Proud Sword Soaring Clouds

Ling Xiao's body was currently like a garden ravaged by a violent storm—a complete mess. His Nascent Soul looked wretched and listless. The Protective True Qi had long since vanished without a trace, and the Demon Blood Red Lotus Sword in its tiny hand was dull and dim, looking battered and broken.

Ling Xiao's entire body was like a Divine Weapon that had been forged through a thousand trials, only to be thrown back into the furnace and have a perfectly good treasure kneaded into a mangled wreck.

In contrast, the colossal dharma image within Ling Xiao's Sea of Consciousness was like a deity, brilliant and splendid, radiating boundless light!

And from the outside, Ling Xiao himself had long since fallen unconscious.

Ling Xiao felt as if he were trapped in a strange space where there seemed to be no concept of time, no day or night. He just floated there, suspended silently in the air, looking down below.

In the ethereal space below, the life of a single person seemed to be replaying in fast forward.

Looking closely, he saw that the man was the spitting image of Ling Xiao!

Sourness, sweetness, bitterness, and spice. Sorrow and joy, partings and reunions!

And so, Ling Xiao stood silently at an endless height, watching the life that had once been his flip by, page by page, like a picture book.

Then, the scene changed, and another lifetime began!

The myriad flavors of life repeated once more.

And so it went... Ling Xiao himself had no idea how long he had been in this strange space, nor how many of his past lifetimes had flashed by below.

Ling Xiao's eyes were now filled with the vicissitudes of time. Though the scenes flashed by at lightning speed, every single one was seared into his mind.

As time passed—perhaps in an instant, perhaps over tens of thousands of years—the look in Ling Xiao's starry eyes grew ever more ancient.

The only thing that remained unchanged was the incomparably massive dharma image in his Sea of Consciousness. It stood tall, its feet on the ground and head in the heavens, its body radiating a boundless light that grew increasingly intense, filling the entire world within his Sea of Consciousness.

The solemn dharma image suddenly uttered a true mantra: "To know your past, see your present circumstances. To know your future, see your present actions."

As it spoke this mantra, the colossal dharma image's body dissolved into countless motes of golden light, filling Ling Xiao's entire Sea of Consciousness. Then, they appeared within his Purple Mansion and began to converge upon his Nascent Soul.

At the same time, Ling Xiao's physical body began to recover at a frenzied pace, visible to the naked eye!

His internal organs, his extraordinary meridians... everything was as if reborn. As the dharma image dissolved into countless motes of light, Ling Xiao's cross-legged body began to glow from within. The light did not spread outward but instead circled him, gradually forming a golden halo of mist that completely enveloped his body.

After witnessing his own countless reincarnations, Ling Xiao's consciousness had become exceptionally powerful! It was as if all the scattered fragments of his soul had flown back from trillions of miles away!

WHOOSH!

Ling Xiao's body stirred slightly. He exhaled a breath of turbid air, his eyes remaining tightly shut as he looked inward.

Ling Xiao looked at the Nascent Soul inside his body and was stunned to find that a suit of golden battle armor had formed upon it: a breastplate, pauldrons, bracers, greaves, and knee guards! It wore golden battle boots on its feet and a golden war helm on its head! In its hand, it held the crimson Demon Blood Red Lotus Sword!

"Th-this... What's going on?"

Even though Ling Xiao had witnessed his own experiences across countless lifetimes, he couldn't help but be dumbfounded by this transformation.

He watched as two sharp wings extended from the sides of the Nascent Soul's pauldrons, giving it a majestic air. The Nascent Soul then opened its eyes, shooting out two beams of golden light!

Ling Xiao felt the flow of True Essence within his body become so powerful it made him want to throw his head back and roar at the heavens.

But for a Nascent Soul to actually possess battle armor... Ling Xiao had heard that after their Ascension to the Immortal Realm, Immortals had battle armor, but he had never heard of a Nascent Soul being able to wear it!

'This battle armor… what's it for? Can I make it become my own armor?' With a thought, Ling Xiao tried, but found that the armor didn't change in the slightest. It did not follow his command and become armor for his physical body.

'What realm have I reached now?'

As he wondered this, Ling Xiao directed his Nascent Soul to charge out of his Purple Mansion.

The Nascent Soul pointed its crimson Demon Blood Red Lotus Sword upward and shot into the air. Ling Xiao felt a BOOM resonate through his mind, and when he looked again, the Nascent Soul was already outside his body!

At the same time, the golden battle armor shone with great brilliance! The Demon Blood Red Lotus Sword was no longer in the Nascent Soul's hand; instead, it flew and weaved around Ling Xiao's body like a roaming dragon!

Soul Emergence!

Ling Xiao was overjoyed, but in the next moment, the Nascent Soul was pulled back into his Purple Mansion with a SWOOSH, as if by a massive suction force.

Between the Late Nascent Soul Stage and the Early Soul Emergence Stage!

Ling Xiao finally confirmed his current cultivation level. He couldn't help but marvel; the Heaven-Ascending Pill was truly worthy of its reputation as a divine medicine to possess such a miraculous effect!

And what surprised Ling Xiao even more was that his Great Freedom Heart Scripture had actually broken through to the eighth level: Severing Karma!

Although Ling Xiao hadn't been able to control his body earlier, he had witnessed everything that transpired. The epiphany that came from personally watching himself experience countless lifetimes—that was a truly grand enlightenment!

