Chapter 1932: Dream Chant

"Sword God Gu Louying, Divine Sword Feng Wuchen, the Nine Great Sword Saints..."

"My heavens, they've all been invited! Ah—"

"Am I dreaming? Ba Zun'an is incredibly powerful!"

One after another, free-spirited sword cultivators materialized in mid-air, a sight that made hearts race with excitement.

There were those from ancient times, from the Middle Ages, and from the present era... their strengths varied, but all were powerful individuals who had cultivated the ancient sword dao to at least the second realm.

Gu Qing'er gazed at Luo Xian, one of the Nine Sword Saints, who bore a sword wheel on his back in the high sky. He was so excited he could barely speak, grabbing his third junior brother's shoulder and bouncing frantically.

Luo Xian was the only true god in the hearts of every sword cultivator who practiced the Nine Swords Technique, second only to Sword God Gu Louying.

His position in the history of the Nine Swords Technique was equivalent to Hua Wuyang's in the Illusionary Swords Technique.

However, legends about Luo Xian were rare in the Five Domains, and there wasn't even a portrait of him; he was relatively niche.

Yet, anyone who had visited the Sword Tomb, explored the Immortal City of Canyue, or discussed swords with the Feng Family in the Southern Domain...

Truly dedicated individuals would definitely know Luo Xian.

And it was precisely this "niche" Nine Sword Saint whom Ba Zun'an had also invited, bringing him back through "Great Dream of a Thousand Autumns" and the imprints on famous swords.

There were many others who showed similar reactions to Gu Qing'er.

Gu Qing'er completely forgot the pain of his senior brother being kidnapped, and also forgot the pain of his second junior brother almost dislocating his shoulder.

His scorching gaze was fixed on three figures among the Nine Great Sword Saints—two men and one woman—who possessed extraordinary auras. Yes, he saw three of them.

Chao Zhi Dao, the Way of No Sword, had appeared. He loved it.

His favorite, Feng Chengxue of the Heart Sword Technique, was also alive. His story was so touching.

Long Wan'er of the Love Sword Technique was just a name in the Sword Tomb, but when she appeared vividly in mid-air with her graceful and ethereal immortal posture... Gu Qing'er also fell in love with her. It was a belated love, but not too late.

"Ahhh, they're all famous people, famous people!"

His mouth was agape, making meaningless sounds, too excited to control himself.

Not just the Nine Great Sword Saints, but also various figures materialized by Ba Zun'an's "Great Dream of a Thousand Autumns" from famous swords of various eras, divine swords with ancient markings, and other swords from the Sword Tomb and lost throughout the lands.

"Suoyi Ke, another famous sword cultivator after the era of the Sword God, a master of the Pointing Dao Collection. 'For Stopping' was his concept, and he was the first wielder of the Divine Staff!" Someone focused on a wanderer in a coir raincape in mid-air.

"Is that... the patriarch of the lost Taiyi Dao Palace, Taiyi Shangren? Yes, it's him! I've seen the collection of wielder portraits from the Sword Tomb, and he looks seventy percent similar to that sketch—Dao Sword, the first wielder of the Taiyi Shengshui Sword!" An ancient sword cultivator recognized the figure in black-purple Daoist robes, who seemed out of place.

"Look quickly, the one with the green dragon horn on his head... Sacred Emperor's might! He must be Ling Zang from the Dragon Ancestor era, and he's holding the Dragon Sword Qinglin Ji!" Even the first wielder of the Qinglin Ji was recognized.

People had different preferences and pursuits.

Some sought those higher up on the list of famous swords.

Naturally, there were also those who preferred the niche, especially among ancient sword cultivators who enjoyed "finding alternative paths."

People from the ancient Sword God era, their names were called out one by one.

Those who were famous in the Middle Ages and left a significant mark in history were also recognized.

Among the ancient sword cultivators of the current era, there were naturally also those with high attainments in the ancient sword dao. In fact, compared to the former two, their reputations and deeds were even more widely known, as they were closer to the present time.

"Old Gu! It's Gu Yu!"

