Even if they were in the same rank, they were still not at the same stage. Sage had felt the law energy of the blue canines, but it was concentrated upon the tips of the icicles they fired from their bodies. It was a far more sophisticated use of the power than his own, but it was useless against him as he hadn’t let any of their projectiles get near him. By using Foresight, he could see their attacks coming from afar and he used the Blacksilver Pawns to grapple with them so he wouldn’t get caught up in a melee where he could end up getting attacked from behind.

From the looks of them, the three from the Sword Sect faced a bit more difficulty. The beasts had divided themselves so there was a pair of tier sixes for each of them. Sage had handled both of his, but it seemed the Songs had let a few on their side escape. From the looks of their clothing and the bit of blood he saw, it was a bit more difficult for them to fight up close. While Sage was examining the wounds on their bodies, Elder Zhong glared back at him and his untouched state. Sage seemed unperturbed, “Was that some sort of piercing law? Forgive me for being unable to come in time to assist you.”

Song Lu Tian had a scratch upon the chest piece of his armor, as well as a cut across his bicep, “Haha, no need. It was quite easy for us!”

Elder Meng’s eyes had half closed again, relaxing again so quickly after that fierce battle, he cut off Elder Zhong who looked ready to explode, “The six of them used their weaker companions as a shield and then combined their attacks together. Most of our injuries came from that initial surprise attack.”

Elder Zhong seemed defused, now that their difficult position was explained, “A bunch of dogs can’t compare to the Mount Song Sword Sect.”

Sage put on an apologetic look and bowed to Elder Zhong, not wanting to form any bad blood and realizing he’d belittled the man a little earlier without realizing it. He’d forgotten that his own abilities were very good at restraining large numbers of enemies. Unless one of his foes greatly outclassed him, he could easily solve many weaker foes, especially now that his level had risen even higher than in the past. The others he was with were all Sword Cultivators, which were said to have the greatest offensive power of any cultivators. That saying was also the same reason there were so many cultivators who followed the path of the sword.

Even those who used fire or lightning were said to be inferior to a sword cultivator when comparing pure killing ability. Those who used fire could burn down huge areas and face many enemies at once. Lightning was fast and explosive, but there were many enemies that could resist even the most vicious energy attacks. It required a weapon to pierce their thick skin or armored scales. Sabers could strike with more force than a sword, but they were slower and less versatile. Larger, heavier weapons also made this difference even more extreme. The sword was fast and agile, yet still had the cutting and piercing power to overcome tough defenses. Or at least, this was the argument made by those who admired the sword.

The way Sage saw it, they weren’t exactly wrong, but the legendary status of the sword probably just stemmed from a few famous fighters. Once they got famous enough, others would wish to follow in their footsteps. Then, with popularity, more techniques would be developed for the sword and disseminated among the people. If it was both more popular and easier to find a good technique to use, more powerful people that used swords would rise, which would lend even more credence to the common view. Once this trend continued for a long enough time, the advancements in sword techniques would be likely to truly make them stronger than others.

At least, that’s what had been going on in the lower ranks. From the way Sage saw it, the usage and utilization of laws were what truly mattered at higher levels. He figured that the most powerful type of cultivator would be the one that found a law they advanced the quickest with. If there was a structured way to train and progress with a law, which he guessed the powers above had, they would definitely treat common sword cultivators as trash.

Heh, the only real way to know is to have a path of law progression based on the sword to compare with the others.

They had previously known there were beasts in the crevices that could attack them, but now that they had actually encountered them, they had a much easier time avoiding them. In fact, they even used this new knowledge to increase their speed. They had been taking the longer route to avoid as many cracks as possible, but now Sage just released a swarm of insects into them. Once the bugs started dying, their group of four leapt over. The canines seemed to either enjoy the free food, or were much angrier at the deeper penetration of their territory by the insects and left the four of them at the surface level to pass by unbothered.

The next night, Sage grew another protective grove and kept away the nocturnal predators while they drank and ate in peace.

In this manner, they traveled the next few days quite easily and finally reached the glacial mountains they’d been heading towards. Sage looked up towards the height and wondered about the dangers that might appear on the climb, but then Elder Meng walked up to the smooth ice face in front of them and made a few hand seals. He pointed his finger and shot out a wisp of energy that sunk into the ice without a trace. Then a sword shaped token appeared in his hand and he tossed it forward. It flew up to the ice wall and stabbed into a small hole that Sage hadn’t noticed before. A pair of glowing circles appeared on the ice wall around the small sword, and dozens of small formation symbols appeared between the two rings. Then Elder Meng pointed his finger again and a beam of energy struck the small sword, which suddenly turned.

A key?

A low rumble filled the air and then the ice wall in front of them parted. Somehow, without disturbing the glacial cliff to either side, a pair of walls seemed to recede to either side and a perfectly square tunnel appeared in front of them. At that moment, the three Songs walked forward and Sage followed after them. The glowing symbols on the wall faded, but the small sword key stayed where it was.

“That was quite impressive. Is that a formation the Mount Song Sword Sect left here?”

Elder Zhong swaggered a little, “That’s right. This passage has allowed us to always reach the center before any other foreign powers. After we beat them so badly a dozen times, most of them have given up on coming here. What is ours shouldn’t be shared with others.”

Sage let him talk big, but he knew that many independent cultivators would come here every time it opened to fish for benefits. It seemed this passageway is what prevented the other first rate powers from trying to come in force. If they could always get to the major benefit of this place first, they could set up defenses and block the others.

Once the passage had opened, Sage saw that the vigilance of the two Elders had dropped severely. That meant they were likely to face little danger on this path, or at least that’s what they assumed. Sage wasn’t foolish enough to let down his guard, but it appeared to be unnecessary. The tunnel they traveled on was a few hundred miles long, but there was not a single shred of danger the entire time. They moved at high speed and soon reached a very literal light at the end of the tunnel.