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Xu Jing stopped digging as well; the physical body of this female Sword Immortal was far superior to the other corpses.
Xu Jing returned to Mount Taihua.
Lu Changsheng was feeling disgruntled that his young disciple had not returned to the sect as scheduled to receive the transmission of cultivation techniques, when Xu Jing finally came back.
Xu Jing recounted the events to Lu Changsheng.
Inconceivable.
Even Lu Changsheng, who had seen much and was well-versed in many things, was shocked by this incident.
Firstly, it was strange enough that Xu Jing was swallowing Yin Sha Qi in the forbidden area of the Sword Tomb, but to also excavate someone’s sect, and for a thousand years at that, was simply bizarre.
Secondly, Xu Jing actually managed to unearth a completely intact corpse, and that corpse belonged to a female Sword Immortal!
Absurd, utterly absurd.
Yet, as preposterous as it sounded, it really happened.
“In ancient times, there was an exceptionally powerful super Sword Cultivator sect called ‘Heavenly Sect’, which gathered almost all of the most powerful Sword Cultivators at the time.”
“Those in the Immortal Emperor Realm didn’t even qualify to become ordinary elders in Heavenly Sect. And Sword Saints in the Divine King Realm were a dime a dozen.”
“Heavenly Sect became the only Sword Dao Holy Land in the Immortal Realm; at its peak, all the other Holy Lands lowered their status, considering themselves a tier below Heavenly Sect. Even places like the Purple Void Palace on Kunlun Mountain acknowledged the strength of Heavenly Sect and admitted their inferiority.”
“At that time, Heavenly Sect was extremely powerful, and its Sect Master even contemplated challenging the Heavenly Court to take its place.”
“However, the unexpected happened; after reaching the pinnacle, decline followed.”
“A great war broke out between the human race and the Demon Race, with countless sects and great experts falling. Demon Gods led Demon Race elites to swarm out, decimating the then highly threatening Heavenly Sect. The powerful fighters of Heavenly Sect perished in this war en masse, and the once mighty super Sword Cultivator sect was reduced to dust, causing sighs of lament.”
“The former site of Heavenly Sect became the Sword Tomb of today.”
Lu Changsheng, a studious reader of ancient texts, naturally knew about Heavenly Sect, that once immensely powerful super Sword Cultivator sect.
Heavenly Sect, an ancient and mighty sect, even had the audacity to challenge the Heavenly Court.
If Heavenly Sect had survived like other sects, it might have evolved into the most powerful Holy Land by now.
After all, Heavenly Sect harbored the most Sword Dao geniuses of the time, each proving their way with the sword.
Bear in mind, Sword Cultivators constitute the majority faction in the Immortal Realm, and one can only imagine the number and quality of experts in Heavenly Sect.
Even those in the Immortal Emperor Realm could only be disciples within Heavenly Sect.
And yet, such a formidable sect was almost completely destroyed overnight.
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Lu Changsheng conveyed the history of Heavenly Sect to Xu Jing, and his implication was very clear.
The female Sword Immortal whom Xu Jing had excavated was very likely to have been a person from Heavenly Sect, possibly even at the elder level.
“So, she could be the only surviving expert from Heavenly Sect… no, that’s not right; she’s already dead. Not a single person from Heavenly Sect survived.”
After hearing the story of Heavenly Sect, Xu Jing was also full of sighs.
Such a powerful sect like Heavenly Sect could vanish just like that.
“If that wisp of remnant soul is indeed her original soul, you should try to nurture this remnant soul and bring her back to life. Although she will be a different person now, I believe that this remnant soul might retain a part of her memories.”
Lu Changsheng theorized that since such a formidable existence as the Heavenly Sect female Sword Immortal hadn’t dissipated completely, but instead retained a wisp of remnant soul within her body and hid in the endless depths underground, it was very probable that in her last moments, she preserved the account of Heavenly Sect’s destruction within her remnant soul.
However, after so many years, how much of the past this wisp of remnant soul could recall was unknown.
“Yes, I will find a way to revive her,” Xu Jing responded.
With mastery over the techniques of the Netherworld, Xu Jing had the opportunity to create a new existence based on that wisp of remnant soul.
Such a being, neither human, demon, devil, nor ghost.
One could say it escaped the confines of the Three Realms and existed outside the cycle of the Five Elements.
“This is the supreme treasure that your teacher bestows upon you—the Ghost King Banner. With this banner, you can swallow Yin Sha and command Chi Mei and Wang Liang, exhibiting boundless magical power.”
Lu Changsheng spread out his palm, and a banner of the Ghost King materialized.
The moment Xu Jing saw the Ghost King Banner, his gaze was captivated and could hardly be moved away.
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This magical artifact seemed as though it was crafted solely for him.
It was a treasure from the Netherworld, usable only by the cultivators of that realm.
When Xu Jing refined this banner, a mere flick of it altered the surroundings; myriad ghosts wailed sorrowfully, and chilling winds blew fiercely, making Lu Changsheng feel as if his soul was about to be devoured by the Ghost King Banner.
The quality of the Ghost King Banner was comparable to that of a superior Emperor Soldier.
