"You must die! You will definitely die by my hand!" The Blood Transformation Sword Immortal, Si Nan, who roared these words, was already dead by Lu Yuan's hand.

Roaring was one thing; true strength was another.

Within the Celestial Prison, absolute silence reigned.

Slaying a Sword Immortal with a single sword strike!

Si Nan, a Sword Immortal in actual strength.

And yet, such a Sword Immortal had fallen to the hands of a Tenth Generation disciple.

It turned out that without realizing it, the true disciples of the Tenth Generation could now slay the elite of the Ninth Generation elites. The others of the Tenth Generation had yet to mature, but Lu Yuan had grown frighteningly fast. The prisoners could only gasp in horror.

Lu Yuan paid them no mind; his immediate concern was collecting spoils. His divine sense had long since penetrated the spatial artifact. The first thing to catch his eye was a book: The Art of Disguise and Transformation. Lu Yuan immediately took it out and realized this Art of Disguise and Transformation contained the life’s essence and ultimate skills of the Blood Transformation Sword Immortal.

The Blood Transformation Sword Immortal was not renowned for his combat prowess.

His fame rested on a single concept: Transformation.

Disguise and transformation were skills many cultivators possessed, yet few could achieve the level Si Nan did. If Si Nan was considered the second greatest master of disguise and transformation in the Great Jin Kingdom, few would dare claim the first. This Art of Disguise and Transformation systematically explained how to disguise and transform. This transformation could make one identical to another person, even mimicking their aura precisely—a deception so profound it reached an unbelievable level of verisimilitude.

It was certainly a useful manual. Though not combat-oriented, it was genuinely valuable. Lu Yuan then continued examining the other spoils. Spirit Stones! So many spirit stones! There were easily over twenty thousand of them. Lu Yuan currently possessed only around ten thousand. The wealth of the Blood Transformation Sword Immortal far surpassed his own. Over twenty thousand low-grade spirit stones—what a haul! Lu Yuan recently needed a substantial supply of spirit stones to sustain the spirit beasts sealed within his Spirit Sealing Talisman, so this replenishment was timely.

Here was a magic treasure, marked with several delicate, ancient seal scripts: the Blood Soaring Cauldron. This Blood Soaring Cauldron was actually quite a useful magic treasure, capable of increasing the cultivation speed of the Great Blood Cloud Art by half.

Curious, he found another book: The Great Blood Cloud Art. It was widely known that the Great Blood Cloud Art ranked first among the techniques of the Blood Sword Sect. Given the Blood Transformation Sword Immortal’s crucial status, possessing the Great Blood Cloud Art was entirely normal. However, it was likely only a portion of it. The ultimate techniques and cultivation methods of every sect—like the Cloud Dragon Heart Method—were partially written and partially transmitted orally to prevent other sects from learning them. Lu Yuan could not truly master the Great Blood Cloud Art from this alone, but even using it as a reference for the Cloud Dragon Ten Transformations was beneficial, as both were formidable Cloud-element heart methods. Rumor had it that once the Great Blood Cloud Art reached its highest stage, a blood dragon would manifest.

Ah, and there were numerous keys. They appeared to be keys to the Celestial Prison.

Finally, he reached the most crucial section—the Blood Cloud Spirit Beasts. Lu Yuan’s divine sense probed into the Spirit Sealing Talisman.

So many! Five enormous Blood Whales and seven Blood Tigers.

These were all the Blood Cloud Spirit Beasts belonging to the Blood Transformation Sword Immortal, Si Nan. Generally, figures at the Sword Immortal level possessed no more than ten massive spirit beasts in total. The Blood Transformation Sword Immortal Si Nan was considered the weakest among the Sword Immortal echelon, but he belonged to the Blood Sword Sect, which possessed wicked and toxic methods to forcibly upgrade the levels of Blood Cloud Spirit Beasts, hence the five massive Blood Whales.

So many.

Lu Yuan certainly made no apologies, promptly releasing the five massive Blood Whales and seven Blood Tigers. He then used the Water of Celestial Purity upon them. The Water of Celestial Purity obtained from the Hundred Mines Province had long been depleted, but he had acquired a massive quantity within the True Martial Cave.

The Water of Celestial Purity poured onto the Blood Whales. Because they were so gigantic, irrigating them required vast amounts of the water. A single small cup of the water was enough to purify one Blood Whale. In comparison, the Blood Tigers were much easier; they required very little Water of Celestial Purity to be purified.

Before purification, the Blood Whales looked incredibly ferocious. Their tusks seemed ready to devour everything. The whales themselves were immense; a person standing before one wasn't as tall as the edge of the whale's mouth. Standing there, the world felt steeped in blood-red, appearing quite terrifying. But as the Water of Celestial Purity washed over them, the Blood Whales immediately transformed, becoming snow-white and soft, looking quite adorable.

What a gain.

After completing the purification, Lu Yuan counted his current collection of Cloud-element spirit beasts: thirty-six large Cloud-element spirit beasts in total, including eight Cloud Whales. This quantity of spirit beasts, exhaling and inhaling vital energy, was truly astonishing. Rolling torrents of vital energy continuously rained down upon him, causing every pore to relentlessly absorb spiritual power.

Naturally, Lu Yuan understood this luck was due to encountering the Blood Sword Sect, one of the few sects in the Jin Kingdom that practiced the same elemental cultivation as the North Peak of Mount Hua. If he had encountered someone from another immortal sect, he couldn't have profited this much from the opportunity. He had to seize this chance. Missing this one would make finding another this significant incredibly difficult.

