Legend of Swordsman

Two figures stood before them, one of whom was a Seven Coin Zhanxian Guard, while the other exuded a towering demonic aura, likely the Supreme Elder of the Chiyang Sect, whose strength had reached the Nascent Soul stage.

However, it was neither a true nor a false Nascent Soul, but rather a Dead Nascent Soul cultivator.

Cultivating this kind of Nascent Soul naturally led to overwhelming demonic flames, as such Dead Nascent Soul cultivators required countless living infants as nourishment.

Living infants, of course, referred to babies who were still alive.

Although Jian Wushuang had seen much in his time, encountering this demonic cultivator in this mortal world still surprised him.

The peculiarity of the cultivation technique, combined with the reckless behavior of the cultivation world here, was a rarity.

In the mortal cultivation world outside, such a demonic figure would likely be hunted down by the righteous path, with no rest until one of them perished.

The righteous and demonic paths were irreconcilable, always clashing, all for the sake of upholding a single principle of the Dao.

Where there were those who pursued the righteous path, there would inevitably be those who fell into the demonic path.

But this world lacked such a balance.

Perhaps it was due to the rule of the Tang Emperor, or perhaps because the sects within the cultivation world had grown too desolate.

For instance, in the entire Eastern Land’s cultivation world, sects had withered, long gone was their former prosperity, and even a complete inheritance had not been passed down for ages.

Most sect cultivators could only reach the Golden Core stage at best.

Those few who managed to become Nascent Soul stage cultivators had either encountered ancient fortuitous events or possessed exceptional talent.

Unfortunately, the spiritual energy in this world had dimmed, and the Dao of Heaven was sealed, making ascension impossible, which meant that for many years, no strong experts had emerged from the Divine Aspect Realm.

In Jian Wushuang’s view, it wouldn’t take many more years before this mortal world would completely transform into a peaceful land, with no more cultivators remaining.

Given the current situation, there was still hope for advancing to the Divine Aspect Realm in the next century, but beyond that, the prospects looked bleak.

The Divine Aspect Realm was a critical threshold-manifesting one’s Dharma Form, that was the true realm for displaying divine abilities.

Even with Jian Wushuang’s powerful thought power, if he were targeted by a Divine Aspect Realm cultivator, he would be captured by their spatial shrinking abilities.

Therefore, the absence of Divine Aspect Realm experts was fortunate for him.

Whoosh!

Standing atop the branches of a bush, Jian Wushuang exhaled a breath, and his figure flashed as he continued on his journey, always staying ahead of the group.

The speed of the convoy couldn’t compare to that of cultivators; after traveling for most of the day, they had just barely left the vicinity of Tai’an City.

By dusk, they finally reached the border of Mangshan County, still some distance away from Mangshan City.

The captain of the imperial guards glanced at the sky, slowing the pace and approaching the carriage. He called out loudly, ”Lord Chen, I suggest we find an inn to rest for the night, and head straight for Mangshan City first thing tomorrow!”

”Very well, you handle the arrangements!” Chen Yuan accepted the suggestion.

He had come this time only to follow orders. Whether or not the mission succeeded didn’t matter, but he had to heed the advice.

Even if he did nothing at all, returning to the capital would bring no punishment.

He was simply being cautious, fearful of any unforeseen incidents.

If this Dong Biao turned out to be someone under the Emperor’s orders, aiming to eliminate Yang Xiao, then he would have to obey, or else face questioning and punishment upon returning to the capital.

However, he had no concern for Yang Xiao’s safety.

Because Jian Wushuang was watching in secret.

At this moment, Jian Wushuang stood atop a tree thirty miles away, his figure concealed in the shadows of dusk.

His thought power expanded, and every word spoken by Dong Biao reached his ears clearly. ”This Dong Biao, there’s something off about him!”

Jian Wushuang’s brow twitched. Just ten miles away, there was an inn, but it appeared brand new, almost as if it had been prepared specifically for their rest.

Inside, there were only three people.

A shopkeeper, a waiter, and a cook.

Three people!

Yet none of them emitted any aura.

This was what surprised Jian Wushuang.

He knew that his Thought Power was now several times stronger than that of the perfect Nascent Soul stage, comparable to the Divine Appearance stage.

Yet, he couldn’t sense any aura from the three of them.

”It’s impossible that all three are at the Divine Appearance stage!” Jian Wushuang shook his

head, dismissing such a ridiculous thought.

No aura, and even their eyes were void of any soul.

There was only one possibility: ”Puppets!”

”Who would have thought that this world actually possesses puppet techniques? This is considered top-tier divine power in an ordinary cultivation world. It must be an ancient inheritance from the Northern Region Glacier!”

He didn’t believe that the cultivators of this world, whether at the Golden Core or Nascent

Soul stage, could create puppets.

After all, this was the lowest level of the cultivation world.

They didn’t even have enough resources, companions, or land to support the crafting of

puppets.

The Tao of the cultivation world differed greatly.

Take, for example, the Greenfire World from back then, which was a top-tier cultivation

world.

Later, the Divine Power Universe appeared, which was no longer just a cultivation world; it divided the entire material realm into upper and lower worlds.

To put it simply:

The construction of the world had five levels.

These were the five major layers, and within each, there could be many subdivisions, though

Jian Wushuang didn’t delve too deeply into them.

He categorized the world he had emerged from.

The earliest continents were considered the second-layer world, which also included the later

Greenfire World.

The first layer was the entirely mundane world, a paradise where there was no survival of the fittest. The Heavenly Dao was relatively fair, and everyone faced birth, aging, sickness, and death, along with the exhaustion of lifespan.

The second-layer world was where the Heavenly Dao allowed some extremely gifted individuals to defy the natural order, entering the path of cultivation and mastering the laws

of creation and destruction.

The third-layer world encompassed universes like the Divine Power Universe and the Void Power Universe, which included countless material worlds that merged to form a universe.

Such a universe was a product of the Heavenly Dao.

At its peak were the Ancestral Gods.

No matter how much one defied the heavens, there was only so much one could achieve.

Only by going to the Great Yan Huanyu and entering the original universe birthed by time and

space could one advance further.

This was the formidable nature of the fourth-layer world.

In the universe born from primal forces, even the Dao could be controlled. Both the universe

and time-space could be governed.

This included the Realm God Continent as well.

However, the Realm God Continent was the pinnacle of the fourth-layer world.

It existed between the starry sky and time-space.

One could become a Universe God at its peak.

As for the Time-Space Gods, Jian Wushuang wasn’t entirely sure.

Since entering this world, he believed that the so-called Universe Gods and Time-Space Gods

didn’t differ in terms of realms but in a specific type of power.

Back then, Miesheng was still considered a Starry Sky God!

He didn’t think Miesheng’s strength was particularly formidable. If he could return to his peak, dealing with ten peak Mieshengs wouldn’t be a problem.

Universe Gods, Time-Space Gods, Starry Sky Gods-these were merely titles.

For example, Universe Gods didn’t have levels; they were distinguished by the strength of

their power.

Those with strong power were Nine-Star Universe Gods, while the weak ones were One-Star

Universe Gods.

A powerful Universe God could certainly kill a Time-Space God or even a Starry Sky God.

It all depended on divine power.

The divine power of the universe and that of time-space were undoubtedly different.

Perhaps only after crossing the Divine Tribulation and heading into the starry sky would one

understand.

But that was still a long way off for him, just a fleeting thought in his mind.

He then swiftly moved toward the strange inn.

A distance of ten miles was covered in just a few leaps, and he arrived at the inn’s entrance.

”Waiter, I’d like a room!”