Ten Directions Sword Master

The iron gate slowly opened, revealing a messy ground, densely covered with crossbow bolts as thick as a forearm, as if it had been assaulted by a violent storm.

The three corpses on the ground were pried open one by one by the Right Dharma King with his mourning staff. Their faces had been corroded beyond recognition by the poisonous smoke, and their bodies were riddled with more than a dozen crossbow bolts, making them look like hedgehogs.

Judging from their physique and clothing, they are the three altar masters who rank among the top three in the incense-burning sect.

Deng Wan floated into the hall, picked up the empty iron box on the ground, and exclaimed, "Master, the fragments of the Immortal Mirror are gone!"

"Master, there are only three corpses of the altar masters in the secret chamber; no other discoveries were made..."

The Right Dharma King was hidden by a black and white mask, so his complexion probably wasn't very good.

"impossible!"

The Daoist Master waved his hands, and a gust of wind howled, causing the crossbow bolts to fly backward off the ground, making the secret room much cleaner.

Still nothing was found. The thick steel plates made it impossible for even a martial saint at the peak of innate strength to create an escape route in a short time, and the secret chamber was clearly intact on all sides.

"So you mean that my scheme, which involved sacrificing the lives of three Innate Altar Masters and fragments of the Immortal Mirror, failed to capture Bai Wuming, and all that was wasted?"

The Right Dharma King and Deng Wan remained silent, trying to minimize their presence and avoid getting into trouble.

When the Dao Lord goes berserk in a fit of rage, you never know who he might take his anger out on.

To enhance the realism of the trap, the Daoist Master did not inform the three altar masters of any arrangements, and even the chanters were among the most promising individuals to advance to the Innate Realm.

If the sacrifice of the disciple reduced the strength of the incense path by one level, then the act of sending away the fragments of the Immortal Mirror directly severed his guidance for ascension during the great changes in the world.

The base of the celestial mirror is used to worship livestock, and occasionally it will react, revealing a few lines of writing when a flash of spiritual light appears.

This made the Dao Master realize that he might break through to a realm above the Innate Realm in the near future.

Now that the magical artifact has been lost, how will he proceed and how will he break through to the next level?

Upon thinking of this, the Daoist Master felt dizzy and his white beard was stained red with a mouthful of blood.

"Gone without a trace... Could it be that Bai Wuming comprehended the Sword Saint's legacy here, unleashed a divine sword strike, and also shattered the void to disappear?"

A bold idea popped into Deng Wan's mind, and the more he thought about it, the more convinced he felt he had guessed the truth.

……

Side Quest: Immortal Mirror Fragment Progress (3/3), Immortal Mirror has been reunited, Reward: One Intermediate Retreat Talisman.

"Heavenly Escape Mirror (fake), a low-grade treasure-level secret artifact that can emit five-colored light. Anyone exposed to the mirror's light will lose their ability to hide, and their sword light or magic weapon will miss its target. Those below the Refinement Spirit Realm will be immobilized for three breaths, while those at the Refinement Spirit Realm will be in a daze for a moment. 3/3 of the uses remain."

When Lu Li took out the scorching hot mirror from his bosom, quickly attached it with golden thread, and pressed it against the stand, a brilliant glow shone forth.

They fit together so perfectly, so seamlessly, they should have been one.

Not only did they complete a mission, they also obtained a powerful treasure like the Immortal Mirror.

It truly lives up to its reputation as a treasure-level weapon, but unfortunately, it has a limited number of uses, meaning it can only be used as a last resort for three uses.

For those below the Refining Spirit Realm, three breaths of stillness are enough for him to strike the sword a hundred or so times.

As long as it's not a body-tempering expert whose entire body is flawless, this amount of time is enough to kill them three to five times.

"However, I am not invincible. After I am enlightened, there will be all sorts of wonders. It takes me time to activate the Heavenly Escape Mirror. If I am captured or the five-colored light cannot reach that person during this time, I will suffer the consequences... I have to be careful. A martial artist from a prominent family may be carrying a similar secret treasure with protective effects."

Lu Li hung the Heavenly Escape Mirror around his neck; he couldn't bear to leave such a treasure by his side for even a moment.

