Xu Zimo let out a soft laugh.
âIâm somewhat connected to your ancestral founder. In essence, yes, I count as your ancestor.â
The True Martial Sacred Ground of the Primordial Heartlands and the True Martial Sacred Ground of the Nine Heavens were both created by Grand Emperor Zhen Wu. In essence, they were no different, one lineage, one origin. The sect on the Primordial Heartlands was even older; the emperor only ascended later and founded the Nine Heavensâ True Martial Sacred Ground afterward. Strictly speaking, Xu Zimo truly was their ancestor.
âAncestor, you just said I canât cultivate sword intent this way and that Iâll never condense it. What does that mean?â Xiao Anâan asked urgently.
âJust call me âyoung master,â I am not that old,â Xu Zimo replied. âWell⊠fine. Youâve taken good care of me these days, so Iâll show you the right path.â
âYou have the True Martial Sword Physique, donât you?â
âYes!â Xiao Anâan nodded quickly. âAncestor knows this physique? Iâve asked many people, they all said itâs special, but theyâve never seen it before.â
âItâs extremely rare. You could say itâs unique under heaven,â Xu Zimo said.
The True Martial Sword Physique had once been one of the hundred great physiques on the Primordial Heartlands, each one unique in the world. The True Martial Sword Physique was later obtained by Grand Emperor Zhen Wu. Though it couldnât compare to the top-ranked physiques, it was still incredibly powerful. After the Grand Emperor achieved sainthood, he refined it again, elevating it far beyond its former ranking. It became an unparalleled sword physique, a priceless treasure for any cultivator.
Xu Zimo couldnât understand why Grand Emperor Zhen Wu had left such a physique behind or how it ended up in Xiao Anâanâs possession.
âHow did you get this physique?â he asked.
âHow did I get it?â Xiao Anâan shook her head in confusion. âI was born with it.â
âOh? Born with it?â Xu Zimo smiled. âThatâs interesting.â
âYoung master, you still havenât answered my question!â
âThe reason you canât condense sword intent and why your sword force always disperses is simple,â Xu Zimo said. âYour physique is incomplete.â
Xiao Anâan froze.
âYou want to condense sword intent? Then you have to complete your physique first.â
âBut⊠how do I complete it?â she asked, bewildered.
Xu Zimo didnât answer immediately. He narrowed his eyes slightly, deep in thought.
âGrand Emperor Zhen Wu⊠is this all coincidence, or did you plan this long ago?â
He slowly took out a token, the True Martial Token.
Before Xu Zimo left the Primordial Heartlands, the Sky-Shroud War God had entrusted the token to him, saying Grand Emperor Zhen Wu had left it behind. Anyone carrying it could freely enter the True Martial Sacred Ground of the Nine Heavens. At the time, Xu Zimo thought it was just a symbolic token.
But the moment he brought it out,
âI knew it,â Xiao Anâan said quickly. âI sensed a familiar aura from you before. It was this thing.â
She accepted the token, and her True Martial Sword Physique trembled uncontrollably, as though recognizing its source. sword force burst out of her body without warning, slicing a nearby cliff clean in half.
This was sword force unleashed unintentionally, yet its power was enough to terrify anyone.
âSo⊠young master can complete my physique?â Xiao Anâan asked in shock.
âTake it. It was meant for you,â Xu Zimo said.
âThank you, sir! Thank you!â Xiao Anâan dropped to her knees in gratitude.
Despite her shy nature, she was relentless when it came to cultivation. She had struggled with her physique since childhood, everyone praised her talent, but no one could solve her problem. Her body trembled with emotion.
âGo complete your physique,â Xu Zimo said gently.
His own strength had nearly recovered; in a few days he would be fully healed. Before arriving at the True Martial Sect, he had prepared himself for anything, yet he hadnât expected the sect to have fallen this far. Sweeping the area with his spiritual sense, he found the strongest person barely clinging to life at the God Meridian Realm.
But then something caught his attention.
âStill⊠Iâve found something interesting,â he murmured.
âŠ
Xiao Anâan could no longer wait. She held the token tightly as power surged through her.
Thunder rumbled inside her body. Her sword force solidified into tangible force, trembling violently.
And that was only the beginning.
Grand Emperor Zhen Wu had hidden a portion of his cultivation within this sword physique. Completing the physique meant gaining access to that inheritance. Xiao Anâanâs strength was about to transform entirely.
Sword intent from the True Martial Token wrapped around her in an endless tide.
After some time, she slowly opened her eyes and exhaled. Her breath shot forward like a sword, tearing open a section of the void.
âSo strongâŠâ she whispered, startled by her own power.
âYou couldnât condense sword intent since childhood, so your cultivation never stopped accumulating sword force. Now that the fusion is complete, itâs stronger than anything ordinary,â Xu Zimo explained.
He didnât mention Grand Emperor Zhen Wu. He had just arrived and didnât yet understand the current state of the sect.
Xiao Anâan started to thank him again, but Xu Zimo waved it away.
âEnough. I have some questions.â
âPlease ask, ancestor,â Xiao Anâan said respectfully.
âWhere is Grand Emperor Zhen Wu? I mean True Martial Saint Sovereign.â
âI donât know,â she replied. âThe sect master said the founder was already gone when he joined the sect. As for us new disciples, none of us have ever seen him. If the founder were still here, our sect wouldnât have fallen so low.â
âWhat about San Dao, Shen Xing, and Hongtian?â Xu Zimo asked.
âIâve never heard those names. Are they also our ancestral founders? The sect master might know more.â
It was clear Xiao Anâan knew very little. Xu Zimo couldnât get any answers, so he nodded.
âTake me around the sect.â
âOkay,â she said obediently.
She pushed Xu Zimoâs wheelchair down the mountain.
As soon as they reached the foot of the peak, they ran into Deng Linyu, who was showing Yan Pingfan around the True Martial Sect.
âYoung Master Yan, this is one of the main peaks,â Deng Linyu said.