Chapter 657  : The Path of Heaven?

Chen Fan walked back from the square.

Qian Yexue said in astonishment, “You... you retrieved the Starry Sword Array? How is that possible? It’s the Starry Sword Array of the Old Man of Nine Abandonments!”

The level of such a powerhouse was even higher than the Sect Master of the Azure Mystic Sect’s, the most powerful person in the Realm of Kunxu, and he was someone that was capable of killing Sky Immortals.

The sword array could be broken forcefully.

But Chen Fan even took it with him. This had totally gone beyond Qian Yexue’s knowledge and she would have never imagined anything like this.

“This is a sword array without a controller or owner. It’s extremely easy for me to retrieve it,” Chen Fan replied.

Even if Chen Fan hadn’t read the “Sword Art of Nine Abandonments,” he could do the same using the Sword-Retrieving Spell, not to mention he had glanced over it once before and had had a certain knowledge about the Starry Sword Array.

Chen Fan could memorize the content of such a sword art with just a glance and could predict any kinds of changes, like a Nobel Prize winner solving an elementary math problem.

The Old Man of Nine Abandonments was as easy to deal with as a high school student to Chen Fan.

Qian Yexue was completely speechless.

“Let’s keep moving.”

Chen Fan took the lead.

The Starry Sword Array was one of the biggest barriers in the entire Sword Palace. They had encountered several other buffers, but Chen Fan broke them effortlessly before Qian Yexue even said anything.

Those buffers set by a Golden Core Cultivator were nothing to Chen Fan.

Qian Yexue became expressionless along the way.

She didn’t know what to say anymore.

“This guy walks in the Sword Palace as if he were strolling in his backyard. Is it possible that he’s the descendant of the Old Man of Nine Abandonments?” Qian Yexue thought.

Strictly speaking, she was right.

Sword Secret the Exalted Cultivator had the “Sword Art of Nine Abandonments” and Chen Fan gave it to Xie Yan, so Xie Yan could also be regarded as half a successor.

“Master, the Sword Palace is really grand and magnificent!” A’Xiu yelled.

The disciples of the Black Water Sect also nodded. They came from a small sect and had never seen such a large, gorgeous palace.

The sword-refining hall, a battling ring, a Martial Arts gymnasium, a blade-strengthening chamber, a sword-burial mound...

Everything they saw was eye-opening.

They thought that Immortal Cultivation was something simple. A Master passed down some cultivation arts to the disciples and the disciples would find some place to learn and practice. Not even the large sects and families in the human world had this many different rooms.

“This is what a truly powerful sect looks like! In the heyday of the Sword Palace, there were three thousand sword cultivators here and over five hundred of them were Immortal State Warriors, who were called the Five Hundred Sword Immortals of Mount Shu,” Qian Yexue said with a hint of arrogance.

What she said stunned everyone .

“Five hundred Immortal State Warriors!” A’Xiu shouted.

Even Ye Nantian was shocked.

There weren’t even thirty Immortal State Warriors on Earth at the moment, so it was difficult for them to grasp the idea of having five hundred Immortal State Warriors, not to mention the Earth Level Deities and Sky Immortals.

Looking at the expression of those from the North Qiong Sect and Kunlun, Qian Yexue finally gained a bit of confidence.

“Snow Fairy, what’s the difference between the Snow God Palace and the Sword Palace?” Yu Wenjin asked.

“The Snow God Palace is certainly inferior to the Sword Palace. We only have around forty Immortal State Warriors. However, the top sect of the Realm of Kunxu, the Yuntian Palace, is said to have seventy two Immortal State Warriors,” Qian Yexue replied.

Hearing what she said, the others looked at one another with shock.

So, whether it was the Snow God Palace or the Yuntian Sect, any one of them would be able to exterminate the entire cultivation world on Earth!

Ye Nantian, Azure Dragon and the others were worried and terrified. Even if those Earth Level Deities weren’t coming, a troop formed with their Immortal State Warriors would already be able to turn China upside down.

“We must report this to our seniors when we get back and start making an action plan. The Realm of Kunxu is more threatening than the United States.”

Those from Kunlun looked at each other and decided.

“Don’t worry. The number of people can’t compensate for the difference between levels. Normally, not even a hundred Immortal State Warriors would be able to defeat a Connate Cultivator. As for a Golden Core Cultivator, everyone below the Connate level would be like ants,” Chen Fan said calmly with his hands behind his back.

Speaking of population, the human race could be found all over the universe. There were approximately billions of them and many of them were cultivators.

But only the nine Immortal Sects could stand on the top of the universe, which was mainly because of their Dao Reunion Perfected Immortals. No matter how many Nascent Soul or Golden Core Cultivators a sect had, they were no match for a Perfected Immortal.

“Hm.”

Qian Yexue sneered and didn’t refute him.

“Clack, clack!”

After walking through a long corridor, they reached the door of the last room.

