Chapter 117: The Dao Fruit Casts Off Its Husk, Becoming a Divine Sword Body; the Tomb Sword Bell Rings Three Times of Its Own Accord [Monthly Votes, Please]

Su Muzhe did not know what kind of sword talent this youth, whose beauty bordered on the ethereal and uncanny, possessed to warrant such high esteem from Zhao Huangting—a man who, in his prime, had been a sword prodigy that stunned the entire world.

He had even gone so far as to call the boy the hope of the Sword Pool Palace.

Even with the weight of the Green Mountain upon his shoulders, how far could he truly go, and to what extent could he grow? It remained unknown. By what logic could one conclude, here and now, that the youth would become the hope of the Sword Pool Palace?

The hope of the Sword Pool Palace... required the birth of another tenth-realm Sword Saint.

Could An Le achieve this?

Su Muzhe did not know, but she trusted Zhao Huangting, just as she had unconditionally trusted him when she was young and ignorant. Even now, five hundred years later, that had not changed.

"Very well."

Su Muzhe smiled and spoke.

If Zhao Huangting said An Le was the hope of the Sword Pool Palace, then she believed it to be so.

Watching the light of unwavering trust ignite in the eyes of the woman who was no longer young, Zhao Huangting felt his heart tremble. That trust made his shoulders feel heavy and his chest tighten.

"Let us go. We shall pack our things and head straight for the Sword Pool Palace."

"My time is running out."

Zhao Huangting avoided the woman's gaze, looking toward the shimmering expanse of the great lake outside the window, and spoke softly.

Su Muzhe did not refuse. She raised her hand and touched her own glabella.

An Le could feel the entire Jiangju Tower trembling and swaying as if struck by a hurricane. Then, a clanging sound echoed incessantly as sword after sword whistled out from the Sword Qi Palace within Su Muzhe’s brow.

"You have sealed the Nirvana Flame with your spirit, so your body cannot endure fatigue or rough travel. Let us ride this river of swords directly to the Sword Pool Palace," Su Muzhe said to Zhao Huangting, her voice remarkably gentle.

"The carriage will remain at Jiangju Tower. Meiniang will help look after it, and the horse will be well-fed," she added.

Zhao Huangting did not decline. A sword flew over to support his body, and Su Muzhe sat side-saddle upon it, sharing the blade with him.

Sword Qi suddenly whistled forth, enveloping the two. From the window on the third floor of Jiangju Tower, they ascended like white cranes spreading their wings, soaring through the sky.

The brilliant sunlight washed over the elderly man and the woman as they rode the sword. A faint smile touched the woman’s lips, as if she wished to freeze time at this very moment.

An Le, Lin Qingyin, and Lin Zhuifeng each found themselves buoyed by a sword. Offering no resistance, they allowed the blades to carry them out of the Jiangju Tower.

The vast city of Jiangling lay below, with countless flying swords crisscrossing the sky like migrating birds, dense and packed, resembling a river of steel spanning the horizon.

Many in the city looked up—commoners, cultivators, and those who had followed them all the way from Lin'an with ill intent under orders. However, under the pressure of this female Sword God, which was no weaker than that of Li You'an, these cultivators with malicious intent could only swallow their resentment.

An Le, dressed in fluttering white robes, sat upright on his blade. He could feel that every sword around him seemed to contain a divine intent, as if in telepathic communication with the female Sword God.

Swords have spirits; one person controlling ten thousand swords was like a shepherd tending a flock. And this female Sword God was shepherding swords.

Leaving Jiangling, they continued forward, and the scenery of the Shu region began to unfold before their eyes. The breathtaking, god-like landscape left everyone sitting on their flying swords feeling refreshed and enchanted.

The Qu Tang meandering to its end, the Wu Gorge rising in grandeur.
The continuous peaks, strange and jagged, their stone colors shifting to a deep verdant hue.
The divine craftsmanship of nature, gradually turning into something wondrous and magnificent.

Rushing, turbulent rivers, continuous yet craggy peaks, and all manner of precipitous and strange cliffs dotted the landscape.

An Le was dazzled, mesmerized. Even as a cultivator, he felt his own insignificance in the face of such natural wonders.

After about an hour of flight along the river of swords, Su Muzhe, the female Sword God, led the myriad blades through the clouds and descended from the sea of mists.

A massive city suddenly came into view. Its level of prosperity was no less than that of Jiangling; in fact, it perhaps even surpassed it.

An Le knew this to be the renowned Jin Guan City of the Shu region, where the Sword Pool Palace was situated.

The sword light descended into Jin Guan City, stirring a gentle breeze. Hibiscus flowers were in full bloom throughout the city, and the air was filled with a pleasant fragrance.

