Chapter 21 Peerless Divine Weapon: Shadowbound Sword!

Chapter 21: Chapter 21: Peerless Divine Weapon: Shadowbound Sword!

"Have you heard? The Bellamy and Kessler families suffered the same fate as the Rourke Family. Their entire households were wiped out! Julian Mercer is terrifyingly ruthless. We must never provoke him!"

"With the Mercer Family acting like this, aren’t they afraid of bringing the wrath of heaven and earth upon themselves? Will City Lord Darius simply stand by and do nothing?"

"Tsk, tsk. You still haven’t heard? Before the Bellamy and Kessler families were destroyed, the City Lord had already visited the Mercer estate."

"Then why did such a terrible massacre happen after his visit?"

"I don’t know the details, but I heard that the City Lord left the Mercer estate looking rather grim and thoroughly embarrassed. Not long afterward, Julian Mercer led his clansmen straight to the Bellamy and Kessler residences."

"Wait a moment. Are you suggesting that the City Lord actually suffered a defeat at Julian Mercer’s hands?"

"That can’t be right! Darius Fenwick broke through to the Purple Mansion Realm many years ago. He’s the strongest cultivator in Wexford City! Even the former Rourke Ancestor wouldn’t dare behave recklessly in front of him. What extraordinary ability does Julian possess to make the City Lord suffer such a loss?"

Countless people gathered in the streets, discussing the shocking events with growing excitement. Speculation spread in every direction, and everyone had a different theory about what had happened.

Although no one knew the full truth, one thing was becoming increasingly clear.

The balance of power in Wexford City was about to change forever.

In the past, the four major families had competed with one another for influence and resources. Now, three of them had been annihilated in rapid succession.

Only one great family remained.

From this day forward, the Mercer Family would stand above every other clan in Wexford City!

...

Meanwhile, at the Mercer estate.

After distributing rewards to the clansmen according to their contributions, Julian returned to his room to examine the remaining rewards granted by the Strongest Clan System.

He opened the System warehouse and retrieved the Shadowbound Sword.

In an instant, a treasured sword appeared before him, its black scabbard gleaming faintly in the light.

Julian reached out with his left hand to grasp the scabbard and wrapped his right hand around the hilt.

Then he slowly drew the blade.

Hum!

A clear sword hum rang through the room as flowing streaks of light emerged from the scabbard.

When the blade was fully revealed, Julian held it before his chest and examined it carefully. His eyes narrowed slightly, and a look of appreciation gradually appeared on his face.

The sword measured three feet and four inches in length, with a blade approximately one and a half inches wide.

Yet the most extraordinary feature was its appearance.

The blade seemed almost transparent, so elusive that it was difficult to determine its exact outline. It possessed a strange quality of being present and absent at the same time, as though its very existence could slip beyond ordinary perception.

Julian felt the razor-sharp intent radiating from it, and his eyes brightened.

"What an extraordinary sword. It possesses a shadow, yet its blade seems almost formless!"

This was truly a divine weapon unlike anything he had ever encountered.

His predecessor’s greatest experience with magical weapons had been limited to Profound Rank Dharma Treasures. In those days, even an Earth Rank treasure would have been an object of unimaginable desire, let alone a Heaven Rank divine weapon.

Now, Julian possessed something that might be unique even across the entire Great Qin Dynasty.

The value of the Shadowbound Sword was beyond ordinary estimation.

But its true terror lay in its power.

When Julian channeled his Pure Yang Primordial Energy into the blade, it could unleash an astonishing degree of sharpness, allowing it to cut through defenses that would ordinarily be considered impenetrable.

Even the primordial energy defenses of powerful cultivators at the Star Wheel Realm, Moon Wheel Realm, or potentially even the Sun Wheel Realm would struggle to withstand a direct strike from this weapon.

Julian let out a quiet sigh of admiration.

Then he casually slid the sword back into its scabbard.

The moment the blade disappeared, its radiance faded. Its overwhelming sharpness was completely restrained, leaving no trace of the terrifying aura a Heaven Rank divine weapon should possess.

Judging by its outward appearance alone, it looked like nothing more than an ordinary Profound Rank longsword.

Anyone who saw it while it remained sheathed would find it difficult to imagine that such an unassuming object concealed a supreme divine weapon capable of cutting through the defenses of mighty cultivators.

