***
The grey mist obstructed divine sense to a certain extent, but after passing through the passage, clarity was quickly restored once more.
Red!
As far as the eye could see, everything was a patch of crimson, and upon the boundless level ground grew dense clusters of red, sword-leafed Profound-Communicating Grass.
Within the sky hung a crimson bright moon, desolate, cold, and terrifying.
Thick chains emerged from unknown locations, extending continuously to coil around a mountain in the distance.
The entire mountain resembled a longsword thrusting into the ground, its overall color a dark red, appearing exceptionally conspicuous amidst this plain covered in Profound-Communicating Grass.
The Profound-Communicating Grass everywhere swayed with the wind, looking from a distance like a surging sea of blood, and even the air carried a faint trace of a metallic, bloody scent.
"To think there would be so many Profound-Communicating Grasses..." Jiang Jing’s eyes were filled with shock.
Profound-Communicating Grass was a type of spiritual plant influenced by 'Intent'; when a sword cultivator consumed pills refined with sword-dao attribute Profound-Communicating Grass as the primary material, they could achieve the effects of tempering their magical power and honing their divine soul.
A single stalk of sword-dao attribute Profound-Communicating Grass could be exchanged for quite a few contribution points within the Sword Sect, yet before them lay an entire prairie of Profound-Communicating Grass!
However, both Jiang Jing and Li Fengping suppressed the urge to harvest.
If it had been an uninformed practitioner who entered the secret realm, they likely would have already begun to scavenge and sweep through the area, but these two were different.
The data mentioned that the team led by the previous Elder had also nearly been wiped out because they had done exactly that.
This secret realm was extremely special; for every stalk of Profound-Communicating Grass picked, one had to receive a streak of sword qi equivalent to a full-power strike of one's current realm.
That Elder had already been very cautious back then, only daring to harvest a dozen or so stalks to conduct observations first.
Yet it was precisely this action that caused a dozen streaks of sword qi to appear simultaneously; he barely managed to block them, but the scattered sword qi severed a large patch of Profound-Communicating Grass, and if he had not sacrificed a trump card, he would have died within this secret realm.
The data did not mention the latter half of the event, but it left behind a warning, telling those performing the mission to absolutely never touch those Profound-Communicating Grasses.
The Elder’s goal was to subdue the sword within this sword-nurturing place, so that could only be...
Jiang Jing looked toward that sword-shaped mountain peak in the distance: "Is that the sword the Elder desires?"
"Correct, Senior Brother Lin told me that once we deliver the mission on our end, the Elder will come personally."
To prevent news from leaking, that Elder had only ever issued this one mission.
As for the reason for choosing this specific point in time to issue the mission, it was still because of the Spirit Network.
He learned that a Sword Sect senior had emerged from seclusion in Xuanjian City and, combined with some rumors within the sect, he speculated that the Sword Sect senior who emerged was at the very least at the Dao Integration stage.
He himself was merely at the Void Returning stage; subduing a sword of at least the Dao Integration level was truly somewhat difficult.
But if a Sword Sect senior were present and saw a junior in trouble, would they truly stand by with folded arms?
After the Dao Integration stage, a sword cultivator's spirit merged with their sword, and they would not abandon their own sword even if they encountered a better one, so even the possibility of coveting it was greatly reduced.
Would this not be the best assistance!
There was no better opportunity than this.
Furthermore, some factions within the sect also wished to know exactly which Sword Sect predecessor had emerged near Xuanjian City to facilitate future plans, so they arranged for a disciple from one of the factions to participate in this mission.
Therefore, aside from Lin Qiuxian having a clear goal, the sword cultivator surnamed Feng also had other motives for coming to Xuanjian City; as for Li Fengping, he truly knew nothing and was purely there to make up the numbers.
As a result, the other two were detained, while he, on the contrary, was fine.
"Looking at the appearance of this secret realm, I fear it was created by a demonic giant." Jiang Jing shook her head slightly. "I'm afraid the Elder was somewhat lacking in consideration."
She did not hold an optimistic view of the Elder’s idea of wanting to subdue this sword.
Li Fengping shook his head slightly: "It is not necessarily a demonic sword cultivator; many orthodox sword cultivators walk the path of slaughter and conquest, so it is also possible for them to set up such a secret realm."
"Alright, let's not waste time; let us go to the foot of that mountain now to take a look." Xu Xing spoke up to interrupt the two.
Subsequently, without waiting for their response, he took a step and walked forward.
In the places he walked past, many Profound-Communicating Grasses were knocked askew, and their hard, sword-shaped leaves collided with each other, producing crisp sounds.
