Chapter 402: Chapter 402: Searching for the Divine Shadow Sword

Indeed, as Liao Zihong mentioned earlier, training for one day in the Dragon Blood Pond was equivalent to a month of arduous cultivation. After a day of training, Yang Xiaotian’s cultivation had greatly improved.

Moreover, Yang Xiaotian’s vitality and blood had expanded by hundreds of miles.

Although hundreds of miles of expansion was but a minor improvement for the current Yang Xiaotian, the fact that it happened in a single day was truly astonishing.

When Yang Xiaotian first consumed the Heavenly Dragon Divine Fruit, it took him two months to improve by five thousand miles, which averaged out to less than a hundred miles per day.

The moment Yang Xiaotian emerged from the Dragon Blood Pond, he heard many disciples from the academy discussing the billions of Yin Ghosts and Yin Souls around the Death Sword Tomb.

“Billions of Yin Ghosts and Yin Souls have appeared near the Death Sword Tomb; it might be the manipulation of a master from the Nether Sect!”

“Nether Sect!”

All the disciples showed a look of astonishment.

Upon hearing the discussions, Yang Xiaotian’s expression darkened.

Nether Sect?

He was certainly aware that the Nether Sect was founded by the Undefeated Underworld God.

It really was a time of continuous troubles. The Undying Death God had been gravely injured, and just when he thought the Azure God Continent could enjoy a few years of peace, people from the Nether Sect had reappeared.

The masters of the Nether Sect practiced the dark Cultivation Techniques of the Netherworld, manipulating Yin Ghosts and Yin Souls with cruel methods, instilling fear in all the sects of the Azure God Continent.

As soon as Yang Xiaotian returned to his peak, Lord Xi Long and Chen Jing came looking for him.

Both of them felt relieved when they saw Yang Xiaotian.

“Tomorrow, disciples from the Azure God Academy will go to the Death Sword Tomb for a trial,” Chen Jing said to Yang Xiaotian. “Friend Yang, if you do not wish to go, you can cultivate peacefully in the academy.”

He was worried that this trial would be fraught with danger and didn’t want Yang Xiaotian to come to harm.

Yang Xiaotian shook his head and said, “Since everyone is going, I will join them.” He knew Chen Jing meant well, but he did not want to be treated as an exception.

Xi Long, hearing this, nodded in approval and said with a smile, “If you need any resources for cultivation, you can take them from the Azure God Academy’s treasure vault. I have spoken to Chen Jing, and from now on, you will be allowed free access to the treasure vault of the Azure God Academy.”

Even esteemed elders of the Azure God Academy could not freely enter and leave its treasure vault—only Chen Jing had that privilege. Yet now, Xi Long had granted Yang Xiaotian the same access.

This clearly showed the importance the Azure God Academy and Xi Long placed on Yang Xiaotian, and the special treatment he received.

“Thank you, Lord Xi Long,” Yang Xiaotian expressed his gratitude with a fist salute.

Xi Long laughed and said, “If you need any cultivation resources that are not in the Azure God Academy’s treasure vault, you can also discuss it with me. I will check if the Divine Mansion treasure vault has them.”

Chen Jing’s mouth fell open in surprise.

A new disciple of the Azure God Academy being given access to the treasures of the Divine Mansion’s vault was truly unprecedented.

At these words, Yang Xiaotian’s interest was piqued, and he asked, “I wonder if the Divine Mansion’s treasure vault contains any Heavenly Tribulation Thunder Water and Divine Level Elixirs?”

This time, it was Xi Long’s turn to be agape in shock.

A bitter smile crossed Xi Long’s face as he said, “Heavenly Tribulation Thunder Water is exceedingly rare; even finding a single drop is difficult. Divine Level Elixirs are such that even the Mansion Master himself is hesitant to consume them for cultivation.”

Embarrassed, Yang Xiaotian scratched his head and said, “What about the remnants of Divine Medicines? I would like to have some remnants of Divine Medicines.”

He still needed two more Life God Fruits and required a large amount of Divine Medicine remnants.

“Divine Medicine remnants?” Xi Long asked, puzzled, not understanding why Yang Xiaotian would want them.

“Old Man Li Nian seems to have quite a lot of Divine Medicine remnants. If you need them, I’ll have someone send them to you when the time comes,” Xi Long offered.

The Li Nian he referred to was none other than the Medicine God Li Nian, one of the Four Gods of the Divine Mansion.

“Thank you, Lord Xi Long,” Yang Xiaotian quickly replied, expressing his thanks.