Having finished everything, Lu Yuan retracted his divine sense and concealed the spatial artifact. He recalled that there were methods for refining and merging spatial artifacts and planned to acquire one someday to consolidate his collection. As his divine sense returned, he reached out and retrieved the keys from the spatial artifact.

After taking out the keys, he immediately proceeded to unlock door after door. Once a door was opened, he swept the Azure Emperor Sword Light over the imprisoned cultivators. The light passed through their bodies once, instantly clearing away the deadly poison of the Blood Sea Fragrance. These individuals, now indebted to Lu Yuan for such immense kindness, were both shocked and overjoyed.

As soon as he finished rescuing them, the group knelt before Lu Yuan in gratitude.

"Martial Nephew Lu, for this immense grace, we are eternally grateful."

"Should Martial Nephew Lu ever have any need, please command us; Luo Tian Diao will obey without question."

"If Martial Nephew Lu has time, visit Qingcheng; I will certainly extend our hospitality."

"..."

One after another, words of gratitude flowed. Lu Yuan returned their courtesies in kind. This act was akin to saving their lives, a favor of rebirth, which would greatly benefit Lu Yuan's reputation within the cultivation world.

Although Lu Yuan himself cared little for it, reputation was extremely important in the cultivation world.

For example, the "Central Plains Sword Immortal," Tie Zhongxia. This person’s actual strength hadn't reached the level of a Sword Immortal, nor was it particularly high—only the second level of the Longevity Realm. However, he had helped countless people, earning an excellent reputation. Everyone showed him a degree of respect, and few dared to provoke him.

Once their spiritual power recovered, these cultivators understood that this was the critical moment for the Snow Mountain Immortal Sect to clash with the Blood Sword Sect. If they didn't flee now, they might never escape. Thus, one by one, they soared out—those capable of sword flight took to their swords, those who could fly used their techniques. Some of the weaker jailers remaining in the Celestial Prison were killed by the escaped cultivators.

Moments later, Lu Yuan was the only one left in the Celestial Prison.

Lu Yuan had intended to leave, but he first wanted to explore the area where the Blood Transformation Sword Immortal often stayed. This was a secret chamber deep within the Celestial Prison. Lu Yuan arrived before the chamber door. The door was constructed of some unknown material, appearing incredibly dark and smooth. It was adorned with hundreds of intricate patterns yet still felt slick to the touch. It was protected by at least several thousand layers of restrictions. How to enter? He slapped his forehead. Didn't Si Nan’s spatial artifact contain another key? He took out the key and opened the door. Indeed, this was the one. Upon entering the secret chamber, Lu Yuan was stunned into silence.

This was...

Lu Yuan surveyed the room. Inscribed upon the walls were various martial techniques. Looking forward, he saw written clearly: "Mount Hua Sword Style." He examined it—it did contain the Mount Hua Sword Style, but not many moves. The Sword Sect’s styles were more numerous, and many crucial sections were missing. Most importantly, there were no accompanying Sword Formulas.

Every sword style required a Sword Formula.

A sword style without its Formula lacked a soul.

He looked further and found others nearby, such as "Wudang Sword Style," "Qingcheng Sword Style," "Kunlun Sword Style," "South Sea Sword Style," "Wuling Sword Style," "Star Constellation Sword Style," "Snow Mountain Sword Style," and so on. Below these names were vast stretches of blank space, with few actual moves recorded. Even the few decent moves lacked their corresponding Sword Formulas.

The truth was this: When the Blood Sword Sect first entered the Jin Kingdom, they were acting under orders from the Ratu Temple of the Great Snow Mountain in the Yuan Kingdom. However, shortly after they began their activities, they encountered Yan Cangtian hunting the Blood Sword Ancestor. This encounter terrified the Blood Sword Ancestor so much that for the hundreds of years Yan Cangtian lived, they dared not act openly. Only in the few years since Yan Cangtian ascended did they begin moving again.

Because of this, the number of sword moves recorded here was small.

What Lu Yuan did not know was that this place was the Blood Martial Cave, one of the three caves of the Blood Sword Sect.

The Blood Sword Sect had three caves: the Blood Martial Cave, the Blood God Cave, and the Blood Treasury Cave. The Blood Martial Cave was originally planned as a place to learn sword moves from various sects, but due to the stagnation lasting several hundred years because of Yan Cangtian, the Blood Martial Cave had failed to develop much. The Blood Treasury Cave was used to store the various resources of the Blood Sword Sect. Similar to the resource pools found in every major immortal sect, peak, and lineage, it functioned as an independent financial institution. Sometimes a member achieved merit and needed rewarding from their superiors; sometimes, impending wars required sect resources. The Blood Treasury Cave managed all such miscellaneous resources.

As for the third cave, the Blood God Cave, it was the secret, profoundly mysterious core of the Blood Sword Sect.

Lu Yuan stood in the Blood Martial Cave, looking around. Although the sword moves from various sects were few, their collection was substantial overall. He made rubbings of all of them, thinking they might prove useful later.

After finishing the rubbings, Lu Yuan exited the Blood Martial Cave and headed toward the outside world. He wondered how the conflict between the Snow Mountain Immortal Sect and the Blood Sword Sect was progressing. If the fighting was too chaotic, perhaps he could profit from the confusion.

Before he could even leave the Celestial Prison, he heard the heavens-shaking clamor of battle raging outside.