Chapter 942 - Sword Spring

The sudden events caught Fiery completely off guard, and the withered branches wrapped tightly around it before it could react.

Right then, Liu Wuxie roared, and the Heretic Blade descended.

The branches that had wrapped around Fiery abruptly recoiled, releasing him as though frightened by the blade aura. Fiery tumbled from mid-air and quickly scampered back to Liu Wuxie's side.

"These trees are already dead. How are they moving on their own?" Such a bizarre occurrence baffled even someone as knowledgeable as Liu Wuxie.

The Corpse Devouring Beasts had never appeared in the True Martial Continent. Aside from some scattered records in ancient tombs, few had ever seen such creatures.

He had never seen these trees before. After all, the Fleeting Cloud Celestial Realm he originally hailed from was just a single plane that couldn't possibly contain everything in the universe.

Then again, it wasn't surprising.

Rustling sounds came from the surrounding trees. The branches began to sway like withered hands reaching for Liu Wuxie.

"Dark spirits?" Liu Wuxie muttered, suspecting they were behind the movement of the trees.

"Enough with the tricks!" Liu Wuxie swung the Heretic Blade at the nearest tree, severing it from the base with a sharp crack.

Ink-green fluid oozed out from the cut, prompting Liu Wuxie to frown. These trees were dead. Why was there fluid inside them? Had they always been like this, or did these trees mutate somehow?

His thoughts spiraled with questions as the felled tree crumbled into fragments, its bark splitting apart like brittle bone.

"A tree spirit! This forest must've given birth to a tree spirit!" Liu Wuxie finally concluded that a tree spirit was controlling these trees.

Tree spirits were peculiar beings, similar to dark spirits, but they inhabited trees rather than possessing humans.

They could enter and manipulate any tree at will.

No one truly knew how tree spirits came into existence. This tree sprite had likely come into being after cultivating for ten thousand years.

After becoming a spirit, it could only inhabit these withered trees, as no living tree was left in this world. It could only grow by absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy.

Perhaps, given a few thousand more years, it would evolve into a full-fledged tree spirit—no longer needing to live parasitically but independently, with a form of its own.

Such spiritual transformation was not unheard of, and Liu Wuxie had once seen a pill take the form of a human. He had also witnessed demonic beasts shifting into human form. And so, it wasn't surprising for a tree sprite to do the same.

There were thousands of trees here, and Liu Wuxie wasn't sure where the tree sprite was hiding.

"I don't wish to become your enemy," Liu Wuxie said aloud, his voice calm but firm. "But if you strike again, don't blame me for being ruthless."

The tree sprite was of no use to him, so he saw no reason to kill it. As long as it left him alone, he had no interest in picking a fight. But if it pushed too far, he could always activate the Ghost Eye and pinpoint its exact location.

The tree branches suddenly became silent. Perhaps the tree spirit had understood Liu Wuxie's words. If it didn't provoke him, he wouldn't make a move.

Even so, Liu Wuxie moved cautiously with Fiery, keeping his guard up. The forest wasn't safe, and who knew if the tree sprite would suddenly change its mind and attack him? Though he wasn't afraid of the tree sprite, dealing with it would still be troublesome.

Fire was the bane of wood. He wouldn't mind burning the entire forest down with demonic flames if it came down to it.

Perhaps sensing the danger radiating from Liu Wuxie, the tree sprite remained motionless even after he had passed through the forest.

Not long after Liu Wuxie left, a phantom appeared in the forest. It had an upper body resembling that of a human and a lower body composed of numerous roots.

"What a fearsome human," the phantom muttered in fluent human tongue. After ten thousand years of cultivation, it had long since awakened true intelligence.

If not for the demonic flames Liu Wuxie possessed and Fiery's ability to breathe the True Samadhi Fire that happened to counter the tree sprite, the encounter would have likely ended in a battle.

Countless people had passed through this forest over the past centuries, and no one had escaped. The tree spirit had devoured them all and drained their blood essence.

Liu Wuxie pressed on without rest, journeying through the night. By dawn, he had crossed the barren desert, and the horizon stretched open before him.

"Vegetation!" Liu Wuxie's eyes lit up when he saw the splash of green in the distance. This proved that this place wasn't as desolate as the desert.

Life had adapted to the environment here. This was why vegetation could take root and sprout.

Fiery galloped ahead with its hooves pounding the ground. Aside from the greenery, there was also a creek, which Fiery dove straight into to wash away the dust and grit from its body.

𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Liu Wuxie remained calm and released his divine sense to guard against any hidden threats in the surroundings. This world's environment was far harsher than he had imagined.

"AWUUU!" Fiery let out a sudden cry of pain as it thrashed in the creek. Several grotesque fish clung to its hind legs, their razor-sharp teeth buried deep in its flesh.

Liu Wuxie swung out with the Heretic Blade and sliced the fish into several segments. Even so, the chopped fish refused to die, snapping their jaws hungrily in an attempt to devour them.

