Chapter 75: Is It Raining?

Chapter 75: Chapter 75: Is It Raining?

’Celestial Spirit Power?’

’What in the world is that?’

’No idea!’

’No point dwelling on things I don’t know. I’ll just set this question aside and ask my father the King and my mother when I get out of here.’

Pushing those thoughts aside, Su Han continued to read.

Nine Swords of Earth Sword: When the earth unleashes its killing intent, dragons and serpents rise from the land. This one sword of the earth, bearing immense weight, is the apex of power, shattering mountains and rivers.

(Skill Cooldown: 36,525 days.)

(Note 1: The Nine Swords do not share a cooldown.)

(Note 2: Earth Evil Power can permanently reduce the cooldown of the Earth Sword.)

Nine Swords of Human Sword: When humanity unleashes its killing intent, heaven and earth are overturned. This one sword of humanity causes stars to fall and mountains to crumble, turning the world upside down.

(Skill Cooldown: 36,525 days.)

(Note 1: The Nine Swords do not share a cooldown.)

(Note 2: The Power of the Human Emperor can permanently reduce the cooldown of the Human Sword.)

That was all the information on the Nine Swords.

Even though it was an incomplete version with only three of the Nine Swords, the Celestial Sword, Earth Sword, and Human Sword were all Heaven-defying Divine Techniques comparable to Celestial Punishment.

However, the century-long cooldowns meant these three swords could only serve as trump cards for survival, making them effectively single-use consumables.

At least, until he figured out how to use Celestial Spirit Power, Earth Evil Power, and the Power of the Human Emperor to reduce the skill cooldowns, these techniques were essentially single-use.

Furthermore, not only were the cooldowns a hundred times longer than that of Celestial Punishment, but aside from the sheer power of the techniques, they did nothing to actually improve Su Han’s Swordsmanship.

Although Suiyuan Swordsmanship was all about striking at random, it had granted Su Han Sword Dao Grandmaster Level experience without relying on a skill.

As for the Nine Swords... without the corresponding powers to complement them, their Swordsmanship was in practice no different from the three sword moves his ancestor had repeatedly demonstrated in the vision.

Aside from their intimidating names, they were merely ordinary Three Stance Sword Techniques.

"All in all... I guess it’s better than nothing."

Coming from Su Han, who wasn’t exactly short on life-saving trump cards—especially not single-use ones—this was the kind of arrogant flex that would make anyone who heard it want to beat him to death.

After that, he extinguished the flames on the tree, threw his shoe again, and followed the direction it pointed.

He flew in spurts, resting wherever he was when he grew tired and popping an Elixir into his mouth when he felt hungry.

「Three days passed in the blink of an eye.」

In all that time, Su Han hadn’t encountered a single living soul, which made him start to suspect that his royal father had fooled him.

’Could it be? Was he afraid I’d be in danger if I entered the ruins, so he just whipped up this deserted "relic" to trick me?’

’Otherwise, how could I explain why all those major powers that rushed here for the ruins still hadn’t shown up after three days?’

’But... even if I was tricked, there’s nothing I can do. I’ve been lost for a while now; I can’t even find my way back to where I started.’

Just like with his Suiyuan Swordsmanship, the direction he flew was entirely dependent on where the tip of his shoe landed. Everything was left to fate.

’If I just keep flying around randomly like this, who knows, I might even stumble upon a few more Skill Trees.’

However, he didn’t know if he’d used up all his luck on the first day, or if there were simply very few Skill Trees in these ruins to begin with.

Aside from the Nine Swords on day one, in the seven days he had been in the ruins, Su Han had not seen a single other Skill Tree.

On this particular day, after flying through the forest for an unknown amount of time, Su Han began to feel stuffy. He decided to fly above the canopy to get some fresh air.

Just as he landed on a treetop, he suddenly saw that the sky above his head was riddled with cracks, as if it had been violently hammered by an Ancient Demon God.

"What’s going on up there?"

Staring at the sky, which looked as if it might collapse at any moment, Su Han was completely baffled.

「Outside the ruins, beyond the north gate of Lingzhou City.」

Seven days prior, the major powers had assembled outside Lingzhou City’s north gate to witness the emergence of the ruins.

As various powers were channeled into it, the Array Stone emitted a dazzling light.

The light enveloped the forest, draining the life from every tree.

When the power reached its peak, the Array Stone fulfilled its true purpose, prying open the ruins’ Hidden Array and revealing just the tip of the iceberg.

The major powers had sent groups ranging from a few people to several dozen; in total, over a thousand people gathered outside Lingzhou City. Smiles appeared on every face as the ruins finally revealed their true form.

After an Independent Cultivator who’d had the misfortune of offending a Taiyin Sect disciple was forced to scout ahead and successfully entered the Hidden Array, the Cultivators from all corners of Jiuzhou began to file into the outer array in an organized fashion.

Once the last Cultivator stepped into the Hidden Array, it sealed shut, and the ruins once again vanished from view.

An hour later, a sturdy woman with a fierce, fleshy face emerged from the north gate of Lingzhou City.

A short while later...

"Damn it all to hell! Which bastard son of a bitch did this?! Burning my biggest, thickest, longest tree twice wasn’t enough for you? Today you had to go and ruin every last one of my trees~!"

Naturally, the Jiuzhou Cultivators, who were already inside the ruins’ Concealment Array, were oblivious to the wretched scream outside Lingzhou City.

What the major powers hadn’t expected, however, was that the Array Stone had only opened the Hidden Array *outside* the actual ruins.

Within the true ruins lay layer upon layer of Array Restrictions, blocking any would-be explorers.

This obstacle held them back for seven days.

It took the combined efforts of over a dozen four-star (and higher) Array Masters, but after seven long days, they finally managed to breach an opening in an array that had existed for countless millennia, creating a barely passable entrance.

Once the Array was breached, the Cultivators surged through, then scattered in all directions like startled birds.

The moment the last Cultivator’s feet touched the ground inside the ruins...

BOOM—

A cataclysmic tremor swept through the entire ruin. Su Han, who was at that very moment standing on a treetop wondering if the sky would collapse on him, bore the full brunt of it.

He lost his balance and plummeted from the treetop.

After a freefall of four to five hundred meters, he slammed into the ground, leaving a human-shaped crater.

Pinned down by an immense force and unable to move, he lay at the bottom of the crater for a full hour before he finally managed to crawl out.

Leaning against the exposed root of a large tree, Su Han stared up at the invisible sky, completely bewildered.

’What was that all about?’

’I’ve been here for over a week without running into any danger. Why was I so violently slammed into the ground the second I flew up for some fresh air?’

’Don’t tell me... these ruins don’t like people flying above them? Are visitors only allowed to wander around in the forest and forbidden from taking to the sky?’

As his mind raced with wild theories, and just as Su Han was debating whether to fly up and test one, a few drops of water suddenly landed on his head.

"Is it raining?"

He instinctively looked up.

And stared at the sky.