Dragon Slaying Cliff

Overview

The Dragon Slaying Cliff (斩龙台) is an ancient, legendary material renowned across the world as the absolute best sharpening stone (磨剑石) for sword cultivators. Originally one of the two execution platforms of the ancient Heavenly Court, it was shattered during the war of ascension and its fragments fell into the mortal realm.

Because of its unparalleled hardness and its profound connection to ancient sword intent, the stone is considered an invaluable treasure. It is entirely impervious to mundane tools; ordinary mortals cannot chip even a speck of it with hammers or axes. Only a great sword immortal, willing to sacrifice the edge of a divine weapon, can successfully cleave it. As such, even a palm-sized piece of the Dragon Slaying Cliff is practically priceless and highly sought after by sword immortals looking to temper their natal flying swords.

Properties and Usage

For a sword cultivator, possessing a piece of the Dragon Slaying Cliff drastically accelerates and refines the process of nurturing a flying sword.

• Extreme Hardness: The stone cannot be broken or mined by normal means. Its extreme density makes it the perfect surface to withstand the razor-sharp edge of a high-tier flying sword.
• Tempering the Sword and Heart: When a sword cultivator sharpens their flying sword against the Dragon Slaying Cliff, the friction produces profound, five-colored sparks. This process does not merely sharpen the physical or ethereal blade; it simultaneously refines the sword cultivator's own "sword heart" (剑心), making their intent as clear and untainted as the stone itself.
• City Building: Due to its indestructible nature, massive blocks of the cliff can be used as foundational materials for supreme architectural undertakings, such as the formidable city constructed by the Mohist Juzi in the Wilderness (蛮荒天下).

Major Fragments and Locations

When the execution platform shattered, the two largest resulting fragments landed in drastically different locations:

Longji Mountain (Jialiushan)

The single largest fragment formed Longji Mountain (龙脊山)—temporarily designated as Jialiushan (甲六山) by the Dali Empire—within the Lizhu Grotto-Heaven. For decades, this mountain was heavily guarded by Dali troops. The territory and the stone within it were eventually divided into three shares among the Military School's Wind and Snow Temple, Zhenwu Mountain, and the Saint Ruan Qiong.

• Wind and Snow Temple: Quickly exhausted their share of the stone but successfully extracted a lost ancient sword art from it, allowing their sword cultivators a direct path to the Yu Pu Realm.
• Ruan Qiong: Retained a portion to establish his supreme sword forge for the Dragon Springs Sword Sect. He also traded a significant amount to the Dali Imperial Court, who subsequently used it to pay off debts to the Mohist School for their massive engineering projects.

Ning Manor at the Sword Qi Great Wall

The second largest fragment crashed into the Sword Qi Great Wall. It sits within the private estate of the Ning family, serving as the foundation for a small viewing pavilion.

Chen Ping'an's Fragments

Chen Ping'an holds several highly valuable fragments of the Dragon Slaying Cliff:

• The Sword Spirit's Gift: The tall woman (the sword spirit of the old sword blade) secured and split pieces of the cliff for him. During an encounter at the edge of the old grotto-heaven, she gifted him three rectangular blocks of the stone—ranging from the size of a ruler to a large floor tile—which she had secretly reserved from Ruan Qiong's and Zhenwu Mountain's shares.
• Ning Yao's Token: Before he left the Sword Qi Great Wall for the first time, Ning Yao had an old sword immortal carve a palm-sized, inkstone-shaped piece of the cliff for him. It bears the engravings "Tian Zhen" (天真) and "Ning Yao" (宁姚), serving as both an invaluable sharpening stone and a romantic token of her affection.

References

• 剑来2：忽为远行客，第二章 — 先生: Supports Ning Yao explaining the nature of the Dragon Slaying Cliff, noting its extreme hardness, its value to sword cultivators, and her suggestion to use the Heavenly Official statue's base.
• 剑来9：乱起太平山，第九章 — 谁能借我一剑: Details the tall woman (sword spirit) giving Chen Ping'an three rectangular pieces of the Dragon Slaying Cliff, which she had kept from the shares belonging to Zhenwu Mountain and Ruan Qiong.
• 剑来10：他乡遇故知，第六章 — 棋盘上: Describes the process of sharpening a flying sword on the Dragon Slaying Cliff, noting the five-colored sparks and how it simultaneously tempers a sword cultivator's sword heart.
• 剑来48：随手斩飞升，第七章 — 关门待客: Confirms the origin of the Dragon Slaying Cliff as an execution platform of the ancient Heavenly Court, its division among Ruan Qiong, Wind and Snow Temple, and Zhenwu Mountain, the Mohists' use of it for building a city, and Ning Yao's engraved gift to Chen Ping'an.