Chapter 167: Light-Moon Silent-Life Sword
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Translated by Frog in the Well
Read more at Nineheavens.org
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***
Just as Jin So-myeong departed from Cloud Dragon Immortal City.
In a remote cave, the Supreme Elder of the Dragon Elephant Demonic Palace, who was sitting cross-legged, opened his eyes.
“He has finally come out of the city.”
*Squeak!*
A large two-headed rat sniffed its nose and pointed somewhere, and the Supreme Elder, who was staring at the empty air with an expressionless face, brushed himself off and stood up.
***
One month later.
Jin So-myeong, who was flying as fast as possible while even using the Lightning Escape Art unsparingly, paused.
The moment he entered the outer zone of the Flow-Shearing Grassland.
*Ting!*
A breeze that flew in stealthily tried to slash his neck, and a metallic sound echoed from the blood armor he reflexively condensed.
‘Heh?’
The blood armor, which could block even Nascent Soul-grade spells, vibrated with a hum. It meant the power of the wind that had just clashed with it was extraordinary.
It was not that he had been ambushed by someone.
The wind blowing around him was simply as sharp as Sword Qi.
‘No wonder this is called one of the ten great forbidden areas.’
Not to mention the ordinary wind, even the weeds growing on the ground emitted sharp energy. It was no exaggeration to say it was literally a grassland made of blades.
‘…A place Limitless would like.’
Limitless, residing in the sword at his waist, vibrated with a hum to express its joy.
After tapping the scabbard to calm Limitless, who wanted to wander here and there,
*Wheeeeeeew!*
he headed deep into the Flow-Shearing Grassland, pushing through the constantly blowing Sword Qi—no, the wind.
He felt like he was surrounded by dozens of sword cultivators, but thanks to the blood armor, he was able to break through without difficulty.
How many days had passed?
He entered a region filled with cliffs large and small and cracked ground.
It was a messy place, as if a war had occurred and it had been hit by a bombardment of spells. The cave dwelling location indicated by the map was right around here.
‘It should be time to arrive soon.’
Just as he wandered looking for the cave dwelling of the Soul Formation sword cultivator while carefully comparing the map with the surrounding landscape,
‘Oh!’
he was able to find ruins inside a crater as large as if it had been hit by a meteorite.
‘I think this is the place.’
Looking at the half-buried building debris that looked like collapsed pillars, it was certain.
The moment the joyful Jin So-myeong entered the sunken basin,
the wind stopped, and silence flowed. Mysteriously, the wind did not blow here.
‘There is no… spiritual vein.’
If it was the cave dwelling of a Soul Formation sword cultivator, should there not normally be a Rank 5 spiritual vein? Leaving his doubt behind, he carefully inspected the surroundings.
*Crackle!*
Lightning settled in his eyes. He thoroughly searched in all directions while even casting the Lightning Insight Spell-Breaking Eye…
‘There is nothing?’
Was it arrogance to try to obtain something from a place the Sacred City had already swept clean? No matter how much he searched, he could not find anything useful.
Is this truly the end?
He could not bring himself to leave in regret. Just as he stood blankly staring at the ruins,
*Hummmm!*
the sword at his waist vibrated. He felt that Limitless wanted to go somewhere.
Following where Limitless led just in case, there was nothing.
“Is this the place?”
*Hum, hum!*
His doubt was only brief. Emerging from the sword and becoming a gold-and-silver sphere, Limitless circled around the empty air and was joyful.
“…Hmm?”
Although it was clearly nothing but empty air without a single special point, he felt the sharp energy harbored by Limitless grew stronger little by little.
It was a bizarre phenomenon; it was clear that there was something here in this place that looked like ordinary empty air.
Pondering for a moment, Jin So-myeong began to consume his Supreme Great Abilities to amplify his senses.
1,000,000, 2,000,000, 3,000,000…
He poured in his Supreme Great Abilities, but still nothing was detected. Without giving up, he continued to consume Supreme Great Abilities.
At the moment he poured in a whopping ten million Supreme Great Abilities,
the extreme Lightning Insight Spell-Breaking Eye read something, and a powerful flash filled his vision.
