Beauty and Might: Heavenly Flames

As Li Yan prepared to enter the green circle once more, Jian Ling’s voice stopped him. ”I think that is enough for today.”

Li Yan paused and turned toward her. ”Why?”

”The limitation I mentioned earlier.”

Her gaze settled on him. ”The Trial Hall was designed for swordsmen entering with their physical bodies. In that state, Sword Intent is linked to the body rather than Spiritual Energy.”

Li Yan immediately understood where she was going.

Jian Ling continued, ”Because your consciousness is entering alone, every movement, every projection of Sword Intent, and every battle consumes Spiritual Energy. The tower substitutes your consciousness for a physical body, but the cost is yours to bear.”

Only now did Li Yan carefully examine himself. A faint sense of exhaustion lingered within his Spiritual Consciousness.

It was subtle enough to escape notice during battle, but impossible to ignore once he focused on it.

”You noticed it.” Jian Ling’s tone remained calm. ”Your Spiritual Energy reserves are approaching their limit.”

Li Yan glanced toward the green circle. The next trial awaited him. Part of him wanted to continue.

Yet he also understood that the Jian Ling would not issue warnings without reason.

Then a smile appeared on his face.

Li Yan’s grip unconsciously tightened around the hilt of his sword. A trace of excitement surfaced in his eyes as he looked toward the green circle. The earlier trials had been valuable, but they had not truly pushed him.

The next challenge was different. For the first time since entering the Trial Arena, he could not confidently predict victory. Rather than discouraging him, the uncertainty only deepened his interest. After all, there was little value in testing limits against opponents who posed no threat.

Jian Ling noticed the change in his expression immediately. ”Don’t.”

Li Yan turned toward her.

The Tower Spirit stood beside the monument with her arms folded across her chest. ”You already know the probability of passing the next trial is no higher than twenty percent.”

”I know.”

”Then why are you smiling?”

Li Yan glanced toward the green circle once more before answering. ”Because I want to see it. I want to know where my current limits actually are.”

For the first time since their meeting, Jian Ling did not respond immediately. She simply studied him for several moments before slowly shaking her head. ”A battle addict.”

Li Yan coughed lightly. ”Curious.”

”Battle addict.”

”Curious.”

”The distinction is insignificant.”

Seeing that she had already reached her conclusion, Li Yan wisely chose not to continue the discussion. To his surprise, he thought he detected a trace of amusement in her eyes before it disappeared.

”The trials are not going anywhere,” Jian Ling said. ”There is no reason to push yourself further today.”

Li Yan considered her words and eventually nodded. She was right.

The purpose of entering the Sword Tower was not to seek reckless combat. He had waited nearly a year to open this tower, and today alone had already provided rewards far beyond his expectations.

The Knowledge Hall had shown him the foundations he lacked. The Insight Hall had broadened his understanding of Sword Intent. The Trials Arena had revealed weaknesses that would otherwise have remained hidden.

There was still much left to explore, and no reason to exhaust himself chasing a challenge that could easily wait until tomorrow.

With a small sigh, he relaxed his grip.

The sword formed from Spiritual Energy gradually dissolved into countless motes of light before disappearing entirely.

Li Yan looked at her and asked, ”What about the Sword Merit Points I earned?”

Jian Ling replied, ”Normally, disciples of the Eternal Sword Sect carry disciple tokens to hold Sword Merit Points. But those are not available right now, so I will keep track of your earned points.”

”When you need them, you can exchange them for something from the tower. I will help you with that. Currently, your balance is 130 Sword Merit Points.”

Li Yan nodded in understanding. ”I understand. Can you tell me how much the Sword Techniques available in the Knowledge Hall cost?”

Jian Ling’s eyebrows rose at Li Yan’s question, but she still replied, ”You have to earn plenty of them for Sword Techniques, because even the cheapest one needs several thousand.”

Li Yan nodded again, not looking surprised, as though he had already anticipated this answer.

Then Li Yan took one final look across the arena. The Trials Arena had impressed him greatly. The projections were not simply opponents created for combat. They were teachers. Every battle forced a swordsman to confront flaws that might otherwise remain hidden for years.

There was no pride, no reputation, and no excuses within the arena. Only strengths and weaknesses are displayed plainly before one’s eyes. Li Yan found himself appreciating that kind of honesty.

As he stepped into the red circle, the surrounding space gradually distorted. The battlefield faded from view, and moments later, the familiar main hall of the Eternal Sword Tower appeared around him once more.

For a moment, Li Yan remained standing where he was, quietly organizing everything he had experienced since entering the tower. The inheritance was far more complete than he had imagined. Knowledge, understanding, and practical application had all been integrated into a single system.

Any swordsman fortunate enough to cultivate within such an environment would improve at an astonishing rate. His gaze slowly wandered across the circular hall before eventually settling upon the central platform.

More specifically, the swords were embedded within it.

When he had first entered the tower, his attention had been occupied by Jian Ling and the three halls. Now that he had experienced each of them personally, he finally had the opportunity to examine the platform properly.

Li Yan walked toward it.

Jian Ling appeared nearby without a sound.

The closer he approached, the clearer the swords became. Some were complete. Others were broken. Some appeared ordinary enough to be found in any mortal blacksmith’s workshop, while others still carried faint traces of Sword Intent despite the countless years that had passed.

Yet none of them felt decorative.

Li Yan stopped beside a cracked longsword and extended his Spiritual Sense toward it. Immediately, a faint resonance echoed through his mind.

