The ordinary Sword-Nurturing Technique relied on one's life essence to nourish the sword core. In comparison, the method used to nurture a sword soul was far more intricate. After all, the sword soul had to be grown within a sword core that had already fused with one's flesh and blood.

A sword soul was not the same as a sword spirit. It was neither spiritual in nature nor a tangible existence.

Xu Zhongliang spent half a day explaining, yet Wang Sheng only managed to grasp fragments of it. He had a vague sense of understanding, but it remained indistinct.

In simple terms, it was like separating a portion of the power of one's Primordial Spirit and shaping it into a sword soul. That would then be nurtured with bloodline power and the Primordial Spirit's strength until it gradually took form.

Xu Zhongliang didn't hold back. He passed on the complete method of nurturing the sword soul to Wang Sheng.

Even so, the technique clearly required long, patient effort. Wang Sheng would have to nurture his sword soul according to the method while still deepening his understanding of its principles.

Once he successfully formed a sword soul, the power of his Sword-Controlling Art would increase by at least fifty percent.

More importantly, in battle, he would no longer have to divide his attention to control his flying swords. A flying sword infused with a sword soul would move like an extension of his own limbs. With enough practice, they could even form sword formations on their own.

After revealing the instruction, Xu Zhongliang invited Wang Sheng for a walk along the shore again. This time, he spoke little about the Dao of the Sword and instead chatted casually about various matters.

When Wang Sheng steered the conversation toward Ziwei, Xu Zhongliang fell silent for a moment. A trace of sorrow appeared on his expression, though it soon gave way to a relieved smile.

"His Imperial Majesty's death... was truly not worth it."

"Senior, could you tell me more?" Wang Sheng asked. "I have heard many versions of the story, but I would rather hear it from someone who stood by his side back then."

"What is there to talk about?"

Xu Zhongliang lightly tapped his belt, took out a flask, and handed it to Wang Sheng. The two continued their stroll as they drank.

"Most of what you have heard is probably how he chose to face death in the end. He held back the invading experts of the Immortal Saint Realm so the rest of us, who were already on the verge of defeat, could escape."

Xu Zhongliang paused and glanced at Wang Sheng, who was nodding along and listening attentively.

"Do you know what his final words were?"

"I do not," Wang Sheng admitted.

Xu Zhongliang smiled. "Take a guess. If you are close, I will give you a set of top-grade flying swords."

"In that case, I will not hold back," Wang Sheng said with a grin. After thinking for a moment, he answered, "Everyone, flee and survive if you can. Even if the Heavenly Court falls, so be it."

Xu Zhongliang could not help but laugh. "Did someone tell you that already? I did not expect his successor to trick a poor scholar like me out of his treasured artifact."

Wang Sheng shrugged. "I just feel like that's something he would say. It would lessen the killing intent of those opposing the Heavenly Court while also warning everyone not to act recklessly."

Xu Zhongliang shook his head and took out a bamboo tube from his belt. Inside were twelve silver-white sword cores, each radiating an unmatched sharpness.

Forged spiritual treasures?

Every flying sword in this set was a forged spiritual treasure, and they had not even been nurtured or infused with a sword soul yet.

In the hands of an expert like Xu Zhongliang, saying they could rival natural spiritual treasures would truly not be an exaggeration!

Wang Sheng was startled. He quickly handed the set back and muttered, "Senior, this gift is too valuable. I do not usually refuse gifts from my seniors, but I truly cannot accept this."

Xu Zhongliang smiled. "Just take it. I rarely rely on Sword-Controlling Art in battle now. Although I still walk the Dao of the Sword, most of my focus has shifted to formations. Moreover, though I spent quite a bit of effort refining this set of flying swords some time ago, I never actually got to use them. I originally intended to pass them on to my disciples, but after comparing them, I realized only your Dao of the Sword would do them justice."

Instead of arguing further, Wang Sheng accepted the set. Considering he needed to grow stronger right now, these flying swords came at just the right time.

"You can give them a name," Xu Zhongliang suggested.

Wang Sheng thought for a moment. "Um... I will call them the God Slayers. It suits the moment."

Xu Zhongliang clicked his tongue. "Sounds a bit plain. I was thinking of something with 'Bamboo' or 'Leaf.'"

Wang Sheng could only smile embarrassingly.

He really was not good with names. Fighting and killing suited him far better.

***

Xu Zhongliang's generous gift made Wang Sheng feel a surge of joy, though it soon faded.

New swords always brought delight. Old ones were always quietly replaced.

After deciding to keep Flying Haze, he laid several Flying Clouds before him, gave them a respectful salute, and sighed quietly. Fortunately, they had not yet evolved into true spiritual treasures and had not developed even the faintest trace of awareness.

He wanted to reclaim the Spiritual Dawnlight he had once infused into them. For a moment, he even considered melting the Flying Clouds to retrieve it.

However, after trying with one sword, he quickly abandoned the idea. It was nothing more than wishful thinking. In the end, he reverted the Flying Clouds into sword cores and stored them in a corner of his Qiankun Ring.

Afterward, with Yaoyun watching from the side, Wang Sheng sat in a corner of the palace and refined the twelve God Slayers.

Whether forged or natural, spiritual treasures were spiritual treasures. Each one was sentient, complete with its own temperament and thoughts.

Since Xu Zhongliang had given these twelve swords to Wang Sheng, they acknowledged him as their master. Even so, they still required time to accept him. They would not immediately respond to him like the little cyan dragon within the Dragon Sword.

