Lu Yang woke up leisurely, to find himself lying on the ground. Yun Mengmeng was looking at him with concern.

"How long was I unconscious?" Lu Yang’s mind was somewhat muddled, remembering only that he had fought until he was utterly exhausted and then lost consciousness.

"About ten breaths." Yun Mengmeng lived a carefree life and was never particularly sensitive to time.

"Lu Yang, take this elixir," the Sword Tower Elder hurried over as well, quickly taking out a high-quality elixir for Lu Yang to recover.

The elixir was refreshing as it dissolved in his mouth, and swallowing it made his whole body feel as cool and comfortable as if he were soaked in water.

Now clear-headed, Lu Yang was helped up by Yun Mengmeng, sat down in a meditative posture on the spot, circulated his cultivation technique to adjust his breathing frequency, and soon he was able to move freely.

His spiritual power was already comparable to someone in the Body Integration Realm, so it didn’t take long to recover back to normal after being completely drained.

Mingtai, as the spirit of the Immortal Sword, also recovered quickly.

"Elder Brother Lu Yang, I admire you," said Mingtai, coming over. In the battle just now, he had utilized all his trump cards, yet he still lost to Lu Yang, thoroughly convinced in defeat.

This was also the temperament of all Sword Cultivators, straightforward and simple: a win was a win, a loss was a loss, with no shame in admitting it.

"Not at all, it was just luck," Lu Yang said modestly. His final move, Ten Thousand Swords Returning to Origin, was merely an experiment with fifty-fifty odds of success or failure.

Many Sword Cultivators who watched the battle had some insights, and not wanting to waste time, they sat down right there to meditate.

Opportunities were precious, so the planned visit to the Sword Vault, which was supposed to start after the questioning with the sword session, had to be postponed. The Elders of the Sword Tower intervened, setting up Array Methods to prevent the Sword Cultivators from being disturbed by the outside world, allowing them to gain as many insights as possible.

While the Sword Cultivators were in closed-door cultivation, Lu Yang turned out to be the one with the most free time.

"Speaking of which, Mingtai’s Containing Light Sword can turn invisible, but does my Green Peak Sword not have any special functions?"

Lu Yang examined the Green Peak Sword closely. The Containing Light Sword was just an Immortal Treasure, but his Green Peak Sword was a genuine Immortal Artifact, the personal sword of Wu Yao; logically, it shouldn’t just be high in quality, but should also possess some unique functions.

"Of course, isn’t it quite spacious inside this sword? Other swords don’t have this kind of treatment," the Sword Spirit of the Green Peak Sword spoke.

"What do you mean... wait, Fairy, are you saying there’s another space inside the Green Peak Sword?" Lu Yang caught on.

Fairy Eternity rolled her eyes, "Otherwise, where did you think I lived?"

Lu Yang thought to himself that since the Fairy was so powerful with Divine Abilities, he had assumed she was merely attached to the Green Peak Sword.

Turns out, she was living inside it.

"Wait, I’ll pull you in," said Fairy Eternity.

Fairy Eternity thought Little Yang was a bit slow, not even knowing how to enter; it would be better for her to pull him in directly.

Lu Yang disappeared from the spot, without a trace, as the Green Peak Sword clattered to the ground.

"This is the inner space of the Green Peak Sword?" Lu Yang asked in surprise as he looked around in a circle.

"More precisely, this is a small world created by the Green Peak Sword," Fairy Eternity said with professional terminology.

Within the Green Peak Sword’s small world, spiritual energy was abundant, mountains and rivers flowed, and the environment was pristine, secluded from the world, much like a hidden land of peace.

Lu Yang stood on a bamboo raft, floating along the river, as the mountains receded like slides in a slideshow.

The bamboo raft was something Fairy Eternity made out of boredom during her time as a Sword Spirit, for which she had cut down a large number of trees.

"How’s that?" Fairy Eternity was quite pleased with herself, though it was unclear whether she was boasting about the little world or her handmade bamboo raft.