A resounding cry drew everyone's attention, and then their faces showed disbelief.

In the void, an old man with white hair appeared. He had a gentle expression, stood silently in mid-air, and surveyed the surrounding sword cultivators with a dazed look.

The Meizi Yu in his hand, merely a second-grade spiritual sword, appeared as ordinary as he was among the many famous swords and divine artifacts.

But he was too eye-catching!

Even among the nine great sword saint disciples under the Sword God, only about half of those who appeared had mysterious shimmering light around them.

Old Gu had it too!

This indicated that he had once opened the Door of Profundity with his sword.

Even if the outcome was failure, that boldness and courage were enough to rank him among the top in the history of the ancient sword dao.

"Wuwu..." Many cultivators who had received Gu Yu's benevolence looked at him with tears in their eyes:

"Old Gu, the golden age of sword dao you wished for, the scenery beyond the Door of Profundity you yearned for..."

"Ba Zun'an has presented it to you!"

Old Gu and Meizi Yu had arrived, also joining this grand sword dao feast.

The ancient sword cultivators of the Five Domains were moved to tears. The meaning of the Sword Tomb's existence was to remember history, and this was that moment.

And like Old Gu, there were countless others in the void with dazed expressions.

The "Meizi Yu" figures re-enacted the persistence and resilience left on the continent by these ancient sword cultivators who had once pursued the Dao.

And some people, some swords, even if the person was gone and the sword was destroyed in the end, were restored in this "Great Dream of a Thousand Autumns."

"Not just Old Gu, brothers, look, who is that?"

"That sword! A female sword! Isn't this 'Xingyue Gezhe'? I've seen it on Void Island..."

A somewhat unfamiliar sword name.

A year ago, no one paid attention to it.

But today, a year later, the first-grade spiritual sword Xingyue Gezhe, which had shattered itself to protect its wielder in the Yunlun Mountain Range, was sung about by the world.

And now, Xingyue Gezhe's sword body was blurry, clearly with only a tiny bit of spiritual essence, yet it had also been summoned...

"It's the Sword Tomb!"

"The Sword Tomb has the characteristic of collecting spiritual essence from broken swords and reshaping their bodies through nourishment. Xingyue Gezhe was collected, but hasn't fully recovered yet..."

"But, Xingyue Gezhe's wielder has returned!"

That graceful and peerless figure, merely revealing a back as white as jade, was enough for someone to recognize who she was.

"Rao Yaoyao!"

"Fairy Rao, has she also returned?"

"Wuwu, my youth, my Fairy Rao, that damnable Xu Xiaoshou..."

Once the red-clothed Dao Master, the proud daughter of the Wurao Emperor Realm, the only female sword immortal among the Seven Sword Immortals, the top swordswoman on the List of Peerless Beauties...

Rao Yaoyao and Xingyue Gezhe, with just one glance, captivated half of the Saint God Continent with their charm.

All those who had left their mark in the history of ancient sword dao, and who would become legends in its future, had been invited.

They, or he, spanned from ancient times to the present, perhaps their bodies perished and spirits vanished, but the "heritage" they left behind remained undying.

The Five Domains had experienced countless epochs and changed countless dynasties.

The legacies left by the Dragon Ancestor, Medicine Ancestor, War Ancestor, Art Ancestor, and others had long disappeared.

Only the ancient sword dao of the Sword Ancestor had remained undying in every epoch, with a few individuals emerging in every era who went against the current. Why?

Because the "heritage" left by the Sword Ancestor was never a by-the-book "ancient sword dao," but rather the unique "spirit" belonging to ancient sword cultivators.

Romantic, rebellious, freedom undying, ancient sword dao undying, ancient sword cultivators eternal!

"This one sword..."

The ancient sword cultivators of the Five Domains fell into a frenzy, but Hua Changdeng, this ancient sword cultivator, was excluded.

It wasn't due to the unstable state of his Dao Harmony; Hua Changdeng was truly captivated and stunned by this scene, causing his thoughts to fluctuate and his Dao heart to surge.

