Chapter 538: Guardian (2)

Chapter 538 -352: Guardian (2)

Don’t blame the world for being unfair, because it was never fair to begin with!

This was Ximen Aotian’s favorite saying!

But seeing Ling Xiao today, he was stunned.

As people who had always been silently monitoring the situation on the Canglan Continent, they had, of course, long heard of Ling Xiao’s name.

There were rumors that he was backed by a powerful hidden family, that he had obtained treasures from the ruins of the Ancient Era, and then there were the other sensational events that followed… One could say Ling Xiao’s entire rise had been under the watchful eye of these Guardians.

Their curiosity about Ling Xiao was nothing new. A Guardian had once contacted the Holy Sanctuary and mentioned Ling Xiao’s marvelous skills in Arrays and Alchemy. Even the people in the Holy Sanctuary expressed immense curiosity, because they too lacked the kind of Divine Powers Ling Xiao possessed!

However, the Guardians had their own rules. They couldn’t covet Ling Xiao’s Divine Powers like the Zhe Family or the Lie Family. Therefore, despite the countless thoughts swirling in their minds, they didn’t dare to suppress Ling Xiao or forcibly take what he had. The rewards offered by the Holy Sanctuary were incredibly tempting, but if they violated the Guardian rules, the resulting punishment from the Holy Sanctuary was something they absolutely could not withstand!

But the more this was the case, the more many of them wanted to meet this Ling Xiao. After all, curiosity is human nature. Under normal circumstances, they would never have had the chance!

The rules of the Guardians strictly forbade them from privately contacting people from the Mortal World. Be it the Lie Family or the Gongsun Family, these so-called super-clans, hidden in the eyes of the public, were all considered part of the Mortal World in the eyes of the Guardians and the Guardian Clans!

It was a matter of hierarchy! Thus, even if Gongsun Huang were to break through to the Saint Tier and enter the Holy Sanctuary, he would have known nothing about the Guardians beforehand. Perhaps he could only learn of these matters after entering the Holy Sanctuary, but even then, it wasn’t something he could speak of freely.

Ximen Aotian had originally wondered, ‘Could this Ling Xiao just be some overhyped figure? Is he really that incredible? How could a young man who was a mere Celestial Vein Master—a good-for-nothing in the Martial Dao—just a few years ago possibly possess the strength to slay a Sword Venerable?’

Because the passage to the Abyssal Demon Realm had reopened, the Guardians, who had been without a mission for tens of thousands of years, had to emerge and rally the continent’s experts to fight against the Demon Realm. As a result, Ling Xiao, the young Sect Leader of the Shushan Sword Sect, was the first to catch their attention.

Upon arriving, Sikong Yang, Sikong Liu, and Ximen Aotian finally witnessed the Shushan Sword Sect’s Array. From high in the sky, they couldn’t discern the slightest trace of the Mist Array! They could only see a swirling mist enveloping the Shushan Inner City. The mist was so thin that they could even see the Shushan Disciples moving about below!

But they were unable to sense the faintest ripple of energy from anyone. This meant the Array completely sealed off the energy fluctuations of everyone inside. That was why Sikong Yang had been forced to call out to summon Ling Xiao.

When they finally saw Ling Xiao, the three of them were truly shaken. Even Sikong Yang and Sikong Liu—two experts at the Tier Six Sword Venerable Realm whose actual strength far surpassed that level—were unable to see through Ling Xiao’s true power! The energy circulating within his body was unlike anything they had ever sensed before!

“You are Ling Xiao?” Sikong Yang asked, his voice calm. He was gaunt with high cheekbones and a wrinkled face, but his eyes were sharp and brilliant. He wore a gray robe with his hands clasped behind his back.

Sikong Liu’s build was similar to Sikong Yang’s, but his face was oddly baby-like and completely free of wrinkles. His skin was smooth with a rosy glow, yet his eyes held the wisdom of ages. Combined with his full head of silver hair, he had a rather strange appearance. He smiled at Ling Xiao, looking at him with what seemed to be great fondness.

