Chapter 281 : Slightly Surpassing the Dao Ancestor

Chapter 281: Slightly Surpassing the Dao Ancestor

The time-freezing function within the inheritance secret realm had already dissipated.

Chu Huaixu had long anticipated this.

Because within the myriad swords, he saw 【Zhegutian】 and saw 【Slow, Slow Tune】.

His divine sense had, in effect, resonated with the swords of the outside world.

He did not know how the Dao Ancestor had achieved this, or rather, how the residual power within this secret realm had managed to do so.

It had actually used the swords of the outside world to simulate a session of 【Myriad Swords Converge】 for him.

Chu Huaixu could roughly guess that the swords across the entire 【Mountains Beyond Mountains】 region were likely all experiencing disturbances!

He simply did not know to what extent.

At this moment, he stood amidst the encirclement of countless swords.

Everything around him had completely vanished.

Only swords remained!

Yet after the Sword Heart had fully condensed, everything did not stop.

The Dao Ancestor had told Chu Huaixu to carefully comprehend.

Then it certainly was not merely to let him break through that 0.1% progress bar when condensing the Sword Heart.

Thus, he continued to carefully comprehend.

After all, for Chu Huaixu, although 【Sword Heart: Myriad Swords Return to One】 had already successfully condensed, it was only at its initial stage.

Like sword intent, there were still Minor Mastery, Major Mastery, and the so-called Sword Heart Clarity realm to come!

The road was still long.

He looked at the spiritual swords around him that had submitted to him and found it extremely mysterious.

His divine sense seemed to have transformed into countless threads.

Each strand of divine sense was tightly connected to the sword spirit within each sword.

Even more wondrous was that he did not feel any strain at all.

Because it was not him using his divine sense to bind these swords.

Rather, the sword spirits of these swords were actively seeking to establish a connection with him!

Chu Huaixu only needed to accept them.

He knew very clearly that at this moment, he himself was also a sword.

The “one” within 【Myriad Swords Return to One】!

He felt that he seemed able to draw power from these swords.

They were not merely tools for his command—he could temporarily borrow their power and strengthen himself.

At the same time, Chu Huaixu could also sense that the Heart Sword within his Sea of Consciousness had undergone a change.

It carried an arrogant posture.

When Chu Huaixu inwardly observed, he could see countless lines surrounding the Heart Sword.

These golden threads came from all directions.

“This might be the connection between the Heart Sword and the myriad swords?” he speculated inwardly.

At this moment, Chu Huaixu even had a strange illusion.

“It feels like they’ve all become my life-bound swords.”

Thousands upon thousands of life-bound swords!

Of course, the connection between him and these swords was certainly not as exaggerated as that between a sword cultivator and their life-bound sword.

It had not yet reached that level.

He roughly estimated that if the closeness between a sword cultivator and their life-bound sword was 10, then his current level was close to 3.

And one had to know, he had only just condensed his Sword Heart.

“As the level of the Sword Heart increases, it will likely strengthen further.”

Chu Huaixu understood clearly that when the Dao Ancestor used 【Myriad Swords Converge】, his connection with those swords was certainly not as close as his own.

“At most, only about 2!”

Even when borrowing swords from others in daily situations, the swords’ attitude toward the Dao Ancestor and toward him was noticeably more eager toward him.

This might be related to the fact that he had refined himself into a sword and formed a Heart Sword akin to a sword spirit within his Sea of Consciousness.

Chu Huaixu remained within the encirclement of myriad swords, carefully comprehending.

The progress bar toward Minor Mastery of his Sword Heart surged rapidly.

Once it reached 100%, he would enter the Minor Mastery realm.

Soon, he noticed that at the outermost edge of this “sea of swords,” there was an extremely special sword.

From Chu Huaixu’s “perspective,” it appeared blurred and indistinct.

Its submission to him was also the weakest.

Yet this sword was extraordinarily powerful!

“Even my First Master’s 【Slow, Slow Tune】 is far inferior to it.”

He now somewhat understood that the swords more intimate with him would gather closer, centering around him.

This was not necessarily directly related to the strength of the sword.

For example, although 【Zhegutian】 was a Supreme-grade Spiritual Artifact, due to frequent past interactions—and the fact that he had personally borrowed it—it was like a close minister beside an emperor, staying closest to him.

However, if certain swords had no prior interaction with him, then the stronger they were overall, the more likely they were to be positioned at the outermost edge.

“Then whose sword is this?”

Chu Huaixu already had a vague guess in his heart.

After all, Shen Man was one of the 【Four Great Divine Swords】, the strongest sword cultivator of the Dao Gate aside from Jiang Zhi.

With Seventh Realm Great Perfection cultivation, she could defeat those above her level—ordinary Eighth Realm cultivators were no match for her.

Then, if this sword was even more terrifying than 【Slow, Slow Tune】, it could only belong to Jiang Zhi.

The sword he had sealed for years, nurturing a single heaven-and-earth sword!

Outside the inheritance secret realm.

After about half a stick of incense’s time, the extremely agitated spiritual swords finally gradually calmed down.

The owners of these swords had all sensed that an unknown aura had connected with the sword spirit of their life-bound swords.