Jin Guan City was ancient, having existed for a long, long time. It was a city no less magnificent than Lin'an. Walking through it, one could feel that the atmosphere was quite different.

A light drizzle fell from the sky—misty and soft, like butter—sprinkling onto them without a chill, as if bringing nourishment and hope to the world.

Walking on the moss-covered bluestone paths, An Le bathed in the spring rain, moving calmly through the ancient city. The people coming and going all seemed to wear a sword at their waists—iron swords, wooden swords, bamboo swords... all kinds of swords were present.

It seemed as if... not wearing a sword in this city would make one look hopelessly out of fashion.

"This is the style of Jin Guan City. The Sword Pool Palace and the city have coexisted for a long time; they have long since merged into one. One could say... Jin Guan City is the Sword Pool Palace, and the Sword Pool Palace is Jin Guan City."

"Even the Great Zhao Empire has no jurisdiction over this city," Zhao Huangting said with a smile, apparently noticing the astonishment in An Le’s eyes.

"The Sword Pool Palace is most famous for its swords, so everyone in Jin Guan City wears one. It carries a natural air of a swordsman's romance."

"When I was young and headstrong, wandering the world with a sword, I arrived at Jin Guan City and was captivated by this city, which was so pure in its devotion to the blade. So, I stopped here for fifty years."

There was nostalgia in Zhao Huangting’s eyes. He had lived a romantic life here, and now, as his life approached its end, setting foot in this city once more brought a strange sense of peace to his heart. Round and round he went, yet this was the city that brought him the most tranquility.

An Le was actually quite surprised. He had expected a renowned sect like the Sword Pool Palace to be perched upon a precipitous mountain, yet he had not imagined it would be integrated into an old city.

Strolling along the rain-slicked bluestone path, An Le walked at a steady, unhurried pace, feeling the vicissitudes and the breath of time contained within this ancient city.

People have spirits, cities have souls; everything in the world has its own unique marks and meanings.

As he walked, the Primordial Spirit within An Le’s Niwan Palace slowly opened its eyes. Vaguely, he could feel that in this city where everyone wore a sword, strands upon strands of sword intent and sword qi were surging deep within the earth, like countless dragons and snakes rolling beneath the surface.

Su Muzhe paused her steps, casting a glance at An Le, her heart filled with surprise.

Zhao Huangting, meanwhile, stroked his beard and walked on, unfazed. He did not seem to find An Le’s situation strange at all.

As An Le strolled through the ancient city, his spirit was growing bit by bit. The sword qi hidden throughout the city was slowly swirling around him, as if weaving a unique field of sword-energy around his body.

"A natural-born wielder of the sword."

Su Muzhe was lost in thought. Now, she finally believed that An Le’s talent might indeed, as Zhao Huangting had said, bring hope to the Sword Pool Palace.

Following the long street into the depths of Jin Guan City, they reached the end of the road and saw a massive jade archway.

Inscribed on the archway were the words: Sword Pool Palace.

The three characters were written with flying dragons and dancing phoenixes, yet they seemed carved by sword qi. Just one glance was enough to feel the sharpness within, as if it were about to burst forth.

Crossing the archway, they found a straight bamboo forest that pierced the clouds like upright swords. The forest was serene, and the leaves emitted the unique fragrance of bamboo.

An Le and Zhao Huangting both had a special affinity for bamboo; both men loved the tranquility and the soul-cleansing silence that a bamboo forest brought.

Passing through the bamboo forest, the first thing they heard was a rhythmic "clanging."

An Le was stunned.

"That is many of the disciples in the Sword Pool Palace forging swords," Su Muzhe explained.

"The Sword Pool Palace has a rule: every disciple must not only know how to use a sword but must also know how to forge one. Of course, you are not required to be a master blacksmith, but you must at least understand the structure of a sword."

"Forging your own sword with your own hands will narrow the distance between you and the blade, cutting away the barriers between you."

Hearing this, An Le could not help but show a look of surprise.

However, thinking that the Sword Pool Palace was not only a world-famous sacred land for sword arts but also a place for sword forging, he no longer felt it was strange.

"The sword forging of the Sword Pool Palace is famously powerful. More than half of the world’s famous swords come from here. This is not only because the special nature of the Sword Pool Lake can temper precious swords, but also because the master smiths of the Sword Pool Palace are all renowned," Zhao Huangting introduced to An Le.

"Let’s go straight to the Sword Pool Lake and take a look. Let this kid experience the atmosphere of the lake, and by the way, let him try to see if he can strike that Sword Bell, which has stood before the lake for thousands of years, to see if he has a connection with it."

Su Muzhe nodded at this.

She led the way along a stone path onto the ground, which was covered in lush green grass on both sides.

