Necropolis Immortal

When it came to formula dao, Lu Yun didn't need to know too much about it. He just needed to be able to use its results, such as utilizing advanced formulas to derive and theorize other matters.

The course of its development, however, would give him great inspiration.

After he listened to Qing Yu's speech, he ascended from the true nihil level and broke through to World Manifest. At this level, he could seal off the Nihil World Sovereign cultivation that the Tome of Life and Death had given him and display his true strength when traveling throughout the fourth realm.

What the treasure had given him wouldn't change, but neither would it help him access sequence. That final step was up to him alone.

The fourth realm and Hongmeng differed from the world of immortals in that there was no singular great dao that dominated everything. In these two realms, a plethora of daos flourished side by side and intersected with each other.

In the world of immortals, the appearance of formula dao had immediately been absorbed by immortal dao. Beings only needed to cultivate immortal dao to see formula dao. Initiation into immortal dao was to access the methods of all.

The fourth realm was vastly different. If the newly born formula dao wished to take root, it needed to be taught and voluntarily cultivated by various living beings. Only then would it start to develop into a true dao in this vast realm.

……

In front of the Argent Snow tablet in Soul Dominion.

"There you are, junior brother Feng!" A familiar voice called out to Lu Yun as soon as the latter appeared at this location.

"So it's senior brother Sword Thirteen. …have you been waiting here for me?" Lu Yun asked blankly since it seemed like the chubby youngster had been waiting for a long time. It'd been a hundred years since he last entered Soul Dominion, a significant period of time to Lu Yun.

"Hahaha, nope." Sword Thirteen was his usual stout, chubby self. His jowls quivered every time he spoke. "This is a happy coincidence, I just arrived myself."

"You seem to be in good spirits, have something joyous happened?" Lu Yun raised his brow with a smile.

"Heh, it's not a secret. The Luminaries wanted to destroy the Sword Clan to take our sword dao, but our crisis has been defused." Sword Thirteen brimmed with joy. The past one hundred years had been a period of turmoil and anguish. He woke up every day deathly afraid that the Luminaries would suddenly barge in and destroy the clan. Though Sword Thirteen possessed enough strength to kill a Nihil World Sovereign, he was a Void World King at the end of the day and couldn't decisively change the situation.

Even Sword First, the strongest of the clan, was on tenterhooks whenever he dealt with the Luminaries.

"Defused?" Lu Yun raised a brow. The Quiet Sovereign King had gone to Divine Alchemist Mountain to cultivate formula dao and determine how best to release sword dao from his clan.

Since the Sword Clan's crisis was over, that meant he'd successfully resolved the problem. Sword dao should be percolating through the fourth realm even as they spoke.

The daos and legacies in the Hongmeng came from the original Hongmeng; the Sword Clan's sword dao was the first of its kind to be native to the fourth realm in the new epoch. A complete sword dao encompassing the fourth realm and Hongmeng was possible only when the two were combined.

Sword dao was different from formula dao in that formula dao was a brand new dao—there were no traces of it in the fourth realm. Hints of the former, however, were already present in the Boundless Planes. Now that it was no longer concentrated on the Sword Clan, it could diffuse through the realm.

There were those who previously wanted to cultivate sword dao in the fourth realm, but it'd never been possible. The root cause of that was due to sword dao being held in the hands of the Sword Clan.

Now that it'd been freed and extended throughout the realm, the clan's possibility of extinction was thus dissolved.

"Well, actually, the Sword Clan's crisis isn't over." Lu Yun shook his head at seeing Sword Thirteen's unbridled delight.

"Huh?" The youngster's eyebrows raised and he looked at Lu Yun with confusion.

"You Sword Clan members are the physical manifestations of connate divine swords, aren't you? It will be difficult for new members to come into existence after you've lost sword dao," Lu Yun explained.

Sword Thirteen blinked and his expression slowly froze.

Though the Sword Clan had evolved to the point of becoming true life forms with all of life's associated qualities, they found it very difficult to naturally extend their bloodlines. Most of them were born from the Divine Sword Mountain in the center of clan grounds—the mountain was the convergence of sword dao.

As opposed to saying that the Sword Clan were physical manifestations of connate swords, it would be more accurate to say that they were born from sword dao. With the dispersal of sword dao from the mountain, there would be no more new members in the future.

"And," Lu Yun continued. "I've heard a bit about matters between the Luminaries and the Sword Clan. Apparently, they don't want sword dao for themselves, but for sword dao to be freed of the clan's confines and blossom in the Boundless Planes…"

"Yes, that's what their emissary said." Sword Thirteen nodded absentmindedly, still wrapped up in the matter of new clan members.

"Once sword dao is popular throughout the planes, everyone will be able to cultivate it, whether they are Nihil World Sovereigns or sequence experts." Lu Yun paused. "One needs a sword in order to cultivate sword dao…"

"Wait, speak no more!" The sweat of cold fear beaded and slid down Sword Thirteen's face; he was ghastly pale. Though this was just a soul force replica, it fully displayed his current emotions.

One needed a sword in order to cultivate sword dao.

The Sword Clan were physical manifestations of connate swords from sword dao itself. They possessed no sequence experts, so they would be hunted down if others wanted to practice sword dao!

Since sword dao was yet to flourish, no weapons refiner could make swords. All of the swords in the realm were with the Sword Clan. Although they were still a preeminent faction of the realm, their spines were curved after prolonged suppression from the Luminaries. Once sword dao rose in full, they would become prey.

"Do you have a way to resolve this, junior brother Feng?" Sword Thirteen took a deep breath and looked ardently at Lu Yun.

"Why do you think sword dao is no longer exclusive to the Sword Clan?" Lu Yun smiled. "The Quiet Sovereign King is still alive and he's among the Star Sect. The only way forward for the Sword Clan is to join the Star Sect."

"What?!" Sword Thirteen went slack jawed. The Quiet Sovereign King… wasn't dead? Rumors had run rampant a while ago that the Quiet Sovereign King had died and was wielded by a Nihil World Sovereign. Could it be…

"All senior brother needs to do is to make a visit to see if this is true or not," Lu Yun chuckled. "Alright, I'm going in to train now."

He strode forward into Argent Snow's trial domain.

Sword Thirteen's expression flickered rapidly as he stared in the direction where Lu Yun had disappeared in. He suddenly whirled around and returned to the Hall of Soul Dominion, leaving the locale.

etvolare's Thoughts

Oh, that's a really solid point. Everyone's going to hunt the Sword Clan down for a weapon.