Stepping on the demon door, the witch becomes the strongest

Chapter 833 Coming to Retrieve the Sword
Mei Yingxue was extremely anxious.

That's the Sun True Sword, the sacred sword that protects the human race!
With a divine sword in hand, what is there to fear from the Yamata no Orochi? It's just a matter of a casual strike.

Historical records indicate that the Sun True Sword disappeared along with the last leader of the Emei Sword Sect.

According to the True Essence of the Sun Sword, the divine sword's true form, due to its master's disqualification, was unwilling to continue guarding a sect for him. Therefore, it left behind only a wisp of sword intent and then headed straight for the East.

In the cultivation world where Mei Yingxue originated, the farthest point to the east of the continent is Fusang Island, about 20,000 li away, where only some primitive indigenous tribes reside. Further east lies the Endless Sea, "vast and boundless," without end.

After leaving the mainland, the Sun True Sword will either seek refuge in a secret underwater realm or remain on Fusang Island. On the island stand two giant trees, the Fusang Divine Trees, from which the sun is said to rise every day, clearly fitting the Sun True Sword's aesthetic sensibilities.

In the Earth's universe, especially from the Tang Dynasty onwards until modern times, Fusang and Sakura were largely associated culturally. Therefore, it's reasonable to deduce that if the Fusang Island of the cultivation world were mapped onto Earth's Sakura Island, it would overlap with Sakura Island.

I should have thought of that sooner!

Mei Yingxue was somewhat annoyed, but even more so, she was anxious.

The divine sword must not be lost abroad; it must be retrieved as soon as possible.

On the way, she made more than a dozen phone calls, some to the Cabinet and others to the Privy Council, explaining her discovery to the bigwigs and requesting to go on a mission to Sakura Empire with Yan Yu.

Even if you don't apply, as long as you can successfully retrieve the Sun True Sword, the big shots will turn a blind eye afterwards. But is Teacher Mei the kind of person who would trample on order? The procedures will definitely be in place.

The Privy Council was utterly astonished when it received Mei Yingxue's message.

The apparent appearance of the Sun True Sword was completely unexpected by the Lu Kingdom. So what was expected? It was the task of dealing with the giant serpents in the Southern Territory and Goryeo.

Most of the southern border has already been equipped with nodes of the Purple Cloud Array, and Southeast Asia has essentially become prey for the Lu Kingdom. This thing is far more powerful than the military bases of the Mitchells. After all, bases can only be used for deterrence, but once the Purple Cloud Array is activated, it can truly suppress the cultivation levels of all the extraordinary beings inside.

The Pear Blossom Courtyard has also signed a cooperation agreement, so the Lu Kingdom will soon send people there to set up large-scale nodes in major cities of Goryeo.

After confirming the cooperation, they joined forces to deal with the giant serpent.

Despite their supposed alliance, neither the Southern Territory nor the Pear Blossom Courtyard possessed the ability to defeat the giant serpent, even though the Purple Cloud Formation completely suppressed its barrier.

Therefore, the Lu Kingdom still needs to send people on its own.

Similar to the Golden Core tribulation, the most difficult time is when you know absolutely nothing, and you have to try and explore various solutions blindly. Once one path is fully established, it becomes much easier to follow suit, as the industrial system of the Lu Kingdom will naturally step in.

Having learned from the previous two experiences, the Lu Kingdom was quite confident and planned to deal with the Southern Giant Serpent first, and then eliminate the Goryeo Giant Serpent... At this critical moment, the strongest combatant Yan Yu and the strongest technical director Mei Yingxue suddenly wanted to go to the Cherry Blossom Empire to retrieve the Sun True Sword, which undoubtedly disrupted the original plan.

But that's the Sun True Sword!

Therefore, all levels of departments had to work overtime to hold meetings and replan and discuss the matter overnight, considering which Golden Core cultivators should be sent to kill the two giant snakes in the absence of Yan Yu and Mei Yingxue.

Mei Yingxue and Yan Yu arrived at the destination and landed near the cave entrance, where they soon encountered Wei Zongyilang who was waiting there.

"Are you two going down to the Deep Pool Secret Realm?" Yui Soichiro asked to confirm.

"Yes." Mei Yingxue said bluntly, "I've come to retrieve my sword."

"Excuse my bluntness," Korechiichiro said solemnly, barely suppressing his anger, "The Ame-no-Murakumo sword is the most precious treasure of my clan, and you..."

"Wait a minute," Yan Yu suddenly interrupted him. "First of all, there is absolutely no conclusive evidence as to whether the Kusanagi Sword is hidden in the secret realm; it's just your speculation."

"Secondly, if the Kusanagi Sword is indeed hidden inside, it is a treasure of the Onmyoji system. As cultivators of the Lu Kingdom, we have no way to use it, so what benefit would there be in forcibly taking it? Your side is really overthinking it."

After a moment of silence, Soichiro nodded in acceptance of this statement.