A gentle breeze blew across the land, carrying the oily, fine rain. With the Green Mountain and Ink Pool at his waist, An Le could vaguely feel the wisps of sword qi drifting through the air.

After walking for a while, the view suddenly opened up. Simple, rustic buildings were scattered across the grass and among the trees.

It was dense and primitive, like a primordial village.

In every house, the sounds of hammering could be heard. Occasionally glancing inside, An Le could see, through the half-open doors, figures stripped to the waist, swinging hammers to strike sword embryos over spitting tongues of flame.

An Le suddenly felt a sense of oppression, as if his own Primordial Spirit were being burned by these tongues of fire until it was nearly numb.

"This is the Earth Immortal Fire taken from beneath Jin Guan City. Anyone who can possess a forge here is an elder of the Sword Pool Palace. Almost every elder is a world-famous master smith," Su Muzhe introduced with a confident smile.

"It is by no means easy to become a certified smith of the Sword Pool Palace. It is not enough to simply forge a sword."

"First, one must be able to control the forge of the Sword Pool Palace, then one must be able to manipulate the Earth Immortal Fire, and finally, one must forge a sword of at least the fifth grade to become a smith of our sect."

"Every year, among the many disciples of the Sword Pool Palace, those who truly become smiths are few and far between."

An Le nodded. As expected of the number one sword sect, its foundation was indeed profound.

After walking a distance, An Le suddenly felt an extremely cold vapor brush against him, as if his soul were about to be frozen.

It was the vapor of the Sword Pool Lake.

An Le raised his eyes and saw a massive lake appear before him.

In size, it was not much different from the West Lake of Lin'an, but the feeling the two lakes gave was completely different!

If the West Lake was a stunning beauty dancing in colorful silks, the Sword Pool Lake... was a blood-stained swordsman standing with a bamboo hat, leaning on a cold blade!

Their styles were diametrically opposed.

The meadow stretched to the edge of the lake, where it abruptly dropped off like a cliff, revealing a steep precipice of about ten meters that enclosed the Sword Pool Lake.

"That is the Sword Pool Lake. There is only one road leading to it: this bluestone path beneath our feet."

"Because this is a path walked step by step by generations of sword practitioners of the Sword Pool Palace. If one tries to approach the lake from any other direction, they will be shredded by the sword intent of the lake, their flesh withered and their Primordial Spirit collapsed, leaving them a cripple."

"Unless one has stepped into the ninth or tenth realm, there is no other choice but this path," Su Muzhe said.

Walking to the end of the path, they saw a massive bell, entirely welded together from discarded swords, resting quietly on a platform built of ancient stones.

From a distance, what An Le saw was not a bell, but a tomb.

A Sword Bell, a Sword Tomb!

An Le felt a bit dazed. In the cold wind blowing with the vapor of the Sword Pool Lake, there seemed to be the whimpering of wandering ghosts.

Those were the souls of the swords buried in the Sword Tomb!

An Le’s steps grew slower and slower until he stopped in his tracks. He tilted his head, listening intently, as if he wanted to clearly hear the voices of these sword-souls.

Zhao Huangting and Su Muzhe stopped, both looking at him with confusion. Lin Qingyin and Lin Zhuifeng were also perplexed.

"What is it?" Zhao Huangting asked, frowning.

An Le looked up, his eyes full of complexity: "Senior, is that the Sword Bell?"

"Why does it look... like a grave?"

An Le’s words caused Su Muzhe’s body to stiffen suddenly, and she looked at him with a hint of disbelief.

Zhao Huangting’s long eyebrows arched, and he muttered for a moment: "You could see that?"

Su Muzhe took a deep breath: "The Sword Bell is also a Sword Tomb. The broken swords of the Sword Pool Palace, the swords that have 'died,' are all melted and cast into the bell... so, the Sword Bell is indeed a Sword Tomb."

"Very few people can see the true nature of the Sword Bell before they have even struck it. You are the first."

There seemed to be a glimmer of light in Su Muzhe’s eyes.

A place where dead swords are melted and buried.

An Le nodded and let out a long breath. The [Natural-born Swordsman] Dao Fruit within his body was trembling incessantly, responding to the swords on the bell, while the [Blood Guanyin] Dao Fruit was also trembling, responding to the sword-souls upon it.

Around that massive Sword Bell, one figure after another circled the stone platform, yet none dared to step onto the stairs or attempt to ring the ancient bell.

"Eh? Among these people... besides your disciples from the Sword Pool Palace, why are there people from the Dali Kingdom?" Zhao Huangting suddenly noticed something and exclaimed in surprise.

