Chapter 135 - Wentian Finds Frostmourne

Let us all turn back the clock 14 months, to the time where Mesa had fought the Lich King and won after a hard fought battle. After everything was done and the Heaven Secret Basin Realm had closed up and expelled everyone, Ling Kun went back to the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region to tell Xuanyuan Wentian about the happenings inside the Heaven Secret Basin Realm, right after renewing the seal on Yun Canghai.

After Ling Kun told him about the events that had occurred within the Heaven Secret Basin Realm, his curiosity had been piqued. But when he told him that he felt that the aura of the devil sword that they had been searching for months, that's when Xuanyuan Wentian went nearly mad.

For months now, they had been searching frantically for any clue as to the whereabouts of that demonic sword, but they always came up empty. Across the entire Profound Sky Continent, they questioned people about the pulse of demonic energy that had swept the Profound Sky Continent. And everyone, without fault, told them the same thing:

'All I know is that I felt a dark energy for but a split second. It felt like something sharp scr.a.p.ed the nape of my neck. I don't know where it came from or even in which direction. It felt like it came from every single direction at the same time.'

To make matter worse, he found out that the other Sacred Ground were also searching for this demonic sword. So for many, many months, not a single lead had turned up, frustrating Xuanyuan Wentian endlessly. These past few months, he had been a little cranky because of this dead end investigation, until Ling Kun came.

Immediately, he had personally sent word to Mighty Heavenly Sword Villa's Sword Master, Ling Yuefeng, and instructed him to call him immediately once the entrance to Heaven Secret Basin Realm opened up and ordered him not to let anyone else, besides him and the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, to enter it. Ling Yuefeng immediately consented to this, but he had brought up the point that it would only be a matter of time before the other Sacred Ground caught wind of this and they would also demand him to keep out everyone but them. He stated that he would be in no position to refuse them, lest he and his sect suffer the consequences. Though he was very displeased about this, he knew that Ling Yuefeng had no leg to stand on when it came to resisting the other Sacred Grounds and that making it known that it was the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region that tried to keep the other Sacred Ground would only bring him into a needless conflict with them. And so he acquiesced, but he told him that he could only allow the other Sacred Ground entry and no one else. If any other sect demanded entrance to the Heaven Secret Basin Realm, then he was allowed to use his and his Sacred Ground's name to scare them off. And he made it very clear that he could use his and his Sacred Ground's name for this single issue and no other. And Ling Yuefeng, who knew not to draw the ire of the Xuanyuan Wentian, obeyed him.

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It was 6 months later, while Mesa was still in his training camp trying to get strong enough to resist a single minimum strength punch from Ophis, that something very weird happened. Xuanyuan Wentian had sent one of the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region's disciples to the Mighty Heavenly Sword Villa with a Sound Transmission Stone. Through this Sound Transmission Stone, Xuanyuan Wentian had talked to Ling Yuefeng and it was through this Sound Transmission Stone that he could contact him again when the Heaven Secret Basin Realm opened up again, fully expecting that it would take three years.

But contrary to anyone's expectation, the doorway to the Heaven Secret Basin Realm opened up after 6 months without warning, greatly surprising Ling Yuefeng. So using the Sound Transmission Stones he was given by the masters of every Sacred Grounds, he contacted them and told them that the Heaven Secret Basin Realm had opened up far earlier than expected. At first, they all didn't believe him and told Ling Yuefeng not to any kind of pranks with them. But it didn't take long for Ling Yuefeng to convince them all that the doorway to the Heaven Secret Basin Realm really did open.

And so the next day, over the course of the afternoon, all of the masters of the Sacred Grounds arrived at the Mighty Heavenly Sword Villa. And as was expected, every single person in the Mighty Heavenly Sword Villa had gotten so nervous by the arrival of all the masters of the Sacred Grounds, that they could crush coal into diamonds with their sphincters. What made this matter even more nerve-wracking/ nervous breakdown inducing, was the fact that this kept a secret to everyone in the Profound Sky Continent.

While the masters of the Sun Moon Divine Hal, Absolute Monarch Sanctuary and the Supreme Ocean Palace had come to investigate the phenomenon of the dead coming back to life in the Heaven Secret Basin Realm. Xuanyuan Wentian came there to investigate both that and the sudden appearance of the demonic sword that they all had been searching for, for the last 13 months.

