly leaped down from this ice plain cliff.

When her feet touched the ground, she prepared to go over.

But unexpectedly, after taking only two steps, the ground beneath her feet began trembling for no reason!

The entire armory shook with mountains trembling and earth moving!

Jian Chou looked up in shock and saw that even the gray, misty sky was trembling along, as if distorted by some force, rippling in waves.

At the extreme distance, there was red, green, white…

Actually more than ten sword lights of different forms, from some distant place outside the armory, whistling toward them—

Falling toward this ten-thousand-li frozen world!

“Thud!”

“Thud!”

“Thud!”

…

Like more than ten falling stars, when passing through that rippling sky, they all lost their power and fell dejectedly from the high heavens!

One deep azure sword light happened to fall near Jian Chou, inserting into the cold cliff ahead, penetrating two feet, leaving only about one foot outside.

That was actually a long sword bright as autumn water, radiating cold light!

On the trembling sword body, there was still a bit of fresh blood that seemed to retain warmth!

Yashan’s armory, famous swords choose masters;

When swords lose their masters, they return to the armory!

In this instant, Jian Chou felt a “boom” in her head, a dizzy blank…

The entire armory was still trembling.

One Line Sky, overlooking all swords from on high, seemed to sense the return of these dozen swords and trembled accordingly.

The line of dried blood-like red on the sword body suddenly became vivid and dripping!

“Clang——”

Between heaven and earth, a mournful sword cry seemed to resonate!

On the vast ground of the entire armory, thousands upon thousands of red lines lit up, from mountain peaks, from cliff edges, from ice plains, from the depths underground!

Like countless extending meridians!

At their end, connected to that six-foot ancient sword!

From the dozen swords that had just fallen into the armory, several drops of red peeled off, following these blood-red meridian lines, merging into One Line Sky’s blood-red line.

Piercing, deep red!

So this was its origin.

But at this moment, Jian Chou felt no joy of discovery, just standing like this among these countless bright, vivid blood-red meridian lines, gazing.

The young disciples, having never seen such a scene, were all frightened.

Seeing Jian Chou’s figure from afar, they ran toward her, faces full of panic: “Senior Grand-Uncle, Senior Grand-Uncle, what’s happening?!”

Jian Chou blinked, her heart filled with indescribable cold, slowly saying: “Let’s go back. Something has happened…”