Primordial Era: Cultivation level equals the sum of the Jie Sect's total; the Three Pure Ones a

Taixu's gaze fell on Xuandu, and a glint of light flashed in the depths of his sharp, sword-like eyes.

There was silence for a moment.

Then he spoke.

The sound was not loud, but it was as clear as metal falling to the ground.

"You are Xuan Du?"

As the five words fell, silence descended upon the floating continent of the Southern Territory.

The lush green vegetation drooped its branches, and the chaotic spirit trees ceased swaying.

It was as if the entire southern region held its breath at those words.

Xuandu gazed at the void, his expression unchanged.

"Exactly."

"Fellow Daoist Taixu, I have long admired you."

Taixu did not respond to that polite remark.

His gaze lingered on Xuandu for a moment, then swept over the towering divine tree behind Xuandu.

Those sharp eyes paused for a moment as they swept over Aoki's body.

"Aoki, you've become his apprentice?"

The question was asked casually, yet it was like an invisible sword, piercing straight into Aoki's heart.

Aoki fell silent.

The billions of leaves of that towering tree trembled slightly, as if weighing something.

A moment later, his voice rang out, carrying a solemnity that suggested hundreds of millions of yuan would be lost.

"good."

"I've become his disciple."

Upon hearing this, a faint light flickered in the depths of Taixu's sharp eyes.

He didn't ask anything more.

However, he turned his attention back to Xuan Du.

"You recruit Cangxuan and Qingmu."

"Is it my turn next?"

As soon as those words were spoken, the atmosphere on the southern floating continent suddenly froze.

Shen Ni stood behind Xuan Du, his blood-gold eyes suddenly blazing with light.

His hands clenched slightly, and a fierce aura surged between his fingers.

Above the canopy of the green tree, a chaotic light flickered intermittently.

The two auras locked onto the void simultaneously.

If he makes the slightest move, Shen Ni and Qing Mu will attack simultaneously.

But Xuan didn't move.

He stood there, gazing into the void, the smile on his lips still lingering.

"Fellow Daoist Taixu is joking."

"I went to the Eastern Territory to visit my fellow Daoist."

"Visits can be made in a way that is never forced."

"If you wish to speak with me, then let us speak."

"If you're unwilling, I'll turn around and leave without any further entanglement."

He paused, his gaze falling on Taixu's cold and stern face.

"Since you've come to the Southern Territory on your own initiative, you surely haven't come here to fight me, have you?"

Taixu remained silent.

Those sharp eyes stared at Xuan Du, their gaze a mixture of scrutiny and inquiry.

After a moment, he spoke.

"I spent tens of thousands of yuan in seclusion to try and master Hunyuan Taiji."

"It failed."

The three words fell to the ground like iron and stone.

The canopy of the green tree suddenly trembled, and millions of leaves surged up at the same time.

A sudden burst of light shone from the depths of Shen Ni's blood-gold eyes.

Failed?

Taixu secluded himself for tens of thousands of years to attempt to break through to Hunyuan Taiji, but he failed.

That person was at the peak of the half-step Hunyuan Taiji realm, just one step away from entering the Hunyuan Taiji realm.

With his qualifications and background, how could he fail?

Taixu looked at Xuandu and continued speaking.

"I cultivate the Great Way of the Sword, following the path of ultimate strength and sharpness."

"Tens of thousands of yuan before the meeting, I sensed an opportunity for a breakthrough, so I went into seclusion to break through to the Hunyuan Taiji."

"But I didn't expect that threshold to be far more sturdy than I imagined."

"I tried countless times, and each time I failed at the last minute."

"My sword is sharp enough, but my path is not steady enough."

"My cultivation is deep enough, but my foundation is not thick enough."

"I'm missing something."

He paused.

Those sharp eyes stared at Xuan Du, each word spoken slowly and deliberately.

"I'm just missing an opportunity."

"An opportunity that will allow me to cross that threshold."

Xuandu gazed at the vast emptiness, his eyes calm as still water.

"So, after you emerged from seclusion, you came to the Southern Territory?"

"Do you think I can provide you with that opportunity?"

Taixu did not answer.

He simply gazed at Xuan Du, his sharp eyes flashing with an uncertain light.

After a long silence, he spoke.

"You took Cangxuan and Qingmu as your disciples."

"They are all half-step Hunyuan Taiji beings, trapped in their own realms, and the billion-dollar club."

"Since you were able to get them to become your disciples, it means you have the means to help them break through their limitations."

"I don't know what methods you used."

"But I know that since you can make Cangxuan and Qingmu willingly become your disciples, then you have the potential to help me break through."

He paused slightly as he said this.

"That's why I came."

"Let me see who you really are."

"Let me see if you are truly as rumored to be, able to help people break through their limitations."

"Let me take a look..."

He paused, a faint glimmer of light appearing in his sharp eyes.

"Should I also take that path?"

As the sound faded, silence fell over the floating continent of the southern border.

The canopy of the green tree stopped churning, and Shen Ni's malevolent aura slowly subsided.

Everyone stared at Taixu, at that cold and stern face, at those sharp yet slightly bewildered eyes.

He will spend tens of thousands of yuan in seclusion to attempt the Hunyuan Taiji technique.

Fall short.

For a cultivator who walks the path of the sword, this is worse than being killed.

A swordsman's lifelong pursuit is nothing more than a single sword.

If that sword strike could shatter the chaos, it would be the attainment of the Primordial Chaos.

But if that sword cannot break through, it means that his path has come to an end.

He had hundreds of millions of yuan to cultivate himself, but he got stuck at the last step.

Taixu was unwilling to accept this.

So he came.

He came to the Southern Border not to fight, nor to test them.

He came looking for answers.

Xuandu gazed at the void and remained silent for a moment.

He then spoke, his voice calm yet carrying an undeniable certainty.

"What you're missing is indeed an opportunity."

"But your opportunity doesn't lie with me."

"In your own sword."

Taixu frowned slightly.

"What do you mean?"

Xuandu looked at him and spoke slowly and deliberately.

"You spent tens of thousands of years in seclusion trying to break through to Hunyuan Taiji, but you failed for only one reason: your sword was not pure enough."

Taixu's sharp eyes suddenly froze.

"What did you say?"

Xuandu continued:

"Your sword is sharp, fast, and ruthless enough."

"But your sword was swung to break through that threshold."

"It wasn't wielded for the sake of pure swordsmanship."

"Before you went into seclusion, you had a strong conviction in your heart."

"You're thinking about breaking through the Primordial Taiji, about attaining sainthood, about becoming the strongest person in the Xuanji Heavenly Domain."

"Your sword has been tainted by these obsessions."

"It's no longer pure."

"If the sword is not pure, it cannot cut through the chaos, nor can it break through that threshold."

Taixu fell silent.

He gazed at Xuandu, his sharp eyes flashing with an uncertain light.

No one had ever said such a thing to him before, even though he was a multi-millionaire.

Everyone says his swordsmanship is extremely powerful and sharp, unparalleled in the world.

But no one ever said that his sword wasn't pure enough.

Xuandu looked at him but did not continue speaking.

He was just waiting, waiting for Taixu to process these words on his own.

After a long while, Taixu spoke, his voice carrying a hint of hoarseness, as if he had accumulated billions of dollars.

"How...how did you know?"