Before the masters, who each were escorted by three of their top elders, had gone into the Heaven Secret Basin Realm, they had all come to an agreement. None of them wanted to provoke one of the other. Because every one of them knew that if one of them provoked one of the other Sacred Grounds, that there was a chance of the other two Sacred Grounds ganging up on that one. So in order to avoid any needless conflict between the four of them, they had all come to the agreement that they would each explore Heaven Secret Basin Realm in one of the four wind directions. And to accomplish this, they would all enter the Heaven Secret Basin Realm at the same time and they would then scatter into one of the four wind directions from the very point that they had landed.

The Sun Moon Divine hall, whose master is Ye Meixi, would explore to the south. Absolute Monarch Sanctuary, whose master is Huangji Wuyu, would explore to the west. The Supreme Ocean Palace, whose master is Qu Fengyi, would explore to the east. And finally, the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, whose master is Xuanyuan Wentian, would explore to the north. After entering, each group went in their own pre-arranged direction.

After flying for hours, Xuanyuan Wentian and his three Sword Attendants came to a stop.

"Alright, just like we planned, we now will each go in a different direction and search this place. But remember, keep your distance from the others." Said Xuanyuan Wentian.

"Yes! Sword Master!" Sounded out all three Sword Attendants. And like that, their group split up once again, with Xuanyuan Wentian continuing to head north, while the other three directions were taken by the three Sword Attendants.

Once he was a considerable distance away from everyone else, Xuanyuan Wentian came to a stop in midair and rubbed his right index finger over the ring on his left ring finger. What came out was a massive 6½ foot long and a foot-wide black sword. This was the Heavenly Sin Divine Sin that had the soul of a primordial Devil within. The moment the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword appeared, a pair red bloodshot eyes with deep black pupils suddenly opened on the hilt of the sword.

"Unbelievable! The density of the Darkness Profound Energy is so great! This accursed seal has never been so weak!" Called out the voice of the Devil sealed within the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword.

"Yes, oh great Devil Lord, I too sensed it the moment I set foot in this dimension. My guess is that a Primordial Devil has been imprisoned here and only broke free during that tournament here. It can explain why there is so much Darkness Profound Energy in the atmosphere and it could explain the phenomenon of the undead." Said Xuanyuan Wentian.

"No, that is not possible. Even the great Devil Emperors couldn't do that. Everyone, by they god or devil or mortal are subject to the laws of the heavens and one immovable law is death. There is no coming back from it, period." Said the Heavenly Divine Sin Sword.

"If that is the case, then Ling Kun must have lied when he said that the dead came back to life." Said Xuanyuan Wentian. But soon, he amended this conclusion. "No, that doesn't make any sense. Ling Kun would never lie to me. He knows what would happen to him if I catch him lying to me. Something must be going on here, this Darkness Profound Energy wouldn't just appear out of nowhere."

While Xuanyuan Wentian was pondering what Ling Kun told him and what the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword told him, somewhere out there in the frozen wastelands of the Heaven Secret Basin Realm, buried under meters of snow and ice, a sword that is adorned with a goat skull on both sides of its cross-guard suddenly comes to live. The eyes of the goat skulls, faintly glowing in an icy blue hue, having found its next host. And so, with a faint whisper, carried by the wind, it seeks to attracts this next host, ready for it to assimilate the unfortunate victim and bring back to life the Lich King.

"…[ ]…"

"…[ ]…"

"…[ come]…"

"Hmm?" Xuanyuan Wentian suddenly became, looking all around himself.

"What is the matter?" Asked the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword.

"I am hearing… a whisper, but it is very faint." Said Xuanyuan Wentian, getting more and more on edge as the whisper is getting louder and louder.

"What? A whisper? What is it saying?"

"It's telling me to… come and… free it? Great Lord Devil, could this be another Primordial Devil that has been sealed away?" Asked Xuanyuan Wentian.

"It could be another Devil that that damn Evil God sealed away. Wentian, let us go and check it out."

And with that, Xuanyuan Wentian flew off in the direction he thought the whisper came from. After many hours upon hours of endless searching, he came upon a snow covered valley, filled icy spires. This was all that remained of Mesa's battle with the Lich King. And what he saw, would forever stay with him.