"Carnivorous Fish!" Liu Wuxie muttered under his breath. This species was not found on the True Martial Continent but was common in this world.

This cast a shadow over Liu Wuxie's heart, confirming that this world was more dangerous than he had imagined.

......

Meanwhile, several black figures had appeared in a valley with a special compass in their hands.

"Have any of you found him?" With communication talismans rendered useless, they could only use these special compasses to track others. Although it wasn't entirely accurate, the margin of error was relatively small.

"This is a remnant of a spiritual talisman he left behind, and it still holds traces of his aura," said a black figure on the right as he took out a damaged spiritual talisman and placed it on the compass.

If Liu Wuxie were present, he would have instantly recognized the spiritual talisman, as it bore his markings.

Spiritual talismans crafted by the Heavenly Dao Society had begun to circulate. Liu Wuxie had also crafted several talismans back in the Liu Clan. Though they weren't common in the market, it wasn't difficult for someone to acquire one.

The compass began to spin rapidly, analyzing the markings left on the spiritual talisman. It didn't take long before the needle pointed northwest, precisely where Liu Wuxie was.

"Over there!" The black figures put away the compass and sped in that direction.

......

Liu Wuxie was unaware that someone was tracking him as he followed the creek downstream. Though he hadn't found any treasures, he'd narrowly escaped danger more than once along the way.

He didn't run into a single person, and a vast plain finally appeared after days of travel. He also saw a few humans—not many, and they appeared to be searching for something.

Liu Wuxie put Fiery in the beast pouch before pressing on to avoid the unnecessary trouble of walking around with a divine beast.

Although tens of thousands of people had entered this world, few recognized Liu Wuxie. Aside from the disciples of the Heavenly Spirit Celestial Academy, most people were unfamiliar with him.

"How strange. According to ancient records, there should be a sword spring here. Why is it missing?" grumbled one of the two youths standing one hundred meters from Liu Wuxie. They seemed to be searching for something on the ground.

Sword spring?

Liu Wuxie's eyes gleamed with interest.

Could this have once been the sword-nurturing pool of a sect?

Sword springs were also called sword-nurturing pools.

Many sects had a habit of placing swords and blades in a specific location when forging them, absorbing spiritual energy to nurture the weapons' spirituality.

Such pools were rare due to the strict requirements for water quality and spiritual energy.

In ancient times, these sword springs were highly valued, and some were said to have given birth to ancient divine swords. These sword springs contained the aura left behind by the divine sword, and capturing a trace of the divine sword's laws could enable a weapon to be upgraded without any limit.

Even after achieving unity with heaven and earth, the Heretic Blade remained merely an ordinary Dao artifact.

A true weapon that had achieved unity with heaven and earth could resonate with the world itself—and it was clear the Heretic Blade had not yet reached that level.

A sword spring was a natural spring that drew water from deep underground, containing rich substances that could enhance a weapon.

Could the sword spring be hidden under this plain?

Liu Wuxie wondered, immediately activating Ghost Eye to scan the surface deep below.

If he could obtain a strand of the divine sword's law, it would be a tremendous boost to the Heretic Blade.

Most people could only extend their divine sense a few dozen meters underground.

However, Liu Wuxie could easily see thousands of meters deep underground, relying on Ghost Eye. Even after scanning several hundred meters in the surroundings, he couldn't find any sign of a sword spring.

More people began to flock over, and Liu Wuxie didn't recognize them. Most were rogue cultivators or disciples of second-tier clans. The majority were at the high levels of the True Profound Realm or low levels of the Spirit Profound Realm.

Few had reached the fifth-level True Profound Realm, like Liu Wuxie.

"Mhm?" Liu Wuxie's Ghost Eye suddenly locked onto a massive stone five hundred meters away. He could sense a powerful surge of spiritual energy beneath it.

He shot forward like an arrow and was certain the sword spring was hidden beneath this boulder.

His action immediately drew the attention of the surrounding cultivators, who turned to look at him.

However, Liu Wuxie ignored their gazes as treasures in this world would belong to those who seized them first.

When Liu Wuxie struck the boulder aside with his palm, a scalding geyser of water burst into the sky, soaking his robes.

"It's a sword spring!" everyone in the surroundings cried in excitement as they rushed over.

The sword spring had once existed here but had long since been drained by someone. Some spring water had remained hidden and undiscovered underground.

Looking at the water geyser, Liu Wuxie started searching for something. The geyser lasted for about a minute before settling into a small spring, about a meter wide, just large enough to hold a few weapons.

Longer weapons couldn't fit, which was why swords and blades were more commonly used in ancient times.

"There are no laws?" Liu Wuxie muttered, frowning. He wondered if he had been mistaken, and this was an ordinary spring, not a sword spring.

His divine sense continued to delve deeper. If there were no traces of the divine sword's laws, he would have no choice but to give up.

Suddenly, the Heretic Blade began to buzz in his hand.