Chapter 3: Sword Pagoda Forest

Ji Ning and Su Youji followed Daoist Fudan as they flew through the mountain forests.

Among the连绵 mountains, occasional cave dwellings of cultivators could be seen. Daoist Fudan suddenly pointed into the distance at a valley: "That is the Divine Weapon Valley, an extremely important place in our Sword Palace, comparable in significance to the Treasure Pavilion."

"Divine Weapon Valley?" Ji Ning looked into the distance, while Su Youji listened curiously—these matters had little to do with her, but it was still an eye-opener.

At a glance, parts of buildings were faintly visible in the valley, while others extended deep into the mountains.

"The Divine Weapon Valley houses a vast collection of divine weapons, treasures, strange objects, and all kinds of precious items," said Daoist Fudan. "The divine weapons here are mainly swords of various types. There are also numerous treasures, strange objects, elixirs, and so on that can be wielded... As long as it's a treasure, it's stored here."

Ji Ning's eyes lit up.

All treasures were stored here?

Could the Snowscape Chart also be here?

"How can one obtain the treasures inside?" Ji Ning asked.

"The treasures in the Divine Weapon Valley are the accumulation of the Sword Palace over endless ages. It's impossible to let Sword Palace cultivators take them freely," said Daoist Fudan. "If everyone got something for nothing, the treasures would soon be gone. Go and see for yourself—the Divine Weapon Valley has certain rules. But in the outside world, some truly rare treasures are never put up for sale, yet we have them in our Divine Weapon Valley."

Ji Ning nodded.

The rarer and more precious something was, the harder it was to obtain. For instance, Heavenly Unity Dao Lord, to get a treasure, spared no expense in asking Grand Mo Dao Lord for help and risked his life. The Sword Palace's 'Divine Weapon Valley' contained some extremely precious treasures.

"The Scripture Library is for sword techniques. This place is for treasures." Ji Ning nodded. Indeed, these two places were comparable.

"Next, we'll go to one of the top three sacred sites." Daoist Fudan continued flying.

...

They flew high into the sky, ascending higher and higher.

"There." Daoist Fudan pointed to the tallest structure in the entire Sword Palace—a strange, towering building like layers of clouds. The first layer was ten thousand zhang of black cloud condensed; the second layer was ten thousand zhang of cyan cloud; the third layer was ten thousand zhang of silver-white cloud; and the highest layer was ten thousand zhang of golden cloud.

These four layers of condensed clouds formed such a towering building, standing at the core of the entire Sword Palace.

"This is the Dao Lord Cloud Realm," said Daoist Fudan with emotion. "It is an extremely important place in the Sword Palace, easily ranking in the top three."

"What's it for?" Ji Ning asked, puzzled.

"The Dao Lord Cloud Realm contains a large number of puppet opponents, over ninety percent of which use swords. They display various sword techniques, from low to high, and some sword techniques can even rival those of three-step Dao Lords," said Daoist Fudan with emotion. "A sword cultivator's greatest need is combat, especially against opponents with superb sword techniques."

Ji Ning agreed wholeheartedly.

His own rapid progress in sword techniques owed much to the three opponents in the three grotto-heavens of the Snowscape Chart.

"Fighting against opponents with superb sword techniques not only reveals the flaws in one's own swordsmanship but also allows one to absorb the opponent's sword experience," said Daoist Fudan with emotion. "But when venturing outside, fighting carries the risk of death. In the Dao Lord Cloud Realm, there is no danger of death. The Dao Lord Cloud Realm has a vast number of puppets, built by the entire Sword Palace with all its strength... and accumulated over endless ages, resulting in so many powerful puppets."

Ji Ning nodded. It was common for cultivators to have sword techniques comparable to three-step Dao Lords, but creating a puppet with 'three-step Dao Lord sword techniques' was extremely costly. Even an Eternal Emperor would find it painful. Generally, even the most top-tier puppets, comparable to those on the verge of Dao integration, relied on immense strength and speed, but their realm was usually inferior.

Puppets, after all, were not cultivators; they were inherently weak in realm.

"A large number of sword opponents, with various sword techniques, even rivaling three-step Dao Lords," said Daoist Fudan with emotion. "Having so many opponents—which sword cultivator wouldn't desire it? Our Sword Palace has such a place."

Ji Ning was excited.

No wonder the Sword Palace could produce prodigies like the 'Six Sword Lords' among World-level cultivators.

"And more!"

"The Dao Lord Cloud Realm has four layers," said Daoist Fudan. "The Black Cloud Realm is the first layer. If you successfully clear it, you obtain the Black Armor, which is merely top-grade Dao divine armor. The Cyan Cloud Realm is the second layer; clearing it earns the Cyan Armor. The Silver Cloud Realm is the third layer; clearing it earns the Silver Armor. The topmost is the fourth layer, the Golden Cloud Realm; clearing it earns the Golden Armor. Whether it's the Cyan Armor, Silver Armor, or Golden Armor, they are all Eternal treasure-grade, though their power differs. The Golden Armor is top-grade Eternal divine armor with many miraculous properties."

"Obtaining the Black Armor indicates reaching the threshold of a one-step Dao Lord."

"Obtaining the Cyan Armor indicates the threshold of a two-step Dao Lord."

"The Silver Armor indicates the threshold of a three-step Dao Lord."

