Chapter 436: Lost

Right at this moment, a burst of thunderous rumbling suddenly rang out in the sky.

Han Li looked up to find a single white cloud with a golden lining in the air above the sea of swords.

Atop the cloud sat a massive white stone altar that was octagonal in shape with eight giant golden pillars around it, each of which was several hundred feet tall. There were extremely life-like coiling golden dragons engraved onto the pillars, presenting a breathtaking sight to behold.

Han Li was just about to fly up to the cloud for a closer inspection when another burst of rumbling suddenly rang out from the altar, following which a flash of red light shot out of the cloud.

Immediately thereafter, a ball of crimson flames abruptly surged out of the center of the cloud, and the entire cloud instantly took on a bright crimson hue, as if it had been set alight.

At the same time, a sea of crimson flames had also appeared beneath the white stone altar, illuminating the entire sky a bright red color.

With the cloud scattered, Han Li spotted a thin and stocky middle-aged man standing on the floating altar, and it was none other than Xiong Shan.

At this moment, there was a solemn look on his face, and his arms were raised to heavens as he chanted an incantation.

Hovering above his head was a large black metal plate that had a slight bulge in the center that was identical in appearance to the beveled metal scriptures awarded to officials in mortal empires, [1] and upon it was inscribed the words "Uniting All Swords".

As Xiong Shan continued to chant his incantation, the flames beneath the altar began to burn brighter and brighter, and waves of heat that were visible even to the naked eye began to surge through the air, causing the surrounding space to warp and shimmer.

All of the countless flying swords in the meadow were also beginning to sway much more violently, clanging against one another much more forcefully than before.

Han Li was initially a little perplexed upon seeing this, but he then quickly realized what was happening.

The so-called Thousand Edge Spirit Gathering Sword Array that Xiong Shan had painstakingly created back in the Blaze Dragon Dao had most likely been an array that he had learned from the Boundless Sword Sect, and this was sea of swords had to have been the true spirit gathering sword array.

The sea of swords served as the foundation, the hovering altar was the cauldron, and the metal scripture filled the role of the catalyst, allowing Xiong Shan to draw upon the spirit of all of the countless flying swords here.

It was truly an extremely ambitious endeavor.

Right at this moment, a thunderous roar rang out from the altar up above, causing the entire area to rumble incessantly.

All of a sudden, the entire mountain had begun trembling, and all of the sword qi in the meadow erupted into the heavens.

From Han Li's perspective, it appeared as if a gust of gentle wind had blown through the sea of swords, and all of the lush grass in the meadow was instantly severed before being shredded into countless pieces by the sword qi in the air.

At the same time, all of the swaying flying swords had become completely still, standing straight like soldiers ready for battle with their tips pointed up at the heavens.

On the altar, Xiong Shan took a deep breath, then suddenly swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a golden flying sword that circled around momentarily in mid-air before hovering beneath the metal scripture.

Xiong Shan then joined the index and middle fingers of his right hand together, and a burst of golden light emerged over his fingertips as he swept them through the air, creating a golden rune that was around 10 feet in size.

The giant rune fell upon the metal scripture in a flash, and the latter immediately let loose an exultant ringing sound.

Immediately thereafter, a series of thin lines began to appear over the entire metal scripture, and they connected together before radiating dazzling golden light.

An incredibly thick pillar of golden light erupted out of the metal scripture straight up into the heavens, then exploded high up in the sky like a firework, forming a dazzling golden light barrier with countless projections surging over its surface.

There was a giant deity clad in golden armor wielding a massive blade capable of splitting mountains. There was a wraith-like masked assassin wielding a sword as thin as sewing needles, plucking out the heart of an enemy general. There was a gorgeous celestial maiden wielding a sword as elegant and free-flowing as her dress. There was a thin elderly man with a long beard directing the vast expanse of sword qi around him...

All types of sword-wielding figures were depicted in these projections, and Han Li was staring at the unfolding scene with his brows tightly furrowed in concentration.

Specks of golden light began to appear in his pupils, and in the next instant, he felt as if had become completely immersed in what he was witnessing.

He felt as if he had become another figure on the golden light barrier, wielding his 72 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords to conjure up one sword lotus flower after another.

At the same time, a change suddenly began to take place in the sea of fire beneath the floating altar. The surging flames twisted around to form a massive fiery vortex, while then began to release bursts of formidable suction force.

All of the flying swords in the meadow down below immediately began to tremble and sway, then rose up into the air as if they had been summoned, hurtling toward the fiery vortex as a wave of flying swords.