Ximen Aotian was strikingly handsome. He had sword-like brows that angled up toward his temples, and short, spiky black hair. Tall and slender, he wore a cyan robe. His eyes were incredibly intense as he stared at Ling Xiao, his gaze a mixture of admiration and fierce battle lust. If not for his status as a Guardian, he would have loved to spar with Ling Xiao right then and there to see just how formidable this dark horse from the Mortal World truly was!

Ling Xiao nodded. “I am Ling Xiao. And who might you be? What business do you have here?”

Sikong Yang smiled faintly. “Allow me to introduce us. I am Sikong Yang, and this is my younger brother, Sikong Liu. The young friend over there is Ximen Aotian. We all share the same identity: we are Guardians…”

…

After listening to Sikong Yang’s explanation about the Guardians, Ling Xiao fell into a long, contemplative silence. The three visitors were in no hurry, floating effortlessly in the air as they waited.

Ling Xiao’s long-held question about the scarcity of powerful experts on the continent was finally answered. ‘It makes sense,’ he thought. ‘The Canglan Continent is split into east and west, separated by a great ocean. This planet is vast, with countless nations of all sizes. How could there possibly be no true experts?’

According to Sikong Yang, families like the Lie Family and the Zhe Family, despite having experts like Sword Venerables and possessing immense overall strength, weren’t considered true hidden clans. The genuine hidden clans and sects had absolutely no interaction with the outside world!

They were entirely self-sufficient systems, many hidden away in secluded mountain ranges, on remote ocean islands, or even living as recluses in the Land of Extreme Cold at the north and south poles.

Furthermore, they almost never came into conflict with anyone. The sole objective of those clans was the Holy Sanctuary!

From Sikong Yang, Ling Xiao learned much of what he had always wanted to know, including some descriptions of the Holy Sanctuary.

In the Holy Sanctuary, the Spiritual Qi was countless times more abundant than on the Canglan Continent!

The Holy Sanctuary is a separate world! It has an entirely different system for power progression!

The Holy Sanctuary is not the final destination for all Martial Artists… but it is the place all Martial Artists yearn for!

Inside the Holy Sanctuary are countless Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures! The most valuable things in the Holy Sanctuary are not sword techniques or Cultivation Techniques, but… Crystal Stones!

The Holy Sanctuary is extremely vast, countless times larger than the Canglan Continent!

Ling Xiao had finally gotten some of the answers he was looking for. And this was just what Sikong Yang had casually revealed; there was surely much more that Ling Xiao didn’t know.

For now, however, knowing just this much was enough to make Ling Xiao inwardly ecstatic.

Crystal Stones!

The most valuable thing inside the Holy Sanctuary was actually Crystal Stones!

The most valuable thing in the Cultivation Realm was also Crystal Stones!

For Cultivators, absorbing Crystal Stones was the fastest way to advance their Cultivation! Unfortunately, in the Cultivation Realm of Ling Xiao’s original era, Crystal Stones had become incredibly scarce. Ordinary disciples rarely ever got their hands on them, and cultivating by absorbing them was an impossible luxury!

However, Elder Sikong Yang’s words were clearly meant to stir his emotions. As an orthodox Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator, Ling Xiao’s Mental Cultivation was far beyond their imagination. So, while he let his excitement show on the surface, revealing an immense yearning for the Holy Sanctuary, he remained clear-headed and wary deep down.

‘They’re being unusually courteous. What are they after?’

“With your formidable strength, Sect Leader Lingxiao, you must have sensed the recent changes, I presume?” Sikong Yang asked, a gentle smile on his face.

“I’m not sure what Elder Sikong is referring to. Is it the matter of the East Sea Qin Family cultivating demonic techniques?” Ling Xiao asked, feigning ignorance.

“Heh, the East Sea Qin Family is hardly a threat. We have already dispatched people to hunt down those in their family who are cultivating demonic techniques,” Sikong Yang said, still smiling. “The space we inhabit is called the Human Realm. But besides the Human Realm, there is another place called the Abyssal Demon Realm! At the very edge of the great ocean lies an endless abyss, home to the denizens of the Demon Realm. The environment there is harsh and lacks sufficient Spiritual Qi. Because of this, they have always wanted to invade the human world, seize our territory, slaughter all of humanity, and take our living space. Moreover, their ultimate goal… is the Holy Sanctuary!”