Celestial Sword Hill
After learning who was involved with Talisman Sect, Mu Yu had to abandon his plan. He also realised he wasn’t going to be able to go hero mode and stop the plot all on his own. Due to insufficient evidence, the only thing he could do was milk the remaining month to be as ready as possible for when it was time to come to blows.
As long as Formation Palace was protected, Talisman Sect would run into setbacks. To conquer Formation Palace, Mu Chenghong and, presumably, Situ Yangtian were compulsory keystones. Accordingly, Mu Yu had to stop Mu Chenghong.
Mu Yu wasn’t delusional enough to think he could surpass Mu Chenghong in a month if they pitted their formation knowledge. The only chance Mu Yu had of winning was in swordplay. He had been putting off his deep dive into his suspicion that Celestial Sword Nine Catalysts was a sword formation, but it was time to invest into it.
Mu Yu could only trust Greater Heaven Caster Lu at Formation Sect. For that reason, he was the only person Mu Yu decided to consult.
“Greater Heaven Caster, can you teach me about sword formations?” Mu Yu tried researching on his own. Alas, the materials on sword formations that Formation Sect possessed was too shallow for his purposes.
“Why do you want to learn sword formations all of a sudden?”
“I thought I would need to learn some offensive formations for the upcoming tournament. As I have a preference for swords, I decided I want to learn sword formations.”
“Feng Mu, sword formations are incredibly hard to learn in the realm of formations. The number one reason we struggle with them as formation casters isn’t formation foundations but our inadequate swordplay. Very few of us pursue swordplay and rely on formation foundations to fight. It’s easier to learn formations, after all.”
“Sword formations do not consume formation foundations. If we could use flying swords as our formation foundation, our abilities would not be contingent on formation foundations, no?”
“Seldom will you ever come across anyone who can use a flying sword as their formation foundation. Not every sword can be used as one. Sword formations have strict stipulations on what flying sword they accept. It’d cost hundreds of thousands of Greater Heaven Stage formation foundations to forge a flying sword that would qualify. How practical do you think that is?”
“Has no one in our history ever studied sword formations?”
“Do you know what the greatest sword formation in the world is?”
“No…”
“Sword Shadow Dust Gale’s Celestial Swords Nine Catalysts!”
“B-but how does that fit into the conversation?”
“Patriarch Chen Tiandao doesn’t like sword formations,” Greater Heaven Caster Lu suddenly whispered as though he was afraid someone would overhear him.
“Is the reason none of our members learn sword formations just because Chen Tiandao doesn’t like sword formations?”
“Mind your manners. You can’t just address Patriarch by his name.”
“I apologise.”
Reverting back to a quiet voice, Greater Heaven Caster Lu elucidated, “This is a secret, so don’t tell anyone else. Sword Shadow Dust Gale defeated Patriarch back then using Celestial Swords Nine Catalysts. From then on, Patriarch has been tirelessly studying sword formations. Patriarch opined that there is no point in creating a sword formation if it cannot rival Celestial Swords Nine Catalysts.”
“Talk about being stubborn.”
“In reality, it’s impossible to manifest power on par with Celestial Swords Nine Catalysts unless you had the nine swords. Patriarch’s claim will circumvent others wasting their time to attempt the impossible. I mean, how many people could get their hands on swords of that calibre.”
“Is there no hope for me to learn sword formations, then?”
Mu Yu was disappointed because he didn’t see the point of learning tonnes of formations if he couldn’t learn the essence of Celestial Swords Nine Catalysts.
“Not entirely. We do have an abandoned Celestial Sword Hill.”
“Celestial Sword Hill?”
“Nobody knows how it came to be. Nevertheless, it was where Patriarch Chen Tiandao and Sword Shadow Dust Gale competed back then. A scar from one of Sword Shadow Dust Gale’s strikes is still visible there. The tremendous sword qi from his attacks still remains there to this day. If you’re mentally weak, you’re prone to end up caught in the sword formation. As such, Patriarch cordoned it to prevent anyone becoming a victim.”
Perhaps I can figure something out about Celestial Swords Nine Catalysts from the mark left behind, Mu thought. “Where is Celestial Sword Hill?”
“I suggest you quit while you’re ahead. You’re not the first one eager to check it out, and you may be another disciple who ends up stuck in the sword formation forever. Patriarch said that one must have reached an excellent level in swordsmanship and the art of formations to venture there. You reckon anyone besides Sword Shadow Dust Gale could tick both boxes?”
I’m pretty sure I qualify. You could even say it was left for me.
From the moment Mu Yu set his sights on usurping Third Heaven Palace’s rule, he decided to master both disciplines for the goal necessitated it.
“We’ve had disciples learn swordplay and then attempt to go there; however, they ended up paraplegic. How could the swordplay they learn hold a candle to Celestial Swords Nine Catalysts? Patriarch decided to seal the area off after we lost multiple disciples. I know you’re adept, but I don’t want you to be another victim.
“If there’s anyone who could enter the area, it’d be Sword Shadow Dust Gale’s disciple. In my opinion, his disciple, Mu Yu, must’ve learnt directly from Sword Shadow Dust Gale. Otherwise, how did he start beating renowned Primordial Infant Realm disciples when he was only a Golden Core Realm disciple?
“I think you’re just a late bloomer. The only aspect holding you back is your cultivation. Mu Yu is only rank eighty on Ultimate Immortals Ranking despite his cultivation, while Mu Chenghong is ranked higher. Your aptitude is head and shoulders above Mu Chenghong’s. Put another way, you’re already superior to Mu Yu for sure. For that reason, I’m certain you’ll surpass Mu Yu. Just thinking about it would keep me up at night. Imagine that: you surpassing Sword Shadow Dust Gale’s disciple and being your teacher. I’d be a superstar, hey?”
“I-I guess so?” Mu Yu couldn’t hold his eyes in one spot. He told himself, I’ll tell you the truth the day I leave, promise.
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