"What the f.u.c.k is this?!" Yelled out both Xuanyuan Wentian and the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword. In front of him was the Frozen Throne of the Lich King, the center of Darkness Profound Energy they sensed. Four stone obelisks carved with runes of powerful magic surrounded it. Bridges of pale blue, translucent energy stretch from the obelisk platforms to the Frozen Throne. Jets of frost periodically spew blue flames into the air, and there were glyphs carved into the rocky ground surrounding the Throne.

"Great Devil Lord, what is this thing?!"

"I don't know! I have never seen anything like this! Never felt Darkness Profound Energy that felt so malicious and… foreign! I have never seen those letters before!��� Said the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword.

Whatever this is, Xuanyuan Wentian knew that this was not just an opportunity of a lifetime, but THE opportunity of everyone's lifetime. This had the potential to shake not just the Profound Sky Continent, but the entire Blue Pole Start to its very foundations and he was in smack dab in the middle of it all. He may have struck out again when it came to the demonic sword that Ling Kun told him about. But now, another opportunity fell in his lap. And this one, he would take this one with both hands and no one, especially not the other Sacred Grounds, would be able get in on this. If he could get to the bottom of what all this was, then whatever power and treasure this contained, would be all his. In combination with what he was already working on with the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword, his dreams of becoming God and becoming the indisputable ruler of the Blue Pole Star would finally come to fruition.

After talking it all over with the Devil spirit inside the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword, they had both come to the conclusion that this was an opportunity to gain so much more power than originally. And they both set out to unravel this entire mystery and gain it all for themselves. Starting with, finding the source of the whisper Xuanyuan Wentian kept hearing and seeing what it was once forever. After some more hours of searching, Xuanyuan Wentian finally comes upon it. Underneath the frozen and snow covered remains of a lake, the voice calls out to him. So, taking out his sword, he makes very quick work of the ice and dives in, coming back out a few minutes later with a sword that had a goat skull adorning both sides of its cross-guard glowing in a faint icy blue hue.

"THIS IS IT! THIS IS IT!" Called out Xuanyuan Wentian extremely enthusiastically with Frostmourne in hand and with the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword telling him to immediately store it away and get back to the Frozen Throne, he did and thus cut of the voice of the Lich King that was still trying to corrupt him.

After Mesa's battle with the Lich King and using Excalibur's might to destroy most of its armor, that housed the majority of its soul, its ability to search out a new soul and corrupt it had waned significantly. With great, great luck, the Lich King found Xuanyuan Wentian because of his power hungry drive and willingness to do anything for more power. Frostmourne on the other hand housed the Lich King's power and using the last pieces of its armor/soul, it communicated through Frostmourne and he managed to have Xuanyuan Wentian find Frostmourne. But his influence to make sure Xuanyuan Wentian doesn't want to separate from him was too weak and because of the many years that he had been under the influence of the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword, the Lich King failed into corrupting him to do his bidding.

In the following two days that the Heaven Secret Basin Realm was still open, the Sacred Ground kept investigating the phenomenon. Very rarely, someone of the Sacred Ground, bar Xuanyuan Wentian, would find a lucky undead that managed to survive, only to be destroyed immediately and taken to be examined. But unlike what they thought, once the undead were 'killed', their corpses would yield no clues as to how they came into being, becoming ordinary and powerless corpses.

Xuanyuan Wentian on the other hand, never left the site of the Frozen Throne, investigating every aspect of it, writing down all of the letters he saw with pinpoint accuracy, collecting samples and using all of his Profound Imagery Stones he had to record everything. Didn't matter how insignificant it was, he didn't leave a single stone unturned. Knowing that the voice coming from Frostmourne was trying to corrupt Xuanyuan Wentian into doing its bidding and having already guessed that the Frozen Throne is its 'center point', the devil spirit inside the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword sternly tells Xuanyuan Wentian to NOT take out Frostmourne for the entire duration that they are here, only when they are back at the Sword Region should he do it.

And when the Heaven Secret Basin Realm closes up, Xuanyuan Wentian feigns ignorance, claiming he only found the place where a major battle had taken place that was filled with the Darkness Profound Energy they felt and that he combed it out extensively, but found nothing. Though they didn't trust him, the master of the other Sacred Ground did not trust the others by default. So knowing their hands were tied, they returned home to research what they had found already.

(To be continued in part 2)