Ye Futian and his companions had breached eight matrices, and finally penetrated the Nether Sword Mound. No one was killed and no one was injured, and all the sacred lands were represented by matrix sorcerers, who followed Ye Futian to breach the matrix. It was without difficulty, and they moved easily within this restricted area.
At the moment, the sky was even dimmer in the space they were in. Inside, it seemed to be somewhat different from the outside world, as if it was an independent space. This area was populated with whiffs of different rules, extremely rich ones at that. If one was to comprehend and cultivate here, as long as the talent was fair, it would definitely be easy to break into the Sage Plane. This realization made the hearts of many from sacred lands quiver. Certainly after returning from this place, it would be a priority to take over its control. It would be an ideal sacred land for cultivation.
As Ye Futian walked along, he breached eight matrices. If assumed correctly, one more breach and they should be entering the core of the Nether Sword Mound. Chess Saint Villa contained ten matrixes, with ten sword diagrams. The last matrix was known as the Final Analysis, meaning that there would be nine sword matrices in front, with one left.
"Everyone, be careful. There may be one last sword matrix before the real Nether Sword Mound is revealed," Liu Zong said. He reckoned that everything they passed until now was just the cemetery outside the Nether Sword Mound, and they had not yet arrived at their true destination. The real Nether Sword Mound could very possibly be behind the last sword matrix.
"This restricted area is known as a most deadly place, but so far it looks like nothing special," said a young cultivator from the Hall of Holy Light. They had breached eight matrices, and so far, everyone was all right.
Just then Ye Futian came to a halt and waved to everyone to stop them from moving forward.
A brilliant light abruptly flashed from the ground, and a pattern appeared brightly. Then, from the darkened earth, an eye-catching blade of light arose.
Zing! Ahead of them, a sword emerged from the ground, thrust into the earth, blooming terrible Sword Will.
"Watch your feet," Ye Futian cautioned. By now, there were dazzling blade of lights blazing everywhere, and swords rising continuously from the ground, sweeping the place with terrible Sword Will. Everyone evaded and jumped, shifting and changing positions immediately when they felt the Sword Will underneath their feet. Out of nowhere and in no time, there were countless swords in the ground. They turned into a terrifying sword matrix, surrounding everyone. Above the firmament, there was a sword diagram projected downward, but this time, the sword upon the diagram was flowing madly, constantly changing positions.
"Changeable sword matrix," Ye Futian glanced at the sword matrix above the void. This sword matrix was still evolving from the other nine sword diagrams, but it was continuously modifying the nine sword diagrams. It was elusive. The difficulty of breaching the matrix had increased exponentially.
"Jieyu, will to connect." Ye Futian said, "Release your spiritual energy and listen to my commands."
Hua Jieyu understood Ye Futian's intention immediately, and her spirit crown bloomed. Instantly, a surge of invisible telekinetic power transformed into countless invisible silk threads, moving toward everyone. At the same time, everyone released their own spiritual energy, and did not block the invasion of Hua Jieyu's telekinesis power. Soon, everyone's spiritual energy seemed to be linked together through Hua Jieyu's will. They emptied their minds, waiting to receive Ye Futian's commands.
Will to connect was a special technique of Hua Jieyu's. Ye Futian was also capable of it, but needed to rely on the sounds of guqin.
No need for Ye Futian to speak, but with the turning of his mind, everyone understood him instantly. The group dispersed their positions, and the aura of rules dispersed from them.
In Ye Futian's mind, the spirit chessboard emerged, projecting everything from the outside onto the board, using it to breach the matrix.
The eyes of everyone else from the other holy lands were focused on Ye Futian and his companions. All they could see was that everyone was moving, and the rule powers animated in different directions. Within the sword matrix, there appeared many other different, interconnecting matrices.
Liu Zong glanced with disinterest, then said to the nine disciples of the Chess Saint, who were around him, "We should also set about breaching the matrix. This one is different from the ones before. Imitating him won't work."
Yang Xiao and the rest were master matrix sorcerers. They understood that for this particular sword matrix, with its ceaseless evolutions, everyone would face different, constantly changing sword matrix.
But for the other holy lands, some were still imitating the actions of Ye Futian's.