Once upon a time, he was also an ancient sword cultivator!

It was said that the ultimate meaning of the Illusionary Swords Technique was "Great Illusion, No Emptiness; Great Thought, As Usual," which was the sword dao of Illusionary Sword Saint Hua Wuyang.

Yet, Ba Zun'an was able to push it half a step further beyond this extreme, entering a thousand autumns with a dream, witnessing eternal excellence.

The sword "Great Dream of a Thousand Autumns" not only created dreams, but also deeply understood the essence of the Illusionary Swords Technique: reality within illusion, illusion within reality, without losing its romantic nature. It used the most circuitous yet direct way to invite ancient sword cultivators from past and present who had left their imprints on the continent, in their strongest forms!

Perhaps, each of them, even if the Sword Ancestor himself struck in a dream, might not necessarily be able to harm themselves, who were also ancestral gods.

But by gathering sand into a tower and collecting fur to make a robe, if one sword wasn't enough, what about thousands of swords? If one person wasn't enough, what about thousands of people?

In a trance, the white-clothed immortal reappeared in the dream.

Ba Zun'an no longer stood on a sea of swords, but among thousands upon thousands of sword cultivators, holding Xianshang Qingju. He smiled freely, his voice echoing across the Five Domains:

"Gentlemen, listen to the sword's chant!"

At this moment, the Saint God Continent was utterly silent.

The Sword Ancestor turned around, looked at Hua Changdeng, and with a tremor of Xuan Cang in his hand, a pillar of heaven descended, with divine might pressing down.

"Om!"

Xuan Cang, Heavenly Annihilation!

Divine Sword Feng Wuchen stopped his nagging, looked at Hua Changdeng, and with a flick of his Zhuiyue, a long wind soared ten thousand li, the white-clothed figure pursued the moon and plucked stars.

"Om!"

Zhuiyue, Heavenly Annihilation!

Illusionary Sword Saint Hua Wuyang, Nine Sword Saint Luo Xian, Long Wan'er, Feng Chengxue, Xiao Hei...

Suoyi Ke, Taiyi Shangren, Ling Zang...

Gu Yu, Rao Yaoyao...

Every ancient sword cultivator turned their heads to stare at Hua Changdeng, and then poured their entire spirit and will into their long-accompanying cherished swords.

"Om嗡嗡嗡!"

"Clang clang clang clang!

The sound of sword chants resounded across the Five Domains, continuous and surging.

Wave after wave, a frenzy of Heavenly Annihilation.

The spectators below covered their mouths and noses, their eyes wide with shock.

Within the fray, Hua Changdeng's expression was one of terror and dread, his scalp tingling.

Tens of thousands of swords undergoing Heavenly Annihilation, from famous divine swords down to third-grade and sixth-grade swords, even if they only possessed meager power, the summoned ancient sword cultivators contributed them without reservation, giving their all.

Huan Ji Wan, Mo Wuxin, Gui Cangqing...

Sword technique variations, sword move variations, the Heavenly Annihilation imagery was diverse and dazzling.

One technique after another, one Dao after another, a hundred forms of ancient sword cultivators, a hundred forms of ancient sword techniques, known and unknown, all struck at Hua Changdeng's body, spirit, and will.

Ancestor Hua?

Under the sword dao torrent of "Great Dream of a Thousand Autumns," amidst the resounding sword chants of Heavenly Annihilation that spanned ancient and modern times, Hua Changdeng was instantly disintegrated into countless fragments, torn into their respective Heavenly Annihilation imageries.

The one on his left had to deal with the Bagua Dao Palace diagram of the Taiyi Shengshui Sword;

The one on his right was pulled into the past of mortal life by Xingyue Gezhe;

The one above felt loneliness amidst a city full of wind and snow;

The one below struggled to resist under a tide of murderous intent;

The four sides of him, after being forcibly split, showed signs of their power falling from the ancestral god realm.

But there were not just four Heavenly Annihilations, but thousands upon thousands.

