The first, the Yangwu Spirit Sword, was three feet, three inches, and three fen long, its blade entwined with Righteous Qi, weighing one hundred and twenty-one jin.

The second, the Zhenyue Spirit Sword, measured three feet and four fen in length, its edge perfectly straight, the body polished smooth, weighing one hundred and thirty-five jin.

The two spirit swords were finally complete.

At this moment, the brilliance emanating from both swords continuously flowed back into Lu Yuan’s mind. Lu Yuan felt his divine soul expand significantly, and his magical power also increased slightly. This was the eighth layer of Longevity: the Sword Immortal realm.

Though he had been called the Wine Sword Immortal for over a year, Lu Yuan knew that only now had he truly reached the eighth layer of Longevity, officially earning the title of Sword Immortal.

With a flick of his hand, Lu Yuan reached out with both hands to grasp the two spirit swords.

Spirit swords!

This was a true Spirit Sword.

Before, he was always chased by others wielding Spirit Swords; their sharpness far surpassed Flying Swords. Now, it was his turn to command them. Lu Yuan channeled energy into the two blades and, moved by sudden inspiration, began executing sword techniques in the sky. There were no fixed forms; he unleashed them randomly—whether it was the Seventy-Two Forms of Raining Drops, the One Hundred and Eight Swords of Wind and Cloud, or the Sword Art of Snow Dance and Ice Dissipation—whichever sword technique came to mind, he used it, completely following his heart’s desire.

After a long while, he danced with utter freedom. The blades sliced through the void, carving paths across the dark clouds—exhilarating!

Exhilarating!

This connection between the sword and the self was truly exhilarating.

Lu Yuan joyfully downed several gulps of wine to express his boundless current mood. He continued his dance until a fine mist of sweat beaded on his forehead, feeling intensely satisfied. Then, with a sharp clang, both swords simultaneously returned to their sheaths, their formidable edge instantly sheathed.

Next, naturally, was the push toward the ninth layer of Longevity. But breaking through to the ninth layer was far from easy. Once in the Longevity realm, advancing each subsequent layer became incredibly arduous, especially now. For instance, when breaking from the seventh to the eighth layer, his several Martial Uncles had warned him that crossing that barrier required recognition from the swords themselves.

As for moving from the eighth layer—refining the Spirit Sword—to the ninth layer, the Three Extremes Merging into One, his Uncles had simply said: “This matter is profoundly mysterious, difficult to articulate; you must experience it yourself. However, the so-called Three Extremes Merging into One refers to the unification of the divine soul, magical power, and physical body.” Well, that explanation was almost as good as saying nothing at all.

For this current layer, there was not even a clear path laid out on how to break through; it could only be grasped through personal experience.

The pressure was immense!

Never mind it for now.

Lu Yuan planned to take a nap when, smack, a sound broke the silence. Lu Yuan looked over and saw a rabbit that had just dashed headfirst into a tree stump, meeting a tragic end. He had always believed the tale of ‘waiting by a stump for a rabbit’ was mere allegory, never imagining such an event could actually occur in this world. Feeling both helpless and slightly grim, he approached.

Since the event had happened, there was no reason to be polite. He flicked his hand and secured the rabbit.

Time for some roasting.

He had wine, and now he had rabbit.

Lu Yuan was quite skilled at roasting. With a casual movement, he skinned the rabbit, summoned a burst of sword energy, and quickly cleaned out the entrails. He stuck a skewer in it and placed it over the fire. Having high sword skill truly had its uses; cleaning the rabbit took only a single swift cut. He also happened to have various seasonings, like cumin, in his spatial artifact.

Sizzle...

His cooking hadn't degraded. Such a fragrance wafted out.

Lu Yuan pulled out his wine, savoring the roasted rabbit. A bite of meat, a gulp of wine—what a life.

Yes, he had set his course: when he could help others, he would, walking the chivalrous path of an immortal. But at his core, he remained inherently lazy. If a situation presented itself, he would intervene; otherwise? He preferred his languid existence, hoarding meat and drinking wine comfortably. If one had to define it, Lu Yuan was formerly neutral, leaning toward righteous order. He remained neutral, leaning toward righteous order, but perhaps tilted a bit more toward the righteous side now—that was the extent of the change.

He temporarily forgot about breaking through to the ninth layer of Longevity. Indulging in pleasure was the true imperative right now.

People must learn how to find their own happiness.

No one’s life is without shadows.

But to cast those shadows aside and choose joy—that is a happy life.

He recalled a folk tale from the Jin Kingdom: one man with five taels of silver would say, “Ah, I still have five taels! I can still do so much, buy so many delicious things.”

Another man with five taels of silver would lament, “Why do I only have five taels? If this runs out, what will I do?”

Undoubtedly, Lu Yuan was the former, the joyful one, not the latter, the one steeped in anxiety.

Roasted meat, fine wine, pure delight.

Oh, right, he almost forgot to mention: in the last year and a half, he had mastered two essential sword intents: the Sword Intent of Autumn and the Sword Intent of Slowness. In terms of Metal-attribute intents, he now commanded two. Such is the nature of sword intent.

——————

Lu Yuan wandered through the Jin Kingdom at an unhurried pace.

Wherever he found fine food or excellent wine, he headed there.

If he encountered someone pitiful, he offered a helping hand.

His days passed in carefree ease, and he paid no mind to the fact that the Three Extremes Merging into One for the ninth layer of Longevity was taking its time.

It would happen when it happened; he wasn't in a rush.