"No." Some master matrix sorcerers quickly realized the problem. "You need to breach it on your own." Before they could react, those from the Barren State had already formed the matrix where they stood, with Ye Futian in the middle, like a Divine Tree, and those from the Barren State, branches and leaves that spread from the Divine Tree. Some branches and leaves turned into sharp swords, while others turned into swaggering broad swords, and some even became demonic shadows that shrouded all things. From different directions, they began to advance forward, constantly interrupting the sword matrix, slowly pushing into the area canvassed by the sword matrix.
The swords screamed, shattered, and were destroyed bit by bit. Many watched Ye Futian and his companions break through the area covered by the sword matrix then walk out.
The positions of the cultivators of the Hall of Holy Light changed constantly, but the Sword Will that surrounded them became stronger and stronger, intertwined with the sword diagram suspended in the void, forming an unbreakable stronghold.
"How is it?" someone asked the master matrix sorcerer in the center.
"It's troublesome. The matrix is constantly changing." The master matrix sorcerer seemed strained. Many staffs materialized and were setting up the matrix as well, but the matrix of the staffs was swallowed up gradually, some were even ripped apart by the Sword Qi.
"At our speed, we should be able to penetrate the sword matrix," a cultivator said. As he stepped forward, a dazzling brilliance burst forth from his body—it was the rule power of light.
As soon as he finished, a sharp radiance flashed across his eyes, and he turned into a beam of light and disappeared, rushing forward between the gaps of the sword matrix. The sword matrix that surrounded the front gave forth a light screen, cutting through the expanse, blocking him from moving further. But the cultivator from the Hall of Holy Light threw a punch forward, and suddenly broke through the sword veil, as a charging lightning. But at this moment, the sword diagram that hung in the void abruptly exploded into great radiance. Countless swords shot up from the ground on his path, instantly covering the void.
Witnessing this scene, many cultivators from the Hall of Holy Lights changed their expressions. Someone shouted, "Be careful, big brother." Just as he finished, above the sword diagram in the void, a light disappeared, and all that was left of it was just a residual shadow.
Zing! With a crisp sound, everyone saw a sword falling from the sky, plunging into the other's body, nailing him to the ground. The next instant, endless Sword Will ruptured and tore him to pieces until nothing was left.
Those who witnessed this scene now understood the reason why so many who had ventured into the restricted area and perished at the Nether Sword Mound had left no traces.
People from the Hall of Holy Light only felt a coldness. The sword diagram in the void contained the real horror.
"You were warned not to try to force your way through the sword matrix. Unless you belong to a holy land, you may give it a try," someone from Tombkeeper Village said up ahead.
"You come and breach this matrix," the cultivator from the Hall of Holy Light said, looking at them with razor sharp focus.
"When we are here, we can't protect ourselves either. The matrix here is just as difficult for us." People from Tombkeeper Village did not bother with the request, as they were also figuring out a way to breach the matrix.
Those from the Hall of Holy Light looked worried. Not long ago, some among them had thought that the Nether Sword Mound had a hollow reputation, but at this moment, they were trapped within.
"The power of the matrix is getting stronger," some cultivators of holy lands said. As time went on, the power of the matrix would only become stronger until even when they had ways to breach the matrix, they would be unable to do so.
The Nether Sword Mound was located at the junction of Summer State, Qi State, Feng State, and Eastern State. Therefore, the holy lands of these four states were almost all present. Coupled with those from Barren State, there were the strongest of the five states gathered here. But now, all the holy lands were trapped.
Yaya looked at Ye Futian.
Ye Futian returned the look. "What are you looking at me for?"
"Big brother," Yaya cried out.
"You won," Ye Futian hurled the words at her and was gone in a flash. He turned around, heading towards the matrix of Tombkeeper Village. He actually was able to walk straight into the matrix from the outside.
"What are you doing in here?" Ying swept a sideways glance at Ye Futian.
Ye Futian glanced at him nonchalantly, then looked at the others. "I will lead you to breach the matrix. Its power is increasing, we have to be quick."
"Yes," the people of Tombkeeper Village nodded. They all knew that this young man was chosen by the Village Chief.
"No need," Ying said coldly, looking on edge, but Ye Futian ignored him and began to lead the people to breach the matrix. It didn't take long for the matrix to be cracked, and the people of Tombkeeper Village reached safety.
"Thank you so much," an elder thanked Ye Futian.
"My pleasure," Ye Futian replied casually.
"We could have breached the matrix without him," Ying gave Ye Futian another sideways glance.
