Evil Venerable of the Sword Dao
Chapter 392 - 042: Twelve Form Intent Sword Spirit Transformation

Chapter 392: Chapter 042: Twelve Form Intent Sword Spirit Transformation

In the Thunder Seal, on the Land of Enlightenment.

A dense purple Qi Origin clouded the space.

Zhou Yan’s soul consciousness entered here once again, this time with great earnestness to comprehend the way of the Sword Spirit.

He had no choice; he must improve his strength further before setting foot in the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sword Tomb.

He calmed his mind, revisiting all past memories, every cultivation session, every transformation, and the sensations they brought.

...

The stars gradually shimmered then slowly dimmed.

Time trickled by.

For the outside world, the night was peaceful, void of any surprises.

For the Secondary Main Peak where Zhou Yan was located, tranquility remained; no one came to disturb him.

But for Zhou Yan, amidst the Thunder Ancient Array, he truly entered the states of Natural Dao and the Heart of Nature.

He sank into the world of runes within the Void Ancient Scripture, the Upper Volume of the Nirvana Scripture, and the Taiyin Talisman Scripture—the three extraordinary scriptures.

He witnessed the birth and death of the Universe, observed the Chaos Qi, saw the runes performing Creation of Heaven and Earth, and experienced various fantastical visions akin to Primordial beginnings, alongside all his past events.

It was as if he had relived a lifetime once more.

After a profound Enlightenment, the potential within Zhou Yan’s qi and blood was fully expanded, and all remnants of Fist Intent within him were refined.

His body and soul reached an inexplicable state of unity, like a cup filled to the brim with water—Perfection beyond imagination.

Upon reaching such a state, Zhou Yan naturally awoke; his soul consciousness had undergone an earth-shattering change.

With one thought, Zhou Yan released the Nine Sword Souls from the sealed Three Sword Souls within him.

The Xingyi Twelve Sword Souls, like heavenly Anomalies and Immortal Beasts depicted in Totems, danced in all directions.

Eventually, under the control of Zhou Yan’s soul consciousness, the twelve Sword Souls reverted in a peculiar transformation, evolving back into twelve Sword Spirits.

However, this time, each Sword Spirit became solidified, as real as the spirits of true Immortal Beasts.

This was a Transformation, akin to the metamorphosis of the soul after a physical body transformation—the Sword Spirits were also evolving!

The Twelve Sword Spirits lined up like twelve faithful servants or soldiers awaiting orders before Zhou Yan.

"True·Gray Dragon, True·Desolate Dragon, True·Yan Long, True·Killing Dragon, True·Hidden Dragon Xingyi Swordsmanship, unite and transform, derive the Heavenly Dragon Sword Dao, Sky Dragon Sword Spirit—Sealing!"

"Void Body—Heavenly Dragon, at your command."

"True·Gray Eagle, True·Desolate Eagle, True·Yan Eagle, True·Killing Eagle, True·Hidden Eagle Xingyi Swordsmanship, unite and transform, derive the Thunderhawk Sword Dao, Thunderhawk Sword Spirit—Sealing!"

"Void Body—Thunderhawk, at your command."

...

"True·Gray Kite, True·Desolate Kite, True·Annihilation Kite, True·Killing Kite, True·Hidden Kite Xingyi Swordsmanship, unite and transform, derive the Golden Kite Sword Dao, Golden Kite Sword Spirit—Sealing!"

"Void Body—Golden Kite, at your command."

The Twelve Sword Spirits were aligned, their corresponding physical forms successfully mutated, combining the five Paths into one, deriving the corresponding True Sword Spirits, comparable to twelve Void Bodies.

Though the Twelve Sword Spirits were not Void Bodies, they possessed a singular might, rivaling the existence of Void Bodies.

"Good, now with the Heavenly Dragon, White Tiger, Thunderhawk, Fierce Horse, Divine Monkey, True Turtle, Spirit Chicken, Xuan Snake, Blast Bear, Immortal, Qi Yan, and Golden Kite—the Twelve True Sword Spirits in place, derive the Twelve Core Soul Swords!"

Zhou Yan’s soul consciousness gave the order.

Instantly, the Twelve Sword Spirits, like the Twelve Immortal Beasts, converged into one colossal Soul Sword, which then entered the depths of Zhou Yan’s soul at the center of his brows.

With the Twelve Sword Spirits in place, the bloodline of the Emperor Qi Sword Body began to be gradually interwoven with the mutated constitution, slowly overtaking it.

This process, naturarlly, was extremely slow.

Zhou Yan did not have time to wait for the integration. While it was still underway, he replicated Yanyan’s sealing technique and once again sealed the core bloodline of the Emperor Qi Sword Body, hiding all traces of the Emperor Qi Sword Body’s existence.

Although he speculated that some truth might have been discovered by others, he would not expose himself before it became evident. Instead, he would feign ignorance of the enemy’s intelligence, continuing to ’act freely’ in order to lull them into complacency.

Perhaps such a ploy might not be very effective, but it could cause the unknown ’enemy’ to lower their guard somewhat.

...

Zhou Yan then stood up from his cultivation, withdrew his soul consciousness; after the Twelve Sword Spirits returned to their places, he appeared much more ordinary.

But his strength had achieved an even more terrifying advancement.

Although it was ’Break Eight’, the affirmation of such prowess was even stronger now.

The chasm between ’Break Eight’ and ’Near Nine’ is terrifying—a gap not easily crossed by mere comprehension, cultivation, or transformation.

Or rather, after ’Break Seven’, each step becomes exceedingly difficult.

The more Zhou Yan cultivates and seeks Enlightenment at this level of combat power, the more he realizes the terror of such a Realm.

