The sword returned to the third floor, and his cultivation broke through to the seventh stage.
However, Xu Xian did not leave the Divine Sword Pool. Instead, he leaped and arrived at the Immortal Sword Pool.
Among the eighty-six swords remaining in the pool, Xu Xian recognized [Listening Wind] at a single glance.
This was Senior Brother Yun Zheng's sword. The last time he came here, this spot had been empty, but after Senior Brother Yun Zheng passed away, the sword had returned.
He had heard Yun Zheng mention in passing that their master, Li Taibai, had taken a total of nine swords from the Sword Mound in the past.
Three of them were beneath the One Sword Gorge, forming the foundation of the sect's grand formation.
They were named: Demon-Slaying, Fiend-Slaying, and Spirit-Devouring.
One remained in their master's hand, named Taibai, while the other five were gifted to his five disciples.
The first was Qinglin, the second was Zhuhong, the third was Baiwu, the fourth was Xuanshuang, and the fifth was Listening Wind.
As for why their master could take nine swords, he had never mentioned it.
However, they speculated that it might be because their master was the Lord of the Sword Mound, allowing him to take nine by himself.
Xu Xian, of course, did not believe this, because he was currently the Lord of the Sword Mound, and he knew very well that he could not take nine.
Even the Little Book spirit, with its fragmented and incomplete memories, did not know why Li Taibai could take nine swords alone.
Now, Xu Xian had some clues. He thought it likely had something to do with the Li family from the Upper Realm that the Nether Tortoise had mentioned.
The Li family probably shared some unspeakable connection with the Little Book spirit's previous owner, and so...
They either possessed some secret technique or the previous master of the Sword Tower had given the Li family unique permissions, allowing them to take nine swords.
With the construction of the third floor of the Sword Tower, the Little Book spirit brought a piece of good news: his control over the Sword Mound had progressed further.
Now, not only could his divine sense enter and exit the Sword Mound, allowing him to use it as a storage space.
He could also take swords directly from these sword pools.
He was no longer limited to just the sword Wait, and he no longer needed to go through the Sword Tower.
He could take as many as he wanted.
He could take whichever he chose.
Of course!
One sword was enough; having more was useless. With the Sword Tower, one sword was worth a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand.
However, if he ran into trouble in his daily life, he didn't necessarily want to use the White Jade Capital. It was better to have one or two immortal swords for self-defense.
Wait was an immortal sword and very useful, but its only flaw was that it was too large. Swinging it felt too reckless, like a general charging through a battlefield.
It lacked a certain elegance and poise.
To put it simply, using Wait to show off wasn't stylish enough, so Xu Xian planned to take this opportunity to pick a fast sword.
After all, if he didn't enter the Sword Mound this way, he would have to return to the sect, go through that door, and climb up to the Immortal Sword Pool to get one.
That was too much trouble.
He did not choose Listening Wind. He felt that his current self was not yet qualified to wield Senior Brother Yun Zheng's sword.
He picked a fast sword and gave it a new name on a whim: Halt.
He chose it randomly without much thought. Once everything was done, he finally left the Sword Mound and woke up.
Sitting within the Heaven-Sealing Trapping Formation, the youth felt a surge of joy as he sensed his rising cultivation level and the expansion of his dantian and sea of consciousness.
"It's been nearly three years, but I've finally built it."
Counting the time, sixteen years had passed in a flash since he first stepped into the immortal sect.
Sixteen years.
Slaying the snake in Yecheng.
Forging swords while slaying demons.
Stealing money in the Demon Abyss.
He had taken every step firmly, walking a grounded path.
Now, at twenty-eight years old, he had entered the seventh stage, which could be considered a minor achievement.
Above that was the great ascension stage, and further up was the tribulation transcendence. Looking toward the future, it seemed bright and promising...
"Not bad, I'm feeling pretty good!"
He bragged a bit to the Little Book spirit.
The Little Book spirit was not stingy with its praise. "Master is wise, divine, and matchless in martial prowess."
"Keep it down!"
Amidst his self-satisfaction, Xu Xian hurriedly had the Little Book spirit summon the book used for building the tower.
The path of cultivation was never something achieved overnight; a single moment didn't represent everything. Staying grounded and planning ahead was the true way.
The third floor of the Sword Tower was built, so the matter of the fourth floor needed to be put on the agenda.
Until he reached the ninth stage, he still wouldn't be enough to sweep through Fanzhou. He had to keep working hard and avoid arrogance.
"Let me see just how ridiculous this fourth floor can be."
The book opened to a page filled with dense, tiny script. At first, Xu Xian couldn't see it clearly.
"Why is it so small?"
He rubbed his eyes, leaned in close, and took a careful look. Xu Xian was instantly stunned, and a curse escaped his lips.
"What the hell is this?"
The beginning of the page was normal; the progress bar for the fourth floor was at zero. The top half was still a drawing, with three floors solid and nine floors ethereal.
However, the bottom half was very wrong. The previous font had been shrunk dozens of times; it was so small that one would need a magnifying glass to read it without cultivation.
It was filled with a dense list of items.
It looked like computer code, the kind that gives people a headache just by looking at it.
Required items:
[(1) Fire-attribute immortal plants... one thousand types...]
[(2) Ice-attribute immortal plants, one thousand types...]
[(3) Wood-attribute immortal plants, one thousand types...]
[........]
[(6) Metal-attribute Immortal-Essence Ore, one thousand types...]
[......]
[(10) Wood-attribute Immortal-Essence Ore, one thousand types...]
[.......]
[(1000) One liter of dragon blood.]
A thousand items. You didn't read that wrong; there were exactly one thousand items.
A thousand items were written on this palm-sized half-page.
Xu Xian felt completely numb. The good mood from building the third floor vanished instantly.
He swallowed hard, looked at the Little Book spirit, and asked, "Are you messing with me?"
The Little Book spirit looked dazed and slightly aggrieved. What did this have to do with it? It was just a lackey.
But for some reason, it felt a bit guilty.
Its eyes darted around as it whispered, "I don't understand?"
Xu Xian laughed in anger, grabbed the book, and shoved it in front of its face. "You don't understand, right? Come here, look for yourself. Take a good look."
The Little Book spirit bit the bullet and said, "It's okay, right? It's not that many... only a thousand types."
Xu Xian was speechless. Only a thousand types?
Besides, was it really just a thousand?
Fire, ice, wood, and other elemental immortal plants and ores, one thousand types of each. When you added them up, how many were there? Exactly ten thousand types.
Ten thousand types would be one thing, but they couldn't even be duplicates.
And it didn't stop there.
Listed below were various types of essence blood from things that flew in the sky, ran on the ground, swam in the water, and burrowed in the dirt. There were also things like phoenix feathers, tiger teeth, dragon scales, and so on...
Xu Xian at least recognized those.
Then there were some strange, bizarre things he didn't recognize at all.
But whether Xu Xian knew them or not, or had seen them or not...
They all shared one common characteristic that you could tell just by looking at the names.
Expensive!
They were very expensive!
Not just normally expensive!
Where was Xu Xian supposed to get all this stuff?
The youth complained, "You're truly heartless. Tell me, where am I supposed to get these things? Can you not be so ridiculous? I couldn't afford all this even if I sold myself!"
The Little Book spirit said sincerely, "Master, that's not right."
"Hmm?"
The Little Book spirit added, "With these items, you couldn't afford them even if you sold the entire Wendao Sword Sect."
Xu Xian: "...." Sometimes, he really wanted to kill someone!
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