Li Fengping was startled and hurriedly followed.
This Senior Brother Sandao... was truly far too calm; he was actually not nervous at all.
Such a thought drifted through Jiang Jing’s mind.
Subsequently, she also carefully crossed the Profound-Communicating Grass prairie and caught up with the two.
They were silent all along the way; Jiang Jing and Li Fengping were constantly observing the surroundings, but aside from the boundless Profound-Communicating Grass prairie and those few chains of unknown origin, there was nothing else.
They were also very careful when placing their feet.
By comparison, Xu Xing was much more casual; in the places he walked, the leaves collided with each other, producing a constant clinking and clanging sound, which left Li Fengping, who followed behind him, trembling with fear, dreading that a streak of sword qi would wash over his face if he were not careful.
"There is no need to be so cautious; the stems and leaves of the Profound-Communicating Grass are tough and strong, so they are not that easy to break."
Xu Xing’s words were of no use, and the two remained very careful.
Precisely because of this, it took quite a while before the three arrived at the foot of that sword peak.
Phew—
Having finally walked out of the Profound-Communicating Grass prairie, both Jiang Jing and Li Fengping let out a sigh of relief.
Within dozens of meters of the sword peak, there was not even a single weed, let alone Profound-Communicating Grass; the dark red earth felt somewhat soft when stepped upon.
"The mission requirement is merely an investigation, so let us begin recording."
After saying that, Xu Xing prepared to cast a Profound Light Technique to record the scene here.
Crack!
A burst of white light lit up, and Li Fengping was seen holding a camera; the light from just now was exactly the flash.
Jiang Jing had not brought a camera and was using her mobile phone to take pictures everywhere.
Silently abandoning the idea of using the Profound Light Technique, he also took out the mobile phone he had purchased not long ago and began to take pictures.
"..."
Xu Xing felt somewhat emotional in his heart; many of his subconscious actions were influenced by this world.
Compared to the practitioners of the present day, he appeared somewhat lacking in flexibility.
Although his memories of the past had not been forgotten, if they were not touched upon, he would no longer recall them.
For a time, he could not help but recall those matters that had caused a commotion back then.
'It truly is a tangled mess...'
"Senior Brother Sandao, how are things on your end? We have finished taking pictures on our side; come over and let's cross-check." Li Fengping's voice interrupted his train of thought.
Xu Xing gave a light smile: "I have also finished taking pictures on my end."
"It's a pity that image-recording spirit artifacts are too expensive, and I have never learned the Profound Light Technique; otherwise, the contribution points could have been a bit more."
Li Fengping grumbled while fiddling with his camera.
By comparison, the price of a camera was much more affordable; if it were not for the fact that the photographs taken could not record divine charm and 'Intent', image-recording spirit artifacts would have been phased out long ago.
However, this mission only offered a small amount of contribution points; buying an image-recording spirit artifact for this would be a complete loss.
Subsequently, Xu Xing handed his mobile phone to Li Fengping and let him cross-check; after confirming there were no omissions, they also collected some soil samples.
Jiang Jing walked to the side of the sword peak, preparing to cut off a small piece of rock to take back as a sample.
She raised her sword and swung it down abruptly, cold light shimmering brilliantly.
Dang!
The sound of metal clashing against metal rang out, sparks splattered, and the rebounding force shook her palm until it was numb.
She did not cut anything off; the stone quality of this sword peak was unexpectedly hard.
"Get out of the way." Xu Xing’s warning suddenly rang out in her ears.
A streak of invisible sword qi shot out, a hissing sound emanating within the air.
Jiang Jing’s pupils constricted violently; she did not have time to think much and subconsciously stepped to the side to avoid it just as the sword qi was about to reach her body.
The sword qi, comparable to a full-power strike of the middle Nascent Soul stage, whistled past, and the sword pressure it kicked up bent a large patch of Profound-Communicating Grass.
Damn it!
Li Fengping’s scalp felt numb; if she were to be sent flying out by the sword qi, that would be disastrous!
He gripped his sword and prepared to step forward to forcibly block it.
A figure was even faster than him; before he could even take a single step, Xu Xing had already appeared in front of the sword qi’s path and pointed out with his fingers.
Silent and soundless, the sword qi—which could sever rivers and split seas in the outside world—was like a clay ox entering the sea; it was easily crushed without even kicking up a single trace of wind or wave, dissipating into nothingness.
Both of them were stunned upon seeing this scene, and the same thought surfaced within their hearts simultaneously.
Could this f***ing be a Nascent Soul?
***