Imperial Cultivation Chapter 1572 - 1568: Golden Sword

Sure, here is the translation:

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"Whoosh——!"

The tail of the Elephant Beast finally could move, shaking desperately, and cried out in Chu Zhiyuan’s mind: "Are you crazy? You really are crazy!"

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said, "Now, the thunder can no longer affect me."

"Impossible!"

At that moment, another bolt of Purple Lightning struck down.

It seemed like the previous Purple Lightning couldn’t kill him, so it continued its assault.

Chu Zhiyuan raised his right hand again, palm spread open, revealing the Lao Gong Acupoint.

The Purple Lightning struck precisely in his palm.

Then, it drilled into the Lao Gong Acupoint and disappeared suddenly.

This time, not even the slightest numbing sensation transmitted to his body, causing the Elephant Beast’s eyes to widen.

Its tail, which had already stopped, shook violently again: "Impossible!"

This truly means he’s not afraid of thunder anymore!

Chu Zhiyuan chuckled and said, "Thunder, nothing more than this!"

The Elephant Beast blinked, its tail swaying intensely.

This exceeded its imagination.

In its concept, no creature could suppress thunder.

Even a True Dragon could only withstand thunder, not directly absorb it like Chu Zhiyuan did.

Chu Zhiyuan said, "Thunder is the transitioning point of utmost yang and utmost yin, the greatest force of heaven and earth. Now that I have mastered its secret, I can tame it."

"Utmost yang, utmost yin..." The Elephant Beast shook its head: "Anyway, it’s unbelievable!"

"With this, what else is there to fear?" Chu Zhiyuan laughed: "Exploring this Grotto Heaven should be unimpeded, right?"

"That’s not necessarily true," the Elephant Beast hurriedly said, "there are still many frightening extraordinary things; we can’t be careless."

"Let’s go!" Chu Zhiyuan laughed: "I want to see it!"

They continued to advance, crossing mountain after mountain, leaping over river after river.

While passing a large river, suddenly a gigantic fish leaped out, one zhang long and as thick as a man embracing it.

This gigantic fish, shining like black iron under the sunlight, had incredible defense and strength.

But at this moment, Chu Zhiyuan was no longer the same as before. After the Sixth Transition, his Divine Essence also improved.

He gently unfurled the Spring Sun Sword and casually swung it, activating the Spring Breeze Brushing Willow Sword Technique.

The Sword Aura flickered.

The giant fish stiffened in the air, then fell straight into the river and was washed away by the current, disappearing in no time.

The Elephant Beast finally relaxed, its tension like a taut sword returning slack.

Its voice echoed in Chu Zhiyuan’s mind: "It’s a Netherworld Fish!"

Chu Zhiyuan asked, "Very powerful?"

"It’s said that encountering one means certain death!" the Elephant Beast said, "No less than a Dragon Fish!"

Chu Zhiyuan asked, "Does it also bear the True Dragon Blood?"

"It doesn’t, but this Netherworld Fish is a peculiar species. The longer it lives, the stronger it gets; the more it eats, the stronger it gets, with no limit. It can become endlessly powerful."

"Can it become stronger than a True Dragon?"

"To surpass a True Dragon would take too long, and the Divine Race wouldn’t allow them to grow that strong."

"Does the Divine Race hunt them?"

"Yes, they are the best prey for the Divine Race. But as they were hunted more, they also became more cunning and stronger!"

"To avoid extinction, they must quickly become stronger; the ones that didn’t have already been wiped out."

"In recent years, with the Divine Race absent, they no longer have natural predators."

Chu Zhiyuan raised his brows: "How long has the Divine Race been gone?"

"I don’t know, I can’t remember," the Elephant Beast shook its head, "but it’s been extremely, extremely long. The Netherworld Fish might have become quite formidable, perhaps no less than a True Dragon."

Chu Zhiyuan glanced at the river’s flow, in the direction the Netherworld Fish had drifted, and said with a smile: "Is it truly that strong?"

"Anyway, it’s absolutely frightening," the Elephant Beast said, "As there’s already one Netherworld Fish here, there shouldn’t be another within ten miles around this river."

"A ten-mile radius is their territory?"

"Within this ten-mile radius, there should be nothing else in the river," the Elephant Beast said, "They eat everything and anything!"

Chu Zhiyuan slowly nodded, "Then we should continue down the river to see if we can find an even stronger Netherworld Fish, how about that?"

