In the next instant, with a boom, Ye Yunfei felt all the sword phantoms, sword fragments, and those intact longswords in the space around his body frantically gather together. Then, a massive, blazing furnace suddenly appeared. All the sword phantoms, sword fragments, and countless intact longswords poured into this colossal furnace like birds returning to their nest, one after another, and began to be smelted.
Weng! Ye Yunfei discovered that the small sword which had taken form within his body not long ago also shot out from him and plunged into the fiercely burning furnace.
"What's going on? This should be the Sword Heart I cultivated myself. Why is it not under my control?" Ye Yunfei was somewhat startled.
"Do not worry. I am using your Sword Heart to help forge a sword that belongs to you," a white-robed elder's figure slowly materialized beside Ye Yunfei and spoke in a benevolent voice.
The look in the white-robed elder's eyes when he gazed at Ye Yunfei was now different from before. He now regarded Ye Yunfei as the formal successor of his sect.
Honglonglong… The raging flames inside the furnace surged violently. The white-robed elder took a few steps forward and stood above the furnace. Then, his hands suddenly began to dance rapidly, forming one mysterious seal after another which he sent striking into the furnace.
Gradually, the numerous sword phantoms, sword fragments, and those intact longswords inside the furnace began to vanish. A new longsword started to slowly take shape.
Ye Yunfei felt that as soon as this sword appeared, an intimate connection formed with him. It was completely under the control of his will.
"This Sword Monument is a symbol of our Tianjian Sect from ancient times. In antiquity, countless sword cultivators of our Tianjian Sect sat before this monument to comprehend the sword and practice sword arts. It can be said that this Sword Monument has gathered the sword dao concepts and wills of all the ancient sword cultivators of our Tianjian Sect. However, our Tianjian Sect is now in a state of destruction, and this Sword Monument placed here is temporarily of little use. I will infuse this Sword Monument into your longsword, making it a part of your blade. In the future, when you have the opportunity to rebuild the Sword Realm and the Tianjian Sect, you can then release this Sword Monument from your sword, allowing the descendants of our Tianjian Sect to continue comprehending and practicing the sword arts here. This Sword Monument is one of the symbols of our Tianjian Sect. You must guard it well," the white-robed elder suddenly pointed at the towering stone sword that reached into the clouds and addressed Ye Yunfei.
"Master, rest assured. I will do my utmost to protect this Sword Monument," Ye Yunfei first felt a jolt of surprise upon hearing the white-robed elder's words, and hurriedly responded.
"Excellent!" The white-robed elder nodded. Then, he pointed with his finger. With a boom, the towering Sword Monument suddenly pulled itself from the ground, shooting up into the high sky, piercing straight into the clouds, and then came crashing down, ultimately plunging into the fiercely blazing furnace. It submerged into the furnace and merged as one with that longsword.
At the moment the Sword Monument fused with the longsword, Weng! A crisp sword cry rang out. The entire furnace exploded outright, scattering flames across the sky.
This crisp sword cry spread outwards in all directions from the Tianjian Sect headquarters as its center, ultimately echoing throughout the entire Sword Realm, creating waves of reverberations.
At this moment, the originally silent and dead Sword Realm erupted in a complete uproar. Countless wills manifested, their gazes all turning toward the location of the Tianjian Sect headquarters.
"What's happening? What occurred at the Tianjian Sect? That sword cry just now seems to signify something." Countless remnant souls, countless Soul Power imprints, or some obsessive thoughts etched into the space of the Sword Realm all voiced their astonishment.
In a certain corner of the Sword Realm, an ordinary-looking elder slowly appeared. His gaze shifted toward the direction of Tianjian Sect's ruins, first locking onto the longsword that had burst out from the furnace, then falling upon Ye Yunfei's body.
"So that's it. He is not only a successor of the Tianjian Sect, but also a successor of our entire Sword Realm, and even one of our Sword Realm's future hopes." This elder sensed Ye Yunfei, then a trace of excitement appeared on his face as he spoke.
"Since that's the case, I too shall offer a gift," the elder said. Then, he pointed his finger. With a boom, the entire space of the Sword Realm trembled violently. An endless amount of Sword Energy and Sword Laws surged out from the depths of the space, and even some Sword origin energy belonging to the Sword Realm manifested. It all converged torrentially toward where Ye Yunfei was located, pouring into Ye Yunfei's body.
Ye Yunfei discovered that his sword dao level was beginning to rise significantly once again.
"I shall gift this young man a few more treasures," the distant elder pointed his finger.
Weng Weng Weng… Over a dozen longswords shot out from the space beside him, instantly arriving at the location of the Tianjian Sect headquarters. They then merged into the longsword that had just burst out from the furnace.
The over a dozen longswords and that one blade merged into one, fusing into a single longsword, radiating an even more powerful aura.
"Many thanks for your assistance, old friend!" The white-robed elder inside the Tianjian Sect headquarters looked toward the position of that ordinary-looking elder in the distance and smiled faintly before speaking.
"No need for formalities. This young man is not solely a successor of your Tianjian Sect. He belongs to the entire Sword Realm, and is one of the future hopes of our Sword Realm. It is only right that I give him some gifts," the ordinary-looking elder stated.
"If that's the case, we cannot be stingy either." As soon as this ordinary elder finished speaking, in several other locations within the Sword Realm, several figures with extraordinary auras appeared—all elders, each exuding rich, pure sword dao auras.
