Chapter 37: Zhuang Zhou Dreams of Being a Butterfly
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Li Qingshan looked at the stele before him. He was full of doubts.
“I just saw the name of the Sword God of the Old Millennium Calendar in the books. I never imagined that he was among the sea of steles in the Stele Forest,” said Li Qingshan as he looked intently at the stele.
There was only one line in the books that mentioned the Sword God of the Old Millennium Calendar. What was his life like? Was he a member of the Yuhua Sect? So many questions surfaced in his mind.
The words that floated before his eyes slowly dissipated. A new sword technique appeared in his mind.
It was the Heaven Slicing Sword Technique.
This sword technique was mysterious and extraordinary. So Li Qingshan suppressed his own doubts and focused all his energy on comprehending the technique.
The True Qi in his body boiled as he circulated it within himself according to the technique. Finally, it slowly merged to form a small sword.
This was a sword prototype of the Heaven Slicing Sword Technique.
In front of the stele, Li Qingshan sat cross-legged. Using his finger as a sword, he slowly swirled it around.
Sword Qi shot out from his fingertips like soaring dragons. They curled around his sword finger as they soared and spiraled.
Li Qingshan slowly got a grasp of the Heaven Slicing Sword Technique.
The more he cultivated, the more he felt that the depth of this sword technique was unfathomable.
“The power of the Heaven Slicing Sword Technique surpasses that of the Great River Sword Qi,” thought Li Qingshan as he compared the two. He had confirmed that Wu Shaobai’s Great River Sword Qi was not as advanced as the Heaven Slicing Sword Technique.
Of course, this was due to the difference in the era.
Wu Shaobai was a figure from more than 40 years ago. As for the Sword God of the Old Millennium Calendar, he was an expert from 3,000 years ago.
In that era, it was possible for people to reach the Saint Plane, and the world was boundless. Hence, it was understandable that the Heaven Slicing Sword Technique was much more incredible.
As he slowly cultivated, he delved deeper to the core of the Heaven Slicing Sword Technique. Finally, all of the True Qi in his body surged into the sword prototype.
It trembled slightly.
[Rumble.]
There was a miraculous chemical reaction between the sword prototype in Li Qingshan’s body and the stele in front of him. As a result, the world before him suddenly became ethereal. It was as though he was in a dream and was looking at the world from 3,000 years ago.
“This is… the world within the stele!” said Li Qingshan in astonishment.
It was just like when he comprehended Wu Shaobai’s stele and saw traces of Wu Shaobai’s life.
Now, he saw the life of the Sword God of the Old Millennium Calendar from 3,000 years ago.
In this world, it was nighttime.
The stars sparkled in the sky, and the light drizzled down on the world. Flowers on the mountainside fluttered in the wind. They appeared elegant as they danced in the starlight.
Under the moonlight, Li Qingshan saw a middle-aged man. A sword was hanging from his waist, and he was dressed in green robes. He appeared lazy and uninhibited.
He held a jar of wine and drank from it continuously.
Behind him lay ten corpses, all of which had been killed in one strike.
Even though they were dead, Li Qingshan could sense heavy auras that far surpassed that of the Great Venerable Plane emanating from these corpses.
They were all experts who had broken through the shackles of the world and reached the Saint Plane 3,000 years ago.
Yet, they had all perished in one blow from the Sword God of the Old Millennium Calendar.
The Sword God looked up to the starry sky and said in a voice as cold as ice, “To prevent others from surpassing yourself, you spread a great lie and deceived the world. You killed countless experts and used their lives, cultivation, and blood to cast a grand matrix and imprison the Great World Path, severing the cultivation paths of the people of the world. You are truly terrifying.”
There was no one before him. Rather, it would seem like he was talking to the heavens.
[Rumble.]
The serenity of the cloudless night was interrupted suddenly by dark clouds churning and wind howling. A gigantic face appeared in the sky.
