Chapter 1557: Thousand Mound Tomb

A slight pain shot through Lu Ye's mind, and he frowned.

It was undeniable that comprehending the Azure Mantis's legacy would not be easy. Since the mantis used dual blades, Lu Ye would need to find a second blade if he truly wished to understand its inheritance.

Having never used dual blades in his cultivation journey so far, Lu Ye was completely inexperienced in this regard. A hasty attempt would not only fail to boost his strength but might even impede him.

However, to comprehend the legacy left by the Azure Mantis, he had no choice but to try. Failing to pass its test would mean missing out on the opportunity to learn from the more senior predecessors who followed.

However, a question soon occurred to him: his presence in the Azure Hall was merely a manifestation of a wisp of his spiritual sense, not his actual physical body. The Crag Blade hadn't been brought in by him either; it had simply appeared on him. Even if he found another long blade, could he actually bring it into the Azure Hall?

Despite his doubts, he knew he had to try.

He had numerous storage rings he had collected, some from the Mist Dragon, and others that Li Shang had obtained from insect cultivators. He hadn't bothered to examine them before, but now he had no choice but to check if they contained any blade-type treasures.

He took out the storage rings and opened them one by one. The insect cultivators' rings generally held nothing of value, just an assortment of trivial items.

In contrast, the storage rings retrieved from the Mist Dragon yielded many valuable treasures for Lu Ye, including a significant amount of spirit jade and spirit crystals.

He actually found a blade!

Lu Ye pulled out the blade and examined it carefully, a hint of surprise on his face.

The blade was remarkably long, over half again the length of the Crag Blade. It had no scabbard, and despite being stored in a ring for an unknown number of years, showed no signs of decay.

Furthermore, when Lu Ye attempted to infuse spiritual power into it, there was no reaction whatsoever.

This item... it might just be a Dharma Artifact-grade long blade!

The cultivation levels of the cultivators trapped within the Mist Dragon were impossible to ascertain, but just by observing Ya Ya, it was clear that the Mist Dragon was a stellar wonder capable of disorienting even Sun-grade cultivators. Thus, it wouldn't be unusual for other Moon-grade or Sun-grade cultivators to have been trapped there, and finding Dharma Artifact-grade treasures in their storage rings was hardly surprising.

This Dharma Artifact-grade long blade had a peculiar shape; it looked like a gigantic tusk, broken off from the mouth of some fierce beast. Lu Ye then examined the hilt, finding a symbol carved there. Upon closer inspection, he vaguely discerned that it was the character for 'tooth'.

The Fang Blade!

With dual blades in hand, Lu Ye wasted no time. He immersed his consciousness once more, reappearing in the Azure Hall.

He immediately looked at his left hand, and was somewhat dumbfounded. The Fang Blade had not been brought in with him; his left hand, which had just been gripping it, was empty.

How was he supposed to manage this?

Since comprehending the Azure Mantis's dual-blade technique required two blades, and he only had the Crag Blade, with no way to bring in a second blade, how could he possibly comprehend it? He couldn't seriously use the Crag Blade's scabbard, could he?

While he was still contemplating his helplessness, the Azure Mantis launched its attack without the slightest delay. Just like the first time, its body spun, and its dual blades continuously struck down, gaining speed and power. Lu Ye found it increasingly difficult to resist. He tried using the Crag Blade's scabbard as a second blade, but it always felt awkward and unnatural to wield.

Within moments, the Azure Mantis forced him out of the Azure Hall.

Lu Ye felt a headache coming on. What lay before him seemed like an unsolvable dilemma. When his consciousness entered the Azure Hall, only the Crag Blade would manifest. Without a second blade, he couldn't comprehend the Azure Mantis's legacy, and without comprehending it, he wouldn't be able to witness the heroic stances of the subsequent predecessors.

It seemed he could only grudgingly use the Crag Blade's scabbard as a substitute for the second blade, but Lu Ye had just tried it and realized it was not a wise choice.

As he pondered, Lu Ye's eyes suddenly lit up. He seemed to have overlooked something. If that particular item could be brought into the Azure Hall, then his current problem would be easily resolved.

Since his consciousness could immerse itself and manifest within the Azure Hall, and the Crag Blade had already been projected inside, it stood to reason that this other item would also have been projected. He had simply overlooked it all this time.

With this thought, Lu Ye rested briefly before entering the Azure Hall once more.

This time, before the Azure Mantis could even make a move, Lu Ye looked down at his Crag Blade. Then, with a thought, he reached out, and another long blade materialized in his grasp.

The Soul-Slaying Blade!

This treasure, obtained from the Heavenly Secret Treasury of Kyushu, was a soul artifact. It possessed the unique ability to merge with any weapon and could even change its shape at will. Lu Ye had always used it to construct enchantments within the Crag Blade's body, enhancing its transformative power.

It now appeared that the Soul-Slaying Blade could indeed manifest within this Azure Hall. With this discovery, Lu Ye finally had two blades at his disposal!