'If not for the Great Freedom Heart Scripture, how could such an opportunity have arisen?'

As he thought this, Ling Xiao seemed to gain some understanding of the origin of the golden battle armor on the Nascent Soul within his Purple Mansion, and he began to circulate the Great Freedom Heart Scripture.

As the eighth level of the Great Freedom Heart Scripture began to circulate, Ling Xiao's mind became incomparably steadfast.

At that moment, Ling Xiao extended his consciousness outward. It passed beyond his room, and he realized he didn't even know how long he had been in seclusion. As his Spiritual Power spread, he sensed several powerful fluctuations. A thought stirred in his mind: 'Could Yutong and the others have already come out of seclusion?'

With a mere thought, a clear image of the world outside instantly appeared in Ling Xiao's mind.

Shangguan Yutong, Lady Ling, Ling Yun'Er... everyone... they all appeared in his mind's eye. Their every move, every frown, and every smile was even more direct and clearer than seeing them in person.

Ling Xiao could even feel their worry for him through their spiritual fluctuations.

'Xiao'Er has been in seclusion for half a month. Why hasn't he come out yet? That Venerable came looking for him with a Token yesterday. We told him Xiao'Er was in seclusion, and the Venerable looked very displeased. If he still can't come out today, won't we have offended them?'

A warmth spread through Ling Xiao's heart. After personally witnessing his own countless reincarnations, his Great Freedom Heart Scripture had finally broken through to the eighth level, Severing Karma! The Ling Xiao of the past had completely vanished. He came to a clear understanding in his heart. 'I am who I am. It doesn't matter how many times I reincarnate or how many trillions of years pass!'

'I will remain forever unchanged!'

At the same time, Ling Xiao's Spiritual Power did not pause at his mother's words but continued to extend outward, spreading until it enveloped the entirety of Shushan City.

The vast Shushan City, with its population of several hundred thousand, appeared in Ling Xiao's mind with incredible vividness—all its people, all its affairs. He could even sense the thoughts of ordinary people.

As his senses passed over a family of three, he noticed a little girl of about seven or eight, innocent and utterly adorable. She was currently snuggled in her mother's embrace, asking sweetly, "Mama, can Nannan get new clothes for the carnival this year?"

The young mother replied gently, "Of course. This year, the Lord gave that plot of land completely to our family. From now on, we have land of our own!"

The man of the house, her father, broke into a simple, honest smile. "We're finally landowners! I never would have dared to dream of this before!"

"But didn't they say it was the Lord City Lord who gave us the land?" the little girl asked, sounding very mature for her age.

"Silly child, if the Lord hadn't given the order, how could the City Lord possibly give land to commoners like us?" The woman hugged her child tightly, her face filled with happiness.

A smile appeared on Ling Xiao's face as well. He did not continue to extend his Spiritual Power, though he knew he had plenty of strength to spare.

'I suppose this could be considered a Half-Immortal Body, right?' Ling Xiao chuckled to himself. Just as he was about to stand up, he suddenly sensed a powerful fluctuation rapidly approaching from the distance.

'Could this be the Venerable my mother spoke of?' A thought stirred in Ling Xiao's mind, and he decided not to go out just yet. He wanted to see how Shangguan Yutong and the others, who had now become powerful Sword Venerables, would handle the situation.

...

Among the six Elders of the Shushan Sword Sect, Shangguan Yutong was the first to emerge. During her seclusion, she gained a new understanding of her ancestor's insights and, as expected, broke through to the Sword Venerable Realm, reaching the level of a Tier Two Sword Venerable!

Quefeng, the old Clan Leader of the Ice Sea Secret Race and a man of mixed Dragon Race and Elf Race blood, had finally broken through the shackles of his bloodline to reach the realm of a Tier One Sword Venerable! The moment he emerged from seclusion, Quefeng couldn't help the tears streaming down his face.

Thirteenth Master and Fourteenth Master broke through to Tier One Sword Venerable.

Su Xue also broke through to Tier Two Sword Venerable.

The simple-minded Beastman, Tiger, was the most unexpected of all, having shockingly broken through to the realm of a Tier Three Sword Venerable, which stunned everyone!

The pain the six of them endured seemed utterly insignificant compared to the increase in their strength. That said, if asked to experience such agony again, many would likely choose to retreat.

After all, the experience was excruciating enough to make one wish for death. If not for the influence of Ling Xiao's Great Freedom Heart Scripture, many of them likely would not have been able to endure and would have died in agony from the surging medicinal power.

The Shushan Sword Sect, through Ling Xiao's efforts alone, had been transformed in just a few short years into a formidable power, in no way inferior to a super-clan. No one dared to ignore it!

However... not everyone thought so.

At least, Tier Four Sword Venerable Ouyang Yu felt that being sent to the Shushan Sword Sect to find this Ling Xiao was an utterly ridiculous errand.

'A fledgling sect from the Mortal World actually requires an expert like me to come find this Ling Xiao in person?'

'What was even more outrageous... this Sword Sect's Sect Leader, Ling Xiao, was so arrogant. Not only did he fail to greet me immediately, he hadn't even shown his face!'

'In seclusion?'

Ouyang Yu sneered inwardly. 'Other people might give you a second chance, but not a third. With me, you get one chance, and never a second!'