They desperately tried to find the source but failed.

And amusingly, the swords themselves were also frantically searching for the source.

Only, they wanted to fly toward it—to pay homage.

“This kind of phenomenon has finally ended,” Xiang Yan and the others remarked.

They all turned to Jiang Zhi and asked, “Little Martial Uncle, don’t you think this resembles 【Myriad Swords Converge】?”

Jiang Zhi first nodded, then shook his head.

This inevitably left them somewhat disappointed.

Nangong Yue could not help but say, “From what we just saw, it’s not hard to tell that this inheritance secret realm might truly be related to Myriad Swords Converge.”

“I originally thought that between Frost Descent and Huaixu, one of them might have already comprehended Myriad Swords Converge.”

“It seems it still hasn’t reached that level?”

Li Chunsong and Zhao Shuqin both sighed, feeling a bit regretful.

For those of the Dao Gate, there had always been two great regrets.

Or rather, two thorns in their hearts.

First, for a thousand years, no one had comprehended the 《Dao Canon》, to the point that the Dao Ancestor’s legacy showed signs of being lost.

This was a disgrace to their forebears—and truly embarrassing!

Second, in the current Dao Gate, no one could execute 【Myriad Swords Converge】. Even Jiang Zhi could not, yet the current Sword Sovereign of the Sword Sect had done it.

The Sword Sect and Dao Gate had many historical grievances. The two sects constantly compared themselves and competed in secret.

This also made the sword cultivators of the Sword Sect particularly fond of boasting about this matter—barking loudly.

Now, Chu Huaixu had already accomplished the first matter.

If he could also comprehend 【Myriad Swords Converge】, Xiang Yan and the others would feel utterly satisfied—indescribably pleased.

At this moment, Jiang Zhi looked at them and slightly frowned.

“You have misunderstood my meaning,” he said in a deep voice.

“The Myriad Swords Converge used by that Sword Sovereign of the Sword Sect—I have seen it before.”

“But to me, it felt more like something he created himself after studying the Dao Ancestor’s sword techniques.”

“In terms of power, it is likely only about fifty percent of the true 【Myriad Swords Converge】.”

“Even the Sword Sovereign himself admits this.”

He paused briefly.

Li Chunsong immediately interjected, as expected.

“The Sword Sect is as shameless as ever. Since it’s not the Dao Ancestor’s true 【Myriad Swords Converge】, they shouldn’t be boasting about it everywhere!”

Zhao Shuqin quickly added, “Exactly! Isn’t that just inflating their own reputation? Using our Dao Ancestor to glorify themselves!”

But Jiang Zhi raised his hand and waved it slightly.

“Not so.”

“The reason for this is that the gap in strength between the Sword Sovereign and the Dao Ancestor is simply too great.”

“After all, for some reason, he has yet to break into the Ninth Realm.”

“Thus, he can only resort to clever shortcuts.”

“But in truth, he has already grasped its essence!”

“That is something we must acknowledge.”

Jiang Zhi had an eccentric temperament—arrogant and headstrong—but he was not someone who refused to accept defeat or ignored facts.

Xiang Yan immediately asked, “So, Little Martial Uncle, do you mean that if the Sword Sovereign reaches the Ninth Realm, he could perform the true 【Myriad Swords Converge】?”

“That is possible,” Jiang Zhi replied cautiously.

This made everyone’s expressions somewhat grim.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Zhi looked at them and said, “Why do your faces look so unpleasant?”

He stopped beating around the bush and said with a smile:

“I already said—you misunderstood me.”

“The true 【Myriad Swords Converge】, though I have not mastered it, I know it allows one to make all swords submit and obey one’s command.”

“But what we just witnessed—the swords were not merely submitting. They were acting more proactively.”

“It even gave me the feeling that some of the strongest swords were like noble young ladies from powerful families in storybooks, taking the initiative to pursue a poor boy.”

Jiang Zhi once again took on the tone of a storyteller as he spoke.

Xiang Yan and the others felt he was indirectly criticizing their life-bound swords and was somewhat displeased with their earlier behavior.

But Jiang Zhi quickly changed his tone and said:

“Yet precisely because of this, it may unleash even greater power from the swords and their sword spirits!”

“Because they are offering their power willingly, rather than being controlled by a single person!”

This caused everyone’s expressions to change drastically.

The dead gambler Li Chunsong immediately sucked in a sharp breath. “Hiss—! Little Martial Uncle, according to what you’re saying…”

Jiang Zhi nodded and carefully chose his words:

“If nothing unexpected happened, such a massive disturbance was probably caused by that brat Chu Huaixu again.”

“And if he has truly grasped Myriad Swords Converge…”

“I’m afraid… he might even slightly surpass the Dao Ancestor!”

Inside the secret realm, Han Shuangjiang was still crouched in front of Chu Huaixu, carefully observing him.

The black bead still floated in midair, along with the sword scabbard.

After a few breaths, the chaotic aura around the young man completely stabilized and gradually withdrew inward.

At that moment, a system notification sounded in his ears.

“【Ding! Congratulations, you have obtained the skill—Myriad Swords Converge (Advanced)】.”

“【Do you wish to learn it?】”