"Though I haven’t fully grasped the essence, the return of the Twelve Sword Spirits is a significant leap forward, laying a foundation for upcoming cultivation and Enlightenment. Once I enter the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sword Tomb, regardless of the reasons, I’ll first slay a batch of geniuses, then immediately go into seclusion!"

This time, the bitter cultivation for Enlightenment, though he only achieved the initial grand fusion of the Xingyi Twelve Forms Sword Dao, but to truly derive a physical form from the Sword Spirit, that was the real key.

This step, Zhou Yan had once thought, would require reaching the Sword Soul Three Heavens and with the assistance of the Holy Daughter’s Life Soul to achieve, yet unexpectedly, the transformation of his physical body underwent a terrifying change, bringing this step ahead of schedule.

Thus, despite having no countermeasures for this inexplicable ’sense of crisis,’ Zhou Yan still breathed a sigh of relief.

...

In Guanghan Southern Mansion, at the Heavenly Square Main Hall.

This grand hall, carved out by a Saint, spans hundreds of thousands of miles, immensely vast.

At the very center of the hall stood a curved light platform hovering in the void.

On the light platform, a male and a female Saint stood, like divine beings who ruled over the world.

"This time, the journey to the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sword Tomb is perilous. Even Ancestor-level powerhouses who enter cannot confidently claim they will survive. Thus, the dangers need not be overly detailed."

Yao’s voice echoed through the earth, reverberating through the heavenly vault.

"Therefore, if you die in the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sword Tomb, it’s actually a good thing, better than dying in the Heavenly Emperor Universe. To die there is to have your corpse abused and devoured."

The female Saint, Fairy Die’s voice was cold and ruthless, disregarding the life and death of all.

"Now, I will announce the list of the twenty strongest in combat power and the most talented male and female Xuanzhes. Of course, those not listed are not necessarily inferior; it just indicates that in some aspects, these listed are temporarily stronger."

Yao’s voice thundered through the heavenly vault once more.

"That’s right, if you don’t agree, you can kill those listed, even by joining forces with others. By doing so... killing one proves your own talent, and even we Saints have been mistaken.

When that time comes, we will personally bestow upon you prestigious awards!"

Fairy Die’s words remained cold, devoid of emotion.

"Let’s start with the list of the top twenty young prodigies; these individuals are all Profound Level geniuses, and they are: Ji Wu, Si Yuan, Yun Li, Guang Qi, Lu Qiu, Mo Rixuan, Tai He, Yu Xing, Jun Zhe, Shao Yuan, Spring and Autumn Xuanzhe, Da Ri, Guang Mai, Wulan, Eternal Xuanzhe, Xiao Tian, Bo Ci, Yao Yin, Hook Swirl Xuanzhe, and Zhou Yanxuan."

As Yao’s voice faded, a stir goes through the hundred and eighty thousand genius cultivators present.

The other cultivators perhaps had little to debate, but to have Thunderflame Sword Body Zhou Yan enter as the last on the top twenty list – this was truly a dark horse that drew the side glances of countless cultivators!

At the same time, the remaining nineteen Xuanzhes had terrifying pasts that no one dared to provoke. However, Zhou Yan, even though he had been defeated and crushed Xiao Tianlun, still attracted many malicious gazes.

Hearing this announcement, Zhou Yan too felt a chill in his heart.

In truth, he hadn’t grasped the ’Xuan Restriction,’ and couldn’t be called a Xuanzhe.

But... his combat power broke eight, without any pressure at all.

Could these Saints really be so privy to such details?

Zhou Yan’s emotions grew even colder and heavier.

"Next, the list of the top twenty talented extraordinary women, who are also all Profound Level geniuses: Qingyao, Yan Ran, Qingning, Yu Ning, Shi Qin, Jiayue, Hongyi, Miao Han, Yun Lu, An Yi, Pei Rou, Ru Xue, Zhi Lan, Xin Yan, Ling Ying, Manling, Qian Xi, Bai Yu, Hou Ling, and Jiuxian."

The release of this list of twenty female cultivators caused an even greater commotion.

Because the last two, Hou Ling and Feng Jiu Xian, had surprisingly made the list.

Were the two ranked based on combat power, or potential?

Many cultivators looked towards these two women with ill intentions.

Yet, standing here, facing such gazes, Feng Jiu Xian remained unmoved, but Hou Ling’s gaze suddenly sharpened, and a terrifying Holy Spirit Sword Intent suddenly emerged. Suddenly, the heaven and earth seemed to dive, and an extremely frightening pressure from the void surged!

"Hu—"

All cultivators felt their breath hitch, and the pressure in their hearts increased.

"Holy Spirit Sword Intent?!"

"Combat power breaking seven!"

"Battle Intent suppressing Heavenly Dao Rules! This is..."

"What a terrifying Emperor Qi Sword Body!"

"The Emperor Qi Sword Body, indeed lives up to its reputation!"

...

Suddenly, those malicious gazes directed at Hou Ling swiftly retracted, and even some true geniuses now held a touch of apprehension.

"Emperor Qi Sword Body?"

Amid the crowd of cultivators, there was a woman in white, as still as a statue, who had been very serene.

But at the mention of the ’Emperor Qi Sword Body,’ her gaze sharply turned towards the spot where Hou Ling was.

At that moment, Hou Ling felt it too and looked over.

Their eyes met in an instant before both shook and silently retracted their gazes.

"Ning’er... the Holy Daughter Jiang Yuning! It’s actually that girl from the Zhou Family, she... she..."

Hou Ling gasped inwardly, knowing that the Holy Daughter Jiang Yuning was indeed that quiet, orchid-like girl from before, but had not expected Jiang Yuning to become so frighteningly powerful!