"Who would have thought that the Sword Realm still possesses such strength? It seems the Sword Realm Continent hasn't truly perished after all. Over these years, they merely hid their true power."
In a certain void, an elderly man in a green robe stood atop a towering emerald-green tree that pierced the clouds. His gaze was fixed in the direction of the Sword Realm Continent as he slowly spoke.
"I think this is good news for our Wanmu Ancestral Land. The conflict between our Wanmu Ancestral Land and the Blade Realm is growing increasingly sharp, and our relationship with the Guardian Faction is also deteriorating. Our Wanmu Ancestral Land has always faced the pressure from these two major forces alone. Now that the Sword Realm has suddenly displayed such formidable strength, I believe we can send someone to establish contact with the Sword Realm Continent and secretly form an alliance. After all, the Sword Realm and the Blade Realm share a blood feud. I'm sure the Sword Realm will agree to join forces with our Wanmu Ancestral Land to deal with the Blade Realm."
Another elder standing beside him spoke.
"Our Wanmu Ancestral Land can secretly send someone to contact the Sword Realm, but it cannot be made public. Although we currently have many conflicts with both the Blade Realm and the Guardian Faction, we haven't openly declared them as enemies. Therefore, our Wanmu Ancestral Land can cooperate with the Sword Realm behind the scenes, but it cannot be publicly announced for the time being."
The elder in the green robe thought for a moment and then spoke.
"Understood. I will dispatch someone to the Sword Realm right away."
The elder beside him nodded and then turned to leave.
At the same time, within the Blade Realm...
"What?! Xing Wu, the army you led has been completely annihilated? You alone escaped, and you even lost the Black Demon Blade Stele on the Sword Realm Continent?! How is this possible? Isn't the Sword Realm a faction that had already perished? That continent had become a wasteland. How could it possibly possess such terrifying strength? Xing Wu, you took quite a few Chaos Gods with you! Did every single Chaos God you brought perish?!"
On a massive planet, inside a palace engraved with Blade Dao symbols, one Blade Realm higher-up after another stared incredulously at the disheveled Xing Wu, none of them able to believe what he had just said.
"Indeed. I didn't want this, but the army I led was utterly destroyed. Every Chaos God I brought is dead, and I couldn't retrieve the Black Demon Blade Stele either."
Facing the Blade Realm's leadership, Xing Wu clenched his fists, forcefully suppressing the surging rage within him as he spoke. This was a tremendous humiliation and setback for him.
"Xing Wu, explain clearly. What exactly happened?"
One of the Blade Realm higher-ups demanded.
"It was all because of that little bastard Ye Yunfei! Initially, our Blade Realm army and the forces of the Divine Sword Sect had joined hands, breached the Sword Realm Continent, and gained the upper hand. But that little bastard Ye Yunfei suddenly summoned a stone called the Sword Enlightenment Stone. That stone transformed into a longsword, and then holding that sword, he unleashed terrifying combat power, killing our Chaos Gods from the Blade Realm one after another with single strikes. Furthermore, nearly every one of his sword strokes was capable of annihilating one-tenth of our Blade Realm forces. I was no match for him either. Even with the Black Demon Blade Stele, I could only withstand a few moves before him. I almost died under his sword; escaping to speak with you all is a stroke of immense luck. As for the people from the Divine Sword Sect, they were nearly wiped out by that little bastard as well. To my knowledge, only Zhou Duantian managed to escape."
Xing Wu explained.
"The Sword Enlightenment Stone? I've heard of that stone. It's said to be a massive rock in the central region of the Sword Realm Continent, shaped somewhat like a longsword, with quite a few legends surrounding it."
Upon hearing Xing Wu's words, one of the Blade Realm's higher-ups immediately spoke.
"Besides that little bastard Ye Yunfei, there's another reason — Shoudi Laoren. He brought back an army to support the Sword Realm Continent, and every member of that force belonged to the Earth Gate. I suspect Shoudi Laoren is most likely from Earth Gate."
Xing Wu added.
"Shoudi Laoren is from Earth Gate?"
Hearing Xing Wu's words, the faces of the other Blade Realm higher-ups shifted slightly. They were, of course, aware of Earth Gate. Even in ancient times, Earth Gate was an extremely mysterious major power. Though Earth Gate operated low-key and covertly, rarely participating in conflicts between factions in the Chaotic Void Sea, no one dared to doubt its strength and might. Generally, no one would provoke Earth Gate without reason.
"Shoudi Laoren himself is a renowned Deity Geomancer. It's not surprising that he belongs to Earth Gate. The question is, what is his status within Earth Gate? The fact that he could lead an Earth Gate army to support the Sword Realm Continent suggests his position within Earth Gate might not be low. If so, doesn't that mean our Blade Realm has already incurred Earth Gate's enmity?"
One of the Blade Realm higher-ups frowned and said.
"Naturally, avoiding animosity with Earth Gate would be ideal. Let's dispatch someone immediately to contact Earth Gate, to see if we can clarify Shoudi Laoren's status and position within the organization. Moreover, if we can establish contact with Earth Gate's higher-ups and persuade them not to treat our Blade Realm as an enemy, that would be the best outcome."
Another higher-up suggested.
"Agreed. Dispatch someone to contact Earth Gate immediately. If we can avoid becoming Earth Gate's enemy, that would naturally be best. After all, Earth Gate is low-key and mysterious, an ancient faction that has developed over an extremely long period, just like our Blade Realm. No one knows the true extent of Earth Gate's power. Our Blade Realm has no need to make an enemy of such an ancient force."
A higher-up of considerable status nodded in agreement.