His eyes narrowed slightly. ”This isn’t an ordinary sword.”

”None of them are,” Jian Ling replied.

Li Yan looked across the platform once more. There were dozens of swords embedded throughout the stone, each carrying a distinct aura and presence. At first glance, they resembled a collection assembled over countless years.

”A collection?” he asked.

Jian Ling remained silent for several moments before slowly shaking her head.

”No.” Her gaze swept across the platform. ”These are memorials.”

Li Yan looked at the swords again.

This time, his perspective changed.

The cracked blades, broken edges, and weathered surfaces no longer appeared to be the result of age alone. Many of them carried obvious signs of battle. Some had shattered completely. Others bore deep scars that would have rendered them unusable long before their owners died.

”They belonged to disciples?” he asked quietly.

”Some.” Jian Ling nodded.

”Others belonged to the elders. Some belonged to sect leaders. Every sword here belonged to someone who died defending the Eternal Sword Sect.”

Silence settled over the hall.

Li Yan found himself studying the swords more carefully than before. Each blade represented a life. A swordsman. A story that had already reached its conclusion. Whatever battle had destroyed the Eternal Sword Sect, it had been severe enough that even now its traces remained visible upon the weapons left behind.

”How did they come here after the sect fell?”

”The Tower Spirit gathered them.” Jian Ling’s gaze settled upon one of the broken swords near the center of the platform.

”Before escaping that battle, it collected the swords of the fallen and preserved them within the tower.”

Li Yan remained silent.

After a brief pause, Jian Ling continued. ”The Spirit of this Tower believed that a swordsman’s greatest treasure was not his weapon.”

Her eyes reflected the countless swords embedded throughout the platform. ”It was their will.”

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Then Jian Ling’s voice sounded once more, quieter than before. ”But even the strongest will eventually fade. Time erodes everything. In the end, only remembrance remains.”

Her gaze lingered upon the platform. ”And sometimes, remembrance is enough.”

Li Yan looked at the swords in silence.

For the first time since meeting Jian Ling, he sensed genuine emotion beneath her calm exterior. It was faint, almost imperceptible, yet impossible to mistake.

She had witnessed everything personally—the rise of the Eternal Sword Sect, its years of glory, the battle that destroyed it, and the countless deaths that followed. After that, there had come thousands of years of silence.

Perhaps that was why these swords remained here. Not as weapons. Not as treasures. But as proof that those who wielded them had once existed.

Li Yan’s gaze slowly shifted away from the memorial swords and toward the remaining two sealed doors.

After exploring the Knowledge Hall, the Insight Hall, and the Trials Arena, they seemed even more mysterious than before. The three accessible halls each contained inheritances capable of shaping a swordsman’s entire path.

If those were only the portions currently available to him, then whatever lay behind the sealed doors was undoubtedly far more significant.

He walked toward the nearest one.

The towering black metal door stood motionless before him. Ancient runes covered its surface, yet not a single one reacted to his presence. Li Yan placed a hand against it and quietly circulated his Spiritual Energy.

Nothing happened.

There was no resistance, no rejection, and no response. The door simply remained closed, as though it did not even acknowledge his existence.

Behind him, Jian Ling spoke calmly. ”This door will not open until you reach the Sword Emperor Level.”

Li Yan immediately turned toward her.

His eyes sharpened. For the first time, he had received a concrete requirement rather than a vague refusal. ”So there is a condition.”

Li Yan glanced toward the second sealed door. ”And that one?”

This time, Jian Ling did not answer immediately.

A subtle change appeared in her expression. It was slight, but Li Yan noticed it. Since meeting her, he had rarely seen any emotion beyond calm indifference.

”The second door…” she began, then fell silent.

Several breaths passed. Finally, she shook her head. ”You are not qualified to know.”

Li Yan sighed inwardly.

The answer was becoming familiar.

Still, her hesitation had already revealed something important. The second door was clearly different from the first. Whatever requirements it possessed were either more complicated or more sensitive than a simple cultivation threshold.

His curiosity naturally increased.

Unfortunately, curiosity had never been capable of opening sealed inheritances.

After a brief moment of thought, he let the matter go.

The Sword Tower had already existed for thousands of years. It would not disappear tomorrow. One day, the answers would reveal themselves naturally.

Li Yan stepped back and allowed his gaze to sweep across the hall one final time.

A faint sense of satisfaction appeared in his eyes.

For nearly a year, the tower had remained a mystery within his Spiritual Consciousness. He had entered the Sword Realm, attempted to approach the tower, passed the test, and spent months believing that his Spiritual Cultivation was insufficient to open its doors.

Now, all of that effort had finally borne fruit.

The inheritance he discovered inside had exceeded every expectation. The Knowledge Hall provided foundations. The Insight Hall broadened understanding. The Trial Hall exposed weaknesses and refined combat experience.

Together, they formed a complete system capable of nurturing a swordsman from the earliest stages of cultivation to unimaginable heights.

At that moment, Li Yan finally understood something. The Ancient Techniques Hall had not merely given him a Sword Intent. It had given him a teacher.

A silent teacher who would continue guiding him for years to come.

Eventually, his gaze returned to Jian Ling. ”You’ve been maintaining this place alone all these years?”

Jian Ling’s expression remained unchanged. ”A fragment does not experience loneliness.”

A smile appeared on Li Yan’s face. ”That wasn’t my question.”