Overwhelming pain!

This was what Yang Ye felt at this moment. He really wanted to leap out from within the bath barrel, but when he thought about his mother that was suffering within the Flower Palace, he’d forcefully suppressed this tempting thought of his.

In next to no time, Yang Ye’s skin fell off piece by piece. Yes, he was like a snake shedding its skin, and piece after piece fell off without end. Such a scene was extremely terrifying.

Fortunately, at the same time that he experienced overwhelming pain, the green water came into effect, and traces of energy ceaselessly entered Yang Ye’s body before swiftly repairing his body that was being burnt apart by the Nether Ghostflames. It was exactly because of these traces of energy that Yang Ye’s body wasn’t burnt into ash by the Nether Ghostflames. But this caused Yang Ye to suffer.

After all, the feeling of being burnt by the Nether Ghostflames was horrible!

Two hours slowly passed by.

Yang Ye’s face had already completely warped. It hadn’t warped from being burnt, and it was something that had been caused by the pain he experienced. However, even though he was in such pain, Yang Ye didn’t make a single sound from the beginning until the end.

Yang Ye’s display caused Elder Mu to nod to himself. He originally merely had a slight interest in Yang Ye, and it was far from being admiration. After all, no matter how good Yang Ye’s natural talent was, he still didn’t attach importance to it. However, after he lived together with Yang Ye for these few days, Yang Ye’s display had caused him to arouse the intention to take Yang Ye as his disciple.

But Yang Ye cultivated in the sword, and this caused him to feel slightly helpless. Because the path of the Sword Dao was extremely unfamiliar to him.

As he gazed at Yang Ye who persisted within the bath barrel, Elder Mu sighed in a low voice before he walked into the cottage.

Time passed slowly until almost six hours had passed since Yang Ye had entered the bath barrel. These six hours of time could be said to be the most physical pain Yang Ye had experienced in his entire life. Because his body was being ceaselessly harmed before it was repaired without end, and he was ‘enjoying’ this process over and over again.

Presently, the only reason he was able to persist until now was entirely because of a single conviction he had, and it was the conviction to possess a formidable strength!

When dawn arrived on the next day, the sun gradually ascended into the horizon while strands of the first rays of the morning sun descended. They descended onto the body of Yang Ye who was within the bath barrel, and it was like they’d placed a thin golden veil around Yang Ye.

Crack!

The door the cottage opened slowly before Elder Mu walked out with his walking stick in hand, and he arrived in front of Yang Ye. He nodded lightly when he saw that the water within the barrel had turned completely black, and then he said, “The spirit herbs within the water have been completely absorbed by you, so come out from there. If you continue staying in there, then your body will really be burned into ash while it’s without the assistance of the spirit herbs to repair it!”

When he heard Elder Mu, Yang Ye suddenly opened his eyes, and then he leaped out of the bath barrel. After that, Yang Ye instantly lay on the ground and gasped for breath while allowing the sunlight to descend onto his body.

Even though he’d left the bath barrel, he still felt burning pain throughout his pain, and it was just not as strong as it was moments ago!

The Elder Man gestured lightly with his hand. The white flames within the bath barrel seemed as if it was alive, and it flew swiftly out of the barrel and into the old man’s palm. The old man put the Nether Ghostflames away, and then he looked at Yang Ye and said, “From now on, you’ll head to the waterfall to endure the impact of the water during the day, and then you’ll continue residing within the bath barrel in the night. This will continue until your body undergoes a complete transformation!”

“I have to continue doing this every night from now on?” Yang Ye suddenly sat up straight, and he cried out involuntarily as he looked at the old man.

“Of course!” Elder Mu nodded and said indifferently, “Did you think that a single time would be sufficient to improve your body? If it was so easily improved, then the profession of body refiner wouldn’t be on the verge of extinction!”

“Body refiner?” Yang Ye’s interests were aroused, and he said, “Profounders that specialize in cultivating the body?”

Elder Mu nodded and said, “Body refiners were extremely formidable 10,000 years ago, yet the body refiners suffered come tribulations because of certain reasons, and then their numbers grew fewer and fewer. Coupled with the fact that it was a painful profession, so the people that cultivated it grew even fewer.”

Yang Ye asked in a slightly curious manner. “Are body refiners formidable?”

The reason he’d cultivated his body is that he’d noticed that the bodies of Darkbeasts were extremely formidable and coupled with the fact that the golden profound energy he possessed was an existence capable of strengthening the body, so he’d intended to cultivate his body. Otherwise, he wouldn’t cultivate his body at all. After all, besides Darkbeasts, there seemed to be no one in the southern territory that cultivated the body!

“Very formidable!” Traces of fluctuations arose in the old man’s eyes. After a short white, he said, “There was once a person that cultivated his body to the point it was eternal and invulnerable to all techniques. At the time, even the Sword Emperor who possessed a similar cultivation to him and was said to be capable of destroying all techniques with a single strike of the sword was helpless against him. Because his body was equivalent to a Quasi Divine Artifact!”

“Eternal and invulnerable to all techniques!” Yang Ye gulped down a mouthful of saliva and said with shock, “Doesn’t that mean that he was practically invincible?”

“Invincible?” Elder Mu was first stunned, and then he shook his head and said, “Not really. Even though the Sword Emperor of that time wasn’t a match for him, it didn’t mean that the Sword Emperors of the previous generations weren’t a match for him. All I can say is that body refiners are extremely formidable existences, or I should say that this profession is extremely formidable when cultivated to the limit!”

Yang Ye nodded, and then he asked. “Senior, you said the there were numerous generations of Sword Emperors. Is the Sword Emperor a person, or...?”

“It’s a title!” Elder Mu seemed to have thought of something, and then he gazed at Yang Ye before he started smiling as he said, “Haha! I forgot that you’re a candidate to become the Sword Emperor!”

“I’m a candidate to become the Sword Emperor?” Yang Ye was slightly confused.

Elder Mu smiled and said, “There’s a mountain called Sword Emperor Mountain, and it’s situated at the center of the southern territory. There’s an ancient sheathe on that mountain. As for the origins of that ancient sheathe, no one knows the answer to that. In any case, the ancient sheathe is an Immortal Artifact, and it’s the type that possesses a consciousness of its own. As for the title of Sword Emperor, it’s related to this ancient sheathe. Because the one that possesses this ancient sheathe is the Sword Emperor. On the other hand, in order to obtain the acknowledgment of the ancient sheathe, one has to at least comprehend Sword Intent, and only those that have comprehended Sword Intent can be considered as candidates to become the Sword Emperor. But you haven’t just comprehended Sword Intent, you’ve even attained the Enlightened Sword Heart. Understand now?”

“An Immortal Artifact....” Yang Ye gulped down a mouthful of saliva. An Immortal Artifact is an existence above Dao Artifacts. Moreover, it’s the type that possesses a consciousness of its own. If I’m able to obtain this ancient sheathe, then my combat strength will definitely skyrocket!

“Senior, does our southern territory have a Sword Emperor now?” asked Yang Ye.

Elder Mu shook his head and said, “Since the Sword Emperor from 3,000 years ago perished, there hasn’t been another Sword Emperor in the southern territory. So, that ancient sheathe has probably been lonely for 3,000 years now. But....” When he spoke up to here, Elder Mu looked at Yang Ye and said, “It probably won’t be lonely any longer because you’ve made an appearance. I’m not exaggerating about you, you ought to be able to come into contact with the competition to become the Sword Emperor!”

“The competition to become the Sword Emperor?” Yang Ye was slightly confused, and he realized that his knowledge was truly too shallow.

“After the death of every single Sword Emperor, the ancient sheathe would automatically return to Sword Emperor Mountain to fall into a deep sleep and await the arrival of the next Sword Emperor. In order to obtain the acknowledgment of the ancient sheathe, one had to first awaken the Sword Spirit within it. After the Sword Spirit was awakened, it would notify the entire southern territory and summon all the geniuses of the Sword Dao to Sword Emperor Mountain in order to compete in the sword with the person that awakened it. One can only obtain the acknowledgment of the ancient sheathe by defeating all the geniuses in the Sword Dao of the entire world, and this also meant becoming the new Sword Emperor! Of course, there were rules to this competition, and it was that the challenger’s cultivation couldn’t be more than two ranks higher than the person receiving the challenge!” Elder Mu spoke slowly.

“Defeat all the geniuses of the Sword Dao in the world....” Yang Ye muttered in a low voice. Needless to say, this Sword Emperor was a bit too terrifying. How many Sword Cultivators were there in the entire world? Even though defeating all the geniuses of the Sword Dao in the world wasn’t defeating everyone in the world to reign supreme, the difficulty to accomplish this was extremely terrifying. Moreover, the challenger’s cultivation could be two levels higher than the person receiving the challenge....

Elder Mu smiled when he saw Yang Ye’s shocked expression, and then he said, “Kid, I think you have the potential to be that person who awakens the Sword Spirit within the ancient sheathe and compete in the sword with all the geniuses of the Sword Dao in the world. Doesn’t your blood boil when you think of this?”

Yang Ye smiled bitterly and said, “I haven’t thought so much about it. I only want to possess a formidable strength and rescue my mother. Right, Senior, do you know the ancient sheathe’s origins?”

“I know a little!” Elder Mu restrained his smile and said, “It’s a pitiable fellow. Alas, let’s not talk about it. Quickly go and cultivate. It’s too early for you to find out about all of that, and it’s best for you to first cultivate your body to the point it’s comparable to a King Rank Darkbeast!”

Yang Ye restrained his thoughts when he heard this, and then he bowed to Elder Mu before he ran towards the waterfall.

As he gazed at Yang Ye’s figure, Elder Mu laughed lightly and said, “Sword Emperor....”