"Wait..." Great Saint Taibai’s face suddenly changed, and he stood up, exclaiming in disbelief, "The Sword of Qingping has acknowledged a master!?"

The Ninth Sword Peak.

Hong Yuan had just arrived at the foot of the mountain when a streak of green light actively flew from the sky and into his embrace.

It was at this moment that multiple shocked Saint auras emerged from the Ye Family’s main city. They hurried to the Ninth Sword Peak, looking at Hong Yuan and the Sword of Qingping in astonishment.

"How could it be the Sword of Qingping?"

"Ah, I’ve been a Saint for two hundred years and don’t have a single Holy Artifact, yet this junior, Ye Gufan, not only had a Holy Artifact come to him but it’s actually the Sword of Qingping!"

"The Sword of Qingping was once a Quasi-Emperor Sword, boasting the glorious feat of having slain a Demon Clan Quasi-emperor. Although it has fallen to a sixth-tier Holy Artifact due to the passage of time, given more time, it could potentially return to the rank of a Quasi-Emperor Sword!"

The Martial Saints from the Ye Clan stared at Hong Yuan and the Sword of Qingping in his arms, their eyes glinting with various emotions: greed, envy, or veiled interest.

Hong Yuan, too, felt ripples in his heart. However, when he looked at his proficiency panel, he immediately felt justified in accepting it.

[Name: Hong Yuan]

[Style: Sword Tao (Grandmaster 3%)] 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

[...]

He was now a Grandmaster of the Sword Tao! And when he noticed a profound and mystical Dream Sword Charm condensing within him, his heart became even more assured.

"Five Finger Fist Dream Sword, I’ve succeeded!"

Even under the scrutiny of numerous Martial Saints, the corners of Hong Yuan’s lips quirked up slightly, his eyes gleaming with mirth.

Attainment in styles is divided into None, Ordinary, Master, Grandmaster, Grandmaster, and Supreme Grandmaster. Among them, a Supreme Grandmaster’s attainment in a style is also known as the sole Controller of that Path, unique in the world.

Now, having elevated his Sword Tao to the Grandmaster Realm, Hong Yuan, just on this merit, could already establish a new school in his journey of the Sword Tao!

「The real world.」

Within the giant dream light cluster, the sleeping Sword Tao Hong Yuan’s body emitted soft sword cries.

BUZZ. BUZZ. BUZZ...

Upon closer inspection, one could see that his Heavenly River Blessed Land was undergoing an extraordinary change. Inside the Heavenly River Blessed Land, his Life Holy Artifact, the Heavenly River Sword, was radiating boundless divine light. Layer upon layer of dreamlike, hazy spheres of light were drawn from the Mysterious Emperor’s Dreamland, entering the Heavenly River Blessed Land and merging with the Heavenly River Sword.

Faintly, the Heavenly River Sword received a blessing! It began to transform.

First, talismanic script for Divine Powers like ’Water Dragon Chant’ and ’Ancient Sword Dragon Transformation’ emerged on its Sword Body. Then, aided by these dream-hazed spheres of light, it was engraved with the Divine Power ’Five Finger Fist Dream Sword.’ As a result, a plethora of Dream Tao Marks spontaneously materialized on it!

RUMBLE...

RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE...

The Heavenly River Sword roared as it was enveloped in bundles of dreamy light. As time passed, the aura it emitted became increasingly terrifying.

Once, twice, thrice—it withstood three instances of Heavenly Calamity and Earthly Tribulation!

One month later, the Heavenly River Sword transformed from a Water Tao Sword to a sword embodying both water and dream attributes. It even advanced to the seventh-tier, a step ahead of Hong Yuan himself!

This was too dreamlike. In other words, as long as Hong Yuan didn’t mess up, his Sword Body could ascend to a seventh-tier Sword Saint with certainty. The rewards Hong Yuan obtained in this journey through the Dream World were incredibly bountiful.

「Elsewhere.」

Within the cultivation cave of the Master of Rainbow Fire Peak of Phoenix Creek Sect.

Hong Yuan’s Original Body smiled as he gazed at the profound and mystical Dream Sword Charm in his hand.

Five Finger Fist Dream Sword! Not only has the Sword Body mastered it, but his Original Body has also successfully cultivated it in sync.

"Just by gazing at this Sword Charm, I can feel a deterrence more terrifying than the Divine Power ’Dream Comes True’." "When driven to its full potential, the might of the ’Five Finger Fist Dream Sword’ Divine Power will most likely surpass that of ’Dream Comes True’. Furthermore, its True Essence consumption is far lower."

"Sigh, practice is the sole criterion for truth. You can talk all you want, but in the end, you have to prove it with action."

Hong Yuan narrowed his eyes and chuckled, then stowed the Dream Sword Charm into the Aperture within his body. Then, his mind’s eye turned to another Divine Skill Talisman.

