Chapter 210: Chaotic Swords Dance

Xiong Shan's incantation continued as he grabbed onto the hilt of the golden longsword with both hands, then slowly plunged it into the hole on the white jade altar.

A grating sound rang out, and as soon as the sword was plunged into the altar, the entire sword offering platform instantly shuddered violently, following which a dazzling pillar of white light rose up from its surface and erupted straight into the heavens.

At the same time, the Immortal Origin Stones embedded into the black stone pillars in all of the 10 areas began to glow brightly while releasing bursts of abundant spiritual power, which flowed into the patterns on the stone pillars like water.

The 10 black stone pillars shuddered in unison before releasing pillars of dazzling black light that shot high up into the sky.

The shreds of clouds in the sky were scattered even further by these pillars of light, and a gray light barrier that was visible even to the naked eye appeared up above, encompassing the entire sword tomb like an upside-down bowl.

A hint of excitement appeared in Xiong Shan's eyes upon seeing this, and his quiet chanting suddenly grew significantly louder, ringing out like thunderclaps in the heavens.

All of a sudden, golden light began to flash from the gray light barrier, forming a series of golden threads that connected with one another while swaying incessantly.

At the same time, a buzzing sound that resembled the flapping of wasp wings rang out across the entire sword tomb, and the sound was becoming louder and louder.

Han Li looked around to find that all of the flying swords in the area that he was situated in had begun to sway violently in unison, looking as if they were struggling with all their might to free themselves from their graves.

Due to how rapidly they were swaying from side to side, they were leaving sector-shaped afterimages above their graves.

Through his spiritual connection with his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, Han Li could feel a sense of intense fear, one that was shared by all of the other flying swords. It seemed that all of the swords in the sword tomb were terrified and wanted to leave this place.

He couldn't help but think back to how he had nurtured those Golden Lightning Bamboo trees back in the Mortal Realm, and how he had painstakingly refined those 72 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords. An indescribable feeling welled up in his heart as these thoughts flashed through his mind.

On his long cultivation journey thus far, the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were the treasures that had been with him the longest aside from the Heaven Controlling Vial, enduring countless life and death situations alongside him.

At this moment, these flying swords that were connected to his soul were about to have their marks erased and their sword essence extracted, and Han Li was desperate to save them.

He wanted nothing more than to rescue his swords and flee the scene, but that would've been impossible.

The Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords seemed to have sensed his despair, and all of them began ringing even more loudly, as if they were working up the resolve to do something.

Through their spiritual connection, Han Li could sense the decision that they had made. If Han Li were unable to rescue them, then they would rather self-detonate than have their marks erased and be integrated into another sword.

Right at this moment, a faint buzzing sound suddenly rang out in the sky.

Han Li immediately looked up to find that all of the golden lines on the gray light barrier in the sky had fallen still, and they had formed countless golden sword visages.

These swords were all of different shapes and forms, with some as straight as arrows, while others had curved blades, and resembled ancient rulers, while others were shaped like sharp spikes.

Their sizes also varied drastically, with some standing at several thousand feet in size, resembling massive boats, while some were only around an inch in length, bearing a closer resemblance to a needle than a sword.

Thanks to Han Li's exceptional eyesight, he was able to see that even the tiniest of those swords were inscribed with a complete set of runes, and there weren't any visible imperfections.

As the giant sword array appeared, the sword qi within the entire heavenly sword tomb had swelled to several dozen times its original volume, and all of the grass on the ground was instantly torn to shreds, while a sharp aura permeated through the air.

The expressions of Han Li and the other inner sect elders standing on the black stone pillars all changed slightly upon seeing this.

The three teams that were stationed in each area were also looking on with solemn expressions as they remained completely still on the spot, not daring to move even in the slightest for fear of being torn to shreds by the sword qi that was surging around them.

All of a sudden, a hint of befuddlement welled up in Han Li's heart. Somehow, he felt like what he was witnessing right at this moment was rather familiar to him.

Right at this moment, all of the elders who were looking at the sword array up above gave a muffled groan in unison, as if they had been struck by an invisible blow, and all of them were forced to avert their eyes.

Even Mo Xie was only able to look at the sword array for fewer than 20 seconds before he was forced to look away by the sharp, unbearable pain in his consciousness.

Han Li was also experiencing the same thing, but thanks to his enormous spiritual sense, he was able to keep inspecting the array without pain after blinking a couple of times.

Right at this moment, Xiong Shan's voice suddenly rang out in everyone's minds. "The sword qi contained within this Thousand Edge Spirit Gathering Sword Array is quite harmful to spiritual sense, so I'd advise all of you not to look at it for too long."

Everyone naturally averted their eyes upon hearing this, not daring to try and glean the secrets that the sword array harbored any longer.

In contrast, a hint of enlightenment suddenly appeared in Han Li's eyes upon hearing this.