Seeing this, Julian finally relaxed.

Fortunately, the System had provided a scabbard capable of suppressing the sword’s aura. Without it, the weapon’s extraordinary nature might attract unwanted attention and invite trouble he had no need to deal with.

After admiring the sword for a little longer, Julian stored it within his Purple Mansion space.

There, he could nurture its spiritual nature with his own cultivation energy, gradually strengthening their connection until he reached the state of unity between man and sword.

When that happened, the Shadowbound Sword’s might would become even more terrifying.

Having finished examining the weapon, Julian turned his attention to another reward in the System warehouse.

Ten Thousand Blades Return.

The moment he selected the Heaven Rank, Top Grade sword technique, an enormous stream of information flooded his mind.

It was as though a Sword Dao Grandmaster had appeared inside his consciousness, repeatedly demonstrating every movement and revealing the profound principles hidden within each technique.

The countless insights overwhelmed his senses.

Julian closed his eyes and immersed himself in the knowledge, carefully absorbing every detail.

Before long, he opened them again.

A dazzling sword light flickered deep within his pupils.

He had completely mastered Ten Thousand Blades Return.

Thanks to the astonishing comprehension granted by his Innate Sacred Body Dao Embryo, Julian had reached the Mastery Realm in an extraordinarily short period.

With several more days of practice, he expected to advance the technique to the Perfected Realm.

For an ordinary cultivator, mastering even an ordinary Heaven Rank sword technique could require decades of painstaking cultivation.

Reaching perfection in just a few days was almost unthinkable.

Yet Julian’s innate constitution made such progress possible.

The technique’s power was equally astonishing.

Once activated, Ten Thousand Blades Return allowed him to condense Pure Yang Primordial Energy into tens of thousands of strands of sword Qi, each finer than a silkworm’s thread.

Every strand possessed terrifying sharpness, capable of piercing through nearly anything in its path.

The only drawback was its enormous energy consumption.

An ordinary cultivator might manage to execute this technique twice during a battle before exhausting most of their primordial energy. For that reason, it would usually be reserved as a decisive trump card rather than used casually.

Julian, however, was no ordinary cultivator.

His Innate Sacred Body Dao Embryo granted him extraordinary endurance and an immense capacity to sustain powerful techniques.

For him, the energy consumed by Ten Thousand Blades Return was almost negligible.

He could use it repeatedly without worrying about exhausting himself.

In other words, what other cultivators treated as a desperate finishing move could become one of his regular attacks.

As for the Solar Raven Essence stored in the System warehouse, Julian decided to keep it untouched for now.

It would serve as another trump card, ready for a situation in which he needed to unleash overwhelming power.

After finishing his inspection of the rewards, Julian walked to his bed and sat cross-legged.

He took out a Vajra Pill and began cultivating with the Pure Yang Technique and Great Sun Body Refining Art.

The pill’s medicinal energy spread through his body, and he guided it through his meridians while refining his physical strength and strengthening his cultivation.

Time passed quietly.

...

Seven days later.

Thanks to the enormous resources Julian had distributed, the Mercer Family had undergone a remarkable transformation.

The effects of the Marrow Cleansing Pills, Qi Enhancement Pills, and Qi-Guiding Pills had begun to show. Combined with the generous supply of Spirit Stones, these resources helped numerous clansmen break through bottlenecks and advance through several minor cultivation stages.

More than twenty members with comparatively strong natural talent had even begun cultivating internal energy and successfully entered the Meridian Opening Realm.

In Wexford City, cultivators at this level could already be considered third-rate martial experts.

The family’s overall strength had increased dramatically.

However, the most astonishing progress belonged to Adrian Mercer.

His cultivation speed had become almost frightening.

During his practice of the Great Sun Body Refining Art, Adrian accidentally discovered that the Immortal Flame within his body could amplify the technique’s effects.

Whenever the flame circulated alongside the cultivation art, it helped accelerate his progress and shortened the time required to refine his body.

Combined with the Pure Yang Technique and the abundant supply of medicinal pills, this unexpected advantage transformed his cultivation speed.

In just seven days, Adrian’s cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds.

His cultivation rose from the second layer of the Meridian Opening Realm to the ninth layer!