Immortal of the Nine Realms

Fang Chen’s Nascent Soul returned to his body, and Little Sword immediately flew into the Dao Palace, merging with him.

In an instant, Fang Chen felt a tearing pain surge through him.

It felt as if every inch of his bones and flesh was being continually torn apart, healed, then torn again, and healed once more, over and over.

Cold sweat formed on Fang Chen’s forehead due to the pain. Fortunately, he gritted his teeth and managed to endure it.

At that moment, Little Mirror muttered to itself, ”Sword cultivators... follow the path of the body becoming the Dao. Once they reach a certain level, their soul merges with the body. Afterward, they transcend the Three Realms and are no longer part of the Five Elements. The Dao path follows the way of the soul becoming the Dao.... When they reach a certain level, they abandon the body and merge into the Three Purities....

”These two paths are in conflict. If both paths are fully followed, in the end, which one will be abandoned?”

Fang Chen’s gaze shifted. ”Little Mirror, did you really say that just now?”

The Mirror of the Universe’s words had caught his attention, and strangely, the pain seemed to lessen a little.

Mirror of the Universe responded in surprise. ”Huh? Did I say something? I didn’t say anything. Did you mishear me?”

Fang Chen looked at it with a strange expression. There was no doubt that the Mirror of the Universe had spoken, and it could not have been an illusion.

Is it not admitting it... because it would come at a great cost? Is it trying to subtly warn me?

Fang Chen furrowed his brows slightly. ”Body becoming the Dao, soul becoming the Dao... No wonder sword cultivators have a much shorter lifespan than regular cultivators. These are two completely different paths to the Dao.”

Since the Mirror of the Universe brought it up, it clearly indicated that it was worried about something. His current state had to be vastly different from that of an ordinary cultivator, potentially leading to some hidden dangers.

Mirror of the Universe suddenly let out an angry roar, filled with both surprise and fury. ”Not good, that damned guy!”

Fang Chen, gritting his teeth to endure the pain, reached out and took Mirror of the Universe in his hands. He saw that its cover was rapidly turning to stone before his eyes, as though some kind of force was relentlessly corroding it.

”Little Brother, I need to sleep for a while. Don’t lose me.”

It seemed Mirror of the Universe was trying to resist the force but was slowly losing ground. It could only make a brief remark to Fang Chen before it seemed ready to completely give up.

”Sleep, my ass,” said Fang Chen, snorting coldly. He threw the remaining mid-grade spirit stones at Mirror of the Universe. ”Eat these.”

Nearly 8,000 mid-grade spirit stones fell onto the Mirror of the Universe, but they vanished without a trace, as if swallowed by the sea, not even causing a ripple.

However, the speed of the Mirror of the Universe turning to stone seemed to slow down a little.

Mirror of the Universe chuckled softly. ”Little brother, it’s no use. I accidentally said something I shouldn’t have, which is like leaking the secrets of heaven. These spirit stones... can only let me sleep a little less.”

It regretted divulging this information deeply; had it known this would happen, it would have never crossed that forbidden line.

”Mid-grade spirit stones are useless? How about top-grade ones?”

Fang Chen tossed the remaining spirit stone he had been using to Mirror of the Universe.

The Mirror of the Universe paused slightly, seemingly in disbelief. ”This....”

Top-grade spirit stones were of immense importance to Fang Chen now, far more so than to Mirror of the Universe.

Soon, Mirror of the Universe devoured the top-grade spirit stones, rich with powerful spiritual energy. The progress of its petrification slightly halted but began to spread again slowly.

Fang Chen furrowed his brows lightly and then took out the 3 top-grade spirit stones he had planned to return to Elder Xun, tossing them directly into Mirror of the Universe.

Seeing Fang Chen act without hesitation, Mirror of the Universe was nearly moved to tears.

If I hadn’t said those words, I could have eaten these spirit stones... how wonderful it would have been.

It seemed that it still felt at a loss, despite the help.

Indeed, after using over 8,000 mid-grade spirit stones and 4 top-grade ones, all that effort still failed to stop Mirror of the Universe from turning to stone.

”Little Brother, I’ll probably wake up in 3 to 5 years. You’ve shown great loyalty; from now on, I won’t deceive you anymore.”

With that, Mirror of the Universe completely petrified, looking like an ordinary brick.

Fang Chen let out a sigh of relief.

Though the loss was considerable, 3 to 5 years was still acceptable.

Mirror of the Universe’s previous words, although vague, contained a deeper meaning that struck a warning in Fang Chen’s heart upon deeper reflection.

His method of cultivation was flawed. At least in the Mirror of the Universe’s eyes, it wasn’t right.

However, this flawed method had resulted in an incredibly strong primordial spirit and a powerful physical body, which, in comparison to others of the same level, was obviously much stronger.

Fang Chen thought to himself, Regardless, this matter will be worth paying attention to in the future. If there are truly any problems, it’s better to detect them early, giving us a chance to resolve them.

He had already given up on the Sword Path and chosen the Dao Path, practically certain that the former route couldn’t lead to the ultimate peak.

However, he was unwilling to abandon the advancement of his sword body. This was clearly something that could benefit him greatly. It didn’t seem to have any downsides at all.

This time, the small sword’s promotion lasted over an entire month. The pain gradually faded as time passed, and Fang Chen could clearly feel his physical strength increasing countless times. His every movement felt as if he could lift a towering mountain.

This was the power of the fifth-rank sword body!

Just as Fang Chen was about to test the might of the Eight Desolation Supreme Sword Scripture with his fifth rank sword body, an unfamiliar memory surged into his mind.

”Where the sword points, I go. Where the sword wills, I think. Looking at the brilliance of the stars, in a single thought, they turn to nothing. Looking at the towering gates of the heavens, in a single thought, the sword opens the gates to heaven...”

This sword scripture was about 500 or 600 characters long. As Fang Chen silently recited it in his mind, he felt an endless stream of sword intent pouring into his body, merging with the small sword.

Little Sword couldn’t help but exclaim, ”Ah... this feels so good...”

Fang Chen was surprised.

This was likely a method of nurturing the sword, a cultivation technique that Little Sword could practice.

”Little Sword, I’ll say something, and you repeat after me,” Fang Chen said.

He then recited the sword-nurturing method and asked Little Sword to follow suit.

Once they finished, he asked, ”How do you feel?”

”I don’t feel anything,” Little Sword replied, confused.

Fang Chen furrowed his brow. ”You don’t?”

He then recited the technique silently in his mind, and Little Sword exclaimed happily, ”That’s the feeling!”

Fang Chen mused, ”It seems this sword-nurturing method only works when I recite it.”

He noticed that the sword intent within Little Sword had grown slightly stronger. This sword-nurturing method wouldn’t offer substantial improvement to Little Sword. It still needed to consume spiritual treasures to advance. But if the sword intent was cultivated to a certain level, the results could be terrifying.

In the following days, Fang Chen continuously consumed the energy in his soul while reciting the sword-nurturing scripture. Little Sword floated nearby, listening attentively. Over time, the sword intent within it became increasingly powerful.

Before long, the ten-year period passed, and Fang Chen left the Realm of Three Thousand Daos.

When he arrived outside, he transformed into a sword immediately and set off.

He discovered that his speed was far beyond anything he had experienced before, far surpassing his previous limits.