"You lost," Xu Zimo said casually after the sword intent in the void was extinguished.
There was a long silence in the darkness.
Finally, the aged voice asked, "Your strength is far beyond mine. What do you need from me? I can’t teach you."
"Who said I needed you to teach me swordsmanship?" Xu Zimo replied.
"You mean…" The Sword God Spirit paused, as if realizing something.
"Look at this," Xu Zimo took out the True God Sword from the God World and said.
The moment the True God Sword appeared, even though it was not yet in its complete form, it still suppressed all sword intent in the void.
It floated in midair like a king among swords, exuding unmatched presence.
"You… you…" the aged voice was clearly shocked. "You found it."
"I'm still missing a few parts, but I'm close," Xu Zimo said. "After being separated for millions of years, don’t you want to merge again?"
The elder was silent for a long time before saying, "If I don’t merge willingly, I suppose you’ll force it?"
"It’s better if you agree on your own," Xu Zimo said.
"I’ve been searching for my fragments all these years too," the Sword God Spirit replied. "I once trained the Western King, hoping he could help me recover them. But he failed to seize Heaven’s Will and lost all motivation to remain in the world."
"Join now. The True God Sword needs you," Xu Zimo nodded.
"Very well. Since you’ve come this far," came a sigh from the darkness.
Then came a metallic "clang" as a flash of sword light shot forth from the void.
The True God Sword in the air seemed to sense something and began to tremble, as if a long-lost child had returned home.
The sword hummed loudly, shaking the entire dark space into fragments.
Darkness shattered and a beam of sword light tore through the void like a streak of lightning.
It shot straight into the body of the True God Sword.
In that instant, sword energy surged skyward, piercing through the darkness and tearing open the heavens above Order City.
Feeling the sword aura, Hu Yanzhuo outside changed expression.
"Success?" he muttered.
Xu Zimo waved his hand and retrieved the now joyous True God Sword.
What was once a lifeless weapon made of quality materials now brimmed with vitality, transformed in spirit and presence.
Xu Zimo put the sword away. This blade could not be revealed yet.
The secret of the Ancient Celestial Court was too important. If others found out, they would come to seize it without hesitation.
He had many things to accomplish and didn’t want to waste time.
Without the Sword God Spirit, the dark space dissipated entirely.
Xu Zimo stepped out from it.
Hu Yanzhuo looked at him with a complicated expression and asked, "You succeeded?"
"You already know the answer," Xu Zimo smiled.
"True," Hu Yanzhuo took a deep breath. "I just can't accept it. In this world, no matter how hard you try, some things just aren’t meant to be."
"Enough of the pity party. I’m in a good mood, so you get to live," Xu Zimo said.
As he and his companions walked away, Hu Yanzhuo sat alone on the ground, deep in thought.
…
"Master, where to now?" Bone Demon asked.
"Void Valley. My true body is still there," Xu Zimo said.
There were teleportation formations between the nine cities.
Void Valley was closest to Tower City, so Xu Zimo planned to take the teleportation array from Order City to Tower City, then head straight to Void Valley.
Because of the recent war, the teleportation array in Order City hadn’t been used in a long time.
The three of them didn’t have to wait and activated the array directly.
As they traveled through space-time, Xu Zimo focused on cultivation.
After about seven days, they exited the void and arrived in the bustling, prosperous Tower City.
As soon as they landed, Xu Zimo felt as if he had entered a completely different world.
Unlike the desolate Order City, Tower City was lively, filled with the hustle and bustle of daily life. The streets were packed, and noise echoed everywhere.
"Let’s head straight to Void Valley," Xu Zimo said.
As they passed through the main street of Tower City, Xu Zimo noticed a notice on a nearby wall.
It was a wanted poster.
Looking at the portrait on it, Xu Zimo saw that it looked exactly like him.
Of course, it matched his true body, not his current identity as Lin Qiu, so others wouldn’t recognize him.
The wanted notice came from the Imperial Throne Sacred Ground.
The content essentially declared a bounty on Xu Zimo, offering hundreds of thousands of spirit crystals and various vein techniques for any information about him.
Anyone who could capture him would be granted entry into the Imperial Throne Sacred Ground and allowed to choose a divine weapon.
As Xu Zimo looked, several passersby also gathered to read it.
"The Imperial Throne Sacred Ground sure is generous," someone said nearby.
"Seriously generous."
"You don’t get it, do you? The Imperial Throne Sacred Ground has three Grand Emperors. Their resources are unimaginable. This is nothing to them."
"That Xu Zimo is really unlucky. I wonder how he offended the Imperial Throne Sacred Ground."
"You don’t know? Everyone in the Ninelands has heard by now. This wanted poster was issued by the sect’s Holy Son, Xiang Kunlun. Xu Zimo killed his brother-in-law, Feiyu Changhong."
"Oh, so that’s it. I heard Feiyu Changhong’s sister, Feiyu Qingyun, is a terrifying figure herself.
She and Xiang Kunlun are married now. Talk about a perfect couple, talented and beautiful.""Still, this Xu Zimo must be pretty skilled. Despite the wanted notice spreading across the Middle Continent, there’s still no news about him."
…
Xu Zimo couldn’t help but laugh hearing the discussions around him.
He had almost forgotten about Feiyu Changhong.
Back at the Slaughter God Tower, Feiyu tried to steal his Darksky Tiger, so Xu Zimo killed him.
He’d also fought and destroyed one of Xiang Kunlun’s clones.
Didn’t expect they’d still be hung up on it.
"Oh well. If we ever cross paths again, I’ll just finish him off," Xu Zimo muttered. "Ungrateful idiots."
The trio passed through the main avenue and left Tower City, flying straight toward Void Valley.
He wasn’t sure if Paimon was still there.
They traveled fast and reached Void Valley within half a day.
As they passed through the Void Gate, Xu Zimo reminded everyone to be cautious of void storms and spatial turbulence.
He had no intention of experiencing another forced time-travel.