Chapter 230 - 132: Splitting Light into a Long River, Dispute over the Yuan-Pin Treasure Pearl

Chapter 230: Chapter 132: Splitting Light into a Long River, Dispute over the Yuan-Pin Treasure Pearl

"What a pity." The instant he was caught by the gravitational pull, Xuzhuang effortlessly altered his trajectory. But that momentary delay was enough to trap him, and he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of regret. ’If I just had a little more time, I could adapt freely no matter how He Haojun altered his force field.’

’But at the end of the day, I’m within the sphere of influence of his Magical Artifact. I can’t afford to get greedy trying to gain new insights.’

Xuzhuang shook his head with a smile. Seeing the binding technique about to close in, he calmly shook two Gang Pearls from his sleeve and tossed them upward!

It wasn’t that Xuzhuang was out of options. Forcibly escaping with a phase-shift between existence and non-existence, or even shattering He Haojun’s binding technique with Primordial Reversal—neither would have been difficult for him. However, such methods would consume a vast amount of Magical Power. It was better to conserve his energy for later.

In the art of magical combat, holding onto your trump cards until the very last second isn’t always the best way to maximize their effect. Xuzhuang understood this well. Since a simpler, more efficient method was available, he saw no reason to be stingy. He casually tossed out the Gang Pearls—artifacts the Dragon Image Sect had spent a century refining from innumerable grains of Gang Sand. With a heaven-shattering BANG, He Haojun’s massive binding hand was shattered.

He Haojun wasn’t surprised by this. He merely thought he had forced out one of Xuzhuang’s trump cards. ’Let’s see what other tricks you have up your sleeve!’ he thought.

At the same moment, Xuzhuang also thought, ’I’ve already figured out a thing or two about the Celestial Permanence Sect’s Daoist Techniques. This body’s Magical Power is a bit lacking, though, so I can’t keep probing He Haojun’s abilities. I don’t want to make a careless mistake and stumble.’

Since he had promised Yang Bijie he would win this fight, Xuzhuang had no intention of going back on his word. His expression turned solemn as he rode his sword light and shot into the sky. He had only flown a few miles when he felt He Haojun alter the force field once more. An immense gravitational pull emerged from an unknown direction, attempting to halt his advance.

"A parlor trick! You think that can stop me?" Xuzhuang laughed aloud. He urged his sword light to tremble slightly in mid-air, and it instantly split in two, each half striking out on a separate path.

’Sword Light Splitting?’ He Haojun saw that the two beams of light were identical in speed and power. He had no choice but to channel his profound technique again, creating another gravitational field and splitting it to envelop both beams. But to his surprise, before the two sword lights had traveled even a hundred feet, they trembled again and split once more. Now there were four.

He Haojun’s brow twitched. Before he could cast another technique, the four sword lights flickered in the air, splitting from four into eight, then eight into sixteen. When the sixteen split into thirty-two, He Haojun’s expression finally changed.

And it wasn’t over. Back when he was only in the Golden Core realm, Xuzhuang could already split his sword light into thirty-two in a single breath. Now that he had refined his Gangyun and entered the second level of the Nascent Soul realm, his Swordsmanship was on a completely different level!

The Sword Qi in the sky split, then split again! In a mere instant, it had divided into one hundred twenty-eight sword lights. Still not satisfied, Xuzhuang’s Sword Technique shifted. He unleashed the Taiyi Separation and Reunion Swordsmanship, creating another one hundred twenty-eight Void Swords. Two hundred fifty-six Sword Rainbows, a combination of real and illusory, shifted and morphed as they surged forward in a mighty, unstoppable torrent!

It wasn’t as if the Celestial Waterfall Realm had no Sword Cultivators. But compared to the mainstream Five Sects Daoist Techniques, their arts were considered unorthodox side paths. When had any of them ever witnessed such Superior Swordsmanship?

The moment Xuzhuang unleashed his two hundred fifty-six sword lights, the onlookers erupted in an uproar. He Haojun’s face was a mask of terror, his heart pounding with fear. He hastily summoned the Primordial Yin Cave Eternal Pearl and channeled his power into it, unleashing a tidal wave of repulsive force that formed a protective barrier. With a flick of his wide sleeves, he began to deploy one Daoist technique and Magical Artifact after another.

But why was Sword Light Splitting considered a Supreme Swordsmanship, coveted by all Sword Cultivators? Because each divided beam of light lost none of its original power or speed. Every additional sword light created was a multiplier to the cultivator’s offensive might!

Of course, the difficulty of both splitting and controlling the sword lights also increased exponentially. For Xuzhuang, however, controlling one hundred twenty-eight was still well within his capabilities.

Xuzhuang controlled all two hundred fifty-six sword lights in a single breath. Though only one hundred twenty-eight of them were real, this still amounted to a genuine hundred-fold increase in killing power. How could He Haojun possibly withstand it? The two hundred fifty-six blades, possessing infinite sharpness, instantly tore through the repulsive barrier and converged into a great river of Sword Qi that surged across the sky.

For every Daoist technique or Magical Artifact He Haojun sent forth, a blazing sword light would surge from the river to meet it. Some sword lights shattered the attacks, others knocked them from the sky, some were destroyed in the exchange, and others were merely deflected. But a new sword light would always follow immediately, an endless, continuous barrage. In a flash, the river of swords broke through his layered defenses and engulfed He Haojun completely.

Yet Xuzhuang did not let up his assault. He knew how tenacious a Great Cultivator like He Haojun could be and never expected a single killing blow to be enough to finish him. On the contrary, he held nothing back, channeling the majority of his Magical Power. For every sword light He Haojun managed to destroy, another was instantly reborn, causing the river of Sword Qi not to wane, but to swell even stronger!

The very next instant, just as he’d anticipated, a profound spiritual light enveloped He Haojun as he burst out of the sword river to escape. But Xuzhuang was ready. Sword lights immediately shot out from the river in pursuit. One after another, they struck more than ten times in the blink of an eye, and the spiritual light protecting He Haojun shattered once again.

His face ashen, He Haojun twisted his body, leaving a Substitute Talisman hanging in the air as his figure vanished to parts unknown.

Xuzhuang’s expression remained unchanged. With a shift of his Sword Technique, the two hundred fifty-six swords stopped converging. They instantly broke apart, each following the strange equilibrium between the attractive and repulsive forces of the domain. Tracing a multitude of different arcs, they shot out in every direction, leaving no patch of sky untouched.

He Haojun had only managed to flee a few miles in his concealed state when a beam of Sword Qi slashed across the sky and struck him, forcing his figure back into view. In the next breath, a dozen more sword lights crisscrossed toward him. A look of true fear finally appeared on He Haojun’s face, but it was far too late for regret. In his desperation, he shook his sleeve, and the Magical Robe he wore flared with spiritual light, holding on for one last instant.