Ringing the Bell for a Hundred Years, I Became the Sect’s Ancestor – Chapter 56

Chapter 56: The Sword Forest in the Air

The words on the stone tablet were unexpectedly sharp, making it impossible to look directly at them.

Even though Li Qian had already comprehended Illusory Image Level Sword Intent, he could still vaguely feel an invisible pressure from the words on the stone tablet.

“The sharp aura contained in these words seems to be exactly the same as that in the Sword Grinding Cave. Could it be from the same person?”

Li Qian’s heart stirred.

At this time, the Black Iron Mask Sword Envoy walked to the bottom of the stone tablet. It turned out that there was actually a path on the cliff.

Everyone hurriedly followed.

Due to the dense white fog, besides the path under their feet, there was a bottomless cliff beside them, making it extremely dangerous.

Even if an Innate Martial Artist accidentally fell, if their Light Body Skill was slightly lacking, they might not be able to survive.

Moreover, this place gave people an eerie feeling. Walking on the stone path shrouded in white fog, one couldn’t help but feel a chill down their spine.

The surroundings were extremely quiet.

Walking on the hanging stone path, it was as if they were isolated from the outside world.

Li Qian looked up at the sky. It had turned into a grayish expanse, completely different from the white expanse he had seen from the top of the mountain earlier.

Everyone had questions in their hearts, but no one spoke. They just followed the Sword Envoy along the stone path towards the abyss.

After walking for about ten minutes, they finally reached the end. Another stone tablet stood erect, with the words “Sword Tomb” inscribed on it.

They were standing on a platform surrounded by walls on all sides.

Below the platform were tiers of stone steps, and at the bottom was an ordinary valley floor, covering quite a large area.

None of this looked like a Sword Tomb.

“Below is the Sword Tomb. Once you step down from this platform, you can comprehend the Sword Intent contained within. If you are lucky enough, you might be able to match with a Divine Sword.”

The Sword Envoy seemed to see the doubts in everyone’s eyes and said calmly.

With doubts in their hearts, everyone slowly walked down from the platform.

The moment Li Qian stepped into the Sword Tomb, his scalp went numb, and his heart leaped into his throat.

Looking up, he saw thousands of swords suspended in the air, forming a vast and densely packed, terrifying sword forest.

If they all fell down, it would be a dreadful rain of swords.

At the very center was a gigantic stone sword, estimated to be a hundred zhang tall, towering between heaven and earth, utterly awe-inspiring.

This giant stone sword was somewhat peculiar, covered in countless small holes.

In addition, there were numerous stone tablets, arranged in a regular pattern around the stone sword.

“This is the Sword Tomb?”

Li Qian had imagined what the Sword Tomb might look like, but what he saw before him completely exceeded his imagination.

Thousands of swords were just floating in the air.

What kind of magical power was this?

Or was this fake, an illusion?

But his own mental consciousness told him that this was not an illusion, this was real.

Unless the spiritual power contained here was extremely strong, it wouldn’t be able to deceive him, who possessed Illusory Image Level Sword Intent.

Both possibilities existed.

Even the latter possibility was more likely.

Judging from its location, this Sword Tomb was situated at the bottom of the abyss beneath the cliff on the side of the Divine Sword Hall.

Wasn’t this open?

He had thought it would be a sealed cave or something.

Suddenly, he looked around and was even more astonished.

The twenty or so Inner Sect Disciples who had entered with him had all disappeared.

“It should be the powerful force here that has completely interfered with all my senses.”

Li Qian could sense the invisible Sword Intent permeating this space.

It was extremely diverse, as if hundreds of different Sword Intents were mixed together, omnipresent.

Taking a deep breath, Li Qian opened his eyes and slowly walked towards a stone tablet.

It was engraved with many words, recording the life of a Divine Sword Sect ancestor.

Obviously, each stone tablet here represented a Divine Sword Sect ancestor. There were far more than a thousand here.

It was said that those who were qualified to be buried in the Sword Tomb were either those who had made outstanding contributions or those with profound cultivation.

Taking a deep breath, Li Qian sat down cross-legged and began to release his own Heartless Sword Intent.

Boom!

In an instant, Li Qian’s world of perception completely changed.

Streaks of sharp Sword Intent, each with its own unique characteristics, appeared in his world of perception, roaming freely in the air.

