Chapter 353: Five Hundred Years Left, Unprecedented Variables

At this moment, atop the Tenth Summit of Kunlun Divine Mountain, two figures quietly sat facing each other beside a stone table.

The surrounding atmosphere was peaceful.

Clouds drifted beneath the summit while immortal cranes occasionally cried out in the distance.

Tea quietly steamed upon the stone table.

One of the figures wore plain blue robes, yet even they could not diminish his peerlessly handsome countenance in the slightest. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

It was none other than Tian Yun, the Saint Master of Kunlun Divine Mountain and Wang Daoyun’s master.

Sitting opposite him was an old man wearing simple gray robes.

It was the Sword Venerable.

At this moment, Tian Yun slowly raised his gaze toward the distant horizon.

Far beyond countless mountain ranges, a vast Sword Intent was surging between heaven and earth.

Myriad Dao phenomena continuously manifested throughout the skies.

Ancient heavenly swords faintly appeared within the clouds, and sword cries echoed endlessly across hundreds of thousands of miles.

Even the worldly laws and heavenly rules seemed to resonate faintly with that majestic Sword Intent.

Tian Yun silently observed the phenomena for a moment before calmly speaking.

"Daoyun seems to have sparred with Tian Yongheng."

The Sword Venerable merely gave a casual hum while slowly drinking tea.

His expression remained completely calm, as though such a matter was unsurprising.

After a moment, he casually replied, "It was bound to happen eventually, both are supreme Sword Dao geniuses rarely seen across countless eras. Meeting each other is simply fate."

Tian Yun remained silent.

After a while, he slowly spoke once more.

"Daoyun’s Sword Dao improved again."

The Sword Venerable placed down the teacup in his hand.

His gaze faintly shifted toward the distant sword phenomena filling heaven and earth.

For the first time, a slight ripple appeared within his ancient eyes as he spoke calmly,

"He touched humanity."

Tian Yun’s movements paused, a hint of a realization flashing past his eyes before he asked, "Humanity?"

The Sword Venerable nodded faintly.

"That child’s Heaven and Earth Immortal Sword Intent was originally too lofty. He pursued the vastness of heaven and earth, yet overlooked the countless living beings existing within it. Heaven and earth without humanity, ultimately, is merely an empty shell."

As he spoke, the Sword Venerable’s gaze faintly deepened.

"Tian Yongheng likely pointed this out to him."

Tian Yun quietly listened before letting out a soft sigh.

Even he had to admit that Tian Yongheng was an existence that completely surpassed common sense.

After remaining silent for a long time, Tian Yun suddenly asked, "Between Daoyun and Tian Yongheng...

Who do you think possesses the stronger Sword Dao talent?"

The Sword Venerable suddenly laughed, an extremely faint laugh, yet the surrounding void instantly cracked apart from the residual Spiritual Energy contained within it.

"Tian Yongheng."

There was not the slightest hesitation in his answer.

Tian Yun was not surprised by this.

The Sword Venerable slowly continued, "Daoyun is indeed monstrous. Even within the Upper Realm, his talent would be sufficient to shake countless Immortal factions. But Tian Yongheng..."

For the first time, the Sword Venerable paused slightly.

Even he found it difficult to properly describe that existence.

Finally, he calmly spoke again.

"That one no longer belongs to the category of genius. He is a complete anomaly. A variable even those ancient Immortal Gods of my Kunlun cannot calculate. That senior told me his heavenly secrets are in utter chaos, as if forcibly shielded by an unimaginable existence at least in the realm of Origin Immortals, possibly far higher."

The summit gradually fell silent once more, with only the sound of wind and drifting clouds remaining.

After a very long time, Tian Yun finally lowered his gaze slightly before quietly asking,

"... Is there any news from the Upper Realm?"

The moment those words fell, the Sword Venerable’s hand holding the teacup faintly paused.

The atmosphere atop the summit subtly changed.

Even the surrounding Immortal mist seemed to grow heavier.

For a while, the Sword Venerable did not speak.

Then, he slowly shook his head.

"I do not know."

His voice was calm and free as always, yet beneath that calmness was an extremely faint heaviness.

Tian Yun quietly looked at him.

The Sword Venerable slowly raised his gaze toward the endless heavens above the Mortal World, beyond the Outer Void, beyond the Lower Realm itself.

Those ancient eyes seemed to pierce through endless space and the dimensional barrier itself.

After a long silence, he finally softly spoke once more.

"But it should not be far away anymore."

Tian Yun’s pupils faintly contracted.

The Sword Venerable continued calmly,

"We have at most another five hundred years to prepare, and I... do not have that much time left."

At the moment those words were spoken, the entire summit suddenly fell deathly silent.

Tian Yun’s breath stilled at these words, but he decided not to ask anything regarding that final sentence, shifting the topic.

"It has been pushed forward too early this time... is it because of the unprecedented variables in this era?"

There was an extremely faint, chilling killing intent in his voice.

The Sword Venerable nodded heavily and said no more.

The killing intent in Tian Yun’s eyes retracted, replaced by that ethereal, transcendent demeanor.

"It should be the Ancestral Heavenly Family manipulating things from behind the scene, isn’t it?"

Hearing these words, the Sword Venerable shook his head without hesitation, speaking calmly, "The Ancestral Heavenly Family does not have that much authority. Tian Yongheng’s matter was just the final fuse that ignited the fire; even if he hadn’t annihilated the Great Tian Immortal Family, something else would have become that fuse."

Tian Yun fell silent at these words, closing his eyes to think.

So it was bound to happen in the end.

Tian Yun slowly opened his eyes once more.

Then he quietly looked toward the distant Eastern Continent.

If given five hundred more years...

How much could that one grow?

How far could he go in this limited time?

At this moment, the Sword Venerable suddenly spoke once more.

"This era... will not remain peaceful for much longer."

Above the summit, clouds silently drifted past the endless sky.

Far away, the Heaven and Earth Immortal Sword Intent continued surging between heaven and earth like a sign of a coming storm.