Unreliable Sword Immortal.

"The Mysterious Sword God Lu Ziya?"

Upon hearing the system notification, Lu Chaoding immediately realized that the NPC named Lu Ziya in front of him might be an important plot character.

The unreliable system's mission this time is quite reliable: exchange one Breakthrough Pearl for ten Breakthrough Pearls and gain Lu Ziya's favor—it's a huge win!

Without further hesitation, Lu Chaoding immediately exchanged a Breakthrough Pearl from the Hunyuan Mall and handed it over to Lu Ziya.

Lu Ziya was overjoyed and immediately used the Breakthrough Pearl. His body flashed with light, and his level immediately increased to level 91. Moreover, this was just the beginning. His body continued to flash with light, and his level eventually reached level 120!

At this moment, Lu Chaoding also obtained ten Breakthrough Pearls. He was very happy. Although these things were useless to him, they were super treasures for ordinary players, and he could use them to gain favors.

"Thank you, fellow Daoist!"

Lu Ziya bowed deeply to Lu Chao and said, "Over the countless years, I have seen many powerful figures on this Ancient Path of the Primordial Dust, but only you, Fellow Daoist, have the ability and magnanimity to give me a Primordial Dust Pearl. Today, I, Lu Ziya, have broken through my bottleneck in gratitude to you, and I have no way to repay you. I wish to share with you one... no, ten secrets of this Ancient Path of the Primordial Dust! Huh, I actually know ten secrets!"

"What secret?"

Lu Chao asked curiously.

Lu Ziya said, "It seems you are a person of destiny, fellow Daoist. You must have encountered the hidden spirit of the Hongchen Sword, otherwise you wouldn't be able to exchange for the Breakthrough Pearl here. To be honest, I am the thirteenth disciple of Dao Ancestor Hongchen. This Hongchen Ancient Path was originally my master's Daoist temple and was also a magic weapon. After my master passed away, it was transformed into a secret realm to bestow blessings upon the world. Unfortunately, my aptitude is limited and my strength is weak, so I am trapped on this ancient path..."

"Hongchen Daozu? What kind of being is that?"

Lu Chao scratched his head. He knew of a Daoist named Hongchen, who was Lou Jialan's master and the guardian of the Hongchen Ancient Path. Now, he heard that Daoist Ancestor Hongchen seemed to be an even more powerful being.

Lu Ziya continued, "The first secret I wish to share with you is... I was enlightened by my master to become the spirit of this Hongchen Ancient Path. I cannot leave the Hongchen Ancient Path, but now I can walk freely on the first 1,200 steps of the Hongchen Ancient Path. This is my top secret, and no ordinary person would ever tell it to me. I consider you a confidant, so I am telling you frankly. Please keep this a secret and do not tell anyone else."

"Oh well."

Lu Chao nodded, wondering what use this "secret" would be to him.

"Fellow Daoist, knowing I am a spirit of an artifact, you can summon me anywhere within the first 1200 steps of the Ancient Path of the Primordial Dust. To summon me, you must stomp the ground three times and shout my name, and I will appear swiftly. That is the second secret!"

Lu Ziya paused for a moment, then said, "The third secret is that I have certain management authority over the spirits on the Hongchen Ancient Road. This mainly involves transferring and releasing them. Apart from a few special and hidden Hongchen sword spirits that I cannot control, I can adjust the positions of ordinary Hongchen sword spirits or let them leave. Of course, this is currently limited to the Hongchen sword spirits on the first 1,200 steps."

Lu Chao thought to himself, "With such abilities, wouldn't Brother Ziya be able to give those entering the Hongchen Ancient Path a clear path, ensuring they smoothly pass the first 1200 steps?"

"A green light? What does that mean?"

"In our local dialect, it means 'travels smoothly all the way'!"

Lu Ziya nodded and said, "Given our relationship, I will arrange a suitable Hongchen Sword Spirit for you from now on. You only need to follow my instructions to challenge it, and I guarantee you can safely pass through the 1200 steps! How about that? I won't care about anyone else!"

"That's wonderful." Lu Chao waved his hand with a smile. "But with my current strength, Brother Ziya probably doesn't need to worry about me. I can basically kill the mere Hongchen Sword Spirit at will!"

"Fellow Daoist's strength is indeed extraordinary."

"Brother Ziya, can you also release the spirit of the Hongchen Sword?" Lu Chao thought of Li Yanlong, who had transformed into the spirit of the Hongchen Sword, and wanted to help her, so he said, "Could you ask Ziya to release Li Yanlong, who is above the twentieth level of the sword spirit?"

"Sword Spirit Li Yanlong?" Lu Ziya said, "Since you have spoken, it is of course possible. I will take back the Hunyuan Crystal she obtained and let her leave. However, after leaving Hongchen Ancient Road and entering the Twelve Provinces of the Sword Realm, her level will drop significantly and her skills will be downgraded."

"It's alright, just let her go!"

"good!"

Lu Ziya pointed his hand into the air, and a small sword slowly appeared. The sword had intricate patterns on it, and from a distance, it looked like a talisman.

The strange little sword quickly disappeared into the void. Lu Ziya seemed to have released Li Yanlong. He continued, "The fourth secret... what other secret is there? I've got it! On the 66th step, there is a special Hongchen Sword Spirit named Li Feixian. He rarely appears. If you feel you are strong enough, you can point to the sky and shout 'Li Feixian' three times on the 66th step to summon him to your side. Defeating Li Feixian will reward you with thirty Hunyuan Crystals."

"Hey, this information is actually quite useful!"

Lu Chaoding immediately wrote it down.

Lu Ziya continued, "Above the 99th step, there is also a hidden sword spirit named 'Li Husheng.' By pointing to the sky and shouting his name four times, you can summon him. After defeating Li Husheng, you can obtain fifty Hunyuan Crystals and a Crimson Blood Sword."

"Above the 111th step lies a hidden sword spirit, the Midnight Ghost Mother..."

"Above the 222nd step, there lies the hidden sword spirit, the Feathered Man Lonely Moon..."

"Above the 365th step lies the hidden sword spirit, Heavenly Nether King, personally sealed by my master..."

"Above the 666th step lies the Heaven-Cutting Sword, a near-six-star universal weapon. It can only be obtained by defeating six Hongchen Sword Spirits in sequence..."

"The legacy of the Immortal Sword God lies hidden atop the 999th step; it can be found beneath a red sword tablet..."

Lu Ziya revealed six "secrets" in one breath, making Lu Chao realize that there were indeed many opportunities on this ancient road of primordial dust.

"These are the ten secrets. I hope they will be helpful to you, fellow cultivator. If all goes well, we'll meet again on the 1200th step!"

As Lu Ziya finished speaking, he clasped his hands together, smiled slightly, and then his figure vanished in an instant.

"See you again on the 1200th step? Could there be more to the story there?"

Lu Chaoding seemed to understand something, and he didn't waste any more time. He quickly moved forward and soon caught up with Lou Jialan. Then, after another half day, he arrived at the 1200th step of the Hongchen Ancient Path.

Upon arriving here, he indeed saw Lu Ziya again. In addition to Lu Ziya, there were nine NPCs sitting cross-legged, all of whom were level 120.

(End of this chapter)