He felt as if he was being sucked into somewhere…
***
When Jin So-myeong regained his senses, the first thing he saw was an immense number of sword cultivators.
At least tens of thousands.
An incredibly vast number of sword cultivators were lined up around a platform, and every single one of them harbored a sharp aura, looking like outstanding sword cultivators.
The sword cultivators who had reached the Nascent Soul stage alone numbered a whopping hundred. The Golden Core-grade numbered in the thousands, and the Qi Condensation or Foundation Establishment were too many to count.
‘Crazy… all those many sword cultivators are people of a single sect?’
The attire of the sword cultivators differed in splendor depending on their realms, the texture was the same. Anyone could see they belonged to the same group.
‘Just what sect is this?’
To think there were over a hundred Nascent Soul sword cultivators, it was an unbelievably powerful force. Even the Sacred City, which was called the ruler of the Middle Province, probably would not be at this level.
Jin So-myeong, who had been momentarily dazed by the sight that could be called a spectacle, startled back to his senses.
First, he grasped the situation.
Currently, he was possessed by a certain Nascent Soul sword cultivator, and all he could do was perceive what the owner of the body saw and heard and think in his head.
He tried to control the hands and feet, but since it did not work, he decided to focus simply on observing the surroundings.
‘Is this… the past?’
It was a bizarre thing.
He had visited the cave dwelling where a Soul Formation sword cultivator was said to have stayed, but some sect of sword cultivators had popped up.
Looking at the tens of thousands of sword cultivators lined up in front of him, the rumor that the cultivation civilization in the ancient times flourished to a degree incomparable to the present suddenly came to mind.
He felt that the rumor, which he had considered absurd, might actually be true.
‘To think such a powerful sect vanished without leaving even its name.’
No matter how much something flourished, was it helpless before time? Did anything exist in the world that could withstand the trials of time?
A shiver ran through him at the vast power of time. Just as he was dazed by blankness,
“Greetings to the Star-Shattering True Monarch!”
Shouts filled with respect and adoration shook heaven and earth.
A man suddenly appeared on the platform surrounded by tens of thousands of people, and all the sword cultivators bowed their heads to express heartfelt reverence.
‘Star-Shattering True Monarch?’
Jin So-myeong, startled, focused on the platform, and a strange man was visible.
A middle-aged man with a subtle smile on his lips wore white robes.
His appearance and temperament were completely different from the Star-Shattering True Monarch he had seen in the desert in the past. The one who had cleaved the serpent in a single slash had a much sharper impression and was an entity harboring deep-seated hatred.
‘Is it a different person…? But why is he called Star-Shattering True Monarch?’
The Star-Shattering True Monarch was the first immortal who descended two hundred thousand years ago. Who would dare use that title recklessly?
Just as doubt rose,
“It cleaves heaven and earth, pierces through laws, and ultimately severs life.”
When the Star-Shattering True Monarch grasped the empty air, a sword emerged.
“The original name of this cultivation method is the Light-Moon Silent-Life Dao. It is the pride of human cultivation civilization tempered by the combined strength of countless people.”
The Star-Shattering True Monarch, looking up at the sky in silence for a moment, continued speaking.
“However, since I have condensed only the essence and refined it into a sword formula, I shall call it the Light-Moon Silent-Life Sword.”
*Tap.*
Slowly, the blade that poked the empty air spread light, and the entire world brightened.
The tens of thousands of sword cultivators watching as if possessed retreated simultaneously. They clutched their chests and broke out in cold sweat as if their hearts had been pierced.
“This is the very first move of the Light-Moon Silent-Life Sword, A Single Flash Lightens the Heavens. If you can perform this sword strike, it can be said that you have entered the threshold of the Light-Moon Silent-Life Sword.”
The Star-Shattering True Monarch, wearing a gentle smile, began to recite the Light-Moon Silent-Life Sword text.
The sword cultivators densely filling the square held their breath and listened, and Jin So-myeong also left all doubts and idle thoughts behind to focus on the teachings.
‘Light-Moon Silent-Life Sword.’
No matter how he looked at it, it was not an ordinary sword formula.
