Chapter 209: Thousand Edge Spirit Gathering Array
With the spiritual connection severed, the lightning flashing from the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords immediately faded. However, for some reason, they were still struggling incessantly as if they were attempting to free themselves from their graves.
The three teams of cultivators stationed in that area immediately sprang into action upon seeing this, casting a series of incantation seals onto the graves of the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, which immediately began to glow with azure light while releasing bursts of tremendous restrictive force.
Even so, they were still unable to completely suppress the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords' resistance, and several of them were still struggling violently, as if they were trying to break free.
"What's going on, Senior Martial Brother Ye Feng? These flying swords have always done this every once in a while, but they've never been this hard to restrain," a purple-haired man mused with a perplexed expression.
Seated beside him was a dark-skinned young man who offered no reply, but he stood up from the ground before making his way over to the flying swords, then made a hand seal before raising his hands up into the air.
Several palm-sized black rocks instantly flew up into the air, then circled around in a series of gentle arcs before landing on the graves that the flying swords were plunged into with unerring accuracy.
The surfaces of these rocks were quite coarse, and they were giving off a faint black glow. They appeared to be quite ordinary, but in reality, these were Sword Restraining Stones, a type of strange material that could temporarily suppress the spiritual nature of flying swords.
As the Sword Restraining Stones descended from above, the graves began to glow brighter and brighter, while the struggles of the flying swords began to subside, and the arcs of lightning surging over them also faded.
Just like the Sword Restraining Stones, there was also more than met the eye to these unremarkable-looking graves. Not only were they able to nurture the flying swords that they held, ensuring that their spiritual nature didn't seep away without their former owners' care, they also restricted the swords and prevented them from flying away.
Once all of the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords had settled down, Ye Feng returned to his original spot before taking a seat again.
The purple-haired man could only heave an internal sigh upon seeing this.
Ye Feng had been one of the brightest rising stars in the sect, but for some reason, on a certain day several years ago, his personality suddenly underwent a massive change. He became extremely quiet, and his rapidly advancing cultivation base also stagnated, much to Elder Mo Xie's displeasure.
As these thoughts were running through the purple-haired man's mind, someone else approached him and said, "This is the final day that we'll be on duty in this Heavenly Sword Tomb. From tomorrow onward, we're going to struggle to find missions that are this safe and easy to complete while still yielding consistent merit points every month."
"Weren't you just complaining last time that this is the most boring mission you've ever been on?" the purple-haired man chuckled.
Meanwhile, at the entrance of the tomb, Han Li had severed his spiritual connection to the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, but his attention was still fixed on them.
Upon noticing that Ye Feng was one of the people looking after the swords here, one of the mysteries that had stumped him this entire time was solved.
Back when he first arrived in the Bell Toll Mountain Range, there was an occasion where Daoist Xie and the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords' auras had been cut off at the same time. As a result, he had assumed that they were together, and he was quite disappointed to have recovered Daoist Xie, only for there to still be no trace of the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.
It had to have been the case that Ye Feng just so happened to have been on duty in the sword tomb on that day, and by activating the restrictive array here, both Daoist Xie and the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords' auras had been concealed at the same time, thereby leading to this misconception.
"I'm now going to tell you all about the mission that I gathered you here to complete," Xiong Shan said as he swept his gaze over everyone.
All of the True Immortal Stage elders, including Mo Xie, immediately fell silent to listen to what Xiong Shan had to say.
"The array that you're seeing right now is called the Thousand Edge Spirit Gathering Sword Array. Through the use of this array, I can erase the marks of the previous owners left in all of the flying swords in the Heavenly Sword Tomb and convert them into pure sword essence. My aim is to infuse all of this sword essence into my bonded flying sword," Xiong Shan declared.
Everyone was quite stunned by this declaration.
If it really were possible to gather all of the sword essence of these exceptional flying swords and infuse them into a single flying sword, then there was a very good chance that the recipient flying sword would become an Acquired Immortal Treasure of unimaginable power.
"As I'm sure you've already figured out, aside from the sword offering platform at the center, this place is split up into 10 areas. I need one of you in each area to control the flying swords there and help me erase the marks in those flying swords and convert them into sword essence," Xiong Shan continued.
Everyone immediately began to scour their surroundings upon hearing this, as if they were deciding which area they wanted.
Han Li was doing the same thing while pondering what Xiong Shan had just said, trying to gather some useful information from his words.
