Chapter 566: Li Zhaotian's Grand Vision

A slender divine sword shot through the air like a streak of blood-red light, only to suddenly plummet straight down!

Dong Tianze stared motionlessly, body overwhelmed as every drop of blood in his veins roared.

A chill ran down his spine as his blood flowed out of Dong Tianze's control. The cultivation methods and blood-related secret techniques of the Blood Moon Sect, including the Blood God Technique, were all stifled.

His limbs froze.

It was as if a higher will had used his blood to lock his body into place, forcing him to welcome the arrival of the divine sword.

Whoosh!

The sword pierced him from behind, impaling down through his heart and out his abdomen, greedily consuming the blood essence he had recently refined.

Glowing a radiant blood-red hue, the eerie divine sword said calmly into his mind,

I come from the Sword Pavilion. I can help you ascend as a Blood God.

Dong Tianze's blood and blood essence were pulled into the sword, forming a blood-red world within the sword forged entirely from his blood.

A pierced heart for anyone else would typically mean instant death, but Dong Tianze remained strangely unharmed.

The Sword Pavilion...

He ignored the sword's latter statement, thoughts returning to the blue-robed man he had encountered in the Imperial Dominion. That man, the Pavilion Master of the Sword Pavilion and Pang Jian's master, had urged him to leave and head to the Resolute Expanse.

After leaving the Imperial Dominion, Dong Tianze, fearing he could not suppress his murderous urges, had avoided returning to the Resolute Expanse and instead roamed the fragmented lands of the Second World.

He was acutely aware that he walked the heretical path and did not want to cause more trouble for Pang Jian.

After hearing rumors of powerful malevolent spirits residing in the Bloodcloud Mountain Range, he headed to the ancient battleground to capture and refine some of them, hoping to compensate for the deficiencies in his divine soul.

However, the arrival of the divine sword disrupted all his plans, igniting a torrent of bloodlust within him.

Suppressing the pain of his physical wounds and weakness of blood loss, he asked coldly,

Who sent you?

No one commands me. I came because you mastered the Blood God Technique and are now qualified to ascend through this divine path,

the Bloodthirsty Sword replied.

Dong Tianze's expression darkened.

Are you a divine artifact of the Blood Spirit Sect?

I am not. All cultivators of blood-related techniques who show promise on the path to godhood catch my attention,

the sword soul explained patiently as it assimilated Dong Tianze's blood.

The Blood God Technique you cultivated is truly extraordinary. Not to mention your exceptional talent. Those two factors are why I chose you.

During the initial fusion, you'll find it harder to suppress your bloodthirsty impulses.

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Once you leave the Heaven Awakening Continent, the Sword Pavilion will publicly announce that I've escaped their custody. My reputation isn't exactly stellar, so the Sword Pavilion will put on a show of pursuing and suppressing me. The other sects will likely follow suit.

We'll need to lie low for a while. Do you have a destination in mind?

The sword soul asked earnestly.

Dong Tianze did not respond immediately, taking a moment to process the information and weigh his options.

A quarter of an hour later, Dong Tianze, having reached an accord with the sword soul regained partial mobility, flew out of the Bloodcloud Mountain Range.

Absolute Heaven.

It was the only refuge that came to mind.

Dong Tianze fell into the ranks of reviled heretical outcasts after cultivating the Blood God Technique, and any loss of control over his bloodthirsty urges would lead the major sects to hunt him down.

The Blackwood Sect and the Blood Prison Sect had met their demise in this way.

Maintaining self-control would only be more challenging with the Bloodthirsty Sword in hand. He simply could not risk staying in the First or Second Worlds.

Descending to the lower worlds meant facing the Demon Sect and foreign race warriors. Any act of slaughter would only draw their pursuit.

After careful consideration, the only safe haven he could think of was Absolute Heaven, still adrift in the bizarre mist.

***

On the lowest floor of the Sword Pavilion, the sword soul of the fat elder glanced at the White Bone Sword, the only remaining sealed divine sword, and remarked, "Li Zhaotian, do you know what you're doing?"

"Of course I do." Li Zhaotian grinned mischievously. "With the right wielder, the Bloodthirsty Sword can unleash power rivaling the Abyssal Demon Sword. That boy is destined to be its master."

"The Bloodthirsty Sword doesn't belong to the Sword Pavilion," the fat elder said coldly.

"Neither does the Abyssal Demon Sword," Li Zhaotian retorted. "But in my eyes, all sword cultivators and renowned swords belong to the Sword Pavilion!

"This Sword Pavilion houses countless swords and is the foundation of our Sword Pavilion's name. It doesn't matter if it's the Abyssal Demon Sword, the Bloodthirsty Sword, or the White Bone Sword. Once they're here, they're part of the Sword Pavilion!

"The three of you, my Tempest Fiend Sword, and the Heaven-Splitting Sword with the Li Family's girl, all represent one side of the sword. The Abyssal Demon Sword, the Bloodthirsty Sword, and the White Bone Sword represent the other.

"A sword has two edges. Why wouldn't the Dao of Sword have the same duality? Why would sword cultivators be any different?"

Li Zhaotian pointed to an empty spot where the Abyssal Demon Sword once rested.

"When Pang Jian took the Abyssal Demon Sword, you all believed it would erode his mind and lead him down the path of madness, like Mo Nan of the Demon Sword Sect.

"But what happened? He surpassed me to ascend to godhood first and became the Sword God of this new era!

"I allowed the Bloodthirsty Sword to leave and fuse with Dong Tianze because I trust that boy to subdue its sword soul, just as Pang Jian did. If Dong Tianze takes ownership of that sword, I will naturally consider him a sword cultivator.

"It doesn't matter who he was or what the sword was before. In my eyes, all sword cultivators belong to the Sword Pavilion!

"Since its founding, the Sword Pavilion was meant to be a sacred ground for all sword cultivators, embracing cultivators of all paths, whether righteous or demonic.

"Even Mo Nan of the Demon Sword Sect and the predecessors wielding the White Bone Sword and Bloodthirsty Sword are included. As long as they practiced the Dao of Sword, they're part of the Sword Pavilion in my eyes!

"Swords cannot be strictly divided into good or evil. Any sword can be a good sword in the right hands!" Li Zhaotian declared with unshakable conviction.

***

In the Shadow Abyss, the Abyssal Demon Sword absorbed one of the Star Devourer's unique severed limbs, with Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul refusing to take in even a trace of it.

You could use it to compensate for the shortcomings in your Dao of Metal if you refine it into your body,

said the Abyssal Demon.

There are more limbs like this. We'll have more opportunities,

Pang Jian replied, glancing at two faint specks of light in the sky.

The sharper you become, the more efficient you'll be at slicing through its limbs.

The problem is finding it again.

The Abyssal Demon Sword sighed.

The bizarre mist is vast. Even tracking Thunder God Fan Di required connecting to the Thunder Pool within your body. It'll be difficult to locate the Star Devourer now that it's escaped.

I believe it'll eventually find its way to the Abyss,

Pang Jian said, standing up.

Whoosh!

His Immortal Divine Soul compressed into a stream of multicolored light and merged back into his physical body. Sheathing the Abyssal Demon Sword, he soared into the sky.

The two Outer Gods appeared slightly uneasy as he approached their puppet vessels.

After landing, Pang Jian gazed at the now-invisible barrier above and asked, "I wish to understand the difference between the barrier and the boundary wall of an abyss. Could you enlighten me?"