Heaven's Devourer

Water Ruler was an intricately engineered machine. Even though it was a Shadow Puppet, it acted like an actual living thing with a certain level of self-awareness.

As the Shadow Puppet attacked, the hundred or so spirit designs on its body revolved at the same time. Every spirit design served a specific purpose. The central spirit design served as the core. After accumulating the surrounding spiritual qi for a long time, it released it all at once. In an instant it charged forward in mid-air like the angry sea. With a single slash, violent waves surged on the seas. 

Under the effects of this sword qi, the waves on the vast ocean transformed into tens of thousands of water dragons. Every dragon had the strength of a thousand cattle as they thrashed and rolled on the waves. This spirit design indeed had a deeper level of sword will hidden in it. As the water dragons roared, they transformed back into a vast amount of sword qi. 

"God Eclipsing Void Sword!"

As Wu Yu gave a clean slash, the formless sword qi drifted through the air and turned into empty waves. Layer upon layer, the two spirit designs directly clashed with each other. Wu Yu's attack seemed to be slightly stronger, so the God Eclipsing Void Sword was able to break through Water Ruler's attack easily. 

"Killing God Void Sword!"

Wu Yu followed up with another slash. The Cloudless Day's Sunwheel Sword's blazing hot spirit design was incorporated into this sword technique, causing the Killing God Void Sword to be mixed with a scorching sun born out of this spirit design's strength. It was far more lethal than before, and in a single slash, the sword qi twisted in the void to form a giant sword. This sword pierced the body of Water Ruler. The Shadow Puppet gave a shudder before suddenly falling apart. Water Ruler had been blown up into pieces. 

"Success!" Wu Yu quickly collected the scrap materials that Water Ruler left behind.

These remains could be traded for merits.

Apparently, these materials would return to the Grand Architect Sword Sage's hands. With some patching up and design drafting, these materials would be able to be recycled into new Shadow Puppets.

It was clear that the Grand Architect Sword Sage's had practically perfected the skill of working with spirit designs.

"I'm only able to defeat Water Ruler so easily because it's the weakest of the Sword Puppets. It appeared before me because I'm only a sixth tier Jindan dao cultivator. After this, the Grand Architect Sword Sage should have a clearer idea of my skill. The next Sword Puppet that comes to me will surely be stronger."

Wu Yu shifted positions as he tried to change his state of mind in this vast area between sky and sea. He shifted his focus to the Xuan Immortal Spirit Petrifying Sword Technique. While he was battling with Water Ruler, this technique did not come to mind at all. He still needed some more time before he could practice the Xuan Immortal Spirit Petrifying Sword Technique on these Sword Puppets.

"Sword Puppets are not living things. Without a soul or spirit, it would be difficult to rout them with the Xuan Immortal Spirit Petrifying Sword Technique.

"Spirits are the foundation of all life. As my spirit exists in my corporeal body, it is me."

As more time elapsed, Wu Yu was completely engrossed in this Heaven Earth Void technique until the next Sword Puppet arrived.

As expected, the second Sword Puppet that arrived was much stronger than the first. Wu Yu only managed to defeat it after using his two supreme immortal treasure and exerting a herculean effort. In the process, Wu Yu used this Sword Puppet as a practice opponent to work on his Xuan Immortal Spirit Petrifying Sword Technique. After a few tries, he found that it was still not very effective and he was put in danger a couple of times due to such experimentation. He only managed to escape from these situations by relying on his two supreme immortal treasures. 

"It is indeed harder to master a Heaven Earth Void technique than to control supreme immortal treasures."

Thankfully, things went smoother after that. This was probably due to the enlightenment he had gained. Wu Yu felt that connecting with his spirit was not that difficult a task.

"In practice, this Heaven Earth Void technique is suited for you. You will have to eventually transform your primordial spirit after all.  Getting in touch with your spirit earlier makes it much easier for you in the future. In this aspect, you're far ahead of others." Ming Long rarely spoke so seriously.

However, Wu Yu felt that she was right after he had walked on this path.

Spirit was the foundation of man.

Time continued to elapse. After about a month's worth of further experimentation and experience, Wu Yu was even better at demonstrating the effects of the Xuan Immortal Spirit Petrifying Sword Technique. Of course, his opponents were always Sword Puppets, so he did not know the true extent of the technique's effects.

Wu Yu had encountered seven Sword Puppets in total in the span of a month. He routed five of them, one of them escaped from him, and one of them was too strong for Wu Yu so he had to escape and shake off its attacks. 

Every encounter with a Sword Puppet basically required Wu Yu to exert a large amount of energy. With each opportunity to practice and adjust, he gained new insights and put them to use at the next available chance. After experimenting with his new-found understanding, he would then make further adjustments. Even though it had only been a month, he had over a thousand opportunities of trial and error.

Extraordinary perception and exceptional perseverance in practicing helped guide him slowly onto the right track.

In the next month, Wu Yu clearly felt like his Xuan Immortal Spirit Petrifying Sword Technique had already taken on a basic form. 

Of course, he was only practicing on Sword Puppets, so even if his technique took shape, he couldn't determine its true strength. 

Wu Yu was, of course, still unsatisfied. He guessed that Nangong Wei would not be able to complete her mission that quickly, so he persevered for another month. In this month, he took things to an entirely new level. As he wholeheartedly committed himself to practice, success followed naturally. He had mastered the aspects of the Heaven Earth Void technique via a comprehensive study that took others an extremely long time to carry out.