The Purple Cloud Formation of the Lu Kingdom cannot be manipulated by non-cultivators. Similarly, the Heavenly Cloud Sword of the Cherry Blossom Kingdom is unlikely to be controlled by cultivators using sword control techniques.

To put it another way, cultivators possess true essence, while Onmyoji possess spiritual power. The Kusanagi Sword, on the other hand, is definitely powered by spiritual power, and true essence is mostly difficult to activate.

Of course, if the Kingdom of Riku bestows the Kusanagi Sword as a weapon upon the conjoined twins, or sends it to a research institution for study, then there is nothing that Yui Soichiro can do—it is one of the three great treasures of the Sakura Empire, and it is related to the dignity of the Onmyoji faction. Therefore, on the surface, they absolutely cannot admit to handing it over to the Kingdom of Riku. In the end, strength will speak for itself. If we cannot take the sword, and you take it, we have nothing to say.

The group traversed a deep cave hundreds of meters deep, eventually reaching the edge of an underground pool.

Looking at the enormous cavern where the Yamata no Orochi was summoned, Yan Yu felt a slight sense of emotion.

He had never been to this place in his previous life, and now it seemed indeed well-hidden. After all, the surface was monitored by military satellites from various countries, and even if only a single pixel revealed a flaw, it could be discovered. But there was no such concern underground.

In the previous life, the headquarters of Lu Guofan Martial Arts Training Base was located deep in the mountains of the southwestern province, also for the sake of secrecy.

Mei Yingxue arrived at the edge of the pool, stared at the bottomless water, and asked to confirm:

"Is it down here?"

“It’s down here,” Yui Soichiro replied. “The deeper you go, the greater the pressure. If you go too deep and accidentally enter a secret realm, you will disappear… No one has ever come out of there.”

"God's disappearance" is the elegant term used by Onmyoji (yin-yang masters) to refer to someone who has gone missing, much like how the cultivation world uses "fallen" instead of "death." Although it's just called "disappearance," most likely they've actually died inside, a fact everyone knows.

Now we have live streaming technology for secret realms. Just bring a camera in and you'll know what's going on inside. It's just that the Onmyoji players are unwilling to tell the truth.

"Let's go," Yan Yu said secretly. "We can't count on them for help."

"Okay, let's go." Mei Yingxue quickly made up her mind.

The two then dived into the water.

The Golden Core cultivator's body is strong and resilient, impervious to water pressure. Furthermore, with divine sense scanning, even in deep, silent water, he can find his way.

As Jingye said before, the surrounding cave walls were too smooth, as if a chopstick of uniform thickness had made a hole in tofu... It didn't look like a naturally formed mark.

After descending about two hundred meters, the two suddenly felt a stinging sensation on their skin.

"It's sword intent!" Mei Yingxue was overjoyed and quickly transmitted her voice to Yan Yu, "It's sword intent! There's no doubt about it!" "You mean the True Essence of the Sun Sword Intent?" Yan Yu asked.

“No!” Mei Yingxue quickly explained to him.

The sword is the king of all weapons. If a celestial sword is of a high enough grade, it can slowly develop its own sword spirit, that is, to develop self-awareness from ignorance.

This consciousness is not a soul; its form is closer to an extremely high-energy electromagnetic field. It can be used to store information and achieve communication, much like the True Sun Sword Intent within Yan Yu's body. Of course, it can also be used for offense, consuming its own energy.

The excruciating pain they felt was actually the "electromagnetic field" unconsciously emitted by the sword spirit itself. If it regained consciousness, it could wield its sword intent to split mountains and seas with a single thought, a typical example of the idealistic concept of "will interfering with matter."

Yan Yu wasn't very knowledgeable about science or philosophy, but he was very good at grasping the key points and immediately said:
"So the true form of the Sun True Sword is asleep and dreaming, and this dream causes unconscious harm to those around it. If it wakes up, the harm will be even more terrifying, is that what you mean?"

"Almost." Mei Yingxue rubbed her hands together excitedly. "This is a divine sword of the human race! If I have the chance to see its true form, even if I die by its blade, it will be worth it!"

"Teacher Mei, calm down!" Yan Yu quickly advised her. "I have been recognized by the True Essence of the Sun Sword Intent, and there is a high probability that I will gain the approval of the divine sword itself. It would be too much of a loss if you were to die during the process of obtaining the sword. Don't you want to be personally taught and recognized by the divine sword?"

“You’re right, I was too hasty.” Mei Yingxue finally calmed down and said through telepathy, “Taking the sword is your business, all I need to do is assist you.”

"Let's go, better safe than sorry," Yan Yu said.

The two continued to descend and soon reached the same depth that Kyo and Yuichiro had reached before.

Once you go down there, there's no turning back.

Yan Yu and Mei Yingxue exchanged a glance, both reading a resolute meaning in each other's eyes.

Down!
After diving for several dozen breaths, a sudden, intense undercurrent surged forth.

Mei Yingxue's eyes narrowed, and she suddenly twisted and moved to the side, instantly opening a gash on her shoulder from which blood quickly seeped out.