Being at the eighth layer of Longevity in his early twenties was certainly enough to make him the envy of the entire Jin Kingdom. One day, he arrived at a market frequented by cultivators, intending to see if there was anything useful he might acquire. Since he had recently amassed a substantial number of spirit stones, he stepped into the cultivator marketplace, surveying the surrounding wares.

This cultivator market was vast, stocked with all manner of goods. Lu Yuan pondered whether he should sell off a batch of treasures, perhaps the Seven-Colored Longevity Dao Fruits—they would fetch an astronomical price, but he didn't seem to need the funds right now. He decided to look around first. As he walked along the bluestone path, a person suddenly burst forth, flying toward him while shouting, “Big news! Big news!”

When the man bellowed about major events, everyone present, having nothing better to do, naturally paused to listen. Lu Yuan happened to be standing nearby and decided to hear what kind of “big news” it was.

Just as he thought this, the man roared, “The Yuan Kingdom is attacking again!”

“Tch. Yuan Kingdom attacks? I thought it was something important.” People seemed unfazed; the constant skirmishes between Yuan and Jin over the years were hardly novelties. The shouter shook his head. “No, this time, I hear the Celestial Round Grandmaster personally took action! This has forced the Five Immortals Alliance Leader, Zu Qianqiu, to go there himself.”

The Jin Kingdom truly had few Grandmasters.

The Yuan Kingdom only boasted three in total.

The Subterranean Demons had only one, the Eastern Demon; the other two titans were merely Half-Step Grandmasters.

As for Jin, excluding Zhou Qingxuan, whose power was virtually unquantifiable, there were only four Grandmasters. Chu Duan was one; another was Zu Qianqiu, the leader of the Five Immortals Alliance—the eighth generation was the true pinnacle of Mount Hua, featuring four figures ranked in the top four who could all claim the title of Grandmaster. Then there was Song Qingqiao, the head of the Wudang Immortal Sect’s Seven Sages of Wudang, and Yan Er, the sect leader of the Southern Sea Immortal Gate, who had only recently managed to master the Fourteenth Sword of Life Seizing to merit the title of Grandmaster. The four Grandmasters of Jin included Yan Er as the weakest.

Essentially, Jin and Yuan maintained a precarious balance.

The Jin Kingdom was inherently stronger, especially during Yan Cangtian’s era; with his methods, destroying Yuan would not have been difficult. But for reasons unknown—perhaps a higher-level balance or other factors—Yan Cangtian never acted upon it.

In total, the Jin and Yuan nations accounted for eight Grandmasters: Ouyang Dufa, Master of the Myriad Serpent Villa; the Celestial Round Grandmaster of the Esoteric Sect; Grandmaster Shi Mozhi of the Lantuo Temple in Great Snow Mountain; Chu Duan of Mount Hua; Zu Qianqiu, Leader of the Five Immortals Alliance; Song Qingqiao of the Wudang Immortal Sect; Yan Er of the Southern Sea Immortal Gate; and Dongfang Yao, the Eastern Demon. Who among these eight was superior to the others, no one knew for certain.

However, it was generally agreed that Yan Er was the weakest, and Dongfang Yao was possibly the strongest. Yet, if the Seven Sages of Wudang truly deployed the True Martial Interlacing Formation, even Dongfang Yao might fall. In short, the eight great Grandmasters balanced each other out, their relative strengths shrouded in mystery.

To be recognized as a Grandmaster was to be the strongest in Jin.

It was unheard of for the Celestial Round Grandmaster to personally garrison the border without taking action. For him to intervene now meant this was extraordinary, explaining why Zu Qianqiu needed to rush there; this was indeed major news.

After catching his breath, the messenger quickly added, “And that’s not all. News just arrived: Zu Qianqiu went to the border, but the Demons launched a surprise attack on the Five Immortals Alliance, resulting in heavy casualties! Word just came in: now, one hundred thousand Demons are attacking Mount Hua!”

“What!” Amidst the shock of the others, Lu Yuan was even more astonished.

One hundred thousand Demons attacking Mount Hua!

Such an absurd event—the premier immortal sect of Jin being besieged by demons.

But were the Demons seeking death?

The sheer depth of talent within Jin’s foremost immortal sect was formidable. Even under normal circumstances, it seemed unlikely that a force of one hundred thousand Demons could succeed in attacking Mount Hua; they would likely pay an extremely heavy price.

Then again, the current Demon Holy Emperor, Dongfang Yao, was known for his ruthless and decisive temperament. But after being defeated by Yan Cangtian years ago, his personality drastically changed. Rumor had it he had even tried on women's clothing; the resolute air of a warlord was gone, replaced by erratic behavior.

An attack by one hundred thousand Demons on Mount Hua was undeniably insane, an action unlikely to yield profit. But Dongfang Yao was exactly the type to pull off such a stunt.

Lu Yuan listened for a while longer and pieced together the full situation.

Dongfang Yao was leading his forces to attack Mount Hua. Meanwhile, on the western flank, near the Yuan Kingdom, Yuan was launching a full-scale invasion. The two great immortal sects in that area, Kunlun and Qingcheng, were unable to send aid to Mount Hua. The Southern Sea was too distant to provide immediate support. As for the Bright Demon Emperor Fang Xie and the Dark Demon Emperor Jing Huanzhen, they were leading their contingents near Mount Wudang, clearly positioned to prevent Wudang from offering assistance.

Essentially, Dongfang Yao’s subordinates were currently engaged in a one-sided battle against the vast Mount Hua.

A world-shaking conflict was about to begin.

(I spent the entire day thinking up plot points but couldn't settle on anything—what a drag! Finally managed to outline the core events, which is this attack by one hundred thousand Demons on Mount Hua. Today only has one chapter; apologies. I will make up for it tomorrow.)RO

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