Moreover, the Ghost King Banner could continuously devour the Yin Sha Qi to grow stronger.
The potential of this magical artifact was immeasurable.
Lu Changsheng operated the “Ziwei Celestial Flame True Art”.
This cultivation technique countered demons and evil spirits, and the Ghost King Banner could not break through the righteous energy of the Yang.
Or rather, Xu Jing’s cultivation level wasn’t enough to unleash the full power of the Ghost King Banner.
“The acquisition of this magical artifact must not lead you to act recklessly or commit evil deeds. You should uphold justice and righteousness on behalf of the heavens. Otherwise, your master will personally intervene, clean the sect, and reclaim the artifact. Have you remembered this?”
Worried that Xu Jing might be influenced by the Ghost King Banner, Lu Changsheng reminded him to always maintain his true nature.
Among the twelve direct disciples, Lu Changsheng was most concerned about his ninth disciple, Dugu Aotian, and his twelfth disciple, Xu Jing.
Dugu Aotian hailed from the Demon Realm, and Xu Jing came from the Netherworld. With their special backgrounds, they were easily susceptible to taking the wrong path.
If Dugu Aotian, who possessed the ancient demon weapon “Yuan Tu”, and Xu Jing, who held the Netherworld’s strange object “Ghost King Banner”, were to stride off the correct path after reaching great accomplishment in cultivation, even the Immortal Realm would fall into catastrophe.
This was not alarmism from Lu Changsheng.
Dugu Aotian was the son of Demon Marshal Dugu Mietian and the former Holy Maiden of Yaochi, and he might possibly inherit the position of the Demon Marshal, commanding a hundred thousand Demon Generals and a billion Demon Soldiers.
Xu Jing’s background was special as a cultivator who emerged from the Netherworld.
The Netherworld was shrouded in mystery, with scarce records in the Immortal Realm.
The fact that Xu Jing’s potential was recognized by the Disciple Apprenticeship Simulator indicated that his future accomplishments would be no less than those of the other eleven direct disciples.
Xu Jing earnestly replied, “Disciple has remembered.”
As usual, Lu Changsheng passed on power to Xu Jing.
[Ding, you have transferred 15 million Heavenly Cultivation to your disciple Xu Jing, who has actually received 3 million Heavenly Cultivation. You have obtained a ninety-nine-fold return reward from teaching your disciple: 2.97 billion Heavenly Cultivation.]
The system returned a large amount of cultivation.
The Nameless Ancient Cauldron received a portion of the cultivation, converting it into spiritual energy, ready to be used to activate the Taiyin Goddess Talisman at any time.
The Primordial Thunder Dragon Soul received a large share of the cultivation, growing from a true body of thirty thousand zhang to forty thousand zhang, equivalent to a Great Demon in the fourth layer of the Immortal Emperor Realm.
The Primordial Thunder Dragon, along with the Eight Desolation Fire Dragon, the World-Ending Black Dragon, and the Ancestor Candle Dragon, were all powerful beings of the Dragon Clan at the Dragon King level.
Even as the dragon soul of its species, it was superior to most of the powerful beings within the Demon Race.
Lu Changsheng’s cultivation progressed a step further.
Next, Lu Changsheng imparted to Xu Jing a cultivation technique from the Netherworld.
Unlike the other disciples, Lu Changsheng merely passed on the technique to this disciple, leaving him to cultivate on his own.
Lu Changsheng himself was unable to practice the cultivation techniques of the Netherworld.
[Ding, you have granted your disciple Xu Jing a Sacred Tier superior cultivation technique “Ghost King’s Incomplete Scripture”, and received a four million-fold return reward: Emperor Tier superior cultivation technique “Ghost King Sutra” (Upper Volume).]
The Disciple Apprenticeship Simulator returned a cultivation technique. Despite being only the upper volume, it was already ranked as a superior Emperor Tier technique.
What level of cultivation technique would the lower volume be?
[Ding, you have granted your disciple Xu Jing a Quasi-Emperor Tier cultivation technique “Corpse Forest Fire”, and received a ten-thousand-fold return reward: Emperor Tier mid-tier cultivation technique “Eight Flames Inferno”.]
[Ding, you have granted your disciple Xu Jing an Emperor Tier inferior cultivation technique “Manipulating Heart Skills”, and received a hundred-fold return reward: Emperor Tier mid-tier cultivation technique “Ghost King Corpse Control Skills”.]
“Here is another scroll of techniques, which is used to cultivate the spirits of Yin Sha Qi. Perhaps it can allow the resurrected Female Sword Immortal to be reborn in another way.”
Lu Changsheng handed over a special scroll of techniques to Xu Jing, to aid in the resurrection of the Female Sword Immortal.
[Ding, you have granted your disciple Xu Jing an Emperor Tier inferior cultivation technique “Soul Condensation Skills”, and received a ten-thousand-fold return reward: Emperor Tier superior cultivation technique “Soul Summoning Skills”.]
Having acquired the technique, Xu Jing quickly grasped the basics, and attempted to use “Soul Condensation Skills” to coalesce a new set of Three Souls and Seven Spirits based on the remnants of the Female Sword Immortal’s soul.
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