World's No. 1 Swordsman-Chapter 445: Opening the Mountain and Founding the Sect!

"'The harmony of yin and yang reveals the Dao's profound truth.' This line appears near the end of the Pure Yang Immortal Mantra. Those sections are likely cultivation methods for after one attains immortality. Though we can read them now, their deeper meaning remains beyond our grasp.

"The Dao Rhythm in this finger seems to follow the Dao of Pure Yin. It appears opposed to our forefather's Dao of Pure Yang, but in truth, they complement each other."

Qing Yanzi's expression dimmed slightly.

"Perhaps our forefather left this finger behind because its owner's ethereal soul and corporeal soul have already scattered, leaving only this trace behind."

Wang Sheng's hair stood on end. His master's reasoning sounded logical enough, but the idea was still unsettling.

Even if it was meant as a keepsake, who would leave behind a finger?

"Master, what does this glow mean then?"

Qing Yanzi's smile faded as he seriously instructed, "Feel it carefully again."

Wang Sheng pinched the immortal finger and concentrated on its aura. After half a minute, his eyes widened. "It's trying to break free. The power is faint, but it's definitely trying to fly in a certain direction!"

"That's right. This has been happening for half a year now. On the bright side, it could belong to a Heavenly Court immortal who's now calling this finger back to repair their body after enduring unimaginable calamities. On the darker side, the one calling could be an enemy of the Heavenly Court."

Wang Sheng grew uneasy. "Master, what if they find their way here?"

"That's also what I'm worried about." Qing Yanzi took back the finger. "I had the research institute examine this earlier, but they couldn't find anything. I was planning to ask Immortal Yaoyun about it once you returned."

"Please wait a moment, Master."

Wang Sheng summoned Spiritless from beside Xiaomiao. The tiny sword spirit, only three cun tall, stood on the hilt, gazing intently at the finger in Wang Sheng's hand.

Ten seconds later, Yaoyun softly said, "This aura feels familiar. That finger should belong to a Heavenly Court immortal. Why is it with you?"

Wang Sheng and Qing Yanzi exhaled in relief.

"Our forefather's collection," Wang Sheng replied.

Yaoyun's lips twitched slightly. "No need to be too shocked about it, then. Why is it still releasing immortal light, though?"

"It started doing this half a year ago."

"Half a year ago..." Yaoyun pondered for several minutes. "When the Heavenly Court left this world, it took us half a year to reach the edge of the Realm of Exiled Immortals. Maybe there's some hidden connection here."

Wang Sheng asked, "Maybe an immortal entered the Realm of Exiled Immortals half a year ago and is now heading toward Earth?"

"That's unlikely," Qing Yanzi said. "As Immortal Yaoyun said, if a great army were to set out, it would take half a year to exit the Realm of Exiled Immortals. But if a Taiyi Golden Immortal of great power traveled alone, they could reach this world in far less time."

Yaoyun nodded slowly. "That's right. Be it friend or foe, I can deploy a formation here to block the aura. Once the connection between that finger and the outside immortal is cut off, there won't be any need to worry for as long as the great formation beyond Earth remains intact. Once your sect's great palace is built, enshrine this item there, and I'll apply a sealing formation to it."

Wang Sheng and Qing Yanzi exchanged a look and nodded. As Yaoyun had said, sealing it was their safest option since they didn't know if it was good or bad.

"Go and cultivate diligently," Yaoyun said. She glanced at Wang Sheng before returning to Spiritless and flying back to Xiaomiao's side.

Qing Yanzi chuckled. "Having a sword spirit really is a blessing."

Wang Sheng summoned a cup of wine and drank it in one gulp as he watched his master use layers of enchanted power to seal the immortal finger back into the bronze box. If it truly was a Heavenly Court immortal's finger who wielded Pure Yin Qi, it could one day answer the question buried in every cultivator's heart: whether the Heavenly Court was truly destroyed.

"Brother Sheng, come play cards. We're a person short!"

Qing Yanzi waved his hand. Wang Sheng smiled and went over to join the group by the creek, where laughter and chatter filled the evening air.

Meanwhile, Qing Yanzi toyed with the bronze box. Every now and then, he would thoughtfully glance at the stars.

There was one thing he had not told his disciple.

"The harmony of yin and yang reveals the Dao's profound truth" was a line he had made up. The Pure Yang Immortal Mantra didn't have such words. He only said it to keep Wang Sheng's state of mind from being disturbed.

The pressure Wang Sheng now felt, Qing Yanzi had experienced long ago. Before beginning his cultivation journey, the same burden had weighed on him. He worried about the future of Earth, and after learning the history of the Heavenly Court, he constantly feared that its old enemies would one day come to destroy this world.

An ordinary cultivator could simply say that if the sky were to fall, the tallest one would hold it up. What if they were the tallest, though? How could they comfort their own heart?

Qing Yanzi pondered how he could ease his disciple's burden, but he couldn't come up with any good answer. "Forget it. Overthinking is useless."

He lifted his cup and downed it as he gazed at the lively gathering by the creek. Jingyun, serene as always, laughed and played with the younger ones, making him feel a bit envious. After all, he was soon to become a proper sect master. He ought to maintain at least some dignity.

He hiccuped softly and then called over another cup of fine wine, savoring it carefully between his lips.

