Jian Dan ignored the sword intent swirling around her and began practicing the Primordial Chaos Sword Technique.
She first converted her spiritual energy into the water element—soft and fluid, winding through all paths with ease, yet capable of wearing down stone and rushing like a vast river. As her sword moved, her sword intent took the form of a transparent water film. Incoming strands of sword energy struck it, only to be deflected or shredded into mist.
Next came fire—blazing and ferocious like the burning sun, capable of consuming all. Even a single spark could sweep through fields like wildfire. Fire-element sword intent burst outward, intercepting the hostile energies and dispersing wave after wave.
Then metal—sharp and unstoppable, cutting through resistance with a single stroke. The piercing gold sword energy slashed through all the incoming attacks that blocked her way.
Wood followed—gentle yet endlessly vital. Life flourished through it, ever-regenerating. The wood-element sword intent pierced into the waves of sword energy like ripples spreading into the depths of the mountain, weakening before vanishing completely.
Finally, earth—steady and unshakable, broad enough to hold all things. Her earth sword energy carried a crushing momentum. One strike scattered the lingering sword intent around her and continued pushing forward toward the mountain of swords.
By now, Jian Dan had entirely forgotten her surroundings. She was wholly immersed in the continuous cycle of five-element sword techniques, seeking the moment of fusion and breakthrough. Her eyes shone with flickers of the five elemental lights, until at last she caught a fleeting glimmer of insight: water gives birth to wood, wood to fire, fire to metal, metal to water—mutual generation in the cycle of five elements. Sword techniques were no different.
She unleashed all five elemental sword intents one after another. They converged in midair, twisting together like a rope in the natural order of the five-element cycle. Spinning rapidly, they transformed into chaotic sword intent. With that, she brought her Twin Moons Dragon Sword down in a powerful slash toward the sword mountain.
One strike was all it took to drain her dantian's reserves of chaotic spiritual energy, which had been generated through the yin-yang Taiji disk within her core. But the result was extraordinary. Her Chaos Sword cleaved open a path straight up the sword mountain's peak.
Just as she rejoiced, the blade in her hands—the Twin Moons Dragon Sword—finally reached its limit. With a sharp snap, the sword broke in half, leaving only the hilt in her grasp. The path she had opened was quickly filled again by a tide of wild sword energy.
Jian Dan exhaled deeply, forcing herself to stay calm. She hadn't claimed a sword, true, but she had succeeded in fusing her five-element techniques. It wasn't a perfect harmony, not a grand completion, but the gains were undeniable.
Suddenly, the entire mountain of swords began to hum. A resonating clang filled the air, and even the sword mountain itself seemed to tremble. Jian Dan swayed on her feet. Had she broken something important?
Before she could react, a streak of radiant light shot down from the mountain. With no time to defend herself, the light slammed into her body. Razor-sharp sword energy instantly tore through her skin, meridians, and internal organs, covering her in blood. This was the worst injury she had suffered since beginning body cultivation.
The relentless sword intent surged toward her dantian, circled once around her spiritual root, then finally slowed its momentum and condensed into a silver miniature flying sword. It came to rest in front of the yin-yang Taiji disk.
At that moment, Mo Yue Zhan—resting on the yin side—seemed to sense the arrival of a rival. It trembled faintly, almost as if preparing to return to its original form.
Jian Dan, now cut open inside and out, quickly lowered her mental defenses and took healing and blood-replenishing pills. She activated the Primordial Chaos Art to begin repairing her body and smoothing the raging sword energy. As she sensed the stirrings of Mo Yue Zhan, she immediately focused her consciousness on her dantian.
The new flying sword appeared very interested in the Taiji disk. It circled around it once and even got zapped by a stray arc of electricity. Instead of backing off, it became even more excited and darted over to the yin side where Mo Yue Zhan rested. It tapped the outer edge of Mo Yue Zhan's blade in greeting, then crossed to the yang side and submerged into the sea of yang energy.
As the two weapons didn't interfere with each other's territory, Mo Yue Zhan calmed down and returned to its original resting state, slowly beginning to heal itself.
Jian Dan lightly touched the new sword with her divine sense, trying to initiate contact. But no matter how many times she reached out, the sword gave no response. Just as she was about to forcibly remove it from her dantian, the little sword flashed and its energy entwined with her divine sense. Then she heard a smug male voice echoing in her mind:
"Can't you see I'm in the middle of merging with your spiritual power to complete our bond? What do you want?"
"I am a disciple of Tianjian Sect. I came to Sword Peak to claim a sword. You are the one I obtained."
"Yes, I am the spirit of the Chaos Sword. We're bonded now. Your cultivation isn't high, but you're clever. You couldn't get in, so you called me out instead. Fortunately, I'm smart enough not to get tangled with the others. I came right to you."
Jian Dan could only laugh awkwardly. Who would have thought her carefully refined technique would summon a spirit like this?
"Our fusion still needs time. You can't summon me yet. When it's complete, I'll let you know. That's all."
With that, the Chaos Sword's silver body fully sank into the sea of yang energy.
A second later, Jian Dan felt a powerful repelling force sweep over her. Her vision blurred, and when she came to, she was standing once more before the stone stele at the entrance of the Sword Tomb.
Jian Zhi Zhēnjūn had been waiting for some time and immediately picked up on the heavy scent of blood in the air. The next moment, he saw Jian Dan appear in a battered, bloodied state.
"Apologies for keeping you waiting, Zhēnjūn."
"Do you know how long you were in the Sword Tomb?"
Jian Zhi Zhēnjūn's question caught her off guard. Had she stayed too long? Or come out too soon?
"Exactly twenty days."