Suddenly, the nearest Sword Intent seemed to be stimulated. It abruptly transformed into a human figure, wielding a sword, and attacked Li Qian.

Li Qian instinctively mobilized his own Sword Intent to fight back.

Sword light intertwined as the two Sword Intents clashed.

On the encircling wall platform outside the Sword Tomb.

Four masked figures stood there.

Each person wore a different mask.

◈◈◈

The one who had led Li Qian and the others down earlier was the Black Iron Mask.

As for the other three, one was a Bronze Mask, one was a Silver Mask, and one was a Gold Mask.

These three were naturally the other three Sword Envoys among the Five Sword Envoys.

Together with the Black Iron Mask Sword Envoy.

Four Sword Envoys had appeared.

“I wonder how many people will be able to match with Divine Swords this time?”

The Black Iron Mask Sword Envoy said.

“Hopefully more. The last time it was opened, there wasn’t even one.”

“It’s different this time. Last time, it was open to all Formal Disciples. This time, they are all outstanding Inner Sect Disciples. There will definitely be a few.”

“Hopefully more. After this opening, it’s estimated that it will be a long time before it can be opened again.”

The Sword Envoys discussed among themselves.

Although they were the guardians of the Sword Tomb, once it was activated, they couldn’t interfere. They couldn’t even know what was happening inside. They could only wait for the people inside to come out.

The entire Sword Tomb was very special. Once activated, it would form a space independent from the outside world, containing mysterious and incomprehensible special effects.

However, activating it once consumed a lot of resources.

Moreover, the Sword Tomb itself also needed time to slowly recover.

Therefore, the Divine Sword Sect could only open it once every few years.

Within the Sword Tomb space.

Li Qian had almost brought his swordsmanship to its peak. As sword light bloomed, it contained powerful Heartless Sword Intent, Soul Chasing, and Void Breaking.

With a dazzling sword light rising, the human figure formed by Sword Intent couldn’t resist and was shattered by Li Qian’s sword, like a bubble or a phantom.

But before he could even catch his breath, another Sword Intent transformed into a human figure and charged towards Li Qian.

Li Qian hurriedly parried.

Time passed, who knows how long. Li Qian seemed to be trapped in an endless wheel of battles.

After shattering one Sword Intent figure, a new one would attack.

He could only desperately defend.

These human figures formed by Sword Intent each had their own unique characteristics. Some figures displayed grand and majestic swordsmanship, some were soft and subtle, some were as heavy as mountains, and some were ethereal and traceless.

It was as if Li Qian was truly fighting against powerful swordsmen with exceptional swordsmanship.

Gradually, he felt mentally exhausted.

So, he quickly used the Time Bell in his mind.

With the resounding dong, dong, dong of the bell.

His spirit was invigorated once more.

With the support of the Time Bell’s sound, Li Qian’s body and spirit seemed to know no fatigue. Even in the face of such an overwhelming battle, he was able to hold on.

Using Sword Intent for prolonged combat consumed a great deal of mental energy.

But his bell sound was special, it could restore his mental energy to a certain extent.

However, this recovery also had its limits.

After he shattered one Sword Intent, another Sword Intent figure attacked.

Li Qian was at his wit’s end. Although he tried his best to resist, it was useless.

In the next moment, he was completely engulfed by the attack of this Sword Intent.

He regained consciousness in a daze, escaping from the previous world of perception.

So tired.

Li Qian lay directly on the ground, closed his eyes, and just wanted to have a good sleep.

Even the bell sound in his mind had minimal effect now.

However, he still endured the mental fatigue and sensed that the Sword Intent shadow circling the Time Bell in his mind had become extremely solid, as if it was about to completely materialize.

“What’s going on?”

Li Qian was extremely surprised.

His Sword Intent had never been so condensed before.

Suddenly, an idea struck him. He quickly summoned the system interface to check the latest information.

Host: Li Qian.

Cultivation: Innate True Qi （Late Stage 3/100）.

Sacrificial Instrument: Time Bell （Law 2452/10000）.

Martial Arts: Sword-Piercing Fist （Perfection）, Heartless Sword Manual （Perfection）, Immaculate Sword Body （Perfection）, Soul Chasing Sword Technique （Major Completion 68/100）.

Martial Intent: Heartless Sword Intent （Illusory Image 99/100）.

Secret Techniques: Myriad Transforming Sword Qi, Blood Burning Technique.