Chapter 436: Bewilderment

But just then, a tremendous rumble suddenly came from high in the sky.

Han Li looked up, his pupils slightly constricted.

Above the sword sea, a white cloud mass edged with gold hung alone.

On the cloud mass, a huge white stone altar floated motionless. It was octagonal in shape, surrounded by eight golden pillars dozens of feet tall, with coiled golden dragons carved so lifelike they appeared magnificent.

Han Li frowned slightly and was about to fly up to investigate when another boom came from the altar, and a red light shot out from the cloud mass beneath it.

Immediately after, a ball of crimson flame surged from the center of the white cloud mass, and a dazzling red quickly replaced the white, igniting the entire cloud mass in an instant.

At the same time, the area beneath the white stone altar turned into a sea of blazing flames, rolling and blazing, dyeing half the sky red.

With the cloud cover gone, Han Li immediately saw a short, middle-aged man standing on the suspended altar.

This man was none other than Xiong Shan.

At this moment, he wore a solemn expression, his hands raised high, waving toward the sky, while a chanting sound came from his mouth.

Above his head floated a black iron plaque the size of a palm fan, slightly bulging in the middle and curved at the edges, exactly like the "iron certificate" bestowed by secular dynasties, engraved with the four characters "Ten Thousand Swords Return to One."

With the obscure chanting, the flames beneath the altar burned even more fiercely, and visible waves of heat rolled in, causing the surrounding void to ripple.

In the sword sea, countless flying swords swayed violently like grass in a gale, clashing against each other with a clanging sound.

Han Li frowned deeply, a glimmer of understanding dawning in his heart.

Back then, Xiong Shan had painstakingly gathered a thousand spirit swords in the Candle Dragon Sect to create the so-called "Thousand-Edge Spirit-Gathering Sword Formation," which was most likely learned from the Wusheng Sword Sect.

And this sword sea sword formation here should be the original true spirit-gathering sword formation.

Using this heaven and earth as its foundation, the suspended altar as its furnace, and the Ten Thousand Swords Iron Plaque as its guide, it gathered the spirits of countless flying swords in this sword sea, truly achieving the unity of ten thousand swords into one.

What boldness of vision!

"Ten! Thousand! Swords! Converge!"

Just then, a sudden roar came from the high-altitude altar.

His voice was like rolling thunder, rumbling loudly, causing the entire realm to tremble incessantly.

In an instant, the entire mountain peak shook violently, and the invisible sword qi imprisoned within the sea of swords shot up into the sky.

Han Li saw that a gentle breeze seemed to sweep through the sea of swords, and the lush green grass growing within it instantly snapped in unison, ground into powder by the invisible sword qi filling the sky.

The countless flying swords that had been swaying in the wind now all froze as if guided by some command, standing upright in the sea of swords like soldiers ready for battle, their tips pointing straight at the sky, motionless.

On the altar, Xiong Shan took a deep breath and suddenly waved his hand. A golden flying sword immediately flew out from his palm, turning into a streak of golden light. After spinning in the air for a moment, it suddenly hovered beneath the Ten Thousand Swords Iron Scroll.

Xiong Shan pressed his fingers together like a blade and traced in the void. Golden light flowed from his fingertips, and the residual light traces coalesced into a golden rune about ten feet in size, which flashed and landed on the Ten Thousand Swords Iron Scroll.

The Ten Thousand Swords Iron Scroll trembled violently, emitting a resonant hum of exhilaration.

Then, fine lines began to appear on the entire iron scroll, interconnecting and radiating dazzling golden light.

With a loud "boom!"

A thick golden pillar of light burst forth from the Ten Thousand Swords Iron Scroll, shooting straight into the sky, then exploded like fireworks in the high altitude, turning into a dazzling golden curtain of light.

On the golden curtain of light, indistinct shadows coalesced into countless illusory figures.

Among them were towering golden-armored deities like giants, wielding broad-bladed greatswords to topple cities and shake mountains, as well as sinister masked assassins, using needle-thin sword tips to pluck hearts and sever heads...

There were graceful flying maidens, swords twirling as their sashes fluttered in dance, and gaunt long-bearded elders, fingers sweeping as sword qi crisscrossed... myriad phenomena, myriad swords, myriad shadows, too numerous to list.

Han Li frowned deeply, staring fixedly at the countless shadows in the golden curtain, his pupils reflecting specks of golden light.

At this moment, his entire mind and body seemed immersed in it.

He felt as if he had merged into the golden curtain, becoming one of its figures, wielding seventy-two Azure Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords, dancing freely, blooming lotus-like sword shadows in the void.

Just as he was lost in it, the sea of fire beneath the suspended altar suddenly changed. The flames rolled and twisted, forming a huge fiery vortex, from which a strong pulling force emanated.

In the sea of swords below, all the flying swords, responding to the call, trembled chaotically and then shot up one after another, forming a surging torrent of flying swords that flew toward the fiery vortex.

The entire void above the sword sea became chaotic, with all kinds of sword lights refracting wildly, cutting the whole void into shreds. The invisible sword qi was no longer confined within the sword sea and began to scatter in all directions.

