My disciples are all villains.

Yu Zhenghai sensed the gravity of the situation based on his master's tone. When he thought about his Second Junior Brother's disappearance over the past two days, he felt slightly worried. Over the years, Yu Shangrong had never gotten into serious trouble no matter how difficult the situation was. However, from his master's words, it seemed like this time was different.

When Yu Zhenghai flew away from Cloud Mountain, a slight frown appeared on his face as he suddenly came to halt. He turned to look at Cloud Mountain as he muttered to himself, "How does master know Second Junior Brother is in trouble?"

'Does master have some special technique?' Yu Zhenghai recalled how Meng Changdong and Si Wuya communicated and quickly searched his own body. He looked through his hair, waist, legs but did not find any Formations or marks. He thought to himself, slightly disappointed, 'It seems like master is just worried about Second Junior Brother. As expected, master favors him more.'

…

After using the power twice in a row, Lu Zhou's extraordinary power was completely drained.

"This power is good, but it uses too much extraordinary power." He sighed as he brought the Violet Glazed Ceramic out.

The Violet Glazed Ceramic had greatly boosted his recovery speed. With its help, he managed to completely recover his extraordinary power in a little more than three days. However, three days were still too slow for him.

He brought a Shining Stone out and wondered out loud, "Can it be upgraded again?"

He decided to try and use the Shining Stone.

"Ding! The Shining Stone cannot be used on a desolate-grade item."

"…"

'Forget it.'

He stowed the Violet Glazed Ceramic and Shining Stone away. Then, he resumed his meditation on the Heavenly Writing scrolls.

...

Over the next three days, Yu Zhenghai searched in the vicinity of Cloud Mountain for Yu Shangrong. Initially, he thought about asking for help. However, when he recalled all of them were natives of the red lotus domain, he decided against it since he could not trust them. Little Yuan'er and Conch's cultivation bases were weaker so it would be safer for them to stay near their master.

However, his power alone was too limited. Searching for one person was like looking for a needle at the bottom of the ocean.

…

Three days passed in just a blink of an eye.

Yu Shangrong opened his eyes again. Currently, his wounds and cultivation base were almost completely recovered. He turned to look at Ji Lian sleeping next to him.

Fortunately, the Formation veins in the rock forest no longer absorbed his life as they did before. Although Ji Liang did not give him many years, it seemed capable of healing itself.

Yu Shangrong drew his Longevity Sword. Although it was broken, he was still confident.

"The son of heaven's sword…" he muttered to himself as he threw the sword out.

Under his precise control, the broken sword flew around the 361 rock pillars. After it flew one round around the rock pillars, several thousand energy swords suddenly appeared.

Yu Shangrong pushed lightly away from the ground and leaped into the air. Due to his experience, he no longer triggered the heavenly net in the rock forest as soon as he made a move. He continued to fly until he reached the top of the rock forest. At this spot, he had the best view, and he could ensure there was an energy sword between each rock pillar.

Yu Shangrong's mathematical skills were no were close to Si Wuya's level, and he was not in the mood to do detailed calculations. He could deal with this problem with primal methods.

Energy swords filled his field of vision…

"I still need more energy swords." Yu Shangrong did not expect this. It was already an amazing feat for him to form 10,000 energy swords in just an instant with his Nine-leaf cultivation base, but they were still not enough. He could still see an area that was not covered by his energy swords.

As he joined his palm together, he murmured to himself, "Oh, well. If it's too easy, it would be boring."

Swoosh!

A burst of energy surged out from between his palms.

The energy swords hovering between the rock pillars buzzed in unison.

His Longevity Sword hovered in the center, acting as the core as he controlled the energy swords.

"Split."

The thousands of energy swords split into two.

Swoosh!

In just an instant, there were now 20,000 energy swords.

Yu Shangrong's fingers trembled as he felt the pressure on him, his will, his sea of Qi, and his control over his Primal Qi increased by several folds.

The sun shone down on the energy swords.

Before he tried this, he did not know how terrible he was. The amazing and invincible Sword Devil could only control 20,000 energy swords. However, similar to Yu Zhenghai, he was not one to admit defeat and was incredibly competitive.

