Chapter 1782 - 456: The Lone Flame, Cang Xuan of the Sword Dao_3

Chapter 1782: Chapter 456: The Lone Flame, Cang Xuan of the Sword Dao_3

He cut vines and wove them into fences, made the simplest farming tools with wood and stone, and carried water from the lakeshore bucket by bucket to irrigate.

Work at sunrise, rest at sunset.

While his distant compatriots were building magnificent cities with new technology in the "Land of Dreams," he was turning over the fragrant soil with a hoe.

When the residents of the Floating City enjoyed Spirit Plant and Spirit Food, he was chewing on the unripe grains he had grown.

Besides the calluses accumulated from holding the sword for years, Cang Xuan’s palm now bore many new scratches.

Life had entirely regressed to an almost primitive state, forming a temporal rift with the dazzling, rapidly advancing Dream Weaving Civilization.

Occasionally, Cang Xuan would wipe the dusty trophies and old photos in the martial arts school in the afternoons.

The photos showed the elegance of ancestors competing with martial arts experts from various paths and the bustling scene of the school crowded with disciples in its heyday.

Sometimes, he would stroll through the empty city, pass ancient inscriptions recording the glorious history of Martial City, and flip through dusty books in abandoned schools, chronicling the history and poetry of the Dream Weaving World.

Actually, what Cang Xuan wanted to protect was not only the inheritance of martial arts but also the memory of this civilization’s past.

What he resisted was not the progress of civilization itself, but the zeal for completely abandoning the past and severing roots in pursuit of the new world.

During this time, news of war occasionally reached him, yet it was always accompanied by songs of victory.

All reports pointed to one conclusion: the strength of the Dream Weaving Clan was enough to crush any indigenous forces daring to obstruct their resource acquisition.

Their advantage was unshakable.

The old radio, barely maintained with vintage Crystal Stones, became his only link to the bustling outside world.

Amidst the static of electrical noise, news of compatriots making grand progress in the "Land of Dreams" came through.

He heard of his compatriots establishing cities in the Otherworld, more magnificent than those in the Dream Weaving World, heard of new technologies named "Light of Dreams," and "Civilization Torch" being unbeatable on the battlefield.

The content of the broadcasts was a spice in Cang Xuan’s life.

When he heard that a newly built Floating City in the "Land of Dreams" was named after a well-respected classical poet of the Dream Weaving World, the corners of his mouth involuntarily curled into a smile, because his grandfather had taught him to recite the poet’s verses letter by letter under the lamp.

This action by distant compatriots made him feel that the roots of culture seemed to cross endless time and continue on foreign lands.

When the broadcast reported that a Spiritual Ability School, which he had heard of, achieved a groundbreaking breakthrough in the energy environment of the Otherworld, he would stop waving his sword, revealing a thoughtful expression.

It was not envy of their strength, but rather like a hermit away from the court, still caring about the country’s farming and harvesting.

He would subconsciously assess the potential impact of this new technology, good or bad.

This was an instinct deeply embedded in his Bloodline, even if abandoned by the times in a corner, he still couldn’t completely let go of his concern for the future path of civilization.

But his sword remained simple, even appearing somewhat lonely.

At the edge of the field in the early morning light, in the courtyard under the watery moonlight... the sound of the Iron Sword Breaking Sky, intertwined with the ripples of wind over the lake’s surface and the subtle sounds of crops growing, became the only stubborn heartbeat of this empty city.

However, this tranquility was destined not to last.

The news from the broadcasts quietly took a turn in the following years.

The clan seemed to encounter a crisis in the Land of Dreams.

The resources of the Dream Weaving World began to be rapidly extracted.

Cang Xuan witnessed with his own eyes the distant mountains being consumed into flatlands by large mining devices within months, the once-clear rivers muddied by upstream energy refineries, and the sky starting to show energy accumulation clouds like scars.

The homeland’s land was withering at an unprecedented speed.

This year, Cang Xuan was 43.

This day, just past his grandfather’s memorial day.

A small floating craft, adorned with the "Pioneer" insignia, descended on the abandoned street in front of the martial arts school.

A figure with an indifferent expression stepped off and presented a compulsory migration order to Cang Xuan.

"According to the ’Civilization Consolidation Act,’ all remaining population in the Dream Weaving World must migrate to the Land of Dreams within the stipulated time; this area has been designated as a resource recovery zone and will soon undergo thorough environmental transformation."

Cang Xuan silently looked at the document with the bright red seal, then lifted his gaze to this land that had birthed and nurtured him, now full of scars.

In the end, he said nothing.

He returned to the martial arts school and took the Iron Sword that had accompanied him for many years.

Before locking the school gates, he buried the hard dried fruit given by the neighbor’s grandmother under the old tree in the yard.

When he embarked on the floating craft, glancing back one last time, what he saw was an ancient city drained of its soul, dying.

The floating craft was taking him to a newly built area in Hope City.

The moment his feet touched the ground, an unprecedented sensation swept through his body.

The air here was thick; every breath felt as though he was inhaling not gas, but liquefied Life Energy into his lungs.

Brimming with wild vitality, it seeped into his limbs and bones without any guidance, cleansing every inch of his flesh and even deeper, the core of his Life Source.

In his original world, the physical growth that took years of training to achieve became very simple here; the energy in the air was ubiquitous, so dense it almost solidified.