“This should be the venue where the Old Man of Nine Abandonments and the Masters of the Sword Palace practiced,” Hua Yunfeng said.

Everyone else looked thrilled and knew this was the highlight of their visit.

Although they had found many Dharma Artifacts and broken flying swords in the Sword Palace, the real treasures, sword arts and secret books would only be hidden in the main room.

“Be careful, there must be some kind of protection here,” Qian Yexue said.

They indeed saw a yellow talisman on the stone door. It looked a bit different from the other talismans and had a faint sword shape like a brand.

“The Sky Sword Talisman,” Qian Yexue said seriously, “I heard that when you reach a certain level, you’ll be able to store your Sword Qi in a talisman which will explode once somebody touches it. This sword talisman might have come from the Old Man of Nine Abandonments...”

Everyone went silent.

They had heard the name, the Old Man of Nine Abandonments, several times since they entered the Sword Palace.

The sword art he passed down made legends like Sword Secret the Exalted Cultivator. He built the Sword Palace of Mount Shu and was once on top of the Realm of Cultivation in the ancient times. There used to be three thousand sword cultivators and five hundred Sword Immortals under his command, and he had killed Sky Immortals with his invincible sword arrays...

The attack from such a powerful sword master had to be terrifying. Even Earth Level Deities would be helpless against it.

Azure Dragon frowned and said, “So, what should we do? Can we open the door without touching the sword talisman?”

“It’s impossible. The cultivation room of the Sect Master usually leads to the core forbidden area of a sect. You must know some kind of special secret arts or spells in order to enter and I guess only the Sect Masters or the Junior Sect Masters of the Sword Palace can get in freely...”

While Qian Yexue was talking.

Chen Fan took the yellow sword talisman off and placed it inside the Blade Strengthening Gourd.

“You...”

Qian Yexue felt she had just seen something that was totally the opposite of what she knew before. Her face flushed as if someone had slapped her dozens of times; she couldn’t say a word.

“Master, did you just tear it down?” A’Xiu said.

“It’s just a small talisman, not as bad as you think,” Chen Fan said.

For people from Earth and the Realm of Kunxu, there was no way to break such a kind of sword talisman, unless there was someone more powerful than the Old Man of Nine Abandonments, or if it were one of his descendants. Otherwise, anyone who touched it would be attacked by the talisman.

But who was Chen Fan? He was the reincarnation of the Celestial Lord. Breaking the protection a Golden Core Cultivator created was a piece of cake.

Then, Chen Fan entered the room.

Qian Yexue was speechless; she had no choice but to follow Chen Fan. She could sense that A’Xiu, Xiao Wu and some others were sneering behind her. And yet, she really had no idea how Chen Fan had torn off the sword talisman.

“Perhaps he’s not only the successor to the Sword Palace, but also the descendant of the Old Man of Nine Abandonments?”

A startling thought suddenly came to Qian Yexue’s mind.

Behind the stone door was only a stone room of ten square feet. Apparently, the Old Man of Nine Abandonments and the Masters of the Sword Palace were all simple.

A’Xiu widened her eyes and said in surprise, “Wow, there are a lot of treasures!”

There were nine marble boxes, each with a small sword inside on the table. These swords were made with special materials and were at least superior-grade Spirit Artifacts.

“These are just half-completed swords. If you want to make a real superior-grade Spirit Artifact or Spirit Treasure, you’ll need at least dozens of years,” Chen Fan looked at them and said.

Considering his current level, he needed treasures like superior-grade Spirit Artifacts or first-grade Spirit Treasures. These half-completed swords weren’t useful to him at all.

“Xie Yan, Yukishiro Sa, since you’re both sword cultivators, take one each. Devotion is the most important thing in sword cultivation. Many Sword Immortals chose their own flying swords at the Connate level and never changed it from then on,” Chen Fan said as he put his hands behind his back.

“Yes, Master.”

Xie Yan and Yukishiro Sa bowed and started choosing.

Qian Yexue was startled.

The word “devotion” was indeed the motto of sword cultivation. On the contrary, even though the Azure Mystic Sect was regarded as the top sword sect of the Realm of Kunxu, they also practiced all sorts of techniques and arts besides refining their flying swords.

“No wonder he could crack Xuan Luo’s Red Glass Sword. He might be a bit arrogant, but he’s truly powerful and knows a lot about cultivation.”

Qian Yexue glanced at Chen Fan.

At the same time, everyone else turned their attention to the two books on the stone table in the center of the room.

The left one was the “Sword Art of Nine Abandonments” which was the Sky Immortal Art that those from the Realm of Kunxu dreamt of. However, Chen Fan ignored it and picked up the other one, the “Chronicle of Mount Shu.”

“Since the Battle of Deities broke out, many alien races have invaded the planet. I am the only one left on Mount Shu and the others are all dead... I have no choice but to follow the Path of Heaven and find another planet to establish a new sect...”

The first few sentences of the book were astonishing.