He was the elite swordsman of Great Yan. His name, Sword Devil, struck fear in those who heard it.

His confident expression gradually turned solemn as he steeled his heart. He moved his hands, unleashing all his power.

As soon as 40,000 energy swords appeared, they shattered like glass and disappeared.

At the same time, the Longevity Sword fell down and stabbed into the ground.

Yu Shangrong landed and staggered back.

"Not enough."

Yu Shangrong did not give up. He wiped the sweat off his face before he sat down with his leg crossed. He adjusted his breathing and calmed himself down, restoring his Primal Qi. At the same time, he thought of ways he could control more energy swords.

He could only control 40,000 energy swords for a brief moment before they shattered; it was not nearly enough.

After summing up the reasons for his failure, he murmured, "I should make them smaller to conserve Primal Qi."

Since he only needed the energy swords to block the energy swords, they did not have to be big.

With this thought in mind, he prepared for the next round.

…

Another day passed in the blink of an eye.

Yu Shangrong had made ten attempts and failed at each attempt.

At his best, he only managed to form 60,000 energy swords, but his control over them did not last long.

After a few more attempts, he was exhausted.

The moon hung high in the sky at this moment.

Yu Shangrong was deep in his thoughts.

"What is the son of heaven's sword? It starts with Yin and Yang, lasts through spring and summer, works through autumn and winter, splits the clouds when lifted, and cuts an era when lowered… The height of thoughts decides the height of my sword?"

He looked at his Longevity Sword. "I've fought fiercely against experts… But in the end, I failed."

Yu Shangrong slowly rose to his feet. He held his breath and protected his dantian. After he widened his stance, a glowing Eight Trigrams appeared along with Yin and Yang symbols. Primal Qi began to rise.

He pushed away from the ground and launched himself into the air with White Crane Showing Its Wings movement. When he was high in the sky, energy swords materialized around him.

Whizz!

The Longevity Sword shot to the center.

The golden energy seal illuminated the forest.

After countless failures, Yu Shangrong was more experienced. He was now forming energy swords at a faster speed.

In just a blink of an eye, 10,000 energy swords appeared,

Then, he easily split the 10,000 energy swords into 20,000 energy swords.

"Again!"

Whizz!

There were now 40,000 energy swords.

Then, Yu Shangrong flattened his palms and stood straight.

"Avatar!"

His 150-foot avatar towered in the air.

The area within 1,000 meters was illuminated by the 150-foot avatar.

…

At this moment, Yu Zhenghai who was still searching for Yu Shangrong suddenly turned around. "Golden avatar?"

It was very far away. From Yu Zhenghai's position, the avatar was only a small spot of light.

He did not hesitate and immediately flew in the direction of the avatar. He did not think it was far away since he was flying at top speed.

…

Yu Shangrong surveyed his surroundings. He currently had 40,000 swords. He did not have to split all 40,000 energy swords; he only needed to split half of them.

His palms were trembling as he maintained his output of Primal Qi.

"Split!"

20,000 energy swords split. There were now 60,000 energy swords. However, a few dozen energy swords disintegrated because they were too far away from them.

Then, he moved the energy swords between the energy lines.

At this moment, his forehead was drenched in sweat.

"Just a little more…" He looked at his surroundings again. He had never felt as nervous as he did at this moment.

The Formation veins below shone again. If they absorbed his life again, he could only attempt to break out of this place after a few days.

Yu Shangrong was originally calm and composed. His nervousness and the pressure from the situation only served to boost his fighting spirit. This was the kind of elite swordsman he was. The more powerful his opponent was, the stronger he would grow. The more difficult the situation was, the more it would spur him to grow stronger.

As he continued to think of a solution, he looked at the 361 rock pillars again.

"Using all creation as swords?"

361 rock pillars… Was this not a chessboard?

Life was like a game of chess, and he could not afford to make the wrong move.

A faint smile appeared on his face as he poured all the Primal Qi in his sea of Qi out.

As he shot up into the air, the energy swords moved into their positions.

When he was at the top of the rock forest, the rock pillars moved to connect, but the energy lines were blocked by his energy swords.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

The energy lines struck the energy swords!