"Also, immediately send people to monitor the Sword Realm Continent. Our Blade Realm has suffered a great loss like this; we cannot simply let it go. First, ascertain the Sword Realm's true strength, especially that little bastard Ye Yunfei's actual situation. Then, assemble an elite army to annihilate the Sword Realm. We must let the world know that those who oppose our Blade Realm will face dire consequences."
This same higher-up spoke again.
At the same time, deep within the heart of the Sword Realm Continent's planetary core, Ye Yunfei sat cross-legged, meticulously comprehending and cultivating the various Sword Dao heritages imparted by the Heavenly Net Sword God.
Ye Yunfei had modified the World Binding Dragon Vein Formation. Now, this Earth Array continuously mobilized the terrestrial energy of the entire Sword Realm Continent, nourishing and replenishing the barrier within this core world, making it increasingly robust. According to the Heavenly Net Sword God, the more fortified this barrier became, the easier it would be for him.
As time slowly passed, Ye Yunfei's Sword Dao level continuously improved.
After cultivating for a period, the Heavenly Net Sword God instructed Ye Yunfei to return to the Heavenly Sword Sect's headquarters and enter the remaining Sword Caves one by one for further comprehension and cultivation.
There were twenty-eight Sword Caves in total within the Heavenly Sword Sect headquarters. Ye Yunfei had previously comprehended and cultivated within three, leaving twenty-five remaining.
Under the Heavenly Net Sword God's guidance, Ye Yunfei's speed in comprehending these Sword Caves accelerated significantly.
Over the following period, Ye Yunfei continuously mastered the Sword Dao inheritances within one Sword Cave after another, successively comprehending complete Sword Dao paths.
Ultimately, Ye Yunfei successfully comprehended twenty-eight more Sword Dao paths. Each path possessed unique characteristics, and each Sword Dao was immensely powerful.
After completely comprehending and cultivating the sword heritages of all twenty-eight Sword Caves within the Heavenly Sword Sect headquarters, Ye Yunfei returned to the depths of the planetary core world to continue cultivating Sword Dao under the Heavenly Net Sword God's guidance.
Gradually, Ye Yunfei's Sword Dao proficiency underwent a qualitative leap.
In the past, although Ye Yunfei had obtained many Sword Dao heritages from the Heavenly Sword Sect, most of the time, he had been exploring and cultivating on his own. Now, receiving personal guidance from the Heavenly Net Sword God — the world's most top-tier sword cultivator — the benefits gained were simply enormous.
During this cultivation process, his Sword Dao level improved rapidly with practically every passing minute and second.
While Ye Yunfei remained deep within the core world cultivating, Sword Elder led the various Sword Dao Sects of the Sword Realm Continent in rapid development as well.
Many disciples and successors of the Sword Dao Sects had already returned to the Sword Realm Continent, gathering at their respective sect headquarters for concentrated cultivation.
Although the higher-ups of each Sword Dao Sect on the Sword Realm Continent were currently in a Remnant Soul state, these Remnant Souls possessed complete memories from their lifetimes, held profound understandings of the Sword Dao, and preserved the complete Sword Dao heritages of their respective sects.
Receiving personal guidance from these Remnant Souls, the disciples who had returned from outside naturally experienced a meteoric rise in their cultivation.
Moreover, throughout this process, Ye Yunfei continuously provided each Sword Dao Sect with the various Divine Pills they required.
The Divine Pills Ye Yunfei refined were all specifically targeted, resulting in exceptionally good effects.
The overall strength of the entire Sword Realm Continent continuously increased.
Furthermore, apart from these returning disciples, each Sword Dao Sect on the Sword Realm Continent was exerting maximum effort to develop their external factions and disciples in the outside world.
Now, the various Sword Dao Sects were cooperating with each other. The factions and disciples developed outside by each sect began establishing connections with other Sword Dao Sects, causing the Sword Realm's sphere of influence to expand more and more.
Ye Yunfei dispatched people to establish contact with the higher-ups of Hunyuan Sect, requesting them to assist the externally developing factions of the Sword Realm's various Sword Dao Sects as much as possible.
At the same time, Earth Gate also established connections with the Sword Realm's various Sword Dao Sects. Earth Gate was an ancient and mysterious major power within the Chaotic Void Sea, with its influence arguably spanning the entire Chaotic Void Sea.
With the aid of Hunyuan Sect and Earth Gate, the factions and disciples developed and nurtured externally by the Sword Realm Continent essentially gained two powerful patrons, resulting in even better development.
An indeterminable amount of time passed...
"Alright, your swordsmanship training will conclude here for now. Your Sword Dao level has improved considerably compared to before. I bequeath that longsword to you. The Sword Intent I left within it is now nearly depleted, usable at most two more times. Therefore, under normal circumstances, you should refrain from utilizing its Sword Intent unless faced with a life-or-death crisis. I believe you should primarily rely on your own strength to face enemies. That is the only way to truly temper and elevate yourself."
Ye Yunfei suddenly received a Sound Transmission from the Heavenly Net Sword God.
"Senior, I understand. I will certainly keep your guidance in mind."
Ye Yunfei replied respectfully. During this period under the Heavenly Net Sword God's tutelage, Ye Yunfei's Sword Dao had undergone a qualitative improvement. He believed that even without employing the Heavenly Net Sword God's Sword Intent from the sword, he should now be able to fight against an average Chaos God, albeit with difficulty.
"Also, that Black Demon Blade Stele is a treasure artifact left behind by Ancestor Demon Saber. This artifact possesses a special function — it can absorb Blade Dao energy from blade cultivators to enhance its own power. Therefore, in the future, when you encounter blade cultivators from the Blade Realm, you can use this Black Demon Blade Stele to absorb their Blade Dao energy. I will now teach you the specific method."
The Heavenly Net Sword God stated.