The vibrations intensified, and the sound of chains became astonishingly loud!
“Kid, your True Qi is weak. Leave quickly. I’ll go down with Shuang’er to take a look.”
The old woman, sword in hand, rushed forward, with Han LingShuang following closely. Although Ren YuanHao felt stifled, he naturally wouldn't let two women venture into danger. He immediately asked, “Senior, what exactly is ‘that thing’ you spoke of?”
“The ferocious sword, Tai Yi!”
As soon as Yang ZiYan finished speaking, she broke through the door. There was a downward staircase hidden on the balcony. She rushed ahead, with Han LingShuang closely behind, and quickly disappeared from Ren YuanHao’s sight.
“No, I can’t~”
Ren YuanHao sat down cross-legged, his hair already covered in a layer of black ash.
Under the lamplight, he flipped through the “Clear Heart Mantra” at lightning speed. Having already studied various high-level secret manuals, his understanding of True Qi far surpassed that of ordinary people. In just three to five minutes, he had comprehended one-third of the Clear Heart Mantra.
At this very moment, the sound of chains was like a thunderstorm, making one’s heart tremble. Simultaneously, a series of footsteps approached rapidly. Without needing to guess, it was the sect leader of Chaoyang Sect and five others led by Tang Feng.
When they saw Ren YuanHao and the empty room, they immediately understood what had happened. However, Ren YuanHao was at a critical juncture of suppressing the fire-attribute True Qi within him and had no time to attend to them. Seeing this, everyone, led by the Sect Leader, went directly through the hidden staircase and down into the cave.
After an unknown period, the shaking of the chains not only did not subside but, like a dragon dancing in the sky, it roared with all its might. The overflowing True Qi was as violent as this, immediately stirring up gusts of wind, making the entire building feel like a ship adrift at sea in a storm.
At this point, Ren YuanHao had successfully suppressed the fire-attribute True Qi. Only the earth and water True Qi within his body remained active, but it was much better than before.
He suddenly stood up. As soon as he activated the “Azure Sea Tide Art” to circulate his True Qi, his mind became like the sea, surging endlessly. His body, under this suppression, had recovered at least six layers of his cultivation!
Ren YuanHao was ecstatic. Without further delay, he leaped gracefully into the cave.
The cave at this moment was completely filled with winds that felt like solidified Qi.
With every step, it was like walking in the eye of a storm, which suddenly reminded him of the scene when he went to save Shen LanNi and Shen YunShu that day.
“Damn it, what kind of ferocious sword can cause such a commotion? It’s even more violent than when the Cun Xue Sword was born.”
Ren YuanHao forcefully circulated his True Qi. The earth-attribute True Qi was just enough to erect a Qi wall in front of him to resist the tearing force of the wind. After about three to five minutes of soaring and snatching, he could already see jagged rocks shimmering with a green glow.
Eight peculiar rocks stood separately, positioned at the eight trigrams of the Qian Kun. The chains in the Xun and Kan positions had been broken. Except for Han LingShuang, who had fainted, the other six people stood beside the six colossal rocks with unbroken chains, continuously releasing True Qi to resist the ferocious sword, Tai Yi, which was inverted in the center of the sword pool, shimmering with a green light!
“Saintess! This ferocious sword cannot withstand the vital energy of living people. What should we do?”
The Sect Leader and the Saintess, with their cultivation, could easily stabilize the chains they were responsible for. However, for others who had just entered the Foundation Establishment realm, it was an extremely difficult task.
“After so many years, has our sect still not produced anyone who can wield ‘Tai Yi’? You, the Sect Leader, must reflect carefully!”
Yang ZiYan did not blame him but rather seemed to be motivating him. Tang Feng and the others also exerted their strength, and the chains entwined around the sword body finally quieted down slightly.
“Saintess, I, Han Yan, have poured out my heart and soul. Unfortunately, rare geniuses are hard to find in this world, and my old bones have been unable to break through to the Kai Guang realm for a long time. Such a ferocious sword can only trouble you to suppress and guard it. Forty years have flown by.”
The Sect Leader’s tone was filled with melancholy.
“Perhaps this ferocious sword has no fate with the sect. However, there is a young man whom I quite like!”
“May I ask if the Saintess is referring to Qin BaoBao?”
“Precisely. This person possesses exceptionally brave and extremely domineering True Qi. If he can cultivate the Clear Heart Mantra properly, perhaps with his strength, he can suppress this ferocious sword!”
The Sect Leader sighed and said, “The Clear Heart Mantra is not so easy to master. Even for you, it took a full thirty years to achieve some success, didn’t it?”
Yang ZiYan nodded and said, “Indeed. However, we are merely ordinary people. That man is a monster, a fiend. What if~”
As they were speaking, Ren YuanHao suddenly leaped up and stepped directly onto the jagged rocks, jumping into the sword pool!
“Brother! Don’t be reckless!”
“The water in that pool is called the ‘Mirror of Truth.’ When you hold the sword hilt, you can see your past from within it. However, it is ultimately an illusion. The ferocious sword will use various methods to keep you within the water mirror. Kid, you must calm your mind and not be consumed by the ‘Mirror of Truth’!”
The Sect Leader and Yang ZiYan shouted loudly. At that moment, the ferocious sword Tai Yi seemed to sense Ren YuanHao’s vibrant life and became extremely ferocious and violent again, with a strong gust of wind rising.
“Since all of you seniors consider me a monster, then I can only, only try my best not to disappoint your expectations!”
Ren YuanHao grinned and, without hesitation, reached out and firmly grasped the sword hilt!
As soon as his hand touched the hilt, Ren YuanHao felt the surrounding scenery suddenly change. As far as his eyes could see, there was a crystal-clear river, with weeping willows on both banks, their catkins scattering like snow in the sky.
“Ren YuanHao, what are you looking at?”
Ren YuanHao snapped back to attention. The face that often appeared in his nightmares suddenly appeared beside him. His complexion turned pale, but when this woman reached out and touched his shoulder, the sensation was so real that it made him want to cry tears of joy.
“Cheng Li~”
“It’s me, why? Are you unhappy to see me?”
“No, I am too happy. To see you, no matter what, I am happy.”
Cheng Li smiled charmingly and suddenly pointed at the water surface.
“Look, when we used to sit on the riverbank, we always wished we could grow up quickly. Now, we have all grown up, haven’t we?”
Ren YuanHao looked down in the direction she pointed. In the clear water, two faces instantly appeared, having shed their youthful immaturity. One was handsome and manly, the other was charming and beautiful, with picturesque features—exactly how they had grown up, as they had wished.
“Is this real?”
“Why wouldn’t it be real? Look at the fish in the water, and the green water plants, the shimmering waves, the distant mountains, the willow branches, the cicada chirps, the frog croaks. Look in the distance, your cousin is catching loaches there.”
Ren YuanHao followed these sights. His cousin, indeed, was catching loaches on the riverbank with his cousin-in-law.