Seeing the three of them turn to leave, Xun Shu stood with his mouth agape. Once again, he tried to stop them. “Don’t, we’re already at the entrance. We have to go in and take a look, right? Who knows… who knows, there might be better materials inside.”

　　“It’s not worth investing when the rate of returns are so low.” Lonemoon’s face was set.

　　Must he be so resolute? It’s obvious that valuable treasure is contained here. Are they stupid? Why are they choosing to dig in mines instead?

　　“Wait!” Xun Shu lowered his gaze and gritted his teeth, having made up his mind. “I’ll tell you the truth. There must be something valuable hidden in such a strong sword array. Maybe… maybe it’s the Six-Joint Mystics Sword!”

　　The three of them paused and exchanged glances. Together, they answered, “Oh.”

　　“Oh?” What’s that supposed to mean?

　　“And then?”

　　“Then?”

　　“Are you a voice recorder?”

　　“A re- what?”

　　“Hai…” Lonemoon sighed, rolling his eyes. “I mean, even if the Six-Joint Mystics Sword really is inside, what are we to do about it?”

　　“Huh? That… that is the Six-Joint Mystics Sword. Didn’t you come in to search… Ah pfft, even if you did not come in to search for the sword, don’t you want it in the least? It’s a divine weapon, mind you, a divine weapon!” Are you not in the least bit interested?

　　“We don’t want it,” Lonemoon answered calmly. Even the other two looked bored. “Anyway, isn’t it true that only Young Emperors and above can use divine weapons? What would we want it for? Are we supposed to carry it around and draw attention to ourselves so that everyone in the immortal realm would try and attack us? Are you stupid?”

　　“…” Xun Shu trembled. Suddenly, he thought that Lonemoon was making a lot of sense.

　　“In any case, this blasted sword array is obviously going to be troublesome.” Lonemoon glanced pointedly at the array and said, “You’re thinking of asking Shen Ying to help out, right? But this is a volcano afterall. She can’t control her power. If you engage her, she might very well destroy this entire volcano together with the array. Let’s not talk about getting injured – would you even be able to retrieve the blasted sword from the wreckage?”

　　Shen Ying: “…” Why do I feel like I’m being despised?

　　“Er…” Xun Shu’s expression darkened. He really was thinking of getting Shen Ying to help. “It’s true that nobody has ever broken this sword array.”

　　“Enough. Let’s go, let’s go. We’re going to dig mines.” They had a little over a month left – they had to cherish whatever time they had. Lonemoon turned around, ready to leave. Then, he realised that Shen Ying and Yi Qing were staying where they were, looking at the sword array. “What are you doing?”

　　“This array is so formidable…” Yi Qing clenched his fists and faced Shen Ying. “Master, can I try to break it?”

　　“Huh?” Shen Ying stared blankly back at him.

　　“You’re crazy!” Lonemoon shouted. “Did you not hear him? This is a Myriad Image Sword Array. Even divine beings can’t break it. Are you courting death?”

　　“That’s precisely the reason I want to try!” He was obviously determined. “Training as a sword cultivator is difficult. Facing difficulties is part and parcel of sword cultivation. I came to this immortal territory because I wanted to train. Now that an obstacle is lying before me, how can I back away? Master, please let me attempt to break the array!”

　　“Oh…” Shen Ying tilted her head. “Go ahead.”

　　“Shen Ying!”

　　“Thank you, Master!” With a flick of his wrist, Yi Qing condensed his immortal Qi to form a sword. He turned and charged toward the sword array.

　　“Wait!” Lonemoon was too late to stop him. He glared at Shen Ying. “Are you crazy? Aren’t you sending him to meet his doom?”

　　“Father Niu, calm down,” Shen Ying said as she patted his shoulder. “Didn’t he say so himself? If he doesn’t push himself, how would he know how far he can go?”

　　“…” Did he even say that?

　　Wait! Shen Ying is rarely so decisive. Could it be…

　　“Could it be… you can already tell that he is skilful enough to break the array?”

　　“No!” Shen Ying said seriously, “I was making a guess!”

　　Lonemoon: “…”

　　Xun Shu: “…”

　　Damn you!

　　Bam!

　　There were loud clashes coming from inside the array. Yi Qing, who had dashed into the array, was injured by an immortal sword the moment he entered. There was a huge gash on his body. Blood flowed continuously. His aggression quickly dissipated as he felt the wind from the fast-moving immortal swords. The less confident he felt, the more injured he became. Soon, the swords were raining down so quickly that they could no longer tell one sword from the next. Yi Qing’s immortal Qi was gone in an instant.

　　Shit!

