Chapter 433: The Lost Sword Sect

"I can give it a try," Lu Yuqing replied, then strode forward as she flipped a hand over to summon an octagonal black jade pendant, upon which were engraved some very strange spiral patterns that were layered on top of one another in a rather convoluted fashion.

"This is the key for the Realm Traversing Plaque at our island master's manor. Apparently, it was passed down in our clan from generations past along with the Realm Traversing Plaque, but I don't know if this key will actually work on this plaque as well," Lu Yuqing said as she cast an incantation seal onto the jade pendant.

A streak of azure light flew into the pendant, following which the spiral patterns on its surface instantly began to revolve, and it released a streak of black light onto the Realm Traversing Plaque.

A spiral pattern also appeared on the Realm Traversing Plaque, and it warped and twisted momentarily before transforming into a palm-sized black vortex.

The vortex was constantly fluctuating in size, as if there were two conflicting forces trying to expand and contract it in unison.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, Lu Yuqing suddenly said, "Brother Han, it looks like this key of mine isn't a perfect match with this Realm Traversing Plaque, so I'll need you to inject more immortal spiritual power into it to support me!"

Han Li immediately laid a hand upon Lu Yuqing's jade pendant upon hearing this, and his immense immortal spiritual power surged out of his body before injecting itself into the jade pendant.

The pillar of black light shooting out of the jade pendant instantly became thicker, causing layers upon layers of rippling black light to emerge over the entire plaque.

At the same time, the palm-sized vortex at the center of the plaque seemed to have overcome the mysterious force that was trying to suppress it, and it was steadily expanding.

An elated look appeared in both Lu Yuqing and Han Li's eyes upon seeing this.

The black vortex on the Realm Traversing Plaque began to revolve faster and faster, and a burst of tremendous suction force erupted out of it, instantly pulling in Han Li and Lu Yuqing.

Han Li felt the entire world spin around him, and his vision abruptly faded before quickly returning again.

However, before he had a chance to steady himself and inspect his surroundings, the remaining flying swords erupted into a frenzy once again.

This time, he didn't even get a chance to stop them before all of them burst out of his sleeve, then shot up into the sky like dozens of rising azure dragons, vanishing into the clouds up above in the blink of an eye.

A wry smile appeared on Han Li's face as he took a glance down at his own empty sleeve, then swept his gaze over his surroundings.

Directly in front of him stood an enormous mountain that reached all the way up into the clouds.

The mountain was covered in dense vegetation, and it was thriving with vitality, in stark contrast with the environment from before.

Everything here was completely different from the earlier setting, to the point that Han Li was even beginning to suspect that he had fallen into an illusion.

However, after inspecting the area with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes and his Eye of Truth, he confirmed that this was, in fact, the real world.

Right as he was looking around with a perplexed expression, Lu Yuqing stumbled out of the space beside him.

She was also quite befuddled by what she was seeing, and she couldn't help but ask, "Have already entered the Realm Traversing Plaque, Brother Han?"

"I presume so. This place is a little strange. Right now, all of my bonded flying swords have flown onto that mountain," Han Li replied as he pointed at the mountain summit up ahead.

Han Li was feeling a little agitated from having his spiritual connection with his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords severed, but now that he had entered the Realm Traversing Plaque, the spiritual connection had been restored, and he was feeling a lot more reassured.

"Those Ubiquitous Pavilion cultivators shouldn't be able to come after us now. If your swords are on that mountain, then let's retrieve them and meet back up with our fellow daoists from the True Flame Sect as soon as possible," Lu Yuqing said.

Han Li nodded in response, then swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a burst of azure light that enveloped both himself and Lu Yuqing before rising up into the sky.

However, he had only risen to an altitude of no more than 1,000 feet when the sky above him suddenly took on a completely different complexion, and a burst of invisible pressure came crashing down without any warning.

Immediately thereafter, the clouds up above descended a little, and a burst of incredibly formidable sword qi surged down from the heavens. Countless streaks of semi-transparent swordlight swooped down from above with unstoppable might, and Lu Yuqing's face instantly turned deathly pale upon seeing this.

Han Li was hovering in mid-air, and specks of blue light emerged over his body as he threw a punch at the vast expanse of swordlight in the sky.

A burst of invisible force erupted out of his fist, hurtling directly upward, and a resounding boom rang out as the entire sky trembled violently, while a string of audible cracks rang out, as if the very space itself had been shattered.