Just hearing and remembering it made his head ache. Would such pain be felt if one tried to hold an ocean in a narrow stream?
It was difficult enough that even Jin So-myeong, who possessed a Nascent Soul-grade soul, had to concentrate with all his heart.
Even while consuming his Supreme Great Abilities, he made an effort to remember everything without missing a single character.
Around the time his mind grew hazy,
the Star-Shattering True Monarch, who had recited the text for a full seven days and nights without resting for a single moment, smiled warmly.
“Do you understand?”
The text was a whopping thirty million characters, so long that it would take an ordinary person over a hundred days just to read it.
Because the Star-Shattering True Monarch used a special divine ability that compressed dozens of sentences into a single character to transmit them, he was able to finish transmitting the text in just one week.
“Ah…”
Sighs filled with regret leaked from here and there.
Unlike Jin So-myeong, who had squeezed out all his concentration to completely remember the text, most of the sword cultivators had failed to receive it.
“It does not matter even if you cannot remember, so do not obsess. Law is merely law; what is truly important is the intent. If there is a connection, you will eventually reach it.”
When the Star-Shattering True Monarch spoke in a benevolent voice and swung his sword, light burst out.
Thrusting, slashing, parrying.
Simple movements continued endlessly, and the light of A Single Flash Lightens the Heavens was steeped in every movement.
As if telling them to watch and learn, the kind teaching continued.
The demonstration did not end in a single day.
The sun rose and set, and over dozens of days to past a hundred days. Standing in that very spot, the Star-Shattering True Monarch endlessly showed the sword.
Low-level disciples who could not hold out fainted and even the Golden Core Sages tottered, but the demonstration continued.
As time flowed and flowed, just one person.
The only Nascent Soul sword cultivator who did not give up thrust his sword as if possessed, and a faint light illuminated the world for an instant.
“Excellent.”
Only then did the Star-Shattering True Monarch stop the demonstration and smile while looking at the sword cultivator Jin So-myeong possessed, and
“Since you have filled the world with A Single Flash Lightens the Heavens, next is…”
with the voice that sounded as faint as a dream as the end, the world drifted away along with a distant feeling.
“Ah?”
Having emerged from the past illusion and returned to the Flow-Shearing Grassland before he knew it, Jin So-myeong exhaled a breath mixed with regret and admiration.
Only now did he realize what kind of place the empty air in front of him was. It was where the very platform was, from which the Star-Shattering True Monarch had bestowed teachings for hundreds of days.
Although the platform had crumbled under the trials of time without leaving even a trace, the A Single Flash Lightens the Heavens performed over thousands and tens of thousands of times continued until now and reached Jin So-myeong.
Just as he recalled the Light-Moon Silent-Life Sword text engraved in his memory,
*Hum, hum!*
Limitless, who had been circling the empty air in joy, was bewildered. This was because the mysterious energy vanished as Jin So-myeong contacted the past.
And mysteriously, a gust of wind rushed into the ruins that had been quiet without a single breath of wind. It was as if minnows that had fled to avoid a predator had crowded back.
“Limitless, how much time has passed?”
*Hum?*
Interpreting the emotions Limitless lengthily conveyed, at least it did not seem like a long time had passed.
Apparently, looking at the past with the Lightning Insight Spell-Breaking Eye finished in a mere split second.
‘What a relief.’
He had worried if hundreds of days had passed, but it was not so.
Nodding his head, Jin So-myeong took out a jade slip. He intended to transcribe the Light-Moon Silent-Life Sword text he had memorized with difficulty before forgetting it, but…
*Poof!*
He could not record even a single character. When he put the text in with the intention to record the Light-Moon Silent-Life Sword, the jade slip crumbled finely and scattered into powder.
‘As expected, it won’t work.’
It was said that truly precious knowledge could not be recorded.
Apparently, the Light-Moon Silent-Life Sword was a cultivation method so precious that recording was impossible.
‘Are all Soul Formation-grade cultivation methods like this?’
Having no choice, he repeatedly recited the text while tracing his memory. He intended to engrave it into his mind altogether so as not to forget it.
From time to time, when he felt as if he understood something, he tried to swing the sword to perform A Single Flash Lightens the Heavens…
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