Of course, there was a lack of actual living people within the Unrivaled Sea of Swords. Even if there were any, they would not confront Wu Yu for no good reason, so in the end, Wu Yu left the Unrivaled Sea of Swords without having experienced the full strength of the Xuan Immortal Spirit Petrifying Sword Technique. 

Anyway, the technique was practically useless against Sword Puppets.

In the span of three months, Wu Yu had routed 13 Sword Puppets in total.

At the entrance, he deposited the Sword Puppets’ remains into the wood cottage. From the cottage, someone tossed out a Sumeru Pouch. Wu Yu opened it to check its contents. There were over 6,000 sword cores in it.

"The benefits of the Unrivaled Sea of Swords sure are great. If one went out on a mission instead, it would take over a year or two to obtain such results."

With these merits, he prepared to buy some refining immortal medicine related to spirit designs in order to learn how to refine even more immortal medicine and make more spirit designs. He even wanted to try the Heaven and Earth spirit design. 

In practice, just three months of comprehending the dao enlightenment of the spirit was enough for Wu Yu to improve by leaps and bounds. All these improvements were assimilated into his Jindan at an increasing pace. There was indeed an extraordinary amount of spiritual qi in the surroundings of the Unrivaled Sea of Swords, to the extent that it was almost at the level of the Earth sword domain. As such, Wu Yu was not that far from breaking through into the seventh tier of Jindan Dao.  

He was feeling slightly pressured by the fact that Nangong Wei was at such a high cultivation level. 

Even if he were to stay indifferent about this, others would be anxious for his sake and even more would gossip about him.

Furthermore, the Mizar Sword Immortal would always be there. Even though Wu Yu had yet to meet him, he already knew what the Sword Immortal's attitude towards him was. After all, the condition that he set was for Wu Yu to exceed Nangong Wei in skill before he would allow them to become dao companions. The Sword Immortal clearly wanted to get rid of him.

In addition to this, the Mizar Sword Immortal had done something to Nangong Wei's body to prevent Wu Yu from being intimate with her. This was certainly not something that a man of honor would do…

After emerging from the Unrivaled Sea of Swords, Wu Yu felt that the Shushan Immortal Sect had become more lively.

Before Wu Yu knew how to feel about this, he was greeted by a core-tail talisman from Nangong Wei after leaving the Unrivaled Sea of Swords. The talisman said, "I have completed my mission. If you're out of the Unrivaled Sea of Swords, let me know."

This core-tail talisman had not been here for too long. Three months was long enough for Wu Yu to feel a sense of longing. He sent back a core-tail talisman of his own before returning quickly to the Heaven's Equal Cave Abode. He knew that once Nangong Wei received this core-tail talisman, she would immediately come to the Heaven's Equal Cave Abode to look for him.

After flying swiftly and violently on his sword, Wu Yu headed up the Clear Sky of Shushan in no time at all. He continued to ascend past the Huang sword domain. On the way, he passed by the Immortal Battleground and found that there was quite a number of people there. Although they were not participating in battle, they were in a rather heated and animated discussion.

"Comparing between them, I'm sure that Wu Yu isn't even fit to be Beishan Mo's slave."

"Yeah, they're world's apart. He's definitely out of this world," someone exclaimed with a hint of pity.

"To be honest, if all of us in the Shushan Immortal Sect were to pick out a dream couple, it surely had to be Beishan Mo and Nangong Wei. Wu Yu is too far from the two of them. Forgive my manners, but if Wu Yu and Nangong Wei end up together, it would be... Anyway, I feel that they aren't compatible. It always feels like Wu Yu's way out of his league and he's just breaking up a marriage predestined by fate."

"In terms of social standing, Wu Yu is way below them. In terms of innate ability and skill, the difference is like night and day as well. The union between Beishan and Nangong is something that all of Shushan's general populace looks forward to. It will surely be an auspicious union.  The Beishan family was once one of the biggest contributors to Shushan with their renowned merits. It's only in recent years that they seem to have been keeping a low profile. Now that Beishan Mo is here, the once-gone contributor to Shushan has returned."

"Nangong Wei has the legacy of the Radiant Phoenix Sword Emperor. Beishan Mo is even more frightening. I've heard he has received the Green Depths Sword Emperor's legacy. This legacy of the Green Depths Sword Emperor is rumored to be the first in all of Shushan. Legend has it that the Green Depths Sword Emperor is the one who had the highest chance of becoming an immortal in Shushan's 10,000 years of history. He was the only one to go as far as the Great Trial of the Immortal Dao, but he unfortunately perished there. If he had overcome the Great Trial of the Immortal Dao, he would have been an immortal now. Even the Radiant Phoenix Sword Emperor and the Celestial Sword Emperor could not reach that stage”

Green Depths Sword Emperor!

It seemed like even The Lore of the Divine Continent had recorded this very character. He was one of Shushan's first generation heroes, and was previously one of the strongest rulers of Shushan. Back then, the Shushan with him at the helm was unquestionably the strongest in the entire divine continent. The demons back then were almost completely annihilated by him. Even to this day, the Green Depths Sword Emperor was adored by all his present-day descendants. 

Wu Yu was puzzled upon hearing this. Who exactly was this Beishan Mo?

When did this prominent character that everyone was comparing him to appear? It seemed like everyone knew about this Beishan Mo's existence except him.

The crowd noticed Wu Yu as they were in the middle of their discussion. To be honest, they still revered Wu Yu, so they quickly shut up and awkwardly smiled at him.

Wu Yu did not leave. He landed on the Immortal Battleground and swept his eyes through the crowd, saying, "I've been in isolation for three months. It seems like a remarkable character has appeared in the Shushan Immortal Sect. Can anyone tell me more?"