From a single individual, Hua Changdeng was torn into tens of thousands of pieces, forced to use the smallest unit of power to deal with each ancient sword cultivator's strongest Heavenly Annihilation stance.

"What a 'Great Dream of a Thousand Autumns'!"

Gou Wuyue's palms grew cold. This was truly "profundity."

Ba Zun'an entered the Dao through dreams, showing the ancient sword cultivators of the Five Domains what true "illusion" was.

This was the clearest manifestation of the Dao moving from emptiness to reality, rather than a Sword Ancestor emerging after opening the Door of Profundity, chatting for a bit, and then closing the door and returning.

"If this sword were used against me..."

Gou Wuyue merely put himself in Hua Changdeng's shoes as the target of the attack, and his soul began to tremble.

It was too profound.

The artistic conception of this sword was truly extraordinary.

Even if one were an ancestral god, acting without desire under the rules, could they withstand the self-shredding of the "Great Dream of a Thousand Autumns"? And after that?

Could the self that survived, after enduring "differentiation," still find its identity?

This was true for him.

And it was also true for Hua Changdeng.

Moreover, Ancestor Hua, in an unstable state of Dao Harmony, feared this kind of self-splitting attack the most!

"Ba Zun'an is not just fighting Hua Changdeng; he's also striking at his 'discernment of self' pain point..."

Visibly, under various Heavenly Annihilation imageries, Hua Changdeng's face rapidly changed from rosy to pale.

He clearly stood still, yet everyone could imagine what the recipient of the sword must be experiencing under this ancient and modern sword chant.

It was pain!

Unimaginable pain!

"Boom—"

The Hundred Ghost Altar burst into points of light, not shattering, but transforming into thousands of streams of light, entering thousands of Hua Changdeng's dream worlds, protecting his body, spirit, and will.

Immediately after, the three Ghost Swords of the Sword Ghost vibrated simultaneously, splitting and disintegrating, also entering the dream in a protective manner to ward off the myriad swords of Heavenly Annihilation.

"Mortal form, sword suppressing Ancestral God."

Just this scene alone elevated the words "Eighth Sword Immortal" to a divine altar in the hearts of the cultivators of the Five Domains, making it difficult to ever bring them down.

The pressure of fighting beyond one's level was far more shocking than crushing an opponent of the same realm after becoming an Ancestral God.

It was like an instant, and yet like eternity.

Suddenly, at a certain moment, Ancestor Hua's body stiffened and he staggered back half a step.

From within his body, a huge phantom of a black-robed grim reaper was actually shaken out, and immediately, demonic energy exploded around him.

"Dao Harmony failed?"

Gou Wuyue's pupils widened.

This was too astonishing. Was Hua Changdeng going to die under the "Great Dream of a Thousand Autumns," die from a Dao Harmony backlash?

The Five Domains were equally shocked, but they had underestimated the might of an Ancestral God.

The demonic energy only lasted for a moment, and the grim reaper's phantom returned into his body. Hua Changdeng, within the "Great Dream of a Thousand Autumns," suddenly opened his eyes, his aura returning:

"Spirit Ghost, summon!"

He roared, enduring the tearing of the myriad swords of Heavenly Annihilation while summoning back the Spirit Ghost from the three Ghost Sword intents.

Then, with a burst of sword light from his eyes, after the Spirit Ghost's power condensed, he sliced through time with a single sword, soaring into the past.

"Cut!"

This earth-shattering word woke everyone from their dream.

"Great Dream of a Thousand Autumns," was it interrupted?

The cultivators of the Five Domains looked up. In the real world, the River of Forgetfulness still protected Hua Changdeng, blocking Ba Zun'an's breakthrough.

And in the previous timeline...

Just as Ba Zun'an was about to step into the River of Forgetfulness and open the Door of Profundity with his sword, the Spirit Ghost suddenly shot out from the long river of time.

"Cut!"

A command in the dream, a word from the Spirit Elm, echoed in response.

That Spirit Ghost, one of the three Ghost Swords, had actually struck from the future of the "Great Dream of a Thousand Autumns" at Ba Zun'an before he had even unleashed the sword.

