Chapter 373 - 371: Without Madness, How to Forge the Life-Killing Sword

Chapter 373: Chapter 371: Without Madness, How to Forge the Life-Killing Sword

"A Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasure!"

Bai Zichen was utterly shaken. The appearance of a Tier Five Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasure was enough to cause an earthquake in the Cultivation Realm, potentially even attracting a Divinity Transformation Great Power.

The Zengguang Du Family controlled the world’s foremost Immortal City and possessed unimaginable wealth—halls filled with gold and jade, and a veritable sea of Spirit Stones.

It wouldn’t be strange for them to have a Spiritual Treasure, but there had never been any news of a Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasure in their possession.

Treasures of this level were typically in the hands of Super Major Sects. The Du Family, based on the strength they had shown, would not be able to protect it.

"The Demon Dragon Awl... it seems to be the Divine Weapon used by the Ancient Demons... In Ancient Times, several Divinity Transformation Great Powers died to this very Demon Treasure."

Yann Yuanzai’s expression was tense as the Jade Light Brocade Robe already covered his body.

"According to legend, the Demon Dragon Awl is a Top-Grade Heavenly Spirit Treasure that can traverse the void. Once it locks onto you, all Escape Techniques and teleportation Divine Techniques are useless. Below Tier Five, you can’t even withstand a single strike from it."

"What are we going to do? Is that demonic shadow an incarnation of an Ancient Demon?"

Master Cheng Tuo moved closer, an Apricot Yellow Banner hovering above his head, from which auspicious clouds billowed.

But after seeing how Iron Core had died, no one believed a Top-Grade Defensive Magical Treasure could repel the Demon Dragon Awl. Even a Tier Four Protective Armor would be no better than tough leather against it.

Piercing it would only take the Demon Dragon Awl a little more effort.

Among the Early-Stage Nascent Soul Cultivators present, almost no one could block a single strike from Du Heng wielding the Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasure.

The Demon Dragon Awl had already proven its power. Even after being suppressed for over a hundred thousand years and not yet fully awakened, ordinary Spiritual Treasures were no match for it.

Only a Tier Four Flying Sword might be able to contend with it, if only for a moment.

"No, I fear it’s an Outer Body Incarnation... I don’t know how City Lord Du managed to borrow the power of an Ancient Demon to forge a True Demon Holy Body, but I suspect the incident at Burial Immortal Valley and the many bloody massacres in the Northern Domain over the years are all connected to him."

The Flower-Picking Arhat sat cross-legged in mid-air, his Dharma Aspect manifesting.

His physical body formed the flower-picking mudra, a compassionate and serene smile on his lips.

The Dharma Aspect behind him had three heads and six arms, each holding a jade wheel, a treasured vase, or a Buddha Chain. It wore the expression of an Angry-Eyed Vajra Aspect—fierce and terrifying—and had already been pushed to its absolute limit.

"If this True Monarch Du takes one more step, if both his main body and his Outer Body Incarnation reach Nascent Soul Perfection, he might even be able to merge them into one and break through to the Divinity Transformation Realm!"

"Wouldn’t the entire Northern Domain then fall and become a Demon Land, recreating the tragic scene of the Ancient Demons’ descent upon the world!"

The Ancient Demon Inheritance and the path of Demon Cultivators in the Cultivation Realm were two completely different things. The only difference between Demon Cultivators and other cultivators was their cultivation techniques and philosophies; their progression and Ascension were the same.

However, this world had no source of True Demon Qi. Those who received the Ancient Demon Inheritance or were transformed into Demons could not grow stronger through normal cultivation by refining nature’s spiritual energy.

Du Heng had been constantly killing High-Tier Cultivators for the sole purpose of devouring them to strengthen his True Demon Holy Body.

Only by corrupting this world’s Spiritual Qi and transforming it into a Demon Land could True Demon Qi be slowly generated, gradually making the environment resemble the Demon Realm.

Even Demon Path Cultivators merely sought to utilize and learn from the Demon Realm, not embrace it.

Except for a few deranged fanatics, no one would welcome the arrival of the Ancient Demons and see this world transformed into a subordinate realm of the Demon Realm.

In Ancient Times, several of the Divinity Transformation Great Powers who died fighting the Ancient Demons were themselves titans of the Demon Path.

If Du Heng truly became a Divinity Transformation Cultivator, then to continue growing stronger and perhaps even ascend to the Demon Realm, he would have no choice but to charge down a single path with no turning back.

It was just as the Ancient Demons had once tried to do: perform a blood sacrifice of the entire Cultivation Realm, using the Divine Souls of countless beings to close the distance to the Demon Realm.

