Wang Tian watched Casting One leave in anger and did not care. He already expected the backlash he would receive for his actions. However, his previous plan was to cut off the old sword path after he proved the Dao. By then, he would have the strength to suppress the entire world and even affect the entire lower dimension.
Although his decision was spontaneous, he analyzed that it was not such a bad thing; the swordsmen of the Myriad Emperor would have an entire generation to adapt to the status quo. Unfortunately, other Heaven Will Worlds will not have such a luxury once he completely cuts off their path.
Wang Tian secretly shook his head before focusing on Ji Lanfang's state. Although he was slightly injured, Ji Lanfang's situation was worse than his.
"You were reckless."
"Haha, true. But I've never had such a thrilling battle in my cultivation journey," replied Ji Lanfang. "So, it was worth it." He can confidently say he learned more than a million years of cultivation retreat and battle experience in this short battle.
"So, what are you going to do?"
"I'm not stubborn beyond saving," replied Ji Lanfang. "Since you showed me a better path, I would be a fool not to walk it." His goal or ambition is to see the pinnacle of swordsmanship. And since Wang Tian showed him the actual peak of swordsmanship, he will not hesitate to change his path.
"That's g…." Wang Tian stopped midway through his sentence as he raised his head to see purple light emanating from the cloud.
"Purple Merit," commented Ji Lanfang with slight surprise before realizing it made sense. Wang Tian did not create a new path as many people claimed. No, throughout the entire lower dimension–and even the Eternal Ascensions World–the Way of the Sword went astray as swordsmen walked an extreme path, abandoning the core idea of the harmony of Essence, Spirit, and Qi.
What Wang Tian did was redirect swordsmen back to the correct path that was in harmony with Heaven and Earth. Despite this, he still received the highest level of purple merit for his contribution.
Wang Tian calmly received the merit with a smile; he could use this event to show these stubborn swordsmen his path was orthodox while they were crooked. Under the banner of orthodoxy, he can gather many swordsmen on his side.
"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist," said Ji Lanfang with a smile.
"Thank you," replied Wang Tian before thinking of something. "Wei'er, come here."
The void opened, and Wang Wei walked out.
"Brother Ji, how have you been since we last met?" asked Wang Wei with a smile, making Wang Tian's lips twitch. He considered Ji Lanfang a close friend and even a brother; he even considered becoming a sword brother with the latter.
Unfortunately, Ji Lanfang was technically in the same generation as his son. If he became sword brother with the latter, Wang Wei would have to call him uncle. But now, Wang Wei called Ji Lanfang brother, which further made the seniority between the three becoming more complicated.
The worse part is Wang Tian knew his son did it on purpose.
"I've been well," replied Ji Lanfang with some embarrassment as he, too, felt awkward with the entire seniority dynamic of this group. The previous him at the Deception Trial was carefree and would not care about such a thing.
However, a long time has passed since then. And after becoming the sect master of his faction, he had to mature and conform to societal's customs.
"I see you've been well," added Ji Lanfang, a little envious of Wang Wei's ability to completely ignored societal norms and be as free as he wants; he often misses his younger self.
Indeed, I've been well. Let's hope this will last long," replied with some unknown meaning.
"We'eir, can you help Ji Lanfang's arm?"
"I can combine the power of Time and Nothingness to turn back time to the moment he had lost his arm."
"Will you be alright?"
"It will take a few days."
"That's fine."
"There is no need," suddenly added Ji Lanfang, shaking his head.
"Fellow Daoist?"
"I've only been able to simulate that strike without training it properly. So it can be considered incomplete. However, with the missing arm, I can better feel the power of nothingness and finally complete it," explained Ji Lanfang.
"Are you going to be alright with one arm?" asked Wang Tian.
"Even with one arm, I can still suppress my generation," replied Ji Lanfang. Of course, his explanation was not the only reason he refused Wang Wei's aid. His intuition as a swordsman told him it was not a good idea to owe any karmic debt to the latter.
