Including Li Mo, everyone involuntarily gasped, as the town before them had been utterly transformed.
The town was nestled within a mountain basin, with Five Temples Town surrounded by mountains on all sides.
Li Mo stared intently at the sky above the town, where a fiery red flying sword hovered.
The flying sword resembled a stack of a dozen beating hearts, or perhaps a cluster of throbbing organs, pulsating and radiating an intimidating high heat.
The Heavenly Sword Sect had stationed the Heart Flying Sword in Five Temples Town, signaling that their exploration of the Secret Realm had made significant progress.
The air sizzled and crackled.
For some reason, Li Mo’s heart began to race uncontrollably. On the flying sword was an Innate Saint, and he could sense a Taoist Body aura threatening him.
"A Taoist Body? For an Innate Saint to issue a warning, it must be approaching the realm of an Immortal Body."
The Heart Flying Sword possessed all the characteristics of a cultivator but was decidedly unlike a Magic Artifact. Upon closer inspection, the Sword Qi was clearly composed of Molten Rock Spirit Power.
Li Mo considered releasing his Divine Sense to investigate further.
But the Heart Flying Sword seemed to sense this intent, as countless eyes emerged on its surface, and a Divine Sense comparable to the Nascent Soul Stage swept across the town.
"Has the Human Demon Sect turned their methods into scripture? Surely the Heavenly Sword Sect wouldn’t craft a flying sword from their own bodies?"
"No, that’s not it. According to the Sword Tongue Sect’s Village Exam, such a flying sword is entirely nurtured through a living person’s Three Souls and Seven Spirits, which are used to siphon the nutrients of their Taoist Body."
Li Mo retracted his gaze as the Heart Flying Sword, unable to locate the source of the peeping, returned to stillness.
Apart from the Heart Flying Sword, there was no trace of mortals in the massive Five Temples Town; all cultivators were hiding within sealed buildings.
The entrance to the True Word Secret Realm was located on the western side of the town, marked by a bronze gate.
About a hundred disciples of the Five Hidden Sword Sect stood before the gate, ramming their metalized foreheads against it, as though trying to break open the entrance to the Secret Realm.
Their skulls cracked and began to bleed profusely.
"Let’s wait. Something seems to be about to happen in Five Temples Town."
Li Mo raised a hand to stop the caravan. The Beast Cultivators stood on edge like soldiers prepared for battle, though they did not panic overly with a Nascent Soul Stage expert present.
The temperature in Five Temples Town kept rising.
Li Mo estimated it had already surpassed three hundred degrees, and in another hour, it would reach five hundred degrees.
The Five Hidden Sword disciples increased the frequency of their headbutting, and some of them, under the intense heat, had already turned into desiccated corpses.
Li Mo noticed that the Five Hidden Sword disciples risking their lives lacked Lifebound Flying Swords, marking them as discarded individuals unable to advance in their cultivation.
The bronze giant gate split open slightly.
A man dressed as a monk escaped from within—he, too, appeared to be a disciple of the Five Hidden Sword Sect.
Li Mo licked his lips. The Lifebound Flying Swords of the Five Hidden Sword Sect likely focused on organs, with their disciples gouging out their own organs to nourish their swords.
The Five Hidden Sword disciple, barely out of the True Word Secret Realm, had yet to fully react when the Heart Flying Sword above released a wave of blazing Sword Qi.
The Five Hidden Sword disciple let out a terrible scream as his body was incinerated into ash.
From his abdomen, a flying sword was released.
The flying sword resembled the arm of a monk, with smooth white skin. Its fingers bore scorch marks from frequently holding burning incense, and it exuded a faint Buddha Qi.
"An incomplete sword!!"
An aged voice sighed within Five Temples Town.
The Heart Flying Sword showed no hesitation and immediately severed the arm-like flying sword with a burst of Sword Qi. It then began retracting its heat, and the town gradually returned to a normal temperature.
Soon after, dozens of cultivators poured out from behind the entrance, most of them Loose Cultivators by origin.
As soon as they exited the giant gate, their memories of the True Word Secret Realm were erased. They scattered into the alleys and streets of Five Temples Town, unwilling to linger.
Tang Wu muttered, "What exactly is the Heavenly Sword Sect doing?"
"They’re refining swords."
Li Mo didn’t elaborate further, as he had already grasped the intentions of the Heavenly Sword Sect.
In fact, the Heavenly Sword Sect wasn’t even trying to hide it.
The Heavenly Sword Sect was continuously sending Five Hidden Sword disciples into the True Word Secret Realm, using the sword sheaths to steal the True Word Sect’s magic heritage.
Or rather, they were using the True Word Sect to cultivate a new branch of Sword Cultivators.
Through some method, they were transforming the heritage into flying swords bearing Buddhist characteristics. The only issue was that they remained dissatisfied with the current results.
As for the Taoist and Demon Cultivators entering the True Word Secret Realm alongside them...
They were probably being used as sword-grinding stones, weren’t they?