All of the streaks of swordlight were instantly slowed down in their descent, and countless streaks of swordlight were destroyed altogether, exploding into innumerable translucent shards that erupted in all directions to create a huge opening.

Han Li immediately flew toward the opening upon seeing this, but before he had a chance to reach it, the clouds up above descended even further, and a layer of shiny swordlight emerged to fill the hole that Han Li was trying to exploit.

His brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this as a thrust a palm upward, and a burst of black light instantly shot out of his hand, then transformed into his Heavy Water True Axis before hurtling directly upward.

With the infusion of second level heavy water, the Heavy Water True Axis had become incredibly formidable, and the Water Dao Runes on its surface were radiating dazzling black light, making it resemble a black sun.

At the same time, it was revolving rapidly like a giant black millstone, pulverizing all of the streaks of swordlight that were descending upon it.

However, as more layers of swordlight were destroyed, the clouds up above descended further and further. The swordlight in the sky was becoming denser and denser as a result, and the pressure in the air had become so severe that Han Li felt as if the surrounding space had become slightly warped.

At this point, Han Li had arrived at the conclusion that if he were to go all-out and resist the swordlight descending from the heavens without any regard for consequences, then perhaps he would be able to force his way through thanks to his treasures and his Profound Immortal Physique, but doing so while avoiding injury was far from a sure thing.

There were potentially many more perilous situations that he was going to have to face in the Infernal Frost Immortal Manor, so he wasn't willing to take the risk.

Thus, he descended back down to the ground as he said to Lu Yuqing, "The sword qi here is too vast for me to oppose, so we have no choice but to scale the mountain by foot."

"That's fine. At our speed, it shouldn't take us long to get to the top even on foot," Lu Yuqing replied with a nod.

With that, the two of them set off toward the foot of the mountain along the stone path beneath their feet.

After Han Li returned to the ground, the clouds that were bearing down from above slowly returned to their original altitude, and Han Li and Lu Yuqing didn't encounter any further obstructions as they continued their journey on foot.

Upon arriving at the foot of the mountain, the two of them were greeted by the sight of a tall stone archway, upon which was a massive plaque that bore some golden seal text characters.

"Boundless Sword Sect"

The strokes of the characters were strong and forceful, but also full of casual flair. They were as sharp as a sword, yet also wild and unrestrained, unlike the straight edge of a blade.

As soon as Han Li's gaze fell upon the plaque, he was immediately struck by a burst of tremendous sword intent, and he reflexively stumbled back a few steps with a surprised look on his face.

The Boundless Sword Sect had always been shrouded in mystery, and it had suddenly disappeared over a million years ago. Never had Han Li anticipated that he would discover it here.

As these thoughts were running through his mind, he took a glance at Lu Yuqing, only to find that she wasn't displaying any special reaction. Perhaps it was because she was unable to sense the sword intent imbued within the plaque due to her lack of affinity for the way of the sword.

Could there be some kind of sword restraining array that drew in my Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords?

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li strode through the stone archway with Lu Yuqing, and they continued their way up the mountain.

The ancient mountain path snaked up the mountain in circles like a spiraling staircase, and as Han Li and Lu Yuqing scaled the mountain, they encountered many mountains that were concealed within the undergrowth.

Upon closer inspection, they discovered that all of them were ordinary buildings that weren't being protected by any arrays or restrictions, and most of them had already become extremely dilapidated with age.

The closer they drew to the mountain summit, the peaceful the surrounding environment became, and there was a forbidding atmosphere in the air, a notion that certainly wasn't helped by the complete lack of birds and beasts in the forest.

As they were passing through a green bamboo forest, Han Li suddenly stopped in his tracks as he spotted a dark green bamboo cabin deep within the forest.

After a brief moment of hesitation, he diverged from the stone path and made his way into the bamboo forest.

Lu Yuqing was rather curious about why Han Li had suddenly changed directions, but she remained silent and trailed along behind him.

Not long after making his way into the forest, he noticed some strange signs. For example, there were many sword marks on the bamboo trees that he was passing by, and the marks were all quite dark, clearly indicating that they had been inflicted many years ago.

Moments later, he stopped in his tracks, then grabbed onto a thick bamboo tree beside him before tightening his grip around it.

The bamboo tree immediately began to creak and groan, but it didn't shatter right away.

Han Li was rather taken aback to see this, and he tightened his grip even further.

Finally, the bamboo tree exploded, sending countless pieces of shrapnel that were as hard as steel flying in all directions.