Xi Long smiled and said, “From now on, you don’t need to call me ‘Lord.’ Just call me ‘Brother Xi Long.'”

Chen Jing broke into a sweat. If Yang Xiaotian was to call Xi Long ‘Brother,’ what was he supposed to call Yang Xiaotian?

Grandpa Yang?

Or Senior Yang?

“I have matters to attend to at Azure God Mansion, so I will be returning soon,” Xi Long told Yang Xiaotian with solemnity. “Always remember to take good care of yourself no matter when or where you are.”

“Only by protecting yourself, can you protect your family in the future and guard the Azure God Continent.”

Yang Xiaotian nodded gravely in agreement.

Finally, Xi Long transformed into a sword light, breaking the sky as he left.

“Xiaotian, it seems I still have some Divine Medicine residue left. I’ll have someone send it over to you soon,” Chen Jing told Yang Xiaotian after Xi Long was gone.

Upon hearing this, Yang Xiaotian’s face lit up with joy, and he thanked Chen Jing.

Chen Jing waved his hand and laughed, “There’s no need for us to stand on ceremony with each other from now on.” He then left without disturbing Yang Xiaotian’s cultivation, vanishing into the sky.

True to his word, it wasn’t long before Chen Jing had his disciple, Zhou Ming, deliver a pile of Divine Medicine residue.

And there was a lot, nearly as much as Yang Xiaotian had before.

Yang Xiaotian was overjoyed and quickly fed it all to the Life God Tree.

After seeing Zhou Ming off the mountain, Yang Xiaotian thought for a moment and then flew towards the Sword Pavilion.

The trial was tomorrow, and he wanted to take this opportunity to find the Divine Shadow Sword in the Sword Pavilion, hoping to subdue it.

The Divine Shadow Sword, being the third-ranked Divine Sword, if he could subdue it and cultivate with the Divine Shadow Sword combined with his fourteen Invincible Sword Hearts, his mastery of the Sword Dao would undoubtedly become even stronger.

Moreover, Yang Xiaotian felt that if he could find more Divine Swords, he might be able to cultivate a fifteenth Sword Heart.

Although it was known that the Lord of Azure God cultivated fourteen Sword Hearts, no Divine Tome had ever recorded that the limit for a martial artist was fourteen Sword Hearts.

As Yang Xiaotian was flying to the Sword Pavilion, inside a mountain allocated to core disciples of the Azure God Academy, two figures clad in black were in a covert conversation.

“Corpse Demon Lord has said that if Yang Xiaotian goes to the trial tomorrow, we must kill him!” the taller figure in black said coldly.

“Chen Jing, Li Bi, and others will also be there. Killing Yang Xiaotian won’t be easy,” frowned the figure in black, somewhat shorter in stature.

“If we can’t kill Yang Xiaotian on the way, then we’ll make our move in the Death Sword Tomb. We’ll find a way to draw Yang Xiaotian into the midst of the myriad Yin Ghosts and Yin Souls. By then, he will perish at their hands.”

“Once Yang Xiaotian falls into the clutches of the myriad Yin Ghosts and Yin Souls, Chen Jing, Li Bi, and the others, no matter how much they want to save him, won’t be able to.”

“Understood!”

As the two figures in black concluded their secret discussion, unbeknownst to them, Yang Xiaotian had already reached the Sword Pavilion.

The Sword Pavilion was guarded by an old ancestor, but upon seeing it was Yang Xiaotian, he allowed him to pass without question.

Entering the Sword Pavilion, Yang Xiaotian saw swords everywhere, reminiscent of Sword Origin in Martial Emperor City he remembered from before.

Once inside the Sword Pavilion, Yang Xiaotian activated the power of his fourteen Sword Hearts, advancing into the Sword Sea while sensing for the Divine Shadow Sword.

Attracted by the power of Yang Xiaotian’s fourteen Sword Hearts, countless Flying Swords flew towards him as he passed, swirling around him like a myriad of vibrant butterflies.

However, after scouring every corner of the Sword Pavilion, Yang Xiaotian still did not find the Divine Shadow Sword.

“Could it be that the Divine Shadow Sword isn’t in the Sword Pavilion?” Yang Xiaotian wondered.

He had researched a lot these past days and concluded that the Divine Shadow Sword should be in the Sword Pavilion, yet invisible and imperceptible, but now it seemed it was not there.

If it had been in the Sword Pavilion, the power of his fourteen Sword Hearts would have surely lured the Divine Shadow Sword out by now.