The graves in the sword tomb appeared to have been arranged in a random and haphazard fashion, but in reality, there was a clear order to them. For example, flying swords with similar sword intent or came from the same origins would often be placed in the same area, while flying swords with conflicting sword intents would be split up into different areas.
At the center of each area was a black stone pillar that was over 30 feet thick and in excess of 100 feet tall. These were the array cores of each area, and each stone pillar had around a dozen longan-sized Immortal Origin Stones embedded into them.
Just this impressive collection of Immortal Origin Stones alone was already a stunning sight for all of the True Immortal Stage elders present.
"If you ask me, you should've erased the marks of the original owners of the flying swords in advance. Wouldn't that have made things far more convenient?" Mo Xie asked.
"You don't know anything! Once a mark is erased from a flying sword, it'll lose the majority of its spiritual nature, and what little remains will continue to seep away over time. Only by erasing the marks during the refinement process can I preserve their original spiritual nature and power to the greatest extent," Xiong Shan harrumphed coldly.
"I see, I've been enlightened," Mo Xie replied with a nonchalant smile.
Xiong Shan didn't waste any more time with words as he summoned a shimmering golden flying sword with a flick of his wrist.
The sword was over three feet in length and roughly two inches wide. It was entirely golden in color and was giving off peerlessly sharp sword intent. At the tip of the sword's hilt was a fearsome-looking ancient beast with its mouth wide open, and its eyes were giving off a sharp gleam,a s if it were an actual living creature.
Everyone only took a single glance at the sword before looking away, as if they felt like the light radiating from the sword was too sharp for their eyes to behold without incurring harm.
"As expected of your bonded flying sword, Fellow Daoist Xiong. After the past few years of preparation, it's become even more formidable than before! Once its refinement is complete, I'm sure you'll be able to use it to reach the Golden Immortal Stage after a few more centuries of seclusion," Mo Xie praised as his eyes lit up with amazement.
"Thank you for your kind words, Fellow Daoist Mo."
After summoning his bonded flying sword, Xiong Shan's aura had become even more formidable than before. He let loose a long roar as he rose up into the air alongside his sword, then flashed through the sky several times like lightning before arriving on the sword offering platform at the center of the grassland.
The platform was 360 feet in radius and 720 feet tall. It was entirely constructed from a glittering and translucent jade-like material, and there were all types of complex array patterns engraved upon it, as well as many unknown spirit stones embedded onto its surface, connecting together to form a massive array that encompassed the entire platform.
"I've been preparing for this day for tens of thousands of years. If everything goes well, we'll all be happy, but let me make this clear: if any one of you drops the ball at a critical moment, don't blame me for turning on you after the event," Xiong Shan said to Han Li and the others.
"Rest assured, Deputy Dao Lord Xiong, I'll be sure to do everything in my power to ensure everything goes smoothly," Zhu Feng vowed as he cupped his fist in a salute.
Several other native elders quickly followed suit and made similar promises, while Han Li and the non-native elders nodded in response.
"Get into position!"
With that declaration from Xiong Shan, Han Li and the other elders flew up into the air before racing toward different parts of the grassland.
Han Li immediately flew toward the northwest as a streak of azure light, but midway through his flight, he suddenly drew to an abrupt halt.
In the same instant, Zhu Feng flew past him, giving a derisive harrumph while glancing at Han Li out of the corner of his eye as he did so. He then flew into the area that the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were situated in before drifting down toward the black stone pillar in that area.
Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, following which he turned and flew toward an area in the southwest.
These areas weren't split up very evenly, and not all of the areas had orderly shapes. Furthermore, the number of flying swords in each area also differed, with some containing only several dozen swords, while others contained over 100. The area where the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were situated was reserved only for the set of 72 swords.
If one had to describe exactly what shape the Thousand Edge Spirit Gathering Sword Array was, then it could only be likened to a flower bud that was about to bloom. The sword offering platform at the center of the area was like a stamen of the flower, while the 10 areas were like the petals around the stamen.
After everyone had adopted their positions, Xiong Shan brought his palms together in front of him before making a hand seal, and the golden flying sword hovering in front of him instantly began to radiate dazzling golden light.
He then began to chant an incantation, and there seemed to have been some type of strange force in the sword tomb resonating with his incantation, producing a sound that resembled heavenly music ringing out across the entire sky.
At the same time, the sword offering platform beneath him also began to glow brightly, as did the array on the platform.
A burst of loud rumbling rang out from the platform, and a white jade altar with side lengths of around three feet each began to slowly rise up from its center.
The altar was riddled with runes, and at its center was a black hole that perfectly matched the width of the sword.
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