Crimson Rift waved it off. "There’s no need to thank me. You earned it." He turned around. "Now come with me. You’re still entitled to pick one high-level secret art."
With another wave of his hand, scarlet power wrapped around Li Yun, and their surroundings changed in an instant. When Li Yun’s vision cleared, he found himself standing in an enormous crimson hall surrounded by nine ancient pillars, each of which held one high-level secret art.
Li Yun swept his gaze across them, and his attention stopped almost at once.
"The Soulheart Sword Scripture?"
His eyes brightened. The inheritance engraved on one of the pillars was the same Soulheart Sword Scripture he had found earlier in the Chronospace Vault. There was one important difference, however. The version in the Chronospace Vault contained only the first three forms, while this one held all seven forms created by the original founder. It was complete.
Li Yun barely needed to think about it.
"This one. I choose the Soulheart Sword Scripture."
Crimson Rift nodded in approval. "A fitting choice. Your Soul Power is considerably stronger than it normally should be at your cultivation level. The Soulheart Sword Scripture combines the Sword Dao with soul-based Heart Force, so it suits you extremely well."
Li Yun nodded. He had given up the Soulheart Sword Scripture reluctantly before only because the inheritance was incomplete, and that problem no longer existed.
"There’s one more reward," Crimson Rift continued. "The reward for clearing the second floor was supposed to be another middle-level secret art. Since you never claimed it, I’ll change it."
He looked at Li Yun. "You now have the Primordial Sword Codex and the complete Soulheart Sword Scripture, so another middle-level secret art wouldn’t add much. Besides, you already cultivate the Myriad Sword Spirit Command Art."
A slight smile crossed his face. "So I’ll give you something that directly complements it."
He raised a hand, and the space throughout the hall trembled. Then black swords began to appear one after another, first a hundred, then a thousand, and then ten thousand, and the number kept rising. Li Yun’s eyes slowly widened. Before long, one hundred thousand black longswords hung throughout the crimson hall, every one of them giving off a powerful and remarkably uniform aura.
Crimson Rift gestured toward them. "This is the Abyssal Star Sword Formation."
Li Yun’s eyes turned serious at once, and Crimson Rift went on.
"It’s made up of exactly one hundred thousand swords, and every single one of them is a low-grade Sacred Rank treasure."
Li Yun’s expression changed. One hundred thousand low-grade Sacred Rank swords was a collection whose value was almost impossible to calculate.
Crimson Rift was not finished. "When all one hundred thousand swords come together as the complete Abyssal Star Sword Formation, their combined power can rival a ninth-grade spiritual artifact. But the quality of the swords is only one part of it. The formation itself has three major stages. When you can control one thousand swords at once, you’ll be able to manifest the first-stage Abyssal War Deity. When you can control ten thousand, you can summon the second-stage Abyssal War Deity. And once you truly control all one hundred thousand..."
His eyes flashed. "You’ll be able to manifest the complete third-stage Abyssal War Deity."
Li Yun listened closely.
"The power of each Abyssal War Deity depends partly on your own cultivation," Crimson Rift explained, "but each stage also has its own innate Divine Abilities, and the gap in combat power between the three manifestations is enormous."
He looked straight at Li Yun. "With the Abyssal Star Sword Formation, you won’t need to replace your sword formation for a very long time. At the very least, it should stay useful until you’ve cultivated the Myriad Sword Spirit Command Art to its sixth level."
A rare look of open excitement appeared on Li Yun’s face.
"Thank you, Lord Crimson Rift."
This reward solved a problem that had been growing more and more obvious. Li Yun’s strength had risen too quickly.
The Azure Gale Sword Formation and the Violet Thunder Sword Formation had both served him well, but they could no longer keep pace with his current combat power, and his ability to control swords had already gone beyond six thousand blades. If he had had a powerful enough replacement earlier, he would have stopped relying on the old formations long ago.
The Abyssal Star Sword Formation was different. It had one hundred thousand low-grade Sacred Rank swords and three stages of progression, along with the ability to summon ever more powerful Abyssal War Deities. Most importantly, it naturally complemented the Myriad Sword Spirit Command Art, so he would not outgrow it any time soon.
Crimson Rift waited until Li Yun had put the swords away.
"Good. You’ve received every reward you were owed." His expression suddenly turned solemn. "There’s just one last thing."
Before Li Yun could ask what he meant, Crimson Rift raised a finger. The movement looked slow, yet Li Yun instantly felt an overwhelming pressure come down on him. His body froze, his soul froze, and he could not react at all.
Crimson Rift’s fingertip touched the center of Li Yun’s forehead, and a tiny wound opened with a faint hiss. A strange six-pointed pattern formed beneath the blood, flashed once, and then sank straight through Li Yun’s forehead and vanished into his body.
Crimson Rift drew back his hand, and the wound healed at once without leaving a scar. Li Yun instinctively touched his forehead.
"What was that?"
The sensation had disappeared completely, and he could no longer even find the mysterious symbol.
"The Chronospace Sigil," Crimson Rift said calmly. "It’s the mark carried by disciples of the Chronospace Lineage."
Li Yun lowered his hand as Crimson Rift continued.
"Only members of the Chronospace Lineage can sense one another’s sigils. If you someday leave this world and travel into the greater universe, this mark will prove who you are. You can use it to find members of the Chronospace Lineage and eventually reach the true inheritance ground of our lineage. When that time comes, you’ll have the chance to receive the complete inheritance that this abandoned island can no longer give you."
Li Yun slowly nodded. He now had the Primordial Sword Codex, the complete Soulheart Sword Scripture, the Abyssal Star Sword Formation, and the Chronospace Return Token, and now he also bore the Chronospace Sigil. What he had gained from Chronospace Island went far beyond anything he had expected when he first arrived.
Crimson Rift looked at him. "Everything that needed explaining has been explained, and everything you were entitled to has been given." His voice grew quieter. "It’s time for you to leave."
He waved his hand, and space changed in an instant. Li Yun found himself outside Chronospace Island, with the strange island floating behind him, still swelling and shrinking according to spatial principles he could not understand. Ripples spread through the void, and a large passage slowly opened, its layers of warped space interwoven with faint temporal light.
Crimson Rift pointed at the passage. "Go."
Li Yun cupped his hands and bowed respectfully. "Yes."
Before stepping in, he turned around one last time and let his gaze rest on Chronospace Island. He thought of Feng Xuan and Yuan Zhenhai, and of the countless cultivators who had been trapped there for more years than anyone could count. In his heart, he made a silent promise.
’Brother Feng, Brother Yuan, I’ll come back one day. When that day comes, I’ll take you away from this place.’
Then he turned and stepped into the spatial passage. His figure vanished with a whoosh, and the passage slowly closed behind him.

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