"Master Xiangg, stop at once! We must discuss how to deal with this demon together... Otherwise, not only will our own lives be in danger, but a catastrophe will sweep across the entire Cultivation Realm!"

Ge Cang held the Qiantian Yuan Yang Divine Thunder in his left hand and the Profound Nether Qi Formless Divine Thunder in his right. The two layers of Divine Thunder Nets intertwined, shielding both him and Bai Zichen behind them.

"Haha, isn’t that what I’m doing? Just let me finish refining my Tier Five Life-Killing Demon Sword, and I’ll naturally be able to break the array and force Du Heng back!"

Xiangg Ji’s hands never stopped moving as he laughed maniacally.

"With his True Demon Holy Body and a Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasure, how can any of you be his match? Only I, by completing my Life-Killing Sword, can do it!"

Everyone was dumbfounded. They couldn’t believe that even at a time like this, Xiangg Ji was still thinking this way.

"True Monarch Xiangg, if you and True Monarch Tang Fei joined forces, with the rest of us assisting, it’s not certain we couldn’t handle Du Heng and his Outer Body Incarnation... I refuse to believe he would dare to risk universal condemnation by staying in Frost Country for months and attracting the attention of the Central Domain Sects. Why must we first kill each other!"

Master Cheng Tuo pleaded. If the two Mid-Stage Nascent Soul Sword Cultivators ended up grievously injuring each other, the rest of them would truly become lambs to the slaughter before Du Heng.

’Damn it. Du Heng and Xiangg Ji both have more than two hundred years of life left. My Qing Emperor Longevity Sword can’t kill them in a single strike...’

Within Bai Zichen’s Dantian Sea of Consciousness, the Ziwei Dazzling Thunder Sword flew out of its Sword Box.

After cultivating the Daoist Classic Cantongqi to the fourth volume, he had finally refined the sword into his Lifebound Flying Sword, allowing him to activate the Qing Emperor Longevity Sword much faster.

Two years ago, he had completed his second Hidden Sword procedure. Because his understanding of the Power of Time had deepened, he could now sense the "kill line" before he even swung his sword.

Looking through the "eyes" of the Ziwei Dazzling Thunder Sword at the Nascent Soul True Monarchs present, only Tang Fei’s and Master Cheng Tuo’s Fires of Life flickered like candles in the wind.

With a single strike, their lifespans would be exhausted, and they would die from the Celestial Five Declines.

’But even if those two have more than two hundred years left, it won’t be by much, given how long they’ve been cultivating... If a single strike leaves them with less than a hundred years of life, it will definitely trigger a chain reaction. Maybe I can create an opportunity to fight my way out.’

With Moon Xuan hanging high overhead, its moonlight forming a protective barrier, Bai Zichen simply grasped the Ziwei Dazzling Thunder Sword in his hand, giving himself a boost of confidence.

Ge Cang and Yann Yuanzai exchanged a glance and, with perfect coordination, attacked at the same time. Starlight formed a dragon, and a sea of thunderbolts crashed down.

Du Heng didn’t continue his attack, instead moving outside the array. Clearly, he wasn’t confident he could kill everyone here by himself, or perhaps controlling the Demon Dragon Awl was a severe burden even for a Nascent Soul True Monarch, making continuous use impossible.

Regardless, they had to save True Monarch Tang Fei first.

Master Cheng Tuo was right about one thing: the Demon Realm’s inheritance and the True Demon Holy Body were the ultimate taboos in the Cultivation Realm.

The great war between the righteous and demonic paths, the conflict between the Human-Demon Races—all of it had to take a backseat to this.

These beings were bent on destroying the Cultivation Realm. They didn’t care about your doctrinal disputes or racial feuds for survival. In the future they envisioned, only the Ancient Demon Race would exist in this world.

As soon as word got out, the Super Major Sects of the Cultivation Realm would cast aside their grievances and unite to exterminate this demon first.

"Ganging up on him, are you? Senior Brother, I’m here to help!"

Kong Bai, standing off to the side, drew his sword. A rainbow of sword energy, bright enough to pierce the sun, shot directly toward Ge Cang’s back.

Ge Cang flicked his hand back, unleashing thousands of Profound Nether Qi Formless Divine Thunders in a continuous stream that rained down like a torrential storm.

Each Water Bomb was transparent and formless, constantly merging with and splitting from other Divine Thunders, making it impossible to count them.