Wang Wei sensed Ji Lanfang's reservation toward him, but he did not say anything. Ji Lanfang can be a powerful ally for his plans. However, if the latter gets in his way, he would have mercy on him because of his father and just exile him to the upper dimension.
"Yes, a man should have such a domineering spirit," nodded Wang Tian as he felt his friend's state of mind was to his lacking. For swordsmen of their caliber, limbs are only important when meeting someone of equal strength, and the slightest difference could determine the victor.
"Alright, it's time for me to fulfill our end of the bargain," added Wang Tian before looking at his son. Wang Wei nodded before placing an array in the surrounding domain for the next few minutes.
He activated the array, and the River of Time suddenly manifested above the group. Then, an enormous piece of land came from the River of Time. Luckily, Wang Wei stopped the prying eyes of everyone in the world. Otherwise, the people would realize this piece of land was a perfect copy of the domain where the two previously.
"Brilliant," blurted out Ji Lanfang, and he met his words. He could see Wang Wei had pulled out the same piece of land they fought from another timeline.
"Phew!" exhaled Wang Wei. "I'm glad it worked." Messing with parallel timelines with his current strength is dangerous and can result in terrible backlash. Luckily, the battle between these two was a recent event, and he had some karmic connection to this piece of land.
"As we agreed, this land belongs to you," said Wang Tian, and Ji Lanfang nodded before waving his hand to create a small world and putting the land inside.
A middle-aged man dressed in all black with piercing eyes suddenly appeared behind Ji Lanfang. Wang Tian and Wang Wei immediately guessed the latter's identity and saluted.
The old man saluted back before saying, "Sect Master, we need to leave."
Ji Lanfang frowned for a moment before realizing the current situation. Although Wang Tian decided to break the old path, it was he who condensed it. As an outsider, the swordsmen of the Myriad Emperor World will not care that they gave him permission; many will still place the blame on his head.
"I see," he nodded before saying farewell to Wang Tian and Wang Wei before finally leaving.
"Sword One, make sure they return without any problems," suddenly said Wang Wei.
"I'm on it." She was intelligent to know some people might kill the group to force the sect behind Ji Lanfang to become enemies with the Dao Opening Sect.
Wang Wei then focused on his father, "What will you do with this place? Leave for the sect only, or open it to other swordsmen?"
"The sect will have control, but I will use it to solicit more swordsmen into my path."
"In that case, I suggest you create the Sword Alliance to gather and control the swordsmen of the world. Make the base in this place and grade someone from 1 to 12 based on their Sword Realms.
"You will be the Alliance Leader, and every generation, the best swordsmen will be chosen as the leader."
Wang Tian's eyes lit up as he realized how much of a great idea this was. With this Sword Alliance, the Dao Opening Sect will increase both its military and political power.
And even if subsequent Alliance Leaders are not from the sect, the land where the Alliance Headquarters is built will belong to the Dao Opening Sect, thus granting them a lot of power in the alliance.
"Many swordsmen do not like to be restrained, but that does not matter," added Wang Tian. "They can become outside members of the alliance and do missions to acquire points. Points they can use to comprehend Sword Realm in this Bless Land."
"Good idea," uttered Wang Wei. Swordsmen are one of the best military forces in the world. And through the Sword Alliance, he can gather and use their power.
"In the future, the sect should use more resources to cultivate swordsmen," added Wang Wei. The Dao Opening Sect has the inheritance of Sword Empress, so there were many swordsmen–especially during Wang Tian's reign as sect master. However, Wang Wei suddenly felt it was insufficient, so he decided to increase the resources to cultivate more swordsmen.
"That's a good idea. Plus, I know the perfect person for the position of Vice-Leader," replied Wang Tian.
"Oh, who?"
"An old acquaintance I need to apologize to," he said with a sigh. However, he did not go into much detail. "I will leave you to deal with the aftermath. I need to go somewhere. He then disappeared, leaving a speechless Wang Wei.
"Being sect master sucks sometimes," he complained before calling people to deal with this domain.
As for the Dao Opening Sect taking over such a blessed land for swordsmen? No one dare say anything except express their regret.