"The Golden Armor indicates the threshold of a four-step Dao Lord."

Daoist Fudan said.

Ji Ning nodded. The threshold represented the lowest level. When he had first become a World-level cultivator, he had already reached the threshold of a One-Step Daolord, and now he was comparable to an ordinary One-Step Daolord.

"Among the World-level cultivators in our Sword Palace, eight have obtained the green armor," Vastfire Daolord said in a low voice.

"What?" Ji Ning was shocked.

Although he was formidable, he probably couldn't even reach the threshold of a Two-Step Daolord. There were actually eight?

"Five are special lives, and three are cultivators. Even among the cultivators, they possess extremely heaven-defying divine abilities or secret arts," Vastfire Daolord explained. "When challenging the Daolord Cloud World, you can use all your own power, including divine abilities and secret arts. But special treasures, Dao talismans, insect beasts, puppets, and the like are not allowed."

"Don't be surprised."

"The power of divine abilities and secret arts is immense," Vastfire Daolord said. "Now I'll take you to another place."

…

It was a bamboo tower shrouded in mist, atop a high mountain peak.

"That is the Secret Pavilion," Vastfire Daolord said, pointing at the bamboo tower. "It houses a vast collection of divine abilities, secret arts, and even legacies left by mighty Sword Dao experts."

"Divine abilities can amplify one's strength tenfold or a hundredfold."

"As for secret arts, they are even harder to gauge. Some extremely powerful secret arts have terrifying might," Vastfire Daolord said.

Ji Ning nodded.

The Nine Sources Divine Thunder was a secret art! Some terrifying secret arts could indeed allow one to fight above their level. Some monstrous World-level cultivators, like 'Thousand Star Child,' if they obtained some fearsome secret arts and powerful divine weapons from the twelve palaces, could even reach the threshold of the second level of the Daolord Cloud World and obtain the green armor.

Reaching the threshold of a Two-Step Daolord meant they would likely lose in a single move against a true Two-Step Daolord, but they could generally slay a One-Step Daolord.

"Many of the divine abilities and secret arts here were left by 'Daolords' who could match Eternal Emperors. There are also those left by Eternal Emperors... and the legacies are similar," Vastfire Daolord said. "The number of legacies is relatively smaller."

Ji Ning nodded.

Legacies were different from the sword techniques in the Scripture Storage Pavilion.

A legacy was like a master. It not only contained a vast amount of sword techniques but also provided detailed guidance on artistic conception, including the Daolord's thorough analysis of each sword technique and step-by-step guidance on the path of the Daolord of Life and Death... A single legacy was ten thousand times more precious than bare sword techniques.

For example, the nameless sword art that Northrest World God left for Ji Ning. The first five stances all had artistic conceptions, but the sixth and seventh stances were merely recorded moves that Northrest World God himself had never learned.

The flaw of the Scripture Storage Pavilion was that its sword techniques were just sword moves, without any sword intent for cultivators to comprehend.

"Every newcomer can choose one item from the Secret Pavilion," Vastfire Daolord said, looking at Ji Ning. "You can only choose one. Divine abilities, secret arts, or legacies... you can only pick one."

"Can't I choose more?" Ji Ning asked.

"You can, but it will cost you. You can check the details later," Vastfire Daolord said. "The Daolord Cloud World and the Secret Pavilion are both among the top three sacred grounds of our Sword Palace. Now I'll take you to the most important place in the entire Sword Palace, the undisputed number one sacred ground."

…

They flew all the way to the rear of the Sword Palace.

"There," Vastfire Daolord said, pointing into the distance. It was a stretch of black earth, upon which stood countless towers, like a forest, stretching as far as the ocean. Each tower emitted astonishing sword intent. Here, countless strands of sword intent crisscrossed, having existed for tens of thousands of chaos cycles, millions of chaos cycles, or even longer...

The sword intent here still remained.

"Since the founding of the Sword Palace,"

"everyone whose sword technique was acknowledged by the Sword Tower has left a sword tower here," Vastfire Daolord said softly. "The minimum threshold for being acknowledged by the Sword Tower is the level of the Six Sword Lords. Throughout the endless ages, every Daolord of Life and Death, and even Eternal Emperors, have left their sword towers here. Each sword tower contains the sword techniques they cultivated, personally inscribed by them, naturally imbued with their sword intent."

"From the founding of the Sword Palace to the present, countless Daolords have died, and even Eternal Emperors have left to wander, but these sword towers have been preserved."

"Eighty-three thousand six hundred and twelve sword towers!"

"This is the greatest treasure of the Sword Palace, its most important sacred ground." Vastfire Daolord's eyes were filled with reverence.

Ji Ning felt the sword intent that had existed for endless ages. Some of it was incredibly arrogant and unrestrained, belonging to the most supreme existences who had once roamed the boundless territories, many of whom rivaled Eternal Emperors or were Emperors themselves... All of it remained here. Each sword tower represented one of those mighty experts.

Daolords of Life and Death faced life and death at every step. Unless they ultimately succeeded in Dao integration, they could not live for long. Many of the earliest Daolords had died, but their sword techniques and sword intent remained, destined to be passed down eternally.

"The number one sacred ground of the Sword Palace: the Sword Tower Forest." Vastfire Daolord's voice trembled slightly. How he longed to leave a sword tower here, but alas, his sword technique was insufficient.

…