With his years of tasting experience, vast knowledge of liquor, and the refined palate gained from attending countless Daoist banquets in the cultivation world, Qing Yanzi could not help but appreciatively murmur, "This wine's not bad. It doesn't hit too hard."

Huai Jing, who had been drawing cards beside the creek, grinned with quiet pride.

***

By noon the next day, once everyone had sobered up, Chi Wen and Xiaomiao volunteered to clean up the trash and tidy the tents. They treated the place as the temporary base of the Pure Yang Sword Faction.

The rest returned to the mountaintop to continue construction, aiming to finish the main palace roof by the end of the day and complete all the buildings within a week. Their morale was high, and with Xi Lian joining in, manpower was no longer an issue.

A cultivator at the Heavenly Abode Realm was equivalent to a crane, while an expert at the Grand Immortal-Ascension Realm matched the labor power of a large construction crew.

Their plans kept changing, however. Once they started pursuing perfection, the schedule began to drag, and the supposedly week-long project stretched into an entire month. After the great palace was finally built, they still had to paint the walls, lay the floors, and hang the ceiling.

Qing Yanzi brought out all the treasures that he had accumulated over the years and filled a wall with ancient paintings and calligraphy. He even set up a bookshelf in the corner to create an elegant guest area.

As the saying went, "the finer the craftsmanship, the greater the effort." Compared to stacking stones, these fine details demanded far more attention and focus.

Mu Wanxuan showed off her painting skills by drawing a mural of an immortal ascending to the moon on the palace ceiling. Qing Yanzi wrote two lines beside it.

Starlight reflects upon the sea of clouds,

Immortals chase the moon above.

Huai Jing brought over some old but usable meditation cushions and wooden chairs from the Heavenly Dragon Temple to ensure their sect wouldn't look too new and lacking in heritage.

The wall painting task fell to Jingyun. She worked with great precision, and since her cultivation technique was in tune with the element of water, her brush strokes were graceful and flowing, making the process both efficient and beautiful.

Wang Sheng had a heavier workload.

He built a circle of white stone railings around the palace courtyard and, using his refined sword technique, carved intricate reliefs along the railings. He was also responsible for the palace's interior carvings.

With his mastery of the sword, he had a natural advantage in such work. He naturally didn't dare use Spiritless here, though. Otherwise, Yaoyun would surely lose her temper. Flying Haze was already more than sharp enough for the job.

Afterward, he joined his master in arranging the plaza outside the hall. Two corridors were planned around the great palace, and a massive sword sculpture was to be placed in front of it. However, those could wait until the first batch of disciples had grown strong enough to help.

For now, he prioritized making a proper stone statue of their forefather master to enshrine in the main palace.

Wang Sheng came up with an idea. He searched through every stone sculpture yard within a thousand li and found a finished statue that another Daoist heritage had originally commissioned. Afterward, he personally visited the sect, discovering that it had hundreds of cultivators.

His visit initially confused them. When they learned that the famous sword cultivator wanted to buy the statue that they had ordered half a year ago for their forefather, they immediately refused to sell it.

They insisted on giving it for free instead.

Not only did they send the statue as a gift, but they also dispatched two elders to assist. Together with several craftsmen, they removed the face of their forefather and replaced it with Chun Yangzi's handsome features. The two elders even insisted on personally delivering it wherever Wang Sheng wanted. Wang Sheng politely declined.

Not wanting to just take the statue for free, he offered them two celestial pills in return. The trade was far from fair, considering each pill was as valuable as a life, but he had nothing else suitable to offer.

When he brought back and placed the jade statue on the stone platform within the great palace, the place seemingly gained a divine presence. The entire layout felt alive.

Qing Yanzi couldn't help but ask, "Little Sheng, how did you manage to sculpt that in such a short time?"

Wang Sheng just smiled faintly. He then brushed his sleeve and went back outside to move bricks, keeping his achievements to himself.

Not long after, Chi Wen and Xiaomiao came to see the Pure Yang forefather's statue.

Xiaomiao immediately spotted something off. "Why does the face look a little sunken?"

After a closer look, Qing Yanzi waved a mist over the statue's head. "The forefather's true appearance should not be exposed. Let's leave it like this."

Outside the palace, Wang Sheng quietly breathed a sigh of relief and went back to work with renewed focus.

A month later, the mountaintop had transformed completely. Several great palaces stood proudly, surrounded by elegant pavilions that subtly aligned into a formation.

Qing Yanzi arranged qi-gathering formations throughout the area. Mu Wanxuan tended the flowers and plants. Jingyun arranged bonsai and stone carvings. Wang Sheng and Huai Jing, shirtless under the sun, erected the mountain gate's stone archway together.

Finally, their artistic Daoist sect was complete.

Qing Yanzi brought forth the five-meter-tall stone tablet that he had prepared long ago and placed it before the mountain gate. It had a sword carved on the back and four large ancient seal-script[1] characters on the front.

Pure Yang Sword Faction.

"Time to time to prepare for recruitment," Qing Yanzi said. "Little Sheng, Little Xuan, where are you?"

Standing behind their master, Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan answered in unison, "Here!"

"Send out invitations in my name. You two will personally visit Daoist sects and heritages to invite them as witnesses to our opening ceremony."

"Yes, Master!"

1. Ancient seal scripts refer to calligraphy used in ancient seals/stamps, where the characters are more round and curved than the sharp modern Chinese characters. ☜