Realizing this, everyone's hearts trembled again.

"This is an Ancestral God!"

"No need for defense, but to nip the bud of danger in the cradle?"

The Spirit Ghost was too fast.

Just as everyone realized how difficult this sword move was.

Ba Zun'an also just reacted that in response to his sword that entered time through a dream, Hua Changdeng had countered with a sword that cut through time.

—Unexpected!

"Whoosh!"

A streak of spiritual light grazed his forehead.

Half of Ba Zun'an's face instantly turned black, a symbol of a piece of his soul being sliced away.

His strength was inferior to that of an Ancestral God, the "Great Dream of a Thousand Autumns" was in disarray, and various powers hidden within him were out of control...

Hua Changdeng was not in a good state, and Ba Zun'an was equally strained.

With this sword strike, most of his soul power was almost taken away, his entire body cracked, and he immediately spurted blood.

"Pfft!"

Falling snow stained red.

Under Fusan City, Yuegong Nu's face instantly turned ashen, as if she were the one struck by the sword, wishing she could rush forward and exchange injuries with him.

She did not act rashly. In such a battle, not to mention that she couldn't play any role.

If she went up, and Xiao Ba was distracted by her, it was possible he could perish instantly.

Cluck cluck!

Wuji also stood up straight, his crossed eyes staring intently.

Ba Zun'an's dream sword amazed Xu Xiaoshou. As expected, this guy had too many secrets. He hadn't written such a remarkable sword move, one that should be heavily emphasized, into his "Sword Observation Canon." He clearly held back.

And Hua Changdeng's response was equally imaginative and brilliantly clever.

"Indeed, for serious ancient sword cultivators like them, there is no defense."

"The strongest offense is the best defense..."

From Wuji Xu Xiaoshou's perspective, who possessed the super-Dao-transformed time Dao, the current battlefield time became two parallel lines, or rather, two scenes.

On one side, Ba Zun'an's "Great Dream of a Thousand Autumns" was still maintained, continuously disintegrating Hua Changdeng, attempting to break through his Dao Harmony state.

On the other side, Hua Changdeng's Spirit Ghost arrived first from behind, striking further ahead, wanting to stop Ba Zun'an from unleashing "Great Dream of a Thousand Autumns" prematurely.

These were contradictory!

Once one of them could no longer sustain it, the quantum entanglement state would end, the two timelines would merge into one, and there could only be one outcome:

Ba Zun'an dies, or Hua Changdeng perishes.

"Amazing, amazing."

Wuji Xu Xiaoshou, never in his cultivation career, had seen such a high-concept Dao confrontation. It was truly groundbreaking and an eye-opener.

He didn't even dare to ask if Ba Zun'an needed help. If he were distracted, Old Eight would surely lose.

In the midst of the battle, Ba Zun'an's unstable state before the "Great Dream of a Thousand Autumns" was most directly reflected in Hua Changdeng's slightly recovering state within the dream.

Strike while the iron is hot.

With the situation evolving to this point, no one dared to hold back, and Ancestor Hua was no exception.

"Do you truly think only you can summon external aid?"

While his own Dao Harmony was still in progress and his state was unstable, Hua Changdeng was not without powerful right-hand assistants.

And compared to the illusions in the dream, he could directly summon the most real existences.

Recalling a wisp of his mind, the will of Fengdu descended. Within the dream, Hua Changdeng issued a command:

"Soul Control Guishu, Kunpeng Sacrifice!"

As soon as the words fell, before the "Great Dream of a Thousand Autumns" sword was unleashed.

Within the curtain of the River of Forgetfulness, which was blocking Ba Zun'an's path and separating heaven and earth, another long, melodious and clear roar sounded, preventing him from stepping into the river:

"Woo—"

Under Fusan City, Yu Zhiwen, holding Wuji, who was originally in a normal state, suddenly felt his body temperature plummet, becoming incredibly cold.

Sacred Emperor's might!

Sacred Emperor Kunpeng's roar!

"Grandpa Yu...?"