Su Muzhe said with some helplessness: "Jin Guan City is too close to the Dali Kingdom. That wheelchair-bound State Preceptor of Dali often sends disciples from the Star-Plucking Sect to the Sword Pool Palace to try and ring the bell and experience the sword intent of the lake."

"However, the principle of the Sword Pool Palace has always been: whoever can ring the Sword Bell shows they have a connection with it; we do not stop them."

Hearing this, Zhao Huangting laughed.

"Li You'an’s sword qi is accompanied by starlight. Back then, that wheelchair-bound State Preceptor of Dali even sent several Star Lords of the Star-Plucking Sect to personally find Li You'an, trying to persuade him to join their sect. The State Preceptor even planned to vacate the position of Sect Master for him. As a result, those Star Lords were all whipped by Li You'an with his sword."

"The Star-Plucking Sect seems to have a fixation on swords as well. Their starlight sword qi... is indeed interesting."

Su Muzhe nodded: "That State Preceptor once sat in his wheelchair, bathed in starlight, and tried to enter the Sword Pool Lake to peek at the secrets at its bottom. But after enduring one sword strike from the Old Sword Saint, he spat out some blood and retreated."

"To be able to withstand one strike from the Old Sword Saint, that wheelchair-bound State Preceptor... is likely at the peak of the ninth realm, only one step away from breaking through. Unfortunately, that one step is a chasm," Zhao Huangting said with a hint of regret.

"The Dali Kingdom has a 'Star Chart,' ranking the geniuses under the age of thirty in the country. Those who are sitting around the Sword Bell, adjusting their states and preparing to ring the bell at their peak, are the heavenly prides of the Dali Kingdom from that list."

"Look at that girl in blue; her name is Lu Ziwei. She is only twenty-three, but she has already stepped into the sixth realm. She is the pride of the Star-Plucking Sect for this generation, capable of battling even the monsters of the Yuan-Mongol Empire. Isn't the seventh mountain of the Sacred Mountain about to open? That State Preceptor will have her compete for it."

"I have not refused them. The relationship between the Sword Pool Palace and the Star-Plucking Sect is acceptable; we are just competing with each other, which can also stimulate the geniuses in our own palace," Su Muzhe said.

An Le heard this and cast his gaze over. He saw a young girl in blue sitting cross-legged about a hundred paces away from the Sword Bell.

Perhaps sensing his gaze, the girl slightly opened her eyes, starlight seeming to flash within them. She turned her head, and her gaze collided with An Le’s.

After a moment, the girl nodded slightly toward An Le and looked away.

An Le was not polite; he directly harvested five strands of "Time Qi" from her. His heart jumped—a strand of Golden Flowing Time Qi had actually been born! The many other cultivators sitting around also possessed quite a bit of Time Qi, and he harvested all the remaining opportunities.

Including the five strands of Time Qi harvested today from the plump Meiniang at Jiangju Tower, he had collected a total of twenty-five strands.

None of the others produced Golden Flowing Time Qi.

An Le did not find this strange.

Feeling the trembling [Natural-born Swordsman] Dao Fruit, An Le thought for a moment. Torn between the difficulty of giving up his resources, he gritted his teeth and sacrificed his "Crushing Sword" along with the newly obtained strand of Golden Flowing Time Qi. He then consumed twenty-two more strands of Time Qi to fully saturate the [Natural-born Swordsman] Dao Fruit with one hundred strands.

Instantly, An Le felt a surging force of sword qi erupt from within his body, coursing through his limbs and bones without obstruction. Every inch of skin, every inch of bone, and even every hair follicle became imbued with sword qi!

Standing where he was, an irresistible, invisible sword qi spread from beneath his feet through his body and then erupted from his crown, surging into the sky as if to shake the clouds into circular waves!

The Green Mountain and Ink Pool at his waist both trembled, emitting a resonant, piercing sword hum!

At the same time.

The Sword Bell in the distance, which sat quietly on the stone platform like a tomb, shuddered slightly. Dust shook off, and it hovered, rising an inch off the pedestal.

Then, as if struck by an invisible hand, it rang out three times—far-reaching, accompanied by the infinite hum of swords!

Beside An Le, Su Muzhe and Zhao Huangting listened to the bell, which sounded like a chorus of swords, their eyes widening in disbelief.

The girl in blue and the many other Dali practitioners, along with the disciples of the Sword Pool Lake, all opened their eyes in shock.

No one had rung the bell.

How could the Sword Bell... ring three times on its own?!

As for An Le, the culprit, he remained unaware.

Standing quietly, sword qi was born from his own body!

[The Dao gives birth to One, One gives birth to Two; time does not stay, the seasons flow like a river, and the Dao Fruit undergoes metamorphosis.]

[Natural-born Swordsman evolves into: Divine Sword Body.]