　　Lonemoon’s and Xun Shu’s expressions darkened. They finally understood why even divine beings could not make it past the sword array – the swords were way too fast. If they let this carry on, Yi Qing would be cut into pieces by the sword array.

　　No way!

　　“Shen Ying, give him two more minutes. If he still can’t break the array, you have to go in and save him!”

　　“Oh,” she nodded.

　　The situation inside the array seemed to be getting worse. The swords were getting faster and faster. Yi Qing was giving up on his defence and focusing on his attack, but adopting this strategy meant that he was also getting more injured.

　　Lonemoon was getting anxious. This fella was too hardcore!

　　“Think of something to help him!” Lonemoon nudged Shen Ying. “Aren’t you his master? This is the best time to teach him something!”

　　“Er… teach him what?”

　　“How should I know?” He glared at her. “Aren’t you gifted with a glib tongue? The moment you teach him something, he manages to cheat his way out. Say something you said before.”

　　“One beats ten? Be one with your sword?”

　　“Yes, continue!”

　　“That’s it.” That’s all she got out of the novels.

　　“…” Holy shit! The ones she said before were not original! He was sure of it!

　　He looked back at Yi Qing, whose situation was worsening. “I can tell you that this sword array adapts according to the situation. Any technique you use would be useless. You’d better teach him something practical or he’s going to be severely injured and nobody would cook for you.”

　　Shen Ying paused eyes widening. She stepped forward and studied the flying swords intently.

　　Why was it so troublesome to teach disciples? What should she do? What should she do? How would she know any techniques… techniques…

　　Huh?

　　“Heh, well, Chef…” She suddenly thought of something and shouted, “Have you heard: Your sword technique must be natural? No-frills beats fanciful techniques.”

　　“No-frills beats fanciful techniques?” The figure in the array went still.

　　Then… millions of immortal swords flew toward him, causing him to bleed all over.

　　Lonemoon: “…”

　　Xun Shu: “…”

　　“Holy shit, Shen Ying!” Are you here to help him or cause trouble for him? It’s bad enough that she’s teaching him nonsense, but this was ridiculous! What did “no-frills is better than fanciful techniques” even mean? “You made him stop fighting at a time like that. Isn’t it bad enough that he’s dying…”

　　Boom…

　　Before Lonemoon could finish speaking, there was a great explosion inside the sword array. The figure who had so many swords stuck into him that he resembled a lion’s head was now gone. All the immortal swords in the sword array came to a halt. Then, they started to shake violently. The swords began to cry out, filling the entire space with their cries. The swords seemed to be facing their natural enemies. A few moments later, they fell down to the ground.

　　A familiar sword intent filled half the room. It was everywhere, like the air, pressing down on them so that they could hardly breathe. On top of the mountain of swords, Yi Qing stood with his chest out.

　　The sword array… is broken!

　　How the f*ck is this possible?

　　(⊙_⊙)

　　“His… his sword Qi.” Xun Shu muttered dazedly. His sword Qi was much stronger than before. Indeed, sword immortals worked extremely hard to ascend to immortality! Xun Shu had never seen such great sword Qi. Even his own sword Qi was suppressed by Yi Qing’s formidable aura even though the former was of a higher cultivation level. That’s not right. The immortal Qi around Yi Qing’s body… Was he holding it in on purpose?

　　He… was having an epiphany!

　　“Thank you for your guidance, Master!” Yi Qing was back beside Shen Ying in a moment on his knees. He looked up at her in awe. His white robes were still covered in blood stains.

　　“How are your injuries?” Shen Ying asked. Can he cook?

　　“Not to worry, they’re minor injuries!” Master is so concerned for my welfare. He was elated!

　　“Oh, that’s good!” She was relieved.

　　Lonemoon: “…” Son of a b*tch!

　　Why did he have to butt in? He knew full well that Shen Ying was the catalyst for Yi Qing to get epiphanies.

　　“The sword array is broken. Let’s move on!” Yi Qing said, sweeping the sword hill to create a path for them to walk through.

　　That was when the group noticed the fiery blaze on the opposite side of the hill. The heat was blasted toward them and they could hear the sound of lava flowing.

　　“That’s the middle of the volcano, ” Xun Shu’s eyes twinkled. He walked briskly toward the fiery blaze.

　　The three of them followed closely behind him and entered an extremely big space with molten rocks all around, spurting pillars of flames every once in awhile. The flames were special – they were purplish black.

　　On top of the molten rocks was a stone bridge that extended down the middle of the space. It stood at more than ten metres high, yet the unbearable heat could still be felt up there. It felt like the entire world was being burned.

　　Lonemoon instinctively started to conjure up a defensive array to protect the group. Then, he heard Xun Shu’s exclamation as he stepped into the space.

　　“How could this be!”