With a thought, he swiftly transformed the Soul-Slaying Blade into the likeness of the Fang Blade. He reasoned that if he were to truly master dual-blade techniques, he would undoubtedly rely on the Fang Blade in future combat. Familiarizing himself with its various characteristics beforehand would naturally allow him to unleash its full power.

No sooner had he finished, than the Azure Mantis lunged forward.

Although Lu Ye still didn't last very long this time, he could finally begin proper cultivation, filling him with joy.

Later that day, as Lu Ye's consciousness withdrew from the Azure Hall, he heard Li Shang announce, "The Thousand Mounds are straight ahead."

Upon hearing this, Lu Ye looked up and indeed saw a vast expanse of pink stretching before him. These pink formations were scattered throughout the starry sky, looking like clusters of pink cotton candy at first glance. Their origins were unknown, as was how long they would endure.

However, the shapes of these pink nebulae were quite peculiar; each resembled a burial mound, which was precisely how the name "Thousand Mounds" came about.

This was a stellar wonder, though unlike most, its individual nebula mounds were extremely scattered, despite covering several star systems. Therefore, while it was a stellar wonder, there wasn't significant danger as long as one simply navigated through without entering the nebula mounds themselves.

Ya Ya climbed onto Lu Ye's head, gazing at the pink nebulae with joyous cheers, seemingly delighted.

"Truly magnificent!" Lu Ye gazed quietly. The starry sky offered a myriad of diverse landscapes, and such a spectacular scene was rarely witnessed within a realm. Even powerful Sun-grade cultivators would feel their own insignificance in the face of such a stellar wonder.

However, the Reincarnation Tree's star chart indicated that while the Thousand Mounds held no specific dangers, approaching the pink nebulae was strictly forbidden. These formations possessed an extremely mysterious and inexplicable strangeness that a Star-grade cultivator like Lu Ye could not possibly contend with.

Lu Ye didn't know what strange properties these nebulae held, but he certainly wouldn't risk trying to find out.

"Whose home are we going to, yours or mine?" Li Shang couldn't help but roll her eyes at him. Since they had set out on the return journey, piloting the star-skiff had mostly fallen to her. What's more, while she navigated, Lu Ye was almost always in a state of meditative cultivation. If not for Ya Ya keeping her company, the journey would have been utterly boring.

Lu Ye felt a flush of embarrassment. He realized he was indeed in the wrong; after all, it was his journey home, and treating Li Shang as mere labor was certainly not right. He quickly produced a generous amount of Soul Refining Grass, placed it into a storage ring, and offered it with both hands: "Fellow Daoist, you've truly worked hard!"

Li Shang hummed softly, "Now that's more like it."

It wasn't that she genuinely sought benefits from Lu Ye, but she simply couldn't refuse the Soul Refining Grass. It was immensely useful to her, so she accepted it readily, and her mood brightened considerably.

The star-skiff entered the Thousand Mounds' domain, navigating among the mound-like pink nebulae. Lu Ye refrained from entering the Azure Hall again. Although the Reincarnation Tree's star chart provided guidance, he felt it was always best to err on the side of caution.

He used this time to familiarize himself with the Fang Blade. For a weapon master to fully unleash their weapon's power, it typically required tempering through countless life-or-death situations. Take the Crag Blade, for instance; it had accompanied Lu Ye since his weakest days, achieving a profound human-blade unity with him. This allowed Lu Ye to wield the Crag Blade with his full strength, but he felt somewhat ill at ease with other long blades.

The Fang Blade was specifically for comprehending the Azure Mantis's blade techniques; it wasn't Lu Ye's primary weapon. There weren't many opportunities for life-and-death tempering at the moment, and furthermore, since it was a Dharma Artifact, achieving human-blade unity with it wouldn't be simple.

So Lu Ye devised a clever method, a common practice among many weapon masters when acquiring new armaments: every few days, he would infuse a drop of his own essence blood into the blade. This would allow the Fang Blade to familiarize itself with his aura, enabling him to wield it as effortlessly as an extension of his own arm when the time came.

According to the star chart's annotations, traversing the Thousand Mounds' covered area would take at least three months.

The journey was peaceful. Given the sparse distribution of the mound-like nebulae, the star-skiff rarely needed to alter its course. On the few occasions it did, they simply had to steer clear of the mounds in advance.

Over a month passed quickly. One day, as the star-skiff sailed along, Ya Ya suddenly pointed excitedly in a certain direction, exclaiming, "Daddy, look!"

Lu Ye looked in the direction she was pointing. Initially, he saw nothing unusual, but as they drew closer, a closer look made him recoil in awe.

In that direction, atop one of the mound-like nebulae, stood a gigantic bird.

Each mound-like nebula within the Thousand Mounds was the size of a star, yet this colossal bird stood upon one as if it were merely a bird's nest.

The bird's sheer colossal size was unlike anything Lu Ye had ever witnessed. Its entire body was azure, and he wondered if it was a stellar beast.

At that very moment, the azure bird was using its sharp talons to prod at the pink nebula, seemingly searching for something within.

As it prodded, the pink nebula writhed and shifted as if alive. From time to time, pink tentacles lashed out from within the nebula, striking at the azure bird with formidable power, enough to shatter stars and moons.