He turned back to look at the steel plate that crashed down, a mocking expression on his face. He had deliberately waited until today to use up all the seclusion talismans and avoid wasting them.

He was the only living person here; there had been no battles and no one to talk to, so he could leave whenever he wanted.

"Consider yourselves lucky to have lived a few more days. We'll take care of you next time we come... Confirmed return."

The nebula reversed, the world darkened, and we returned to the front of the Nebula Palace.

The Sun-Covering Sword (damaged) is a superior-grade weapon. Repairing it requires 500 merits; or you can find two taels of Geng gold and ten grains of Qingming gold dust to forge it again, upgrading it to a lower-grade treasure, which requires an additional 1,000 merits.

"Goodness, this repair cost is really high..."

Lu Li was used to this sword and didn't really want to change it unless absolutely necessary.

Fortunately, the Nebula Palace offered a second option: pay extra to upgrade the artifact.

A thousand merits may not seem like much, but the last time I forged the Falling Star Spear, I earned two thousand merits, which was for Gengjin and Qingming Gold Sand – those things sound incredibly valuable.

"I could go back to the academy and ask the old scholar, Gu Xuezheng. He collects gold minerals from all over the place, so he should know... It would be best if I could get my hands on it, which would save me the trouble of searching for treasures everywhere."

Lu Li placed the Sun-Covering Sword inside the hall, not in a hurry to repair it.

In any case, the Nebula Palace can fulfill the requirements in an instant by paying the merits.

He glanced again at the intermediate-level seclusion talisman he received as a reward after collecting all the items from the Heavenly Escape Mirror, which allowed him to freely choose which compass world to visit and stay for up to half a year.

However, after a moment's thought, Lu Li decided to give up on continuing to use it.

Firstly, the effect of the Seventy-Two Seasonal Phenomena Chart had been declining due to his continued study, as evidenced by his failure to integrate the Autumn Sword and establish new solar terms in the last two months of the Great Kang World.

More experience and more accumulation are needed before they can once again achieve great things.

Secondly, the world is clearly undergoing drastic changes, and the level of danger is increasing.

The calamity of the demons and humans is about to spread throughout the world. At that time, the Yellow Springs will boil, the four seasons will be out of order, and the five elements will be in chaos. Just hearing these words makes him uneasy.

It is certain that the Great Kang World is no longer a place where one can peacefully retreat from the world and cultivate oneself properly.

Only after breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage and greatly increasing one's strength can one use this intermediate-level seclusion talisman to gain the greatest benefit.

Just as he was about to return to the real world, Lu Li slapped his forehead, pulled out a cloth bag, and almost forgot about the meteorite iron that Zhao Shunji had given him.

The eerie purple meteorite flickered, and the Nebula Palace fell silent, apparently unworthy of its attention.

On the contrary, the silvery-white, flexible meteorite, which was only the size of a fingernail, reacted.

"Taiyin Pure Gold, formed from the flowing moonlight over millennia, crystallized against the walls of the Guanghan Palace, its hardness varying with the phases of the moon. It is hardest during the full moon and softest during the new moon, and can be used to forge soft swords and inner armor. Weighing three qian, it can be sold for 1,200 merit points."

Lu Li grinned; the merit points were about to arrive.

It seems my guess was right; rare spiritual materials related to the starry sky have a chance to be exchanged for merit.

Judging from the description, it was merely an unintentional crystallization, yet it is worth so much merit.

However, he did not sell it immediately, but placed it next to the Sun-Covering Sword.

Such precious spiritual materials are extremely rare and hard to come by. If I were to obtain the method for refining inner armor and happen to be lacking Taiyin Pure Gold, wouldn't I be filled with regret?

It's not too late to sell the Taiyin Sujin to the Xingyun Hall when we really need more merit.

After sorting out the gains from this Great Kang World, Lu Li had a thought, and in a dizzying moment, he finally returned to the real world.

"Phew, finally back... It seems like only fifteen minutes, but it's actually been five months since I left."

The three reclusive talismans he redeemed, plus one each from the previous Northern Wei world and the unsealing of the Immortal Mirror, combined created the record for the longest single stay in the Compass World for Lu Li.

A wave of mental fatigue washed over me, so I decided to rest early and go find Fatty Luo tomorrow after I woke up.