Cultivation: When you take things to the extreme - Chapter 568

Chapter 568: Chapter 345: Nine Rites

“Nine Rituals Heavenly Sword?”

Hearing this, Xu Yang had not yet spoken when Pure Jun Sword Lord at his side exclaimed in surprise.

“Indeed, it is the Nine Rituals Heavenly Sword!”

The one who offered the technique, although possessing only a Return to Void cultivation, acted quite steadily. Seeing the surprise in Pure Jun Sword Lord’s voice, he took the opportunity to ask, “True Monarch, have you heard of this sword technique?”

“Of course I have.”

Pure Jun Sword Lord nodded and a solemn expression appeared in his eyes, “It is said that this is an Ancient Holy Sword from a time so long ago it cannot be determined, forged by the Human Clan’s Sacred Emperor Xuanyuan, drawing upon the methods of the Nine Heavens Mystic Lady, using copper from Mount Shou.”

“This sword, sealed by the Heaven Earth Holy Skills and revered by gods and demons from all directions, can be called the monarch of Sword Dao, a Holy Divine Weapon. After the Yellow Emperor ascended to the heavens on a dragon, the sword was left in the human world. It was passed down through the Three Emperors and Five Sovereigns, until it reached Xia Yu, becoming known as the Xuanyuan Xia Yu Sword, and because of the Nine Heavens Mystic Lady and Xuanyuan, it was also called the Nine Rituals Heavenly Sword!”

After speaking, Pure Jun Sword Lord lowered his gaze towards the person offering the technique, unable to contain his curiosity and asked, “Where did you get it from?”

The person offering the technique smiled and replied, “Ancestral Cave, a matter of chance.”

“Is that so.”

Although the answer was noncommittal and its veracity unknown, Pure Jun Sword Lord did not concern himself further but turned to Xu Yang and others, saying, “This swordsmanship is widely circulated in the East Victorious Divine Continent and is a technique passed down from the Heavenly Court. As it is considered a Holy Divine Weapon of the Human Clan and possesses infinite might, capable of slaying monsters and expelling demons, it fits the dignity of the Heavenly Court Emperor.”

“Therefore, the previous Heavenly Court Emperor, ‘Taihuang’, collected this swordsmanship early on, nurturing it with the power of East Victorious Divine Continent, in order to forge this sword as a symbol of the Sacred Emperor, to awe all around, and to unite the Immortal Realm…”

“Ahem!”

Before he could finish, it seemed he realized his words were inappropriate, and he quickly coughed lightly to change the subject, “Regrettably, despite tens of thousands of years passing by, this sword has not yet been forged. Taihuang Emperor also secluded himself thousands of years ago in an attempt to break through the Earth Immortal realm and the sword forging matter was thus put aside.”

“Oh?”

Hearing this, Xu Yang finally interjected, “So, you’re saying that even with the Heavenly Court’s potentiality and the resources of East Victorious, tens of thousands of years were not enough to forge this sword?”

“Whether it is possible to forge it is not easy to say.”

Pure Jun Sword Lord shook his head, “I only heard that this sword is unlike ordinary Sword Artifacts; it can’t be completed at once. It requires gradual progress, nurturing growth, before it can be achieved.”

“Indeed!”

Upon hearing this, the person offering the technique also said, “This sword requires the combined efforts of heaven, earth, and human principles. The heaven element consists of Heavenly Dao meritorious deeds, the earth element of the essence of the earth, and the human element of the faith in human law. Combined and forged progressively, the sword will take shape.”

“Therefore, this sword has three main realms, corresponding to the three paths of heaven, earth, and human.”

“The Human Sword is Xuanyuan, gradually refined from Magic Artifacts, Spiritual Artifacts, Magical Treasures, to Spiritual Treasures.”

“The Land Sword is Nine Rituals, forged progressively from lower-grade, medium-grade, superior-grade to supreme Immortal Artifacts.”

“The Heavenly Sword is Heavenly Venerable, reputed to be among Immortal Treasures, also divided into supreme, upper, middle, and lower grades.”

The person offering the technique spoke with a heavy voice, “In other words, a complete Nine Rituals Heavenly Sword is a Supreme Immortal Artifact!”

“Supreme Immortal Artifact…”

Hearing this, everyone was first startled and then chuckled bitterly without words.

Supreme Immortal Artifact?

What concept is that?

Immortal Artifact is already at Ninth Order, corresponding to Human Immortals.

Supreme Immortal Artifact, ranking at the twelfth order, corresponds to… Golden Immortal?

Golden Immortal!

Eternal and unperishable, creating the world and heaven, passing on the law and establishing the Dao!

That is the Golden Immortal, the supreme being in ancient legends.

A single Sword Artifact can become a twelfth-order Supreme Immortal Artifact, on par with the eternal Golden Immortals?

No wonder the Heavenly Court can’t forge it. Forget about East Victorious alone, even if all the power of the Earth Immortal Realm were pooled together, it might not be possible to forge it.

