Back then, when Yun Wuji saw the memory fragment Ni Xuan left for him, the final scene showed Ni Jie saying 'the Heaven Punishing...' but she did not finish what she intended to say before fading away, because of course she would not.
At the time, Yun Wuji immediately ruled out the possibility that she was referring to the Heaven Punishing Divine Emperor Mo E, or his son, the Heaven Punishing Crown Prince Mo Su. That left only the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword. However, the sword itself was nothing more than a dead object, which meant she was most likely referring to the sword's spirit, a spirit that was supposed to be long dead.
When he attempted to inspect the sword for the first time using the Devil Body, he failed to discover anything. Because of that, he decided to check again with his main body once it became stronger.
"Is this matter really so serious that you came back specifically for it?" Leading him toward the Well of Samsara, Shen Xi held his hand, her fingers interlocked with his, and asked with clear worry in her voice. She was the Spirit of the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword. How could there possibly be another spirit besides her?
A spirit could belong to more than one artifact, but an artifact could only possess a single spirit.
"We will see. Do not worry. Even if something truly happens, with me here, nothing will ever touch you," Yun Wuji said with absolute confidence. He reassured her as his hand gently caressed her flat belly. "After all, how could I ever allow you or Yun Xi to be hurt, right?"
"Yeah, I always believe in you, Wuji," Shen Xi said with a warm smile.
Besides the two of them, Li Suo and Hei Xiaolian were also accompanying them.
The former was a Creation Goddess and the spirit of the Primordial Seal of Life and Death, while the latter was the spirit of the Evil Infant's Wheel of Myriad Tribulations, the only artifact on the same level as the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword. With the help of the two of them, Yun Wuji's inspection had a much greater chance of success.
The Well of Samsara had been destroyed during the great war between Gods and Devils. What remained now were only fragments of its former existence.
After reaching the center of the Forbidden Land of Samsara, Shen Xi pressed a hand against the ground, triggering an unusual white flash. A moment later, a white whirlpool appeared directly in front of her.
The whirlpool glowed pure and white, but its center was filled with bottomless darkness.
"The Well of Samsara," Li Suo said, her gaze fixed firmly on the whirlpool.
Shen Xi placed her hand on the whirlpool, her spiritual senses flowing inward as if pulled toward the center, sinking into that endless darkness.
Soon, under the gazes of Yun Wuji and the other women, the shadow of an unassuming bronze sword slowly emerged. Its appearance was that of an utterly ordinary mortal sword, so plain that not even a lowly mortal would bother to pick it up from the ground if they saw it.
This was one of the two strongest artifacts in the universe, the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword.
After the death of Mo E, it vanished without leaving a trace. Seven hundred thousand years later, it appeared once more in the midst of the Primordial Chaos, giving rise to a ferocious battle between Gods and Devils and becoming the trigger that would ultimately bring the era of Gods and Devils to an end.
In the end, it fell into the hands of the Dragon Clan. However, they were incapable of controlling it and feared that either the Gods or the Devils would seize it from them. During the final phase of the brutal war between Gods and Devils, the Dragon Clan chose to throw it into the Well of Samsara.
What others never learned was that the Dragon God, at the time, used his final strand of The Ancestral Power to turn the Dragon Princess Shen Xi into the sword spirit, saving her life when she was on the verge of death from the Devilish Poison.
From that point onward, Shen Xi remained trapped within the Forbidden Land of Samsara, unable to leave. Only on rare occasions could she briefly step outside it. If she stayed away for too long, she would be in danger of dissipating.
"Is that stupid sword! Hmph!" Hei Xiaolian scowled at the sword, then suddenly chuckled and turned to Shen Xi. "I did not mean you, haha."
"I know," Shen Xi replied, not taking her words seriously.
Yun Wuji stepped forward and placed his hand over Shen Xi's, guiding his sense through her and into the sword. As he entered its inner world, a bronze realm greeted him, an endlessly stretched, desolate world bathed in bronze hues.
Aside from Shen Xi's connection to it, Yun Wuji sensed nothing else inside.
He frowned slightly. This was the same result as before when he examined it with the Devil Body. Still, he did not give up. Shen Xi had served as the Sword Spirit for over a million years without noticing anything unusual. If something truly existed here, it was never going to reveal itself easily.
Mobilizing his soul power, he spread his senses to every corner of the bronze world, sweeping through every millimeter.
His soul power had undergone tremendous changes since his descent into the Abyss. It had grown so strong that even Meng Kongchan, the one known for possessing the strongest soul, would appear like a fiddle before him. Even so, Yun Wuji found nothing.
In the end, he gave up. Retracting his senses, he continued holding Shen Xi's hand and extended his other hand. Hei Xiaolian and Li Suo grasped it without hesitation. In the next instant, all four of them entered the inner world of the sword together.
"Tsk! It is so ugly! Disgusting!" Hei Xiaolian glanced around before speaking with open disdain. Even though this place was not truly ugly, the simple fact that this was the inner world of the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword was more than enough to disgust her.
"Stop playing around and focus," Li Suo snapped, glaring at her. The three of them held onto each other and began combining their senses, forming a unified formation.
Black, white, and silver light emerged from their bodies and converged into a colorless aura that enveloped them completely.
This outcome had been anticipated. Yun Wuji already knew that he would likely fail to find anything on his own. Even though the possibility of that ancient spirit still being alive was extremely low, he refused to leave anything to chance. Because of that, he created this formation, one that combined the soul power and spiritual senses of the three of them, solely for the purpose of searching for the old spirit.
A formation born from Yun Wuji's frightening genius was naturally just as frightening in effect.
Without any deliberate effort, the three immediately felt their combined senses spread across the entire bronze world. Hei Xiaolian even sensed that if she wished, she could forcibly seize control of the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword itself.
However, that was not their objective. As the strongest spirit among the three, Hei Xiaolian took the lead and began searching for anything suspicious. She was the most familiar with the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword's original spirit. The two had been created at the same time by the Ancestral Goddess. If that existence still remained and was hiding somewhere, Hei Xiaolian was the most likely one to find it.
Time passed slowly...
Five minutes...
Half an hour...
One hour...
Still, nothing surfaced. None of the four gave up. Even Shen Xi, who did not believe another spirit could exist here, refused to stop. This was not only about her own safety. It also concerned her daughter.
More time passed, and before they realized it, over six hours had gone by.
"Hmph! Old cunt! Found you!" Hei Xiaolian suddenly shouted sharply as she directed all her spiritual power toward a distant corner and forced it forward.
Rumble!
The space within the inner world of the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword trembled violently. Shen Xi lost her balance and fell straight into Yun Wuji's arms.
The trembling lasted only a few moments before abruptly stopping.
From the disturbance, a hidden shadow slowly emerged. "How did you find me?"
The shadow's features gradually became clear. It was an old man clad in a worn white robe. His long beard reached all the way to the ground. His skin was clean and flawless, tender like that of a child. His expression was calm, almost indifferent. His cold eyes ignored Hei Xiaolian entirely and fixed themselves on Yun Wuji instead.
...
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