As the round ended, they looked at each other. To their surprise, the results were a tie.
"How is that possible?" the governing god of the Blade Cosmos murmured to himself, narrowing his
eyes at Austin.
It looked as though he suspected Austin of cheating.
Austin was a genuine premium-grade divine god, yet he was able to withstand the attack of a
governing god's blade aura.
Normally, he could kill over ten genuine premium-grade divine gods with ease.
"Well done, boy," the five sword spirits praised.
They had watched Austin improve in his swordsmanship since he had arrived in the Sword Cosmos
and they were extremely proud of him.
"Again,"
Austin said, pointing his finger at the governing god of the Blade Cosmos and gesturing for him to
come forward.
"Brat, are you trying to mock me?"
the governing god spat, teeming over with anger.
"So what? Is it making you mad? Come on. Show me what you've got,"
Austin taunted, smiling faintly.
Now that his swordsmanship had advanced, he was itching to go head to head with a master.
"Fine. I'm not afraid of you."
Since he was more afraid of Austin dirtying his name, the governing god of the Blade Cosmos prepared
for another fight.
Just as he was about to dash towards Austin, another governing god from the Blade Cosmos stopped
him.
"Stop the fight! We've got to get out of here," he said.
They were on the Divine Sword Mountain, which was a sacred place for all the sword cultivators to
practice and grow. But for people from the Blade Cosmos, it wasn't safe, especially with the five sword
spirits present.
If it came down to it,
the people of the Blade Cosmos might lose.
"Fine! Brat, I'll fight you another day!"
the governing god who Austin had taunted spat, casting him a threatening glare.
Before Austin could retaliate, the six governing gods from the Blade Cosmos disappeared into the void.
"All right. Now that that's dealt with... Sirs, I'm going to cultivate in seclusion. I need to digest all that
I've learned,"
Austin informed the five sword spirits.
That day, he had absorbed a large amount of sword aura and sword intent, and he hadn't had a
moment to rest and fully comprehend them.
He knew that it was important to slow down and process what he had acquired or he wouldn't perform
at his best.
"Noted.
Go ahead."
There was no reason for the five sword spirits to hinder Austin's practice. In fact, they smiled at how
eager he was to continue on his swordsmanship journey.
Whoosh!
Austin transformed into a beam of sword-light and scaled the mountain. In a flash, he entered the
palace where Master Sword used to cultivate and sat cross-legged, preparing to cultivate.
"This young man never fails to surprise me.
He is extremely talented, but even better than that, he never rushes. He focuses on his cultivation and
it makes him a faster learner,"
the elder in white robes praised.
"Yes. It's proof that all our hard work is not in vain.
He never ignores our advice,"
the elder in yellow robes added.
Before any more of them could speak, the sound of light laughter interrupted them.
"Sirs, don't forget that I was the one who discovered this young man.
I sent him to you.
You should thank me."
A faint sword-light flew towards the Divine Sword Mountain and landed in front of the five sword spirits.
A man appeared from it.
"Sword Son Curry!"
the five sword spirits exclaimed at the same time.
They gathered around him quickly, ready to ask him some questions.
"Haven't you been living in the Lower World?
What brought you here?"
the elder in yellow robes asked out of curiosity.
The last time that he had visited, Sword Son Curry had sent his spiritual soul mark with Austin.
He hadn't been in the Sword Cosmos in person in a very long time.
The five sword spirits had never expected to see him like this.
"There was trouble in the Lower World and it's no longer safe for me to stay there,"
Sword Son Curry explained, frowning at his feet.
He didn't want to admit that Humphrey was the reason why he had left the Lower World.
To avoid having a fight with him, Sword Son Curry had fled.
"Besides, I have something for Austin. I was hoping I'd find him here,"
Sword Son Curry added.
"Austin is cultivating in seclusion,"
the elder in yellow robes informed him.
"That's fine.
I'll stay until he's finished and then I'll speak to him,"
Sword Son Curry said.
"Sirs, you don't have to keep me company.
I know this place like the back of my hand,"
Sword Son Curry said with a smile.
"Be careful.
Once the governing gods of the Sword Cosmos know that you're back, they will come after you,"
the elder in yellow robes warned.
Sword Son Curry used to be the ruler of the Sword Cosmos, and those governing gods had chased
after him the last time he visited.
Since Sword Son Curry was Austin's master, the five sword spirits didn't want anything bad to happen
to him.
"Thank you for reminding me,"
Sword Son Curry responded.
Meanwhile,
the governing gods of the four major forces had returned to their headquarters with their remaining
men.
As they walked, they dragged their feet and stared at their toes.
During the battle, all of them had suffered heavy losses,
and the existing men had lost half of their energy, reducing their sword skills to half of their original
levels.
There wasn't a lot of fight left in them.
"Argh!
Damn it!"
"Shit!"
The governing gods were pissed off.
The more they thought about it, the angrier they became.
"This is all that brat's fault!"
"He's such a pain in the ass!"
It was clear that they blamed Austin for all their misfortunes and
that they looked forward to the moment when they were refreshed so that they could seek out their
revenge.
Meanwhile, in the Black Sword World, another meeting was taking place.
The Black Sword World used to be an important part of the Sword Cosmos,
but the Blade Cosmos had claimed it as their own.
At that moment, more than ten high-ranking figures had gathered
in a conference hall.
"Is this brat part of the Sword Cosmos?"
"How come I have never heard about him?"
"He's only a genuine premium-grade divine god, yet he has the strength of a governing god.
It's unheard of!"
Already, they had heard about what had happened in the Divine Sword Mountain earlier that day, and
they were impressed and scared by Austin's fighting power.
"According to my source, he's not from the Sword Cosmos. He reigns from the Lower World,"
a governing god explained.
"No way!
No one from the Lower World can enter the supreme universes."
"Yes. For as long as I can remember, the gateway to the Lower World has been closed.
We're governing gods but we can't even get in or out through that gateway.
There is no way a brat from the Lower World got in here."
They all took a moment to think it over but they still didn't believe that Austin was an outsider.
"Believe me.
He did come from the Lower World.
According to my informant in the Sword Cosmos, he can break through the space barrier of the Sword
Cosmos and freely travel between here and the Lower World.
Many people have seen it with their own eyes. It can't be a lie,"
the governing god said.
"I still can't believe it.
There's no way!"
one of the senior members commented, dragging his fingers down his face.
"The only explanation is that he was using a lost secret skill that's related to space.
We should catch him and see if we can weasel it out of him," one of the core members suggested.
Immediately, greed lit up the senior leaders' eyes.
"But it won't be easy.
He is as powerful as a governing god.
We have to be smart about it,"
another governing god said with a frown.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda