Seeking the Flying Sword Path

Green Touring Palace, main hall.

Numinous Treasure Dao Ancestor sat cross-legged on a cloud and there were nearly a hundred figures standing in the hall. All of them were mighty figures and standing right in front of them were Qin Yun and Old Mother of Blackfoal Mountain.

“Greetings, Master,” all the mighty figures greeted reverently.

Numinous Treasure looked at the group of disciples before him and sighed. “The Ancestral Fiend has instigated another Daoist-Fiend war. This time, although it doesn’t involve Great Worlds, nor does it directly threaten the lives of mighty figures, this iteration will be far more terrifying than the previous Daoist-Fiend war. It’s a true calamity that will shake the roots of the Three Realms.”

The mighty figures below him were all astounded.

“Far more terrifying than the previous one?”

“The ones deployed are some Skyfiends and Fiendcelestials. It doesn’t influence all of us mighty figures. Wouldn’t we still be able to live carefree lives?” Although the disciples appeared to listen reverently, they didn’t actually care about it.

If they could live carefree lives, why would they care if ants died?

Numinous Treasure said seriously, “Most of the lives in the Three Realms come from the Small Worlds. These countless Small Worlds… are the foundations of the Three Realms! Now that the Fiend Ancestor has mobilized the forces of the Tenebrous Fiend Abyss and the ten fiendish dominions and completely infiltrated countless Small Worlds, if we were to sit by idly… With time, more of these Small Worlds will become flourishing hotbeds for the fiends! In the future, most people in the Three Realms would be fiendish cultivators. The entire Three Realms would become a land of sin.

“Although all of you are mighty figures with eternal life, once the fiends flourish, the number of fiendish mighty figures would increase. Once the Fiendish Heavenly Dao envelops the world, all of your days will turn miserable.” Numinous Treasure looked at these disciples.

He did not discriminate in how he taught, and gave freedom to his disciples. There were also some Chaos Godfiends among his disciples who viewed the weak mortals in the Small Worlds as nothing but ants. Therefore, he needed to first scare them.

The flourishing of the fiends…

Will lead to tragic days for you too.

“Master.” As the present Eldest Senior Brother, Qin Yun said, “What should we do now?”

Numinous Treasure said, “Now, the Daoists, Buddhists, and Heavenly Courts are amassing Skyimmortals, Essence Soul Earth Immortals and thinking of sending them towards the Small Worlds in batches. But firstly, this will require time, and… secondly, many Skyimmortals and Essence Soul Earth Immortals lead carefree lives. They likely do not wish to embroil themselves in a life-and-death battle with the Skyfiends and Fiendcelestials. Yet, we cannot force them like the fiends. We can only do our best to guide them and bound them to promises. The number of Skyimmortals and Earth Immortals we can deploy are probably a tiny fraction of what the fiends have sent.”

Old Mother of Blackfoal Mountain added, “The fiendish sects have layers of control and strict rules. Whoever dares violate these rules would live a life worse than death! But us Daoists are a lot less restraining on our disciples. To amass enough Skyimmortals and Earth Immortals as the fiends to risk their lives? That’s indeed difficult.”

“We can only tempt them to do so with Dharmic formulations, divine power mystic arts, and treasures,” said Qin Yun with a frown. “Those ordinary Skyimmortals and Earth Immortals also thirst for powerful divine power mystic arts. To get one, they will be willing to risk their lives.”

“At present, the Daoists, Buddhists, and Heavenly Courts have decided on this as well,” said Numinous Treasure Dao Ancestor. “Slaying Fiendcelestials and Skyfiends and winning back a Small World… The various contributions can be used to exchange for different benefits. But even so, relying on Skyimmortals and Earth Immortals to participate in this program on their own accord would make the numbers pale in comparison to the fiendish cultivators. Therefore, all of you will need to do something as well.”

“Us?” The disciples were puzzled.

“Our real bodies aren’t able to enter the Small Worlds. How do we do anything?” a disciple could not help but ask.

Numinous Treasure looked down and said, “The countless Small Worlds in the Three Realms have many Daoists cultivators to begin with. However, they possess crude cultivation Dharmic formulations and lack masters to guide them, making their cultivation an arduous task. If they were to encounter an esteemed master and receive pinnacle Dharmic formulations… I believe they will experience a metamorphic change and experience a great increase in strength. If the cultivators in the Small Worlds become powerful, it will make it difficult for the fiends to occupy them.”

“Masters in a Small World will never be better than mighty figures like you. All of you are esteemed masters!” said Numinous Treasure. “All of you are to descend with embodiments to the numerous Small Worlds where you will select talent and teach them. Increase and strengthen the Daoist cultivators in the countless Small Worlds, and that will automatically hold back the fiend’s invasion. The Buddhists are doing the same as well.”

“We understand.” Qin Yun and the other disciples answered reverently.

“Do it quick.” Numinous Treasure waved his hand.

“Yes.”

All of them responded before taking their leave.

…

Mt. Lightning Roar.

Qin Yun looked across the vast lands as his gaze even tore through the void to see the countless Small Worlds.

Blood had already been shed in many Small Worlds.

The fiends had cruel means, so countless fiendish cultivators were long accustomed to the law of the jungle and the act of killing. That was how they led their lives in the fiendish dominions.

“Faced with such fervent killing, how many Daoist and Buddhist cultivators, especially those who have gained eternal life, will be willing to risk their lives? Will there even be ten percent?” Qin Yun sighed lightly. “Thankfully, the fiends are ultimately still the minority. The countless Small Worlds are still mainly occupied by the Daoists and Buddhists, and enjoy a deep heritage. As long as the potential of the native cultivators are harnessed, there’s still a chance of defeating the fiends.”

“However, this war is destined to last long.” Following that, Qin Yun split his thoughts as he descended upon numerous Small Worlds.

He began taking in disciples in the various Small Worlds to teach them.

******

There were too many Small Worlds. They were also the foundations of the Three Realms; therefore, the Daoists and Buddhists naturally could not hand them over to the fiends.

Therefore…

Both sides used all the means they had.

Seizing by force, betrayals, enticement… They stopped at nothing.

Even the pinnacle existences in the Small Worlds, those Skyimmortals and Skyfiends that matched mighty figures, were fighting as well. Some of them engaged in truly fervent battles, while others simply put on an act! After all, they had eternal life, and were nearly invincible in the Small Worlds. Why risk their lives for real? Even if they had been ordered by the Fiend Ancestor, they had the courage to resist his orders if they hid in Small Worlds. Of course, to make a show of it, using thirty percent of their strength was sufficient.

Mighty figure embodiments and even the embodiments of the Dao Ancestors, Fiend Ancestor, and Buddhist Ancestor descended!

In short, this drawn-out war had all sorts of situations happen.

There were just too many Small Worlds. Gradually, the war entered a stalemate with both sides becoming exhausted.

“In a blink of an eye, three thousand years have passed since the beginning of the Daoist-Fiend war.”

In a Small World.

Qin Yun’s embodiment sat in a restaurant, feeling emotive. “It’s unknown if the Daoists and Buddhists will win or lose…

“After all these years of all-out fighting by a large number of Skyimmortals and Earth Immortals, with many mighty figures imparting their teachings, our Daoists and Buddhists now have the upper hand in the countless Small Worlds,” said Qin Yun. “But these Small Worlds were ours to begin with. Now, the fiends have infiltrated deep. Over the three thousand years… there are fiendish sects lurking in the countless Small Worlds. Different Small Worlds can call upon each other. Even if the fiendish cultivators in a Small World are wiped out, they will quickly return.”

“There’s no point talking about three thousand years, even in three hundred thousand years, we will likely not be able to eliminate the fiends in the true sense of the word. Is this counted as a victory or a loss?”

Qin Yun also felt a little worn out.

Over the past three thousand years…

His name had resounded through countless Small Worlds.

It was pretty impressive if other mighty figures could maintain a thousand embodiments in the Small Worlds, but he had 129,600 avatars, and maintained millions of embodiments to descend upon them! Even the Dao Ancestors and Buddhist Ancestor were slightly inferior in this aspect to him. Clearly, in terms of number of avatars and embodiments… Qin Yun was indeed heaven-defying.

This also made Qin Yun gain a large number of in-name disciples over the past three thousand years! He left behind the Misty Rain Sword lineage’s Dharmic formulations in many Small Worlds, and the number of cultivators of the Misty Rain Sword in the Three Realms reached a staggering number.

“I’m preaching the Dao, so are the Dao Ancestors and Buddhist Ancestor. Same for the Fiend Ancestor, Boxun and the rest.” Qin Yun shook his head. “I really have no idea when the end to this Daoist-Fiend war will come.”