Dream Tao Divine Power—Dream Medidation Fight!

The next moment, the Sea of True Essence within Hong Yuan’s body rapidly declined, then swiftly rose again. He slowly closed his eyes. Gradually, his consciousness began to withdraw and entered a Mysterious Space.

It was still that vast, marble-covered Pentagon Duel Grounds—easy to enter, impossible to leave.

BOOM! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

A series of earth-shattering roars suddenly erupted as a majestic and sacred golden figure clad in armor appeared—it was the Heavenly Horned Ant Emperor.

"Loading data..."

"Power Tao template loading complete."

"Dream Tao template loading... loading complete."

A series of flat, mechanical sounds echoed in this Mysterious Space. Because a new database had been integrated into the Dream Tao template, its loading speed was half a moment slower than the Power Tao template’s.

When the mechanical voice ceased, both Hong Yuan and the Heavenly Horned Ant Emperor opened their eyes simultaneously. Two astonishing yet immense auras rose and collided. This time, however, the outcome was different from the previous one-sided encounters; Hong Yuan could actually contend with the Heavenly Horned Ant Emperor!

"If that’s the case, then let’s just try its fifty percent power!" Hong Yuan laughed wildly, his fighting spirit soaring to the skies.

The next moment, a True Dragon formed of Qi and blood suddenly condensed around the Heavenly Horned Ant Emperor—this was the Human Strength Equilibrium Flow. Not only that, but a Great Moon True Dragon Phantom also slowly emerged, overlapping with the Qi-blood True Dragon—this was the Beast Strength Illusion Flow. Then, the two powers combined, instantly shattering the void and displaying the great power of a Martial Saint despite him being only at the Martial Artist realm.

"Haha, perfect timing! Five Finger Fist Dream Sword!" Hong Yuan sang out with a laugh.

One finger!

Hong Yuan suddenly raised the thumb of his right hand. From the center of his right fist, held high above his head, a sword light suddenly shot out.

Fast! Fast! Fast!

The speed of the sword light was inconceivable.

Two fingers!

Hong Yuan then raised the index finger of his right hand. A second sword light shot out from the center of his fist, its speed as fast as ever.

Three fingers!

The third sword light pierced the Heavenly Horned Ant Emperor’s attack, drawing blood from its right arm and forcing it into a momentary retreat.

BOOM! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

After a tough battle, Hong Yuan forced the Heavenly Horned Ant Emperor to engage in full combat. Only after the Heavenly Horned Ant Emperor executed its trump card, ’Great Moon True Dragon Heaven,’ did Hong Yuan suffer defeat.

Ultimately, Hong Yuan ascertained the current strength of his Original Body.

I can barely contend with the Heavenly Horned Ant Emperor. To smoothly pass the Dream Tao’s Saint Calamity, I’ll need to become even stronger!

This realization brought Hong Yuan great joy. It meant I was one step closer to my Original Body achieving Sainthood in the Dream Tao.

"It’s close, very close."

Hong Yuan exited the Dream Medidation Fight and shifted his primary consciousness back to the Sword Body, continuing to explore that mysterious world of the Great Emperor Dreamland.

「Mysterious Emperor’s Dreamland.」

「Act Five.」

In the depths of the Ye Clan’s main city, within the White Gold Palace.

Ye Qingcheng and her grandfather, Great Saint Taibai, both wore grim expressions.

They never would have anticipated Hong Yuan’s fortune turning so favorably. Not only did he trigger the ’Ten Thousand Swords Return to Ancestor’ phenomenon, but he even had the Holy Artifact, the Sword of Qingping, come to him on its own! All of this was too dreamlike, completely beyond their control. The most infuriating part was that Ye Qingcheng had been on the verge of successfully establishing the "root" connection. Yet, that previous attempt had not only wasted all her efforts but also caused her to suffer a significant backlash!

"Grandfather, I feel like I have bad karma with this Ye Gufan. I just can’t subdue him. Every time I’m about to succeed in the assimilation, I face a major setback. I’m truly frustrated..." Ye Qingcheng said weakly, her eyes closing in despair. Facing Hong Yuan, she had suffered one failure after another; it was hard not to feel defeated.

Beside her, Great Saint Taibai’s eyes were deep, a hidden glint within them.

He was torn, hesitating. Should he tell his granddaughter about the secret shortcut method he knew? "If Qingcheng successfully seizes Ye Gufan’s fortune, all will be well. But if she fails, wouldn’t it be a case of suffering a double loss? We’d become a laughingstock..." Great Saint Taibai was indecisive.

His secret method involved having Ye Qingcheng marry Hong Yuan first. Then, she would backstab him, thereby completing the ’snake swallowing the elephant’ maneuver!

A marital relationship complies with human ethics and the Heavenly Tao, aligning perfectly with the Yin and Yang Avenue. Using this secret method to forcibly establish the "root" connection would naturally be universally advantageous!