"... Fine," the Elephant Beast agreed reluctantly.

Now, Chu Zhiyuan was indeed far superior to before, already possessing the strength to protect himself.

Even entering Dragon Mountain wasn’t as dangerous; no matter how strong the Netherworld Fish, it couldn’t be stronger than the Dragon Fish.

He even feared not thunder, so surely, the Netherworld Fish wouldn’t pose a threat to him.

...

Subsequently, they traveled downstream along the river, soon exceeding ten miles, and encountered a second Netherworld Fish.

This Netherworld Fish was in the middle of devouring the corpse of the previous Netherworld Fish, its belly rounded, lazily swimming at the river’s bottom.

Even so, upon seeing Chu Zhiyuan, it still charged out of the river, leaping towards him.

Chu Zhiyuan swung his sword without hesitation.

The Netherworld Fish was lifted and then washed away by the river.

The Elephant Beast shook its head.

This Netherworld Fish was twice as large as the previous one, extremely powerful.

Yet, it still couldn’t withstand Chu Zhiyuan’s swordsmanship, especially since his sword technique already contained a trace of Thunder Power.

Making its power even more astonishing.

Chu Zhiyuan stood beside the turbulent river, watching the roaring, rushing waters.

The large river was about a hundred meters wide, with all kinds of rapids interwoven on the surface, small whirlpools appearing and disappearing, merging and separating.

His gaze was fixed on a certain point on the river surface.

The Elephant Beast also focused its golden-thread-like pupils, seeing the scene below the river surface.

Its voice echoed in Chu Zhiyuan’s mind: "What’s that? Is it a small sword?"

Amidst the cracks between stones at the river bottom, a radiantly golden small sword stood.

The small sword must have been submerged for a long time, yet bore no rust, shining with the brilliance of freshly forged gold.

"This sword isn’t ordinary, right?" Chu Zhiyuan laughed, "Could it be that Divine Artifact?"

The Elephant Beast immediately swayed its tail intensely, filled with mocking intentions.

It felt that Chu Zhiyuan was obsessed with the idea of a Divine Artifact, which was impossible.

A Divine Artifact must take one of two extreme forms: either astonishingly tumultuous or darkly undetectable and ordinary.

This small sword fit neither; it likely was just an ordinary Treasure Sword.

Chu Zhiyuan’s sleeve shot out a Flying Knife, which silently entered the water.

Soon, it attached to the Golden Sword, extracted it, drawing out water, and brought it before Chu Zhiyuan.

Chu Zhiyuan didn’t hurry to reach out.

The Elephant Beast, however, curiously examined it, its tail slowly approaching.

Chu Zhiyuan warned, "It’s best not to touch it."

The tip of the Elephant Beast’s tail quivered but slowly retracted.

Even without Chu Zhiyuan’s reminder, it sensed danger, refraining from coming closer.

Chu Zhiyuan sighed and said, "This sword is indeed extraordinary."

The Elephant Beast said, "Anyway, it can’t be a Divine Artifact."

Chu Zhiyuan nodded.

It likely wasn’t a Divine Artifact.

No matter how lucky he was, it couldn’t be so outrageous.

Moreover, whether that Divine Artifact even existed was the bigger question.

The likelihood of the Divine Artifact not existing was higher.

"Then what is it?" The Elephant Beast curiously examined the Golden Sword suspended in mid-air.

It’s only a foot long, with a slender and bright Sword, as if forged from gold, even brighter than gold.

The Elephant Beast had never seen such a bright shade of gold before, five shades brighter than any gold it had previously seen.

Chu Zhiyuan drew a sword from his waist.

It also gleamed with golden light, but compared to this Golden Sword, its length and width were greater, yet felt significantly inferior.

"Hey, they look quite similar!"

The Elephant Beast curiously observed Chu Zhiyuan’s Golden Sword, sensing a resemblance.

Although the appearance differed, the feel was quite similar.

Chu Zhiyuan solemnly nodded slowly.

He felt his Golden Sword gently tremble, emotions pouring forth.

The Golden Sword had long since been imbued with spirituality, silently absorbing merit and growing by itself.

Lately, without substantial merit, it had been somewhat dormant, with no palpable presence.

This time, it exhibited complex emotions.

No longer simply unwilling or excited, but a blend of myriad emotions that he couldn’t discern immediately.