These several elders simultaneously pointed their fingers. The spaces where they were located immediately released vast amounts of Sword Energy and Sword Laws, which converged in torrents toward Ye Yunfei's position.
At the same time, various longswords also appeared, flying through the void toward the Tianjian Sect headquarters, finally merging with the newly forged longsword.
"Many thanks to all of you!" The white-robed elder spoke.
Then, he pointed his finger. That longsword emitted a weng, retracting all its aura, and landed silently suspended in front of Ye Yunfei.
Ye Yunfei felt an unparalleled compatibility with this sword; it was akin to a part of his own body.
"This is a sword that belongs exclusively to you, or it could be said this is your lifebound sword. It was forged using your Sword Heart. From now on, you must nourish it with your own essence blood, Sword Intent, Sword Energy, and Sword Laws. In this way, it will grow alongside you. As you grow stronger, it will also follow suit and become stronger," the white-robed elder looked at Ye Yunfei and explained.
"Thank you, Master, for forging this sword for me!" Ye Yunfei said gratefully, then reached out and grasped the longsword.
The longsword Ye Yunfei previously obtained in Phantom Sword Valley was originally the highest-grade and most powerful sword he possessed. However, compared to this newly forged sword, the difference was vast.
With a thought, this longsword immediately merged into his body, becoming part of his flesh.
At this time, the surrounding space had gradually returned to calm. The entire Tianjian Sect headquarters also reverted to its previous desolate and dead silent state.
The earlier scene of ten thousand swords singing in unison and dazzling sword light had vanished. The towering giant stone sword from before had also disappeared.
"Good. From now on, you are truly a successor of our Tianjian Sect. In the future, you bear the heavy responsibility of rebuilding and revitalizing our Tianjian Sect.
Furthermore, although I have already transferred the Tianjian Sect's heritage into your Soul Sea and you have begun preliminary cultivation, this is far from enough. Starting now, you must continually contemplate and cultivate the heritage of our Tianjian Sect, striving to improve your sword dao level.
In its heyday, when the powerful experts of our Tianjian Sect traveled through the Chaos Void Sea, wherever their swords pointed, none dared to directly withstand their might.
Back during that invasion by external enemies, if our Tianjian Sect had not been ambushed beforehand, even if the enemy were stronger, they absolutely could not have annihilated our Tianjian Sect.
The accumulated resources and strength of our Tianjian Sect are even greater than you can imagine. Therefore, as a successor of our Tianjian Sect, you must diligently cultivate to become stronger, and not tarnish the reputation of our Tianjian Sect," the white-robed elder gazed at Ye Yunfei, speaking gravely. Yet within his words was also a tone of extreme benevolence.
"Master, please rest assured. This disciple will certainly cultivate diligently, strive to grow ever stronger, and will definitely not tarnish the reputation of the Tianjian Sect," Ye Yunfei immediately raised his voice in reply.
"Excellent. I believe that with your talent and temperament, you will certainly do very well," the white-robed elder nodded.
"Ah, yes. In antiquity, I had a title. Everyone called me Sword Elder. At the time when our Tianjian Sect was destroyed, I was the sect master of Tianjian Sect," the white-robed elder spoke again.
"So he was the Tianjian Sect's sect master!" Hearing the white-robed elder's words, both Ye Yunfei and Hun Lao were taken aback.
"Greetings to the Sect Master!" Ye Yunfei hurriedly knelt and said loudly.
"Rise. There is no need for such formalities," the white-robed old man gently waved his hand, and a terrifying energy instantly lifted Ye Yunfei up.
"I have here some further gifts for you, to aid in your cultivation of the sword dao. When our Tianjian Sect was destroyed back then, most of the sect's assets were plundered by the powerful enemy. However, a small portion remains. Now I shall bestow some upon you." The white-robed elder spoke, and a spatial ring flew out from his sleeve, landing before Ye Yunfei.
"Alright. You should leave the Sword Realm as soon as possible now, lest you attract the attention of our Sword Realm's formidable enemies," the white-robed elder spoke again.
"The Sword Realm's formidable enemies? Master, is our Sword Realm's enemy the Blade Realm? Also, regarding what happened before the external enemy invasion when our Tianjian Sect was ambushed… What exactly happened? I saw some images earlier; it seemed like before encountering the powerful enemy invasion, many people in our Tianjian Sect were poisoned or injured." Hearing the white-robed elder's words, Ye Yunfei immediately inquired.
"Indeed, the Sword Realm's formidable enemy is the Blade Realm. However, the Blade Realm is only one of the Sword Realm's enemies. Besides the Blade Realm, several other powerful ancient forces joined forces with the Blade Realm to invade our Sword Realm. At the same time, traitors also emerged within our Sword Realm. It was precisely because of the traitors within the Sword Realm who colluded with external enemies, working from within and without, that our Sword Realm was first ambushed. That caused the majority of sword cultivators in the Sword Realm to be injured or poisoned even before the war began. By the time the fighting started, the overall strength of our Sword Realm had already been greatly diminished. That led to our inability to resist the powerful enemies. Otherwise, given the accumulated strength and overall power of our Sword Realm, even if the enemy was formidable, annihilating our Sword Realm would not have been so easy.
Regarding the specific reasons and the process, I will transfer it to you. You can slowly comprehend it for yourself." Upon hearing Ye Yunfei's question, the white-robed elder sighed, then replied. As he spoke, he pointed his finger, transferring a vast stream of Soul Power information into Ye Yunfei's Soul Sea.