Wang Sheng had no intention of using Spiritual Dawnlight on the God Slayers yet. Since the swords themselves were already extremely powerful, infusing them with it would only make them harder to nurture.

Only after he had fully subdued, achieved a mental connection with, and grown sword souls within them would he use Spiritual Dawnlight to make them go through another transformation.

Once he reached the Golden Immortal Realm, or perhaps the Taiyi Golden Immortal Realm, this set of forged spiritual treasures could even evolve into supreme treasures.

Wang Sheng concluded that this was likely the highest quality of flying swords he would ever obtain. After all, the founder of the Sword-Nurturing Technique himself had carefully forged them. Using Spiritual Dawnlight on them later would not be a loss.

***

In another corner of the palace, Mu Wanxuan had just finished meditating. She stretched lazily, her movements soft and relaxed. She glanced over at him, then went to the sacred pool to freshen up.

Her mood seemed especially good. She hummed a joyous tune as she slipped into the pool. Soon, she appeared again on the side closer to Wang Sheng, resting her arms along the edge and watching what he was doing.

Yaoyun walked over and soon sat by the pool with her feet in the water, chatting with Mu Wanxuan.

Upon noticing them, Wang Sheng simply smiled and then lowered his head, resuming his work on the flying swords.

Will I really be able to spend the next three hundred years here with my senior sister? That wouldn't be bad at all... 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

The thought was a little selfish, but three hundred years in the endless space would only be three years back on Earth. Taking three years off to stay with his wife sounded reasonable enough.

Besides, he was not entirely free to choose his path right now. Staying here with his senior sister while on the run was already more than he could ask for.

Still, these three hundred years would not be easy.

Wang Sheng looked at the silver-white sword cores before him and quietly breathed out. He set aside the ones he had already refined and picked up another flying sword.

***

Time passed, and the river of stars continued to turn.

As always, good times slipped through Wang Sheng's fingers in the blink of an eye. He never expected that he would truly spend one decade after another together with his senior sister.

The endless space entered a period of unrest as the major factions of the Immortal Saint Realm intensified their search for the sacred spirit. The same forces that had destroyed the Heavenly Court now felt a growing unease.

The sacred spirit foretold since the Ancient Era, the Heavenly Court's members that they hadn't wiped out yet, and the various powerful beings connected to it all became sources of concern.

What unsettled them the most was someone's deduction that Qinghua, the ruler of death, could resolve the Five Heavenly Declines. Many powerful figures grew uneasy, sensing that more survivors of the Heavenly Court would soon reappear.

And that was exactly what happened. Amid nonstop turmoil, the endless space welcomed another sweeping chapter of upheaval.

Kui Mulang, one of the Twenty-Eight Constellations, appeared without warning.

A few years later, twelve True Gods of the Lightning Division joined forces to set up a heavenly lightning formation and ambushed several Grand Dao Golden Immortals.

Before the disturbances could settle, several former generals of the Heavenly Court secretly led tens of thousands of celestial soldiers into the Immortal Saint Realm. They attacked a garrison of the Black Emperor, then withdrew without leaving a trace.

Events like these became too numerous to count. More and more experts of the Heavenly Court revealed themselves.

Moreover, news about the sacred spirit spread across the Immortal Saint Realm and the four great sky regions. When the Heaven-Scouring Grand Array locked onto Wang Sheng, his mastery over the Dao of the Sword was exposed. It also revealed that he was only at the early stage of the Heavenly Immortal Realm.

Rumors continued to spread from unknown sources, though, claiming that he was growing stronger at an astonishing pace. One day, he was just at the early stage; the other, he was said to have already reached the late stage of the Heavenly Immortal Realm. Soon after, people heard that he was already ascending to the Golden Immortal Realm.

These accounts were a mix of truth and falsehood, yet all were told with convincing detail.

For a time, the name of the sacred spirit from the Ancient Era—Wang Fei Yu—grew ever more famous. It became one of the most discussed topics in the turbulent, endless space.

All of this was naturally part of the God-Slaying Plan.

The only one who could rival Wang Sheng in this regard was Qinghua, with his relentless record of battles.

The emperor was truly ruthless.

For over two hundred years, he was always either on his way to ambush experts of the Immortal Saint Realm or already in the middle of it.

He had personally destroyed dozens of great immortal sects that had once led the charge against the Heavenly Court. Wherever the Emperor of Death passed, nothing was left alive.

When the Great Dao of Death descended, even reincarnation was bypassed. After all, there was nothing left to reincarnate. It reduced the burden on the Nether Realm by quite a bit.

Many powerful figures had no choice but to join forces. They secluded themselves nearby and set up layers of arrays. Even when their disciples were slaughtered, they could only bear with it.

Under the pressure that Qinghua imposed, the former forces that opposed the Heavenly Court quietly joined together once more.

In a recent battle, hundreds of experts successfully set an ambush for him. Although the Great Dao of Death was formidable, he was still outnumbered. Qinghua was beaten until he coughed up blood and was forced to flee.

Fortunately, he embodied death itself; he did not fear it.

While escaping, he casually captured several Taiyi Golden Immortals, killed them, and absorbed their death energy. After a few decades of recovery, he returned to his peak condition.

This, too, was part of the God-Slaying Plan.

By ordinary reasoning, applying steady pressure and forcing the enemy to unite again would not seem like a good strategy.

But Xu Zhongliang had always thought differently.

Once, perhaps twice, alliances could hold. By the third time, cracks would deepen. The conflicts between them would grow sharper, and the points that could be exploited would become increasingly clear.