In today’s Earth Immortal Realm, with the four main Tao Lineages — the Heavenly Court, Buddhism, the Monster Nation, and the Demon Abyss — the highest they have are Supreme Immortal Artifacts, serving as national fortunes that should not be used unless in a life or death crisis, even in great battles among Immortal Gods, the Superior Immortal Implements could serve as the ultimate weapon.

This shows the importance of Immortal Treasures. Even in Ancestral Caves and Ancient Secret Realms, the highest possible finds are Supreme Immortal Artifacts; there’s no precedent of an Immortal Treasure emerging.

Therefore, to this day, in the Earth Immortal’s Domain, Immortal Treasures are nothing but things of ancient legend, only existing in tales from ancient times with no traces to be found in reality.

So…

Pure Jun Sword Lord smiled, looking at the person offering the technique, and teasingly asked, “You aren’t by any chance planning to forge this sword, are you?”

“Of course not.”

Hearing this, the person offering the technique also smiled, “This sword requires the combined efforts of heaven, earth, and human to forge, who knows how much effort, manpower, resources, and time it would require. Even the Heavenly Court couldn’t manage it, how could I, a mere Loose Cultivator, dare to entertain such a fantasy? I’m merely offering this method to join in the excitement, to enjoy the moment with the seniors here.”

“Haha!”

Pure Jun Sword Lord chuckled lightly, “You, young man, are quite amusing!”

Having said that, he then looked at Xu Yang, “Zhen Yuan, what do you think?”

Xu Yang smiled, speaking calmly, “How could we cultivators not want to observe such an extraordinary swordsmanship?”

“Great minds think alike!”

Pure Jun Sword Lord nodded his head and said with a sigh, “I have long yearned for this sword, though I fear I might not be fortunate enough to witness its splendor in this life. Being able to observe its sword technique today remedies some of my regret.”

“Ha!”

Xu Yang smiled, not committing to any particular stance, and simply invited the swordsmanship technique to be examined along with everyone else.

Xuanyuan Xia Yu!

Nine Rituals Heavenly Venerate!

Such critical matters, having searched through Xiao Qingyun and others from the Heavenly Court, how could he not know?

Previously, the Heavenly Court dispatched Xiao Qingyun and others to the Lower Realm for two main reasons, one was for the Heavenly Mechanics Methods and the Spirit-Treasure Mech Armor, and the second was for this Xuanyuan Xia Yu, Nine Rituals Heavenly Venerate.

Xuanyuan Xia Yu, Nine Rituals Heavenly Venerate, required the forging and refinement of the three laws of heaven, earth, and man, encompassing “Xuanyuan,” “Nine Rituals,” and “Heavenly Venerate” across three major stages and twelve corresponding ranks. Not only did it necessitate a massive input of resources, but also countless incense beliefs for worship.

The Heavenly Court occupied the East Victorious Divine Land, which is the foremost among the four great provinces of the Earth Immortal Realm, with exceptional talents and abundant resources. Even so, the population of the Earth Immortal Realm could not compare to the current World of Dao and Law, the Wandao School.

Not only in quantity but also in quality.

Although the East Victorious Divine Land is the fundamental territory of the Heavenly Court with stable rule, stable rule does not equate to the will of the people. Given the system and way of doing things in the Heavenly Court, from the five great emperors down to all the palaces and departments, everyone is engaged in open and secret struggles. It would already be good if they weren’t divided in mind and spirit, so where would the united will of the people come from?

In terms of the incense belief associated with the law of man, the East Victorious Divine Land does not meet the standard for refining the Nine Rituals Heavenly Sword.

Therefore, the Heavenly Court turned its attention to him.

Back then, when he slaughtered demons to save the world, uniting the power of the masses, he successfully elevated Xuanyuan to the ranks of Immortal Artifacts.

According to the current classification, human law Spiritual Treasures are called Xuanyuan, earth law Immortal Artifacts are called Nine Rituals. Back then, his Xuanyuan Sword had already reached the level of “earth law Nine Rituals,” serving as the embryo for the Nine Rituals Heavenly Venerate’s sword.

This was still just the contribution from slaughtering demons in the World of Dao and Law. Later on, after experiencing the calamity of demonic contamination in the Yuan Spirit World, purifying the Heavenly Demon pollution, and suppressing the three great Demon Artifacts, he earned another merit for saving the world, elevating Xuanyuan to the ranks of Medium-Grade Immortal Artifacts.

At this point, Xuanyuan could already be referred to as the “Nine Rituals Sword.”

This is the result of saving the world and uniting the faith of the masses, a path that the Heavenly Court cannot replicate.

That is, how to save the world when there is no threat of annihilation in the Earth Immortal Realm, and even if there were, the threats that could cause the annihilation of the Earth Immortal Realm are not something that this false Heavenly Court could withstand.