The gigantic face declared, “I have imprisoned the Great World Path with an ancient matrix. This matrix was forged using techniques from both the Righteous Path and Demonic Path, and it was refined with the blood of countless top-level masters. Therefore, the Great Path in this world will gradually become more obscure. It will be more difficult for future generations to cultivate. In the end, they might not even break through the Saint Plane.” “From now on, there will no longer be extraordinary cultivators who can destroy the mountains or rivers easily. Without cultivators who are strong enough to move mountains and shift the stars as they please, the human world will be more peaceful with much less fighting. I am actually being charitable.
So why do you bear animosity toward me?”
The voice of the gigantic face was thunderous. He claimed to have done a good deed for mankind.
Li Qingshan’s eyes were bewildered as he witnessed the conversation between the Sword God of the Old Millennium Calendar and the mysterious man. Now, he finally figured out why the Great Path in the present time was so difficult to comprehend and why the Saint Plane had become such a challenge.
So it turned out that someone had sealed off the Great World Path with an ancient matrix that was further fortified with the blood and lives of countless top-level masters.
The Sword God frowned and replied coldly, “You were afraid that someone would surpass you; therefore, you sealed off the Great Path so that no one could threaten your position in the future. That was your ulterior motive.”
The mysterious man said indifferently, “You should be honored that I am willing to descend and have a peaceful conversation with you. It is undeniable that the Great World Path has been sealed. There’s nothing you can do to change it.”
“There’s nothing I can do to change it? I don’t think so.” The lips of the Sword
God curled up as he stared at the mysterious man with a mocking expression.
“I think I can change it,” said the Sword God of the Old Millennium Calendar in all seriousness. His hand reached for the sword hanging on his belt as he prepared to launch an attack.
“What do you plan to do?” questioned the gigantic face that appeared from the clouds. He was both shocked and enraged.
The Sword God said, “Everything has its own course. Even if I am punished by the heavens, I will do what I have to do. For your selfish reason, you buried the future of this world, causing future generations to not be able to reach the heights we achieved. This is sad. Today, I shall land a blow on you.”
The Sword God of the Old Millennium Calendar drew his sword.
The aura of the sword was slightly cold with a hint of mercilessness. The blade of the sword was like the body of a nobleman, untainted by rust as the Sword God held it in his hand.
[Rumble.]
The next moment, the Sword God attacked.
This sword was without equal as it carried the spirit of the Sword God with it. The brilliant slash became a fierce charge.
The slash dissipated the gigantic face that had appeared from the dark clouds. The attack of the Sword God charged deep into the sky. It became like one of the stars as it moved further into the vast sky.
Li Qingshan observed everything intently. Then, a [kacha] sound reverberated in the heavens.
The attack of the Sword God had struck the ancient matrix set up by the mysterious man.
The matrix shook violently, causing the space they were in to tremble as well.
“Lunatic! You are undoubtedly a mad man!”
A raging shriek could be heard from the heavens.
The mysterious man said, “You poured your entire being into that attack. You even filled the attack with your spirit to boost its performance. However, your attack was meaningless. You merely destroyed half of my primordial spirit. You didn’t even destroy this matrix. You have no chance now.”
After the Sword God heard this, he chuckled and said, “I used all my strength to slice off half of your primordial spirit. The grand matrix is shaking, and cracks have appeared on it. After this, you will certainly fall into a deep slumber. I believe that in the future, someone who can break this ancient matrix will appear and reintroduce the Great Path into the world, allowing spiritual Qi to shower down once again.”
“Impossible. No one in the future can reach the Saint Plane. Even if I slumber for thousands of years, no one will be able to break this ancient matrix,” roared the mysterious, powerful figure high in the sky.
“I believe that someone will be able to do so,” answered the Sword God. He did not continue to debate with the mysterious man and instead turned around. His gaze turned toward Li Qingshan’s direction, and he nodded his head slightly.
Then, his figure became stardust and was blown away by the wind.
The Sword God of the Old Millennium Calendar had poured his entire being into his final slash. After he slashed out, he perished.
However, he did not regret it.
The illusion before Li Qingshan dissipated, and he returned to reality.
He was still sitting cross-legged in front of the stele on Repentance Cliff. The fleeting moment felt like a lifetime.
His experience was similar to Zhuang Zhou dreaming of being a butterfly!
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