Back in that immortal abode in the Vast Glacial Realm, he had once obtained a Myriad Sword Scroll, and the aura and permutations of the sword array on that scroll were very similar to the sword array that he was witnessing at this moment. [1]

There were even some parts of the myriad sword artwork that were even more profound than this array.

He was quite elated upon making this realization, and he hurriedly began to carefully inspect the sword array up above.

A short while later, Xiong Shan suddenly let loose a thunderous roar from the sword offering platform, causing the entire grassland to shudder.

Immediately thereafter, a string of cracks and pops began ringing out incessantly as the graves on the grassland exploded one after another.

As a result, all of the flying swords in the entire sword tomb were released, and they began flying wildly in all directions, trying to escape from the tomb that they had been trapped in for so long.

The 30 teams stationed in the sword tomb immediately sprang into action, unleashing various abilities to control the flying swords.

In the eastern part of the grassland, a flying sword that was completely enveloped in scorching flames was flying straight up toward the heavens, leaving such a scorching trail of heat in its wake that the surrounding air was popping incessantly.

The three teams in that area immediately began to chant an incantation in unison, summoning a massive water dragon under the guidance of the three Grand Ascension cultivators, with which they were able to quickly drag back the fiery sword.

In the southern part of the grassland, a giant yellow sword that was around three feet wide and 18 feet long. The sword was giving off an earthy yellow radiance, and instead of rising up into the heavens like the other flying swords, it aimed its tip at the ground, then began rapidly revolving on the spot, attempting to burrow itself into the earth.

The three teams stationed there were already prepared for this, and under their joint efforts, the ground in that area had already turned a dark azure color and become as solid as rock, so no matter how much the giant sword attempted to drill itself into the ground, it was only able to raise a flurry of sparks in futility.

After Han Li's 72 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were freed, they immediately gathered together like a swarm of bees with golden lightning flashing around them as they set off rapidly in Han Li's direction.

However, due to the fact that there were swords flying all over the place, it would've been impossible to discern the intentions of the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords unless one were paying particular attention to them.

"Stop those swords!" Zhu Feng immediately ordered upon seeing this.

The three teams situated in that area immediately sprang into action, unleashing their abilities as they drew upon the spiritual qi around them to form a massive cage formed by streaks of azure spiritual qi, which began to descend upon the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.

The swords had only managed to fly for less than 10 kilometers before they were stopped in their tracks by the azure cage.

Lightning flashed through the air as all 72 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords began to glow with dazzling golden light, releasing countless arcs of golden lightning that tore the azure cage into shreds.

Through their spiritual connection, he could sense that there was a hint of rage in the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords as they unleashed their Divine Devilbane Lightning, but there was nothing that he could do at the moment aside from emulating the other elders and restraining the flying swords in his area.

"Useless idiots!" Zhu Feng spat as he looked on with a disdainful expression.

He then made a grabbing motion, and several massive marks appeared out of thin air, enveloping the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords before forcibly dragging them back.

Xiong Shan seemed to have already anticipated this retaliation from the swords, and he only took a few glances at the unfolding situation before paying it no further heed.

Soon, most of the flying swords were restrained one after another, but there were still some that were unwilling to be controlled, constantly attempting to fly out of the sword tomb, while others were only able to fly in small, restricted areas, crashing into one another over and over again amid a string of incessant clangs.

Han Li was controlling the flying swords in his area while simultaneously recollecting the myriad sword artwork from the past.

Thanks to his experience in studying the myriad sword artwork, he was able to make very fast progress in his examination of the sword array up above, and he was quickly able to make several important observations. However, he was still far away from completely understanding it.

Right at this moment, Xiong Shan suddenly ceased in his chanting, then abruptly sprang up into the air before flying toward the east.

After entering the area that Qi Liang was situated in, he made a grabbing motion with one hand, and a massive golden palm projection appeared in the sky before closing itself around a silver flying sword.

The silver flying sword immediately began to struggle with all its might while bright silver radiance surged out of its blade like flowing water. It then transformed into hundreds of silver sword projections that fled in all directions, attempting to tear through the golden hand projection, but its efforts proved to be completely futile.

Xiong Shan raised his other hand and brought his hand together like a blade, manifesting another golden palm projection in the air before smearing it over the silver flying sword.

The silver sword shuddered violently as a layer of semi-transparent light appeared over its surface before being stripped away inch by inch by the second golden palm projection. As this process unfolded, the silver sword turned into a semi-transparent flying sword, as if it had become a spiritual sword, and it hovered obediently in mid-air, no longer displaying any movement.

1. For more information on the Vast Glacial Realm and the Myriad Sword Scroll, please refer to RMJI Chapter 1594: Vast Glacial Realm and Chapter 1710: Golden Sword, respectively. ☜