Chapter 68: Ten Thousand Swords Unite, Master of the Mark

【In the fifth year you stayed with the Bai family, you sparred with Bai Sanhai and once again exhausted your spiritual power.]

【You took out tens of thousands of mid-grade spirit stones and began to restore your spiritual power.】

【The Immortal-rank cultivation art, the Boundless Longevity Art, circulated at full power. Vast spiritual qi gathered toward you, quickly absorbed and refined.】

【This time, restoring your spiritual power took longer than any previous occasion, and you absorbed even more spiritual qi.】

【After all your spiritual power had recovered, you were surprised to discover that you had broken through!】

【"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist. In merely five years, you actually broke through to the third layer of Nascent Soul!" Bai Sanhai said, offering his congratulations.】

【"Breaking through one small layer in five years? Not bad, I suppose." you murmured to yourself.】

【Bai Sanhai let out a bitter laugh and thought, If you knew that an ordinary Nascent Soul stage cultivator needs at least twenty years of bitter cultivation to break through a single layer, you wouldn’t say that!】

【"The times have changed!"】

【With your third-layer Nascent Soul cultivation, you continued to spar with Bai Sanhai.】

【Under the guidance of a Spirit Transformation cultivator, your combat techniques grew ever more profound. Although you still could not harm Bai Sanhai, you could now trade blows back and forth.】

【In the sixth year, you began cultivating an Earth-rank middle-grade technique, the Myriad Swords Return to One.】

【When this sword art is cultivated to a profound realm, one can simultaneously control over ten thousand flying swords to battle enemies at once!】

【A mere ten thousand spiritual qi flying swords meant nothing to you now.】

【You directly bought over a thousand Mystic-rank flying swords and began cultivating.】

【In the seventh year, you successfully entered the gateway of the Myriad Swords Return to One Sword Art. You could now simultaneously wield over a hundred flying swords.】

【Moreover, these hundred-plus flying swords could even be forcibly merged into one, greatly multiplying their power!】

【"Fellow Daoist, care to take one of my swords?" On the Bai family’s Martial Grounds, you stood in midair and spoke to Bai Sanhai ahead of you.】

【"Oh? Come on then!" Bai Sanhai stood with his hands behind his back, confident.】

【In an instant, over a hundred Mystic-rank flying swords appeared above your head. All the spiritual power of your third-layer Nascent Soul poured out, and the hundred-plus flying swords hummed.】

【Watching this scene, Bai Sanhai said with some astonishment, "It’s only been a year and you’ve already entered the gateway?"】

【"Fellow Daoist, be careful!"】

【"No worries, come on!" Bai Sanhai chuckled, full of confidence. Among your hundred-plus flying swords, he could not sense the slightest danger.】

【You let out a great shout, and the hundred-plus flying swords began to merge with one another!】

【A hundred became fifty, fifty became twenty-five…】

【In the end, of the hundred-plus flying swords, only two remained!】

【The smile on Bai Sanhai’s face vanished in an instant. From those final two swords, he sensed a trace of threat.】

【You exerted your full cultivation, forcibly merging the last two flying swords. The instant they fused, you immediately unleashed them!】

【Wherever that flying sword passed, even the void could not withstand it and gradually began to crack!】

【That sword already possessed the might of Spirit Transformation!】

【Watching the flying sword hurtle toward him at extreme speed, Bai Sanhai braced himself and, for the first time, took out an Earth-Rank Mid-Grade Artifact to contend with it!】

【BOOM————!】

【After the clash, the flying sword broke apart on its own into over a hundred flying swords, scattering in all directions.】

【Bai Sanhai’s upper garments were directly shredded, but fortunately he was unharmed.】

【"Fellow Daoist, very strong!" Bai Sanhai said in a deep voice. His words were few, but full of affirmation!】

【"If you did that again, even I would probably be wounded!"】

【You let out a bitter laugh. "Being able to forcibly unleash it once is already my current limit."】

【"With third-layer Nascent Soul cultivation, you can actually unleash an attack comparable to Spirit Transformation. Fellow Daoist, you are no ordinary person!" Bai Sanhai said with feeling.】

【After that one strike, you gained much insight and entered secluded cultivation to continue training.】

【In the eleventh year, after days and nights of bitter cultivation, you broke through. Your cultivation reached the fourth layer of Nascent Soul!】

【That same year, the Bai family cultivators sent to investigate the new Secret Realm were almost completely wiped out! Only one Nascent Soul Elder escaped and returned to report.】

【A few days later, Bai Sanhai found you, his expression extremely grim.】

【Without another word, Bai Sanhai extended his right hand. The mark on his palm appeared.】

【"We’ve found the mark’s owner!"】

【"You mean…"】

【"That’s right. That Secret Realm is their lair!"】

【"All my Bai family cultivators perished there. The Elder who escaped also died that very night!"】

【"And he died without any warning! To this day, we still cannot determine the cause."】

【Hearing Bai Sanhai’s description, you felt that the Bai family, and even Yun’gui City, could no longer be stayed in.】

【This matter was too big. It was not something a mere Nascent Soul stage cultivator like you could meddle in!】

【"What do you plan to do?" you asked before leaving.】

【"First, seal the Secret Realm. Then my Bai family will secretly investigate clues about this mark."】

【"At the same time, clean up everyone who knows about the Secret Realm!" As he spoke, Bai Sanhai drew a hand across his neck, the meaning unmistakable.】

【"Can you actually do it?" You glanced at Bai Sanhai with some surprise. To seal off the news, quite a few people would likely have to die.】

【"Rest assured. From the discovery of this Secret Realm until now, only the upper echelons of my Bai family know."】

【"What do you need me to do?" You grew curious about Bai Sanhai’s purpose in coming. It looked like he was about to carry out a wave of purging within the clan!】

【"After this affair, my Bai family’s Nascent Soul cultivators will suffer heavy losses. To prevent any accidents, I hope Fellow Daoist can hold the fort for my Bai family and guard against enemy sneak attacks!" Bai Sanhai said with utmost sincerity.】

【You thought for a moment, then finally agreed.】

【"Fine. But I can stay with your Bai family for at most eight years. After eight years, regardless, I must leave." You kept the timeline firmly in mind, preparing to return to the north to seek what you wanted.】

【"Eight years? That’s enough!" Bai Sanhai agreed.】

【A month later, the Bai family’s First Elder died unexpectedly, shaking the entire Bai family!】

【Bai Sanhai issued a bold declaration: "Anyone who dares target my Bai family cultivators, no matter what kind of divine being you are, you will die without question!"】

【Bai Sanhai dispatched the majority of the clan’s Nascent Soul cultivators to search everywhere in Yun’gui City.】

【And you formally took up residence in the Bai family, safeguarding the peace of the region.】

【Three days later, the Bai family’s Third Elder and Fifth Elder both perished!】

【Over the following month, another large batch of the Bai family’s Nascent Soul stage cultivators fell. The entire Bai family was plunged into a state of mutual fear.】

【In the second month, Bai Sanhai stepped forward. "The killer has been executed by me. As of today, Yun’gui City’s seal is lifted!"】

【"Fellow Daoist certainly can bring yourself to do it." You looked at Bai Sanhai before you and teased.】

【"Cough cough. To survive in the world of cultivation, if your hand isn’t ruthless, the one who dies is me!" Bai Sanhai smiled awkwardly.】

【You knew that the reason Bai Sanhai had to kill these people, aside from the matter of the Secret Realm, was for another reason as well!】

【Of course, this was the Bai family’s internal affair. You did not wish to get involved.】