Chapter 176: Sword Cultivator

"City Lord, someone has broken through to the late Nascent Soul stage within Hundred Declarations City, and it looks like they've succeeded. What... should we do?"

Atop the Ancestral Peak of Hundred Declarations City, five or six Nascent Soul cultivators had gathered. The speaker's face was tense, his gaze darting toward the fading golden light in the distance, his tone betraying his uncertainty.

The City Lord of Hundred Declarations City stood with his hands behind his back. He gazed toward Spirit Pavilion Peak in silence for a moment.

Waving his hand, he said, "We should avoid offending a great cultivator at the late Nascent Soul stage if at all possible. It would be best if we could speak with him, but if we can't... let's not invite a snub." He paused, then added, "Judging by his vast, upright aura and clear spiritual light, he seems to be of the Righteous Path. Since we belong to the same path, there is no reason for us to go looking for trouble."

"The City Lord is absolutely right," a white-haired elder agreed with a nod. The rest of them also visibly relaxed.

Right then, a clear, resonant hum echoed between heaven and earth. It sounded like the chiming of a bell, or a longsword being drawn from its sheath, and it slowly reverberated above Hundred Declarations City. The sound wasn't piercing, but it carried an undeniable penetrating power, as if something were being awakened.

The crowd looked toward the sound, only to see that the distant sea of gold and the Ten Directions Palaces had silently faded away. Taking their place were golden longswords appearing one after another.

The longswords were uniform in shape and shimmered with flowing spiritual light, slowly cruising through the air like swimming fish. There were a full forty-two of them. Each radiated fierce sword qi, subtly drawn to one another to weave an invisible net of blades. Amidst that net of sword light, a figure in golden robes could faintly be seen standing with his hands behind his back. The spiritual light around him had not completely faded, yet it was no longer ostentatious.

The forty-two golden swords spun faster and faster. Their edges tore through the air with a continuous whistling howl, eventually coalescing into a heaven-spanning golden whirlwind that engulfed the figure. Fierce sword qi rippled outward from the peak. Even the Nascent Soul cultivators on the Ancestral Peak were forced to bow their heads slightly against the surging wave of air.

Countless cultivators watched intently.

Across Hundred Declarations City, countless eyes fixed upon that golden vortex. Some gasped softly, some held their breath, but most simply watched in silence, as if witnessing something they had never seen before.

Someone in the city was the first to snap back to reality.

"That's... Sword Intent," he said, his voice tight. It wasn't loud, but like a stone tossed into a pond, it quickly set off a ripple.

"This senior is actually a sword cultivator!" someone exclaimed.

At those words, many people's expressions changed on the spot.

Sword cultivators were already the most ferocious combatants among cultivators; very few dared to clash with them head-on within the same realm. Everyone present knew exactly what a sword cultivator at the late Nascent Soul stage meant.

But before the crowd could recover from their shock, the golden whirlwind suddenly vanished as if it had never been there at all. The forty-two golden swords withdrew their spiritual light simultaneously, and the golden-robed figure disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye. The chatter in the city abruptly cut off, plunging into momentary silence.

A moment later, someone suddenly whispered, "Hurry, let's go look... that senior might still be there!"

"Even if he isn't taking disciples, just experiencing the Sword Intent he left behind would benefit us endlessly!"

Those words sparked a frenzy. One after another, people spurred their escape lights and flew toward the peak. Some were anxious, some were yearning, and others simply wanted to see what the mountain looked like.

The sky was as clear as washed glass. The wind swept across the summit of Spirit Pavilion Peak, blowing away the final lingering warmth of the Sword Intent. The cultivators rushing toward the mountain all stopped in unison at the mountainside of Spirit Pavilion Peak; no one dared to truly step into that area.

...

A streak of light shot in from the distance, landing heavily atop the Ancestral Peak of Hundred Declarations City with a dull thud.

It was a Golden Core cultivator, followed by a young man at the Peak Foundation Establishment Stage—the very deacon of the Cave Dwelling Bureau who had leased Spirit Pavilion Peak to Jiuyou. The young man lost his footing as he landed and stumbled. He scrambled to his feet, looked up at the five stern-faced Nascent Soul Supremes in front of him, swallowed hard, and hurriedly dropped to one knee.

He composed himself and recounted how he had met the senior that day and how he had leased out Spirit Pavilion Peak.

The six Nascent Soul cultivators listened, their gazes meeting silently in the air for a moment. Their expressions didn't change much, but they were already weighing the matter in their hearts.

The City Lord of Hundred Declarations City stroked his long black beard, his brow furrowing slightly.

"Spirit Pavilion Peak... Spirit Pavilion Peak again. Could there really be something special about this peak?" he said. He paused, his gaze falling upon the Foundation Establishment cultivator. "Where is that great cultivator now?"

"To answer the City Lord, after that senior broke through... he left," the Golden Core cultivator said, stepping forward to answer for the Foundation Establishment disciple.

"He left?" the City Lord asked, his tone thick with surprise.

He had thought he would have a chance to speak with a great cultivator at the late Nascent Soul stage. He never expected the other party to leave so decisively, without even showing his face.

The Golden Core cultivator took out a token from his robes and offered it with both hands. "This is the Spirit Pavilion Peak Token that mysteriously appeared on the Cave Dwelling Bureau's counter this morning."

The City Lord reached out and took the token. His expression remained unchanged, but out of the corner of his eye, he quietly swept a glance over his five fellow sect members.

He coughed, adopting a solemn tone. "This matter is of great importance. As the City Lord of Hundred Declarations City, it is only right that I handle this personally. For now, this peak will be registered under my name. I will handle the subsequent matters appropriately."

With that, he turned and gave a slight bow with folded hands to the five of them. "Junior Brothers, I have urgent matters to attend to. I'll take my leave."

Without waiting for anyone to speak, he transformed into a white rainbow and shot into the sky, flying a bit faster than when he arrived, as if afraid someone would beat him to it.

Back on the Ancestral Peak, the remaining five fell silent for a moment.

Someone finally withdrew his gaze and sent a hushed telepathic message. "Has this old fox gone mad trying to break through? So what if someone broke through to the Nascent Soul realm there once, and now someone else has broken through to the late Nascent Soul stage there?"

Another responded with a Divine Sense transmission. "Is that place really that miraculous?"

The last person said nothing. He only glanced in the direction of Spirit Pavilion Peak before pulling back his fervent gaze.

Thousands of miles south of Hundred Declarations City, a longsword wreathed in golden light tore through the clouds, howling as it passed and leaving a faint golden trail across the sky.

The longsword suddenly came to a halt. The golden light scattered, and Jiuyou's figure emerged from within.

He looked back in the direction of Hundred Declarations City, which had already shrunk into a blurry silhouette on the horizon. He withdrew his gaze, feeling the lingering resonance of sword qi beneath his feet, and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.

"Dozens of miles in an instant... this speed is almost catching up to the Blood Soul Evasion. And this is just normal flight. If I push it to the limit, it will be even faster." He estimated the distance. "At this speed, it will take less than a few months to reach Southern Frost."

Before his voice could scatter in the wind, his figure once again transformed into a streak of golden sword light, piercing through the clouds and vanishing into the southern horizon.

After the sword light passed, the sky returned to its original, crystal-clear state, as if nothing had ever been there.