"Be careful!" She quickly pressed several acupoints near the wound, using her inner energy to stop the bleeding. "The sword intent here has already taken form and has the ability to harm people!"

Without saying a word, Yan Yu immediately took out the Yin-Yang Sword and the Yellow Court Sword.

The Yin-Yang Sword weaved back and forth in the water, shattering the sword intent hidden in the undercurrents. Though it was merely an invisible current of water, it could produce a resounding metallic clang.

The Yellow Court Sword was held in front of him like a shield. Within the small streams of water, there was a sharp sword intent as sharp as a blade, striking the sword and producing a dense and frequent sound.

Mei Yingxue also used her sword to defend herself.

Her swordsmanship was equally superb; she could use her divine sense to scan the surging undercurrents and accurately break through the sword intent and killing moves within them. However, she had no way to deal with the subtle water flow—she was surrounded by water on all sides, so she couldn't expect the water to stop flowing.

Therefore, his robes were quickly torn to shreds. The injuries were not serious, but they looked frightening.

Seeing that she seemed to be at a loss, Yan Yu beckoned her closer and then used the Huang Ting Sword and his own body, like two pieces of bread in a sandwich, to protect her.

Mei Yingxue was indeed no longer injured, though she was a little embarrassed. However, considering the urgency of the situation, she knew that frequently using the healing spell to repair her wounds would definitely slow down her descent to retrieve the sword. Therefore, she suppressed her thoughts and focused on receiving Yan Yu's cover, breaking through the water flow for him.

The combined efforts of two powerful sword immortals are far more efficient than those of one person acting alone.

As the diving depth increased, the sword intent in the surrounding water became increasingly fierce, even approaching the level of a Golden Core Sword Immortal's full-force attack.

Yan Yu struggled to resist, so he simply used up his true energy to set up the Yin-Yang Micro Dust Sword Formation around him.

Numerous sword energy lines moved and cut around, shattering the sword intent in the water. Meanwhile, the sword itself, along with the Yellow Court Sword, clamped down on Mei Yingxue and thrust downwards with great force.

A dizzying sensation washed over me, and I finally entered the secret realm.

The place was now a vibrant tapestry of flowers and lush greenery, a far cry from the original underwater world. The two had found themselves in the heart of the mountains and forests.

Yan Yu had just scanned the surroundings with his divine sense when he heard Mei Yingxue exclaim in surprise:

"This is the Emei Sword Sect! This is Mount San'e!"

She quickly reached the edge of the cliff and pointed into the distance, calling out:

"That's Mount Da'e, Mount Er'e, and Mount Si'e across the way. There's no mistake, this is definitely the Emei Sword Sect, I'd recognize it even if all the trees were cut down!"

Yan Yu looked in the direction she was pointing and indeed found three more mountain peaks around him. Together with the one he was standing on, there were a total of four mountains arranged in a grid pattern, like an orange being peeled open and divided into four segments.

“It is said that the four mountains were originally just one mountain,” Mei Yingxue explained. “In ancient times, there was a powerful sword immortal who, angered by the unfair treatment he received from his sect, split the mountain with his sword. With just two strikes, he divided Mount Emei into four.”

"I can see that now," Yan Yu nodded and said. "It does look like it was cleaved by a celestial sword, which must be at least several thousand meters long."

"It's quite normal for a sword immortal to casually unleash a sword aura thousands of meters long," Mei Yingxue said confidently.

Even in the secret realm, she was clearly in a very good mood to be able to return to her sect's residence, which she hadn't seen for a long time. She then pulled Yan Yu up on their swords and flew upwards into the sky.

“Mount Da'e, Mount Er'e, Mount San'e, and Mount Si'e are the locations of the Ancestral Hall, the Sword Control Arena, the Sword Immortal's Abode, and the Sword Storage Hall, respectively,” Mei Yingxue continued. “It is said that during the Sword Sect’s heyday, the entire Shu Mountain region was under the Sword Sect’s control. Each Nascent Soul Elder occupied a mountain peak, and disciples were scattered throughout the area. The sky was filled with sword light, moving freely and unrestrainedly, a truly carefree and exhilarating sight!”

"Unfortunately, the sect gradually declined and never regained its former dominant position in Mount Shu. In the end, it could only occupy the four mountains of Mount Emei."

"Would the True Sun Sword be hiding in the Sword Hall?" Yan Yu asked, speculating.

“Let’s go take a look,” Mei Yingxue nodded and said. “The Hidden Sword Hall enshrines the sect’s immortal swords; perhaps the True Sun Sword is there!”

The two transformed into sword light and fled, flying towards the summit of Mount Si'e. However, a sword light suddenly appeared on the way and intercepted them.

"Senior brother, senior sister!" A voice came from within the sword light, belonging to a young sword immortal disciple, urging, "Ten thousand demons are besieging Emei, why are you still wandering around? Master is urging you to hurry to the Ancestral Hall!"

(End of this chapter)