"That guy called Wu Yao had some skills, making the inside of the Green Peak Sword look decent," said Lu Yang.

"Has this little space always existed?" Lu Yang was surprised; he hadn’t realized he had been underestimating the Green Peak Sword.

"Indeed, it has always been there, but it was sealed before. You couldn’t enter it until your cultivation level reached a certain point, which is when the seal was opened and you could come in."

Lu Yang felt somewhat comforted. It wasn’t that he had failed to recognize its value, but that the seal hadn’t been unlocked: "When was the seal opened?"

"When you were in the Nascent Soul Stage."

"..."

Lu Yang looked at Fairy Eternity with eyes full of implicit meaning.

Feeling embarrassed under his gaze, Fairy Eternity offered an awkward smile, "Immortal here thought Little Yang knew about the space in the Green Peak Sword and simply couldn’t be bothered to explore it."

"After all, aside from the beautiful scenery, there isn’t much else here that’s interesting."

Lu Yang thought about it and agreed; he didn’t really need a small world of his own to carry around.

If he had had a personal little world in his previous life, every flower and grass here would be an elixir, and just taking one out would have brought a wealth of shock.

Otherwise, one might farm in the little world, where the abundance of spiritual energy would certainly mutate any seeds planted here, astonishing everyone when brought out into the outside world.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t had a small world in his previous life. It was only after transmigrating to the cultivation world that he gained one, which then seemed somewhat superfluous.

After making a round within the Green Peak Sword, Lu Yang left the sword.

Half a day passed, and the sword cultivators ended their closed-door cultivation one after another, exchanging experiences and feeling greatly enlightened.

This Sword Fair was worth attending. Contemplating just once was better than years of swordsmanship enlightenment. The fight between Lu Yang and Mingtai had shown them the future path of swordsmanship.

Sword cultivators one after another approached Lu Yang and Mingtai to express their gratitude, among them Xue Shilou and Qiu Kun.

𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

When the last sword cultivator finished his seclusion, the Tower Master announced the start of the third and final phase of the ceremony.

"You all must have heard that our Sword Vault stores the spirit swords left by the sages of the past. Once you enter the vault, if it is fated, a spirit sword will choose to follow and recognize you as its master, and our Sword Tower will not obstruct this."

"When your destiny with the sword is exhausted, our Sword Tower will naturally reclaim the spirit sword."

"If there is no such fate, please do not force it. I know some of you possess divine strength capable of forcibly pulling out the spirit swords."

"Should this provoke the anger of the spirit swords and an accident occurs, the Sword Tower will not be responsible."

The sword cultivators praised the Tower Master for his righteousness; even when other swordsmanship sects had spirit swords, they would rather wear out the spirit of the swords completely than allow outsiders to use them.

"If there are no objections, then follow me," said the Tower Manager.

Leading the way, the Tower Manager brought everyone down into the Sword Tower.

The sword cultivators were all nervous; recognizing spirit swords was a matter of destiny, which had nothing to do with realm or talent. History was full of such examples: an ordinary cultivator being recognized by a spirit sword with great origins, and thus becoming an extraordinary sword cultivator.

The Sword Vault was a huge hollow, as though someone had hollowed out a space underneath the Sword Tower with a sword—utterly without decoration, quite primitive, with only a top-grade Night Pearl at the top that had shone for ten thousand years, providing light for the Sword Vault.

All kinds of spirit swords were carelessly inserted all over the vault, some on the ground, some on the walls, which didn’t indicate negligence from the Sword Tower, but rather that the spirit swords themselves preferred to be arranged in such a manner.

"Who knows how many spirit swords will find masters this time," remarked an elder.

The Tower Manager beside him said, "It might be none at all."

"Ah? Why?" The elder was puzzled.

Gazing at Mingtai entering the Sword Vault, the Tower Manager said solemnly, "Don’t forget Mingtai’s identity, the Venerate Sword. He is like an elder brother to all spirit swords. To him, the Sword Vault is akin to a harem."