The sky above the meadow instantly became extremely chaotic as a result, with swordlight of all colors shooting in all directions, slicing the entire space to ribbons. The invisible sword qi in the air was also no longer restricted to the meadow, beginning to spread in all directions instead.

The sound of tearing fabric rang out as Han Li's robes were brushed by some of the spreading sword qi, and a pair of extremely long gashes had been torn into the fabric.

Han Li paid no heed to this as he remained still and looked up at the sky.

In the heavens above, over 1,000 flying swords had surged into the fiery vortex, and they were instantly scorched a bright red color while giving off a miserable wailing sound.

Balls of light of all types of different colors began to fly out of the swords, and those were none other than their sword essence.

The flying swords that were stripped of their sword essence quickly dimmed before being refined into puddles of molten liquid that quickly vanished into the flames.

The capacity of the fiery vortex was limited, only able to take in fewer than 2,000 swords at a time. Han Li's Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were situated closer to the back, so it was going to take some time before they were drawn into the vortex, but it wasn't going to be a very long time.

On the floating altar, Xiong Shan's brows were tightly furrowed as he murmured to himself, "I'll deal with you once I'm done refining my sword..."

He had already noticed Han Li's arrival, but he had been too busy working the array to do anything about it.

There was a hollow area on the floating platform in front of him, and at this moment, balls of sword essence were emerging from that area before hovering in mid-air.

Xiong Shan was ecstatic to see this, and made a peculiar hand seal with both hands before pointing a finger at the metal scripture.

The golden patterns on the metal scripture instantly flashed before releasing a vast expanse of golden light to envelop the golden longsword down below, forming a golden vortex upon it.

As soon as the vortex took shape, all of the sword essence hovering above the altar was instantly drawn to it before surging into Xiong Shan's bonded flying sword in a frenzy.

The golden longsword began to tremble and ring while radiating halos of golden light.

While the sword essence was being absorbed on the altar, the fiery vortex down below was constantly drawing in more flying swords, and the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords was getting closer and closer to the vortex.

Right at this moment, Han Li abruptly shuddered, and the golden light in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by a layer of blue light.

"What a formidable array!" Han Li exclaimed to himself as a hint of elation appeared on his face.

The scenes depicted on the golden light barrier were very similar in nature to the Myriad Sword Artwork that he had obtained in the past, but this array was clearly far more profound, and it could even be said that the Myriad Sword Scroll was most likely a replica of this array.

While viewing the array, Han Li had actually intentionally opened himself up so that he would become immersed in it. Otherwise, given his current level of spiritual sense, there was no way that he would've completely lost himself just now.

Thanks to the complete immersion that he had opened himself up to, not only had he gained a deeper understanding of all sword arrays, he had also identified the key points in this array and the way that it operated.

On the altar, Xiong Shan's expression changed drastically at the sight of Han Li suddenly snapping back to his senses, and he exclaimed, "Impossible!"

It was no wonder that he was so shocked. Back when he first witnessed this array, he had been completely immersed in it for seven days and seven nights, and it was only through a stroke of luck that he was able to awaken.

He had managed to learn the Thousand Edge Spirit Gathering Sword Array from that experience, but his spiritual sense had been severely damaged, so he had no choice but to leave this area, and only after so many years had passed did he get another opportunity to come here.

Xiong Shan gritted his teeth in fury as he thrust both palms forward, pushing the balls of sword essence with his immortal spiritual power so that they would surge into his bonded flying sword at an even faster rate.

All of the flying swords in the sky twisted together before flowing incessantly into the fiery vortex, and at this point, Han Li's Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were no more than 1,000 feet away from the fire.

He immediately stomped a foot down onto the ground upon seeing this, and the entire mountain shuddered violently beneath his feet as he launched himself up into the sky.

However, he had only just risen up into the air when a burst of asphyxiating pressure crashed down upon him from all directions, forcing him back down onto the ground.

At the same time, gusts of ferocious wind were sweeping through the air all around him, interspersed with countless streaks of sword qi that tore a series of gashes into his robes.

Han Li let loose a defiant roar as all of his profound acupoints lit up with blue light, and his True Extreme Film emerged over his body to keep all of the sword qi at bay.

The pressure weighing down upon him had slammed his body so heavily back down onto the ground that his legs had sunk deep into the earth.

Han Li looked up into the sky to find that Xiong Shan was standing on the edge of the altar, controlling the metal scripture with one hand while reaching out toward the sea of swords down below with his other hand.

At the same time, he was glowering intently at Han Li with fury and resentment in his eyes.

Only now had he realized that Li Feiyu was the one who had foiled his sword array all those years ago, the so-called "number one sword cultivator of Heavenly South".

1. For an idea of what this looks like, Google Image search "丹书铁券". ?