As for staging a “Slaughtering Demon and Saving the World” act in some Lower Realm, that is entirely undesirable. The Heavenly Dao, despite being utterly impartial and selfless, does not mean that it has loopholes. Exploiting such a gap would only invite Karma.

Therefore, unable to imitate, they could only resort to robbery, sending people to the Lower Realm to seize the foundations of the Wandao School, as well as the embryo for the Nine Rituals Heavenly Venerate’s sword, and bring them back to the Heavenly Court for refining to eventually forge the true Nine Rituals Heavenly Venerate sword.

Perfect!

Unfortunately, they miscalculated the time and underestimated the opponent, ultimately leading to Xiao Qingyun and the others, who were “on official duty at the grassroots level,” hitting a snag.

And through soul searching, Xu Yang, who came to know the subsequent techniques for Xuanyuan after arriving at the Earth Immortal Realm, also quietly searched for this Nine Rituals Heavenly Venerate Sword technique, but found nothing. Aside from the Heavenly Court clearly possessing it, there was no trace of the Nine Rituals Heavenly Venerate Sword technique elsewhere.

Luckily, when one’s fortune arrives, nothing can stand in its way, not even needing him to search, as people took the initiative to come forward and offer it.

The current Xuanyuan, ranked at the sixth tier, is of the Medium-Grade Immortal Spirit level, but it could ascend to the rank of a Seventh Tier Superior Immortal Artifact upon meeting two conditions.

The two conditions are the practice of a Cultivation Technique and the essence of the earth’s potentiality.

The Cultivation Technique needs no further elaboration; it is already before his eyes.

As for the essence of the earth’s potentiality, it refers to various types of Mysterious Iron Refined Gold. Even without the mythical “Mount Shou Copper,” a collection of sixth, seventh, and even eighth order Mysterious Irons must be sought to complement the earth law among the three laws of heaven, earth, and man.

Why only complement the earth law?

Because the laws of heaven and man are already sufficient.

Thanks to the merits from Heaven granted during the two world-saving demon slaughters in the Dao Law Yuan Spirit world, along with the affinity with humanity’s way cultivated by the Wandao School over the eons, Xuanyuan had already been forcibly advanced to the Medium-Grade Immortal Spirit level without the follow-up techniques.

Now that the follow-up techniques have been obtained, as long as the last deficiency of the earth law is filled, with enough essence of the earth’s potentiality added, then Xuanyuan will be able to ascend to the Superior Immortal Spirit Realm and truly become the “Nine Rituals Sword!”

By then, the seventh rank Heavenly Mechanics Methods might also be completed, and the first Top-Grade Immortal Spirit Mech Armor from the Wandao School could be born from it…

Time flew by unnoticed in Xu Yang’s envisioning of the future until the technique of the Nine Rituals Heavenly Venerate was thoroughly discussed.

Afterward, new individuals took the stage, offering up Mana Points for appraisal, making the atmosphere of the Pill Origin Gathering even more enthusiastic.

In this manner, another ten-plus months passed, and the grand assembly had now been going on for three years, but the gathered cultivators still felt as if only a moment had passed.

This is not only because the high-level cultivators have a different concept of time than ordinary people, but also because the atmosphere of exchange at the Pill Origin grand assembly was so sublime, with discussions on the dao, teachings on techniques, pill appreciation, and feasting—it was indeed like the banquets of a celestial mansion where time was forgotten.

Unfortunately…

“There is no feast that does not come to an end!”

“Three years have passed since the feast began, and this Pill Origin Gathering should also come to a close.”

Xu Yang stood up, smiling at everyone, “I am immensely grateful for the presence of all the cultivators here. Let’s drink this cup as a farewell.”

After saying this, he drained the wine in his cup in one gulp.

“Senior…”

“Great Immortal…”

Upon hearing this, the people felt a sense of loss, reluctant to part, with several of them even showing redness in their eyes, losing their composure, and a few immediately knelt on the ground to plead earnestly.

“Great Immortal, please continue for a while longer!”

“This assembly is like water, and we are like fish, already hard to separate!”

“Please show mercy, Great Immortal, and speak with us once more!”

“The grace of transmitting the technique and the virtue of teaching the dao are beyond our capacity to repay. We wish to study at the Wuzhuang Taoist temple, to serve as Taoist children in front of the Great Immortal!”

“Senior…”

Their earnest pleas, each word soaked with tears, the joy of the Pill Origin, the benefits of discussing the dao, and the pleasure of teaching the techniques during the feast had deeply enthralled them, unable to extricate themselves. Now that it was abruptly ending, their hearts felt empty, how could they not linger in reluctance?

That is why they pleaded so fervently.

Seeing this, Xu Yang simply smiled, “Three years of discussing the dao and teaching techniques need to be digested by oneself. The Longevity Fruits in my backyard also need time to bloom and bear fruit again. So, fellow cultivators, please disperse. In three hundred years, we will hold the Pill Origin Gathering once more, and then let’s reunite, shall we?”