The people of Tombkeeper Village looked at Ying and knew that this guy was prejudiced against Ye Futian. Being the second most talented person in Tombkeeper Village, besides Yaya, the Village Chief chose Ye Futian instead of him to inherit the sword diagram, and this rubbed Ying the wrong way.
Just then, screams could be heard intermittently. Within the sword matrix, there were people continuously losing their lives. Ye Futian looked back and shuddered inside. These were all people from the holy lands, who were powerful in their own right in the outside world. But now, they had lost their lives here, perishing without a trace.
At this juncture, a group of people dashed out of the sword matrix. It was Liu Zong and his party, the people of Xihua Sacred Mountain and the Great Zhou Dynasty. When Ye Futian saw this, he couldn't help but be surprised. These two major forces seemed to have united. Together, and in addition to the nine disciples of the Chess Saint, that was equivalent to three holy lands of the Eastern State.
Glass Saint and Sky Saint did not participate, therefore all the power of the Eastern State was on Liu Zong's side.
At this time, a dreadful aura descended. Ye Futian looked in that direction and saw blinding beams of light bursting out. The next moment, a line of figures forced its way through the matrix. In the midst of the void, a terrible Slaughtering Sword exploded from the sky. It was a sword that could slaughter everything. However, beams of rays pierced the sky and turned into a Sword of Holy Light that went straight to heaven and penetrated the void. It collided with the Slaughtering Sword. Afterward, both disappeared, and a storm of destruction raging above the firmament.
Next, a group of people scrambled out of the scope of the sword matrix, away from the confines of the sword diagram. They were the cultivators of the Hall of Holy Light. They reappeared unhinged and flustered. One of them held a sword, whose blade bloomed immense glory. A holy sword.
Forcible breach. Ye Futian revealed an air of surprise. This was to disregard the balance of the sword matrix and forcing a way out with the help of a divine implement. However by the look of it, the Hall of Holy Light paid a heavy price and lost almost half of its people.
After that, all holy lands came out one after the other. Xia clan, Nine State College, Jixia Holy Palace, Qi clan, and Yue clan were all able to breach the matrix. Clearly, there were true masters of matrices among them. Other holy lands, like the Hall of Holy Light, forced their way out. For the latter, they suffered heavy losses, and many cultivators lost their lives within the matrix. Even those who were able to breach the matrix had lost their people in the process.
Everyone had a terrible look on their faces. They had speculated that this matrix was the last one before reaching the heart of Nether Sword Mound, but it was also here that they paid a painful price. If it was as they thought, they should have reached the heart of the Nether Sword Mound by now.
An extremely chilled air enveloped everyone. Upon the land, as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but swords. It seemed that this was Sword Mound, the place where swords were buried.
"Let's go," someone said. Ye Futian, also looking forward, started heading that way.
This time, they walked for a long time, and in the great boundless land, there was an endless sword.
"I feel the power of space rules," some cultivator commented.
"Indeed, it's the power of space rules." Someone nodded.
"How familiar," next to Ye Futian, Yaya whispered under her breath. Why did she feel this place to be so familiar, as if she had been here before? Even though she had cultivated at the Nether Sword Mound, she had never traveled so deep inside to such place. When she was a child, she had asked the Village Chief what was there, But the Village Chief told her that she would know when she grew up.
"Look." Someone looked up ahead. Many slowed down, and some even stopped all together. Their hearts trembled wildly.
Not only were there swords thrust into the ground, but in the sky above, there were also countless swords hanging and pointing directly below, as if aimed toward them. Moreover, there was the immense Sword Will flowing above, as if this was the place of the real horror. Those who were at the top of the realm of the Sage Plane actually felt sick at the moment.
Right then, there was a power that made them fearful.
Ye Futian's heart also pounded. He slowed down but continued to move forward. In the distance, besides the swords that were hanging from the sky, he saw a glimmer of brilliance, alluringly bloody and shocking to behold.
It was like a sword but it somehow resembled a sword eye.
The Sword Will that coursed continuously between heaven and earth, seemed to have originated from there.
Yu Sheng and Hua Jieyu both cast a glance at Yaya, and their eyes flashed a sharp spark.
They had seen the same scenario when they fought Yaya.
"Look there," someone pointed towards the distance. What they saw made everyone's heart beat violently.
"Master." Yang Xiao and other nine disciples hailed!