"Chi chi"

Two sounds of cloth tearing came, and Han Li's robe was swept by sword qi, instantly tearing two extremely long slits.

He himself, however, still stood motionless, gazing at the sky as if completely unaware.

High in the sky, over a thousand flying swords surged into the flame vortex, instantly turning scorching red, emitting a series of mournful trembling sounds.

Light gathered at the position of their sword guards, and clusters of multicolored light spheres flew out from them—these were the pure sword essences of the flying swords.

The flying swords stripped of their sword essences quickly dimmed, and within a few breaths, they were refined into a pool of magma-like liquid, merging into the flames and disappearing.

The flame vortex had limited capacity, only able to absorb a thousand flying swords at a time. Han Li's Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were positioned at the rear, still some distance from entering the vortex, but by this estimate, it would only be a matter of dozens of breaths.

On the floating altar, Xiong Shan's brows were also tightly furrowed, and he murmured to himself, "Good, just sink into the Ten Thousand Sword Spirit Diagram like this. Once I refine this unparalleled rare immortal sword, I'll use you to test it..."

In fact, he had long noticed Han Li's arrival, but was busy activating the grand formation and had no time to attend to him.

Before him, at the center of the floating altar, there was a hollow area from which sword essence light spheres floated out, hovering in midair.

Seeing this, Xiong Shan's face showed joy. He crossed his hands in front of him, formed a strange hand seal, and pointed with his fingers at the Ten Thousand Sword Iron Scroll.

The golden patterns on the iron scroll flashed instantly, and a patch of golden radiance projected out from it, enveloping the golden longsword below, condensing into a golden vortex as solid as substance above it.

As soon as the vortex formed, the sword essence light spheres floating on the altar immediately shot over, madly surging into Xiong Shan's lifebound flying sword.

The golden longsword emitted trembling sounds, and golden light rippled on its blade, spreading outward in arcs of golden radiance.

Above the altar, the absorption of sword essences began; below, the flame vortex continuously absorbed new flying swords. The Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were caught up in the process, constantly drawing closer to the vortex.

Just then, Han Li, who had been standing rigidly in place, suddenly trembled. The golden light in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by a layer of blue light.

"What a formidable array diagram!"

Han Li praised aloud, but a hint of joy flashed across his face.

The myriad phenomena scene within the golden light curtain was of the same origin as the Ten Thousand Sword Diagram he had obtained back then, yet it was clearly several times more profound and exquisite. In fact, it could be said that the Ten Thousand Sword Diagram was likely a replica derived from this diagram.

Just now, when viewing this diagram, Han Li had intentionally let his mind sink into it; otherwise, with his divine sense, which had cultivated the three layers of the Spirit Refining Art, he would not have fallen into it without realizing it.

The result of such complete immersion was that he not only gained a deeper understanding of many sword formation variations but also figured out the roots and operation method of the Sword Sea Grand Formation here.

Xiong Shan, standing on the altar, saw Han Li suddenly wake up, his expression changed drastically, and he exclaimed:

"How is this possible?"

It was no wonder he was so surprised; as a True Immortal sword cultivator, when he first saw the Ten Thousand Sword Spirit Diagram, he had been trapped in it for seven full days and nights, and only by a chance opportunity did he manage to wake up.

Afterward, although he had comprehended the Thousand Peak Converging Spirit Sword Formation from it, his divine sense was damaged and his vitality greatly depleted, forcing him to withdraw from this place helplessly. Only after waiting so many years did he have the chance to return.

Xiong Shan gritted his teeth, filled with indignation, and pushed his hands forward, using immortal spiritual power to drive those sword-essence orbs, accelerating their infusion into his life-bound flying sword.

"Clang, clang, clang..."

The countless flying swords rose like a horned dragon ascending to the sky, twisting together and surging continuously toward the flame vortex.

Han Li turned his head to look and saw the Green Bamboo蜂 Cloud Sword mixed among them, only a hundred or so zhang away from the flames.

He focused his gaze, lifted his foot and stamped down; the mountain shook with a great rumble, and his entire body flew backward like a meteor, heading straight for that "sword dragon."

However, as soon as he flew above the sword sea, an invisible, suffocating force pressed down from all directions, forcing his body down toward the ground.

At the same time, fierce gales howled past his ears, and the chaotic sword qi filling heaven and earth continuously slashed at him, tearing his clothes into countless slits.

Han Li let out a furious roar; the blue acupoints on his body flickered with light, and a layer of translucent crystalline film immediately appeared on his skin, blocking all those invisible sword qi.

With a loud "Boom!"

Crushed by the invisible force, his body slammed heavily to the ground, his legs pressed deep into the earth.

Han Li's heart tightened; he craned his neck to look up into the sky and saw Xiong Shan standing at the edge of the altar, one hand forming a hand seal connected to the Ten Thousand Sword Iron Writ, and the other hand reaching out over the altar, pressing down toward the sword sea below.

He was also staring fixedly at Han Li, his eyes full of hatred.

By now, he naturally knew that the person before him was Li Feiyu from back then, the one who had somehow taken his sword formation.

That so-called "Number One Sword Cultivator of the Heavenly South."