Kong Bai’s expression changed drastically. He hadn’t expected some random Nascent Soul True Monarch from the Northern Domain to wield such a powerful Thunder Skill, one that was in no way inferior to the Nascent Soul Cultivators he’d seen from the Five Thunders Sect.

His Sword Light twisted, transforming into Finger-Encompassing Sword Threads that annihilated the transparent Divine Thunders one by one, but he was stopped in his tracks, unable to advance even a half-step.

"Excellent timing!"

Xiangg Ji paid it no mind. His pitch-black eyes gazed over, and two threads of Sword Silk shot out from them, intercepting the attacks from Ge Cang and Yann Yuanzai respectively.

He had broken through mid-battle, returning once again to the Refining Sword into Silk Realm—a realm he had sacrificed countless times before.

The greater the pressure, the closer a Sword Cultivator was to the brink of life and death, the greater the chance they had to unleash their years of accumulated Sword Dao insights and achieve a breakthrough.

This was why Sword Cultivators were often valiant and warlike, frequently engaging in combat. Indeed, the enlightenment gained from a single battle was more effective than years of sitting idly in a Quiet Chamber.

To sacrifice one’s Sword Dao Realm was to start over from scratch, losing all the experience and insights one had gained.

At most, one retained a sliver of discernment, making them only marginally better than a novice Sword Cultivator.

The fact that Xiangg Ji could recultivate to the Third Realm of Sword Dao time and time again was a testament to his talent.

He was single-handedly fighting three Nascent Soul True Monarchs, none of whom were ordinary cultivators, and was still managing to hold his own. He was truly a prodigy of the Sword Dao, worthy of one who dared to walk the path of self-refining the Life-Killing Demon Sword in his quest to replicate the glory of his Sect’s Divinity Transformation Ancestor.

It was known that the Divinity Transformation Ancestor of the Life-Killing Sword Sect from ten thousand years ago had, on his path to greatness, obtained a slightly damaged Tier Five Flying Sword passed down from the Taibai Sword Sect.

He had integrated the Life-Killing Demon Sword into this foundation, and with its help, he was able to take that most difficult final step.

Otherwise, relying on his own power to elevate the Life-Killing Demon Sword to Tier Five would have remained an impossible dream.

But Xiangg Ji, without any heaven-sent opportunities or external aid, had pushed the Life-Killing Demon Sword to the peak of Tier Four, making the leap to Tier Five no longer an ethereal fantasy.

With such talent, it was no wonder some disciples in the Life-Killing Sword Sect proclaimed that Ancestor Xiangg Ji was the most gifted individual in the Sect’s entire history.

The flurry of attacks, swift as a falcon swooping on a rabbit, happened in the blink of an eye.

Xiangg Ji sought another change. A mouthful of Essence Blood shot out like a sword, spraying onto the Life-Killing Demon Sword.

The Flying Sword, which had been forged from his own arm bone, was stimulated by the Essence Blood from the same source, and a bloody hue instantly surfaced upon it.

It transformed from the Profound Ink Giant Sword into a black-red thread of Sword Silk, shredding the hundreds, even thousands, of cobbled-together flying swords that blocked its path as it charged into the Sword Tomb Realm.

All the flying swords wailed, their bodies trembling as if they were facing their doom.

CRACK! CRACK!

The flying swords fell like rows of wheat stalks, collapsing circle by circle. Their already damaged and flawed bodies simply could not withstand the ravages of the Slaughter True Intent.

Even as part of the Nascent Soul Realm and benefiting from the home-field advantage, they crumbled again from the inside out.

PTUI!

With his Nascent Soul Realm—built and refined over hundreds of years—taking damage, Tang Fei’s face grew even paler. His body slumped, seeming to shrink, making him look like a frail old man, a candle flickering in the wind.

Only his eyes remained as bright as stars, piercing through the ink-black Sword Light.

The Supreme Profound White-Haired Sword returned to his hand. His chest rose and fell as he calmly swung the sword.

There was no joy, no sorrow, no surprise, no fear—only the burning passion for the Sword Dao in his heart, just like that young boy swinging his sword on Sword Mountain hundreds of years ago.

The Supreme Profound White-Haired Sword transformed into thousands of rays of Sword Light that filled the sky and covered the earth. Each ray possessed real killing power; they were not illusory Sword Shadows, nor was the power merely dispersed among them.

Each ray of Sword Light contained ten percent of the main sword’s power, instantly raising the technique’s might by an entire level.

Before the thousands of rays of Sword Light, the black-red Sword Silk was utterly routed. The Life-Killing Demon Sword spun backward and returned to Xiangg Ji’s hand.

The Fourth Realm of Sword Dao, Sword Light Division!